Animalize World Tour - 1984 -'85
Start Date: September 30, 1984
End Date:March 29, 1985
Shows:119
Legs: 2
Countries: Belgium, Canada, Denmark, England, Finland, France, The Netherlands, Norway, Scotland, Sweden, Switzerland, United States, West Germany
Opening Acts:Bon Jovi, Dokken, Krokus, Queensryche, Sentinel, Steelover, W.A.S.P
Average Attendance:6,209
Line Up: Paul Stanley, Mark St. John, Bruce Kulick, Gene Simmons, Eric Carr
After the short lived relationship with Vinnie Vincent ended, the band was in need of another lead guitar player, Paul sought the advice of renowned guitar luthier/tech Grover Jackson, who suggested a guitar teacher from Orange Country, California as the ideal candidate for the job. His name was Mark St. John, Mark was not experienced at all when it came to playing in a huge band and eventually he had bad experiences with Gene and Paul during the recording of the Animalize. Read about his experiences in this interview over at KISSasylum.com.
Mark St. John's problems with his hand became a bigger problem when they surfaced during the Animalize Tour rehearsals in New York City. He was eventually diagnosed with a arthritic syndrome called Reiter's Syndrome. Bruce Kulick was hired as a temporary replacement but Mark still traveled with the band and when his condition eventually improved he played three shows on the tour. On December 7, 1984, Mark St. John was send home and Bruce Kulick was named KISS's official lead guitar replacement the following day in Detroit.
Mark St. John (left) and Bruck Kulick (right)
Animalize World Tour Stage:
Two Stages - For the Animalize Tour two stages were used, the European leg of the tour used a refurbished Unmasked Tour stage but heavily padded with animal prints (leopard spots, zebra stripes and tiger stripes) like the 'Animalize'album cover. When KISS returned back to America, their 'Lick It Up'album was a big hit and a new stage was created.
Riser - When the show started, the band would be lifted up from behind the drum kit, as clearly seen in the concert video 'KISS Animalize Live Uncensored'.
Ramps - The new stage contained two large metal ramps left and right of the drum kit so the band had allot of open space on the American stage of the tour, with the band members running up and down on the ramps. But Bruce Kulick was not a fan of the metal ramps, if you fell you could hurt yourself really bad seeing these were metal ramps, and Bruce witnessed this first hand a couple of times!
Lighting platform - A big platform high above in the middle of the stage was used as a lighting platform for Eric during his drum solo and at the end of 'Black Diamond', Paul, Gene and Bruce took position on the platform and it rose above the crowd. The lighting rig also could be used to walk over, it was lowered down and they could get enter it like stairs.
Panther Heads - Eric Carr received a nice addition on his drum kit for the European stage and that was two large black panther heads in his bass drums.
Rope Ladder - Paul Stanley also had a little stage trick added seeing he never had one next to his guitar smashing, he would swing onto the stage just before smashing his guitar like a trapeze artist using a rope ladder. One dropped idea was that Paul would jump through a flaming hoop like in the end of the music video of 'Heaven's On Fire'.
Pyrotechnics - Pyrotechnics were back bigger than used during the Lick It Up Tour, including flamethrowers and bigger bombs.
Costumes - Costumes for the tour were now all animal print themed just like the stage, Gene brought back his Dynasty era "Axe" bass guitar so he at least had something "Demon" like on the stage.
Stage Props:
Bass Drum Panther Heads
Riser
Fireworks
Pyrotechnics
Flamethrowers
Bombs
Flash Pots
Lighting Rig Platform
Dry Ice Smoke
Fire Breathing
KISS Logo
Paul Smashing Guitars
Paul's Rope Ladder
Paul strutting around on stage
Typical Setlist:
01.'Detroit Rock City'
02. 'Cold Gin'
03. 'Strutter'
04. 'Fits Like A Glove'
05. 'Heaven's On Fire'
06. 'Thrills In The Night' or
07. 'Under The Gun'
08. 'War Machine'09. 'Young And Wasted'
10. 'I’ve Had Enough (Into The Fire)'
11. 'I Love It Loud'
12. 'I Still Love You'
13. 'Creatures Of The Night'
14. 'Love Gun'
15. 'Rock And Roll All Nite'
Encore:
16. 'Lick It Up'
17. 'Black Diamond'
Tour Book:
The European tour book with Mark St. John on the cover, this version was also used on shows for the US leg of the tour.
Special Shows / Happenings:
- Hovet, Johanneshov (Stockholm), Sweden, October 26, 1984 -
Paul fell twice during the beginning of the show, Gene briefly took over the lead vocals. While in Sweden for their three shows. KISS appeared on a local TV show called 'Gladgehurs' for a interview and do a lip-synced performance of'Heaven's On Fire'. (Video below, first from the left on the top)
Ijsselhallen. Zwolle, The Netherlands, November 4, 1984 -
Gene and Paul briefly played drums during the show for fun. KISS made their first appearance on a (Dutch) KISS convention, which was held by the Dutch KISS Army within the venue on the floor above the concert hall.
-Le Zenith, Paris, France, November 5, 1984 -
This was the last show of the European tour, Bon Jovi dropped some 2,000 ping pong balls on KISS while on stage, it started out with one or two and than everything came down like a wall of white.
- Baltimore Civic Center, Baltimore, ML, November 27, 1984 -
This was Mark St. John's first performance with KISS. Bruce Kulick played the first third of the show and Paul introduced Mark St. John to come up and play 'Under The Gun'. At the end all the members including Mark took a bow together.
- Mid-Hudson Civic Center, Poughkeepsie, NY, November 28, 1984 -
Mark St. John played the entire show.
- Broome Co. Veterans Memorial Arena, Binghamton, NY, November 29, 1984 -
This was Mark St. John's third and final show and he played through the entire show again.
- Cobo Arena, Detroit, MI, December 8, 1984 -
Bruce Kulick was made a official KISS member and the entire concert was recorded by MTV. Up to this day, 'Animalize Live Uncensored' still has not received a DVD release! As a publicity stunt, Radio station WLLZ, who also aired the show, arranged that Bruce Redoute and Lee Neaves, the two teens featured on the back cover of 'KISS Alive!'from 1975 to reunite with KISS. Gene and Paul went out to dinner with them after the show. The pair would regularly meet with them again in the following years. Mark St. John was send home this day.
- The Coliseum Theatre, Richfield (Cleveland), OH, December 14, 1984 -
Audience shots for the 'Thrills In The Night'music video were filmed in Richfield. Some shots ended up on Paul's 'Rockers Against Drugs' public service announcement. Gene 's first theatrical film, 'Runaway', opened nationwide, he had to cut his hair short for the part so for the Animalize Tour he had to wear a wig.
- Commonwealth Convention Center, Louisville, KY, December 15, 1984 -
All close up shots and conceptual footage for the 'Thrills In The Night'music video were filmed here. The director originally wanted to include conceptual footage of the band in various roles, such as Eric portraying a office manager, the footage was considered to hokey and to this day has never seen the light of day.
- Greenville Memorial Auditorium, Greenville, SC, January 3, 1985 -
For the first time ever someone lost his life on a KISS stage, a local lighting tech, John Addington, fell to his death from the lighting rig during the changeover between acts.
The American stage with Gene, Bruce and Paul coming up from behind the stage.