As fans roared their approval, the 46-year-old "Starchild" (as his costumed KISS persona is known) slipped one silver platform boot into a harness, stood up and launched himself off the stage, gliding above a sea of costumed ghouls and goblins to an elevated landing at midfield. He grabbed a guitar and tore into "Love Gun," prancing in place with his knock-kneed heavy-metal strut, and when it was done, he sailed back through a haze of fake fog to rejoin bandmates Gene Simmons ("the Demon"), Ace Frehley ("Space-Ace") and Peter Criss ("the Catman").

It was one of the more impressive stunts on opening night of the band's "Psycho Circus" tour, a three-ring extravaganza featuring acrobats, motorcycle stunts and sideshow freaks, more than two hours of pyrotechnic rock theater from KISS and--back on stage and better than ever--the Beatles!

Well, actually, it was the members of opening band Smashing Pumpkins in Fab Four drag, complete with Beatles logo on the drum kit, who kicked off their hourlong set with a spooky rendition of the classic "Money (That's What I Want)" that drolly summed up the evening's purpose.

Though KISS' over-the-top, '70s-vintage rock was clearly the main attraction, the Pumpkins seemed to hold their own, churning out a postmodern style of horror rock that displayed the group's grittier side. Gothic-sounding, sometimes psychedelic tunes were punctuated by Phantom-of-the-Opera-style keyboard flourishes, blinding purple strobe lights and clouds of smoke. Quickly shedding his mop-top wig, singer-guitarist Billy Corgan proved a dynamically weird figure with his bald head and old-fashioned suit, wriggling at the mike like some enchanted reptile.

Yet, by the time the last strains of KISS' "Black Diamond" had faded and the final fireworks had burst, it was hard to recall that the Smashing Pumpkins had been there at all. One of modern rock's more celebrated acts was quite simply, quite literally, blown away by the hoary spectacle of a band that, having reunited its original lineup a couple of years ago, remains utterly unchanged, except for a few more wrinkles creasing their Kabuki-style makeup.

Offering only two songs from the album "Psycho Circus," the original quartet's first new recording in 18 years, KISS instead plowed through such favorites as "Cold Gin" and "Deuce" on a stage that lit up like a pinball machine and spewed flames and fireworks at regular intervals. The Demon breathed fire and spat blood, the Catman's drum riser flew through the air during his solo, the Space-Ace shot down a bank of lights with a burst of fireworks from his guitar. And if that wasn't exciting enough, the groovy 3-D special effects, projected via large screens flanking the stage, put all the action in everyone's face at once.

It didn't even matter that the band needed every bit of the conflagration to disguise what otherwise would've been a hack performance of Spinal Tap-esque proportions. In fact, the cliched power chords, stale drumming and screaming vocals were beside the point entirely. What mattered to KISS--and to the faithful, who arrived dressed up like their idols and departed with armloads of merchandise--was preserving the sweetest essence of rock 'n' roll: attitude.

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