07/25/2012
KISS & CRUE LIGHT UP LAKEWOOD AMPHITHEATRE
Excerpts from Melissa Ruggieri's review for Access Atlanta / AJC.com
It�s another blandly named tour that is the antithesis of dull.
�The Tour� is Motley Crue and KISS, sharing a bill and seeing who can light up the stage with the most pyro and rattle your chest the hardest.
It�s a draw, really, between these two titans of tinnitus-causing rawk and if you�re a fan of both bands� fist-thrusting, innuendo-filled pop-metal, then you couldn�t have left Aaron�s Amphitheatre at Lakewood disappointed Tuesday night.
Tuesday�s crowd was stocked with members of the KISS Army, and for nearly 90 minutes, Gene Simmons, Paul Stanley, Tommy Thayer and Eric Singer gave their best because the crowd wanted the best. Right?
KISS� setup was the opposite of Motley Crue�s, all open spaces with stacks of amplifiers, some lighted stairs and the HD screen behind Singer�s raised drum kit offering frequent close-ups of the band.Excerpts from Melissa Ruggieri's review for Access Atlanta / AJC.com
It�s another blandly named tour that is the antithesis of dull.
�The Tour� is Motley Crue and KISS, sharing a bill and seeing who can light up the stage with the most pyro and rattle your chest the hardest.
It�s a draw, really, between these two titans of tinnitus-causing rawk and if you�re a fan of both bands� fist-thrusting, innuendo-filled pop-metal, then you couldn�t have left Aaron�s Amphitheatre at Lakewood disappointed Tuesday night.
Tuesday�s crowd was stocked with members of the KISS Army, and for nearly 90 minutes, Gene Simmons, Paul Stanley, Tommy Thayer and Eric Singer gave their best because the crowd wanted the best. Right?
KISS� setup was the opposite of Motley Crue�s, all open spaces with stacks of amplifiers, some lighted stairs and the HD screen behind Singer�s raised drum kit offering frequent close-ups of the band.
And from the opening �Detroit Rock City� to the platform-boot-stomp of �Shout it Out Loud� and �I Love it Loud,� flash pots exploded with every cymbal crash and punctuated every song ending, sending fans into a devil horn-throwing frenzy.
Stanley, who looked as if he was wearing the remains of a black ostrich around his shoulders, and Simmons, who had a noticeable new accessory to his bat wings and frizzy topknot � a wedding band � appeared gleeful as they dug into their familiar bag of razzle-dazzle tricks.
Simmons grabbed his flaming sword and turned it into a whooshing fireball with one spit of accelerant during �Firehouse� and later dribbled blood during his bass solo/ �God of Thunder� routine � which of course never gets old if you love the band�s brand of theater rock.
Stanely did, in fact, go to see the people in the back, ziplining to a rotating makeshift stage for �Love Gun.� He also engaged in his patented sideways wiggle as Thayer and Singer handled the heavy lifting on �Shock Me� and ended the song with a lengthy whiz-bam jam.
At the turn of the century, KISS embarked on what they dubbed a �farewell� tour. Obviously, they changed their minds. And why not? As long as there are venues full of fans eager to fist-pump along to �Lick it Up� and �Rock and Roll All Nite� and the band looks and sounds this sharp, they might as well follow the money.
It�s another blandly named tour that is the antithesis of dull.
�The Tour� is Motley Crue and KISS, sharing a bill and seeing who can light up the stage with the most pyro and rattle your chest the hardest.
It�s a draw, really, between these two titans of tinnitus-causing rawk and if you�re a fan of both bands� fist-thrusting, innuendo-filled pop-metal, then you couldn�t have left Aaron�s Amphitheatre at Lakewood disappointed Tuesday night.
Tuesday�s crowd was stocked with members of the KISS Army, and for nearly 90 minutes, Gene Simmons, Paul Stanley, Tommy Thayer and Eric Singer gave their best because the crowd wanted the best. Right?
KISS� setup was the opposite of Motley Crue�s, all open spaces with stacks of amplifiers, some lighted stairs and the HD screen behind Singer�s raised drum kit offering frequent close-ups of the band.Excerpts from Melissa Ruggieri's review for Access Atlanta / AJC.com
It�s another blandly named tour that is the antithesis of dull.
�The Tour� is Motley Crue and KISS, sharing a bill and seeing who can light up the stage with the most pyro and rattle your chest the hardest.
It�s a draw, really, between these two titans of tinnitus-causing rawk and if you�re a fan of both bands� fist-thrusting, innuendo-filled pop-metal, then you couldn�t have left Aaron�s Amphitheatre at Lakewood disappointed Tuesday night.
Tuesday�s crowd was stocked with members of the KISS Army, and for nearly 90 minutes, Gene Simmons, Paul Stanley, Tommy Thayer and Eric Singer gave their best because the crowd wanted the best. Right?
KISS� setup was the opposite of Motley Crue�s, all open spaces with stacks of amplifiers, some lighted stairs and the HD screen behind Singer�s raised drum kit offering frequent close-ups of the band.
And from the opening �Detroit Rock City� to the platform-boot-stomp of �Shout it Out Loud� and �I Love it Loud,� flash pots exploded with every cymbal crash and punctuated every song ending, sending fans into a devil horn-throwing frenzy.
Stanley, who looked as if he was wearing the remains of a black ostrich around his shoulders, and Simmons, who had a noticeable new accessory to his bat wings and frizzy topknot � a wedding band � appeared gleeful as they dug into their familiar bag of razzle-dazzle tricks.
Simmons grabbed his flaming sword and turned it into a whooshing fireball with one spit of accelerant during �Firehouse� and later dribbled blood during his bass solo/ �God of Thunder� routine � which of course never gets old if you love the band�s brand of theater rock.
Stanely did, in fact, go to see the people in the back, ziplining to a rotating makeshift stage for �Love Gun.� He also engaged in his patented sideways wiggle as Thayer and Singer handled the heavy lifting on �Shock Me� and ended the song with a lengthy whiz-bam jam.
At the turn of the century, KISS embarked on what they dubbed a �farewell� tour. Obviously, they changed their minds. And why not? As long as there are venues full of fans eager to fist-pump along to �Lick it Up� and �Rock and Roll All Nite� and the band looks and sounds this sharp, they might as well follow the money.
