Thursday, August 2, 2012

KISS delivers a spectacle at Oak Mountain Amphitheatre

By Blake Ells/AL.com Birmingham

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If Kiss has perfected anything in nearly 40 years, it's the application of a makeup that refuses to smudge. Even on a Pelham, Alabama night where the humidity matched its monthly high of 93 percent on the heels of a torrential downpour that flooded most of the Oak Mountain Amphitheatre parking lot.
 
They should teach their fans.
Many members of the local "Kiss Army" among a near capacity crowd wore their own black and white face paint. By the show's 11:30 p.m. conclusion, all had perspired into a shapeless smudge.

Motley Crue opened the co-headlining bill with a 90 minute set that began just after 8:15 p.m. The band's rock and roll circus included go-go dancers on stilts, fire extinguishers, pyro and an elaborate drum setup for Tommy Lee resembling a roller coaster. They explored an impressive catalog of some of the greatest hits of a decade, including "Girls, Girls, Girls," "Kickstart My Heart" and "Dr. Feelgood."

The set change was surprisingly quick - while there was a half hour between performances, the same road crew which managed to save the show from weather related cancellation also managed to navigate between the two bands' very elaborate backdrops. Kiss managed to take the stage just after 10 p.m. in front of a large video screen displaying the band's familiar logo perched atop several risers where Eric Singer's drumkit called home. The band kicked off a near 90-minute set of their own with "Detroit Rock City."

Including the encore of "Rock and Roll All Nite," the 12-song set spanned a 38-year catalog. From "Firehouse" and "Black Diamond," released on the 1974 eponymous debut, to "Hell or Hallelujah," the lead single from their 2012 release "Monster," the band delivered a concise collection of their most recognizable. The most notable songs excluded from Tuesday's performance were the ballad "Beth," "Strutter" and "Calling Dr. Love," a song which received new life when featured in a recent Dr. Pepper commercial campaign.

Paul Stanley's banter is largely rehearsed, with a blank filled each evening by the tour's current city. While that doesn't come across as authentic, it's effective, leaving little pause for breath and a maximum amount of time for rock. He rode into the crowd on a zip line, perching himself atop the soundboard near at the second tier and performed. Gene Simmons spit blood as the band concluded the new single, and he played perched atop the lowered stage structure. There was pyro. There were flames. Kiss will never reinvent the wheel, and Kiss will never need to do so, because Kiss kind of is the wheel.

It doesn't matter how many time Kiss calls it quits and returns, the band remains one of the best ever to create a spectacle. It's big, it's loud, it's fun. Until Kiss can no longer deliver those three things, it shouldn't feign retirement. Crowds clearly still care, and Kiss showed no signs of wear on Tuesday at Oak Mountain Amphitheatre.

SET LIST: Detroit Rock City - Shout it Out Loud - I Love It Loud - Firehouse - Love Gun - War Machine - Shock Me - Hell or Hallelujah - God of Thunder - Lick it Up - Stairway to Heaven (guitar intro) > Black Diamond - ENCORE BREAK - Rock and Roll All Nite

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