Kiss News

BY BEN SCHMITT FREE PRESS STAFF WRITER
Photos by KIMBERLY P. MITCHELL/Detroit Free Press

There was fire.

There was an explosion or two, followed by flashing red sirens.

And we're not talking about a Detroit freeway. We're talking about Kiss' return to Cobo Arena on Friday night.

Kiss renewed its love affair with Detroit Rock City by kicking off its North American tour with the first of two shows at the venue where most of its history-making "Alive!" album was recorded in 1975.BY BEN SCHMITT FREE PRESS STAFF WRITER
Photos by KIMBERLY P. MITCHELL/Detroit Free Press

There was fire.

There was an explosion or two, followed by flashing red sirens.

And we're not talking about a Detroit freeway. We're talking about Kiss' return to Cobo Arena on Friday night.

Kiss renewed its love affair with Detroit Rock City by kicking off its North American tour with the first of two shows at the venue where most of its history-making "Alive!" album was recorded in 1975.

The face-painting, tongue-wagging, fire-spewing hard-rockers were led by founding members Gene Simmons and Paul Stanley, who gave a loving welcome to the crowd along with late-era additions Tommy Thayer on lead guitar and Eric Singer on drums.

As the skies darkened, fans crammed inside Cobo, screaming, high-fiving and spilling beer. They tried to guess the first song.

The lights went out at 8:50 p.m. Large video screens showed the band walking down the hall and on to the stage.

They opened with "Deuce" and went right into "Strutter."

"Cobo Hall!" Stanley said during a breather, paying homage to the venue that's slated to be shuttered some time next year. "Man, let me tell you something. For us, this is the holy land. This is where it all started."

This was religion for a crowd of jovial rockers who wore Kiss makeup, spiky shoulder pads and shiny platform boots. Some dashed around in makeshift Kiss armor, tights and capes, emulating their icons from the '70s.

For Gary Mannone, 44, of Grosse Pointe Woods, the show would mark the 28th time he'd seen Kiss -- each time in Michigan.

"This is legendary," Mannone said. "Cobo is legendary. This is history in the making."

Simmons was up to his fire-spitting tricks by the fourth song, "Hotter Than Hell." The sold-out crowd stayed on their feet, bobbing their head through "Nothin' to Lose."

Stanley asked: "Is it good?"

"Yeaaaaah!" the throng answered.

Adam Graham / Detroit News Pop Music Writer

Detroit Rock City came alive Friday night as Kiss kicked off their latest tour in the venue that made them famous (and the venue they made famous): Cobo Arena.

It was there where the legendary costumed rockers recorded "Alive!" the 1975 live album that put them on the musical map. And on Friday, in front of a fervent sold-out crowd of around 12,000, the band reprised the majority of "Alive!" during the 20-song, 2-hour and 10-minute show that acted as a mutual love fest between Kiss and Detroit. The band performs again at Cobo on Saturday.

"Cobo Hall!" frontman Paul Stanley shouted early in the set Friday. "For us, this is the holy land. This is where it all started."

Fans, many of whom came dressed like their favorite Kiss members in outrageous costumes and greasy face paint, certainly treated the venue like it was sacred ground, some coming from as far away as Wisconsin and West Virginia for the concert. Cobo's future remains uncertain, but Kiss said it wanted to perform there one last time before it becomes rubble -- like Tiger Stadium, where the group kicked off its 1996 reunion tour.Adam Graham / Detroit News Pop Music Writer

Detroit Rock City came alive Friday night as Kiss kicked off their latest tour in the venue that made them famous (and the venue they made famous): Cobo Arena.

It was there where the legendary costumed rockers recorded "Alive!" the 1975 live album that put them on the musical map. And on Friday, in front of a fervent sold-out crowd of around 12,000, the band reprised the majority of "Alive!" during the 20-song, 2-hour and 10-minute show that acted as a mutual love fest between Kiss and Detroit. The band performs again at Cobo on Saturday.

"Cobo Hall!" frontman Paul Stanley shouted early in the set Friday. "For us, this is the holy land. This is where it all started."

Fans, many of whom came dressed like their favorite Kiss members in outrageous costumes and greasy face paint, certainly treated the venue like it was sacred ground, some coming from as far away as Wisconsin and West Virginia for the concert. Cobo's future remains uncertain, but Kiss said it wanted to perform there one last time before it becomes rubble -- like Tiger Stadium, where the group kicked off its 1996 reunion tour.

"When we heard they were gonna close (Cobo) down, we said, not without us coming back," said Stanley, before launching into "C'mon and Love Me." Later he joked, "Next time we see ya, I guess it will be at what, The Palace?" to a chorus of boos from the audience.

On stage, the band was up to its old tricks: Gene Simmons spit blood, breathed fire and flew to the top of the arena to perform "I Love It Loud" atop a lighting rig, while Stanley rode out over the crowd to play "Love Gun" on a rotating satellite stage at the back of the arena. Meanwhile, guitarist Tommy Thayer -- who replaced Ace Frehley earlier this decade -- was technically up to Ace's old tricks, shooting fireballs out of the neck of his guitar during an extended solo, while drummer Eric Singer -- who replaced Peter Criss, also earlier this decade -- played atop a drum riser connected to a hydraulic lift that rose high into the air and rotated to face all sides of the arena.

The production was typical Kiss: loud, in your face, and proud of it. The band was backed by a video screen as wide as the stage, and four tiers of smaller, square-shaped video screens were stacked like boxes at the rear of the set. Meanwhile, flames and explosions burst throughout the show, and the confetti shower that rained down during the set-closing "Rock and Roll All Nite" was as thick and dense as a February snowstorm.

Stanley's constant stage banter -- he truly is one of the chattiest frontmen in rock -- was lighthearted throughout the evening, though he did touch on Detroit's economic hardships at one point, saying the fact that a city like Detroit has such a high unemployment rate "is a sin." Stanley said his sympathies go out to those in the city and said things would turn themselves around -- all as an intro to "Rock and Roll All Nite," almost to ensure the proceedings didn't get too heavy.

In addition to celebrating the 35th anniversary of "Alive!" the band is also pushing its new album "Sonic Boom," which hits stores early next month. Late in the set they debuted "Modern Day Delilah," playing it live for the first time, and in sound and feel the song fit in with the band's classic material.

The show closed the only way it could, with a rip-roaring "Detroit Rock City," and with Stanley praising his beloved "church of rock and roll." He proceeded to run down Detroit's musical history, touching on Motown, Bob Seger, Mitch Ryder, the Stooges, Alice Cooper and more, saying, "there's something about Michigan that just puts rock and roll in the blood."

And by spitting that blood up all over stage, Kiss made its mark on the city one more time, and made sure that no matter what becomes of Kiss or Cobo, the memories of their shared history will last forever.