KISS Alive 35!

In 1974, KISS came to Detroit and played their first concert at Cobo Hall. In that front row sat a sixteen year old boy at his first concert. He was memorized by the personas that sat on stage; the Demon (Gene Simmons), Starchild (Paul Stanley), Spaceman (Ace Freley), and Catman (Peter Criss). In his mind KISS was the greatest band on earth, and as long they were playing music he would be there with his long hair and acid jeans to listen.
Now that boy is a 51 year old man. The top of his head is no longer a garden of hair and the acid jeans he once wore no longer fit (and even if they did, he wouldn't wear them anyway). Even though he still feels young, he catches himself starting his stories with the words "back in my day...". He was celebrating his birthday with his family when his son handed him an old KISS cd. The thought of the older days made him smile and he thanked his son, as he opened the case. His hands started to shake and his eyes started to water as he noticed the two peices of paper inside that had the word "ticketmaster" on them, and was dated for that upcoming saturday. For him, it felt like he was sixteen years old again.
Yes that man is my father. For his birthday I wanted to be able to take him to a KISS concert. I love KISS and have always wanted to see them live. When I heard they were having a show one last time before they demolished Cobo Arena, I knew I had to go with my dad.
Another great fact about my father is that he is a first generation American. Both of his parents are from Greece, so I thought it would be great to spend the afternoon in Greektown. He had a Gyro and I had a Souvlaki (think of a lamb shish-kabab with the veggies). After eating, we headed on the Detroit People Mover and went to the show.
KISS put on a great performance. It was great to see the vast array of KISS fans out there. There were people as old as my father, people around my age, and then kids 10 years old and younger there. I'm really glad my father and I were able to finally able to go see a KISS concert together. And for my father...he can say he seen the very first and very last KISS concert at Cobo Arena!

-James Cahilellis