The Alive II Tour was a concert tour by Kiss, and was the follow-up to the Love Gun Tour which ended in early September.
History
The Alive II Tour saw Kiss perform 5 sold-out nights at Tokyo's Budokan, breaking their previous record of 4 one year earlier, as well as breaking the previous record by The Beatles. They also played three sold-out nights at Madison Square Garden in their hometown of New York City, and multiple nights in several other cities, including San Antonio; Landover, Maryland; Chicago; Detroit; and Providence, Rhode Island. The audience for the band were mainly young teenage crowds.[1]AC/DC was the opening act for several concerts on this tour.[2] The costumes and stage show were carried over from the Love Gun Tour, with minor changes made to the setlist.
During the show in Pittsburgh, Peter Criss had passed out in the middle of the concert. After a brief intermission, he returned to finish the show with his bandmates.[3] The band would also be snowed in during the show in Richfield.[4]
In the tour program for the band's final tour, Simmons reflected on the tour:
The Alive II stage show was a big production spectacle. We realized fans were paying as much for a concert, which only lasted for an hour or two, as you would for a record album which you could play over and over again for the price of a concert ticket. A concert was over with the snap of a finger so what are the memories you take from it? We thought visuals should be a big element of a Kiss concert and we were constantly brainstorming about what we could do in the show.[5]
Reception
Barry Paris, a reporter from the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette who attended the Civic Arena show in Pittsburgh, gave the show a positive review, stating: "Kiss (whose members acknowledge that their music is 'nothing profound') is a likable act not so much because of but in spite of its gimmickry. The crucial factor is their good (but not great) musicianship, which amounts to a B-plus/A-minus type of rock 'n roll and gosh darn, how can you not help but like the fresh-faced fans they attract?".[1]
The setlist for this tour was nearly identical to that of the Love Gun Tour, with the only exceptions being that "King of the Night Time World" and "Let Me Go, Rock 'n' Roll" took the place of "Take Me" and "Hooligan".[6]
Tour dates
List of tour dates with date, city, country, venue, and support act(s)