KISS never keeps it simple, stupid, says Gene Simmons
By BRUCE R. MILLER / siouxcityjournal.com
There�s a reason many classic bands don�t retire, Gene Simmons says. �It�s the roar of the greasepaint, the smell of the crowd. There�s nothing more seductive than being wanted.�
Still, the work most bands do in their golden years doesn�t begin to approach what KISS has to pull off on a nightly basis.
�We love Crosby, Stills and Nash,� Simmons says. �I could do that into my 70s and 80s. What I do is backbreaking work.�
Wearing elaborate heavy metal costumes, boots with sky-high heels and sweat-inducing makeup, Simmons says he, co-founder Paul Stanley and bandmates Tommy Thayer and Eric Singer are determined to create an experience, not just perform the group�s greatest hits.
�I would love to be Keith Richards and the Rolling Stones,� the 66-year-old rocker says. �They put on T-shirts and sneakers and they�re lucky to break a sweat. I put on my 50 pounds of armor and high-heeled boots and we work harder than anybody.�
Fire-breathing, pyrotechnics and chest-thumping sound prove KISS isn�t just phoning it in.
�Every night we get off the stage drenched in our own sweat and wonder if we can do it again,� Simmons says. �It beats you up. Paul has had two knee and shoulder operations. And, at the end of the tour, you think, �That�s it.� You don�t think you want it, but it�s really hard to go, �OK, I�m just going to go and watch.��
There�s a sense of pride, Simmons says, that goes back to the beginning when fans �wanted the best, not �kind of� the best or �kind of� good. They wanted the best. And that was our war cry.�
The makeup? �That has a relation to those American Indians who put the paint on and danced around the fire all night. It�s a battle cry.�
Neither Simmons nor Stanley, he adds, wants to cede the stage to someone else.
