No, Den Headz. Say it ain’t so. KISS – The Lords of The Wasteland… a bad show review? Is it at all possible? Well, it looks as if fledgling entertainment site Straight.com thinks they stunk it up in concert. Reviewer Steve Newton lambasted our great boys in makeup during his frank recollection of the legendary act’s Nov 14th Vancouver BC performance:
“Boy, Vancouver’s costume and makeup shops must have done a booming business in the days leading up to November 14’s KISS show. From the cutest little tyke to the brawniest middle-aged hooligan, there were scads of concertgoers wearing greasepaint in honour of their favourite KISS character. The most imitated by far was Gene Simmons’s Demon, probably because when you don that getup you also have free reign to flick your tongue lasciviously and leer arrogantly at those who dare enter into your godlike presence, much like Simmons does when he goes for coffee.
Simmons and Starchild Paul Stanley are the only original KISS members still clinging to the band’s legacy of 19 studio albums, half a dozen good songs, and a whole shipload of money. The spots vacated by guitarist Ace Frehley and drummer Peter Criss have been filled by Tommy Thayer and Eric Singer, respectively, who proved themselves fully capable of handling the Spacedude and Catman roles. Stanley, on the other hand, could use replacing.
He sounded fine on the night’s opening number, “Deuce”—the best KISS song ever—mainly because he does backup vocals on that tune. But on the follow-up, “Strutter”—the second-best KISS song ever—Stanley stunk up the place big time. He simply couldn’t sing his lines, and when he kept trying and failing it was downright pitiful.”
Go here to read the rest of Newton’s scathing review… and note the fans going apeshit afterward in the comment section of the article. One Kiss defender named Jan Michael Sherman states:
“As co-writer of “Kiss Meets The Phantom of The Park” — the group’s Halloween-of-’78 NBC MOW — I’ve spent thirty years (occasionally) defending them against the likes of Steve “Fig” Newton’s self-absorbed, preening, fatuous, and linguistically flatulent review.
But KISS hardly needs defending by anyone: they have withstood the test (and ravages) of time and remain still standing, still shaking tush, still “giving the tongue” to all comers — and rocking out even as their Social Security starts kicking in!”
http://www.kissonline.com/
“As co-writer of “Kiss Meets The Phantom of The Park” BWHAHAHAHA! I would NEVER admit that to anyone,let alone the internet.