VH-1 KISS Detroit Rock City Premiere Party Show
Detroit Rock City Premiere Party Reviews
From: Metal Edge
KISS and New Line Cinema went all-out to entertain the VIPs invited to the premiere of Detroit Rock City on Monday night (August 9), which began with a screening of the movie at the Mann Village in Westwood, West Los Angeles. The film started about an hour late, while the large theater filled with DRC cast and staff members, their guests, New Line people, and other industryites, but the wait was worth it, as it's one of the funniest movies of the summer. Afterward, invitees walked a few blocks to one of the parking lots at UCLA, which was closed off for the private party. Booths at one end offered food (sandwiches, pizza, nachos, chili dogs and other portable edibles) and an open bar provided free-flowing drinks, and guests enjoyed both while waiting for the show to begin. Everclear performed their "Boys are Back in Town" cover from the DRC soundtrack and were joined by Robin Zander and Rick Neilsen of Cheap Trick to perform "Surrender," also on the soundtrack. But this was KISS' night, and the band made the most of their brief four song set consisting of "Detroit Rock City," "Shout it Out Loud," "Cold Gin," and "Rock and Roll All Nite," packing all the bells and whistles--fireworks and flames, Ace Frehley's smoking guitar, Gene Simmons' fire-spitting trick, levitating risers, confetti and streamer showers, and the set-ending Paul Stanley guitar smash--into 20 minutes on stage. It was fun to see everyone from kids in KISS shirts to suit-and-tie execs getting into it and singing along. KISS didn't stick around to schmooze with the cast and other party-goers, but will be dressed to kill again on Wednesday morning, when they'll receive their star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.
From: Launch.com via Steve Araki
KISS, Everclear, And Cheap Trick Rock 'N' Roll All Night
August 9th, a giant outdoor party was held in Los Angeles to celebrate the world premiere of Detroit Rock City, a new movie about four long-haired '70s teens on a hell-bent crusade to see hard rock titans Kiss in concert. Helping the guests get in the mood to party like it was 1979 was live entertainment by Everclear, Robin Zander and Rick Nielsen of Cheap Trick, and, as a truly grand finale, Kiss themselves. A UCLA parking lot in Westwood Village was transformed into what looked like a rock 'n' roll state fair, complete with football-field bleachers and a greasy junk-food menu that included chili dogs, hand-dipped ice cream, nachos, pizza, sub sandwiches, and hamburgers. Quite a few party guests sported Kiss facepaint, while one foursome, clad in full Kiss regalia from the tops of their long black wigs to the soles of their clawfooted platform boots, so uncannily resembled the gods of thunder that they caused many attendees to do a double-take. The celebrity-studded crowd included Brad Pitt, Monkee Micky Dolenz, News Radio's Andy Dick, David Was of Was (Not Was), and former MTV's Singled Out host Chris Hardwick, as well as several hundred lucky radio contest winners. First to hit the stage were Everclear, who came out wearing cowboy hats, short pants, and black socks held up by garters, and whose three-piece lineup was augmented by an accordion player, second guitarist, keyboardist, and extra percussionist. After riling up the audience with their modern rock radio hit "Santa Monica," they launched into a crowd-pleasing cover of Thin Lizzy's "The Boys Are Back In Town," which appears on the Detroit Rock City soundtrack. Minutes after Everclear, Zander, and Nielsen left the stage, out came the evening's guests of honor--Kiss's own Gene Simmons, Paul Stanley, Ace Frehley, and Peter Criss--who pulled out all the stadium-rock stops despite the relatively small size of the parking lot venue. Their arrival on a stage that featured a "Detroit Rock City" neon sign and hydraulic platforms for Simmons and Frehley to pose upon was accompanied by a massive explosion of fireworks and flashpots that burned so brightly their heat could be felt by the fans in the highest bleachers, and pyro continued to play a big part throughout Kiss's renditions of "Detroit Rock City," "Shout It Out Loud," and "Cold Gin."
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From: JAZANWILD@aol.com
I just got back from the KISS premier party for DETROIT ROCK CITY. It was awesome. KISS put on a great show. I've seen a lot of KISS shows, and this one made the top of the list. They started with DETROIT ROCK CITY and closed with ROCK N ROLL ALL NITE, and about 4 or 5 songs in between. What made this show so unique is that every song was like the 4th of July. The guys looked like they were having a good time and acted like four buddies just partying. The movie was great. ADAM RIFKIN did a terrific job capturing almost every KISS fan from the 70's life. I think this movie is a real tribute to the KISS ARMY. Oh yeah, KISS pulled up to the premier in "monster truck" (stretch Lincoln Navigator) limo!
From: Robin James Kunkel
1300 INVITE ONLY - "BEAUTIFUL PEOPLE" (seriously, everyone there was
beautiful. I mean Hollywood's finest, anyone who's anyone type thing), but NO ATTITUDES! Everyone was just celebrating KISS, drinking at the open bars, eating from the multiple "big name" food carts ranging from in-n-out, to gourmet salads and sandwiches - VERY NICE SPREAD! Every one was loving the atmosphere, then party time! Everclear hit the stage and dedicated their first song to "a band I saw when I was 13.... this one is for KISS!" They jammed "Santa Monica," then did their DRC cover tune "Boys are Back in Town" . They sounded very tight and definitely were having a blast up there. Then Robin Zander and Mr. Rick Nelson jumped up with the Everclear guys and did "Surrender" louder and heavier than I ever could have imagined! When it was time for the famous "Got my KISS records out" lyric every single person shouted out LOUD! Very cool. Too bad that was the only song. Time for more drinking as the infamous "Psycho Circus" curtain went up and 60+ roadies started busting their butts to get KISS rocking like only KISS knows how to..."HUGE"! The Lights went out and the announcer and everyone in the place shouted, "YOU WANT THE BEST YOU GOT THE BEST.....KISS!" Extremely killer! Only four quick classics (DRC, Shout It Out Loud, Cold Gin, and the R N R "National Anthem") but it was a totally awesome show with more pyro and explosions then at Dodger Stadium last year! OK no huge fireworks in the air, but MASSIVE FIREWORKS
ALL OVER THE STAGE! The whole place (business people, theater people, movie people, rocker people, Doc McGee), I mean EVERYONE was yelling, screaming, throwing fists in the air.... KISS ROCKED!!! Sad only four songs, and no encore either. It seems that Westwood only gave a "Live
Sound Permit" until 10:30 (and they still ran a little over). After the show more drinking and schmoozin with the big wigs until shutdown around 12:30 a.m. Very cool evening. I wish more fans could have experienced it, but then again that's what made it so special. The past year I have seen KISS
in 3 venues that are nothing like each other at all: DODGER STADIUM, PANTAGES THEATER (Phantom was GOD-LIKE!), and now a UCLA PARKING LOT...... one HELL of a year for the band and us FANS! Peace From Hollywood, ROBIN JAMES
From: Mike M.
What a totally awesome event. The theater was packed with the cast & crew of the film and lots of celebrity guests. I sat a few seats away from Eric Singer (in the back, in the unreserved seats!). I felt a little bad for the guy, after being in the world greatest band and then having the rug pulled out from under him. It had to be tough to sit there in a packed house watching a film about a band that he was once in. He was very low key. The film was great, after seeing a lot of scenes on MTV's preview show, I thought maybe that was it., but the film is hilarious throughout. It is like a Fast Time at Ridgemont High meets Rock and Roll High School with a raunchy coat of Something About Mary. It is a very funny film.
After the film, we walked a few block to find a massive stage and party set up in the parking lot of UCLA. Open bar and food stations at everywhere you looked. After about 40 minutes, Everclear took to the stage and started rocking with "Santa Monica". They had loads of energy and they rocked hard. Then they went into "The Boys are Back in Town" and that rocked. Robin Zander & Rick Nelson then joined them for a hard version of "Surrender". You could tell Everclear was clearly having a good time jamming with the old boys. During the line "Got my Kiss Records out" , Rick held up an LP of Love Gun and tossed it into the crowd, which went wild.
Then after a quick break, they put up the Psycho Circus curtain and prepared for Kiss. When the lights went down, the crowd went nuts, then "You wanted the Best, etc....", the first chords to DRC are played then after the drum roll, BOOM! The curtain drops, bombs explode and they are rocking! It seemed like every chord strike of the first song was accompanied by an explosion and fire shooting into the air. They played four songs, "Detroit", "Shout it out Loud", "Cold Gin" and "R&R All Night". They crammed as much of the Kiss show as they could in these four songs. Gene spit fire, Ace did a solo with the smoking guitar, he also did the pin wheel on the neck of his guitar for R&R All night. Paul smashed his guitar at the end, while Peter was drum riser was lifting and Ace & Gene were each on the rising platform at each end of the stage. It was incredible. The guys were really into it and seemed be having a great time. Gene especially had a huge smile on his face at times. With fireworks off the top of the lighting fixtures, confetti canons going off and more stage pyro then I can remember seeing at any Kiss show, this was a really special treat. With just four songs, they really managed to get as much of the Kiss concert experience as they could. They once again proved that they truly are the hottest band of Rock & Roll.
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