Frank Dobrovnik at the Sault Ste. Marie, Ontario-based Sault Star has filed the following report. It comes to BW&BK; courtesy of KISSonline.com:

A KISS For Sault Ste. Marie

You waited for the best, you'll get the best.

In other words, Kiss is definitely going to make up for the scrubbed Dec. 15 show in Sault Ste. Marie, and it's going to happen sooner rather than later. That was the message Thursday morning on Rock 101.3, where host Scott Cook assured listeners the stars are aligning for the rock gods to make their way to the Essar Centre. A summer date is tentatively scheduled, Cook said.

"There's so much doubt they're coming at all at this point, I just wanted to give people a little tease that they are coming, there's a date in mind, but I can't say anything more right now," said Cook.

The Sault placed third in an online contest last year that let fan votes route the band's fall North American tour, but bad weather cancelled the final show of the tour.

Since then, the community's spirit appears to have have dropped precipitously. In a recent Sault Star poll asking whether people believe Kiss will perform in the Sault this year, 94 per cent said no.

But the radio station, a longtime sponsor of local shows, is in frequent contact with promoter AEG Live, and "everyone we spoke with at AEG Live assured us it's going to happen, they just don't know when exactly," Cook said.

The band began its European tour Thursday to promote its latest record, Sonic Boom. The tour crosses into North America next month. Several gaps between shows could accommodate a detour to the Sault, including between North Dakota July 24 and Pittsburgh July 29, and Minnesota Sept. 4 and Toronto Sept. 10.

Trevor Zachary, the Essar Centre's concert and events manager, said last month he is holding on to a date in the fall.