CLEVELAND, Ohio – KISS was so big in 1978 the only thing that could slow down the classic lineup of Paul Stanley, Gene Simmons, Ace Frehley and Peter Criss was the weather.
The band’s epic “Alive II Tour” -- loaded with pyrotechnics, fire, smoke bombs and platform risers -- was rolling along in early 1978 when it ran into a roadblock or, better yet, a blizzard at the Richfield Coliseum. The show proved to be one of the more memorable during KISS’ peak run.
“The concert was oversold,” remembers Simmons. “The fire department was nice, so they allowed 2,000 or 3,000 people more than the capacity. But then they had the snowstorm of the century that night. The parking lot had five or six feet of snow.”
The wintry conditions didn’t deter the Kiss Army. Nothing was going to stop them from witnessing the live spectacle that was a KISS concert. As the opening of the band’s shows states: “You wanted the best. you Got the Best. The hottest band in the world: KISS!”
[LISTEN to Gene Simmons and others recall KISS’ “Alive II Tour” and the blizzard at Richfield in the latest episode of our CLE Rocks podcast]
Rockin’ in the U.S.A.
The origins of KISS date back to the early 1970s and Wicked Lester, a New York City band led by Gene Simmons and Paul Stanley. Looking to form a new project, the duo responded to an ad that introduced them to veteran New York City drummer Peter Criss. Shortly after, an impressive audition by a lead guitarist named Ace Frehley would round out KISS’ classic lineup in 1973.
“They started like every group probably ever started. Let’s start a group and get girls,” says David Leaf, co-author of the authorized biography “KISS: Behind the Mask.”
“When I met them, Peter had a thick borough accent. Ace was interesting, to say the least. Gene clearly was running the show from the business side of things. And from my point of view watching them, Paul was the star.”
KISS’ first two albums released on Casablanca Records didn’t make much of a dent on the charts. The band’s third, “Dressed to Kill,” fared better. But it was KISS’ live shows that were getting the most attention.
Kiss performing on stage, circa 1977. Left to right: Gene Simmons, Ace Frehley and Paul Stanley.Getty Images
The band members hit the stage in their signature face paint and elaborate stage outfits, assuming the roles of colorful, comic book-like characters: Stanley as “The Starchild,” Simmons as “The Demon,” Frehley as “The Spaceman” and Criss as “The Catman.”
The production value seemed to grow with each performance. Criss performed on an elevating drum riser. Frehley’s guitar would burst into flames during his thrilling solos. Simmons spit blood and breathed fire at every show. Stanley oozed charisma as pyrotechnics exploded around him.
“The genius of it was they had created these characters and they were going to be these characters,” says Leaf. “It’s not like what we’ve seen with David Bowie, Madonna and Lady Gaga, who kind of have different personae based on where they are at that point in their career. There was no question who KISS was. It was like a Marvel comic book come to life in a rock and roll band.”
Gene Simmons, Paul Stanley backstage before a KISS concert.Getty Images
Larger Than Life
With Casablanca Records on the verge of bankruptcy, KISS finally achieved its breakthrough in 1975 with the band’s first live album titled “Alive.” The record went gold with the live version of “Rock and Roll All Nite” reaching the top 20 on the charts.
“Destroyer,” still considered by many to be KISS’ greatest studio album, followed in 1976. The single “Detroit Rock City” would become the band’s biggest radio hit.
KISS would release two more albums over the next year and a half. By the time the dust had settled on 1977′s “Love Gun,” the group’s highest-charting album yet, KISS was one of the biggest bands in the world.
“People were just ready for it,” recalls Dennis Woloch, who served as KISS’ art director for 20 albums. “The guys in KISS had a vision for themselves. They saw Alice Cooper and they saw the New York Dolls and knew the visual aspect was at least half the fun of going to see them. KISS wanted to give the people their money’s worth.”
After wrapping up the “Love Gun Tour” in September 1977, KISS transitioned into the “Alive II Tour” following the release of the band’s second live album that October. KISS was now at its commercial peak with merchandise flying off the shelves to the tune of $100 million a year. Membership for the KISS Army, the band’s fan club, was said to be well above the 100,000 mark.
Fittingly, the “Alive II Tour” would feature KISS’ most elaborate production yet. There were explosions, smoke bombs, drum and platform risers, a massive dragon logo, confetti and dual staircases with fire surrounding everything.
Gene Simmons blowing up flames on stage at Nippon Budokan, Tokyo, March 28, 1978.Getty Images
“We were bringing in more pyro and stuff like that,” recalls Simmons. “That also includes how many shows we blew out the power because of our stage and how many conversations we had with fire marshals at every show.
“No other band had to do that or wear seven-inch heels and 40 pounds of armor and had to spit fire. [KISS] was the hardest working band in show business other than the glory days of James Brown.”
Rock and Roll Party
The “Alive II Tour” arrived at the Richfield Coliseum on Jan. 8, 1978. By that point, the venue was hosting a who’s who of rock’s elite. KISS played Richfield in 1976. But this time around the band was on top of the world.
The Midwest winter at the end of 1977 had been somewhat mild. However, in January, all hell broke loose. And it started the night of the KISS concert.
“The weather was bad and it took forever to get there,” recalls concert attendee Larry Cahill. “A lot of people took the back roads to get to Richfield. There were already cars off the side of the road. At the time, all the guys had these muscle cars from the 1970s with big engines and rear-wheel drive. They had all spun out.”
The weather led to KISS arriving late at the venue and some of the stage effects being rendered useless. But fans packed the coliseum for what was a vintage KISS show, opening with a fiery performance of “I Stole Your Love.”
“It was the height of KISS mania,” says Ken Sharp, co-author of “KISS: Behind the Mask.” “It was something that lived up to the greatest spectacle almost like a Broadway show in terms of the choreography and the various things that were done. There’s a DNA that exists in pretty much every rock show today where you can point the dial back to KISS.”
Paul Stanley shows off for the camera during a 1978 concert.Getty Images
While KISS rocked Richfield, the snow continued to fall, prompting Paul Stanley to deliver a weather report halfway through the concert. The frontman informed fans, “It’s snowing hard out there.”
By the show’s end, fans were scrambling to find a way out. Cars were buried in the parking lot, leaving many fans snowed in. Some were forced to stay at local homes, businesses and even the Coliseum. That included KISS, who spent the night at the venue with a few thousand members of the KISS Army.
“They didn’t have enough trucks to clear things because they were busy in the city,” Simmons recalls. “We slept in the arena. But we made sure tons of food came in, pizza, all kinds of stuff for the folks who were trapped.”
Hard Times
The snowfall the night of KISS’ Richfield Coliseum show was just the start of one of the craziest winters the country had seen. Two and a half weeks later, a storm dubbed the “White Hurricane” would arrive in the Ohio Valley/Great Lakes area on Jan. 25. It would feature some of the lowest barometric pressure readings ever recorded in the continental United States.
The Blizzard began its peak run in Cleveland the morning of Jan. 26. Wind gusts reached as high as 82 miles per hour as visibility was near zero. Wind chills dropped to minus 50 degrees.
Cars and occupants stranded on main road near Cleveland Hopkins Airport in January 1978.
“We had a front-row seat from the second floor of the newsroom,” recalls former WJW-TV anchor Tim Taylor. “The cars and the trucks and the lights on I-90 were less than a hundred yards away. They were barely visible. Looking back at the 40 years I drove downtown, through every kind of weather, that was by far the worst ever.”
“The Great Blizzard of 1978” would shut down schools, businesses and transportation for days. The storm was so severe, the Ohio Turnpike had to be shut down for the first time. More than 50 people died as a result of the storm, while 5,000 National Guard members were called in to help.
“The storm moved out fairly quickly. But still, you can imagine the mess that was left,” says Taylor. “There were people trapped in cars. I remember there was a truck driver who survived for about a week down in the Mansfield area eating or drinking snow to stay alive. It was insane”
Great Expectations
As the blizzard of 1978 was wrapping up, so was KISS’ “Alive II Tour” in the U.S. The band would head overseas in March for five sold-out shows at Tokyo’s Budokan arena.
Later in 1978, each member of KISS would release their own highly anticipated solo album, followed by another Top-10 group album in “Dynasty.” However, at the start of 1980, the band would release the pop-rock driven “Unmasked.” Three years later, KISS would shock the music world by revealing their faces sans face paint for the first time publicly.
Guitarist Ace Frehley performs with Kiss at the Providence Civic Center in Providence, RI on Feb. 2, 1978.Boston Globe via Getty Images
“Before ’78, the band members were the show with their movement and energy on stage,” says Cahill. “By ’79 they weren’t putting out the same energy on stage and were relying too much on all the gadgets and imagery. For me, when KISS was great, all that extra stuff just supported what the guys were doing.”
KISS continues to perform today. Though, drummer Eric Singer and lead guitarist Tommy Thayer now play alongside Stanley and Simmons. The band even streamed a massive New Year’s Eve concert in Dubai in 2020 that set Guinness World Records with 73 flame throwers and a 180-foot flame.
By most measures and fan recollections, 1978 and the “Alive 2 Tour” stands as the biggest period of KISS. However, for Gene Simmons “peak KISS” has a different meaning.
“Peak [KISS] might be the very first tour. The early days when you throw caution to the wind and you dive into the deep end of the pool when you’re not even sure you can swim,” Simmons proclaims.
“We were doing 240 shows that first year, six days out of the week, sometimes two shows a day. We got in the back of a station wagon and traveled 10 hours between shows. It didn’t matter how tired you were. You were doing God’s work. It was electric church for the glorious sum total of $75 a week.”
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