Every KISS St. Louis Show: Setlists, Videos & More

Many of us grew up idolizing KISS and they had a special relationship with St. Louis, Missouri. I've collected information on every concert they ever played there along with gathering setlists, videos and memories from those that experienced them.

I had a friend introduce me to KISS when I was around 11 years old. From that point forward, I had every album, video and magazine I could get my hands on that had info about the band. My walls were plastered with posters of Ace Frehley who was my favorite member. I even got a guitar from the Penneys catalog that looked like the Les Paul he played. I had the comic book that allegedly had their blood in it and I always desired the KISS pinball machine, but that sadly never happened.

St. Louis was one of the first cities to embrace KISS and it all started with a kite festival in 1974 before they had ascended to great fame. Here are all the KISS shows in St. Louis through every era:

March 31, 1974 - Forest Park - 4th Annual KSHE Kite Fly

Here was the setlist from that early show:

• Deuce
• Strutter
• Cold Gin
• She
• Nothin' to Lose
• Let Me Know
• Black Diamond
• Let Me Go, Rock 'n' Roll

May 3, 1974 - Ambassador Theatre - Club/theater era before national fame

You can see a pic from that show in the old St. Louis theater. The setlist was a bit longer than the outdoor performance they did at Forest Park only a couple months earlier and had the usual KISS pyrotechnics:

• Deuce
• Strutter
• She
• Firehouse
• Nothin' to Lose
• Cold Gin
• Kissin' Time
• Let Me Know
• Acrobat
• 100,000 Years (with bass and drum solos)
• Black Diamond

November 7, 1974 - Kiel Opera House - First major St. Louis theater show

The KISS live show was becoming even more elaborate by the time they returned in the late Fall of 1974 to the Kiel Opera House during the Hotter than Hell era. Here's the setlist from that night:

• Deuce
• Strutter
• Got to Choose
• Hotter Than Hell
• Firehouse
• Nothin' to Lose
• Watchin' You
• Parasite
• 100,000 Years
• Black Diamond
• Let Me Go, Rock 'n' Roll
• Cold Gin
• She

February 20, 1975 - Kiel Auditorium - Dressed to Kill era

There's not much known about this early 1975 KISS concert at the Kiel Auditorium after Dressed to Kill was released, but there is a picture of Gene Simmons from that show here.

November 1, 1975 - Kiel Auditorium - Alive! tour

By early November of 1975, the word was out that KISS was the ultimate live concert. Here's the setlist for those early shows during the Alive! tour:

• Deuce
• Strutter
• Got to Choose
• Hotter Than Hell
• Firehouse
• She (with Ace Frehley guitar solo)
• Nothin' to Lose
• C'mon and Love Me
• 100,000 Years (with Peter Criss drum solo)
• Black Diamond
• Cold Gin
• Rock and Roll All Nite
• Let Me Go, Rock 'n' Roll

July 28 & 29, 1976 - Kiel Auditorium - Destroyer Tour

KISS performed two sold-out shows on back to back nights in July of 1976.

December 7, 1977 - Checkerdome - Love Gun Tour

October 2, 1979 - Checkerdome - Dynasty Tour (with Judas Priest opening)

This was one of the first concerts that KISS would perform in St. Louis that wasn't sold out as many fans felt the band betrayed them by "going disco". There were claims that Judas Priest opened that Checkerdome show, but many say it was John Cougar (before he was Mellencamp) instead:

• King of the Night Time World
• Let Me Go, Rock 'n' Roll
• Move On (Paul Stanley solo)
• Calling Dr. Love
• Firehouse
• New York Groove (Russ Ballard cover / Ace Frehley vocals)
• I Was Made for Lovin' You
• Christine Sixteen
• 2000 Man (The Rolling Stones cover / Ace Frehley guitar solo)
• Love Gun
• God of Thunder (Gene Simmons bass solo / Peter Criss drum solo)
• Shout It Out Loud
• Black Diamond
• Detroit Rock City
• Beth
• Rock and Roll All Nite

February 27, 1983 - Kiel Auditorium - Final show before removing the makeup

This was the only show in St. Louis KISS performed during the "Creatures of the Night" era with the big tank on stage:

December 4, 1984 - Kiel Auditorium - Animalize Tour

This KISS show was historic for several reasons many don't know. This was one of the first live performances for Bruce Kulick who was initially brought in as a temporary fill-in for Mark St. John who had developed problems with his hands. Mark had just played his final live concert only a week prior to this St. Louis show where Bruce made his first St. Louis appearance.

January 23, 1986 - Kiel Auditorium - Asylum Tour

January 9, 1988 - Kiel Auditorium - Crazy Nights Tour

June 1, 1990 - Kiel Auditorium - Hot in the Shade Tour

November 13, 1992 - St. Louis Arena (formerly Checkerdome) - Revenge Tour

July 11, 1995 - Airport Hilton - Rare fan convention/acoustic performance—not a full arena concert

July 2, 1996 - Kiel Center - Original lineup reunion tour

April 15, 1997 - Kiel Center - Alive/Worldwide Tour

August 26, 2000 - Riverport Amphitheatre - Original Farewell Tour

September 8, 2003 - Riverport Amphitheater - World Domination Tour

June 28, 2004 - Riverport Amphitheater - Rock the Nation Tour

August 27, 2012 - Riverport Amphitheater - The Tour

August 18, 2014 - Riverport Amphitheatre - 40th Anniversary Tour

According to Paul Stanley and Gene Simmons, you'll never see KISS with makeup ever perform again. They are still doing another one-off performance this year during their KISS Kruise event in Las Vegas in November with Eric Singer and Tommy Thayer, but the original KISS is now history especially with the sad passing of Ace Frehley. Their connection to St. Louis from the very beginning give the thousands who saw them in Missouri special memories of shows that were spectacles they'll never forget.