Lick It Up Tour

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The Lick it Up Tour was a concert tour by Kiss. It was the first tour by Kiss without makeup. They used the same "tank" stage design as the Creatures of the Night tour, keeping all the same gimmicks, with the exception of Gene Simmons' blood spitting.

Tour notes [edit]

"All Hell's Breaking Loose" made its live debut in New Orleans on January 8, 1984. Just one day later, Kiss performed to their smallest crowd drawn in a major venue when just 1,507 filed into the Mississippi Coast Coliseum in Biloxi. The poor sales were blamed on the close proximity of the New Orleans and Biloxi shows, just one day apart. "Exciter" was performed briefly, making its first appearance on October 11, and its final known live appearance on March 7.

The January 11 show in Nashville was recorded and an edited version aired on The King Biscuit Flower Hour. In recent years the entire show was made available among collectors. At the January 27 show in Long Beach, KISS were presented with their first Gold records since 1980 for the Lick It Up album.

Lead Guitarist Vinnie Vincent was fired after the European Tour due to "unethical behavior". Kiss didn't have enough time to search for another guitarist so they re-hired Vincent for the American Leg of the tour until his firing became permanent after the tour ended. Bass guitarist Gene Simmons stated in various interviews that Vincent's dismissal was due to the fact that he never signed his contract as an official member of Kiss and for unethical behavior.

Gene Simmons' visual effects [edit]

Simmons, when interviewed in August 1983, was unsure how his live persona would apply in the forthcoming unmasked shows. He commented, "There's still an element of finding out exactly who we are. I may possibly give up the blood-spitting onstage... The fire breathing I'd like to do". "God of Thunder" was replaced with "Young and Wasted" early in the tour, and the reason for this was explained in an interview following the Madrid shows. Gene commented: "I tried "God of Thunder" and I thought it was wrong. Certain musical pieces should be kept for certain occasions - out of respect. "God of Thunder" is me, I am both people, but you have to adjust certain things". While Simmons would retain his fire breathing routine, he was unsure, at the time, whether it would last: "If that begins to feel wrong I'll drop it as well. There's always a price to pay for something".

It has been widely disputed whether Simmons spit blood for the first and only time without his trademark makeup at the tour's first show in Lisbon. Simmons has both confirmed (in 2002) and denied this claim. In 2007, a picture was put on the internet of Gene Simmons supposedly spitting blood on this tour, but it was later found to be a fraud.^[1]

Setlist [edit]

1. "Creatures of the Night" (Paul Stanley, Adam Mitchell)
2. "Detroit Rock City" (Stanley, Bob Ezrin)
3. "Cold Gin" (Ace Frehley)
4. "Fits Like a Glove" (Gene Simmons)
5. "Firehouse" (Stanley)
6. "Exciter" (Stanley, Vinnie Vincent)
7. "Gimme More" (With Vinnie Vincent, Guitar Solo) (Stanley, Vincent)
8. "War Machine" (Simmons, Bryan Adams, Jim Vallance)
9. "I Love It Loud" (With Gene Simmons, Bass Solo) (Simmons, Vincent)
10. "I Still Love You" (Stanley, Vincent)
11. "Young and Wasted" (Simmons, Vincent)
12. "Drum Solo" (Eric Carr)
13. "Love Gun" (Stanley)
14. "Black Diamond" (Stanley)
15. "Lick It Up" (Stanley, Vincent)
16. "Rock and Roll All Nite" (Simmons, Stanley)

Tour [edit]

^[2]

Notes [edit]