Music Matters
KISS still pulls groupies, proving that scary makeup is the key to stopping time
Earlier this year I attended a show by quasi-glam metal band Steel Panther at the House of Blues downtown and I left the PG-13 (at best) rated affair with a very valuable piece of information: If you want to get away with murder on stage, it is far better to play the part of a lipstick-wearing guitar god than to actually be one.
If you're Bret Michaels of Poison or Motley Crue lead singer Vince Neil, making flagrant sexual innuendos at a woman in the crowd, describing (in detail) the sexual positions you'd twist her in to and telling her to meet you back stage for a sample might be grounds for a lawsuit and an unsavory headline or two.
As a member of Steel Panther the same behavior (and much worse) is all part of the act. The women giggle at the satirical misogyny being hurled their way. They consider it foreplay and, unbelievably, often make their way backstage to see what might happen.
I bring all this up because the mighty KISS, who play the Cynthia Woods Mitchell Pavilion Friday had all this figured out decades ago. In fact, the genius of Gene Simmons and Paul Stanley goes well beyond getting groupies.
With a vault of original hard rock standards that have been honed to a fine polish over the last 35 years, combined with the geisha-meets-samurai makeup and Halloween costumes, KISS has managed to stop time all-together.
In the real world every member of the current line-up (drummer Eric Singer and guitarist Tommy Thayer now wear the Catman and Spaceman outfits originally worn by Peter Criss and Ace Frehley, respectively) is now in their 50s and 60s. But once they put on the high heels, spikes, white pancake face foundation and start spitting blood and breathing fire between refrains of "Lick It Up" and "Rock and Roll All Nite" they all might as well be 25 years-old.
With the exception of a paunch here and a sag there, not much has changed. KISS are the New York City rocker boys who became the masked thespians that ruled heavy metal in the mid-70s and — after so many years of getting paid to practice — became a pretty darn good musicians and excellent showmen.
At the Woodlands concert, sheepishly titled The Hottest Show On Earth Tour, expect to hear longtime favorites like "Calling Dr. Love," "Cold Gin," and "Love Gun," as well as a few cuts from last year's Sonic Boom. Once you strip away all the makeup, heels and sweat, KISS's first studio release in 12 years is pretty good collection of hard rock.
And the ability to rock your own tunes as well as pull groupies is what will always separate KISS from all the Steel Panthers of the world.
Kiss (with The Academy Is... & The Envy), 6:30 p.m. Friday at Cynthia Woods Mitchell Pavilion
Tickets $29-$134.50 (Children age 14 and younger are free on the lawn with an adult admission. Limit four kids per adult ticket.)
