FILMING
1978 KISS CONCERT
for DETROIT ROCK CITY
Thursday, December 3
Copps Coliseum
6:30 - 11:30 p.m.
no unreserved admittance
To reserve your space,
or 1-877-663-6646

Detroit Rock City is the story of four teenaged boys - Edward Furlong (American History X, Pecker), Guiseppe Andrews (Independence Day), Sam Huntington (Jungle2Jungle) and newcomer James De Bello - whose quest to see KISS in concert is thwarted by a vigilant, ultra-religious mom, but only long enough to send them scrambling through a series of impish misadventures that usher them in to manhood and, ultimately, Cobo Hall, where they finally bask in the glow of their idols. The film also stars Natasha Lyonne (The Slums of Beverly Hills), Lin Shaye (Something About Mary), Melanie Lynskey (Ever After) and Shannon Tweed (No Contest).

A "sweet, kind of edgy adventure comedy with KISS," this coming-of-age story indeed seems to have it all, and Hamilton is, in the words of associate producer Tim Sullivan, " the gold at the end of the rainbow."

Kathleen Haase (who, along with Gene Simmons and Barry Levine, is producing Detroit Rock City) agrees. "It is the perfect venue. It looks great, it serves our needs perfectly." While filming for the concert sequence was originally slated for the L.A. Sports Arena, she says, the location was revised once production was fast-tracked. The Thursday evening shoot will also be the first time the film's four male leads - most born after 1978 - have seen KISS in real life. "It all worked out that way for the best," says director Adam Rifkin, "We had to work around KISS' concert schedule, but we had also hoped we'd be able to shoot it around the end of the film but there was no guarantee of that, and at one point it looked like we were going to have to shoot it relatively early on. But things changed for the better so we could shoot it toward the end of the schedule."

That kind of good fortune has been clicking with all involved since the very beginning. When he drafted the script, Carl Dupre never imagined Detroit Rock City would find its way into the band's possession. Originally intended for production as a FOX television movie that was to end with the close of Cobo Hall's doors, Dupre's script eventually found its way to Barry Levine through some of his associates. Levine, who for 25 years served as official KISS photographer, then handed it off to Gene Simmons, who was crazy about the project and agreed to co-produce the film.

Simmons' enthusiasm spilled into recruiting the leads for Detroit Rock City, what he calls "political, face-to-face kind of stuff," essentially making certain that Natasha Lyonne (who plays Christine Sixteen) and Edward Furlong (whose American History X Simmons praises as "a tour de force") were comfortable with and committed to the project, given their expanding career prospects.

The singer invited the two to his birthday party at a strip club in Beverly Hills, where he got down on his knees and humbly asked them to be a part of the project. The actors had the tables turned on them as Simmons "broke protocol" by stepping out of his star persona, telling the pair, "It's not about me, it's about you."

The project also found a natural fit at the studio, according to Sullivan. "Everybody involved has been a major KISS fan - Adam [Rifkin], Carl [Dupre], Pete Schink [editor] - the characters in the film are us back then. And luckily, [New Line's] Mike de Luca and Brian Whitten were KISS fans."

Haase agrees, saying that "Brian Whitten is a notorious KISS fan, so when Barry and I started talking about setting this movie up and getting Gene involved, New Line was one of the first places we went to. We knew it was one of the kind of movies they knew, liked and did very well, and they immediately got it."

Astoundingly, only 10 months will have elapsed from the time of the film's inception to its theatrical release in April. Despite the pressures that come with fast-tracking, however, all involved are having a blast. After all, look at what they're working on. Haase credits Rifkin's well-defined vision, drive and laid back disposition, as well as the complementary set of personalities brought to bear on the project.

According to Sullivan, the range of the script also has a lot to do with the success of the film. "It had to be that even if you took KISS out of the equation, it was still a kick-ass coming-of-age comedy. To call it 'the KISS movie' is convenient, but that's not where it ends. There are a lot of layers to it. Anyone who was ever a teenager can relate, and it's set in 1978, so there's a huge nostalgia factor as well. Look what's happening at the summer of '99: You're gonna have KISS and Star Wars. It's '77 all over again."

Some might think that gap in time might hinder the young cast. Not so, says director Rifkin. "For one, I believe teen angst and adolescent rebellion is pretty universal," he notes. "Any era can relate to it, and the '70s was a great era to set that in. Our kids, who are all basically adolescents themselves, can all relate to the angst and rebellion required of their characters. They're not as familiar with the '70s as we who grew up in the '70s are, but they're way into it, and they're doing a hell of a job."

"Rebellion doesn't have to be a negative thing," adds Sullivan. "It can be about rebelling against conformity and the mundane. And that's what KISS has always been about."

If there was any problem with setting the film in a widely despised period of history, it's that the artifacts are either discarded or destroyed, presenting a hurdle for anyone determined to recreate the period.

Gene Simmons was an immeasurable help in this regard, opening his personal archives to Haase and Rifkin, as well as supplying the male leads with copies of the KISStory book, videos and CDs.

Naturally, fans have also been eager to pitch in where necessary. "We needed a beach towel for a scene, and the prop people had searched everywhere," says Sullivan. "I called the KISS Army, posted it on the website, and within an hour, 12 people in the nation were willing to send us the towel. One said, he'd lend it to us at no charge, so long as Ace Frehley wraps it around himself before we send it back.

"It's just so great to go to the office and see all the elves from Santa'.s workshop, and they're all working on KISS memorabilia from our youth," Sullivan continues. "The outfits are going to be the Love Gun outfits. Peter Criss had one tattoo then, now he has five, so we're down to body makeup - that level of detail."

The Copps/Cobo Hall recreation, says Haase, was based around a 1978 Houston show and its version of "Detroit Rock City". Production designer Steve Hardie, director Adam Rifkin and cinematographer John R. Leonetti then choreographed the performance and camerawork necessary to bring history to life. KISS has even re-recorded "Detroit Rock City" in an extended version, with a big climax to suit the close of the film. Paul Stanley has also agreed to write a couple of soungs for the soundtrack, based on the script.

While Detroit Rock City is the first major motion picture to feature KISS, it's not the first time the group has been immortalized on film. That honour, as most cult movie fans will recall, goes to KISS Meets the Phantom, a legendary low-budget 1978 NBC TV movie that won an unprecedented audience at the time and later saw limited release in European moviehouses. In the film, the members of KISS play superheroic musicians imprisoned by the Phantom of the Park, an evil madman intent on destroying California's Magic Mountain amusement park by using robot clones to whip up violent fan frenzy. Produced by Hanna Barbera (best known for Yogi Bear and Scooby Doo), the movie was a stinging wake-up call for the band.

"We had no say in anything," says Gene Simmons, with a rare note of regret. "We were young and didn't know any better. We just jumped on the gravy train and went for a ride. But it was a learning experience. We shied away from movies for a long time after that."

For KISS, Detroit Rock City goes beyond cross-generational marketing and vanity. "It's not just an ego boost. It's a chance to make things right, to make sure KISS gets what it wants, to make sure that the fans get what they deserve, to protect KISS and make a quality motion picture. To that end, it's also important that the right people are working on this project. Our director, Adam Rifkin, knows KISS inside and out and is a huge fan."

Rifkin, for his part, percolates at the top end of laid-back. "It's the most incredible thing ever, the experience of a lifetime," he smiles, every bit the kid in the candy store. "It's like a dream movie, for me. I grew up loving movies, wanting to be a filmmaker, loving KISS, being a huge KISS fan - and the idea that I could incorporate them both into directing the KISS movie is really exciting."

At a sprawling high school in Scarborough (given a facelift to become Robert F. Kennedy High School), Rifkin and his crew are inching though the final month of production. A portrait of Jimmy Carter hangs in the lobby alongside dummy U.S. phone booths and other commonplace trappings of high schools everywhere. Extras crowd the cafeteria, and the hallways are silent, save the occasional whisper.

Lin Shaye has just returned from shooting the pivotal scene in which her character, Mrs. Bruce, hauls her son Jeremiah off to Catholic boarding school in order that he not forfeit his soul to the Knights In Satan's Service.

Sweet, energetic and bright-eyed, Shaye is a far cry from the characters she has played in recent films by the Farrelly Brothers, such as Kingpin's unsavoury landlady Mrs. Dumars and Something About Mary's sun-worshipping Magda. A professional actor for longer than most of her co-stars have been breathing, Shaye still cradles the spark that initially led her to the stage.

"I love acting. I really feel like I'm here to do this," she says appreciatively, though she'll readily admit that Hollywood's casting tastes are fickle. "I have a belief that if you make the right choices, the right material will come your way," she says, "[But] auditioning is elusive. Every time you get a job it's a miracle."

As for Shaye's successful and long-running association with the Farrelly Brothers, she confesses that the three "sort of found each other. I adore them. Besides being wonderful filmmakers, they're also two of the neatest, most wonderful people I've come across in the business. We definitely share a sensibility about comedy and about the extremes - pushing people past where they think they want to go and can go. But it's all about the human condition, all about very real things that people think about and confront. I'm lucky to have found them, and I like to think they're lucky to have found me, too."

Does the actor have any secrets to maintaining the human core to her characters, who often stop within a hair of grotesque caricature?

"If you go to those places inside yourself and tell the truth," she says, "then it's not joke-telling. When you first read the script, Mrs. Bruce could just be this angry mother screaming at her kid, the bitch of the world. I found, I hope, much more to her than that, because I think she is a woman who sincerely loves her sonS he's her whole life, other than the church, so there's definitely a dramatic portion to who she is. But there's still the ludicrousy of KISS being the nemesis of her life - that in itself creates a comic atmosphere. If you really go for the truth, you'll never be 'over the top', you'll never be too broad. "

When it comes to KISS, however, terms like "over the top" have long since lost any meaning. Even by 1978, overkill was the order of the day for the band. In the four years following its self-titled debut, KISS released six studio albums, two double live albums, four solo albums (released on the same day), and a double LP greatest hits compilation. They had also licensed out every kind of merchandise tie-in they could dream up. Twenty years later, KISS has sold over 70 million albums. Their costumed reunion tour made them the undisputed rulers of the 1996-1997 concert season. And the merchandise continues to gain momentum.

Psycho Circus, the band's most recent album, went gold within a month of release. The tour, partially presented in 3-D, "is like nothing anybody has ever seen," according to Simmons. "Ticket holders get a pair of 3-D glasses, which they put on at various points during the show. It's like going through one of those theme park rides."

At the Halloween date at Dodger Stadium, Gene and Paul flew through the air on cables, Peter rode his drum kit hundreds of feet into the air, and Ace fired an arsenal of pyrotechnics from his assorted guitars. One review likened the 3-D segments to SCTV skits, but that seems a minor quibble. After all, isn't Simmons the original Dr. Tongue?

The Psycho Circus tour is expected to circle the planet until the dawn of the millennium, and is festooned with highlights. KISS will join Dick Clark's New Year's Eve from Detroit. They'll be kings of the Mardi Gras in February. They'll make an historic appearance on the cover of Playboy ("In stores February 3, featuring us and the KISS girls, who are wearing KISS makeup and nothing else."). They'll play "Rock 'N' Roll All Night" before the coin toss at the Superbowl. They'll embark on a mini-tour of the Seven Wonders of the World. They'll mark the Fourth of July in Roswell, New Mexico. They'll finally be eligible for induction into the Rock 'N' Roll Hall Of Fame. Simmons promises that there is "a lot more coming in the future, but that's like talking about what you're getting for Christmas in July.

"The limit," he adds, "Is your imagination. We're blessed because you've made our pocketbooks deep. And if you could throw a big party or a little party, which would it be?"

Is the idea of flashing back to 1978 for one evening in the midst of one of the most technologically ambitious tours ever mounted strange? "It is bizarre," Simmons admits, "but I have an even more bizarre story."

He is referring, of course, to his own. Born Gene Klein in Haifa, Israel in 1949, Simmons came to America at age six with his mother, a Jewish-Hungarian concentration camp survivor. Simmons excelled in school, eventually becoming a sixth-grade English teacher in Spanish Harlem.

It didn't take long to figure out that the buttoned-down life wasn't for him, though, and he left to pursue a career in music, playing with Paul Stanley in Wicked Lester before hooking up with Ace Frehley and Peter Criss toward the end of 1971 to form KISS.

Signed to Casablanca Records in 1973, the original line-up of KISS dissolved with 1979's disco-tinged Dynasty; the make-up came off four years later. The original four reunited in 1996, and have been going at it doubly hard since then.

"Every day is strange," Simmons admits. "The only limitations you face are those you put on yourself. Life gives you a bat and it keeps throwing balls at you. If you don't want to swing, fine - let me have the bat. I'll take a swing. Failure means nothing to me. The worst thing that canhappen to you is you get another swing."

Closing in on 50, the fiercely intelligent Simmons is living proof that less is not more. Only more is more, "and any knucklehead who says it isn't is crazy. It's all about the new, the chase, the hunger. "

"When I was a kid, I always wanted a Volkswagen Beetle. I'd see these big American cars go by, and think, 'They don't need all that space.' Wrong! You need the Rolls Royce, and you should have the opportunity to get it.

"You've gotta surround yourself with exceptional people with big ideas. You can be the guy on top of the pyramid or you can be a bottom feeder. That's okay - there's less space on top than there is on the bottom. It's always a challenge - to get through traffic, to get the girls, to get through a bad hair day - it's up to you. "

Few bands exemplify that second challenge like KISS, so it seems only fitting that Detroit Rock City - at heart, a male coming of age flick - would culminate in an orgy of pyrotechnics, blood capsules and groin-bursting anthems.

"It's not a unisex world, though we'd like to think it is," says Simmons. "As a boy reaches 18 he's going to be looked at as a breadwinner, by and large. He's going to have to go into the army to defend his country. If an armed intruder breaks into his house, by and large, he's the one putting himself in front of his family. By and large, it's a lot of shit. So the rites of passage for a man are about life and death. For a woman, it's about maturity and finding herself."

"When something like KISS or a sports team comes along it lifts your spirits," Simmons continues. "Like warriors rally around a flag, so our fans rally around KISS."

And why wouldn't they? KISS exemplify the ultimate in band-fan synergy, and always have. "They're the boss and we work for them," says Simmons, who'll also be the first to own up to that, and the first to call out ungrateful bands.

"I don't know about you, but I'm sick of hearing platinum-selling bands whining about how much they hate the business. Move to Alaska! You will not be missed! Don't want the money? Fine! Sit down and write out a cheque to Gene Simmons. Too many women, too much money? Give me a break! And somehow it's this whiner who ends up as a goodwill ambassador to Bosnia-Hercegovina, talking about acid rain and rain forests. My God, shut the fuck up!

"We are entertainers. That's my job. That's why you won't see us handing someone a blown-up cheque on TV. Not that there's anything wrong with donating to charity, but why do you need to call a press conference?"

Well, one reason might be to promote KISStianity, Simmons' latest, half-serious dig at those who still hound the band with suggestions of dark allegiances.

"What kind of religion has a god that needs you to tell him how great he is all the time, tells you not to have any other gods before him? That doesn't sound like an all-powerful god, that sounds like a pretty weak god, a god with a serious self-esteem problem."

The god of KISStianity, according to Simmons, would say "Forget about me. Forget about churches, nuns, rabbis. Covet thy neighbour's wife - if she's down for it, sounds like a good idea. Only one rule: don't hurt anybody: not in their heart, not in their fingernail.

"Oh, and one other thing," he adds. "Tax-free money."

Copywrite 1998 View Magazine.com

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