Kiss Newcastle City Hall 1983 and 1984
The next time I saw Kiss they had abandoned their trademark make-up and had plucked up the courage to appear before us all unmasked! (shock horror). What would these guys look like without the scary face paint? Well actually, they looked ok, and in some ways not too different from their onstage personas. Their new look was displayed to the world on the cover of the Lick It Up album, which was released in 1983. Their 1983 UK tour brought them to Newcastle City Hall and I went along with my mate Dave. Although the guys had gone (semi) straight in terms of their facial appearance, the show was almost as outrageous as ever. See the tank that appears on the front cover of the programme? 
Well that tank appeared on stage with KISS on the tour. From the KissFans site: “The stage was still a tank, and the “turret” moved… but there were hardly any pyrotechnics at all! KISS played in some very small venues and the gun had to be shortened for some shows… otherwise it would cut the stage in two!! Not every effect had been kicked out of the show however! The band would still end up on the “gun turret” and the turret would still turn from side to side, puffing smoke. Support for the 1983 concert were Heavy Pettin’, a metal band from Glasgow. KISS were soon back at the City Hall, playing two nights at the venue in 1984. This time the support was exciting in that it was Bon Jovi, who were up and coming and were touring in support of their debut album. 
This time we had seats right down the front, and came away almost deaf! 🙂 KISS were a shit hot rock band in the early 80s, with or without the make-up and the pyrotechnics. For this show, the UK dates had a scaled down version of the US stage show. Two ramps, allowed the band to walk from the top of the amplifiers to the stage. The drum riser was covered with black “fur”, while the ramps were painted like zebra fur. 
I remember feeling the poor cousins because we never seemed to get the full US KISS experience, I guess because of the logistics of taking their massive show around the world, and also because of the relatively small size of the venues which KISS were playing in this country, and in the rest of Europe. But, hey, it was still a great show and lots of fun. Setlist 1984: Creatures of the Night; Detroit Rock City; Cold Gin; Fits Like a Glove; Firehouse; Exciter; Gimme More; War Machine; I Love It Loud; I Still Love You; Young and Wasted; Love Gun; Black Diamond; Lick It Up; Rock and Roll All Nite
30 Aug
Kiss Newcastle City Hall 1983 and 1984
Posted August 30, 2013 by vintagerock in Bon Jovi, KIss. Tagged: classic rock, concert, concerts, gig, gigs, glam, heavy metal, heavy rock, music, rock, rock n roll. 9 Comments
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Posted by Andy Hopper on December 12, 2015 at 11:35 am
Hi
i was at the kiss concert on the 8th oct 84 the following day of your ticket and the support was Bon Jovi not Heavy Pettin as stipulated in yhe above comments. Also read wikipedia which backs this up.
Posted by vintagerock on December 12, 2015 at 11:47 am
Wow! My memory is terrible ….
I have checked and you are correct!
Cheers Peter
Posted by Richard H on March 19, 2016 at 3:35 pm
I was there both years and also 88, Bonjovi only supported in 84 then came back in 86 as the main act.
Posted by Richard H on March 19, 2016 at 3:32 pm
I was at both gigs and the one in 88. I remember Bonjovi for 84 only. They returned in 1986 as the main act.
Posted by Gary Wheatley on December 6, 2017 at 9:25 pm
I was at the 2 nights in 84 when Bon Jovi played support. Jon Bon Jovi actually bust my middle finger as I was right at the front with my arms out on the stage. The Kiss tank was all hidden behind a curtain when Jovi were playing, and the stage was only about 8′ deep at best. Anyway, he started jumping around “as you do” and landed straight on my finger!!! We followed Kiss around and waited for them at the Gosforth Park Hotel, met them all with photos etc. I think Samantha Fox got off the tour bus at the hotel. Paul Stanley was getting stuck into her at the time… Them were the days… For anyone who was around at the time, I was known as Doogle back then…
Posted by Craig Jackson on July 16, 2020 at 5:19 pm
I saw Bon Jovi at NCH in 86 when they headlined on the Slippery When Wet tour and I thought they were awful! I wasn’t really much a fan and only went because my mate was properly into them, but I thought they were such a bunch of second raters at the time! I was staggered when a few months later they started having huge hit singles with Livin on a Prayer, Dead or Alive etc. I did see them years later at Gateshead Stadium and I thought they were really rather good actually, so it was probably just my prejudices at the time coming into play, I can be pretty didactic and stubborn!
Posted by vintagerock on July 16, 2020 at 5:28 pm
Yeah I’ve seen Bon Jovi a few times Craig I think they were better in the early days but still good to see even now happy days Peter
Posted by Gary Edgar on April 18, 2023 at 2:36 pm
This was my first gig at 14, we came over from Carlisle on a coach deal!! And I was deaf for a few days! Absolutely blinding gig all round.
Posted by vintagerock on April 18, 2023 at 5:04 pm
Sounds like an adventure Gary happy days Peter