All KISS Show-Opening Songs Ranked

Ranking all the songs that KISS has consistently opened up with on a major tour. Obviously not including acoustic shows, meet & greets, TV appearances, etc.
KISS Opening with Rock Bottom:
• Kiss - Dressed to Kill...
KISS Opening with I've Had Enough:
• Kiss Live in Brighton ...
KISS Opening with King Of The Mountain:
• KISS - King Of The Mou...
KISS Opening with 100,000 Years:
• Kiss: 100,000 years / ...

[@slasherdope8065]

Deuce will forever be THE #1 opening song for them. For a lot of their career, that's been their opener. It's also a song thats been with them since the beginning

[@allkissranked]

True. The top two on this list were very close. I love Deuce as the opener.

[@mastodon98]

About to see them for the 3rd time on monday and for the 3rd time theyll be opening with drc 😒 CHANGE THE SETLIST

[@TheArtofGuitar]

You just made my year by putting I Stole Your Love as #1. I was there, totally agree!

[@allkissranked]

:) Glad you agree! It's always been the clear #1 for me. I had just watched your video on KISS's click-track failure a few days ago and I really enjoyed it. I like the way you pointed out what happened, but in a way that was respectful and sympathetic to the musicians. Keep up the good work!

[@rodans_boom5941]

Great list. My personal favorite intro by KISS has got to be 'Deuce'. Love watching it on their 96' Reunion Tour vids, here on KZbin. The best 'Deuce' is the one they opened the Tour with in Detroit. Ace's solos in that song were absolutely outstanding!

[@allkissranked]

Thanks! Yeah Deuce was a very close #2 for me.

[@rolandoflores7626]

I think "Modern day Delilah" fits so good, as well "Psycho Circus". But the Alive II "Detroit Rock City" it was bombastic💥

[@allkissranked]

True. The alive ii version is awesome.

[@buzzzcutt3413]

That’s what I’m saying I still don’t know why they didn’t put Rock N Roll all Nite on that album

[@pudd66]

I chuckled at putting "Detroit Rock City" down at fourth, but then you watch the three songs ahead of it and it's tough to argue. With "Psycho Circus", that's five incredible openers. What a great band.

[@allkissranked]

True. Really none of the songs on this list are truly bad openers. Just some are more amazing than others. :)

[@ILoveHotFood1999-oi3dz]

Love your videos! 😄

[@allkissranked]

Glad you're enjoying them! I'm having fun making them.

[@karl-unoisaksson4000]

Wooooooow... I agree and disagree 💕 As always!!! Damn, your input is GOLD for an old swede... No bullshit, you make the most enjoyable lists about Kiss that Ive came across 💥 But... Once again... youre sooooooo of the mark 😊 Ive stood in the crowd for 20+ kisshows, and the one that REALLY rips my head into pieces and made me understand that this: Is a Kiss show is Creatures of the night... I love you 🙏 Love from Sweden 💖

[@allkissranked]

So glad you're enjoying the videos. And, as always, I really appreciate the comments. It's funny. As I was editing the video, I watched the Creatures intro a million times, and every time I kept saying, "Huh. Maybe this one should be higher than I put it. It's actually pretty damn good."

[@brianoshea2510]

Agreed! I stole your love is the #1 opening song followed by Deuce at #2😎

[@allkissranked]

Glad you agree!

[@fredrikstadwhite]

They also opened with Deuce at the European Monsters of Rock shows in 1988, which were part of the Crazy Nights Tour.

[@SDanCastle]

I agree I Stole Your Love is their #1 opener for sure!! Saw them open with it 77, 78, 90 (Eric Carr's last show ;( )

[@allkissranked]

Wow. Eric's last show. Obviously you didn't know it at the time but what an incredible show to have been able to experience.

[@lunartat77]

My list for songs they SHOULD open with are; 6) Love theme from KISS 5) Then she kissed me 4) Great Expectations 3) Cadillac Dreams 2) Just a boy 1) I finally found my way I finally found someone who agrees that song would be the best opener ever! P.S. Thanks for another great list. P.P.S. They also opened up their 1995 Japan/Australia tour with King of the Nighttime world. I should know, I was there :) (Melbourne, Australia)

[@BishopIndoorOutdoor]

such a great list!!!!

[@lunartat77]

@@BishopIndoorOutdoor thanks!

[@allkissranked]

Ha! Love it. And, yes, good point on how they have occasionally opened with KOTNTW in more recent years. I almost added that in the notes on the side but it seemed like there was enough info there already. :) I appreciate the comments as always!

[@terencemartin2970]

Hard to look past Detroit Rock City but Creatures Of the Night is an awesome set opener.

[@allkissranked]

Yeah as I edited the video my opinion on it kept changing and I kept thinking it should be higher up on the list.

[@andrewproctor2004]

And probably only 7 closers: Black Diamond, Rock and Roll all Nite, Let Me Go Rock and Roll and God Gave Rock and Roll To You, Lick It Up, Detroit Rock City, Love Gun/Star Spangled Banner

[@allkissranked]

I think you're right. I would've thought there were more, but except for a few rare exceptions that pretty much covers it.

[@jeffhodge7272]

​@@allkissrankedR&R All Night is the ONLY song to close the show with. EVERYONE that sees them live knows that song. Especially casual radio listening fans. It's a staple on classic rock channels.🤟⚡🎶🔥

[@batlevi2247]

DTRC, Psycho CircuS, Creatures of the Night, Love Gun all are great show openers. King of the Mountain makes a lot of sense for to be a show opener!

[@karl-unoisaksson4000]

Dont agree on King of the mountain as an Opener, but it's a sadly forgotten jem they ought to play live EVERY night! Love from Sweden 💖

[@allkissranked]

I like King Of The Mountain in theory, but having such a small percentage of the crowd freaking out and singing a long while the rest of the audience goes "Wait, what song is this?!" would be weird. :) And agreed that even though I put "Love Gun" last on this list, it really isn't bad. They've never opened with a truly terrible song.

[@garybrigham9538]

Detroit Rock City is my favorite song and is a perfect opener- BUT... most of my KISS shows are IN Detroit and I actually like it better as an encore or later in the show when Paul talks up writing a song about Detroit. It really gets the crowd going

[@angryagain3801]

My favorite openings were DEUCE Reunion tour 96/97 & I STOLE YOUR LOVE on the HITS tour 90

[@allkissranked]

Totally. Those tours were magical and the openers were a big part of that.

[@matthewcox507]

Creatures of the night for me

[@jeffhodge7272]

I was shocked when I saw them in '04 and they opened with Love Gun.😮 It's Pauls signature tune and is usually halfway through the show.🤷‍♂️

[@allkissranked]

Yeah it's such a weird choice for an opener.

[@jeffhodge7272]

@@allkissranked Another weird time.The introduction of The Demon character on WCW in '99. HAS to be the ONLY time they EVER played God Of Thunder WITHOUT Gene doing the bass intro and blood! Check it out.

[@rockmusic4everybody]

Very cool !

[@allkissranked]

Glad you liked it!

[@beatlehmann3424]

Songwise : King of the Night Time World 1979 (Love this Track) Detroit Rock City 1976 & 1977 I Stole your Love 1977 & 1978 Deuce 1974/75 Deuce 1996/97 Best Show (Tour) : Rock and Roll over 1976/77 Tour Love Gun 1977/78 Tour Destroyer 1976 Tour Dynasty. 1979 Tour Hotter than Hell 1974/75 Tour Reunion 1996/97 Tour (My favorite)

[@ssssssssssssssssss50]

Strutter would’ve been a great opener. Or at least great to be featured in the End of the Road tour

[@charlesbronson4282]

Don't forget about Shout it out loud. They opened a show or two "thematically" with that song. In Kiss Meets the phantom they make it look like they open one of the shows with the studio version

[@allkissranked]

Good point. I'm glad they don't actually open with that one. I like the song but I've always found the intro to be a little weak.

[@craiganderson3919]

Psycho Circus was great on Halloween in California. It was a absolute freak show and the perfect night!

[@allkissranked]

I can imagine! I remember debating flying out to see the show because I was also a big Smashing Pumpkins at the time. Wish I had!

[@LJB1031]

I agree with I Stole Your Love.

[@gmansgnarlyscienceshow2820]

King of the Mountain and I’ve Had Enough are severely underrated gems.

[@allkissranked]

True. They're both so different than your standard KISS song.

[@jonstreng7850]

Are you out of your mind? Why is Detroit Rock City at only #4. I feel Deuce should be 4 and Detroit should be 2. The only time Detroit should be #1 is when KISS is playing in Michigan. Loved your opening joke about I finally found my way. I loved it in the 70s when they started with either Shout It Out Loud or, as they did on the Phantom movie, opened with I Stole Your Love. I Stole Your Love has some of the best fills by the Catman- Peter Criss. This is a fantastic opening song which makes me wonder why the group didn't do it more often?

[@allkissranked]

:). Glad you liked the "I finally found my way" joke. I had to put Deuce so high because it's so classic, starting off Alive!

[@joemartucci4786]

Modern Day Delilah was cool as an opener. Been a fan since day 1. Imagine how cool it was to be in a band that opened for them. 2010 here in Buffalo NY they opened with Modern Day cool as hell. All members including crew & mgr Doc McGee were incredibly nice & accommodating. Talked with Gene for a while very nice to me.

[@allkissranked]

That's awesome. Cool to see an old school fan that can appreciate a newer song and not immediately dismiss it as so many seem to do. Thanks for the comment.

[@luiggi9253]

Como primer tema de un concierto, "I stole your love" a esa velocidad y con esa energía siempre será mi preferida. La letra de "Psycho Circus" lo hace el tema ideal, y "Love Gun" me parece mejor que "Deuce" para la gira de reunión con el mismo efecto de la explosión al caer la cortina. Pero cualquiera que sea, nunca debieron quitar el video de intro de "Modern day delilah" verlos como gigantes y después en el escenario es magia pura.

[@allkissranked]

Nice. I'm glad you agree on "I stole your love". I had forgotten about the giant entrance video to "Modern Day Delilah"! That was pretty awesome.

[@rrkpo]

I knew they'd used I stole your love as an opener but nobody believed me.

[@allkissranked]

Indeed! The love gun tour had it as the opener. I don't know why alive II pretended DRC was the opener.

[@buzzzcutt3413]

Love Gun is my favorite album, bug Destroyer is fire too. Flaming Youth is a perfect song for me. Anyhow the best Kiss opener has to be Detroit Rock City, because after that you can play King of The Nighttime World like on Alive II. As you can tell I love Kiss and know a lot about them. You know who my profile pic is? He’s from Mötley Crüe. One more thing: I Finally Found My Way is not an opener The pic is Tommy Lee with a cigarette in his nose. As a drummer, I love him. Ok I’ll shutup

[@KinleeTheOfficial]

GUYS HELP IM TRYING TO CONVINCE MY GRANDPA TO GO TO A KISS CONCERT WITH ME SINCE HE WAS A HARDCORE KISS FAN IN THE 70'S AND 80'S AND I NEED HELP CONVINCING HIM!!!!

[@karl-unoisaksson4000]

Łost cause, kid... The original hardcore kissfans saw their farewell show in the late 90s... You and your gramps love two totally different bands... Love from Sweden 💖

[@karl-unoisaksson4000]

The GenePaul coverband played a stonesthrow away from home last month to a cost of 120$ (Dalhalla), a more Kiss-like coverband (Unmasked) played at the Pub down the corner, I Freely (😁) payed 20$ for 3 large beers and a pizza... Love from Sweden 💖

[@karl-unoisaksson4000]

and the Kiss songs I love, the way they were ment to sound...

[@allkissranked]

Have him watch the first few songs of KISS playing at Largo in 1977. There aren't too many shows left to see. It's now or never!

[@KinleeTheOfficial]

@@karl-unoisaksson4000 Your right he did go to the farewell tour 😭😭😭😭

[@garyserdoz6915]

Cool topic! I'd go with 1. Deuce 2. Detroit Rock City 3. Psycho Circus 4. I Stole Your Love 5. Creatures Of The Night 6. King Of The Night Time World 7. Modern Day Delilah 8. Love Gun

[@allkissranked]

Glad you enjoyed it! Thanks for giving your ranking. Rock on!

[@Kissfan96dr]

for me the concert starts with Deuce. "What's the hottest band in the world? KISS!!!" nice energetic guitar opening riff and then BLAM! Whole band crunching out Deuce. That's an opener. Tells anyone in the audience that doesn't know KISS what's about to happen for the next hour or two.

[@Kissfan96dr]

that being said, I still think Room Service or Take Me would be a great opener.

[@allkissranked]

Yeah. The top two on this are very close. I love Deuce as an opener.

[@allkissranked]

I agree. I think Take Me would be a great opener.

[@pabloeskybruh9624]

Deuce, Detroit rock city & creatures of the night will forever be the best openers for kiss

[@allkissranked]

Those three are all good openers.

[@PG13hockeyman]

Here’s how I would rank this: 1. Detroit Rock City 2. Deuce 3. Creatures Of The Night 4. Psycho Circus 5. I Stole Your Love 6. Love Gun 7. Modern Day Delilah 8. King Of The Night Time World

[@karl-unoisaksson4000]

Classic, Im on... Love from Sweden 💖

[@karl-unoisaksson4000]

Modern day delilah dont qualify as a kiss song in my book though... Sorry Love from Sweden 💖

[@allkissranked]

I appreciate your order. Give KOTNTW another listen!

[@PG13hockeyman]

@@allkissranked I love the song, but I don’t see it as an opener

[@jeffhodge7272]

​@@allkissrankedRight?That sustained single note going into the ear splitting feedback and thunderous attack when the others start the song is AWESOME!🤟⚡🎶

[@sammyrothrock6981]

I missed Ace honestly he to me was still the best! Detroit rock city and love Gun, Duece , I stole your love

[@leacocca]

Número 1 es "Deuce". Saludos.

[@Brownsarebetter21]

What abt shout it out loud

[@sdprazak]

The best: 1. Deuce 2. Detroit Rock City 3. I Stole Your Love 4. Creatures Of The Night

[@allkissranked]

Fair point. Nothing wrong with any of those openers.

[@charlesbronson4282]

Parasite would have been an excellent opener....

[@karl-unoisaksson4000]

CharlesBronson Why not😁 Im 57, fell for Kiss when I was 7, still love Kiss 1973-2002... Why not, Parasite in a daaaark auditorium (but that excludes YOU WANTED and so on) would be a GREAT opening song 👍💥💕 Never thought about that one... Havent watched a minute yet, I checked the latest comment and got carried away like a child crawling under the christmas tree 😅😅😅 It's all about time, but my favorite must be Creatures - it ALWAYS rip my head of... Lets see how my KissFriend ranked the masterpieces... Love from Sweden 💖

[@allkissranked]

I agree! Curtain falls right as the whole band kicks in.

[@jean-pierrestraub7530]

In my opinion : 1/ I stole your love 5/ Creatures 2/ Deuce 6/ Delilah 3/ Detroit 7/ Love gun 4/ Psycho circus 8/ King of the NTW

[@allkissranked]

Nice. Looks like we mostly agree except for KOTNTW.

[@proud2bamerican]

UNDER THE GUN

[@helgelippert1970]

There is one show KiSS opened with Rock Bottom.

[@allkissranked]

Yes. There is a link to 35mm footage of that show in the description.

[@dr.roberts4508]

You can leave it the intro out. On Detroit rock city is played out all over the set

[@constancecherry3996]

I remember kiss acshon figers but I coued not get them was told they ware for boys

[@allkissranked]

That's sad! You should go out and buy yourself a few of them now.

[@blunderr6113]

Fair enough, but I just can't not think Detroit Rock City is the best. It's such a kickass song, it just feels perfect to open a show. I think having Deuce coming second or third in the set (due to it being their original set opener) is also awesome. To be honest, I think all these songs are awesome. I actually love I Finally Found My Way too, just a lovely ballad

[@allkissranked]

Agreed on Deuce being a great #2. It was awesome on the HITS and revenge tours in that spot.

[@Pamplemousse82223]

I stole your love.

[@allkissranked]

I agree! :)

[@vanhouten7377]

I sure hope you're not serious about I finally found my way I wouldn't even want them to play it at all.

[@allkissranked]

:) No, that was a joke.

[@chrismoller4272]

DEUCE you fools,DEUCE

[@scott1178]

I gotta go with Detroit Rock City all day.

[@allkissranked]

That's fair. It really is a great opener.

[@kevinchandler179]

Opener doesn't matter!!! Black Diamond closing is all that mattered!!!

[@CrissPOPS]

You forgot shout it out loud

[@allkissranked]

When did they open with that?

[@CrissPOPS]

@@allkissranked When they kicked off the first show of reunion at tigers stadium. But I don’t know of anyother

[@allkissranked]

Tiger stadium was Deuce: kzbin.info/www/bejne/r2qWaqWhaZp-eK8si=qVDXBQUAoJ9UI_ty The video they made for SIOL just makes it look like it was the first song.

[@mifunegoh4773]

This is the first video I watch from this channel. Judging by the horrible analysis, it will be the last one

[@allkissranked]

Sorry you didn't enjoy it. Did you think Love Gun should've been in the #1 spot?

[@CrissPOPS]

Say yeah sucks I don’t know why they still play it when it’s played everyone sits down and stops cheering

[@allkissranked]

I agree. I feel like either Modern Day Delilah or Hell or Hallelujah would get at least a halfway decent response.

[@Daredevil-dw5xf]

🔥Hotter than Hell🔥 should let the show begin...

[@karl-unoisaksson4000]

Yupp, and when all you potheads fell asleep - LETS ROCK, with... I dont know, "Danger"?... Love from Sweden 💖

[@karl-unoisaksson4000]

Hmmmm... In one of my books, they actually opened with it once in September 74 somewhere in Staten Island... But theyve been wrong before, so... Love from Sweden 💖

[@allkissranked]

I have to admit, I've never considered that one, but I'd be curious to see it. Honestly, shaking it up with something new would be great.

[@ADuckOnQuack97]

You forgot one opening song in more recent years…….Rock n Roll by Led Zeppelin

[@allkissranked]

They've been playing that over the loud speakers for sure before the start of the show. But they don't play that themselves.

[@brianphillips9152]

It''s been Detroit Rock City for the past 25 years, so....

[@allkissranked]

There's been a few tours that opened with deuce, psycho circus, or modern day Delilah in the past few decades. But you're right, it's been mostly DRC. That's part of my issue with it. As great of an opener as it is, I'd like to see it switched up a bit.

[@karl-unoisaksson4000]

And today, 2023, I would LOVE if they started with theyre shittiest(?) song ever "I Still Havent found my way", hehehehe

[@lucasvonbraun]

Love the channel idea, but the AI voice has gotta go, it's harder to listen to than Carnival Of Souls .... Detroit Rock City is my favorite opener, but it can fit into the set other place .. I Stole Your Love is great too, but feels weird as anything but the opener

[@allkissranked]

Appreciate the feedback on the voice. Considering some different options. And yes I Stole Your Love is kinda weird elsewhere in the set. But I love that song so much I appreciate it whenever they play it.

[@daddymidwest4111]

Robotic voice was too much. Couldn’t finish the video.

[@allkissranked]

Appreciate the feedback. I work on these in the morning before kids get up, so I can't be waking them up with me narrating insights about "uh! All night". So I do what I can with the text to speech. I try to put a bit of humor and my voice in there as best as I can. Thanks for watching and commenting.

[@MondoMiami]

That computer voice and overpowering background music ruins this video.

[@allkissranked]

Appreciate the feedback. Always looking to improve the videos.

[@chrismoller4272]

DEUCE you fools,DEUCE

[@allkissranked]

:) Nothing wrong with Deuce as an opener!