News Archive April 2009

From: El-nacional.com
by Diego Soteldo (translated by Jill Cataldo/photo by Santiago Nuñez/Luis Eduardo G.
Posted: April 20, 2009

KISS dazzled Caracas with its impressive, hallucinogenic rock show!

The band offered a full two-hour concert with lights, fire and explosions, in which fans listened to classics like Rock and Roll All Nite, Lick It Up and I Was Made For Lovin' You.

In Thursday's press conference, Gene Simmons said: "This show will be an incredible spectacle that has never been seen here before." This was what the people thought when they attended yesterday's KISS concert in the Rinconada.

Gene Simmons (bass and voice) Paul Stanley (voice and guitar), Tommy Thayer (lead guitar) and Eric Singer(drums) waited behind an enormous curtain bearing the logo of the band near 9:30 p.m. as "Won't Get Fooled Again" boomed across a wide stage filled with amplifiers and bars of lights. Throughout the concert, Simmons showed his popular and notorious tongue, and Stanley danced on the stage.

The four musicians, with their suits of leather and metal, platform shoes and faces covered with white and black greasepaint in the Japanese kabuki style, played classics from their 35 year-career, like Hotter Than Hell, Strutter and Got To Choose on a stage with four giant screens and multicolored fireworks.

Stanley did not stop praising the country and Caracas, and in a mixture of English and Castilian, he stated that "I do not speak much Spanish, but I understand it and it is in my heart", something that shocked the public, composed of various age groups and fans wearing makeup similar to the band. Then the band played Nothing To Lose.

Parasite and She followed in the repertoire, which then gave way to Tommy Thayer's guitar solo, who also used his guitar to shoot fireworks. Thayer now wears the space suit that Ace Frehley donned for a long time. Eric Singer also had a solo - he inherited the post left by Peter Criss and the deceased Eric Carr - demonstrating his powers as drummer on a platform that rose in the air while he played.

The band segued into more classics and later demonstrated their affection to the crowd in a mini cover of the chorus of Guantanamera, in perfect Spanish. Let Me Go, Rock and Roll and Black Diamond followed.

It was 11:00 p.m. when the band launched into Rock and Roll All Night, one of its major hits, accompanied by an explosion by lights, flames and confetti. The four musicians retired for a brief moment, soon to return and offer, possibly, the most exciting moments of the night.

Shout It Out Loud, Lick It Up, and Forever were the prelude to the spectacle of the "Demon" Simmons. Illuminated by a fluorescent green light, Simmons played his axe-shaped bass while red blood poured from his mouth and stained his armor. Continuing his non-conformist act, Simmons rose to the ceiling of the stage, where he played I Love it Loud, accompanied by the band.

I Was Made For Lovin' You, their disco classic, followed with Simmons rejoining the band on the main stage.

But the Starchild, Paul Stanley, did not lag behind Gene, and his interpretation of Love Gun saw him mounting a cable that took him above the public to the other side of the stage, where the sound consoles were mounted.

With Stanley back at the front of the stage, they closed the night with Detroit Rock City, again accompanied by an enormous fireworks explosion and the ecstasy of the fans that spent two hours witnessing an event that showed exactly why the American band became so popular.

Kiss demonstrated that after 35 years of history, they continue offering unforgettable concert spectacles that are difficult to equal.