KISS

By Jay Bennett
Photo by Luke Holwerda

The scene: June 28, 1996. Detroit, Michigan. For the first time, in 13 years, Kiss is playing its first show in makeup with the original lineup of Gene Simmons, Paul Stanley, Ace Frehley, and Peter Criss. It's nearly midnight at the now-defunct Tiger Stadium. Helicopters with spotlights circle the venerable baseball stadium as nearly 45,000 fans await the return of the "hottest band in the world." The band takes the stage, opening with "Deuce," then "Strutter", then "Let Me Go Rock and Roll," and playing two hours of classic 70s-era Kiss tunes, closing with, you guessed it, "Detroit Rock City."

Fast-forward 13 years to the "Kiss Alive 35" tour, which stopped in Glendale, Arizona's Jobing.com Arena on Tuesday night. Not a whole lot has changed. Kiss opens with the same three songs and closes with nearly the same encore of "Shout It Out Loud," "Love Gun," and "Detroit Rock City," with the addition of the 1983 hit "Lick It Up." Of course, no one at Jobing.com Arena is complaining. Like watching your favorite movie over and over to experience the same emotions, the same thrills again and again, seeing the rockers in their costumes provides a familiar sense of comfort to the head-bangers in the crowd.

Gene's voice is in excellent shape throughout the show (in fact, the "Demon" is on top of his game. He generates some legitimate chills during his classic blood-spitting routine, which appears before he sings "I Love It Loud" perched on the light stanchion high above the stage); longtime drummer Eric Singer far outshines anything Peter Criss ever did behind the drum kit and provides convincing lead vocals on "Black Diamond" and unexpectedly good harmonies throughout much of the set; and Tommy Thayer (now starring in the role of "Space Ace") bests Frehley in replicating the solos Ace made famous and exceeds expectations while singing lead (and sounding a lot like Ace) on Frehley's signature tune, "Shock Me." Paul gets points for being incredibly fit, perpetually in motion, and being the most flexible and active of the band, despite being nearly 60 years old.

The band gives the people what they want: flashpots, blood, classic songs, flashpots, fire-breathing, great costumes and frenetic light show, flashpots, and a high-energy performance. Gene proves why he is a consummate showman (Gene obviously really likes performing these songs); Singer and Thayer punch up the tunes with musicianship and verve often lacking in Ace and Peter's performances; Paul, over-the-top though he is, is in fine form, his voice nearly as powerful as it was three decades ago and his ability to jump, prance, and dance in those silver platform boots cannot be overstated.

Paul's climactic speech still seems genuinely extemporaneous when he tells the assembled that a Kiss concert isn't about solving the problems of the world, it's about rocking 'n' rolling all night and partying every day.

By David Glessner

Ask a rock star to confess an addiction, and you're likely to start feeling dirty. Or not.

"I worship cake and cookies," said KISS bassist Gene Simmons when pressed for a guilty pleasure. "If women were made of cake, it would solve all my problems. I don't care about pasta and steaks. I don't eat lobsters or crabs; to me they're cockroaches. I tolerate food, but I dream about cake."

Not to be confused with Cookie Monster, 60-year-old Simmons is the larger-than-life, blood-smeared, fire-breathing demon of kabuki rock gods KISS. Celebrating 35 years as the self-proclaimed hottest band in the world, KISS brings its dynasty of spectacle to Texas this week, with a concert at Austin's Frank Erwin Center on Friday, followed by shows in Houston and Dallas on Saturday and Sunday.

Among KISS' caboodle of famous tricks and treats, of course, is Simmons' serpentine lollipop licker. "When I was a kid in seventh grade, the girls all used to say, 'Hey Gene, show us that trick you do,'" he said. "So, I'd stick my tongue out and start wiggling it, and they'd all start giggling like turkeys to the slaughter."

Forever paired with co-founding KISS guitarist Paul Stanley, along with first-rate Tommy Thayer and Eric Singer on guitar and drums, respectively, is touring to promote new album Sonic Boom. KISS also is revisiting the unlikely 1975 career-launching concert album Alive!

Financed on their manager's credit card and released as a last-ditch gamble following three failed studio albums, Alive! blasted Simmons, Stanley and original members Ace Frehley and Peter Criss into fame and fortune.

"All we knew was we were making anywhere from $85 to $150 a week and never had to go flip burgers," Simmons said of the lean years. "We were having the time of our lives, and groupies were raining down like cats and dogs. In hindsight, it was just really a case of throwing caution to the wind."

As with all things KISS, Alive! offered as much for the eyes as the ears. Besides such staples as Rock and Roll All Nite, Deuce, Strutter, Firehouse and Black Diamond, the Detroit rock city in-concert album cover captured the dressed-to-kill fearsome foursome in all their action-figure glory. And it was staged.

Asked why KISS' pop-culture appeal persists, Simmons said, "Are you going to line up for the next Jennifer Aniston movie?" he asked. "Does he love me? Does he not? Shut up! Where's the monster and how are we going to survive? Give me the end-of-the-world story."

My Favorite Street: Via Roma, Scarperia, Italy

By Jayne Haugen Olson

During 35 years as frontman for the hard-rocking, Rock & Roll Hall of Fame-nominated band KISS, Paul Stanley has traveled the world over... and over. Coming off the fall release of its new album, Sonic Boom (which debuted at No. 2 on the Billboard Top 200,) the band wraps its North American tour this month before Stanley settles in for the holidays with his family in Los Angeles.

Having played the world, is there one place that stands out to the dynamic rocker? "This past year after we finished a European tour, I had my whole family -- my kids, my wife, my parents and her parents, fly to Italy. We stayed in a Medici villa in a little town called Vicchio, in the Mugello region," Stanley says. "While we were there, we visited a little town called Scarperia. This street [Via Roma] was just so terrific -- a pizzeria on the corner and gelato and pastry shop up the street. What else do you need?"

"There's a building called II Palazzo dei Vicari [built in the 14th century,] something between a museum and a city hall and a government building -- a fabulous, fabulous building, where you can learn about the Medici family and see family crests and all of these great artifacts."

The town's mayor gave Stanley special access to a precious historical archive within II Palazzo dei Vicari. "The crazy part is that there are no windows in the tower, and these signed records of purchases of land and births -- these amazing journals dating back to 1100 -- are just out in the open and you can pick them up."

"Down the street not half a block from II Palazzo dei Vicari is a pizzeria. Michelin-starred restaurants, there are enough of those, but this pizzeria -- we went back two or three times. Just the best pizza. I'm a purist in terms of New York pizza, but real Italian pizza just raises the bar."

"There are beautiful, beautiful streets in Pisa and Verona. But this street was so quaint and so untravelled, not a tourist spot. The town is not a tourist spot. This one street, just for the pizza alone! Plus good Sicilian cannoli. With everything else available to us, we wound up driving back for the pizza."

More To Explore: The municipalities of Scarperia and Vicchio are located in the Mugello region of Tuscany, 25 kilometers north of Florence.

1. II Palazzo dei Vicari, Via Roma 73.

2. "We went to the local markets where we bought groceries and cheap Lambrusco; we made dinners and had a great time," Stanley says.

3. The Mugello region is also home to a Ferrari test track. "They opened the track for us and brought in paramedics and fire trucks and everything -- Ferrari can't do it without doing it full tilt -- they were being very gracious. But I'm really not that keen on going 150 mph in a car, so my dad, my son, my father-in-law and one of my security guys went in the car with the test drivers."

4. Grab a slice at Osteria De' Poeri, Via Roma 78/80.

5. In 2008, KISS performed at Arena di Verona, an amphitheater with a history that includes ludi [public Roman games,] operas, and now rock concerts. Built in A.D. 30, it's the best-preserved ancient structure of its kind.