Last night KISS played their 20th and final London concert, in the British capital where they proclaimed all their rock heroes originated from.
Just before 9pm, a giant curtain with the band’s name fell from the ceiling to reveal Paul Stanley, Gene Simmons, Tommy Thayer and Eric Singer descending from sci-fi platforms on high, bursting onto a stage engulfed in a flaming fireworks display.
We’ve never seen KISS live before and what might simultaneously be the first and last time was definitely one of the most entertaining gigs we’ve ever witnessed.
These four men may be in their sixties and seventies, but boy do they know how to put on a relentlessly energetic show thanks to their legendary shock rock.
All the more impressive is seeing the band stomping around in their incredible, over-the-top, camp superhero costumes – complete with giant heels and kabuki makeup.
If KISS were a new band today they could only be a parody, but these rock legends – who celebrate their 50th anniversary with their final tour this year – totally own their look, characters and performances that just work on so many levels. Hard rock tracks like Shout It Out Loud, War Machine, Say Yeah and Lick It Up are infectiously easy for the enthusiastic audience, pumped up by Stanley’s Starchild, to participate in – even if some of the songs were new to us.
When given the lyrics, Simmons would stare right into the camera in front of him with his finger pointing at the crowd, eyes agape and his enormous tongue stuck out. It’s all hilarious of course, but also brilliant. Even if their rock and metal isn’t your jam (it is ours), the sheer theatrical performance of the whole thing was a sight to behold.
Like Rocky Horror mixed with Cirque Du Soleil, the band embrace their surreal clown characters with Stanley’s screeching voice and Simmons having blood pour out of his mouth during his bass solo. Explosive flames burst up around KISS throughout, including Thayer shooting sparks from his guitar at one of the platforms that brought them down from above.
A real highlight was seeing Stanley zipline over the crowd to a raised platform by the sound desk for a guitar solo before zooming back for the finale. After two hours the encore ended magnificently with Rock and Roll All Nite, as more platforms raised the band up high and the frontman smashed his instrument on the stage – as is their tradition.
All this occurred as they were surrounded by a phenomenal firework display and giant balloons and streamers fell from the ceiling onto the audience. As God Gave Rock ’n’ Roll to You played on a tape as the fans left, we were left thoroughly satisfied but also aghast that KISS were retiring. Here’s hoping this truly isn’t the end of the road just yet.
