There are a handful of Peruvians who remember, including myself, who remember humbler days when KISS played the Circus Center on Halloween night, 1974. The tour, in support of their second album "Hotter Than Hell", rolled into Peru and blew the roof off the Circus building.
Things I remember about the concert:
- Speakers, speaker, and more speakers. Once they hit the stage, the speakers became instruments of submission. I've never been to a louder concert...ever. With concrete floors, iron beams, and a sheet metal roof, the ear splitting music ricocheted around the building. That night, a number of Peru kids lost a little hearing. Huh?
- The blinding flash pots which opened the show. The explosions shook the building and once my eyes cleared, KISS was already a third of the way through their opening song ("Strutter", I think). Not being KISS knowledgable, I thought, "cool, they dressed up for Halloween!" Little did I know that two years later, the band would be featured on The Paul Lynde Halloween Special.
- You couldn't yell conversation at the show; even between songs. We were too stunned and temporarily deaf.
- They played songs from their soon-to-be-released album, "Dressed To Kill".
- The Gene Simmons fire spitting didn't impress me. I'd seen the same thing in Peru's circus.
- About two thirds through the show, I entered the "Official KISS Pain Zone" and split. I walked home, sat on my front porch (2 blocks away) and listened to the rest of the show.
As time passed, I watched KISS grow into mega-superstars. I saw KISS play two more times in arenas, once in December of 1977, the day blizzard covered Hwy. 31 opened for traffic.
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