Letters

The sequence where Gene spits blood appears to be very surface oriented to many people. However, as with many things KISS, it has a lot of substance behind it. Gene is not just a crazy KISS guy spitting blood for press attention and to have a generation of youth running around playing with KISS action figures. Nor, is he some Devil worshiping cult leader Hell bent on twisting the minds of our youth. What Gene does during this sequence is genuinely play a bit of theater. A mini show within the KISS show. If you pay attention closely you will see the story is akin to that of classic vampire movies. At times, Gene even reminds you of Bela Lugosi as he plays out the scene. The Story: Gene, The Demon is happy living in the darkness. Hiding. Creeping around. Scoping out his next victim. Until a light from above shines down to expose him. He is blinded by it and covers his eyes, but to no avail. There is no escape. And, the light (the truth) hurts him. Causing him to convulse and regurgitate (spit up) blood. He is wounded. He thrashes about in agony. Until he finds safety in the opaqueness of the red light. Photographing this sequence: I noticed a natural tendency for people to whip out their cameras to get a shot of Gene as he started this sequence. The tendency is to take a couple of pictures and be done with it. Resist this tendency. There are many things working against you. The strobe lights flashing on and off, the fog, the green lighting and Gene moving around constantly. Wait it out. It will all settle down eventually. So, have your camera at the ready. This picture was taken at the Philadelphia show on August 6, 2010. I used the zoom on my camera which worked out well. Better than any of the other pictures I got not using the zoom. By doing this I was able to avoid having the blinding strobe lights (based on the stage in front of Gene) wreak havoc with the images. I'm a novice photographer who used a basic $80.00 camera. I went to a few shows and learned a few tips and tricks to share with other KISS fans. You can look through the Letters area for other advice I've submitted. Going to a KISS concert is special. Most of us are lucky to be able to go to one. There are many common mistakes made as novices to photography. I made a bunch of them the first two shows. I learned from my mistakes. I hope I can help give you the edge. For younger/newer KISS fans: This is what the real KISS Army is all about. A Brotherhood. We work together and help each other.