Letting Go
By: Patrick

The summer of 1980 is a time I'll never forget. I was 8 years old and visiting with my two older cousins, Jack and Justin. While playing in their room I noticed a cool looking poster on the wall with these scary looking guys wearing make up. "Who are they?" I asked Jack. He responded, "That's KISS. They're this rock band, you wanna hear 'em?" He proceeded to put on Alive II (opening with Detroit Rock City). And an 8 year old boy was blown away, the rest is history.

It's safe to say that KISS is in some part responsible for certain directions my life has gone. Not long after my fateful encounter with the band, I demanded a guitar and amp (thanks mom and dad) and set off to conquer the world. Of course, it's never that easy. I had to learn first, and there was no better teacher than KISS. They wrote big, loud, and easy to digest songs for young musicians to comprehend. It was very encouraging. That musical foothold allowed me to develop a basic "musical vocabulary" and the confidence to explore what was inside of me. From that, I began the long journey of my own musical development. A work still in progress!

Of course, by the 80's there was no longer the original KISS lineup, times changed and it was WAY uncool to be a fan. It didn't matter because I had an incredible loyalty to the band, and my friends respected that. It was the same loyalty I showed them. If you are any kind of a KISS fan you'll know what I'm getting at here. In a very real way, fighting for something you believe in develops a lot more character than mindlessly following whatever bad taste seems to be popular for the moment. If there is one thing that KISS in the 80's taught me, it was that you don't have to be popular to be worth something. Look at 1986's Asylum album. Taken from a musician's standpoint, I think it was one of KISS strongest musical efforts. But it gets panned as being too commercial, or it doesn't sound like "old KISS", or whatever. It still contains some smokin' guitarwork/arrangements, and in my humble opinion, Paul Stanley's finest vocals to be caught on tape. But that's just me.

Over the years, KISS has been a constant in the universe. Good, bad, and downright ugly bands have come and gone but KISS (despite its inner politics) has always just been there. There's not many other bands, or people for that matter, who can claim that. Especially these days. With the corporate business of music, the shelf life of entertainers/musicians is even less than 15 minutes.

Unfortunately, that sentiment may soon be ending. If you'll excuse the bad metaphor, the last of the sand is pouring through the hourglass. Nothing lasts forever. Time, desire, and support seems to be catching our superheroes. Yes, I do own a set of the latest KISS dolls. When a friend asked me just the other day asked what the hell was I doing buying KISS action figures, I smugly replied, "Contributing to my band's retirement fund." I have Psycho Circus and yes, it ain't no Rock'n'Roll Over. It's not 1977 either, and nothing is ever as good as we remember it. My point? Put aside merchandise, infighting, top 10 jokes, and appreciate KISS in its many incarnations while you can. Our KISS as we know it will not be around much longer.

After "suffering" through the 80's (if you can call listening to Crazy Nights while having sex with your girlfriend for the first time suffering!) KISS in the 90's enjoyed a rebirth. Young bands like Pantera often cite KISS as the reason the they started playing in the first place (I'll try to relate!). Suddenly KISS seemed to have a lot more credibility. This peaked when they gave every last fan who ever donned the makeup at Halloween what they were waiting for: the infamous reunion. Of course, success is measured by how much money was made and, well, the boys did okay. It was okay to be a fan again, although I never thought there was a time when it was not.

I was able to see them twice that tour, once with Jack, the cousin who introduced me to the legend of KISS. The other time was KISS's last North American date in Vancouver. The before-mentioned girlfriend (now X) was with me for that one. Talk about coming full circle. Those two events were important to me because the first concert was for the pure enjoyment of the 8 year old who was too young to see KISS in its glory days. The second was for the adult who realizes that nothing is ever simple and that life is bigger, stronger, and smarter than you or I. Maybe it was because of last North American date, maybe it was being with a junior high sweetie, maybe it's because I'm the world's oldest 27 year old, but I reluctantly said good-bye to KISS that night. I saw that they couldn't do this forever. No one can.

There was a part of me that did hope KISS would call it a career after the Reunion Tour. The thought of them going out as kings has a special appeal. But like a professional athlete, walking away from the game is next to impossible. I think it is a part of human nature not to want something enjoyable to end. Letting go is never easy. Yes, KISS is dangerously close to becoming a parody of itself, but that is something inherent to the foursome's line of work. I was kind hoping they would go the other way - release a new album and play a number of theater venues. Who wouldn't want to see KISS perform up close instead of across a stadium. I'd shell out the $275 bucks it would probably cost. Again, that's me.

So argue over how lame the KISS wrestler is, complain that Ace and Peter didn't play enough on the new album (they do play at the concerts, where it counts), gripe over the KISS toilet paper, and whine about the KISS... well, wine. It's your right as a fan. Personally, I think it's all academic. Let Gene Simmons run with whatever wacky marketing scheme he can think of. Just remember Joni Mitchell: don't it always seem to go that you don't know what you got till it's gone.

Maybe they'll pave KISS and put up a parking lot.

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