Alive/Worldwide Tour Explained

Concert Tour Name:	Alive/Worldwide Tour
Artist:	Kiss
Start Date:	June 28, 1996
End Date:	July 5, 1997
Number Of Shows:	190 played, 8 cancelled
Last Tour:	Kiss My Ass Tour (1994–1995)
This Tour:	Alive/Worldwide Tour (1996–1997)
Next Tour:	Psycho Circus World Tour (1998–1999)

The Alive/Worldwide Tour (also known as the Reunion Tour) was a concert tour by American rock band Kiss which began on June 28, 1996 in Detroit, United States and concluded on July 5, 1997 in London, England. It was the first tour with original members Peter Criss and Ace Frehley since the Dynasty Tour in 1979.

Background

While Kiss continued to exist publicly as Simmons, Stanley, Kulick and Singer, arrangements for a reunion of the original lineup were in the works. These efforts culminated with a public event as dramatic as any the band had staged since its 1983 unmasking on MTV. With those statements, Tupac Shakur introduced the original Kiss lineup, in full makeup and Love Gun-era stage outfits, to a rousing ovation at the 38th Annual Grammy Awards on February 28, 1996:^[1]

On April 16, 1996, the band members held a press conference aboard the in New York City, where they announced their plans for a full-fledged reunion tour, with the help of new manager Doc McGhee. The conference, MC'd by Conan O'Brien, was simulcast to 58 countries.^[2] On April 20, nearly 40,000 tickets for the tour's first show sold out in 47 minutes.^[3] The band would bring back their vintage stunts, including Simmons' blood-spitting and fire-breathing, Frehley's smoking and shooting guitar, pyrotechnics and platform risers.^[4]

The members worked out to get into better physical shape for the tour, with Frehley going for plastic surgery, as Stanley stated that they 'did not want people to be disappointed when they saw a bunch of fat guys in tights'.^[5]

Following rehearsals, Kiss began their reunion tour on June 15, 1996 with a warmup gig in Irvine, California for the KROQ Weenie Roast.^{[6] [7]} It was considered by the band to be a live rehearsal for many aspects of the stage show before the tour was set to begin at a sold out Tiger Stadium in Detroit on June 28, 1996, playing to approximately 40,000 people.^{[8] [7]} The tour lasted for 192 shows over the course of one year and earned $43.6 million, making Kiss the top-drawing concert act of 1996.^[9] On April 5, 1997 during the band's show at the Columbus Civic Center, Criss was unable to perform, resulting in the band bringing in the drum technician Ed Kanon for that performance.^[10]

In the tour program for the band's final tour, Stanley reflected on the tour:

Reception

For the warmup performance at the KROQ "Weenie Roast", a reporter from the Los Angeles Times noted on the weak, stringy voice of Stanley, claiming that he was ill equipped for his operatic style that 'it's almost heroic for him to even try'. He noted that Kiss still looked and sounded like Kiss, noting on the teamwork that the band were sharing during the performance, concluding that both Criss and Frehley were now 'reconciled for fun and lots of profit'.^[11]

A reporter from Rolling Stone who attended the first show of the tour at Tiger Stadium in Detroit, stated: "Sure, Kiss suck, but give them a little credit - they've sucked for more than 20 years. Surviving has meant the band has lived long enough to see its influence on the next generation, which perhaps explains the shocking spectacle of Billy Corgan and Sebastian Bach bonding backstage. So, OK, maybe Kiss don't suck. And in their defense, it should be shouted out loud that they were one of the first bands to embrace fully the notion of rock as a show, thus putting them ahead of the curve that would soon bring us Cats and the re-emergence of Las Vegas as the new American capital."^[12]

From the final show in London at Finsbury Park, a reporter from The Independent stated: "As you'd expect with Kiss, it was one of the best stage entrances ever but, apart from a few moments, the gig soon sagged. They retained some interest through theatrics... the fact that all this was going on in daylight didn't help but when dusk fell, Kiss moved up several gears. Since it was the last night of a world tour that started over a year ago, sentimentality was a recurring theme. Singer and band spokesman Paul Stanley babbled on how important the Kiss Army were and how he'd like to get among them... If this was theatre, it was the theatre of the absurd, where the joke seemed to be on Kiss, until, finally, you realized that you'd had been laughing with them, not at them, all along."^[13]

Setlist

The following setlist was performed at the warmup show of the tour in Irvine, California and is not intended to represent all of the shows on tour.^[6]

1. "Deuce"
2. "Love Gun"
3. "Cold Gin"
4. "Calling Dr. Love"
5. "Firehouse"
6. "Shock Me"
7. "100,000 Years"
8. "Detroit Rock City"
9. "Black Diamond"

Encore

10. "Rock and Roll All Nite"

Tour dates

List of 1996 concerts, showing date, city, country, venue, and opening acts^{[14] [15]}

Date	City	Country	Venue	Opening Act(s)
June 15, 1996	Irvine	United States		Red Hot Chili Peppers
June 28, 1996	Detroit	United States		Alice in Chains Sponge
June 30, 1996	Louisville			Alice in Chains
July 2, 1996	St. Louis		Kiel Center
July 3, 1996	Kansas City		Kemper Arena
July 5, 1996	Dallas			Pushmonkey
July 6, 1996	Houston		The Summit
July 7, 1996	San Antonio		Alamodome
July 9, 1996	New Orleans			The Melvins
July 10, 1996	Memphis		Pyramid Arena
July 12, 1996	Moline		The MARK of the Quad Cities
July 13, 1996	Saint Paul		St. Paul Civic Center
July 14, 1996	Rosemont
July 16, 1996				The Nixons
July 17, 1996	Fairborn		Ervin J. Nutter Center
July 19, 1996	Cleveland		Gund Arena
July 20, 1996				D Generation
July 21, 1996	Pittsburgh			The Nixons
July 22, 1996				D Generation
July 25, 1996	New York City		Madison Square Garden
July 26, 1996				CIV
July 27, 1996				311
July 28, 1996				The Nixons
July 30, 1996	Boston		FleetCenter
July 31, 1996				D Generation
August 2, 1996	Quebec City	Canada	Colisée de Quebec
August 3, 1996	Montreal		Molson Centre
August 5, 1996	Ottawa		Corel Centre
August 6, 1996	Toronto		SkyDome
August 8, 1996	Cincinnati	United States	Riverfront Coliseum
August 9, 1996	Indianapolis		Market Square Arena
August 10, 1996	Milwaukee		Bradley Center
August 17, 1996	Leicestershire	England
August 21, 1996	Phoenix	United States		Stabbing Westward
August 23, 1996	Inglewood		Great Western Forum
August 24, 1996
August 25, 1996				Red Five
August 27, 1996	San Jose			Stabbing Westward
August 28, 1996	Sacramento		ARCO Arena
August 30, 1996	Portland		Rose Garden Arena
August 31, 1996	Tacoma		Tacoma Dome
September 1, 1996	Spokane		Spokane Arena
September 2, 1996	Vancouver	Canada	General Motors Place
September 5, 1996	Salt Lake City	United States		The Hunger
September 7, 1996	Denver		McNichols Sports Arena
September 8, 1996
September 10, 1996	Valley Center		Britt Brown Arena
September 11, 1996	Oklahoma City		Myriad Convention Center
September 13, 1996	Tupelo		Tupelo Coliseum
September 14, 1996	Birmingham		BJCC Coliseum
September 15, 1996	Pensacola		Pensacola Civic Center	The Verve Pipe
September 17, 1996	Miami		Miami Arena
September 19, 1996	Jacksonville		Jacksonville Coliseum
September 20, 1996	St. Petersburg		Thunderdome
September 22, 1996	Orlando		Orlando Arena
September 24, 1996	North Charleston		North Charleston Coliseum
September 25, 1996	Columbia		Carolina Coliseum
September 27, 1996	Charlotte		Charlotte Coliseum
September 28, 1996	Greensboro		Greensboro Coliseum
September 29, 1996	Knoxville		Thompson–Boling Arena
October 1, 1996	Atlanta		Omni Coliseum
October 2, 1996				The Bogmen
October 4, 1996	Roanoke		Roanoke Civic Center
October 5, 1996	Hampton		Hampton Coliseum
October 6, 1996	Landover		USAir Arena
October 7, 1996				Deftones
October 8, 1996	Philadelphia			The Bogmen
October 9, 1996				Deftones
October 11, 1996
October 12, 1996	Albany		Knickerbocker Arena
October 13, 1996	Buffalo		Marine Midland Arena
October 15, 1996	Indianapolis		Market Square Arena
October 16, 1996	Auburn Hills		The Palace of Auburn Hills
October 17, 1996				Coyote Shivers
October 18, 1996	Lexington			Deftones
October 20, 1996	Cleveland		Gund Arena
October 21, 1996	Rosemont		Rosemont Horizon
October 23, 1996	Omaha			Royal Crown Revue
October 24, 1996
October 26, 1996	Las Cruces			Fluffy
October 27, 1996	Albuquerque		Tingley Coliseum
October 29, 1996	San Diego			Caroline's Spine
October 31, 1996	Irvine		Irvine Meadows Amphitheatre	Poe
November 1, 1996				Reel Big Fish
November 2, 1996	Las Vegas			Caroline's Spine
November 5, 1996	Austin			Johnny Bravo
November 6, 1996	Lafayette		Cajundome
November 7, 1996	Shreveport		Hirsch Memorial Coliseum
November 9, 1996	Little Rock		Barton Coliseum
November 10, 1996	Dallas		Reunion Arena
November 20, 1996	Birmingham	England	NEC Arena	The Verve Pipe
November 21, 1996	Manchester		NYNEX Arena
November 25, 1996	London		Wembley Arena
December 1, 1996	Brussels	Belgium	Forest National
December 2, 1996	Paris	France	Zénith de Paris
December 4, 1996	Berlin	Germany		Die Ärzte
December 6, 1996	Stockholm	Sweden		The Verve Pipe
December 7, 1996	Gothenburg		Scandinavium
December 8, 1996	Oslo	Norway	Oslo Spektrum
December 10, 1996	Rotterdam	Netherlands	Rotterdam Ahoy
December 11, 1996	Frankfurt	Germany		Die Ärzte
December 12, 1996	Oberhausen		Oberhausen Arena
December 14, 1996	Prague	Czech Republic		The Verve Pipe
December 15, 1996
December 16, 1996	Vienna	Austria	Libro Music Hall
December 18, 1996	Milan	Italy	Filaforum
December 19, 1996	Zürich	Switzerland	Hallenstadion
December 20, 1996	Stuttgart	Germany		Die Ärzte
December 21, 1996	Dortmund		Westfalenhalle
December 28, 1996	Worcester	United States		The 4th Floor
December 29, 1996	Uniondale		Nassau Veterans Memorial Coliseum
December 30, 1996	Hartford		Hartford Civic Center
December 31, 1996	East Rutherford		Continental Airlines Arena

List of 1997 concerts, showing date, city, country, venue, and opening acts

Date	City	Country	Venue	Opening Act(s)
January 18, 1997	Tokyo	Japan		rowspan="6"
January 20, 1997	Nagoya		Nagoya Rainbow Hall
January 21, 1997	Osaka		Osaka Castle Hall
January 22, 1997
January 24, 1997	Fukuoka		Kokusai Center
January 25, 1997	Hiroshima		Hiroshima Sun Plaza
January 31, 1997	Auckland	New Zealand	The Supertop	The Exponents
February 3, 1997	Brisbane	Australia		Custard
February 5, 1997	Sydney			Fireballs
February 6, 1997				The Screaming Jets
February 9, 1997	Perth			Non-Intentional Lifeform
February 11, 1997	Adelaide			Fireballs
February 13, 1997	Melbourne		Centre Court
February 14, 1997				The Fauves
February 15, 1997				Snout
March 7, 1997	Mexico City	Mexico		Pantera
March 8, 1997
March 9, 1997
March 11, 1997	Santiago	Chile	Velodromo del Estadio Nacional
March 14, 1997	Buenos Aires	Argentina	River Plate Stadium
March 21, 1997	New Haven	United States		Powerman 5000
March 22, 1997	Springfield		Springfield Civic Center
March 23, 1997	Providence		Providence Civic Center
March 25, 1997	Portland		Cumberland County Civic Center
March 27, 1997	Wheeling		Wheeling Civic Center
March 28, 1997	Hamilton	Canada		Glueleg
March 29, 1997	University Park	United States		Powerman 5000
March 31, 1997	Charleston		Charleston Civic Center
April 1, 1997	Baltimore		Baltimore Arena
April 2, 1997	Richmond		Richmond Coliseum
April 4, 1997	Chapel Hill		Dean Smith Center
April 5, 1997	Columbus		Columbus Civic Center
April 6, 1997	Nashville		Nashville Arena
April 8, 1997	Evansville			D Generation
April 9, 1997	Fort Wayne		Allen County War Memorial Coliseum
April 10, 1997	Grand Rapids			Outhouse
April 12, 1997	Toledo		John F. Savage Hall
April 13, 1997	Peoria		Peoria Civic Center
April 15, 1997	St. Louis		Kiel Center
April 16, 1997	Topeka		Landon Arena
April 18, 1997	Sioux Falls		Sioux Falls Arena
April 19, 1997	Ames		Hilton Coliseum
April 20, 1997	Cedar Rapids		Five Seasons Center
April 22, 1997	Saint Paul		St. Paul Civic Center
April 23, 1997	Madison		Dane County Expo Coliseum
April 25, 1997	Mankato		Mankato Civic Center
April 26, 1997	Fargo		Fargodome
April 27, 1997	Bismark		Bismarck Civic Center
April 29, 1997	Winnipeg	Canada		Econoline Crush
April 30, 1997
May 1, 1997	Saskatoon		Saskatchewan Place
May 2, 1997	Edmonton		Edmonton Coliseum
May 3, 1997	Calgary		Canadian Airlines Saddledome
May 5, 1997	Seattle	United States		Sugar Ray
May 6, 1997	Vancouver	Canada	General Motors Place	Econoline Crush
May 16, 1997	Nuremberg	Germany		rowspan="2"
May 18, 1997	Nürburgring		Rock am Ring
May 21, 1997	Berlin			Otto Waalkes
May 22, 1997	Leipzig			Die Ärzte
May 24, 1997	Hamburg		Trabrennbahn Bahrenfeld
May 29, 1997	Wels	Austria	Messegelände	Moonspell Naked Lunch Alkbottle Sextiger
May 31, 1997	Imst		Skiarena Imst	Moonspell Naked Lunch
June 1, 1997	Zürich	Switzerland	Hallenstadion	Sideburn
June 4, 1997	Belgrade	Yugoslavia		Die Ärzte Moonspell
June 5, 1997	Budapest	Hungary		Warpigs Irigy Hónaljmirigy
June 7, 1997	Prague	Czech Republic		Waltari Lut Pes Satisfucktion
June 10, 1997	Ghent	Belgium		Uncle Meat
June 11, 1997	Utrecht	Netherlands	Prins Van Oranjehal	Channel Zero
June 14, 1997	Stockholm	Sweden		The Hellacopters Fungus
June 15, 1997
June 17, 1997	Helsinki	Finland		The Hellacopters
June 19, 1997	Oslo	Norway	Oslo Spektrum
June 21, 1997	Copenhagen	Denmark		Passion Orange Strawberry Slaughterhouse
June 25, 1997	Madrid	Spain		El Fantastico Hombre Bala
June 26, 1997	Zaragoza		Plaza de Toros de Zaragoza
June 30, 1997	Barcelona		Palau dels Esports de Barcelona
July 2, 1997	Geneva	Switzerland		Core
July 5, 1997	London	England		Rage Against the Machine Skunk Anansie Thunder L7 3 Colours Red

Postponed and cancelled dates

Date	City	Venue	Reasoning
September 4, 1996	Boise	BSU Pavilion	Cancelled to appear on the MTV Video Music Awards.
November 28, 1996	Madrid	Palacio de los Deportes	Cancelled due to the French Road Transport Strike
November 29, 1996	Zaragoza	Sala Multiusos
January 28, 1997	Yokohama	Yokohama Arena	Cancelled due to low ticket sales
May 7, 1997	Yakima	Yakima SunDome	Cancelled due to needing more rehearsal time for the European tour
May 9, 1997	Reno	Lawlor Events Center
May 10, 1997	San Francisco	Cow Palace
May 26, 1997	Warsaw	Stadion Gwardia	Cancelled due to low ticket sales
June 28, 1997	Lisbon	Estadio Nacional

Box office score data

Date! scope="col" style="width:16em;"

City	Venue	Attendance	Gross
June 28, 1996	Detroit	Tiger Stadium	39,867 / 39,867	$1,561,953	^[16]
June 30, 1996	Louisville	Freedom Hall Coliseum	15,891 / 15,891	$473,440	^[17]
July 2, 1996	St. Louis	Kiel Center	16,310 / 16,310	$598,337	^[18]
July 9, 1996	New Orleans	Louisiana Superdome	16,308 / 16,308	$513,665
July 25–28, 1996	New York City	Madison Square Garden	58,820 / 58,820	$3,267,670	^[19]
August 23–25, 1996	Inglewood	The Forum	40,919 / 40,919	$1,601,705	^[20]
September 11, 1996	Oklahoma City	Myriad Arena	9,423 / 10,343	$334,630	^[21]
September 20, 1996	St. Petersburg	ThunderDome	14,328 / 14,328	$532,881	^[22]
September 25, 1996	Columbia	Coliseum	9,034 / 9,034	$326,800	^[23]
September 28, 1996	Greensboro	Coliseum	16,100 / 16,100	$547,293
October 1–2, 1996	Atlanta	Omni	23,798 / 26,336	$868,627	^[24]
October 16–17, 1996	Auburn Hills	Palace of Auburn Hills	27,267 / 27,267	$1,183,635
October 18, 1996	Lexington	Rupp Arena	11,740 / 14,000	$424,647
October 20, 1996	Cleveland	Gund Arena	17,037 / 17,037	$554,399
October 23–24, 1996	Omaha	Civic Auditorium	21,332 / 21,332	$629,294
October 31, 1996	Irvine	Irvine Meadows Amphitheatre	22,550 / 30,832	$801,744	^[25]
November 2, 1996	Las Vegas	MGM Grand Garden	13,030 / 13,030	$587,330	^[26]
November 5, 1996	Austin	Frank Erwin Center	7,929 / 13,506	$272,699	^[27]
December 29, 1996	Uniondale	Nassau Veterans Memorial Coliseum	13,972 / 14,550	$764,030	^[28]
December 31, 1996	East Rutherford	Continental Airlines Arena	13,253 / 15,310	$725,655
March 7–9, 1997	Mexico City	Sports Palace	55,800 / 55,800	$1,183,988	^[29]
March 23, 1997	Providence	Civic Center	10,818 / 10,818	$377,448
April 6, 1997	Nashville	Arena	15,267 / 15,267	$487,008	^[30]
April 20, 1997	Cedar Rapids	Five Seasons Center	9,084 / 9,084	$313,398	^[31]

Personnel

• Paul Stanley – vocals, rhythm guitar
• Gene Simmons – vocals, bass
• Peter Criss – drums, vocals
• Ace Frehley – lead guitar, vocals

Additional musician

• Ed Kanon – drums, drum technician^[10]

See also

• List of highest-grossing concert tours

References

Sources

• Book: Gooch . Curt . Suhs . Jeff . Kiss Alive Forever: The Complete Touring History . Billboard Books . 2002 . New York . 0-8230-8322-5.

Notes and References

1. Web site: Grammy Flashback 1996 . MTV . September 28, 2021 . dead . https://web.archive.org/web/20020222002510/http://www.mtv.com/bands/g/news_feature_grammyflashback/1996/ . February 22, 2002 .
2. Browne . David . Flashback: Kiss and Conan O'Brien Announce the Band's 1996 Reunion . Rolling Stone . April 27, 2021 . April 16, 2021.
3. Gooch and Suhs, Kiss Alive Forever, p. 224.
4. Book: Weiss . Brett . Encyclopedia of Kiss : music, personnel, events and related subjects . August 11, 2017 . McFarland & Company, Inc. . Jefferson, North Carolina . 9781476625409 . 12.
5. Book: Stanley . Paul . Face the Music: A Life Exposed . 2014 . HarperCollins . New York . 978-0-06-211404-4 . First.
6. Web site: Wilkening . Matthew . 25 Years Ago: Kiss Preview Their Blockbuster Reunion Tour . Ultimate Classic Rock . October 5, 2021 . en . June 25, 2021.
7. News: Kiss kicks off explosive new tour . January 3, 2022 . Sun Journal . June 17, 1996 . Lewiston, Maine . 14C . en.
8. Web site: Wilkening . Matthew . Revisiting Kiss' First Reunion Show . Ultimate Classic Rock . September 28, 2021 . en . June 28, 2016.
9. Web site: December 30, 1996 . Kiss is top concert draw of 1996 . USA Today . April 16, 2006.
10. Web site: Giles . Jeff . 20 Years Ago: Ed Kanon Replaces Peter Criss in Kiss for One Night . Ultimate Classic Rock . April 26, 2022 . en . April 5, 2017.
11. Los Angeles Times, June 17, 1996
12. Rolling Stone #740
13. The Independent, July 11, 1997
14. Book: Gooch . Curt . Kiss Alive Forever: The Complete Touring History . 2002 . Billboard Books . New York . 0-8230-8322-5.
15. News: Kiss getting ready for worldwide tour . October 10, 2021 . The Free Lance-Star . April 17, 1996 . Fredericksburg . A3 . en . The first concert is June 28 at Detroit's Tiger Stadium..
16. Amusement Business Boxscore . Billboard . July 20, 1996 . 108 . 29 . 12 . October 3, 2021 . Nielsen Business Media, Inc. . en . 0006-2510.
17. Amusement Business Boxscore . Billboard . July 13, 1996 . 108 . 28 . 16 . October 3, 2021 . Nielsen Business Media, Inc. . en . 0006-2510.
18. Amusement Business Boxscore . Billboard . July 27, 1996 . 108 . 30 . 12 . October 3, 2021 . Nielsen Business Media, Inc. . en . 0006-2510.
19. Amusement Business Boxscore . Billboard . August 10, 1996 . 108 . 32 . 16 . October 3, 2021 . Nielsen Business Media, Inc. . en . 0006-2510.
20. Amusement Business Boxscore . Billboard . September 7, 1996 . 108 . 36 . 18 . October 3, 2021 . Nielsen Business Media, Inc. . en . 0006-2510.
21. Amusement Business Boxscore . Billboard . September 28, 1996 . 108 . 39 . 14 . October 3, 2021 . Nielsen Business Media, Inc. . en . 0006-2510.
22. Amusement Business Boxscore . Billboard . October 5, 1996 . 108 . 40 . 20 . October 3, 2021 . Nielsen Business Media, Inc. . en . 0006-2510.
23. Amusement Business Boxscore . Billboard . October 19, 1996 . 108 . 42 . 21 . October 3, 2021 . Nielsen Business Media, Inc. . en . 0006-2510.
24. Amusement Business Boxscore . Billboard . November 9, 1996 . 45 . 13 . October 3, 2021 . Nielsen Business Media, Inc. . en . 0006-2510.
25. Amusement Business Boxscore . Billboard . November 16, 1996 . 108 . 46 . 16 . October 3, 2021 . Nielsen Business Media, Inc. . en . 0006-2510.
26. Amusement Business Boxscore . Billboard . November 23, 1996 . 108 . 47 . 18 . October 3, 2021 . Nielsen Business Media, Inc. . en . 0006-2510.
27. Amusement Business Boxscore . Billboard . December 14, 1996 . 108 . 50 . 12 . October 3, 2021 . Nielsen Business Media, Inc. . en . 0006-2510.
28. Amusement Business Boxscore . Billboard . January 25, 1997 . 109 . 4 . 22 . October 3, 2021 . Nielsen Business Media, Inc. . en . 0006-2510.
29. Amusement Business Boxscore . Billboard . April 5, 1997 . 109 . 14 . 14 . October 3, 2021 . Nielsen Business Media, Inc. . en . 0006-2510.
30. Amusement Business Boxscore . Billboard . April 26, 1997 . 109 . 17 . 16 . October 3, 2021 . Nielsen Business Media, Inc. . en . 0006-2510.
31. Amusement Business Boxscore . Billboard . May 3, 1997 . 109 . 18 . 16 . October 3, 2021 . Nielsen Business Media, Inc. . en . 0006-2510.