KISS brings over-the-top farewell tour to PPG Paints Arena

Frank Carnevale | Saturday, March 30, 2019 10:23 p.m.

Shane Dunlap | Tribune-Review

KISS performs at PPG Paints Arena on Saturday night, March 30, 2019 in Pittsburgh.

KISS brought its “End of the Road” farewell tour to the PPG Paints Arena on Saturday night in anticipation of hanging up the costumes and platform boots for good.

The highly theatrical band, which first came to the Steel City 40 years ago with an appearance at the more intimate Stanley Theater, went out with a bang, delivering their most powerful, over-the-top rock-n-roll party yet.

The show kicked off with “Detroit Rock City” and continued with hard rock anthems “Shout It Out Loud” and “Duece.” The setlist went deep with songs that relied heavily on the band’s early records.

Kiss is rocking Pittsburgh @KISSOnline @PaulStanleyLive pic.twitter.com/rZjuislcuz

— Dennis Rundle JR (@Redneck2275) March 31, 2019

Shout It Out Loud @PPGPaintsArena #Pittsburgh! #EndOfTheRoad pic.twitter.com/3U0TLRqr5Z

— KISS (@KISSOnline) March 31, 2019

Other songs the band played — according to Setlist.fm — included “Heaven’s on Fire” from 1984’s Animalize album; “Lick It Up;” and “Calling Dr. Love.”

“Cold Gin” featured a guitar solo by Tommy Thayer with a his guitar firing a pryo blast to match an overhead light show . “War Machine” from the Creatures of the Night album had bassist Gene Simmons breathing fire; while he had a solo and spit blood on “God of Thunder.” “Love Gun” had lead vocalist and guitarist Paul Stanley interacting with the crowd.

WOW! @tommy_thayer scorching #Pittsburgh at @PPGPaintsArena! #EndOfTheRoad pic.twitter.com/DsmBCiff3a

— KISS (@KISSOnline) March 31, 2019

KISS mixed up the show with the disco-tinged hit “I Was Made for Lovin’ You.”

After closing the show with “Black Dimaond,” the band came back for a encore with the ballad “Beth,” with drummer Eric Singer alone on the piano. That was followed by “Do You Love Me.”

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Sharing a video clip of KISS performing Beth from tonight’s show in Pittsburgh. Eric Singer really does a great job with this performance and of course it’s a great song. A big highlight of the concert for me! ???❤️ #kissonline #kissarmy #kissendoftheroadtour #beth #concert #livemusic #rocklegends #classicrock #paulstanleylive #genesimmons #ericsinger #tommythayer #acefrehley #petercriss #pittsburgh

A post shared by Brian (@musicfanbrian) on Mar 30, 2019 at 10:24pm PDT

And they fittingly closed the show with confetti canons and pyrotechnics — in possibly their last show in Pittsburgh — with “Rock and Roll All Nite.”

The band shared some photos from backstage before the show started.

Backstage at @PPGPaintsArena #Pittsburgh #EndOfTheRoad pic.twitter.com/iHQlPGoR48

— KISS (@KISSOnline) March 30, 2019

Simmons even tweeted a photo of him getting his mask put on:

Getting ready backstage. Pittsburgh, here we come! pic.twitter.com/KJgBCp60nX

— Gene Simmons (@genesimmons) March 30, 2019

Fans also shared photos and clips from the concert. Here are some:

Awesome Show in Pittsburgh PA Tonight!! My 40th KISS Show!! pic.twitter.com/qSJa3aePTT

— Michael Feltner (@feltner_michael) March 31, 2019

KISS KILLED PITTSBURGH!! pic.twitter.com/DVopnCumDi

— Gary Deitch (@inbred_ged) March 31, 2019

#PITTSBURGH You want the best? YOU GOT THE BEST! ⁦#KISS pic.twitter.com/tNLGONVNtg

— Madden Producer (@MaddenProducer) March 31, 2019

Live at the kiss concert in Pittsburgh pretty cool and loud as hell pic.twitter.com/MJkDsKk7fl

— TankTyrantYT (@TankTyrantYT) March 31, 2019

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What a truly Incredible show! #kissarmy #Kiss #endoftheroadtour #rockandrollwillneverdie

A post shared by Subi Gang ?? (@jdemoss92) on Mar 31, 2019 at 8:12am PDT

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Some pics from tonight’s amazing, sold out, KISS concert in Pittsburgh! Great show, they went all out, sparred no expenses with a stage show that was loaded with every kind of pyro you can set off! The band sounded great and my favorites from the night were Black Diamond, Let me go, Rock n Roll, Lick it up, Heavens on Fire, Detroit Rock City, Do you love me, Cold Gin, War Machine, Calling Dr Love and Beth! It’s sad they won’t be touring anymore, I have seen KISS around 15 times in concert, as far back as High School, and they never disappoint! ⭐️??? #kissonline #kissendoftheroadtour #concert #kissarmy #kissfans #livemusic #rocknroll #classicrock #paulstanleylive #genesimmons #acefrehley #petercriss #ericsinger #tommythayer #pittsburgh

A post shared by Brian (@musicfanbrian) on Mar 30, 2019 at 10:04pm PDT

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I have lots of cool pics from tonight, but this was one of my favorites. The great @paulstanleylive amongst the flames of @kissonline’s final trip through #Pittsburgh! @ppgpaintsarena #ppgpaintsarena #paulstanley #kiss #kissonline #thehottestbandintheworld #youwantedthebestyougotthebest #rockandroll #classic #legend

A post shared by brian_metzer (@brian_metzer) on Mar 30, 2019 at 10:12pm PDT