Kiss News

Photos by John Woods / Winnipeg Free Press

CLICK HERE to view the Winnipeg Free Press' KISS Army Slideshow.

By: Randy Turner

THE KISS Army is mobilizing and Ricky Zimmermann is ready to march into the trenches. Again.

He's left behind $120,000 worth of KISS memorabilia in his Winnipeg home, decked out in a Gene Simmons wig and high-heeled boots in homage to the band's frontman. The makeup is spot-on and ornate scales rise from his boots to his thighs.

"I've told my family that when I die, before I get cremated you have to put me in my costume and burn me like this," Zimmermann said, standing in the lobby of the MTS Centre before the iconic American rock band hit the stage Thursday night.

Seriously?

"Dead serious," Zimmermann replied.

Hotter than hell, indeed.Photos by John Woods / Winnipeg Free Press

By: Randy Turner

CLICK HERE to view the Winnipeg Free Press' KISS Army Slideshow.

THE KISS Army is mobilizing and Ricky Zimmermann is ready to march into the trenches. Again.

He's left behind $120,000 worth of KISS memorabilia in his Winnipeg home, decked out in a Gene Simmons wig and high-heeled boots in homage to the band's frontman. The makeup is spot-on and ornate scales rise from his boots to his thighs.

"I've told my family that when I die, before I get cremated you have to put me in my costume and burn me like this," Zimmermann said, standing in the lobby of the MTS Centre before the iconic American rock band hit the stage Thursday night.

Seriously?

"Dead serious," Zimmermann replied.

Hotter than hell, indeed.

But then the KISS Army has been recruiting soldiers since 1974, when the band's first album debuted. All these years later, the troops remain fervently loyal.

So Zimmermann wasn't alone. Darren Lehman was in line with his wife, Emanuela, and three children: Dayton, 12, Tessa, 9, and Sienna, 7. All had their faces made up in classic KISS designs, emulating original band members Simmons, Paul Stanley, Ace Frehley and Peter Criss.

It was the first time young Tessa and Sienna were to see KISS live, but let's just say they've heard the lyrics of Detroit Rock City and Love Gun for, well, forever.

"When they were in the wombs they were listening to it," said Lehman. "We had the music on, we had the headsets on. By the time he (Dayton) was three, he knew all the words to Rock and Roll All Night."

Added Emanuela: "It's in their blood now."

For the record, the Lehmans don't just get out the KISS makeup for concerts. "When we do this, it's not just for Halloween, but when we're bored in the house," said the machine adjuster.

In fact, the Lehmans' bathroom is pimped out in honour of the band. The overhead light is the shape of a KISS logo. When you flush the toilet, a KISS song plays.

They call their washroom "the hottest can in the land."

Darren and Emanuela were high school sweethearts from their days at Maples Collegiate. When they were married 11 years ago, Darren and the wedding party arrived at the social in KISS face makeup.

Zimmermann can relate. Just last year, he and wife Krista renewed their wedding vows in Las Vegas at the KISS Monster Mini Golf Course, which is adjacent to the Hotter Than Hell Wedding Chapel.

The ceremony was performed by a KISS impersonator. They have pictures and everything.

"It was awesome," Krista said. "It was a lot of fun."

Zimmermann installs flooring and has been working so hard lately Krista didn't have the heart to get him to put on her makeup for last night's gig. It's usually a family thing, including their three children.

But then the KISS Army has long been populated by generational regiments. Patti Kafka, a 50-something mother, was in attendance with 22-year-old son Brendan. "I've been listening to them since my 20s," Patti said. "Finally, I have enough money to go to a concert. I didn't then."

Asked if the band had become too old for rock, Kafka replied, "No, because that means I'm too old. And I'm not. If they can still keep us happy, so what?"

Indeed, there was no shortage of fans at the MTS Centre who were born around the time KISS hits became classic rock. They don't care.

"I like old school music," said Keara Chisholm, 16. "It's wicked."

"It's the vibe," added Emma Marsden, 14. "It gets you pumped. Rebellious and all that."

Craig Henckel would agree. Dressed in his Simmons outfit (the tongue is real), he stands 6-11. His day job is painting trailers. At a gathering of KISS fanatics, he's a star. People stop to take his picture. One fan wants him to autograph his shirt.

"If I walk down the street, I'm a nobody," Henckel said. "But if I put on 25 pounds of leather, makeup and wear high heels, women throw themselves at me. I'm not kidding. It's a blast."

By LAURA STRADIOTTO, FOR THE SUDBURY STAR

Photo by Amber Bracken/Edmonton Sun/QMI Agency

If you've ever been at a KISS concert, you know that standing in the crowd is half the fun.

Fans really go all out, with face paint, costumes and even squeezing into those platform boots. Some people, with kids in tow and maybe some earplugs, make the concert a family affair. I had the chance to see KISS at Kewadin Casino in Sault Ste. Marie, MI, in July 2007. I wouldn't consider myself a KISS fan, but by the end of the night, I too began to Shout It Out Loud.

KISS last performed in Sudbury as part of their Love Gun tour in the summer of 1977. The concert, like most of the band's antics back then, caused quite a stir in the city with some people protesting their appearance at the Sudbury Arena.

KISS performs here next week as part of their 2013 Monster Tour -- almost 36 years to the date from their last appearance at the same arena.

Local musician and devout KISS fan Chris "Pepper" Peplinski is one of the lucky ones who snagged a ticket for the sold-out event.

"This will be my first time seeing them and I'm so freakin' excited," he says.

The band was one of the first Peplinski started listening to as a child.

"When I was a kid, KISS was a combination of rock music and superheroes," says Peplinski.By LAURA STRADIOTTO, FOR THE SUDBURY STAR

Photo by Amber Bracken/Edmonton Sun/QMI Agency

If you've ever been at a KISS concert, you know that standing in the crowd is half the fun.

Fans really go all out, with face paint, costumes and even squeezing into those platform boots. Some people, with kids in tow and maybe some earplugs, make the concert a family affair. I had the chance to see KISS at Kewadin Casino in Sault Ste. Marie, MI, in July 2007. I wouldn't consider myself a KISS fan, but by the end of the night, I too began to Shout It Out Loud.

KISS last performed in Sudbury as part of their Love Gun tour in the summer of 1977. The concert, like most of the band's antics back then, caused quite a stir in the city with some people protesting their appearance at the Sudbury Arena.

KISS performs here next week as part of their 2013 Monster Tour -- almost 36 years to the date from their last appearance at the same arena.

Local musician and devout KISS fan Chris "Pepper" Peplinski is one of the lucky ones who snagged a ticket for the sold-out event.

"This will be my first time seeing them and I'm so freakin' excited," he says.

The band was one of the first Peplinski started listening to as a child.

"When I was a kid, KISS was a combination of rock music and superheroes," says Peplinski.

"To see these guys was like holding a comic book in your hand, but it was a record."

His parents weren't too fond of his music choice, but neither were some kids in the schoolyard.

"There was a point in time when you couldn't say you were a KISS fan because you'd get beat up," he says.

"When I was in high school in the late '80s when hair metal was coming out, if you were a KISS fan, you'd get beat up by the Metallica fans."

KISS wasn't the most talented band, says Peplinski, but their theatrical stage presence and a massive marketing push have made them legend.

Brent Jensen recalls buying his first KISS album in his book No Sleep 'Til Sudbury: Adventures in 80s Hard

Rock and Metal Deconstruction. He was seven-years-old

when he first listened to KISS and he likened the group to musical superheroes.

"I remember thinking, that while I knew that KISS were real human beings despite their heavily made-up characters, I kind of hoped that they weren't in some weird way -- it was all part of the KISS escapist fantasy," he says.

In his book, Jensen details the influence KISS had on his life growing up in the small town of Espanola, and how he felt when meeting Gene Simmons in person.

While his mom thought KISS was the devil's music, she was supportive and bought many of the albums for him.

"We had an understanding -- I got to listen to KISS records as long as the volume on the stereo stayed at a respectable level and I didn't ever try to breathe fire," he says.

Looking back, Jensen realizes that KISS is more of a business than a band, but as a child "I felt like KISS belonged to me."

Part of this magic was the band's ability to "emotionally imprint themselves" on young impressionable fans.

"They exploited the fantasy element with an aggressive marketing campaign in the '70s with the lunch boxes and everything for kids my age back then, and they've been selling us a nostalgia-fueled recreation of that experience years and years after the fact," said Jensen.

"They'll continue to do so, and we'll continue to buy it. The cult of KISS is so alluring because for the price of a concert ticket, they're selling our childhoods back to us, over and over again.