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New KISS Younger, Hotter, But Not the Same From: 1010wins.com 
The new KISS is like Dad's new wife: Younger, undoubtedly hotter, but still leaving you missing the one you grew up with.
In the midst of their third tour since telling audiences they were calling it quits in 2000, KISS had the crowd at the PNC Bank Arts Center on its feet and roaring for two hours Tuesday with a mix of new and old. Drummer ERIC SINGER is back for his third go-round with the band, and TOMMY THAYER, the band's former personal assistant and glorified gofer, assumed lead guitar duties last year. Singer, who has also bashed the skins for Black Sabbath and Alice Cooper, is 20 times the drummer original KISS member PETER CRISS is, and Thayer is the one who re-taught original guitarist ACE FREHLEY his solos for the 1996 reunion tour. Collectively, the band is tighter and better sounding than it has been in recent years. But Thayer and Singer have precious little of the character and stage presence of the men they replaced. Consequently, KISS is more than ever The Gene and Paul Show, which appears to be just fine with bassist GENE SIMMONS and frontman PAUL STANLEY, who have become even greater focal points of a band that was built 31 years ago on four distinct personalities and visual icons. They opened with the bombastic "Love Gun," with Singer pounding out the staccato opening drum riff as seizure-inducing strobe lights swept the stage and a thunderous explosion shook the hillsides of the outdoor amphitheater. A giant video screen projected blown-up images above the drum set, while 16 smaller screens atop the bass and guitar amplifier stacks showed swirling art-school icons that supplemented each particular song, a modern, hip and altogether un-Kiss-like effect that nonetheless proved an effective counterpoint to the 1975 costumes. The band shook up the set list this time out, jettisoning longtime KISS concert staples such as "Cold Gin," "Calling Dr. Love," "Heaven's On Fire," "God Of Thunder," and "Do You Love Me" that had been played to death over the past decade, and replacing them with bygone classics such as "Christine Sixteen," "Got To Choose," "War Machine," the live jam from "She," and "God Gave Rock 'N' Roll To You II." Simmons still spit blood and breathed fire, and Stanley pranced, wiggled and pouted from one end of the stage to the other. Singer, who sounds like an eight-armed octopus on a double-bass drum set, had to tone it down on the single bass setup the band requires him to use in keeping with the recreation of the 1975 "Alive" setup, another nod to image over music. And Thayer has proved to be nothing more than a Frehley clone over the past two years, playing his solos note-for-note, but adding nothing of his own to the mix. It would be interesting to see what the former Black and Blue guitarist can really do if KISS records a new studio album someday. The band also delved into political activism for the first time, with Stanley delivering an extended denunciation of terrorism, praising the United States and its troops, and exhorting Americans to live their lives without fear. When he was through, one almost expected to hear the words, "I'm George W. Bush, and I approved this message." Waves of confetti blanketed the stage and audience on the finale, "Rock and Roll All Night" as a giant KISS logo flashed the letters K-I-S-S, and Stanley smashed his guitar and threw the pieces into the audience, while Singer rose to the ceiling atop his drum platform, and Simmons and Thayer soared nearly as high on hydraulic risers. Eighties survivors Poison ran through a 50-minute set of their greatest hits, including "Look What The Cat Dragged In," "Fallen Angel" and "Talk Dirty To Me." Although it's been years since they've had a big hit, the former MTV darlings still hit the road each year as part of a multi-act package that manages to draw well among those for whom the big-hair '80s was not a bad dream. Drummer Rikki Rockett continues to be the focal point of Poison, flailing away and spinning drum sticks for all he's worth, a black baseball cap set sideways atop his bleached hair. Singer Bret Michaels' voice was hoarse, but he kept the show moving along quickly and kept the chatter to a minimum. Brooklyn's Z02 opened the show to a nearly empty amphitheater, trying valiantly but ultimately unsuccessfully to get many people to care. |
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