We have another Kiss Bootleg to discuss in this series.  We are on #4 and this one is from the 1979 Dynasty Tour and took place in Largo, Maryland on July 8th, 1979 at the Capital Center.  This was a time in Kiss that is quite interesting as the band was imploding, basically.  Peter couldn’t play drums like he did just a short time earlier and Ace was shall we say, “high” on life.  This tour was supposed to be huge.  The costumes, the stage show and well, everything was to be bigger and better.  Well, it was far from it.

Before we get in to the music, we go through the packaging first and this set is delivered beautifully.  The set was done in 2018 and it was put together quite nicely.  Here is the first little nugget, it is a a little side card that bends around one end kind of like the OBI strips for Japanese releases.

After that there is a large, album sized Disco Sticker included.  It is supposed to be in a Disco Ball style and is a little hard to see, but cool nonetheless.

And if that wasn’t enough, they included a replica of the Dynasty Tour Book from the tour.  It is made of sturdy, thick stock and the pictures are nice and glossy.  The book is around 22 pages full of pictures of the band.  4 pages each for every member of the band plus a little, marketing write-up on each member that is so grandiose, it is laughable.  I won’t show every page, but I’ll give you a few shots at least…

It is pretty slick.  Wait…there is more.  It is 2LP set and includes a Gatefold album jacket with even more pictures….

The back cover is also awesome as it has the band in those over-the-top Dynasty costumes.  Those costumes were quite amazing and showed how big the band had really become.  Quite a long way from those early outfits…

Okay, that is not quite it…one more thing.  The LPs are both a beautiful White vinyl with some black smudges on each of them.  They look great with those disco ball center stickers…

I guess it is finally time to talk music.  The set list is a little different as the band plays one song off each solo album which for me is the prize with this set and they play a couple off Dynasty.  That is 6 songs and doesn’t leave room for much else so you get classic Kiss songs for the rest.

1. Intro
2. King of the Night Time World
3. Radioactive
4. Move On
5. Calling Dr. Love
6. Firehouse
7. New York Groove
8. I Was Made For Loving You
9. Love Gun
10. 2,000 Man
11. Ace Solo
12. Tossin’ And Turnin’
13. Gene Solo
14. God of Thunder
15. Peter Solo
16. Shout It Out Loud
17. Black Diamond
18. Detroit Rock City
19. Beth
20. Rock And Roll All Nite

How about the sound of the music?  The show was recorded from the Soundboard which is always a good thing.  The sound isn’t completely full though, but everything is pretty clear.  At times it sounds a little hollow and missing some richness.  There is minimal crowd noise except for those times when the crowd is going nuts and you can’t help but have them bleed into the sound.  By this time, the band wasn’t playing that great, however, I think they still sound great.  I really enjoyed it.

SIDE A:

Side A kicked off with “King of the Night Time World” and not “Detroit Rock City” which I didn’t expect.  The highlight of Side A…or should I say highlights…are the 3 Kiss Solo songs the band played.  Gene did “Radioactive”, Paul did “Move On” and Ace did “New York Groove”.  Paul actually forgets the lyrics on “Move On” or he pulled away from the microphone because there is a moment of silence that should have had lyrics.  This is the first live album I have where there are any solo albums songs performed so that was why I grabbed this one.  Totally cool.

SIDE B:

This side also had several highlights as well.  The first being the Ace song off Dynasty, “2,000 Man”.  This sounded great live (although isn’t always the greatest singer, but that is also his charm).  From that, Ace goes straight into his solo and Ace kills it.  He gives you all the space sounding noises with his guitar and reminds you why you love him so much.  And then we finally get Peter’s Kiss Solo song with “Tossin’ And Turnin'” introduced in the way Paul only knows how.  He has to dirty it up a little.

SIDE C:

The third side starts off with Gene’s solo which I have to admit isn’t that great.  He doesn’t really play a solo so much as strike the sting a few times before they go in to his signature song “God of Thunder”.  It wasn’t anything special.  From “God of Thunder” we go right in to Peter’s Drum solo which is okay.  Again, he isn’t playing as well as he used to.  It is weird with a lot of electronic sound coming out and he does finish with flourish of drum hits on the snare and the finally bangs a gong (get it on…sorry I had to go there). Gene finishes up “God of Thunder” in which Gene  sounds like he is trying too hard.  They finish up the side and show with “Shout It Out Loud” which starts out quite sloppy if you ask me and then “Black Diamond” with a massive explosion when Paul says “Hit It!!” right before Peter takes over.  It sounded loud!

SIDE D:

The final side is basically the Encore with three tracks.  Two of them you hear all the time – “Detroit Rock City” and “Rock and Roll All Nite”, but the third is the highlight on this side with Peter performing “Beth”.  After a long wait, Peter comes out and sings Beth accompanied by a Piano.  He sounds really awful and he actually fucks up the lyrics (or forgets them). I think I need to find another bootleg with Beth as it has to be better than this one.  This is currently the only Bootleg I have with “Beth” live…oh well!! Still cool to have this screw up!!

And there you have it.  Another great bootleg of Kiss.  Despite a little flatness in the sound, I really thought the overall sound was good enough for a very enjoyable show and one I will probably play many times over.  When you take away a little for the little sound issue and you add in points for the packaging, I would give this one a 4.0 out of 5.0 Stars like I did the last one.  It was a great way to spend a hot Sunday afternoon.

Check out the rest of the series if you have time!!  Thanks for stopping by!!

1. Kiss – ‘Accept No Imitations’ (Bootleg Series) – Album Review (ASYLUM TOUR)
2. Kiss – Look Wot You Dun to Me (Bootleg Series) – Album Review (CRAZY NIGHTS TOUR)
3. Kiss – The Summer of Satan: The Devils Ride Out! (Bootleg Series) – Album Review (DESTROYER TOUR)
4. Kiss – Return to Capital Center (Bootleg Series) – Album Review (DYNASTY TOUR)
5. Kiss – With Fire & Thunder (Bootleg Series) – Album Review (HOTTER THAN HELL TOUR)