KISS Rocks Nassau All NightBy Elliot LevinNY/Examiner
The Kiss Army was out in full force in Long Island last night, just weeks after Kiss was nominated for the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. The band's long and storied career is clearly far from over, as they fill arenas around the country on their first national tour in years.
Fans of all ages packed all levels of Nassau Coliseum, with both parents and their children sporting the world famous Kiss make up. Starchilds, Spacemen, Catmen, and Space Demons of all ages walked the corridors and waited in line.
Kiss is touring behind their first new album in a decade, but the band has never really left the public eye. Gene Simmons' TV show, and merchandising deals almost beyond imagination have kept the Kiss brand a relevant, even household name for years, and new album Sonic Boom has received a warm welcome. On top of that, the aging Kiss Army have recruited many of their kids into the most fanatical fanbase in rock and roll as well.
Last night's show kicked off at 9pm with King of the Night Time World, and explosions all over the stage. Giant letters lit up the word K-I-S-S, and the alleged greatest band in the world rocked out amid a pyro-filled stage.
Singer Paul Stanley engaged the crowd in between each song, tousling his hair and calling for cheers, as the Friday night crowd sang along to classic Kiss fare such as Hotter Than Hell and C'mon And Love Me.
Each member of the band got a chance to solo as well. Smoke filled the stage as bassist Simmons rumbled through a low-end bass solo, and then spit out blood. He then spread his arms, and flew straight up onto the top of the rigging on a wire, where he stayed as the band played the classic sing-along song I Love It Loud. The group wrapped with their most famous song, Rock And Roll All Night, with confetti streaming all over the audience, but the show was far from over.
Despite a 16 song setlist, Kiss came back for a staggering five song encore encompassing their remaining hits, such as Shout It Out Loud and Love Gun. Paul flew by high wire out to a platform in the middle of floor to engage the audience one last time, and the group finally finished their show with the anthemic Detroit Rock City.
At their heart, Kiss is still a straight forward rock and roll band that easily filled a 21 song setlist with nothing but hits. That Kiss is still alive and touring 35 years after their inception proves the durability of both the music and the band members, and the sold out shows around the country are a testament to the dedication of the Kiss fans as well. Because the truth is, all we really want to do is rock and roll all night and party every day.
