http://www.hi-fiworld.co.uk SEPTEMBER 2019 HI-FI WORLD 69
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ome bands reach a peak
and then implode (some-
times quite messily) over
musical differences or
personality clashes. Others,
however, go on for ever
seemingly oblivious to their age.
In the first category The Beatles,
The Sex Pistols and The Clash all
spring to mind – the latter especially
when main man Joe Strummer
realised it was pointless going on
without his songwriting partner Mick
Jones.
For the latter there’s the obvious
example of The Rolling Stones – who
show no sign of slowing down after
nearly 60 years despite age and
various health problems.
But also bear in mind the likes of
The Who, Fleetwood Mac and Status
Quo who continue to tour rather
fruitfully.
There’s also one other name
that might not spring to mind at first
but deserves a venerable mention
- American metal-rockers and
showmen Kiss.
It’s been 44 years since the self-
styled ‘Hottest Band In The World’
formed in New York City and almost
20 years since they staged their
initial farewell tour. Well, they haven’t
said farewell. Far from it.
Because here they are back
again on a new, supposedly final ‘End
Of The Road’ tour – one which
has already made something in the
region of £40 million.
Yes, Kiss are now pensioners
and you’d think long past hanging up
their instruments and enjoying a nice
retirement. But they are back.
And the amazing thing is that
the basic formula that launched
them to fame all that time ago hasn’t
really changed over the years. In fact
it hasn’t changed at all. Four men
playing straight-ahead rock’n’roll and
clad in garish fancy dress-like metal
outfits, face paint and stack-heeled
boots while unleashing various
special effects and knocking out their
range of hits – of which there have
been many.
Do they look silly? Well, to my
eyes yes. It’s like a cartoon vision of
a rock band made human in front
of your very eyes. But they still
have enough pulling power to pack
thousands of fans into mega-arenas
across Britain, Europe and the rest
of the world. Yes, believe it or not
heavy Rock is still out there and
popular if perhaps past its historical
sell-by date by a large margin. Or is
this theatre? Perhaps both.
And they still do it with enough
panache, tongue-in-cheek humour
and verve to pull the whole thing off
and leave the audience with smiles all
over their faces as they leave.
Take the imposing figure of
Gene Simmons. He’s not the most
agile of bassists but it doesn’t seem
to matter when he accompanies it
by spitting fire, oozing fake blood
from his mouth and taking flight
to the ceiling of the venue. All
this from a man approaching 70 (I
honestly cannot remember my father
performing these tricks at that age!).
There are stage-shaking
firebombs and pyrotechnic infernos
throughout – and a mix of songs
with some obvious streamlined
choruses of the pop-metal variety- ones you just cannot help but find
yourself humming on the way home.
And let one other thing not
be forgotten. While The Rolling
Stones might be renowned for their
slick marketing exercise (tongue-
emblazoned clothing and all), Kiss
were pioneers in terms of selling
merchandise to fans.
The range of artefacts down the
years has included band condoms
and coffins, meet and greet packages,
training shoes, T-shirts, baseball caps,
a Monopoly board game, gym bag
and even air guitar strings. Basically, if
it can be sold then Kiss will put their
logo on it.
And then there’s the album sales- some 100 million to date and still
counting. Well, they don't have much
competition do they?
I mention all this because I first
saw Kiss as a callow youngster way
back in the 1970s in Manchester (I
snuck out of home against parental
orders) and was actually blown away
by the spectacle. It was like nothing
I’d ever seen before and certainly
took rock music into a new age of
showmanship.
Before that I’d just been used to
seeing four men playing guitar, bass
and drums with a vocalist standing
still on stage and belting out some
songs.
This was something different.
A bit mad – yes – but undeniably
exciting and a real spectacle. Oh, and
I did indeed buy the T-shirt and a
poster!
That was many years ago and,
to be honest, I’ve not paid much
attention to Kiss nor listened to
their music for a long, long time.
But seeing them again on this
latest (maybe) final tour took me
back to those days and made me
appreciate their longevity and how
they managed to bring something
new, something exciting to live
music.
You might not be a fan of the
band’s music but at least salute the
creativity at work. And their money-
making ability; they are still raking it
in where others are not.
As for the merchandise, though,
I’ll probably give that a miss at my
age. Swarovski Kiss-logo coffee
tumbler for a mere £335? Nah!
Jon Myles
“It was basically like
nothing I’d ever seen
before”