Kiss News

By Aidin Vaziri

Kiss was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame this year - only 14 years after the tongue-wagging, flame-breathing band became eligible. Oh, well. According to front man Paul Stanley, 62, who with Gene Simmons co-founded the group and kept it alive through various lineup changes, the honor means little compared with the loyalty of its fans. We spoke to Stanley at the Jewish Community Center of San Francisco when he was in town to promote his autobiography, "Face the Music: A Life Exposed." Here is a very brief excerpt from our conversation. Kiss, on tour with Def Leppard, performs Wednesday at the Concord Pavilion.

Q: When was your favorite time to be a member of Kiss?

A: There's never been a better time than now. Because Kiss shouldn't be my life. Kiss should only be part of my life. And that's what I have now. If we're lucky we realize that life is really about family - your children, your family and your friends. Without that, the rest is hollow.

Q: How many times did you legitimately think that Kiss was over and done and when you walked off that tour bus that was the last time you were doing it?
By Aidin Vaziri

Kiss was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame this year - only 14 years after the tongue-wagging, flame-breathing band became eligible. Oh, well. According to front man Paul Stanley, 62, who with Gene Simmons co-founded the group and kept it alive through various lineup changes, the honor means little compared with the loyalty of its fans. We spoke to Stanley at the Jewish Community Center of San Francisco when he was in town to promote his autobiography, "Face the Music: A Life Exposed." Here is a very brief excerpt from our conversation. Kiss, on tour with Def Leppard, performs Wednesday at the Concord Pavilion.

Q: When was your favorite time to be a member of Kiss?

A: There's never been a better time than now. Because Kiss shouldn't be my life. Kiss should only be part of my life. And that's what I have now. If we're lucky we realize that life is really about family - your children, your family and your friends. Without that, the rest is hollow.

Q: How many times did you legitimately think that Kiss was over and done and when you walked off that tour bus that was the last time you were doing it?

A: Never.

Q: Even after the farewell tour?

A: After the farewell tour I really thought it was over. The farewell tour was because Ace (Frehley) and Peter (Criss) were so friggin' unbearable that we just decided we had to end the band. Later on, I was at a car wash and I accepted that the band was over and a guy at this car wash said to me, "I saw the farewell tour and it was so great. When's the 35th anniversary tour?" It was like, you don't want us gone? Suddenly it dawned on me that the farewell tour was maybe just farewell to two of the guys.

Q: Kiss was such a visual band. Why did you leave things with "Kiss Meets the Phantom of the Park"?

A: When you do something of that caliber, where can you go? After that, what is there left to do? I still don't understand the end of that movie.

Q: You couldn't follow that up, even if you tried.

A: No. That's as good as it gets.

Q: How did Kiss change the music industry?

A: I think we have been a wake-up call to audiences that they don't have to accept apathy or disrespect from the people onstage - that the people onstage owe you everything. They're not doing you a favor by being onstage. You're doing them a favor by showing up. When young people go and see Kiss as their first band, the next band they go to see, they go, "Where's the fire? When is that guy going to fly through the air? How come they're not wearing tights and 8-inch heels?" {sbox}

Kiss/Def Leppard: 7 p.m. July 2. $36-$195. Concord Pavilion, 2000 Kirker Pass Road, Concord.

Excerpted from an article by Glen Casebeer

Photos by Bill Bungard

KISS call themselves the loudest band in the world. They call themselves the greatest band in the world. Well, they are pretty loud, and they are pretty great.

The faithful legions who have been drafted into the Kiss Army invaded Auburn on June 29, donning battle gear(facepaint and platform shoes) and no amount of rain could dampen their spirits. The pre-show squalls eventually gave way, and the White River Amphitheater crowd was bathed in a sea of golden sunshine. Def Leppard, of course, has their own legions of adoring fans, and they were there in substantial numbers, as well, to represent their band on one of the biggest tours of the year.Excerpted from an article by Glen Casebeer

Photos by Bill Bungard

KISS call themselves the loudest band in the world. They call themselves the greatest band in the world. Well, they are pretty loud, and they are pretty great.

The faithful legions who have been drafted into the Kiss Army invaded Auburn on June 29, donning battle gear(facepaint and platform shoes) and no amount of rain could dampen their spirits. The pre-show squalls eventually gave way, and the White River Amphitheater crowd was bathed in a sea of golden sunshine. Def Leppard, of course, has their own legions of adoring fans, and they were there in substantial numbers, as well, to represent their band on one of the biggest tours of the year.

The set lists for both bands were full of the songs that fans came to hear like, �Photograph,� �Pour Some Sugar On Me,� �Rock and Roll All Nite� and �Detroit Rock City.� Def Leppard started the real show off with a bang playing a killer song from early in their career, �Let It Go,� from the 1981 album �High & Dry.�

That album was well represented, much to the delight of the fans of the British glam rockers, as they played an acoustic version of �Bringin' on the Heartache� and the instrumental guitar showcase �Switch 625.� On that number, Vivian Campbell and Phil Collen showed that they still have the chops.

The rest of Def Leppard�s set list included the smash hit songs from their two best-selling albums: 1983s �Pyromania� and 1987s �Hysteria.� Ever wonder what it would be like to hear literally thousands of people singing �Pour Some Sugar On Me?� Well we found out. After working the crowd into frenzy, the band came out for a two-song encore consisting of �Rock Of Ages� and �Photograph.� The band was tight and Joe Elliot hit most of the "High" notes.

Of course, now it was time for the spectacle. And make no mistake a Kiss show is a spectacle. The electricity that flows through the air as the curtain drops is contagious.

They blasted through the set with everything you'd expect from a Kiss show. Fire-breathing bassist, Gene Simmons, entertained and engaged the crowd with his stage demeanor. Frontman Paul Stanley runs a tight show and he knows how to talk to a crowd. He told the crowd that Kiss has been coming to the northwest since before many of the attendees were even born. (Give him extra credit for not calling Auburn Seattle.) Later in the show, Paul Stanley flew through the crowd, up to his platform in the middle of the arena and dropped �Love Gun� on the now frantic audience.

Northwest native Tommy Thayer has been in the "Spaceman" role now for more than a decade, and he plays the part well. Of course, Kiss purists kick and scream and complain that it'll never be the same without Ace Frehely and Peter Criss. But props to Thayer; he is a guitar wizard and he can hold his own with anyone.

If watching a band that has been shocking, mesmerizing and loving arguably the most loyal legion of fans of any band on the planet is your idea of a fantastic way to spend Sunday night in Auburn, then you came to the right place. Kiss did not disappoint.