Uncasville Rock City

So yesterday, I took E on her mystery birthday trip. My plan was to go to Mohegan Sun, win our entire wedding budget back, and have a nice steak dinner at Michael Jordan's before heading back. I'd neglected to see what was actually happening at the casino before I made our reservation, so what we found ourselves in the the middle of yesterday came as a total surprise to both of us.
Let me say this first: I have nothing against KISS or KISS's fans, except that I totally don't get it. And it took a few minutes for me to connect the seemingly-random sightings we had of people of all ages in KISS makeup to the presence, at Mohegan Sun, of a large arena that hosts a ton of concerts. So, when we were just wandering around the casino taking a break from losing money on the slots, we wandered into the middle of an area filled with KISS fans (and impersonators--E, you need to post that photo), I guess I was a little slower than the average bear at figuring out that KISS would be playing there that night.
The night got better, though. After a lot of really good meat at Michael Jordan's, we again found ourselves in the area outside the arena. This time, there was a huge crowd gathered and a couple of TV cameras and big lights overhead. If you, like E, had asked me what was going on, I would have guessed that they were shooting a commercial or a scene from a movie. Even asking a couple of guys standing around yielded no answers. Finally, a guy decked out in KISS regalia told us that the band was going to come out right before they took the stage and accept their star on the Mohegan Sun Walk of Fame.
Awesome.
We waited around for a few minutes and, as promised, the four members of KISS came out to accept their honor. And you know what? We both thought that they seemed like really nice guys, funny and about as self-effacing as you could expect anyone to be in their full rock-star costumes. It definitely was a fun surprise, though it really didn't make me want to listen to them any more than I already do (I like one and a half of their songs--"Detroit Rock City" and "Beth," respectively).
Afterward, we went down to the Wolf Den, which is a bar with free live music every night--mostly cover and tribute bands, but occasionally people like MC Hammer or 10,000 Maniacs, whose careers have kind of left them behind. Last night's show was part of the "Classic Albums Live" series, in this instance a pretty hot reggae band doing Bob Marley's Legend in its entirety. It certainly wasn't KISS, but that's not necessarily a bad thing, either.