Hollywood Box Set

November 20, 2001

On 11-20-01, we went to Tower Records and bought our box sets. We got the deluxe set. It comes in a little guitar case with five cd's and a really cool hardback book with a little something written for each song on the cds. We received a wristband too since only people who bought the box sets were let in to meet Gene and Paul. The 40 foot blowups were really cool. The Peter one looked especially good.

There was not too big a line for the people who had actually started to line up to meet Gene and Paul so we went to Hollywood for a while and hung out. Then we came back to Tower Records and sat on the grass off to the side where the people were lined up. We sat there for a couple hours before they moved us to the Tower Records parking lot to line up. They did not allow us to bring anything else in to be autographed other than the box set and told us that they will not autograph anything else.

So we were standing in the line to get into Gene and Paul and it got a little more interesting. It was cool to look at all the KISS shirts people were wearing. The tribute band that was playing that night showed up (Larger Than Life) and a few other people in full costume and makeup and they all looked really good. The lady (Pam) who did the makeup at the shows was there and we were talking to her. After a couple hours they started letting like five people at a time in to see Gene and Paul. People with VIP passes would come up and they would get in right away so it did not go as fast as we thought once it started. But finally we got to go into the store. We could not see them when we first walked in because we had to turn down an aisle to get to them. Now for some strange reason I did not think they would be in makeup and costume. I guess its because every time we have seen a member of KISS lately on tv or something they are not wearing makeup so I really thought they would look like they did when we saw them at previous events.

So when I turned the corner and saw them in makeup and costume I almost died. It was the coolest thing in the whole world. I just stood there with my hand over my mouth. They were sitting at a very wide table and we were not allowed to go behind them. A guy would take the box set, hand it to Gene who signed it and then handed it to Paul to sign. They were signing the outside of the case in silver pen. When we first walked up Gene was standing up leaning forward sticking his tongue out at a girl. We got to Gene and they took our box sets and handed it to him. I was like in total awe. Gene looked at me and asked me how I was and I think I asked him how he was and thanked him. He signed it, passed it to Paul and Paul looked up at me and asked me how I was. Right after he signed it and handed it to me I told him thank you and he looked at me and thanked me for coming. It was the coolest! John was taking pictures the whole time. Unfortunately, since the table they were at was so wide and you could not get behind them or next to them on the side, you could not really get your picture taken with them. Unless you were like the lady on the news we saw that night who was actually sitting up on the table in between them.

I also saw Paul signing a guy's arm and I saw a girl who had an autograph on each breast. Then they had us walk out the back door and we were each handed a t-shirt that says "Rock and Roll All Night Party Every Day" on the front and has a picture of KISS on the back with info on the box set. We then went to the club down the street to see the KISS tribute band that was playing. They were really good. Even though it was really quick it was the most awesome thing to see Gene and Paul there in the middle of Tower Records. Its different than just seeing them up on stage. It would have been nice to spend more time with them but just seeing them there and getting their autographs was enough.