Shout It Out Loud

I had the opportunity last week to attend a private, unplugged performance by rock legends KISS at a meet & greet of theirs.

With almost four decades in the business, these guys are pros at attending to their fanbase and interacting, both on a stadium- and very personal - level.

What I did not expect, was an all-request, nearly 40 minute set by the band, when their sold-out concert was barely three hours away. They made jokes, talked with the intimate crowd, and played the songs the audience shouted out.

With a catalog spanning dozens of records, some requests even stumped the guys who wrote them, and the die-hard fans occasionally had to help fill in the missing lyrics. Not every song was perfect, but that was hardly the point. It was the special memory, the un-repeatable event that was just for this group, hearing the songs that meant the most to them, and no one else.

Nothing beats a unique experience, where you, the audience member, gets to interact with a performer and ask for the songs YOU want to hear. Dueling Piano players and their audiences know this all too well. I was just pleasantly surprised that veteran rock bands, like KISS, are tapping in to that same excitement - the magic and danger of letting someone else decide which songs you're going to play for them.

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