The Hot in the Shade Tour was a concert tour by American rock band Kiss in support of their fifteenth studio album Hot in the Shade.
Background Following the Crazy Nights World Tour, Stanley had embarked on a solo club tour in 1989 while the band had gone on hiatus. The tour was set to begin earlier in the year, but was postponed to allow the second single from the album, "Forever", to be promoted as the first single, "Hide Your Heart" did not make as much impact. Prior to the beginning of the tour, the band spent two weeks in Lubbock, Texas to rehearse for the tour before setting out. Kiss headlined with their supporting acts Whitesnake in Toronto on June 15, 1990, playing alongside other opening acts Slaughter and Faster Pussycat.
On July 4, 1990, while on his way home after a performance in Springfield, Stanley ended up in a car accident and suffered minor neck and back injuries, which had forced the cancellation of the New Haven show on July 5, 1990, which was later rescheduled to October 27. He would later get injured again when he broke his ribs during a show in Johnstown, which resulted in a few shows getting canceled. This was the last tour to feature drummer Eric Carr, who later died of cancer on November 24, 1991. Carr performed his final show with Kiss on November 9, 1990 in New York City.
In the tour program for the band's final tour, Simmons reflected on the tour:
Stage setup The band used a 40-foot sunglasses-wearing sphynx from the album cover on their stage, naming it "Leon", which featured the ability to emit fireworks and lights from its mouth. At the beginning of every show, the mouth of the sphynx would open up to reveal the band in silhouette among the laser beams. When the band was performing "God of Thunder", the keyboardist Gary Corbett would sing the final verse through a synthesizer, to put it in sync with the mouth of the sphynx prop to make it look like it was singing. At the end of every performance, the sphynx would 'disappear', and through the use of cannon shots and sparks on stage and above the audience, the lighted band logo would roll up from the bottom of the stage during "I Want You".
The stage also included a ramp, which was draped in fog and fluid spewing tubing, as well as railed platforms on each side of the stage for Stanley and Kulick to throw guitar picks to the audience.
Reception Lonna Baldwin, a reporter from the Spokesman-Review who had attended the performance in Spokane on September 8, 1990, opened her review with the acknowledgement of the number of heavy metal fans that had turned out for the concert that night. She praised the usage of the band's entrance from the sphinx prop at the back of the stage, noting on the roar from the audience. She noted on the mixture of both new and old songs that the band performed during the show, also stating that the members knew how to put on a show. She concluded her review, stating that each song was enthusiastically received by the audience as well as the "standing throng in front of the stage".
Kim Reeves from the Southeast Missourian who attended the Cape Girardeau performance in May 22, 1990, had given the performance a positive review. She opened her review, noting on the lasting impressions of the sphynx on the stage and the pyrotechnical effects, noting on the roar of the crowd of 5,200 in attendance when the band had entered the stage. She stated that the band had evolved into a more mature group with the passage of time, citing the excitement from the crowd and the amount of energy from the band members from Stanley getting the audience to participate and Simmons jumping around on stage – also talking about the absence of the makeup, and the appearances of the band wearing spandex, and athletic style shoes.
Peter Atkinson, a staff writer from the Record-Journal, also gave a positive review following the band's New Haven performance. He noted on the usage of both the colossal stage set and both classic and new songs the band had performed during the show. Acknowledging the crowd's reactions to the show, he stated that the audience were well-behaved and surprisingly 'orderly' despite the band's energy on stage, adding when the encore had started - the security guards would scurry to safety behind the stage front barriers. He concluded his review, citing that the show was "a grand performance by the elder statesmen of metal".
Set list This is an example set list performed from a show, but may not represent the majority of shows during the tour. "I Stole Your Love" "Deuce" "Heaven's on Fire" "Crazy Crazy Nights" "Black Diamond" "Shout It Out Loud" "Strutter" "Calling Dr. Love" "I Was Made for Lovin' You" "Rise to It" "Fits Like a Glove" "Hide Your Heart" "Lick It Up" "God of Thunder" "Forever" "Cold Gin" "Tears Are Falling" "I Love It Loud" "Love Gun" "Detroit Rock City" Encore "I Want You" "Rock and Roll All Nite"
"Betrayed" was played twice on the tour, "Little Caesar" was played once on the tour and "Under the Gun" was played early on the tour, then was replaced by "I Was Made for Lovin' You". "C'mon and Love Me" and "Hell or High Water" were played at the beginning of the tour.
Tour dates + List of 1990 concertsNorth American show notices: Date City Country Venue Opening Act(s) March 11, 1990 Galveston United States West Beach Pocket Park Downtown Bruno April 14, 1990 Asbury Park The Stone Pony SarayaThe Good RatsJoe Lynn TurnerThe Red & The Black April 25, 1990 Reseda Reseda Country Club Shake City May 4, 1990 Lubbock Lubbock Municipal Coliseum SlaughterFaster Pussycat May 5, 1990 Dallas Coca-Cola Starplex Amphitheatre May 6, 1990 Austin Frank Erwin Center May 8, 1990 Tulsa Expo Square Pavilion May 9, 1990 Valley Center Britt Brown Arena May 10, 1990 Omaha Omaha Civic Auditorium May 11, 1990 Sioux Falls Sioux Falls Arena May 12, 1990 Bonner Springs Sandstone Amphitheatre May 15, 1990 Saginaw Wendler Arena May 17, 1990 Terre Haute Hulman Center May 18, 1990 Auburn Hills The Palace of Auburn Hills May 19, 1990 Toledo Toledo Sports Arena May 20, 1990 Fort Wayne Allen County War Memorial Coliseum May 22, 1990 Cape Girardeau Show Me Center May 23, 1990 Cedar Rapids Five Seasons Center May 25, 1990 Bloomington Met Center May 26, 1990 Fargo Red River Valley Speedway May 27, 1990 Duluth Duluth Arena May 28, 1990 Green Bay Brown County Veterans Memorial Arena May 30, 1990 Peoria Peoria Civic Center May 31, 1990 Evansville Mesker Amphitheatre June 1, 1990 St. Louis Kiel Auditorium June 2, 1990 Des Moines Iowa Veterans Memorial Auditorium June 3, 1990 Tinley Park New World Music Theatre June 6, 1990 Columbus Battelle Hall SlaughterLittle Caesar June 7, 1990 Trotwood Hara Arena June 8, 1990 Noblesville Deer Creek Music Center June 9, 1990 Richfield Richfield Coliseum June 12, 1990 Cincinnati Cincinnati Gardens June 13, 1990 Muskegon L. C. Walker Arena June 15, 1990 Toronto Canada CNE Grandstand WhitesnakeSlaughterFaster Pussycat June 16, 1990 Weedsport United States Cayuga County Fair Speedway SlaughterLittle Caesar June 17, 1990 Middletown Orange County Fair Speedway June 20, 1990 Providence Providence Civic Center June 22, 1990 Binghamton Broome County Veterans Memorial Arena June 23, 1990 Burgettstown Coca-Cola Star Lake Amphitheater June 26, 1990 Philadelphia The Spectrum June 27, 1990 Allentown Great Allentown Fair June 28, 1990 Uniondale Nassau Veterans Memorial Coliseum June 29, 1990 Mansfield Great Woods Performing Arts Center June 30, 1990 East Rutherford Brendan Byrne Arena July 3, 1990 Springfield Springfield Civic Center July 6, 1990 Old Orchard Beach Seashore Performing Arts Center July 7, 1990 Albany Knickerbocker Arena July 8, 1990 Harrisburg City Island July 10, 1990 Fairfax Patriot Center SlaughterDanger Danger July 11, 1990 Roanoke Roanoke Civic Center July 12, 1990 Richmond Richmond Coliseum July 13, 1990 Norfolk Norfolk Scope July 18, 1990 Johnson City Freedom Hall Civic Center July 19, 1990 Knoxville Knoxville Civic Coliseum July 20, 1990 Atlanta Coca-Cola Lakewood Amphitheatre July 21, 1990 Nashville Starwood Amphitheatre July 24, 1990 Columbia Carolina Coliseum July 25, 1990 Charlotte Charlotte Coliseum July 26, 1990 Greenville Greenville Memorial Auditorium July 27, 1990 Greensboro Greensboro Coliseum July 28, 1990 Fayetteville Cumberland County Memorial Arena August 1, 1990 Jacksonville Jacksonville Memorial Coliseum August 2, 1990 Orlando Orlando Arena August 3, 1990 Miami Miami Arena August 4, 1990 Tampa USF Sun Dome August 7, 1990 Pelham Oak Mountain Amphitheatre August 8, 1990 Memphis Mid-South Coliseum August 16, 1990 Huntsville Von Braun Civic Center SlaughterWinger August 17, 1990 Jackson Mississippi Coliseum August 18, 1990 Shreveport Hirsch Memorial Coliseum August 19, 1990 Biloxi Mississippi Coast Coliseum August 21, 1990 Houston The Summit August 22, 1990 San Antonio Freeman Coliseum August 24, 1990 Little Rock Barton Coliseum August 25, 1990 Oklahoma City Myriad Convention Center August 26, 1990 Salina Bicentennial Center August 28, 1990 Rapid City Rushmore Plaza Civic Center August 29, 1990 Billings MetraPark Arena August 31, 1990 Morrison Red Rocks Amphitheatre September 1, 1990 Salt Lake City Salt Palace September 3, 1990 Boise BSU Pavilion September 6, 1990 Vancouver Canada Pacific Coliseum September 7, 1990 Seattle United States Seattle Center Coliseum September 8, 1990 Spokane Spokane Coliseum September 9, 1990 Portland Portland Memorial Coliseum September 12, 1990 Sacramento Cal Expo Amphitheatre September 13, 1990 Concord Concord Pavilion September 14, 1990 Long Beach Long Beach Arena September 15, 1990 San Diego San Diego Sports Arena September 16, 1990 Phoenix Arizona Veterans Memorial Coliseum September 19, 1990 El Paso El Paso County Coliseum WingerVixen September 20, 1990 Odessa Ector County Coliseum September 21, 1990 Fort Worth Tarrant County Convention Center September 22, 1990 Amarillo Amarillo Civic Center September 24, 1990 Springfield Hammons Student Center September 25, 1990 Columbia Hearnes Center September 26, 1990 Lincoln Pershing Auditorium September 28, 1990 Carbondale SIU Arena September 29, 1990 East Troy Alpine Valley Music Theatre SlaughterWinger September 30, 1990 Dubuque Five Flags Center October 2, 1990 Bismarck Bismarck Civic Center October 4, 1990 Marquette Lakeview Arena October 5, 1990 Rochester Mayo Civic Center October 6, 1990 Topeka Landon Arena October 7, 1990 Sioux City Sioux City Municipal Auditorium October 10, 1990 Johnstown Cambria County War Memorial Arena October 12, 1990 Hamilton Canada Copps Coliseum October 13, 1990 London London Gardens October 14, 1990 Auburn Hills United States The Palace of Auburn Hills October 15, 1990 Kalamazoo Wings Stadium October 16, 1990 Erie Erie Civic Center October 18, 1990 Ottawa Canada Ottawa Civic Centre October 19, 1990 Montreal Montreal Forum October 25, 1990 Portland United States Cumberland County Civic Center October 26, 1990 Worcester Centrum in Worcester October 27, 1990 New Haven New Haven Coliseum November 1, 1990 Charleston Charleston Civic Center November 2, 1990 Augusta Augusta-Richmond County Civic Center November 3, 1990 Albany Albany Civic Center November 6, 1990 Columbus Columbus Municipal Auditorium November 7, 1990 Asheville Asheville Civic Center November 8, 1990 Hershey Hersheypark Arena November 9, 1990 New York City Madison Square Garden
Kiss was the supporting act for Whitesnake at this show. During this show, the enormous stage set overloaded the arena's power supply, causing a transformer to explode outside the building, cutting electricity inside the arena and abruptly ending the show. At this show, Stanley ran into the guardrail on stage and cracked his ribs, causing some shows to be canceled. Eric Carr's last show.
Cancelled dates