Kiss News

KISS at the Rose Garden in Portland: Where do I even start?

This review is going to be totally biased because this was not my usual concert experience. First of all, I bought side stage (read "expensive") tickets because I was taking my 10 year old son and wanted him to have his mind blown. So our seats were unreal.

Second, my co-guitar player in my Portland band is a long-time friend of the Thayer family (KISS-man Tommy Thayer is from Portland). So long story short, I run into Pat at will call, and he is picking up a pass for a meet and greet. I knew about this and of course had asked if he could find out if he could bring me and my kid, and of course he couldn't. No shock there - but I thought it never hurts to ask.

But lo and behold he gets his envelope and there are five passes in it. He wanted to make sure he didn't mistakenly have someone else's passes so he went in alone and my son and I got settled. Pat then texted me that we could have two of the extra passes. Sweet!

So he comes and gets us and we stroll across the main floor backstage just in time to see the fab four in full makeup and gear walk by to go to the meet and greet. I high five Gene Simmons as he walks by. My life is complete.KISS at the Rose Garden in Portland: Where do I even start?

This review is going to be totally biased because this was not my usual concert experience. First of all, I bought side stage (read "expensive") tickets because I was taking my 10 year old son and wanted him to have his mind blown. So our seats were unreal.

Second, my co-guitar player in my Portland band is a long-time friend of the Thayer family (KISS-man Tommy Thayer is from Portland). So long story short, I run into Pat at will call, and he is picking up a pass for a meet and greet. I knew about this and of course had asked if he could find out if he could bring me and my kid, and of course he couldn't. No shock there - but I thought it never hurts to ask.

But lo and behold he gets his envelope and there are five passes in it. He wanted to make sure he didn't mistakenly have someone else's passes so he went in alone and my son and I got settled. Pat then texted me that we could have two of the extra passes. Sweet!

So he comes and gets us and we stroll across the main floor backstage just in time to see the fab four in full makeup and gear walk by to go to the meet and greet. I high five Gene Simmons as he walks by. My life is complete.

We are ushered into a room where almost everyone is a friend/family member of Thayer. On the other side of a black curtain separating the room is the meet and greet, and there is a line of folks posing with KISS for a photographer.

So we went back around to where we started and eventually Tommy came into the room to greet his friends and family. Got his photo with my son, got an autograph on my Sonic Boom CD. We had just enough time to hit the bathroom, grab a couple of waters and get back to our seats.

Oh yeah, so then the show started. The band I saw tonight was the tightest version of KISS I have ever seen. Of course I was blown away by the lights, bombs, smoke, spitting blood, revolving drum set, flying bass player etc.

But they were really tight. Eric Singer has a double kick set and he used it to its fullest potential. Maybe it was because he was in his home town, but Thayer blew the doors off of his leads. I swear I didn't miss Ace once, and that is about as blasphemous as I get. Didn't hurt that we were so close to Thayer that I got one of his thrown guitar picks, which I promptly gave to my son. The night just kept getting better, huh?

Vocal harmonies were tight. Paul Stanley did more rocking than I have ever seen. Gene was great. His blood spitting bit has evolved a bit and is even more monster-movie derived, which is a good thing. He did Calling Dr. Love, which is one of my faves from childhood. In fact, the setlist was mostly stuff from Alive!, with personal faves being Hotter Than Hell and 100,000 Years. They did two new songs - both were awesome live, two 80s era songs (Lick It Up and I Love It Loud.)

One more note on Thayer. He kept mugging to our side because many of his family/friends were seated in my section. Right before Rock and Roll al Nite, I saw him go up to Eric Singer and get a drumstick, which he promptly slid into one of his hip-high boots and walked towards our side. Under cover of the raining down confetti, he leaned over the stage and handed the stick to a guy who came over to our section and gave it to a kid who must have been about 3 or 4. High class, that Tommy Thayer.

So to sum up, this is not the classic KISS lineup, and they don't sound like the classic KISS lineup. It's something else and damn it, it is good. I bought this ticket thinking, I will take my kid and then I'll be done with KISS. But if they came back tomorrow, I'd be there.

And, if I am able to do half the stuff Paul Stanley did onstage when I am pushing 60, I will be a very lucky guy. That dude is immortal.

by KELLI SKYE FADROSKI, THE ORANGE COUNTY REGISTER

Kiss is a band that needs no introduction, as the face-painted, pyro-loving, blood-spitting rockers have been at it for more than three decades.

To celebrate the 35th anniversary of its February '74 self-titled debut, the ever-popular concert attraction, founded by frontmen Paul Stanley and Gene Simmons, has been out on its worldwide KISS Alive/35 Tour, which stops Tuesday at Honda Center in Anaheim and Wednesday at Staples Center in L.A.

It's turning out to be a busy year in Kiss' history. For starters, the current tour coincides with the release of Sonic Boom, the band's well-received first studio effort in 11 years, following 1998's lackluster Psycho Circus, the first album to feature the original Kiss lineup since 1977's Love Gun and Alive II.
by KELLI SKYE FADROSKI, THE ORANGE COUNTY REGISTER

Kiss is a band that needs no introduction, as the face-painted, pyro-loving, blood-spitting rockers have been at it for more than three decades.

To celebrate the 35th anniversary of its February '74 self-titled debut, the ever-popular concert attraction, founded by frontmen Paul Stanley and Gene Simmons, has been out on its worldwide KISS Alive/35 Tour, which stops Tuesday at Honda Center in Anaheim and Wednesday at Staples Center in L.A.

It's turning out to be a busy year in Kiss' history. For starters, the current tour coincides with the release of Sonic Boom, the band's well-received first studio effort in 11 years, following 1998's lackluster Psycho Circus, the first album to feature the original Kiss lineup since 1977's Love Gun and Alive II.

Meanwhile, after a decade of eligibility, the quartet has finally been nominated for induction into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. Its competition for next year's five coveted spots are Swedish pop superstars ABBA, reggae legend Jimmy Cliff, punk and metal godfathers the Stooges, prog-rock forebear Genesis and two acts whose rise began in the '80s, Red Hot Chili Peppers and LL Cool J.

Still, none of these reasons to return were needed to get the band back on the road. "It's always a good time for Kiss," Stanley said during a phone interview last week, in the same breath noting that he was only wearing a robe. He, Simmons, guitarist Tommy Thayer and drummer Eric Singer were enjoying a rare day off during this latest leg of their lengthy tour, between gigs in Canada.

After months of performing in ginormous arenas throughout Europe, Australia and South America, Stanley says the band is excited to bring its newest spectacle to North America.

"These have been the biggest and best shows we've ever done," he boasts, noting that "besides getting raves from fans, we've been suspiciously getting good reviews from the critics. I have a feeling that either they just got pummeled into realizing that we're the right way to go, or the critics who gave us bad reviews have all been fired."

Of course, original members Peter Criss and Ace Frehley have once again acrimoniously parted ways with Stanley and Simmons, splitting over financial and creative matters shortly after Kiss' career-reviving reunion tours of the late '90s. Filling in are longtime Criss replacement Singer, who has served behind the kit for the better part of 20 years, and seven-year Kiss veteran Thayer.

"It isn't our first tour with this lineup," Stanley points out. "Quite honestly, once again the philosophy has turned out to be true that the band is not about any particular individual. The band is a way of thinking. It's a frame of mind, it's a mantra -- it's living up to everything that Kiss is supposed to be.

"Kiss should be timeless. It shouldn't depend upon specific people being in the band."

Sonic Boom, released on Oct. 6, took just four months to create, from songwriting to completed recording -- remarkably fast for a band that had to squeeze in sessions while touring South America throughout spring. By June, the guys had hunkered down inside L.A.'s Conway Studios to cut the disc quickly.

Stanley says he "wanted to make a Kiss album that was really steeped in our heritage but is also a statement of today and for tomorrow. I thought it would be great to go into the studio, provided I could produce the album, because (Psycho Circus) was such an unpleasant experience. It sort of soured it for us."

The trouble with the previous collection was a case of too many leaders, not enough followers. "I mean, even in a car someone has to drive -- if everyone just has their hands on the steering wheel it crashes. Democracy in the studio is vastly overrated. Everyone should have an opinion, but at the end of the day someone has to make the decisions.

"We're about making a great Kiss album, instead of being about what kind of music each person likes, or the idea that everyone is entitled to a quota of songs on an album, or entitled to sing because they're in the band." (That said, for Sonic Boom Thayer takes the lead vocally on "When Lightening Strikes" while Singer steps up with "All for the Glory.")

Having one chief overseer, Stanley says, is the healthiest way for Kiss to work in the studio -- and as such, the recording process was effortless this time. "We wrote on our days off from the tour, and when we were recording, nothing got past a first or second take."

Times certainly have changed since '74 -- and so have Kiss' luxuries. Like other touring giants, the band now flies around the world on a private jet. "It allows us to stay based in a city longer and fly out every day and do more shows," Stanley explains.

"Those early times are great, though, because they toughen you up and make you appreciate the rewards. If you're just getting everything from the beginning, then what's there to work toward?"

Stanley, soon to be 58, insists that when he and Simmons, now 60, formed what would become one of the most successful (and often reviled) bands of the '70s, one that served as a dividing line between baby boomers and their offspring, he never could have foreseen all the spoils that have come their way. He still doesn't take any of it for granted.

"At that point (in the '70s) there was no precedent for this sort of thing. There weren't bands that had lasted more than five to seven years, so the idea of a band lasting 35 years... no, no, no. There was a time when rock 'n' roll was so disposable.

"Mind you, there's still an element of it now, where you have almost a product-manufactured artist or band that would have an appeal for only a certain period of time, and then they're replaced. If we weren't Kiss, and we weren't doing these great shows and constantly building on what we've done, we wouldn't still be here.

"There's a lot of commitment to what we do. We live in our own shadows. We've made a career out of not competing with anything but ourselves."

And, at last, they're on the verge of receiving one of rock's highest honors.

Not that Kiss entirely cares.

"It's a double-edged sword," Stanley says, "because the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame is like a private club. It's a group of people, mainly critics and a couple of record executives, who got together and came up with a terrific name that sounds very official and very impressive, even to me. But it's not a reflection of the public's taste. You only have to look at some of the people who have been inducted, and you go, 'Who? But what about this band... or this one?'

"Yet there have been people fighting so hard to get us in. So should they want to induct us, I'll be there, absolutely. It would be an insult to the people who have fought for us to get in to not show up."

All the same, he adds, "I'm also very proud of the people who have been fighting to keep us out of there, too. That's part of what makes us so great."

Photo by Fernando Vergara, The Associated Press.

Tour supporting new album comes to Save Mart Center.

By Mike Osegueda / The Fresno Bee

Say what you will about KISS, but even after all these years, the face-painted foursome is still provocative.

This year, the band launched a first-ever fan-routed tour and released "Sonic Boom," its first album in 11 years (which entered the pop charts at No. 2, a career high for KISS).

If you ask Paul Stanley, KISS' co-leader, the band that booms into Save Mart Center on Saturday night is KISS at its best -- with co-leader Gene Simmons at his side, as well as recent additions Tommy Thayer (guitar) and Eric Singer (drums).

We talked to Stanley about the fan-routed tour, its new album and why critics and multigenerations seem to love KISS these days.Tour supporting new album comes to Save Mart Center.

By Mike Osegueda / The Fresno Bee

Say what you will about KISS, but even after all these years, the face-painted foursome is still provocative.

This year, the band launched a first-ever fan-routed tour (which drew both praise and complaints) and released "Sonic Boom," its first album in 11 years (which entered the pop charts at No. 2, a career high for KISS).

If you ask Paul Stanley, KISS' co-leader, the band that booms into Save Mart Center on Saturday night is KISS at its best -- with co-leader Gene Simmons at his side, as well as recent additions Tommy Thayer (guitar) and Eric Singer (drums).

We talked to Stanley about the fan-routed tour, its new album and why critics and multigenerations seem to love KISS these days.

Question: I know you guys are a little more than halfway done with the tour, how do you feel it's gone so far?

Answer: In terms of worldwide, it's the biggest and most successful tour we've ever done. It's been not only a great show in terms of turnout and response from the audience, but I've never seen so many great reviews. You have to remember that we're a band that's always been loved by the public and hated by most critics. All of the sudden, either those critics are out a job, or they've had a change of heart, because it's suspicious to see so many over-the-top reviews.

Along those lines, I've seen pictures on your Web site of little kids and families at your concerts. Thirty years ago, that wasn't the image people had of KISS.

KISS has always been about writing our own book as to who we are and what we are. It usually doesn't follow what other bands are doing. At this point, we are so multigenerational and proud of it. We do have new fans, meaning teens and 20s, but we also have older fans with their kids. For many people, KISS has always been the soundtrack to their lives, so it's passing something along to their kids. I couldn't be more proud of the band and what we mean to so many different people.

Where does that dedication come from? What is it about the band that inspires that in people?

I think it's the idea of being the underdog who always manages to win. We've had a career of doing things our way in the face of every known obstacle and we do more than survive, we thrive. I think it's an inspiration to other people, that if you believe in what you're doing and if you believe in your self, nothing can stop you.

Let's talk about your fan-routed tour idea. It got a good response and got a lot of attention. But afterward, I heard some moaning and groaning from different cities. Do you think overall it was successful?

You're always under a magnifying glass when you do something different. It seemed to make a lot of people happy and, of course, there's going to be some disgruntled fans. Our goal is not to do that, but it's almost unavoidable.

Is it something you would do again?

I think we'd think twice about it. It's always interesting -- we tend to lead the way and perhaps sometimes get the sticks and stones thrown at us and plow the way for other bands to do it with a little less bad publicity. When we started putting out merchandise, oh my God it was sacrilege, "Rock 'n' roll bands don't do that." Well, all those rock 'n' roll bands who wouldn't do it, once they saw the checks they were missing found their way into fan clubs.

At this point, when you guys are about to release an album or about to go on tour, are there still certain numbers you're trying to reach? Or does that stuff even matter anymore?

No. Doesn't matter. I'm in a very fortunate position where this truly is no longer about money. It's about goals. In the case of "Sonic Boom," it's about making the album that we deserve to make for us. By making the album that we deserved, it was the album that the fans deserved.

If you were going to create "the perfect KISS," which past or present members would be in the lineup?

They're in. This is the best KISS ever. Because this is a KISS where you've got four unique personalities, but you've got four people who are all dedicated to the idea of trying to make the band more famous, rather than trying to figure out how to have the band make them more famous. You only have to come see the band to know that this is as good as it gets.