SAIT (Southern Alberta Institute of Technology) online radio station Power 103 will mark a legendary event in the school’s history on Feb. 6, by rebranding as KISS 103, marking the date in 1974 when the then-unknown rock band gigged on its Calgary campus.
As the story goes, progressive rock artist Michael Quatro (brother to Suzi) was set to play a SAIT Student Association (SAITSA) event when Columbia Records pulled Quatro, offering KISS as a replacement band.
Founded just a year earlier and little known outside New York, SAITSA was instructed not to advertise the show as KISS was attempting to “perfect” their stage presence. Treated more like a rehearsal, a little more than 160 people attended the event. No one was allowed to attend the sound check, no interviews were granted, and photography was discouraged. The gymnasium was not a professional venue for a concert, and thus the band had to do their makeup in the men’s locker room.
“So when the four of them came out, with all the makeup on and the eight-inch boots…everyone’s jaw dropped,” recounted Dan Murray, who was part of the SAITSA executive committee in 1974, and one of those responsible for bringing the band in. “No one had seen them before and it was a big surprise. No one had heard any of their songs before, so it was all totally unfamiliar music and the concert was incredibly loud.”
“And when the pyrotechnics started going off, it was a huge shock to everyone. There was a bank located in that building, fairly close to the gymnasium. And the music and explosions went off that it was so loud, that it set off the bank alarm,” Murray recalled. “The bank manager showed up, along with about a dozen police officers. They finally shut it off after they realized no one was breaking into the safe.”
Run by students from SAIT’s Radio, Television & Broadcast News program, KISS 103 will feature KISS tunes all day on Feb. 6, interviews, and other content, culminating in a one-hour KISS concert from 6 – 7 p.m. MT, playing live versions of the band’s hits.
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