KISS Says Goodbye at Madison Square Garden, Before Passing Torch to Band’s Incarnate Successors: Concert Review

To paraphrase David Mamet’s caustic sales pitch from “Glengarry Glen Ross,” KISS Says Goodbye at Madison Square Garden has always been closing.

Okay fine. 1975’s “Alive!” Beginning with the band’s mega-success with And from its crunching live single, “Rock and Roll All Night,” to bassist/demon Gene Simmons’ sales campaign that transports KISS Says Goodbye at Madison condoms and caskets, everything the quartet has done is to promote the product in its way.

Designed to move harder and faster than – Contagious music. And like many of their fellow rock greats — The Who, Elton John, the Eagles, variations of the Grateful Dead — KISS has repeatedly sold the idea of ​​a finale, beginning with “End of the Road,” which opened in 2019. (and extended). Tour. KISS Says Goodbye at Madison…

Co-founder Simmons swears on a stack of Bibles that the farewell is real, giving it some extra weight by holding the finale where KISS was born in New York, before the group’s will across town.

A week’s worth of events will be held. Saturday night will be the final show at Madison Square Garden. But for its 11 o’clock encore, the band introduced a way to sell itself to future generations of the KISS army on stage with KISS avatars, created by Industrial Light & Magic in partnership with Pophouse Entertainment Group, which The Swedish tech company behind ABBA’s “Voyage” avatar.

Show in London. This will make KISS the first US-born band to go completely virtual and stage their avatar show.

To be fair, Simmons told Rolling Stone in November that their Dec. 2 grand finale would be “the last KISS Says Goodbye at Madison-in-makeup appearance,” but we all saw how that turned out when they took off their costumes in 1983.

Proved Both the band and its music seemed lifeless without the heels and kabuki color schemes. Perhaps instead of going back to the word of their “last tour” or daring to play without makeup, KISS can now easily push their avatars to do the grunt work live.

But here was the inimitable KISS on a sold-out MSG stage with Simmons and guitarist vocalist-Starchild Paul Stanley doing their signature routines: shaking their shaggy manes, flashing their long tongues, spitting blood, flaming.

Blowing flames and donning his usual black white and red makeup, all in the service of anthemic, melodic metal. If you didn’t want to leave New York smelling like brimstone, you shouldn’t have gone to a KISS show with at least two dozen big, fiery explosions.

Considering how many of this audience were dressed as their favorite KISS superheroes, it seems safe to assume that everyone is ready for the brimstone.

Sadly, but not surprisingly, it went off into the sunset without original KISS Says Goodbye at Madison members guitarist Ace Frehley and drummer/”Beth” vocalist Peter Kreiss, with Tommy Thayer and Eric Singer playing Spaceman and Kate, respectively. had taken his place as main for a long time.

For anyone who failed to read all of the full reunion denials, or otherwise just hoped that Crys would appear during the encore singing his milky song, “Beth,” or Freehly’s Will listen to “New York Grove”. Any such disappointment is compensated for by the novelty of KISS’s surprise avatar climax.

All this, and KISS was as unusual in its loud, blood-soaked, meaty MSG finale as it has been since 1973 when they first put on makeup and played in a small hall 10 blocks south of the Garden. Practiced. Ethnic rock anthems with attitude: that’s what KISS did best. Their avatars have their work cut out for them.

Taking the stage from the mid-air risers, Simmons kicked off his Saturday at MSG with his usual welcome, flipping for his hometown. “Alright, New York. You wanted the best, you got the best,” before the quartet jumped into a raucous “Detroit Rock City” and its quick follow-up, “Shout It Out Loud.” ” the bassist crooned before twin guitar screams. The latter track was highlighted by Thayer’s soaring guitar leads, along with Simmons’ gruff, masculine background vocals. KISS Says Goodbye at Madison…

Give it credit: Frehley’s signature tot, Funky Leads, offered hard-to-fill, ridiculously high shoes filled with angry faces, but Thayer (KISS’ guitarist since 2002) had great taste and flavor. What’s up with that? When the guitarist took his usual long solo between “Cold Gin” and “Look It Up” (the latter paying great tribute to Who with its “Won’t Be Fooled Again” bridge), Thayer was very much Reminiscent of soulful metal runs. Jeff Beck.

This is the end of the road,” Stanley shouted from center stage. “It sounds sad. But there is joy. And we couldn’t have done it without you. KISS Says Goodbye at Madison…

In keeping with the band’s longtime fans, KISS went back to the vaults for debut album Crunchers and 1982’s “Creatures of the Night,” from the chunky metal boogie of “War Machine” to the noisy, humming “Deuce” to deep, throbbing beats. ” and the cowbell-filled “Heaven is on Fire.”

What was interesting about “Heaven’s on Fire” and “Say Yeah” was that these particular tracks — not unlike their disco-era smash “I Was Made for Lovin’ You,” which Stanley recorded at MSG’s B -played on stage -hip- were. Rhythm-heavy mini-epics of rocking, R&B-infused metal. Credit drummer Singer and bassist Simmons for keeping things swinging.

And credit Stanley for the night’s most emotional moment, talking about KISS Says Goodbye at Madison first MSG show in 1977 and seeing his parents on one side of the room with Simmons’ mom on the other.

Whether you’re up here or down, all you want is your parents’ approval,” the star child says as the set-up to “Cold Gin,” paying tribute to New York boroughs like Coventry and Queens. KISS Says Goodbye at Madison…

Soul and memories aside, KISS had less-than-usual emotional acts, such as Gene setting fire to “I Love It Loud,” spitting gobs of blood during the bass solo, and Thayer’s unsettling guitarist. Lick terribly.

An excited Stanley kept running through the night, and, in his towering heels, zip-lined from MSG’s B-stage to rejoin his KISS Says Goodbye at Madison brothers during the set-closing classic, “Black Diamond.”

Post-encore, with their closer, “Rock and Roll All Night,” all gone, Stanley leaned into his mic, slyly, and prepared his sales pitch for the band’s afterlife.

“You know what? The end of this road is the beginning of another road – we’re not going anywhere. You’ll see us at different things all the time. See you in your dreams. We love you.”

Wrapped in smoke and flashing lights, the flesh-and-blood KISS walked atop a set of risers, the new KISS avatars looming on a screen at the back of the stage, trailed by taller, more monster-y shoes, youthful There were smooth faces. makeup, and dead laser eyes that eventually shoot flames and moonbeams. So far scarier than Pophouse’s ABBA incarnations, KISS’ menacing digital imagery will continue, with details TBD.

This glimpse into the future of the band’s incarnation was perhaps closer to a cinematic teaser than an actual representation of the full-scale, high-tech show that ILM and Pophouse are putting together. But, of course, it didn’t just play out like a short film, as there was the attendant smoke, lights, and FX you’d expect from a live gig, to make the new avatars look normal. of a KISS Says Goodbye at Madison concert set. All that seemed to be missing was live shutting and spitting.

Your power has made us immortal,” screamed Stanley’s avatar, as the smoke cleared and the misfit band launched into a crushing cover of Argent’s “God Gave You Rock and Roll,” leading to A final warning: “A new KISS era begins now. Hey Han.” It might seem counterintuitive to end with a movie, but inside the room, the KISS army was enthralled by the idea that their heroes could potentially end the endless series of nights in one form or another. can shake.