November 6, 2009
Chicago, IL-United Center

Over the last decade, many fans have made a sport out of dogging KISS. After a magnificent "Farewell" tour in 2000, KISS did everything but take a final bow. While everyone likes to chastise them for not retiring, the truth is, the 2000 tour proved to be the final time fans would see Paul Stanley, Gene Simmons, Ace Frehley and Peter Criss together on stage, performing in their classic make-up. Since then, KISS has been on a roller coaster ride. While the KISS brand has flourished, their artistic merit has floundered. Dozens of compilations have been issued in that time frame while no original music had been created by the band since their much debated 1998 record Psycho Circus record, until now. KISS had a huge up-hill battle ahead of them. Gene Simmons and Paul Stanley are once again left as being the sole original members. Paul Stanley took charge and led the group back into the studio as he once again took control of producing duties. For most of the 1980's and 1990's, KISS was paired with producers who couldn't see the KISS vision. This is why Stanley is back in the producer's chair. The resulting album, Sonic Boom heralds a sonic architecture that feels more in line with the Lick It Up and Animalize period of KISS, yet it feels as if KISS is embodying their inner strengths. The same could be said of the tour in support of Sonic Boom, the continuation of their Alive 35 tour which started a few years ago overseas.

Arriving in Chicago for their first show in a half decade, and the band's first performance at the United Center, it was like a entering a time machine back to the 1970's where KISS ruled arenas. Some of the one-off performances in recent years I witnessed by KISS left me in the cold. I felt disengaged and the performances were distant reminders of what I felt this band was capable of. However, as ironic as it sounds, there is warmth to an arena versus festivals and sheds. KISS looked more at ease, more in control and more ready to fight for their legacy than at any time since the first reunion tour completed in 1997. For over two hours, KISS brought out every trick imaginable. From Gene's blood spitting and flying on "I Love It Loud" to Paul flying to the back of the arena during "Love Gun", to Thayer's gun slinging guitar solo to Singer's svelte spinning drum solo, one can never deny that the band gives their all to entertain.

I won't lie, I wrote KISS off years ago, but about fifteen minutes into their recent Chicago show, I felt like a kid again. As the immense KISS drape dropped, the band surged into "Deuce" and "Stutter" which spiraled masterfully into a set high on nostalgia and performances rooted in their past glories. The band roamed and ruled the stage like it was 1977 and while Ace and Peter were missing, their replacements, guitarist Tommy Thayer and drummer Eric Singer embodied their spirits and in many ways, outperformed their predecessors. They prove to be the back bone of the current incarnation of KISS and push Stanley and Simmons to up their game. The truth is Thayer and Singer may be the two best overall musicians to ever grace the face paint. By adding them to the KISS chemistry, the songs have grown stronger and become more potent. KISS played to their strengths. While it is unlikely they swayed anyone who wasn't a fan previously, they may have converted a few doubters back into their corner. Their raging two hour concert was high on adrenaline and pizzazz. Maybe it was nothing more than a nostalgia ride, but I'll be damned if it wasn't exhilarating.

It's hard to balance one's legacy with keeping your feet planted in the future. These days, the amount of money fans fork over for tickets is staggering and if acts want the money, they need to deliver. The current KISS show in many ways is similar to the current tour Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band. Both rose to fame in the 1970's and were heralded and known for their live shows while their record sales were solid yet not through the roof. While KISS was about excess, Springsteen was about personal intimacy. However, as far apart as these two acts appear to be musically, in the end, they both believed in delivering a show so killing and gripping, it would never leave your memory bank. Record sales paled compared to the magic and the myth of their live performances. In 2009, both KISS and Springsteen are playing to their strengths with set lists heavy on previous glories. Yet what differentiates the two is their need to not just win over an audience, but leave them wanting more. Simmons, Stanley and Springsteen are as fluid and free on the concert stage as they have ever been in their entire careers. Whenever they perform, they wrangle with their own legacy. Amazingly, KISS appears to have found the fountain of youth. Both acts bow at the altar of their fans because they keep them in business. The brilliance of the make-up is that one would never know that KISS has been doing this for nearly four decades. Like an old friend you had a falling out with, you reconnect with years later almost as if no time has passed. In many instances, you often wonder why you lost touch in the first place. They enlarge their own myth by delivering note for note recreations than in many instances, surpass the ones we fell in love with. Does this make it better than the original? No, but it makes for a unique viewpoint and alternate history.

The evening was full of memorable ringers; "Calling Dr. Love", "(Let Me Go) Rock & Roll", "Rock and Roll All Nite", "Shout It Out Loud", "Cold Gin" and even one new song, "Modern Day Delilah". Every performance was cut from the same fabric of the vintage KISS with some minor improvements. The only questionable performance was that of "Shock Me" with Tommy Thayer on lead vocals. It was like watching your best friend date your first love and while I'm not sure I am entirely comfortable watching it go down, it delivered the desired effect. This was the only song I wrestled with, as KISS found a way to triumph over adversity. "Hotter Than Hell" was boisterous as it was brash, while the opening riff to "Parasite" was forceful and fierce in a fist-pumping progressiveness. KISS has never been one to preach impending doom to its audience, yet the brazenly bracing grandiosity of their live shows embodies the true spirit of rock n' roll. As my eyes veered to the upper regions of the arena, I couldn't help but notice the absolute liveliness of the sold-out crowd. Beneath everything one can write about music and its guiding light in our lives or its growth, in the end it really all boils down to a bond, and KISS has it with their audience. Dollar for dollar, guitar pick for guitar pick, pyrotechnic for pyrotechnic, the KISS Alive 35 show is one of the best on the road and provides the audience with a profound bang for their buck. While some tickets were as high as $129, the band also reserved a significant amount of tickets for $18 (and less in other markets). Only Green Day and Metallica are currently offering better deals for a first tier concert production.

Anyone who has ever dismissed KISS for a lack of vision, purpose or mere musical ability would have eaten crow after this performance, specifically the incendiary rendition of "Lick It Up", which proved to be spellbinding as the band demonstrated mastery of their instruments and a need for a nostalgic eruption. As Thayer and Stanley assaulted their six-string guitars, they stripped away the excess as they broke the song down to the basic primordial chords of the Who's "Won't Get Fooled Again" before a cathedral collapsing reprise of "Lick It Up". In an alternate universe where sci-fi meets sex, KISS is to 1970's rock n' roll as the Who is to the 1960's. While both groups are missing half of their original members, it's hard to deny their interminable vehemence of wanting to battle with their past nightly. While one can never recapture the same chemical compounds that the original four transport, you can genetically alter them to produce a more lean sound that in some ways is more precise and spot-on than the originals. In the case of KISS, I walked away longing for the original incarnation but defending the new incarnation because of the passion and purpose with which they delivered their catalog.

Beneath the surplus of gadgetry KISS preposterously exceeded all expectations. They unleashed the riotous spirit of rock n' roll while simultaneously paying homage to their legacy by delivering show stopping anthems as KISS pledges allegiance to the very core values of rock n' roll. It may not have invigorated your mind or dispatched poetic prose, but it did provide a demonic jolt of merriment. In the end, while I greatly admire the perceptive singer-songwriters who have made me look upon the world in a different light, in the end, above all, it should be infused with pleasure. KISS may not have all of their original members and this may be an impasse some will never be able to see through, yet the Alive 35 tour is about as much fun as anyone could have with their clothes on and sometimes, that's all rock n' roll needs to live up to. KISS has proven to be larger than any one member and as they confirmed over two turbocharged hours in Chicago, on any given night, you'll see a band that is every bit as good as they have ever been, and that is not just their lasting legacy, but their sweetest revenge as well.