So, I went to see KISS last night.

[Noseferatu]

It was my first ever KISS concert. In Pittsburgh. Start of the Hottest Show On Earth tour.

I'll say this:

Eric is a phenominal drummer, and Tommy's a great guy and guitarist. That's all I have to say.

I don't want to make this into a Gene love fest, but I'm going to tell it like it is. As much **** as Gene gets for his attitude, hot air, and as a bassist, you really don't understand how criminally underrated a hard rock bassist he is until you see him play live. During 100,000 Years, he did some of the most creative improvising I've ever heard. He has a way of snaking in and out of the song that works really well for him. His basslines stood out more than anything else, musically speaking, during that show. Gene Simmons defined KISS' sound. Those walking basslines ooze Macca. When he plays live, he takes thosewalking basslines to a whole other level by improvising, doing perfect fills and nuances while walking around in 8 inch heels, makeup, 30 pounds of armor, a 10 pound bass, hot girls flashing their sweaty boobies at you - all without a hitch, or missing a single note.
Most people think or will tell you that Ace was the best musician in Kiss, but that isnt true. Gene was. He plays guitar, bass, drums and piano and has written on all of them and knows a nice bit of theory. Even KISS' early studio engineers have said that Gene was the most impressive musically of the original 4.

His tone:

Very loud, very hot, grindy SVT tone. He used both the Punisher and the Axe and I was able to catch a glimpse of his bass tech Mike Rush walking around onstage with both making sure it was loud enough. I got a chance to talk to him. He said Gene uses an SVT 2 Pro with a single 8x10 that is mic'd into the soundboard. Then, he has an extra SVT II Pro and 810 as backup. Gain up to 3 oclock. You can tell. Nice rock tone.

The show:

I walk into the Pavillion, I get directed to my seats, and I quickly learn that I did not need upgrades, as the seats I already had were just plain awesome. I was 6 rows back on Gene's side.
I sat down, looked around for a bit, the stage was enourmous, I looked behind me, and saw where they were recording the concert, and I saw the recording desk, the microphones, and I really started getting pumped.

They held a contest through Guitar Center to have a local band open up for them.

So, the Guitar Center band was up first. They were a very very good metal band, with a bit of screamo. I forget their name, but they were great.

Up next was The Envy, a band whom Gene signed to his record label recently who I thought was pretty awesome. They were much better than I had anticipated.




So, the lights go down, everybody starts screaming. The kubuki curtain drops and becomes armed to fall. Immigrant Song starts. The song ends. The drone starts. I KNOW I'm about to get my ass kicked now! I hear the familiar voice of Mike Rush doing the intro. That sent chills down my spine. And nothing could've prepared me for the battering I would be getting. The curtain dropped, and those explosions were THE loudest thing I have ever heard in my life. I see the band coming over the drums, and WOW, the fire is sooo intense, I can feel it pretty nicely from where I'm standing.

The stage banter was typical Paul, but I didn't care, I was hearing it in person.

It's one thing to see and hear your heroes on TV or the radio or on your iPod. It's another to see them standing 20 feet in front of you.


Paul had a motorized flying rig for IWMFLY. He flew to a platform in the middle of the pavillion. His boot grazed one of the microphones being used to record the audience tracks.

Gene meesed up the first two lines of Cold Gin. Tommy was great. Paul's voice wasn't great, but it wasn't awful.

Eric is one hell of a drummer.

There was one girl who was standing 2 rows behind me, she was kinda thick, but not chubby. Just the kind Gene likes. (Me too. ) And he flirted with her the entire time, and she flashed him a couple times and when he was on the riser, he kept making gestures at her.


All in all, I had the time of my life! I will never forget it!



All in all, it was just ****ing fantastic. My ears are STILL ringing!


Pics:

[CDweller]

Great post. Sounds like a fun show. Gene knows what he's doing, no doubt.

My friend's father is a professional jazz guitarist who played with Gene when they were teenagers. He said Gene was rather musical. I don't doubt it; I think he works his niche to his fan's great delight. Nothing wrong with that!

[Noseferatu]

[Demonator]

Amazing, I never knew, sad to say I too bashed him. I retract all of my statements. Thank you for sharing this. I can only expect it was nothing short of the best show right? im in awe, i never knew.

[N.F.A.]

I am bummed that I had to miss their show tonight in Cincy. We had band practice. I tried to talk the other lads into going, but they are all Kiss haters. We have some gigs coming up and I guess that takes precedence, but darn it I really wanted to go see them.

[Noseferatu]

[Noseferatu]

Sorry for posting the one of Gene's tech, but I just thought it was cool..

[Noseferatu]

Originally Posted by Demonator

Amazing, I never knew, sad to say I too bashed him. I retract all of my statements. Thank you for sharing this. I can only expect it was nothing short of the best show right? im in awe, i never knew.

Are you being sarcastic??


The show was very good. Gene is very underrated and gets unfairly bashed.

He played very well and did alot of improvising.

Done.

[Noseferatu]

Originally Posted by N.F.A.

I am bummed that I had to miss their show tonight in Cincy. We had band practice. I tried to talk the other lads into going, but they are all Kiss haters. We have some gigs coming up and I guess that takes precedence, but darn it I really wanted to go see them.

I knew a couple people that were going to Cincy tonight.

Bummer that your friends are KISS haters. Most of my friends are too.


It was never their goal to be virtuosos or to preserve the musical integrity of mankind. It's call fun, dumb, dinosaur rock.

And it's awesome.

[N.F.A.]

At least our practice was really good tonight. It just sucks I had to miss them. One of the best entertainment values on earth. You don't even have to like their music. Who else puts on a show like that? (That was the argument I used with my friends, plus how good Paul Stanley sings and a few other ploys. No one was buying...)

[Tampabass]

Yeah, but how do you know for sure it wasn't really those Holiday Inn Express guys? http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3ryQfo8j7J4

[Demonator]

Originally Posted by Noseferatu

Are you being sarcastic??


The show was very good. Gene is very underrated and gets unfairly bashed.

He played very well and did alot of improvising.

Done.

No, I'm not being sarcastic, its rather hard to get a tone across in text form. Im being serious, I have never seen them, nor knew anyone that has, I was just asking man. Glad it was fun though, I like them a great deal.

[Noseferatu]

Originally Posted by Demonator

No, I'm not being sarcastic, its rather hard to get a tone across in text form. Im being serious, I have never seen them, nor knew anyone that has, I was just asking man. Glad it was fun though, I like them a great deal.

Oh, ok. I apologize for expecting the worst of you.
Sorry for making assumptions.

Anyway, yeah it was very, very nice. I couldn't believe what I was seeing.

[Noseferatu]

Originally Posted by CDweller

Great post. Sounds like a fun show. Gene knows what he's doing, no doubt.

My friend's father is a professional jazz guitarist who played with Gene when they were teenagers. He said Gene was rather musical. I don't doubt it; I think he works his niche to his fan's great delight. Nothing wrong with that!

I don't doubt that.

That's a cool story. That would've been sweet to play with him too.

[Noseferatu]

And YES, he DID play Detroit Rock City the right way, and even added some nice flourishes on top of that.

[Demonator]

Originally Posted by Noseferatu

Oh, ok. I apologize for expecting the worst of you.
Sorry for making assumptions.

Anyway, yeah it was very, very nice. I couldn't believe what I was seeing.

Its no problem man, I can see where you were coming from

[Qvist]

THANK YOU DUDE, finally some recognizion for Gene! He's a beast man. Can't solo worth ****, but holy hell that dude can play bass!

[Randall]

They put on a great show
Have not seen this lineup but saw the original guys once in Vancouver and once in Edmonton (1996ish). Both times they played great. So much crap talk about Peter and Ace but they played a heck of a show. Hope this current lineup comes my way again. I mean the first song I learned was Strutter lol.

[Noseferatu]

Originally Posted by Qvist

THANK YOU DUDE, finally some recognizion for Gene! He's a beast man. Can't solo worth ****, but holy hell that dude can play bass!

Very true. I personally don't see the bass as a solo instrument, but that's another subject for another thread..

Yeah he was all over the fretboard that night. You can tell by watching his hands and the way he plays and how it sounds that he's very confident with his style of playing and definitely knows what he's doing.


And I always give him recognition on here. Some people probably think I'm a fanboy, but I don't really care. Maybe I am. The guy got me into bass and music, for that matter.

First song I ever learned to play was Detroit Rock City. It took me FOREVER to play it right. Then, I learned to play 100,000 Years. Once I could play those two songs the right way, I thought to myself "Good Lord, imagine what other opportunities this could hold"

I've obviously learned to play other material by other artists, but I will always credit Gene as being my reason for picking up this instrument we all love so much. I learned to play bass entirely by playing KISS songs and got really good at improvising by mimicking the improv Gene does live and now I'd say I'm probably a moderately skilled improviser. I've taken all of that and expanded on it, and even though I mainly use a pick, I'd say I'm a fairly good bassist.

[varunkapahi]

my teacher said every guitar/bass player should study KISS if you want to know how to really write songs