PORTLAND, Maine — Most people struggle to remember where they were for their first kiss.
But for Morgan Tarr, 10, of Smyrna, that first kiss happened to be the rock-n-roll Hall of Fame group KISS during a concert Sunday evening at the Cross Insurance Arena in front of about 8,000 fans.
Tarr received the birthday gift of a lifetime as she was called onto the stage by KISS’ lead singer Paul Stanley during the group’s concert in Portland and stayed on the stage for an entire song as Stanley wrapped his arms around her and played guitar.
“I was so nervous before going onstage,” Morgan said. “But I felt fine once we were out there.”
“Morgan is a huge KISS fan,” her mother Jenny Tarr said Tuesday morning. “She’s liked the group for a couple of years because both Jeremy (her father) and I are huge fans. We always told her that if KISS ever came back to Maine, we would take her to a concert.”
The parents kept the concert a secret and surprised Morgan with tickets to the concert for her birthday party on Aug. 27. Her actual birthday is Aug. 26, but she celebrated the following day with a KISS-themed party.
“It was weird how the whole thing happened,” Jenny said. “We got to the arena and sat down when this guy came up to us and said, ‘So you guys like KISS?’ He was an older guy with an English accent and he asked if our daughter would like to go on stage and meet the band.”
Jenny said both her and her husband were skeptical, until they were brought backstage to the VIP area.
“It was all such a blur,” Jenny said. “There was so much going on, we were all dumbfounded. We couldn’t believe a band would ever do something like this.”
Gene Simmons, the band’s bassist known for his fire breathing, blood-spurting persona “the Demon,” wished Morgan a Happy Birthday during their meet-and-greet session and the family had their photo taken with the band.
“I love KISS because they all have a different theme,” Morgan said. “It was a dream come true. I felt like a rock star.”
