Rock ‘N’ Roll Circus Kiss Concert Was An Event With Music Every Bit As Good As It Was 20 Years Ago
Kiss Sunday, Sept. 1, the Arena
When the house lights suddenly dimmed Sunday night at the Spokane Arena, a gravelly voice shouted from the darkened stage: “All right Spoooo-kannnnne! You wanted the best? You got the best! The greatest band in the world - Kiss!”
As pyrotechnics rattled the building, the curtain fell, revealing four shadowy figures.
And there they stood: Gene Simmons, Paul Stanley, Ace Frehley and Peter Criss - looking like figurines from a wax museum that suddenly sprang into action.
Amid the smoke and the lights, Simmons flickered his tongue and the band barreled into its two-hour performance, cranking out songs from the “Kiss Alive” and “Kiss Alive II” era.
Right from the start, the audience was totally overcome by Kiss’ presence. The 10,000 fans on hand embraced the band members like they were saviors. And from their altar, the four members of Kiss blessed the crowd with an almighty performance.
It was more than a rock show. It was a spectacle, combining farcical theatrics with upbeat rock ‘n’ roll.
And there is none better.
In a recent interview, Stanley bragged: “The greatest show on earth is back in town.”
He was right. For Ringling Bros. has nothing on this concert.
To the audience’s delight, the band employed every gimmick in the arena rock manual: individual solos, a disco ball, hydraulic elevators, pyrotechnics, towering racks of lights, banks of amplifiers, synchronized posturing, ear-splitting music and corny between-song banter. It was the first time in years that all of these attributes seemed necessary.
Who better to do it than the one band that single-handedly embodies arena rock?
The members of Kiss acted their exaggerated parts all night long. They frolicked and engaged in their juvenile antics on their favorite playground: the stage.
Simmons, a demon bat, stomped all over the stage and flickered his tongue at each and every one with wild abandon.
Stanley, the masked lover, straddled his guitar, puckered his lips and gyrated his hips.
Criss, the cat-man, snarled and hissed behind his dwarfing drum kit.
Frehley, the infinite space cadet - well, he just looked spaced out.
The band was tight, shelling out one three-chord romp after another. The music wasn’t as swift as expected from the live element, but it shuffled along quite well. More important, Kiss’ music still sounds as good today as it did 20 years ago.
Of course, its anthems were the highlights.
This band, perhaps better than any group in history, knew how to write anthems. On Sunday, the crowd, saluting Kiss with fists, the horned-hand and lighters, sang its guts out to liberating songs like “Shout It Out Loud,” “Love Gun,” “Detroit Rock City” and “Rock and Roll All Nite.”
As expected, each band member got to show off his individual exploits.
Frehley, whose 45-year-old fingers are deceivingly dextrous, fired out a blistering 10-minute guitar solo during “Rocket Ride.” While his fingers were blazing up and down the neck of his Les Paul, it ignited. (It was all planned, of course.) And as the screeching notes reverberated throughout the building, the guitar blasted off into space. (It was bolstered by a pulley.)
As expected, Simmons regurgitated blood that oozed down the front of his bat suit. As a green fog emerged on the stage, he spread his wings and the blood-sucking creature of the night flew up to the lights (helped by an extra-strength cable). High above the crowd on a small stage, Simmons’ gravelly vocals navigated through the raucous “God of Thunder.”
Sunday night’s show was not a nostalgia trip destined for the Las Vegas strip. No, it’s living proof that a band supposedly years past its time still matters.
You didn’t have to be a Kiss fan to enjoy the concert. They were that good. The only way you couldn’t have had fun is if you didn’t have a pulse.
, DataTimes ILLUSTRATION: Photo
MEMO: This sidebar appeared with the story: DID THE AUDIENCE ENJOY KISS? YEEEAAAAAHHHHHH! Kiss singer-guitarist Paul Stanley was in fine form Sunday. Known for his outrageous between-song pep-rallies, Stanley fired up the crowd with his exaggerated falsetto. Unfortunately some of his best banters aren’t appropriate newspaper fare. But here are a few of the memorable statements he made followed by the audience’s response: “Spooooo-kannnne! Are you ready for a little rock ‘n’ roll tonight?!” “Yeeeaaaaahhhhhh!” “Spooooo-kannnne! How are we doing so far?” “Yeeeaaaaahhhhhh!” “Spooooo-kannnne feels like home tonight!” “Yeeeaaaaahhhhhh!” “Spooooo-kannnne! We don’t get many nights together … I’m gonna make you scream!” “Yeeeaaaaahhhhhh!” “Spooooo-kannnne! You’re so beautiful. Look at yourselves!” “Yeeeaaaaahhhhh!” Let’s elect this guy mayor. My personal favorite was: “Spooooo-kannnne! You’re the rocking capital of Washington! They may be bigger, but there’s none better than you.” If it were any other band on stage, I wouldn’t have suspected a double meaning with his boisterous statement. What was funny was Stanley could have yelled “Spooooo-kannnne! Yadda boogie abla gooomba!” And the crowd would have still erupted: “Yeeeaaaaahhhhh!” Joe Ehrbar