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From: NWI Times The Big Apple's famous rock 'n' roll export -- KISS -- has a long history with Calumet region rock fans, dating back to 1974, when the band first introduced itself at the long-gone Parthenon Theater in downtown Hammond. Unknown rockers wearing makeup and signed to a disco label (Casablanca Records), KISS had little going for them except a collective dream of rock stardom. That proved enough in the long run. KISS found fame by taking four-chord rock songs and coupling them with outlandish costumes, explosions, flash pots, stage blood and raw energy. As a high school freshman the year KISS rocked the Parthenon, this writer was part of the audience that dropped $3.50 at the box office to have GENE SIMMONS, PAUL STANLEY, ACE FREHLEY and PETER CRISS dazzle our senses and blow our minds that night. "You got your money's worth (that day) didn't you?" laughed PAUL STANLEY, KISS guitarist and cofounder, during a phone interview last week. "With KISS, it has always been about giving fans the most bang for the buck. We spent as much as we made on the show back then, sometimes more." Stanley, fresh from a six-month run as the lead in the Toronto production of "Phantom Of The Opera," currently is promoting a new solo album, "Live To Win," which brings his red-hot solo band to Chicago's House of Blues on Nov. 6. "I really loved doing 'Phantom'. I definitely want to do more live theatre," exclaimed Stanley, who has spent the last two months off the road enjoying fatherhood. "I have a new eight-week-old son, and he's sure got my pipes." KISS visited Chicago many times since that early Parthenon gig but never forgot the loyal Hoosier fans who rallied behind them when they were a struggling young band Chicago venues would not consider booking. There was the landmark concert in late 1976 at the Omni 41 Sports Complex in Schererville, where KISS performed atop the frozen ice-skating rink, and two great shows at the intimate Star Plaza Theatre in Merrillville. But their best-remembered visit to "da region" probably took place 22 years ago, when KISS unleashed its hard-rock fury at the Hammond Civic Center on Easter Sunday 1984. KISS not only was greeted by die-hard fans adorned in makeup but also by scores of protesters from several area churches, and television, radio and print media, which came to cover the potential clash. The protesters carried picket signs decrying the band as Satan-spawned threats to area youth. Some declared that "KISS" stood for "Knights in the Service of Satan." "Sure, I remember that show," Stanley said. "It's so funny really when you look back at things like that. These misguided people should be ashamed of their own ignorance. Invariably over the years, we see these evangelical preachers who point fingers and call other people 'devil worshippers' are the ones being found in a cheap hotel with a hooker, then claiming Satan tempted them." The only controversy likely to surround Stanley's solo tour will be KISS fans debating which songs deserve inclusion in the guitarist/vocalist's set. "About 50 percent of the set is from my two solo albums," said Stanley, referring back to the 1978 "PAUL STANLEY" LP that was part of then-KISS manager Bill Aucoin's business-savvy decision to have each band member release an individual album, so as to quadruple the sales and revenue figures of what just one group album would net. "The other half will be KISS songs," he said. "KISS has a lot of songs and there's a lot of classics you have to play at a KISS concert, not leaving much time for some of the other great songs that have fallen between the cracks," he said. "We will do a few classics, but we'll also do a few songs that KISS has never performed live on stage but that are favorites of mine." One such song is "A Million To One" from the 1983 album "Lick It Up." "This tour has been heaven for me. It's so awesome," Stanley said. "I have such a great band with me. They are the 'Rock Star' house band from 'Rock Star Inxs' and 'Rock Star Supernova.' The only thing that impressed me about that (TV) show was the backing band. So that's who I have playing with me." Fans who think KISS is gone because GENE SIMMONS has a reality television show ("Family Jewels") and PAUL STANLEY has a new solo album are mistaken. Stanley said the group is not yet ready to hang up their seven-inch leather heels and retire on their millions or their laurels and will play together again. BREAKOUT: PAUL STANLEY's new album, "Live To Win," reflects his personal philosophy. "Dreams are the blueprints for what can be," he said. "I'm a big believer that if you set your goals and you go for them and you don't let anyone get in your way, you will win, even if you don't necessarily succeed. You win even in defeat, because you did it your way. "Living to win doesn't mean you always succeed, it just means that you win by virtue of not compromising. I think there is a lot to be said for that, and if anyone thinks that sounds corny, well tough." |
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