KISS reach the end of their road
I’m a member of the KISS Army. Loud and proud. Not the proverbial KISS Army, either. I’m enlisted. Despite my years of work for and alongside the band, I paid the fee and got the t-shirt, pin and membership package to gain first on-sale access to tickets for the band’s final show, December 2 at Madison Square Garden.
This is where many people will insert their cookie cutter cynicism and cliche cracks about KISS commercialism and how this whole End Of The Road Tour is just the latest in a long line of empty retirement promises and ticket selling gimmicks. Go ahead, I’ll wait...
Trust me, I feel ya. I remember interviewing Ozzy Osbourne in 1994 - on his first retirement tour! Yet my heart still sank thirty years later when he canceled his scheduled Power Trip performance. I will never call a musician an idol or a hero in the literal sense, but the role they’ve played in my life is often no less profound.
We only get a finite number of chances to see our favorite artists perform the soundtracks of our lives, live. We should cherish all of those opportunities while we can - because while the music lasts forever, our ability to celebrate it alongside those who created it does not.
I have an intimate, personal relationship with music, and I’ve been blessed enough to share that relationship with countless fellow fans over the past several decades. As I’ve transitioned from fan, to writer and photographer, to editor, to media personality, to publicist, to label guy, to manager and beyond, one thing has remained constant - I’ve never stopped being a fan.
And I am that fan because of KISS (with an assist from Culture Club, but that’s a story for another day)… KISS were larger than life in the ‘70s and ‘80s. They were the ultimate combination of super heroes, cartoons, comic books and rock stars. They were a gateway drug that opened my eyes to a world most people only experience from the periphery with their ears.
But our ears are just the starting line. When music works it touches our soul and moves our very being. And nobody inspired movement quite like KISS. I remember being terrified of Gene Simmons as a kid, the tall tales of cow tongues and demonic possession offering the perfect counter-balance to Paul Stanley, the star child and lover, our way cooler older brother whose life we wanted to live vicariously. There was our off-kilter, spaced out uncle Ace Frehley, who just never seemed to be all there, but we couldn’t wait to see him and hang on his every word and chord. He was the holiday guest that made us all sit on the edge of our seat, wondering what he’d do next. And there was Peter Criss, the most introverted and enigmatic - hence the catman persona - of the original, kabuki clad motley crew, and the voice behind the band’s most unlikely hit, “Beth.”
KISS preceded technology. They were larger than life before CGI, and they were a living, breathing and ever-changing and shape-shifting enigma long before social media came along to lead our world down a dark abyss, encouraging us to live less, complain more, and suck the joy out of everything.
For many of us, KISS taught us what music was and what music could be. Even without an older brother or sister to lead me down the path, or a friend to introduce me, my curiosity was piqued. I needed to know more. And as soon as I bought KISS Alive II on vinyl - my first album paid for with my own money - what started with fascination soon turned to a healthy obsession. It’s only fitting that one of my first concerts was their Crazy Nights tour - almost 26 years ago to the day, December 17, 1987. And it was even more fitting that my first assignment for Metal Edge was covering their first reunion show, in June 1996 at Detroit’s Tiger Stadium.
No, KISS were never the greatest musicians in the world, but for me music was never about being graded and judged - it was about taking you to a different place. It was about transcending the drudgery and the mundane. It was about creating a bond so strong, you could escape anything. It was about rising above, and feeling like you weren’t alone. That is the foundation of the KISS Army. And there weren’t four better musicians in the world to serve alongside.
I contend that KISS commercialism wasn’t born out of greed, it was born of a need to quench our insatiable desire to have the band ever-present in our lives. KISS fans weren’t jocks, but the band was our favorite sports team. We needed their posters on our walls, their lunchbox in our hands, their tattoos on our arms, their patches on our jackets, their action figures, comic books and other ephemera, and as we got older, their coffins to help provide escapism in eternal rest.
Because that’s what KISS did better than anyone - they created a world that was safe and delivered solace and sanctum. No judgment, just escape. And they built a world that we fans have called home for decades. KISS aren’t just a band, and their music isn’t just music. KISS are part of the fabric of our lives.
And KISS remain larger than life in the 2020s because in a world without heroes, a world where politicians are jokes and our lives are the punchlines, Gene, Paul, and now Tommy Thayer and Eric Singer continue to offer the ultimate in escapism and release.
It’s one thing to share a bottle of wine and talk about the mess our world is. It’s something completely different to lose your mind to “Deuce,” shimmy like a fool to “I Was Made For Loving You” and be mesmerized by “Black Diamond.” Thanks to Paul Stanley, I knew the difference between a pistol and a “Love Gun” long before I had my first kiss. The band was always there, and we’ve just taken it for granted that they always would be.
As a child, being 70 meant you were a grandparent, grey-haired and out of touch. But decades later our 70s are within reach, and in theirs, Gene is still breathing fire and spitting blood and Paul is still flying through the air like a cosmic force of nature. Anyone who doesn’t think music keeps us young at heart, hasn’t been touched by KISS.
KISS are why so many of my generation got into music, and 50 years later they’re why we still love music. If this truly is the end of the road, I’m honored to have been a part of it, and wouldn’t have missed the opportunity to rock and roll all night with the hottest band in the world one last time. Even if, at this point in my life, it means that I’ll need to sleep, not party, the whole next day.
Was this truly the end of the line? I hope not. Sure, I’ll make a wisecrack or two about the face value cost of my tickets to their “final” show if it wasn’t (hell, I’ll make cracks even if it was), but it’s not like KISS haven’t heard worse. At least I do it out of love! Fact of the matter is, I gladly paid the money, the smile never left my face during their 135-minute set Saturday night at the Garden, and I’d gladly pay it again.
When they do come back - because in one form or another I know they will - I won’t be angry. I’ll just be happy that I not only got to share this moment with them, but will hopefully get to share many more. Whether they be without the makeup, with different members, or even in different mediums, like the digital avatars they unveiled at the Garden. A world without KISS is a world without heroes. And music needs heroes more than ever.
I talked to more strangers in and around Madison Square Garden this weekend than I’ve probably talked to all year. So many of us traveled long, hard and far to be at the final show, and we all had KISS stories to share. We all smiled at each other. We laughed. We shared a connection. In a world that seems to grow more and more distant with every passing day, isn’t it ironic that it’s the much-maligned KISS that brings people together?
And isn’t that what life is all about? In this digital age of music often being little more than background noise, KISS connect at so many levels. In a world where we talk about digital footprints and online presence, KISS are a lasting reminder of what it means to be engaged and, to bring my KISS connection full circle... Alive.
“You want the best? You’ve got the best! The hottest band in the world…”
You either get it or your don’t. On behalf of all of us that do…
Thank you, KISS!
