Kiss News

03/01/2016

PHOTO: NEW ROCK & BREWS AT LAX

LAWA/LAX CEO Deborah Flint welcomes KISS� Gene Simmons & Paul Stanley to LAX�s new Rock & Brews in T1!

02/28/2016

Paul Stanley of KISS proves he has plenty of soul in San Juan Capistrano

By ROBERT KINSLER / Orange County Register

It�s no surprise there were plenty of Kiss fans on hand at the Coach House on Friday night to catch the local debut of singer-guitarist Paul Stanley's new group dubbed Soul Station. But what may have been a bit surprising to some unschooled members of the capacity crowd was not only the complete lack of any KISS classics in the set list, but the fact that �the Starchild� performed sans makeup and never even touched a guitar during the 90-minute performance.

The good news is the 64-year-old hard rocking icon�s performance was very good and made for a fun-filled night of music courtesy of his outstanding backing 12-member ensemble, Soul Station. Stanley and company crackled life into more than a dozen soul and Motown classics in versions that featured arrangements mostly faithful to the studio versions while gaining an additional edge played live.

Opening with a rousing version of the Temptations� �Get Ready,� this was a performance where every song covered was a bona fide classic. As Stanley noted after the opener: �Tonight�s about a lot of the music I grew up loving.�

Stanley used his falsetto as the instrument of choice throughout most of the night, generally able to hit all the high notes associated with iconic ballads � the Delfonics� �La-La (Means I Love You),� an especially impressive take on the Miracles� �Ooo Baby Baby� � and uptempo soul standards, such as Stevie Wonder�s �Signed, Sealed, Delivered I'm Yours.� Stanley even showed off some dance moves on Al Green�s �Let's Stay Together.�

Stanley not only hit thoe lofty notes, but delivered the songs with authentic emotion that gave the overall performance an artistic sense of purpose that more than justifies future outings from Soul Station.

The three backing singers (all of whom were featured singing lead vocals from time to time) were the obvious ingredient in replicating the vocal sound of the soul era. The band also boasted a top-tier trio of horn players, an ace rhythm section (including long-time Kiss drummer Eric Singer), several keyboardists and stellar guitarist Rafael �Hoffa� Moreira, who drew several cheers throughout the night for his flashy fret work, ost notably during an extended workout of the Isley Brothers� �Who's That Lady�).

Together with Stanley, these musicians made this a night to celebrate a sound that got many on their feet and dancing in a venue where such displays are rare.

Opening the night was Tom Griesgraber, an Encinitas-based composer who performed an instrumental set of original works on a Chapman Stick, a unique instrument that is able to fuse sounds from the guitar, bass guitar and even keyboards. His virtuoso talents on the Stick were highlighted on the beautiful, Americana-styled �Rebecca� and dazzling rhythm-defying �War Dance.�

02/27/2016

Starchild, Soul Man

Paul Stanley�s Soul Station brings Motown to The Canyon Tonight

By Michael Aushenker / Vcreporter.com

Paul Stanley understands your confusion.

After all, when one thinks of KISS, the four-decade-old band best known for spitting fire, drooling blood, outsized tongues and platform boots as big as their egos, musicians like Otis Redding, The Temptations, and Isaac Hayes are not the names that come to mind as influences on the theatrical rock group.

And yet, the KISS frontman and guitarist (a.k.a. Starchild) is earnest as he comes to Ventura County with Paul Stanley�s Soul Station, a revue covering iconic soul songs from the Motown and Stax era of black music, to perform at The Canyon in Agoura Hills.

Stanley insists that �covering� is not quite accurate: �We�re not doing interpretations of these songs, we�re inhabiting these songs and doing them absolutely accurately. We play it religiously and reverently.� The formula seems to work: At a recent warm-up gig at the Roxy on L.A.�s Sunset Strip, �The place was packed.� �Everybody is doing it because of passion,� says Stanley. �It�s really about re-creating those songs, the sweat that made those songs so great.�

Stanley�s passion project features a top-notch band of seasoned musicians, including the participation of current KISS drummer Eric Singer. He�s joined by guitarist Rafael �Hoffa� Moreira (Pink, Steven Tyler, Sheryl Crow), bassist Sean Hurley (John Mayer, Ringo Starr, Annie Lennox) and keyboardists Alex Alessandroni (Babyface, Toni Braxton, Natalie Cole) and Ely Rise (Macy Gray). The backup singers � Nelson Beato, Crystal Starr and Laurhan Beato � have performed with the likes of Stevie Wonder, Smokey Robinson and Whitney Houston. �The finest music that I heard live is Otis Redding,� Stanley said. �I saw Otis, I saw The Temptations. I wanted to have an alliance with this great music.�

Anyone familiar with the KISS catalogue will not be surprised by Stanley�s penchant for classic soul. �And Then She Kissed Me,� from the 1976 album Love Gun, is a gender-bending (and snark-free) inversion of a Phil Spector-produced Crystals song. Also recall producer Eddie Kramer�s rollicking honky-tonk piano throughout Simmons� greasy �Christine Sixteen� and the gospel choir backing Stanley on �Tomorrow and Tonight.� �I�m not a rock singer,� Stanley clarifies. �I�m a singer who sings rock.�

Is a Soul Station album in the works? �Anything�s possible,� Stanley says, mentioning how the recorded Roxy show �sounds phenomenal.� �It�s always a matter of how we do it and why and what it�s going to be,� Stanley continues. �To rehash something for me that is of no difference from what we did before is not interesting to me.�

With the deaths of Motorhead�s Lemmy Kilmister, David Bowie and the Eagles� Glenn Frey, the year 2016 has been punishing for iconic, globally renowned musicians. Stanley takes a moment to reflect on the passing of Frey and Bowie: �Strangely, we also have roots in a lot of the music that the Eagles came from. Glenn was from Detroit and certainly a rocker. [Bowie] was an artist in the truest sense. He was an actor, a poet.�

This week at The Canyon, expect to hear The Temptations� �Get Ready,� The Stylistics� �You Are Everything� and Smokey and the Miracles� �Ooh, Baby, Baby� when Soul Station performs: �All classic, classic songs. People coming to the show will realize not only do I know it, I can sing it,� Stanley says, adding rather defiantly, �If you�re coming to hear KISS songs, you�re coming to the wrong place.�

�The whole purpose of Soul Station,� he continues, �is to perform the Motown and Philly soul that is at the core of so much of music today, sadly now being made by computers and preprogrammed beats and guys doing nursery rhymes over the music. You don�t need to mess with Martha and the Vandellas, you don�t need to mess with The Stylistics. What�s missing for me today in great quantity is great live R & B.�

Can the Starchild really pull off a legitimate soul revue?

After 43 years of KISS, 100 million albums sold and hundreds of millions raked in from all kinds of KISS merchandise (from action figures and Hello Kitty dolls to anime and comic books, to condoms and coffins), who are we to underestimate Paul Stanley at this point? 

Paul Stanley�s Soul Station performs Saturday, Feb. 27, at The Canyon in Agoura Hills. For more information call 879-5016 or go to www.canyonclub.net.

02/25/2016

SOUL STATION SHOWS THIS WEEKEND!

Paul Stanley's Soul Station will hit the stage this weekend at San Juan Capistrano�s The Coach House on Friday, Agoura Hills� The Canyon on Saturday and Pasadena�s The Rose on Sunday!

February 26 - San Juan Capistrano�s The Coach House SOLD OUT

February 27 - Agoura Hills� The Canyon

February 28 -  Pasadena�s The Rose

Visit www.paulstanley.com/soulstation to purchase tickets.

02/20/2016

KISS IN JAPAN

WOW! Check out some of the many magazine covers KISS has graced in Japan over the years!

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