KISS/Def Leppard Tour "Off to Great Start" 

Visit our Sister Station: WWGP 1050 AM Today’s Best Country

KISS/Def Leppard Tour "Off to Great Start"

KISS and Def Leppard kicked off their joint tour earlier this week and a tour source tells ABC News Radio, “It’s off to a great start.” 

KISS is calling this its 40th anniversary tour — although they formed in 1973, the band’s first trek didn’t begin until a year later — and singer Paul Stanley says, “We started building a legacy at that very first show and it’s never veered from that.  So going out on a 40th anniversary tour is just a way to put our eight-inch heels firmly back on the ground and let people know the legend lives [and] everything they heard remains true.”

The set list includes all the signature KISS classics, what Stanley calls “songs of victory.”  “[It\'s] a source of incredible pride and accomplishment,” he says of the band’s tunes.  “Each one of those songs is a celebration of going against all odds, going against the critics, going against the people who didn’t like us, and winning.”

In the decades since KISS began, they’ve gone from being pioneers in the use of pyrotechnics in concerts to being surrounded by younger bands trying to outperform their predecessors.  Not to worry, says Stanley.  “When we started, there were no shows like ours,” he declares.  “[Now it\'s] reached a point where many bands [have] KISS shows.  Any band with money can do a KISS show, but no band can be KISS.”

Here are all of the upcoming KISS and Def Leppard tour dates:

6/27 — Ridgefield, WA, Sleep Country Amphitheater

6/29 — Auburn, WA, White River Amphitheater

7/6 — Chula Vista, CA, Sleep Train Amphitheatre

7/13 — Dallas, TX, Gexa Energy Pavilion

7/15 — Cincinnati, OH, Riverbend Music Center

7/18 — Atlanta, GA, Aaron’s Amphitheater at Lakewood

7/20 — Raleigh, NC, Walnut Creek Amphitheater

7/22 — West Palm Beach, FL, Cruzan Amphitheater

7/23 — Tampa, FL, MIDFLORIDA Credit Union Amphitheater

7/25 — Bristow, VA, Jiffy Lube Live

7/26 — Holmdel, NJ, PNC Bank Arts Center

8/5 — Saratoga Springs, NY, Saratoga Performing Arts Center

8/6 — Wantagh, NY, Nikon at Jones Beach Theatre

8/8 — Virginia Beach, VA, Farm Bureau Live at Virginia Beach

8/9 — Scranton, PA, Toyota Pavilion at Montage Mountain

8/12 — Toronto, Canada, Molson Canadian Amphitheatre

8/13 — Darien Center, NY, Darien Lake Performing Arts Center

8/15 — East Troy, WI, Alpine Valley Music Theater

8/16 — Tinley Park, IL, First Midwest Bank Amphitheatre

8/20 — Des Moines, IA, Wells Fargo Arena

8/22 — Noblesville, IN, Klipsch Music Center

8/23 — Clarkston, MI, DTE Energy Music Theatre

8/24 — Burgettstown, PA, First Niagara Pavilion

8/26 — Cuyahoga Falls, OH, Blossom Music Center

8/28 — Maryland Heights, MO, Verizon Wireless Amphitheater

8/31 — The Woodlands, TX, Cynthia Woods Mitchell Pavilion

Check Out Official Trailer for Queen's "Live at the Rainbow '74" Concert Video

Stephen Stills Says He’s Writing an Autobiography, and "It Is a B*tch"

Phil Collins to Donate His Entire Collection of Alamo Memorabilia to the State of Texas