Kiss will play the Saratoga Performing Arts Center on Aug. 17, and I couldn’t be happier.
Not that I plan to go to this concert or anything. I just like the idea of it. I’m not really a Kiss fan — I don’t own a single Kiss album, though every once in a while I’m tempted to pick up a greatest hits compilation — but I have seen them, and count it among my top concert experiences.
My friend Jamie happens to be a huge Kiss fan, and in the summer of 2000 or 2001 we traveled to Jackson, Miss., from Birmingham, Ala., with our friends Derek and Cindy to see them perform. This particular concert capped off Jamie’s week of Kiss shows — he’d already seen the band in Birmingham and Atlanta. In addition to owning just about every piece of music Kiss has recorded, Jamie also keeps a Gene Simmons figurine on top of his desk, and an electronic, musical set of Kiss dolls at his apartment. Though he objects to the use of the word doll. “They’re action figures,” he once explained.
Anyway, I’m always interested in learning more about my friends’ great passions in life (Jamie’s one of those guys who’s actually painted his face to look like Gene Simmons, though he didn’t wear any make-up to the show in Jackson), and a weekend trip to see Kiss seemed like a great idea. We really got into it. We decided to stop in Philadelphia, Miss., the night before the show and hang out at the Indian casinos, and Cindy convinced us to splurge and get deluxe rooms. I’m not really a casino person or a gambler, and the Philadelphia casino simply reaffirmed this fact. “This is the ugliest place I’ve ever been in my life,” I announced, before heading off to play the slots because I didn’t feel like interacting with other people or spending much money.
Meanwhile, Cindy won about $85 at blackjack, which she promptly lost. When we got to our rooms, we were sorely disappointed. We were expecting fancy, luxurious suites, but instead found dimly-lit, rundown spaces that were about as nice as the average Motel 6. “The refrigerator doesn’t even work,” Cindy observed, disgusted. The next day she marched down to the complaint desk with a simple question: “What makes those rooms deluxe?” When nobody could provide an answer, the hotel agreed to charge us a cheaper rate.
We then drove to Jackson, where we joined the throngs of Kiss fans. The ’80s hair metal band Skid Row opened the show, but it was hard to get too excited, as onetime lead singer Sebastian Bach was no longer with the band. Still, the band performed pretty good renditions of “18 and Life” and “I Remember You,” which brought back pleasant memories of the seventh grade. Then Ted Nugent played. Coincidentally, Ted Nugent plays Northern Lights on Tuesday. I can’t say I’m quite as enthusiastic about his stop in the Capital Region as Kiss, but he does put on a good show, by which I mean that he gives his fans what they want — hard, aggressive rock, pro-gun talk and plenty of liberal bashing. He had some choice words about Janet Reno when I saw him, but I’m willing to bet his current routine focuses on the Obama administration. And then there was Kiss.
Like Ted Nugent, Kiss gives its fans exactly what they want, but on a larger, more theatrical scale, with more impressive pyrotechnics. The audience gazed raptly at the band during the show’s quietest moment, the ballad “Beth,” and screamed and danced along to the band’s more rockin’ numbers. My favorite was “Rock and Roll All Nite” — the one Kiss song I truly believe will stand the test of time. In any case, the show was fun and exhausting, an interesting little window into one of the more enthusiastic and devoted fan bases around.
Say what you will about Kiss, the band really knows how to treat its fans, and I have no doubt that the show at SPAC will give the faithful their money’s worth. So I highly recommend seeing Kiss. But I’d avoid the casinos in Philadelphia, Miss., if I were you.
Got a comment? E-mail me at sfoss@dailygazette.net.
