Revenge Tour

The Revenge Tour was a concert tour by Kiss in support of the band's album Revenge. It was the first tour with drummer Eric Singer, replacing Eric Carr who died of cancer on November 24, 1991. The Detroit, Indianapolis and Cleveland shows were recorded for Kiss' first live album in 16 years, Alive III. Danger Danger, Faster Pussycat, Fortress, Great White, Jackyl, Shooting Gallery, Trixter and Vesuvius were the supporting acts for this tour.^[1] There were three legs to the tour, with the first being a series of 13 shows played in small clubs in North America in April and May 1992, followed by an eight date run of full scale shows in the United Kingdom in the second half of May. The third, and final, leg was a tour of North American arenas which did not kick off until October of that year. Average attendance was at its lowest for this tour since 1975 averaging 5000 fans a night.

Stage setup

For the North American club tour, the band played on stage with no props and no pyrotechnics, due to the small size of these venues.

For the UK leg of the tour, the stage set from the Hot in the Shade Tour was used. During the show at Cardiff National Ice Rink on 20/05/92, a pyro queue for "Heaven's on Fire" caused £30,000 worth of damage to the ceiling.^[2]

For the North American arena tour, the stage featured a giant replica of the Statue of Liberty in front of a large Kiss logo wall.^[3] Halfway through the show, the statue's face crumbled to reveal its skull.^[4] Afterward, its right arm and torch crumbled down before its skeleton hand gave the finger.

As on the Hot in the Shade Tour, Steve Jander and his Dallas-based Showlasers were brought in to develop a laser show similar to the one used on the previous tour.

At the show in San Bernardino, California, the band only used the vinyl backdrop with the Kiss logo due to the Orange Show Pavilion being unable to support the lighting rig and Statue Of Liberty prop. This show also featured no lasers and minimal pyrotechnics.

Aftermath and Alive III

The tour was plagued by abysmal ticket sales in most markets. There are several theories as to why, the most popular being Kiss' failure to hit the road while Revenge was still on the charts. The tour was originally to play amphitheaters, beginning in July at Expo Square Pavilion in Tulsa, Oklahoma; however, these plans were axed when Stanley went forward with his wedding to Pamela Bowen and Simmons welcomed a child. By the time the proper arena began, Revenge had fallen out of the Billboard 200, and the single "Everytime I Look At You" had officially been declared a bust by Mercury Records.

The shows in Cleveland, Detroit and Indianapolis were recorded by Eddie Kramer as the basis for the Alive III album.

The final show in Phoenix, Arizona, was not intended to be the last one at all. A January 21 date at Tarrant County Convention Center in Fort Worth, Texas, was to launch the second US leg, but in late November, plans for any future dates were scrapped. Due to the ticket sales being so low, plans for a summer 1993 tour supporting Alive III were scrapped as well.

Setlist (North American club tour and UK tour)

1. "Love Gun"
2. "Deuce"
3. "Heaven's on Fire"
4. "Parasite"
5. "Shout It Out Loud"
6. "Strutter"
7. "Calling Dr. Love"
8. "I Was Made For Lovin' You"
9. "Unholy"
10. "100,000 Years"
11. "Take It Off"
12. "God of Thunder"
13. "Lick It Up"
14. "Firehouse"
15. "Tears Are Falling"
16. "I Love It Loud"
17. "I Stole Your Love"
18. "Cold Gin"
19. "Detroit Rock City"
20. "I Want You"
21. "God Gave Rock 'n' Roll to You II"
22. "Rock And Roll All Nite"

• The UK leg of the tour featured essentially the same set list as the North American club tour. However, the UK shows opened with "I Stole Your Love", and "Love Gun" was moved to later in the set, placed between "I Love It Loud" and "Cold Gin".

Setlist (North American arena tour)

1. "Creatures of the Night"
2. "Deuce"
3. "I Just Wanna"
4. "Unholy"
5. "Parasite"
6. "Heaven's on Fire"
7. "Domino"
8. "Watchin' You"
9. "Hotter Than Hell"
10. "Firehouse"
11. "I Want You"
12. "Forever"
13. "War Machine"
14. "Rock and Roll All Nite"
15. "Lick It Up"
16. "Take It Off"
17. "Strutter"
18. "I Love It Loud"
19. "Detroit Rock City"
20. "Shout It Out Loud"
21. "God Gave Rock 'n' Roll to You II"
22. "Love Gun"
23. "Star Spangled Banner"

• "Christine Sixteen", "Cold Gin" and "Tears Are Falling" were played for a few dates of the tour.

References