The Untold Story Of The 1975 KISS Concert In Hartland, MI - "You Can Say It Was A Flat-Out Fiasco"

January 7, 2019, 5 years ago

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The Untold Story Of The 1975 KISS Concert In Hartland, MI - "You Can Say It Was A Flat-Out Fiasco"

Buddy Moorehouse at the The Livingston Post has published an account of a KISS show that took place in Michigan's Hartland County in 1975, which he admits he knew nothing about in spite of being an editor at the local newspaper for 26 years (1983-2009). Moorehouse went back and researched the events surrounding the show; following is an excerpt.

"This is one of the coolest events in Livingston County history – for God’s sake, we’re talking about KISS here – and I didn’t know anything about it? What the hell? How did I not know this? Why didn’t one of you people tell me about it? How could this have happened?

What makes this whole situation even more outrageous is that the story of KISS’ 1975 concert in Hartland is a flat-out fascinating story all the way around that doesn’t just involve KISS performing a concert in Hartland. It also features a sketchy venue owner, a community that went ballistic when it happened, public urination, some outrageous letters to the editor, and, of course, drugs.

The concert took place at a long-gone venue in Hartland called the Nordic Ice Arena, which was located on the south side of M-59, just east of U.S. 23, where the now-closed Walmart store is located.

Here’s what we know about the concert itself:

- Tickets were just $4.50 in advance, $5.50 at the door. Among the ticket outlets were Schafer’s House of Music in Howell and Brighton. If anyone saved a ticket stub, we’d love to see it.

- There were a couple opening acts for KISS, including the Mike Quatro Jam Band. Mike’s sister, Suzi Quatro, went on to great fame as Leather Tuscadero on Happy Days.

- While we don’t know exactly what songs KISS played that night, the tour’s typical set list began with 'Deuce' and 'Strutter', and ended with 'Rock and Roll All Nite' and 'Let Me Go, Rock ’n’ Roll'.

And here’s where the story gets REALLY interesting, because it turns out that while the people inside the concert might have loved it, the people outside the concert did not. You can say it was a flat-out fiasco."

Read the complete story and view some news clippings here.


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