EDITORIAL - The End of the Road tour is coming through Fresno tomorrow night, a few years too late in my opinion. The seventies New York based rock band Kiss is bringing their flash-pots, light show and high energy theatrics to the Save Mart Center supposedly for the last time ever. This show comes just nineteen years after Kiss played at Selland Arena for their “Farewell Tour”.
In 2000, the band that played in Fresno was the real Kiss made up of all four original members. The band playing Friday is now made up of two founding members, Paul Stanley (67) and Gene Simmons (70 in August), along with the band’s fifth guitarist Tommy Thayer (58) and their fourth drummer Eric Singer (60). Both Singer and Thayer, who many fans refer to as SCABS, will be dressed up as the original members Peter Criss and Ace Frehley.
A lot has been written of this “final” Kiss tour and how this is nothing more than a diluted version of what the band once was. Paul Stanley said during the first farewell tour that the makeup belongs with the original members. In fact Simmons said in 1995, “Without Ace and Peter, anyone else wearing the makeup would be a diluted version of the band.”
It has also been reported that for the last few years Paul Stanley, the lead singer for the band, has been suffering from issues with his voice and has been using backing tracks to replace his live singing voice during performances. Last year during a solo tour of Australia, Simmons opening mocked Stanley’s issues with losing his voice saying, “I don’t lose my voice, like Paul Stanley.”
So what do we have coming to Fresno Friday night? Not the Kiss of 1977 during the height of their fame. Nor the Kiss of 2000 when the original line up played for the last time in Fresno. We have a half original lineup with two tribute members selling floor seats at $150 to $999 each.
This is supposedly the “last” attempt for Kiss to collect money from their loyal fans. Many of whom don’t have any idea the difference between Kiss in their prime and the band they will see tomorrow night. Most are casual fans that couldn’t name more than four or five of the band’s songs nor care who is wearing the makeup or if Stanley is lip syncing.
As for the set list for this show, if this is truly Kiss saying goodbye to their fans, a little more thought could have been put into the selections of songs for this tour.”Hide Your Heart”, “War Machine”, “100,000 Years” and “Psycho Circus”? Are these really the best songs to fill a fifth of the 20 song set list in a career that spans forty-six years?
Where is anything from the "Revenge" or "Carnival of Souls" albums? These two are Kiss’s most critically acclaimed efforts during the non-makeup years. There is nothing from their latest album “Monsters” but there are two songs from the phoned-in efforts from two of Kiss’s worse albums “Sonic Boom” and “Psycho Circus”? And nothing from the “Elder”? - You’re not Well Mr. Simmons.
As a fan of Kiss since their first live album in 1975 and as someone who has seen nearly every Fresno show since 1977 and several in Oakland, Reno and Las Vegas, these 20 songs that will be played Friday night are not what the true fans expect out of the self-proclaimed “Hottest Band in the World”. This is a set list put together for someone who only owns a greatest hits album. Where is “Strutter”?
At least the band is honest when they play “Lick It Up” and break into the Who’s “Won’t Be Fooled Again” because this is the End of the Road. You can’t fool us anymore unless you go back on tour again for a third farewell. Maybe when that happens all four members will have been replaced and the band will have been completely diluted?
If you are a member of the Kiss Army (the bands fan club) and have an extra thousand dollars in your pocket, there are still front row seats available. Of course as usual now a days, you can also purchase the VIP experience where you get to meet the band for another $1500 to $5000. If you don’t mind sitting a few rows back, those tickets start at $498. If you just want to be in the Save Mart Center for the show, the band has dropped the prices of the nose-bleed seats to just $36 from $60.
Or you can just wait for ApCal to bring back one of the many Kiss Tribute Bands touring the country and hear a real live band the way it used to be. Those tickets sell for less than $20 and the beer is affordable.
