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Ask just about anyone who loves rock & roll and was able to
comprehend the 70's who the greatest band in the world was. Nine
times out of ten their answer will be KISS. KISS epitomized
everything a band your parents hated, KISS pushed every concert to
its limit, KISS had countless albums that never seem to sell stellar
proportions but everyone seemed to own, and I never got to see KISS
back then - there was no way in hell my parents would let me go.
But, I'm older now, and as much as I still listen to my parents,
there was no way in hell I wanted to miss KISS this time around. One
word describes the experience: UNFUCKINGBELIEVABLE!
On July 16th, 1996, at about 11:00 PM I felt I could die a happy
man. I just left a KISS concert complete with just about every bit
of theatrics available - it was so cool.
Whoever came up with the make-up, with the guitar on fire, with
the rising drumset, with the mortar shooting guitar, with the giant,
illuminated KISS sign, with the costumes, with the stacks of
Marshall amps over ten feet tall, with the cranes lifting Gene, Ace,
and Paul over the crowd, with the wiring to lift Gene to the upper
rafters of the Horizon, with the blood, with the fire, with the
entire freakin' show - this person deserves the world. Without them,
rock & roll, awesome concerts, and millions of people would
never have the world's anthem of rock & roll: "Rock and
Roll All Night (And Party Every Day)."
Well, if you didn't figure it by now, I had a great time at this
KISS concert, but you know, so did the around 20,000 people inside
the Horizon, and probably anyone within a ¼ mile radius of the
enclosed stadium - it was loud. Good God, mighty fuckin' loud, but
it just wouldn't really by KISS if your ears weren't bleeding by the
end of the night - even with ear-plugs.
The show itself hit on most every song before they lost their
make-up. And, you know, I didn't remember how many of them there
were until the first chord, the first drumbeat, or Paul Stanley's
speech preceding the song. It's been a while since I listened to the
albums, plugged in the 8-Tracks, and put on those headphones (God
forbid I would let my mom know I was listening to them, let alone
wishing I could go to their show)! But on my list of
"never-to-forget" concerts, this will go down forever as
one of them.
KISS has been given credit by countless people as their
influence, as the band that got them laid, as the band that had just
about everyone saying they loved KISS but never in front of their
parents. I can't say KISS is not without being a spectacle, but that
is what is so cool about KISS. Many bands try the gimmicks, many
bands try to achieve the energy and following, and many bands fail
miserably. Often imitated but never duplicated, there is only one
way to know how cool the music combined with the show are, and that
is to see them live. Do what you can, steal the tickets from your
neighbor, sleep with your neighbors wife if that's what it takes,
but try not to miss this show when it comes near your town. If you
have any love for rock & roll, KISS is THE band. What else can
be said?
I wanted the best, and I got the best - the greatest, hottest,
coolest, incrediblest band in the world - KISS. No boudt adout it,
KISS gets TWO BIG, GIANT, I SMASHED THEM WITH A HAMMER TO MAKE THEM
SWELL UP AND GET BIGGER, THUMBS UP. One of the greatest
exploitation's of a show in the world - they are KISS.
And that's it for this one, I'm The Dude on the Right. L8R! |
