Tag: Rock and Roll All Nite

Kiss – ‘The Spirit of ’76: Richfield Coliseum, September 3, 1976’ – Album Review (The Kiss Bootleg Series)

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We are now to a set of shows that were all done within a month of each other. These three disc were included in the John Humphrey Collection I bought last year at an auction where I got my hands on 38 Bootleg CDs from his personal collection. Oh, if you don’t know who John Humphrey is, you need to know he is a massive Kiss collector. And he is the drummer of the band Seether. John decided to sell off his entire collection…sort of…he kept all the vinyl (like 4,000 of them). He did it through an auction at Backstage Auctions and I had to have a piece of it…which I did.

We are going in chronological order for these three shows, so last time we did ‘Unnecessary Evil: Anaheim Stadium August 20, 1976’. Now, it is time for ‘The Spirit of ’76: Richfield Coliseum, September 3, 1976’. This bootleg was released in 2011 on a label called Strutter Productions and is listed as For Promotional Use Only Not For Sale…yeah…bootleg!! As far as setlist go, Kiss doesn’t deviate at all from the prior show.

The show says it was in Cleveland, Ohio, but it was actually Richfield, a suburb of Cleveland and throughout Paul says Cleveland. The opening act was Artful Dodger and I have no information on Crowd size or box office take like I did for the last one. It is a soundboard recording and is said to be one of the best recordings of the tour with the exception of some mix level adjustments early on and a cut short on ‘Rock And Roll All Nite’, but this mix fixes the cut short although the remainder of the song sounds different. Crowd noise is minimal and all you hear are the boys doing what they do best!!

The show starts off with some noodling around on the instruments, a pause and then we get the classic “You Wanted the Best and You Got ‘Em…”. This was louder then when the band actually starts playing. Lots of explosions can be heard at the start of “Detroit Rock City”. Paul’s vocals are quite loud in the mix compared to the mix of the last album we discussed, so you hear all his flaws (which aren’t many at this time in their career. Suddenly the drums get higher in the mix, then down a little as I am guessing they are still noodling around. Ace’s guitar sounds very distant during the solo and the bass is about the same. Outside of all that, a great performance. Definitely a soundboard recording.

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Kiss – ‘Unnecessary Evil: Anaheim Stadium August 20, 1976’ – Album Review (The Kiss Bootleg Series)

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We are now to a set of shows that were all done within a month of each other. These three disc were included in the John Humphrey Collection I bought last year at an auction where I got my hands on 38 Bootleg CDs from his personal collection. Oh, if you don’t know who John Humphrey is, you need to know he is a massive Kiss collector. And he is the drummer of the band Seether. John decided to sell off his entire collection…sort of…he kept all the vinyl (like 4,000 of them). He did it through an auction at Backstage Auctions and I had to have a piece of it…which I did.

We are going in chronological order for these three shows, so first up is ‘Unnecessary Evil: Anaheim Stadium August 20, 1976’. The release was on Deep Records and was released in 1992 and is obviously another Bootleg. This is actually the 50th Kiss Bootleg Post I’ve done which is crazy to think about. And I still have several more to do. The show we have here is from the Destroyer Tour and saw the band come to Anaheim, California with an impressive line-up for this show. It had Montrose, Ted Nugent as well as Bob Seger & the Silver Bullet Band all on the bill. There were around 43,000 people at the show and it gross was $437,653 which in today’s dollars would be equivalent to around $2.5 million today. That is crazy to think.

This particular show I read is a soundboard recording, but maybe it is the age, but doesn’t sound that clear for a soundboard. But it doesn’t sound that bad either for an audience recording. You can hear the crowd really well, but the band is a little soft and distant sounding. Although, I can hear everything fairly clear. The show was pretty much an all day festival and reports show the band sold $36,000 in merchandise on that day. There were two massive video screens, one on each side of the stage as well as Eddie Kramer was brought in to record the show. I don’t believe that show has been released yet officially. Maybe that would be a great release for the 50th Anniversary of the album.

The show starts out with a warning from the announcer for everyone to back up as the crowd was pushing the stage. Safety is important. The fans start chanting “We Want Kiss” and with a fade out and fade in, the band was introduced by each name and there was no “You Wanted the Best” intro. As the are coming down the stage, it is known that Gene falls down, but he gets right back up. Since this is a CD, you don’t actually see that happen, just know it does. They open with “Detroit Rock City”. It is heavy, fast paced and over before you know, but not before the car crashes and they go right into “King of the Night Time World”. A song they should’ve played more in the later years. Theses songs follow each other on ‘Destroyer’ and so they should live as well. It is a messy transition with the crowd noise and such, but once it gets going, it rocks.

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Kiss – ‘Return to Thunder: Winter Tour 1976/1977’ (2015) – Album Review (The Kiss Bootleg Series)

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When Kiss were preparing to tour their album ‘Rock And Roll Over’, They rented some space at Camp Curtis Guild Armory in Reading, Massachusetts and rehearsed. They recorded one rehearsal on November 15, 1976 which is a very famous bootleg that has been going around for years. In fact, I recently reviewed this rehearsal on a vinyl bootleg I have called ‘Choppers ‘N Chicks’. This time around it is the CD from 2015 called ‘Return to Thunder: Winter Tour 1976/1977’. We get that whole show rehearsal as well as some bonus tracks not on that last release.

This package comes in a cardboard vinyl sleeve replica with some cool live shots as well as the Kiss logo from the Rock & Roll Over album. The disc is housed in a cardboard sleeve and if that wasn’t enough they included a 4-page booklet that has 4 pictures. One of each Kiss member including Paul Stanley, Gene Simmons, the late, great Ace Frehley and Peter Cris…oops…they have a typo…it should be Peter Criss with two S’s.

This is another disc that was included in the John Humphrey Collection I bought last year at auction. where I got my hands on 38 Bootleg CDs from his personal collection. Oh, if you don’t know who John Humphrey is, you need to know he is a massive Kiss collector. And he is the drummer of the band Seether. John decided to sell off his entire collection…sort of…he kept all the vinyl (like 4,000 of them). He did it through an auction at Backstage Auctions and I had to have a piece of it…which I did.

Track 1-19: Rehearsals Camp Curtis Guild Armory, Reading, Ma, U.S.A. November 15 1976:

The album opens with a fade in as the band is doing “Detroit Rock City”. It picks up right as Paul starts singing the lyrics. It all sounds a little hollow due to the type of recording, but you can hearing everything fairly well. Vocals are good as no one has blown their voice yet as this is only rehearsals. They aren’t half-assing anything as Peter sounds on point, and Ace’s solo is full on like you’d expect.

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Kiss – ‘Watching Us’ – Album Review (The Kiss Bootleg Series)

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I have been doing a Kiss Bootleg Series for years. You get a review every time I add a new one to the collection. Well, after buying 38 Bootleg CDs from John Humphrey’s personal collection, I figured let’s jump right back in and do a whole lot of reviews on the Bootlegs. Oh, if you don’t know who John Humphrey is, you need to know he is a massive Kiss collector. And he is the drummer of the band Seether. John decided to sell off his entire collection…sort of…he kept all the vinyl (like 4,000 of them). He did it through an auction at Backstage Auctions and I had to have a piece of it…and I did wind up with some things.

This time around we have a cool bootleg that consists of a collection of performances Kiss did on various TV shows over the years. It is called ‘Watching Us’ and I am not sure what year this was released as it is not listed on the back cover nor does Discogs have it listed. It is 16 tracks covering appearances from 1974 up to 1986. The cover photo and a couple others were taken from a photoshoot on October 19, 1976. This was where they did a photoshoot for Creem magazine and they used polyurethane “fake” snow which is actually so toxic that it is no longer used. I am assuming the guys didn’t suffer any long-term effects from being exposed to it.

The disc starts off with ABC’s in Concert which aired on March 219, 1974. It kicks off with “Nothin’ to Lose and Peter on vocals. The quality is decent enough, a little hollow sounding like it was from a copy of a copy. The crowd sounds good and loud while the band is on fire as they are young and hungry. After that opening track, they go into the classic, “Firehouse”. Paul confidently and effortlessly delivers a stellar vocal. I like the long drawn out ending and the siren ringing loudly. After that, they go into one of my favorites, “Black Diamond”. This one sounds so good despite the quality of the recording. The band simply kills it. Peter’s vocals are spot on. He is so into it and gives it his all. Another great, long, drawn out, explosive ending. This was back when they were all the best they could be.

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Kiss – ‘Choppers ‘N Chicks’ (2016) – Album Review (The Kiss Bootleg Series)

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Kiss is one of those bands that there are hundreds upon hundreds of bootlegs. Each time I go to Repo Records for Record Store Day, I always seem to find bootlegs. It has been Kiss and Van Halen almost every time. This time it was more Kiss. I discovered three bootlegs at Repo Records and since I didn’t have two of them, I bought both. First up was ‘The Rock ‘N Roots of Kiss’ which we covered last week. This time around it is ‘Choppers ‘N Chicks’ from 2016 which is a Rock And Roll Tour Rehearsal from Camp Curtis Guild Armory in Reading, Massachusetts on November 15, 1976. A very famous bootleg that has been going around for years.

An interesting note of fact, that during the rehearsal, the band was filmed lip-syncing three songs that would be used on the Don Kirshner’s Rock Concert. Those songs were “Hard Luck Woman”, “I Want You” and “Love ‘Em and Leave ‘Em”. I believe this is an audience style recording from a tape deck and not a soundboard recording. There were several songs they rehearsed that I don’t believe were played very often on this tour, so it is cool to still have those. “Hard Luck Woman” is one of those songs.

The package we get here is pretty basic. The album jacket is almost rubbery in texture and sadly, I didn’t notice there is a blowout at the top. I can’t take it back and exchange for another one as there isn’t one. The record sleeve is nice and solid with better quality than the jacket. The picture on the front is Gene on his Chopper and on the back is a full band picture with a Chick. The sleeve has another Gene on his chopper picture and then the reverse has the track listing with individual photos of the band, each on their own bike. The vinyl is a splatter that is a rather dull reddish, brownish, orangish color. Not that pretty. The label is white and blank. But how does the music sound?

SIDE 1:

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Kiss – ‘The Rock ‘N Roots of Kiss’ (2025) – Album Review (The Kiss Bootleg Series)

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Kiss is one of those bands that there are hundreds upon hundreds of bootlegs. Each year brings us a new batch and 2025 is no different. I was out shopping for Record Store Day Black Friday and discovered three bootlegs at Repo Records. I didn’t have two of them, so I bought the two I didn’t already own. First up is ‘The Rock ‘N Roots of Kiss’. It is obviously, unofficial, and was released by a company called Rockin’ Bear Records. There are only 9 songs on here and they are simply a collection of songs from Radio Broadcasts in 1974 and 1975. Side A is all 1975 and Side B is from 1975.

Some bootlegs come with a lot of extra inserts, stickers and really cool pieces. This is not one of those releases. This is as bare bones as you can get. It does have a nice thick cover, but the vinyl is in a small clear plastic sleeve, no liner notes or anything to tell us what show these songs are from, but I think I figure it out some of it as we go through the album. It shouldn’t be hard as there weren’t a ton of radio broadcasts released, that I am aware. The only cool thing in here is the vinyl is a clear translucent color which is very nice. The artwork gives me AI vibes as someone got lazy and had the computer draw the cover. Still looks kinda cool though.

SIDE A:

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Kiss – Kiss and Ace Demos (1995) – Album Review (The Kiss Bootleg Series)

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I have been doing a Kiss Bootleg Series for years. You get a review every time I add a new one to the collection. Well, after buying 38 Bootleg CDs from John Humphrey’s personal collection, I figured let’s jump right back in and do a whole lot of reviews on the Bootlegs. Oh, if you don’t know who John Humphrey is, you need to know he is a massive Kiss collector. And he is the drummer of the band Seether. John decided to sell off his entire collection…sort of…he kept all the vinyl (like 4,000 of them). He did it through an auction at Backstage Auctions and I had to have a piece of it…and I did wind up with some things.

This time around we have a German demo called ‘Kiss and Ace Demos’. And guess what, that is what is in on it, plus a lot of Wicked Lester tracks. The first 10 tracks are Wicked Lester (but not really). Tracks 11-15 are Kiss Demos (mostly) and Tracks 16-18 are Ace Frehley Demos (one of which I’ve never had before. Track 19 on the list is the radio commercial for Kiss – The Originals release. An interesting add.

Now, the track listing says you get 19 tracks, but that isn’t really true. Like most bootlegs, there are mistakes. Well, a couple errors in this case. First is that tracks 9 & 10 are not what they have listed as “We Want To” and “Shout it out Loud”. Nope that is actually one song called “We Want To (Shout It Out Loud)”. Th other mistake is “Ladies in Waiting” is spelled “Laidies in Waiting”…which I guess makes it take on a whole new meaning…or maybe fits the meaning of the song that much better. And there was a little bonus inside the booklet. There was the actual receipt when this album was purchased back April 12, 1995 (if bought in Europe, then it would be December 4, 1995…not 100% positive on either. But the price was rather high at 49.85 after tax. A little steep back in that day.

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Kiss – Boxx (Vol. 1) (1993) – Album Review (The Kiss Bootleg Series)

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I have been doing a Kiss Bootleg Series for years. You get a review every time I add a new one to the collection. Well, after buying 38 Bootleg CDs from John Humphrey’s personal collection, I figured let’s jump right back in and do a whole lot of reviews on the Bootlegs. Oh, if you don’t know who John Humphrey is, you need to know he is a massive Kiss collector. And he is the drummer of the band Seether. John decided to sell off his entire collection…sort of…he kept all the vinyl (like 4,000 of them). He did it through an auction at Backstage Auctions and I had to have a piece of it…and I did wind up with some things.

This time around we have another Australian Bootleg which means it has a big “UNAUTHORIZED” across the cover. It is called Boxx (Vol. 1) and was released in 1993 by a label called Banana and distributed by Apple House Music. What is with the fruit references?? It’s packaging is identical to the Live Vol. 1 we did a few weeks back. Both were made in Australia. This time instead of tracks from one show we get them from two. One is Cleveland 1975 and the other is actually Nashville 1984 despite the cover saying ’85. Oops. It looks like songs 1-6 are from June 21, 1975 at the Cleveland Music Hall and was actually part of the King Biscuit Flower Hour Broadcast…which explains why it sounds so good. Tracks 7-13 are from January 11, 1984 show at Nashville Municipal Auditorium.

It starts off with what is called “Intro” so I was expecting a big “You Wanted the Best, You Got the Best…” opening, however, it was simply the intro to the song “Hotter Than Hell” as are only taking songs from the setlist here and not a full show. “Hotter Than Hell” really cooks. The guitars are smoking, the bass is steaming and the drums are explosive. Paul’s vocals are killer and it is hard to believe this is a bootleg. The go right into “Firehouse” like they do in the original full show. And it is more of the same awesomeness. You know how the song goes so no need discussing that, simply know this sounds like a band in their prime and hungry as hell.

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The Collection: Ep. 79 – Kiss: ‘Dressed to Kill’ (50th Anniversary Super Deluxe Edition)

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This week we unbox the brand new Kiss ‘Dressed to Kill’ (50th Anniversary Super Deluxe Edition) box set. It is massive. There are 5 CDs and 1 Blu-Ray but it also has a bunch of goodies included. You get a 100-page Hard Back book, stickers, buttons, picks, posters photographs, newspaper, ticket stubs, backstage passes and everything and anything related with a Kiss logo on it. The album came out in 1975 and produced what would become one of the greatest rock anthems with “Rock And Roll All Nite”. The tour would spawn the greatest live album ever made, Alive!, and you get not one, but two full shows that album was taken from. The rest will hopefully be on the Alive! box set, we will get to that one after it comes out. Sit back and enjoy as you unbox with me as it just showed up on my doorstep.

So go check it out as it is live right now on YouTube. Thanks for stopping by and please click “Like” and hit “Subscribe” as it helps out the site when you do.

Kiss – ‘The Lost Alive II Album’ – Album Review (The Kiss Bootleg Series)

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I have been doing a Kiss Bootleg Series for years. You get a review every time I add a new one to the collection. Well, after buying 38 Bootleg CDs from John Humphrey’s personal collection, I figured let’s jump right back in and do a whole lot of reviews on the Bootlegs. Oh, if you don’t know who John Humphrey is, you need to know he is a massive Kiss collector. And he is the drummer of the band Seether. John decided to sell off his entire collection…sort of…he kept all the vinyl (like 4,000 of them). He did it through an auction at Backstage Auctions and I had to have a piece of it…and I did wind up with some things.

This is yet another live show from 1977 and I know I said I needed to pick one from a different year as I’ve done a lot from 1977, but I couldn’t pass this one up. This is another from Budokan in 1977 and was a finished mix that was supposed to be used for their Alive II album, but it was scrapped. A year later, we actually got ‘Alive II’ and it was not as quite as live as this one is. This version is more raw and rough around the edges unlike ‘Alive II’ that came out. And for that, it might be a better version, for the most part.

This version of the Bootleg I believe is a self-made CD. The reason I say that is because the pictures seem to be photocopies of another picture as they aren’t as crisp and clear. The CD cover art looks homemade and well, the back cover of the insert is simply a white page with the statement printed on it that reads “From The Collection of John Humphrey”. All that leads me to believe he had the digital version of this and decided to put it on CD. So, I guess this is a bootlegged bootleg…which is cool. To top it off, we get the studio songs that are on Side 4 of ‘Alive II’, but these are different mixes and alternate versions. Lastly, there are 4 demo songs from Gene’s solo album. That is also really cool. Now, how does all this sound?

I’ll be honest. It sounds amazing. The mix is sensational, the crowd noise is pumped in and it feels exciting and electric. The songs are edited together that make you feel this is one cohesive show…and that is how it should be. They open with “Detroit Rock City” and the energy is dripping from the speakers. Paul goes into “Take Me” and he has the crowd in the palm of his hand. The guitars are brutal and the drums are powerful. Gene meets you in the “Ladies Room” next and damn does it feel like the crowd is going nuts.

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