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 All news should be considered an unconfirmed report unless verified, and all information published at KISS Asylum is attributed to the source from which it was received so that readers may judge the validity of the statements for themselves. All information is confirmed where possible, and all publication is governed by common sense.
Dressed for success KISS remains true to its roots From: buffalonews.com 
By JEFF MIERSREVIEW WHO: Kiss with Poison and ZO2 WHEN: Wednesday night WHERE: Six Flags Darien Lake Performing Arts Center In the 1970s, you either loved KISS, were terrified of the band - or both. When KISS arrived on the scene, just as disco was about to break wide open and punk was readying itself with its barbed tongue and do-it-yourself attitude, the New York City band's blend of high-decibel glam-garage-boogie and, at the time, bizarre and threatening stage get-ups made it every parents worst nightmare. If you were an adolescent at that time, KISS couldn't miss. They were your heroes. On Wednesday evening, they were your heroes all over again. Doubtless, much has changed. Gone are original members ACE FREHLEY and drummer PETER CRISS, the former apparently lost to substance abuse and inconsistency, the other to a crippling bout with tendonitis. And gone also is the context within which KISS had meaning; so many bands are now at least as loud, at least as offensive, perhaps even more theatrical. So KISS in 2004 is a nostalgia act, a means of reliving one's youth. Opening with the title tune from the 1977 album "Love Gun," GENE SIMMONS, PAUL STANLEY, TOMMY THAYER and ERIC SINGER hit the ground running, all flashpots, explosions and Marshall amps cranked to 11. The band's sound was immense. The bass was brutally omnipresent, the guitars a wall of power-chord cacophony, the vocals clear and piercing, the drums thunderous. On this tour, the band is digging deep into its back catalog, responding no doubt to the desire of its rabid KISS Army fan base to hear older, rarely played gems from the band's canon. Toward that end, KISS assembled a set that split the difference between its two career-defining live albums, "Alive" and "Alive II." There were, of course, the moments we've all come to expect - Simmons breathing fire during "War Machine," spitting blood and being flown to the top of the lighting rig (surprisingly, during "Unholy," rather than the conventional "God of Thunder"), Stanley riding some trapeze-like thing during "I Was Made for Loving You." But there were surprises as well, paramount among them the ease with which Thayer and Singer have filled Frehley and Criss' roles. Both are great players, and if it seemed a bit cheesey that both played the two departed musicians' parts to the letter, it was also impossible to deny their professionalism. Throughout, Stanley was in fine voice, his blend of power, dynamics and theater quite impressive for a man who has been doing this as long as he has. If he's a bit bombastic and showboaty, well, forgive him, for the job seems to demand it. We'll be less forgiving about some of his stage banter, particularly two seemingly contradictory raps toward the end of the gig - one that sounded like a cross between Ted Nugent and Rush Limbaugh, all "don't mess with America" and such, and another that urged KISS fans to get out and vote, because only you can make a difference, people. ZO2 played a set of high-energy, if fairly generic, hard rock to open the evening. Poison, reconvened with its original lineup intact, followed with an energetic set of '80s-era glam-metal. Bret Michaels, C.C. Deville, Rikki Rockett and Bobby Dahl had their fair share of supporters in the crowd, whom they sought to please with tunes like "I Wont Forget You," a cover of the Loggins and Messina hit "Your Mama Don't Dance," "Something to Believe In," "Every Rose Has Its Thorn" and "Talk Dirty to Me."• |
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