KISS : 35th Anniversary Tour
I happily admit that I’ve been a KISS fan since 1975. It’s a long and silly saga, but for me they remain the embodiment of rock. It’s amazing to me that the band most feared and demonized in my Catholic upbringing is now considered PG-13 and completly innocuous. What’s changed? Just us. The band remains faithful to their original “business plan”: be loud, be scary but safe, be larger than life, and put on a great show.
Wrapped in their comic book personas, the band has been an interesting trailblazer for the stadium rock shows that have followed. I would argue that there are bands who deliver a trippier live experience with lasers or complex staging (e.g., Pink Floyd) but few bands deliver the massive rock concert carnival ride of KISS. It’s like getting on a great roller coaster… just the right balance of thrills and pure fun. They’re heading my way in November to play a show at the Key Arena, and I’m really looking forward to it. And yes, I still am in favor of occasionally rocking and rolling all night, provided I can sleep in the next day.
I can remember my grade school music teacher saying we wouldn’t be listening to Detroit Rock city when we were 40 (or words to that effect). How delightful to know now that she was wrong (or perhaps that I was right to argue the point in 5th grade).