KISS brings ‘Monster’ show to Wheat City

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This article was published 16/07/2013 (4439 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

KISS meets 2013 with a monster of a new album, complete with an extensive cross-Canada summer tour. Gene Simmons, Paul Stanley, Eric Singer and Tommy Thayer are the men behind the masks of the “hottest band in the world.”

KISS has a longstanding reputation for being the ultimate live rock ’n’ roll show.

For 40 years, the iconic gods of thunder have reigned in the guise of the face-painted Demon, Starchild, Catman and Spaceman. From KISS caskets, cruises and condoms to comics — KISS is unstoppable with their fire-breathing, blood-spitting antics. Kiss brings an explosive brand-new stage show, in support of their latest CD “Monster” to the Keystone Centre tomorrow night.

“The new studio record ‘Monster’ that came out last October is a big source of pride for us. It’s a record just the band made. The four of us, we wrote the stuff ourselves, no outside writers. We went in and recorded everything. It was a very organic approach and a very simple approach. We just went in and knocked it out and spent three or four weeks in the studio and recorded this great rock and roll album that really stands up with the best Kiss records,” said Thayer, the lead guitarist.

In the 1970s, KISS posters were plastered on teenage boys’ bedroom walls, vinyl records with the titles “Destroyer” and “Love Gun” rotated on turntables or “Rock and Roll Over” blared in vintage cars on eight-track players and network television featured the cult classic, “Kiss Meets the Phantom of the Park.” Fans assembled the Kiss Army, while the band defined how to “rock and roll all night and party every day.”

“Every night we go out there, we’re excited and we want to show fans that this is arguably one of the greatest bands of all time. We love what we do and KISS has a timeless appeal to it — the imagery, the characters, the makeup, the outfits and the staging. KISS really created live pyro on stage, all the effects and confetti that everybody uses today. It all started with KISS back in the 1970s,” Thayer said. “You know, all the shtick.”

A few songs in an almost immeasurable arsenal of hits include “Detroit Rock City,” “Cold Gin,” “Deuce,” and “Beth” but a live KISS show, according to Thayer, is a definite must see in one’s lifetime, especially the latest tour.

“We have a whole new stage design that’s entirely new this year which over the course of 40 years, tour to tour, you try to keep upping the ante and trying to top the last one,” Thayer said.

“We call it the Spider stage and the lighting rig and the entire stage has a spider concept to it which is quite extraordinary and it’s got a lot of attention and has turned a lot of heads, that’s for sure. That’s an exciting thing for us because it’s an all-new look and even more inspiring for us to go out there and do an amazing show with an amazing newly designed set that is very sophisticated and very 21st century,” added Thayer, who has been an integral part of the band for over 10 years, a fact he personally takes great pride in.

“It’s an honour to be on stage and be a member of KISS and it’s overwhelming to me. I was a Kiss fan way back in the day when the first record came out back in 1974, I’ve been a fan ever since. It’s been a full-circle experience,” Thayer said. “It’s been a mind-blowing experience for me.”

Another dream come true for the guitar virtuoso is in January Epiphone Guitars released the Tommy Thayer Signature Spaceman Les Paul and the guitar has a near sold-out first run.

“This guitar has been very popular so far and I think the big part of it is it is true to what it is. I play the guitar on stage every night,” Thayer said. “It’s a beautiful guitar.”

KISS plays in Winnipeg on Thursday and Thayer is scheduled to make an appearance at Long & McQuade Musical Instruments.

Thayer, of course, also has a custom rocket guitar he uses every night for his guitar solo that shoots rockets, which Thayer said is quite spectacular.

So what’s next for KISS?

“We’re more of a day-to-day, week-to-week mindset,” Thayer said. “I can’t tell you what’s going to happen in the future, let’s just wait and see but we take it one day, one week at a time and one thing leads to another, that’s usually how it works.”

In the meantime, KISS is busy this summer doing what the band does best — entertaining the masses as well as the KISS Army, which has included loyal and dedicated Canadians for decades.

“All the stops we’re making in Canada is something we look very much forward to because it’s an amazing place and some of the biggest fans in the world are from Canada,” Thayer said. “When we come up there we want to deliver a show that’s over the top, that’s going to make our fans proud of us.”

KISS with special guests Shinedown are at Westman Place at the Keystone Centre tomorrow night. The show starts at 7:30 p.m. Tickets are $89-$165 (taxes or service fees not included).

Some seats in the back of the arena have recently been discounted. Tickets are available to purchase online: keystonecentre.com.

» Stan Ashbee is a freelance writer based in Alberta. With files from the Brandon Sun.