The last KISS show is tonight. Thoughts?

[skoora]

Huge respect for the band. Love reading boos about the band. The lore is great!

Their non-make up era is extremely underrated. "Who wants to be lonely" and "my way" are special songs to me.

They have a lot of good 80’s material. A lot of folks dogs their musicianship vs. their theatrics but I think they are great musicians and very good writers. A band doesn’t last like they have on theatrics alone. They wrote great songs and could perform the hell out of them live. A band in street clothes could fire up a crowd instantly by playing a Kiss song and there’s no smoke bombs, fire or costumes.

I could tell a lot about a band I was in, whether it be punk or more metal if I brought up playing a cover of Lick it Up or something similar and they were into it or turned their noses up at it. I always hated being in a band that took itself too seriously or was a slave to it‘s perceived scene rules of coolness. Played in a punk band in the early 2000’s. It was lead by the Bass player/singer. She was even a Kiss fan but seemed so concerned about scene acceptance, she would say no to any Kiss covers. I quit the band after a while because it felt so restrictive on what the songs had to be in style and just lacked fun. It was a bummer because as a whole, it was a good band and she was a good frontperson/writer.….Or I’m someone who lacks patience and makes hard decisions too quickly….lol

 

[thegame]

I think Paul and Gene have vastly overestimated the interest in this KISS avatar business. The return to the makeup /reunion started a long time ago when there was a pent up demand for that era after being absent for 13 years. Now those characters have been shoved in our faces for almost 30 years, almost 3 times longer than the first makeup era lasted. Remember their claims that the never before seen 3-D Psycho Circus tour was going to revolutionize the concert industry? Oh that’s right, it didn’t and the tour flopped.

Watching Paul’s reaction in the making of the avatar video clip, when they see it for the first time, it brings to mind Paul’s recollection of seeing the Phantom of the Park KISS movie for the first time with an audience. He sunk low into his chair out of embarrassment.

 

[romanianreaper]

Huge respect for the band. Love reading boos about the band. The lore is great!

Their non-make up era is extremely underrated. "Who wants to be lonely" and "my way" are special songs to me.

I like "Rise to It", "Tears Are Falling", "Hide Your Heart", etc. Tins if great songs. Revenge is a killer album too.

 

[stephen sawall]

Stutter is just a great song.

 

[rsm]

Stutter is just a great song.

as a kid, the show spectacle and music got to me; as I got older I enjoyed the music even more and that continues now.

 

[ghosty999]

I like "Rise to It", "Tears Are Falling", "Hide Your Heart", etc. Tins if great songs. Revenge is a killer album too.

The drum part in the Tears Are Falling chorus just makes it that much cooler. Eric Carr seemed like a really nice guy. "Who Wants To Be Lonely" is another song that I really love, the video is hillariously 80s.

Did you ever notice "Reason To Live" sounds like "I Wanna Know What Love Is"? haha

 

[romanianreaper]

This is when I knew KISS was getting their momentum back in the early 90s:

 

[MrScratch]

saw Gene at a music conference long ago.
He came out and said." we're all here to talk about musical freedoms, expression, creativity ...
when everyone clapped he said " wrong, we're here to talk about money. You wanna be a musician? stay in your room and practice. you wanna be an entertainer? here's my advice...
then a lady heckled him for being all business and i'll never forget his response.
" Lady, I'm a bank. They don't make REM watches..." lol
holy fuck it was great

 

[midnightlaundry]

Mini rant..

^^^ Entertainer or Musician.. There is a difference..
A lot Entertainer have a ME flaw.. They're egomaniac borderline sociopaths.. They need to be the center of attention like a child. We all wanted to be on stage at some point to emulate our heroes. But at a certain age you have to ask yourself why do I expect people to pay me a fortune to do this shit?

 

[skoora]

saw Gene at a music conference long ago.
He came out and said." we're all here to talk about musical freedoms, expression, creativity ...
when everyone clapped he said " wrong, we're here to talk about money. You wanna be a musician? stay in your room and practice. you wanna be an entertainer? here's my advice...
then a lady heckled him for being all business and i'll never forget his response.
" Lady, I'm a bank. They don't make REM watches..." lol
holy fuck it was great

But a little ironically, REM were so big in the late 80’s and through the 90’s they’re probably rich as fuck.

 

[shredi knight]

saw Gene at a music conference long ago.
He came out and said." we're all here to talk about musical freedoms, expression, creativity ...
when everyone clapped he said " wrong, we're here to talk about money. You wanna be a musician? stay in your room and practice. you wanna be an entertainer? here's my advice...
then a lady heckled him for being all business and i'll never forget his response.
" Lady, I'm a bank. They don't make REM watches..." lol
holy fuck it was great

 

[romanianreaper]

Gene and Paul get crap for slamming Ace and Peter or being money hungry, etc. but I respect them for what they have done with the brand. KISS would be inshambles and wouldn't have made it past 1979 if Ace and Peter would have had equal share of everything.

Those guys are rich but let me tell you, they put tons of money back into the show for the fans. This last tour had more lights, more explosions, more confetti, and bombast than any time I've ever seen them. They participate in charities, support the military, etc.

I still wish, and hope, that somehow they find a way to involve Peter and Ace in some type of event, even if they don't play. Have some big show with other artists doing their songs and have them come out and talk inbetween songs, etc. They can't just end things like this. Life is too short.

 

[Thetorch777]

Saw them the first time on the Rock and Roll Over tour, when I was a kid. Amazing experience. To this day, Kiss, and Paul Stanley are always at or near the top of my list (except during my death metal / black metal days '90 - '95).

Actually met Paul when I was a kid, before they removed the makeup, had to be late '77 or early '78; at Brian Guitars in New Haven, CT; my guitar teacher worked there, and I was looking to buy my first real guitar. My guitar teach asked me if I knew who that was, and pointed to some dude with long hair and dressed in leather IIRC, I said IDK, he said that's Paul Stanley, knowing I liked Kiss, he said you want to meet him? Which I did, briefly, he asked what my favorite Kiss song was, I said Hotter than Hell, he grabbed the Les Paul I had in my hands, played part of the riff and handed back the guitar to me, and said something like, "gotta run" or "gotta go". Not sure if the Les Paul in my hands was the new 1978 black and gold Norlin Gibson Les Paul Custom that I actually purchased that day? I looked at several new Les Pauls that day.

50+ years of platinum, gold releases and filling stadiums and arenas around the world. It's been a great ride!

Saw bob Seeger open for Kiss both were great .Alway loved Kiss

 

[jabps]

I think Paul and Gene have vastly overestimated the interest in this KISS avatar business. The return to the makeup /reunion started a long time ago when there was a pent up demand for that era after being absent for 13 years. Now those characters have been shoved in our faces for almost 30 years, almost 3 times longer than the first makeup era lasted. Remember their claims that the never before seen 3-D Psycho Circus tour was going to revolutionize the concert industry? Oh that’s right, it didn’t and the tour flopped.

Watching Paul’s reaction in the making of the avatar video clip, when they see it for the first time, it brings to mind Paul’s recollection of seeing the Phantom of the Park KISS movie for the first time with an audience. He sunk low into his chair out of embarrassment.

Wouldn't say the Psycho Tour was a flop, way less successful than the Reunion for sure but that tour went two years and was massive. Now the show itself was a letdown and frankly Ace and Peter were worse for wear at that point. Really they should have chilled for a few years after the Reunion Tour instead of basically hitting the road again so soon after the Reunion. Fans were satiated at that point.

What's amazing to me is after the Farewell, they took few years off and since that point have toured steadily until the last show and basically ticket sales have been steady for 20 years, that's pretty cool.

The Avatars are just...yeah, fail. And to end the final show and debut the avatars was a failure as well. As a die-hard I'm truly glad it's over. Other than seeing the End of the Road tour in 2019 when it started, I've not been a fan of this version of the band nor albums but fully support them doing what they do but again - it was past time to put it down.

I took the ride with those guys from nearly the beginning. I personally loved alot of their non makeup era music and tours as well. I knew once they put the makeup back on it was going to be nothing but nostalgia from that point on. They milked that for nearly 30 years.

 

[skoora]

The the problem I had when they got back into makeup was, even though the show I saw in 96 was friggin awesome, eventually I wanted to hear some of the 80s songs too, and they just wouldn’t play them for the longest time. I think, by the time I saw videos of where they were putting a few in I totally lost interest in seeing them live anymore.

 

[Motorboat McCooter]

I've not been keeping up with these guys but here are some thoughts after watching the first half of this show.

Les Paul Stanley - How did one of coolest cats to ever set foot on a stage wind up like this? Somehow he has more feminisms than ever before.

Is he playing guitar? I was wondering during songs like Duece when he's prancing and peacocking and gesturing. Anything except pounding out the chords. But later when he was trading licks with Tommy, he was obviously playing the gaytar then.

Anyway, I say Les Paul Stanley. I want less of him between songs. Way less! And he's a guy that used to have stage banter to rival anyone. Not anymore.

I'll prefer to remember him as a cool cat that invented stagecraft, posing, and ducklips.

 

[Motorboat McCooter]

Gene Simmons - Watching you buddy to be releasing The Kiss God Of Slobber Bib. All night long!

 

[jabps]

I've not been keeping up with these guys but here are some thoughts after watching the first half of this show.

Les Paul Stanley - How did one of coolest cats to ever set foot on a stage wind up like this? Somehow he has more feminisms than ever before.

Is he playing guitar? I was wondering during songs like Duece when he's prancing and peacocking and gesturing. Anything except pounding out the chords. But later when he was trading licks with Tommy, he was obviously playing the gaytar then.

Anyway, I say Les Paul Stanley. I want less of him between songs. Way less! And he's a guy that used to have stage banter to rival anyone. Not anymore.

I'll prefer to remember him as a cool cat that invented stagecraft, posing, and ducklips.
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I mean the guy is 71 years old moving in platforms boots. Hell I can barely walk down the stairs without tripping lol. Both he and Gene were a shell of themselves but that's father time. Nobody escapes that. Actually you could see them slowing down every tour starting after the Reunion Tour.

 

[311splawndude]

I've always loved Kiss, especially in the 70's and 80's. I respect them, I mean they are as old as my parents. My Dad used to say when I was a kid that they were laughing all the way to the bank. Damn straight. He thought they were a fad or flash in the pan and didn't understand why I had all these Kiss posters in my room. So to see them at this stage in our lives (2023) doing one more tour is cool even though I wouldn't go. To watch them now is actually cringy to me so I just remember the memories.

 

[jabps]

Great picture of these guys ending the final show. Should have gone out like this instead of introducing the Avatars.