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KISS has been part of my life as far as I can remember, they have played in Montreal countless times (14 other times according to Paul) and no matter how many times you had seen the hottest show on earth, the KISS army always gathered to see them again. It was not a surprise to see young and old fans getting in the Bell Center as soon as the doors opened. As usual, you could see families bring their children to see KISS for the first (and last) time and fans disguised as their preferred musicians, taking pictures with other fans.

Crown Lands from Oshawa was the selected opening band and I was surprised to see how many fans were already inside to see drummer/singer Cody Bowles and guitarist Kevin Comeau do their thing. The duo looked a little out of place on this huge sage, but their Rush and Led Zeppelin inspired music quickly filled the place. You could see many fans bobbing their head to the rhythm of the music as the band played the song “Starlifter: Fearless Pt. II”. Cody introduced themselves and said that this song was half of their most recent album (Fearless). They ended their short set with the songs “Lady Of The Lake” followed by “White Buffalo” and their simpler approach connected more with the fans. The band indicated that they would be hanging out at one of the merch stands to meet everyone. This was a great showcase for the band, and hopefully it will open new doors for them in the near future.

It was now time to celebrate 50 years of KISS and what should be their last show in Montreal. Many will say that the band indicated that their Farewell tour would be their last back in 2000, and that never happened. Fast forward 23 years later, I’m pretty sure this is their last time in town. There is no way I was going to miss this larger-than-life experience and neither were the KISS Army because this was a sold-out show.

The huge curtain isolating the stage from the crowd dropped and revealed a visually stunning setup with octagon video panels hanging above the stage. Almost the same setup as the one used when they played here back in 2019. Paul Stanley, Gene Simmons and Tommy Thayer descended from those panels as “Detroit Rock City” kicked things off followed by “Shout It Out Loud”. Paul and Gene are in great shape and both constantly interacted with the crowd, whether it was with words or with gestures. “War Machine” is another classic song that has a heavier vibe and it matches Gene’s vocal style perfectly. 

As expected, we see Gene breathing fire at the end of “I Love It Loud” and spitting blood before “God Of Thunder”. No matter how many times we have seen Gene do this, it simply never gets old and is a must during their concert. Tommy shoots fireworks from his guitar during his solo and Paul used a zip line to go to the secondary stage for the songs “Love Gun”, “Do You Love Me” and “Black Diamond”. The legendary rockers made ample use of the pyrotechnics and flames to highlight each and every song and also used their two gigantic mechanical arms to parade Gene and Tommy over the crowd for a short time while Paul was on the small staged.

The band slightly changed their setlist and brought back “Makin’ Love”, but overall, it is their usual set list that includes most of their biggest hits. They only played two recent songs, “Psycho Circus” and “Say Yeah”, both of which could have been replaced by other (and better) songs like “Tears Are Falling” or “Unholy”. 

Eric Singer was very solid on drums and had his usual moment in the spotlight during the encore when he sang Beth while playing the piano. Right before the band lit the place on fire with “I Was Made For Lovin' You”, their biggest commercial hit. This amazing show ended with the usual “Rock And Roll All Nite” and a ton of confetti.

This End Of The Road tour is truly a party for the fans and for the band as well. You could see the sadness in the face of many fans, as they knew, this was most probably the last time seeing the legendary KISS.