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Concert Review: Kiss says goodbye to fans in truly explosive fashion
Saturday, May 27, 2000 By Ed Masley, Post-Gazette Pop Music Critic
I saw Gene Simmons breathing fire, drooling blood and flying overhead in bat wings for what promises to be the last time as Kiss, in all its cartoon glory, said goodbye to makeup in a show last night at the Post-Gazette Pavilion that redefined the notion of going out with a bang.
The reunited members of the classic early lineup even came on with a bang, descending on a platform as explosions kept the beat with Peter Criss to the opening bars of the great "Detroit Rock City."
Long before the chorus suggested it, everybody did indeed get up and "lose their seat" to greet the first of many classics from the band's arena-rocking peak, from "Deuce" to "Calling Dr. Love" to an encore that began with Criss alone on stage performing "Beth" and ended as a Kiss show must, with "Rock and Roll All Nite," including more explosions and confetti raining on a crowd of 14,946.
Along the way, Ace Frehley took the mike for "Shock Me" and an unexpected treat, "2000 Man." The most accomplished player in the band, he may have looked a little out of it but his playing was on, from the instrumental interlude that ends "Detroit Rock City" to his moment of glory alone on stage as smoke poured out of his guitar and his fingers raced along the neck of his instrument like Jimmy Page with better makeup. It ended in sparks that exploded from Frehley's guitar to burst confetti-filled balloons above the stage.
Paul Stanley incited the crowd with ridiculous banter delivered with tongue-in-painted-cheek and a voice that still suggests he spends his downtime sucking helium. He even flew above the crowd on a modified trapeze to lead the band in "Love Gun" and the "Out in the streets for a living" introduction to "Black Diamond" from a smaller stage behind the sound man. It was classic Stanley showmanship.
And when it comes to classic showmanship, you'd be hard pressed to top the man, unless, of course, your name is Simmons and you play the bass in Kiss. His fire-breathing trick remains a rite of passage, something only those of us who had the opportunity to witness could ever truly understand.
The show was everything you could have wanted from a Kiss "Farewell to Makeup" tour. Explosions. Blasts of fire shooting from the stage. Blood. Fire. A set that ran from concert staples to rarities, "Firehouse" to "Lick It Up."
As they say before each concert, "You wanted the best. You got the best."
As fate would have it, the members of Kiss weren't the only ones playing with fire in Burgettstown last night.
Preceding the band on stage, the mad-as-ever Motor City Madman, Ted Nugent, concluded an encore performance of "Great White Buffalo" with a flaming arrow shot across the stage into the back of a screaming guitar that exploded on impact, shooting sparks and smoke into the air. The set was classic Nugent, "Cat Scratch Fever" to "Dog Eat Dog."
It wasn't Kiss, though. Nothing is and nothing ever will be once the tour is through, which could be why I got all choked up at the end of "Beth" when Criss hit the part about "Me and boys will be playing all night."
But then, it could just be that I'm a sap.
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