October 2, 1990, Bismarck, ND

Six months after graduating from the University of Illinois Chicago in mechanical engineering, I found myself running critical environmental projects at Amoco’s Mandan ND refinery. I joined Amoco Corporation out of college in January 1990 as a Project Engineer at their downtown Chicago office.

After 6 months of tedious hydraulic pump calculations, an opportunity for a site assignment became available after it became evident to Amoco that all of their refineries and chemical plants were going to have to comply with the upcoming TCLP (Toxicity Characteristic Leaching Procedure) regulation that needed to be implemented by March 1991. This regulation severely restricted the amount of benzene that can be disposed of outside the refinery property limit into waterways.   Scrambling to find enough engineers to meet this deadline, they picked a very young engineer like me to pack up and head to Mandan to achieve the impossible in 8 months.

My boss met me at the refinery, which sits right across the Missouri River from Bismarck. He introduced me to my project team (all contractors from Stone and Webster Houston), my environmental contractor, Environcon, and my local construction team, NCI, all housed in a trailer complex. He said these are your guys; get it done no matter the cost. Our project: A major update to the oil and water separator (API separator) had to be accomplished, along with constructing 2 huge HDPE-lined bio-oxidation ponds with floating aeration. A large task indeed.

After a lot of design work on cocktail napkins, we finally had a plan to get this work done. Lots of mistakes were made and corrected, and I witnessed my first OSHA recordable injury due to rushing to meet schedule (a worker lost consciousness after being hit on the head with a HDPE liner spool). But I’m not here to bore you with all the technical details and the bathroom trips to the outhouses in -40F temperatures or how, in March of 1991, the Refinery Manager allegedly drank the water from the wastewater outlet, the project was deemed a success.  

What I do want to talk about is the awesome KISS concert I saw on October 2, 1990. One of my Amoco colleagues, Gary, was coming to the Mandan site for a safety inspection. He was on the Northwest flight with me from Minneapolis to Bismarck the morning of October 2^nd. Gary was in first class, and I was in coach.

I saw Kip Winger at the airport and briefly talked with him before the flight. Unbeknownst to me, all of the KISS and Winger bands were in first class with Gary during the flight. Gene Simmons invited Gary to the backstage event at the concert that night and front stage pit passes. After landing, he told me the news and that was going to be awesome.

I left work early and returned to the Expressway Inn, my home away from home, in Bismarck. Gary and I met up and went to pregame at local bars, then headed to the Civic Center for the concert. A band as popular as KISS was rare for a small town like Bismarck, so the Civic Center was packed and excited.

As expected, the backstage passes awaited us, and we entered the waiting room. There were a lot of people of all ages back there. After a short period, Gene Simmons, Tommy Thayer and Eric Carr came into the room and started to mingle with the crowd. Paul Stanley was a no-show at the backstage event.

A lot of autograph signings by the performers took place; Eric Carr handed out earplugs to the children in the room, stating that the show would be very loud. Gene Simmons was also engaging, but his signature technique for women was unique. He would only sign the paper if it were placed on the woman’s chest (with clothes on, of course), which was quite awkward even in the 1990s. I left with signatures on cocktail napkins from all 3 members, quite memorable for a young person like me.

After the meet and greet, we moved to the pit area in front of the stage for the show. Winger was already opening the show, and I saw about half of that performance. KISS then came out with a giant Sphinx in the center of the stage with laser beam eyes. When they say they are the loudest band in the world, they are not kidding. Explosions, flames, smoke, and “blood” spitting all took place with incredible precision. And man, it was ear-piercingly loud in the pit.

The setlist was incredible and very long for concerts at that time:

KISS Setlist, October 2, 1990, Bismarck Civic Center

• I Stole Your Love
• Deuce
• Heaven’s on Fire
• Crazy Crazy Nights
• Black Diamond
• Shout It Out Loud
• Strutter
• Calling Dr. Love
• I Was Made for Lovin’ You
• Rise to It
• Fits Like a Glove
• Hide Your Heart
• Lick It Up
• God of Thunder
• Forever
• Cold Gin
• Tears Are Falling
• I Love It Loud
• Love Gun
• Detroit Rock City

Encore Songs

• I Want You
• Rock and Roll All Nite

More information from this concert can be found on setlist.com at KISS Concert Setlist at Bismarck Civic Center, Bismarck on October 2, 1990 | setlist.fm

It was a great night for a KISS fan like me. Heading to work the next day at 7 am was difficult, but those environmental projects needed to get done.

Did you know mule deer like steamy chemical-filled bio-oxidation ponds? A few went swimming with their sharp HDPE-piercing hoofs and antlers? Well, that story is to come……….