The San Francisco Chronicle have published an article complete with photos showcasing KISS' San Francisco show at the Cow Palace on August 16th, 1977 saying "few concerts in Bay Area history struck simultaneous terror in the minds of conservative adults and joy in the the hearts of young rock and roll fans." Following is an excerpt from the piece:

The concert was part of the Bill Graham Presents Mid-Summer Music Festival, which included the Ramones at Winterland, and Led Zeppelin playing a Day on the Green concert at Oakland Coliseum. Opening for KISS was the mostly unknown Cheap Trick, misidentified by The Chronicle as “Cheap Tricks.”

KISS and the Cow Palace were both at the peak of their powers in 1977. But looking back on The Chronicle’s coverage, there were two other notable elements:

• The band performed on the day Elvis died — a fact that many young concert-goers didn’t realize until KISS sang a tribute to the King near the end of the concert.

• Chronicle photographer Stephanie Maze focused her lens on the young crowd, taking dozens of photos that captured the feral joy of a 1970s rock concert. The resulting photo essay, which mostly went unpublished, included children as young as 10.

Comedian Greg Proops, a teenager living in San Carlos at the time, attended the concert, and in a 2017 podcast recording remembered the unforgettable scene.

“We pulled up in the parking lot, and we had a jug of vodka and a bag of rolled joints,” Proops recalled. “What I couldn’t get over was how many station wagons were pulling up. And the back gate would flip open and 15 kids, all wearing KISS T-shirts, would pile out. That concert had as many little kids as it did teenagers.”

Go to this location to check out the complete article and photo gallery.

On October 10th, photographer Lynn Goldsmith - in collaboration with Gene Simmons and Paul Stanley - will release a 336 page hardcover coffee table book via Rizzoli Publishing entitled KISS: 1977 - 1980. The cover art and official description are as follows:

Chances are you've seen numerous iconic pictures by award-winning photographer Lynn Goldsmith, who has photographed every important rock musician and band of the late twentieth century: The Rolling Stones, Bruce Springsteen, The Police, Talking Heads, Frank Zappa, Bob Dylan, and Patti Smith, among many others. Published in conjunction with the band, KISS: 1977 - 1980 is the definitive photographic chronicle of KISS at the height of their popularity, showcasing the band on and off stage, in the photo studio, and in unguarded candid moments. From her archive, Goldsmith has compiled fan favorites as well as many never-before-seen photographs, all which perfectly capture the enduring phenomenon that is KISS.

KISS rose to meteoric prominence with their extravagant live performances featuring fire-breathing, blood spitting, guitars bursting into flames, shooting rockets, levitating drum kits, and pyrotechnic showpieces. With makeup and costumes, Paul Stanley, Gene Simmons, Peter Criss, and Ace Frehley created characters and origin stories similar to comic book characters: the Starchild, the Demon, the Space Ace, and the Catman. When put all together, it wasn’t just a stadium rock concert, it was dynamic performance art that is still on the road today!

Goldsmith, Stanley, and Simmons have created this book as a thanks to the KISS Army, many of whom have been devoted to the band for more than 40 years and have brought their children and grandchildren into appreciating the music, as well as the spectacle of the band’s live performances. With a simple matte white laminated padded cover that highlights the KISS logo and edged with gilding, the end result could be compared to a kind of bible, holding the relics that their supporters cherish.

Pre-order your copy of KISS: 1977 - 1980 now via Amazon.