鈥淵ou wanted the best, you got the best.鈥�
If you鈥檙e a KISS fan, you know the words that come next during the concert intro.
If not, you probably weren鈥檛 at Rogers Arena on Wednesday night (Nov. 8) when KISS was indeed the hottest band in the world, with all that pyro.
This is 鈥淭he End of the Road鈥� for the glam-rock originators on a world tour that started pre-pandemic and concludes Dec. 2 at Madison Square Garden in New York City.
Wednesday in Vancouver, for perhaps a final time, the B.C.-region KISS Army came out to salute a band that started 50 years ago with Gene Simmons, Paul Stanley, Ace Frehley and Peter Criss. The latter two no longer kiss up to Simmons and Stanley, who have joined forces with lead guitarist Tommy Thayer and drummer Eric Singer to keep on KISS-ing well into 2023.
By Stanley鈥檚 count, KISS has performed in Vancouver a total of 12 times, 鈥渁nd this will be the last time,鈥� he told the crowd a couple of songs in.
鈥淲e鈥檙e here to celebrate!鈥�
And so they did, with all the fire-breathing, blood-spitting, rocket-launching, arena-rocking antics that have made KISS the trailblazers they are.
, starting with an explosive 鈥淒etroit Rock City鈥� and ending with a confetti-showered 鈥淩ock and Roll All Nite鈥� more than two hours later. Personally I would have loved an all-鈥�70s set, but I was lucky to experience that on , when they put the makeup back on and made my concert-going fantasy come true (I was a kid during the heyday, so it was the show I never thought I鈥檇 see).
Stanley and Simmons are now in their 70s, and I got thinking how they probably feel fortunate to wear stage makeup at their age. Don鈥檛 get me wrong, they still look great in their Starchild and Demon costumes, respectively, which is pretty cool.
The Starchild鈥檚 vocal mix wasn鈥檛 great Wednesday, and these days he鈥檚 sounding screechy, both in song and those cringe intros of his.
But hey, rock 鈥榥鈥� roll all night and part of every day, right?
All of them took turns in the spotlight, of course, starting with Thayer鈥檚 post-鈥淐old Gin鈥� guitar solo and rocket-launching spectacle, a thundering Singer session on drums leading into 鈥�100,000 Years鈥� and Simmons鈥� iconic blood-spitting turn before 鈥淕od of Thunder,鈥� a real highlight of the night.
By 鈥淟ove Gun,鈥� Stanley was rope-lifted over the crowd to a 鈥淏鈥� stage at the far end of the arena. He stayed for the disco-ball drop of 鈥淚 Was Made For Lovin鈥� You鈥� (which didn鈥檛 sound very disco-y at all) and the first half of 鈥淏lack Diamond.鈥�
An encore followed, starting with the Singer-sung piano ballad 鈥淏eth,鈥� and by 11 p.m. it was all over, another KISS show in the books, another arena crowd sent home happy.
I enjoyed the show in the company of a 12-year-old who was at his first KISS concert, so through his eyes I remembered how special the band is for all its theatrics.
If this really is 鈥淭he End of The Road鈥� for KISS, barring yet another reunion and tour, it was a hell of a run, and so much fun. We in the Army thank you for the memories.
Wednesday鈥檚 opener was Crown Lands, an Ontario rock duo that has listened to a lot of Rush albums growing up, apparently. Worth a listen if you鈥檙e into prog-rock. If not, don鈥檛 bother.
