The Days of Lore

KISS WEEK! Alive MCMXCIX

Friday, November 20th, 2009 | musiX, pdX | No Comments

Live: KISS and Buckcherry at the Rose Garden, 11.17.09

It’s interesting to think about the pre-show rituals for a KISS concert in 2009. There’s less beer swilling and doobie smoking in the parking lot, and a lot more face-painting with the fam before packing into the mini-van to head down to the arena.

I was standing in front of the stage with four other (real) photographers right before the show. I stared out into the large crowd … well, not just any crowd—the KISS Army! KISS Nation! Which is sort of the equivalent of Fast Food Nation (OK, maybe Applebee’s Nation). Lots of makeup. Lots of KISS shirts covering portly bellies. Lots of middle-agers and their kids. They forked out their dough (tickets are anywhere from $20-$126) and were ready for that 60-foot curtain in front of the stage to drop. As the final chords of Zeppelin’s “Rock and Roll” rang through the house speakers, those famous words cut through the darkness and the curtain fell. I immediately turned into a teenager.

Paul Stanley and Gene Simmons are large men—even without the heels. And 35 years in, they play their parts like seasoned actors in a Broadway production, rarely deviating from the script. If you’ve been to a KISS show before you know you’re going to get the classics: “Strutter,” “Shout It Out Loud,” “Cold Gin” (which these days is preceded by a PSA from Stanley telling audience members not to drink and drive) and “Detroit Rock City” (a song whose narrator meets his end after drinking and driving). All great songs. But how about “Love Theme From Kiss”? Or “Plaster Caster”? “The Oath”?

I’ve seen hundreds of KISS performances—four in person, many more on VHS and DVD—and I’ve heard the same between-song banter over and over and over. So I’m always looking for that rare break in the script. I finally got it about two-thirds into the show at the expense of a hooligan in the upper deck. Paul was about to go into his spiel about extended encores, when out of nowhere … “Y’all are gonna get to see me shove a light pen up a muthafucka’s ass.” Whoa. Paul, don’t forget there are children in the audience. Anyway, doesn’t this guy know that Stanley Eisen doesn’t tolerate lasers in his eye? After a short, one-sided exchange, the Starchild snapped back into character as if nothing happened.

KISS is a tighter band today than perhaps it’s ever been. Yes, it’s incredibly lame that drummer Eric Singer and guitarist Tommy Thayer are wearing Peter Criss and Ace Frehley’s makeup (couldn’t they have come up with new characters? Perhaps some sort of exotic bird? Maybe a panda?), but KISS’ new lease on life wouldn’t be possible without them. Especially Singer, who drums circles around Criss. Thayer’s a fine musician, too, though everything that came from his fretboard was lifted from the Space Ace.

Not to mention letting Thayer sing “Shock Me” is fucking sacrilege.

But it’s about recreating that classic show, which is still big and loud and fun. KISS has retained the best and most campy elements from the ’70s—fog, fireworks, ticker tape parades, blood spitting—brought into the aughts with banks of video monitors that flashed images of old album covers and graphics that followed along with the songs. At one point, the cover of Sonic Boom appeared overhead as Stanley directed those in attendance to head down to Wal-Mart and pick up a copy. A commercial? I guess it’s the KISS version of an indie band telling a crowd they have a merch table with shirts and 7-inches? Can we go with that?

But hand it to Gene Simmons and Paul Stanley for still knowing how to rock ‘n’ roll all night—performing hundreds of shows a year, for more than two hours a night. And for a couple of guys approaching senior citizenship, they still get around pretty well in those 7-inch heels. These guys are the Kings of the Nighttime World. The Knights in Satan’s Service. And though I found myself cringing a few times, a KISS concert is still the greatest show on earth.

Photos by Mark Lore

In memory of Mark Louis Arnone, Feb. 24, 1973 - Oct. 21, 2009

Tags: Ace Frehley, Eric Singer, Gene Simmons, KISS, KISS WEEK, live review, Paul Stanley, Peter Criss, Portland, Sonic Boom, Tommy Thayer

Not such a letdown

Monday, December 29th, 2008 | musiX, pdX | No Comments

Live: Letdown and Biltmore Dive at Red and Black Cafe, 12.27.08

Thick piles of cables snaked up from the floor, finding their way into a bank of effects boxes and a keyboard with a sticker that read “Sad Music Makes Me Happy.” Sad music makes me happy, too, but the sight of all that gadgetry made me more anxious than anything … you never know what you’re going to get when someone has a lot of toys at their disposal.

Letdown is the moniker of Portland electro-whiz David Bolt. He knows his way around a Korg or three—but he also knows his way around a hook. Perhaps he builds his melodies first, which only increases the effectiveness of all the other bleeps and buzzes. And the melody always came through in his originals (notably “Nauseous Monster”) and a few well-chosen covers (Portishead’s “The Rip”). I found myself getting caught up in a piano line, only to have it dissipate into a rumbling drum break or a gurgling wash of synth before returning. Vocals were a nice addition to Letdown’s music (he did contribute vox in his other project The Delta Mirror), which were heavily saturated in reverb and echo. Dare I call it sad-bastard music?

Which brings me back to that sticker plastered on the front of the keyboard. Letdown’s music is sad, and beautiful, even when the songs are building into apocalyptic crescendos. He knows the power of dynamics, isolating sounds at just the right times. And as the music swelled, he never jammed copious noise into a jam simply because he could. It was well-orchestrated, like a chef in his kitchen expertly attending to his different dishes.

Opener Scott Worley—aka Biltmore Dive—kept things soft, simple and swirly. Most songs didn’t budge from ambient background noise … it kind of felt as if we’d all been invited to sit in with Worley in his bedroom. I’m glad there was plenty of beer and coffee where we were.

This is usually how I envision practitioners of electronic music: these über-smart techno dweebs with powers beyond my imagination who hole up in their bedrooms surrounded by mountains of boxes held together with cables. I’m probably only half-right. If that is the case, it was nice to hear Letdown über-smartly use his powers for good.

Photo and video by Alex Creecy

“Nauseous Monster” - Letdown

Video for “All of a Sudden”

Tags: Biltmore Dive, David Bolt, Letdown, live review, Portishead, Portland, Red and Black Cafe, Scott Worley, The Delta Mirror