By Craig Hlavaty / Aftermath
Photo by Jay Lee
Excerpted from Houston Press
Photo by Jay Lee
Excerpted from Houston Press
KISS is a depleting natural and cultural resource. One day there will be no KISS left, and all the world will have is four garish black and silver suits sitting in some futuristic Smithsonian display. We have had KISS on this Earth for almost 40 years, and many people have never even seen them live.
Wracked in the proverbial nuts of our immune system, Aftermath downed whatever meds he needed to make it to Toyota Center, because there is always the slim chance that this will be the "last tour" in the same way that everyone always has that twinge of guilt when they miss the Stones or Dylan date in their hometown. Those artists are also sadly depleting natural elements that can't be just reconstituted at a later date for consumption.
True it is that KISS is now down to only two original members, but you people gobble up The Who without Moon and the Ox like they were a bag of Walker's Crisps, so what difference does it make? All KISS fans need to survive is Gene Simmons' pornographic tongue and Paul Stanley's hammy stage banter to get us through. Plus fire. And blood.
Old-school KISS fans, the ones who in their teens and younger when the band used to swing through the old Sam Houston Coliseum and the Summit, are a special and rare breed. Not only have they seen the show for the past 35 years, they still enjoy it just like the very first time. Once you see those four letters light up behind Paul and Gene, it's hard to not feel that you are now a part of a rock and roll lineage whatever age you are or whichever number KISS show you are on.
KISS starts the night with that old familiar "You wanted the best, you got the best..." line that temporarily gives the band ownership of whatever venue they are playing in. No one else has the balls these days to have a disembodied voice introduce their band with such a lofty introduction, and it's a shame.
"Deuce" and "Strutter" open the show in a flash of fire and heavy smoke, as they have for going on almost five decades. If you squint your eyes just right, it's 1975 all over again.
There would be no lulls during the show, with the band picking out every single punishing glam-metal hallmark in their repertoire with Hotter Than Hell-era tracks like the title track, "Parasite" and "Let Me Go, Rock 'n' Roll" getting equal footing. These were the songs that a decade ago changed Aftermath's mind about the band, after growing up only hearing the same two KISS songs in commercials and the like his whole life. It was then he realized that the band wasn't so far sonically removed from his beloved New York Dolls and Stooges.
Every KISS hallmark was present, from the pyrotechnics to Gene playing spewing fire and blood. At one point during one of the flame breaks, we spied Paul teasing out his hair in a dark corner of the stage while Gene held court. Even though they aren't from the original line-up, Eric Singer and Tommy Thayer are now old salts.
During an extended Thayer solo session, a lighting rig fell from the exploding scaffolding and onto the stage. Gene flew into the rafters to spit blood at us and howl out "I Love It Loud" from one hundred feet in the air.
Everything after "Loud" was pure KISStory, from "Rock And Roll All Nite" to "Love Gun," where Paul swung out over the audience and to the back off the house to play on top of his own platform. Yes, they played "Lick It Up" from their unfettered and unpainted days, but it's still a solid jam in our book.
These are their legacy songs, the ones that you will see on obits and nostalgia trips from here until eternity. If you can't grin like an idiot during these pure pop-metal nuggets then you are an emotional and rock and roll eunuch, and Aftermath doesn't want to drink with you. Ever.
Paul introduces the closer "Detroit Rock City", the opening cut off the epic Destroyer, and Aftermath couldn't help but change the lyrics to "Houston Rock City" as he screamed along to the anthem. Our faces were warmed by all the heat from the stage, and gave us a healthy glow as we walked into the coldness and frost of the evening.
Set List
Deuce
Strutter
Let Me Go Rock 'N' Roll
Hotter Than Hell
Shock Me
Calling Dr. Love
Modern Day Delilah
Cold Gin
Parasite
Say Yeah
100,000 Years
I Love It Loud
Black Diamond
Rock And Roll All Nite
Shout It Out Loud
Lick It Up
Love Gun
Detroit Rock City
