It’s been a long, wild and sometimes turbulent ride for KISS since the band played their first Chicago show at the Aragon Ballroom on April 19, 1974, promoting their second album, “Hotter Than Hell.”
Nearly 50 years down the road, KISS played the Hollywood Casino Amphitheatre in Tinley Park Saturday night on purportedly its last Chicago-area show on its “End of the Road World Tour.” KISS has released 19 studio albums and five live albums in the years between. The hard rocking foursome from New York City (since relocated to Los Angeles) has enjoyed massive popular success while also enduring hostility from music critics — as well as replacements of band members who were fired, quit, sidelined by illness or died.
Saturday’s show was delivered by a musically tight and drama-free band. Original member Paul Stanley especially seemed to have fun on stage, often letting a smile crack through his “Starchild” makeup, addressing the crowd in his unmistakable stage voice, which best can be described as a mix of Southern rock ‘n’ roll preacher and fired up drag queen.
Although the show is super-scripted — because of the ample pyrotechnics, the band would argue — there’s not a moment of dullness or dead air as KISS gave the audience a live summary of its career, with 20 songs representing the classic ‘70s era and the makeup-free ‘80s, performing only one song from the ‘90s and one from 2009 with the current lineup.
Gene Simmons, Stanley and Tommy Thayer frequently switched places on stage. Each member gets at least a moment alone with the crowd, whether it’s drummer Eric Singer playing piano and singing the ballad “Beth,” Thayer soloing on a rocket-shooting Flying V guitar, Simmons illuminated by ghoulish green stage lights as he spits fake blood before “God of Thunder,” or Stanley picking the chords to an extended intro for “Black Diamond” as he teaches the crowd how to sing the three vocal harmony parts. The stage scenography is great fun, with colorful lighting, lasers, risers for each band member and a multitude of screens showing old footage of the band and video animations. (The sight of 11 screens depicting Simmons’ face in Kabuki-style makeup against purple and fuchsia stage lights was like watching a delightful Japanese cartoon, while the glorification of war in “War Machine” felt questionable.)
The band may have been scorned by the music intelligentsia — during the show, Stanley mentioned that “the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame hates KISS”— and even if they’re not as musically adventurous as Rush or Van Halen, their hook-filled songs inspired a multitude of artists like Lady Gaga, Questlove and Butch Walker. It’ll be interesting to see if songs like “Rock and Roll All Nite” and “I Was Made for Loving You” (which drew cheers from the women in the audience on Saturday) will attract people to see a future version of a KISS show without any of the original members. Simmons and Stanley have repeatedly prepared people for that possibility in interviews.
Audience members, many who arrived to the Hollywood Casino in full KISS makeup, were asked about that possibility. Their feelings were mixed, ranging from “impossible, Simmons and Stanley are the heart of the band” to “absolutely, KISS is bigger than its members.”
Through a publicist, the Tribune also asked Stanley and Simmons to share a memory of that first Chicago show in 1974. Stanley responded that “there was no mistaking the history that permeated the walls, floor and stage of the Aragon Ballroom. I felt like the bastard son of Artie Shaw and Sister Rosetta Tharpe plugging in my guitar to claim the turf for a new generation. I froze my butt off on Lake Shore Drive and then set the Aragon on fire.”
The very final KISS concert is scheduled for the end of 2022 in New York.
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October 18, 2021 at 12:43AM
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KISS plays its final Chicago show on its ‘End of the Road Tour’ - Chicago Tribune
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