KISS Rally Falls Short

KISS concert goodbye
By ELIZABETH BOWER , EXAMINER STAFF WRITER
Front Page, Peterborough Examiner August 25, 2009

Legendary rock band KISS is kissing off Oshawa and Peterborough for its North American 2009 Tour. KISS held an online contest, starting in April, where fans could vote to get the band to play in their home city.

Oshawa won the contest in July, after beating out cities from across North America, while Peterborough came sixth. Yet the theatrically inclined band, featuring lead singer Gene Simmons, announced yesterday it won't be performing in Oshawa. The closest concert is to be in Toronto at the Air Canada Centre on Oct. 2.

"I'm beyond shocked," says Peterborough's self-proclaimed KISS superfan Darryl Andrews, who rallied for this city to win the contest by printing off Bring KISS to Peterborough cards.

Andrews, 38, who has been a fan since age seven, says he feels terrible that Oshawa didn't get a concert after so much work and hype.
The father of two says he thought Peterborough had a shot too, since this city came in sixth. But Andrews says he would have been satisfied with an Oshawa concert because he feels it would have been closer to regional cities including Kingston and Belleville, which spent so much time and energy competing.

Andrews says he has already seen KISS perform 27 times before, mostly in Toronto.
He was hoping for a smaller venue, through the contest, so that he could comfortably bring along his wife and two daughters, aged 13 and two.

The financial cost and travel time of going to the Toronto concert would be too much for his family, he says. Still, Andrews hasn't given up on his heroes. He's hoping KISS will include a second leg of the tour early next year, which he hopes will include Oshawa.

No matter what happens, KISS will always be his favourite band.
"That will never change," he says.