To those hapless bastards with their heads under the sand Big Gary’s-A-Palooza is the unofficial re-orientation week party for Canterbury that is quickly gathering enough momentum to rival even Otago’s mighty Agnew Street keg party. Following the tradition set down by last year, copious amounts of homebrew flowed with vessels ranging from the strange (toy hip flasks) to the downright stupendous (2-litre Just Juice bottles anyone?) as well as a DJ being set up in the living room of the to-be-trashed Big Gary’s flat. With an ‘Attending’ facebook count of around 300 that eventuated to pack out the entire property save the driveway it was obvious that the frontlawn would suffer. However smart planning proved to save the day with carpet strewn about which (mostly) kept punters’ shoes clean and lessened the damage. Speaking of damage the inclusion of a large bonfire provided adequate warmth before antics took hold of the revellers and a competition to see who could jump said-bonfire. Only a brave-few took part in this competition of might (or stupidity, you decide) before the stakes were raised significantly with the addition of couches and a former park bench. The bonfire was probably the main event of the night as it held many functions: warmth, entertainment, and unfortunately the parties demise. This was due to the fact that once the couches were introduced enough flame and smoke was introduced to land a 747…or, as was the case, the attention of the authorities. After staring dumbfounded at the dying flames the community firefighters took to the flames before, some time later, the Goodafterble Constanoons made their gracious appearance forcing attendees onto the cold hard street of Riccarton Rd – cue Semisonic’s ‘Closing Time’.
Altogether Big Gary’s A-Palooza ’09 lived up to last year’s glory while pushing the boundaries of bonfire and attendance, in fact so well was said attendance that there was a constant theme of 3 degrees of separation present with everyone seeming to know someone…who further knew someone. Despite all the glory that was the bonfire this Sasquash believes that thanks to the premature addition of all the couches at once from the pack mentality of certain individuals the party warranted the attention of authorities too early than would have normally occurred. Regardless, Big Gary’s A-Palooza turned out to be everything that was expected: an epic night that will be remembered as arguably the biggest party of the year.
4 stars
By Sammy the Sociable Sasquatch
Showing posts with label Gig review. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Gig review. Show all posts
Wednesday, August 12, 2009
Sunday, March 1, 2009
Brant Bjork and the Bros at Al's Bar
Whenever a well renowned international rock act comes to Christchurch one would expect them to be perform in the town hall, Westpac or some other decent venue. However, what would be the case for the more underground rock acts of the, say, Palm Desert stoner era? Al's Bar is the only choice; a bar that holds local and underground live rock true to its gritty young heart and intimate atmosphere. And what better underground act than the legendary Brant Bjork who made his name as the stickman for desert/stoner rock pioneers Kyuss (the members of whom included Josh Homme).
Arrivingto the gig after a few late beers and an even later bus this reviewer unfortunately missed all but the final two songs of supporting act Second Gear Grind (UC represent!). However SGG proved they were more than worthy to support the a stoner rock legend with heavy bass and guitar driven rock led superbly by vocalist S.Bell's strong vocals showcasing their influence by the band that made Bjork famous but also combining it with a more metal-like sound reminiscent of sludge rock and metal. For the entirity of their epic songs (and I'm sure their set for that matter) they had the crowd grooving in such a way that only stoner rock fans can - heavy nodding and side swaying...the cool way.
Almost straight off the bat Bjork and his support band The Bros established themselves as all about the music launching straight into it; no arsing around, just pure unadulterated rock'n'motherfucking'roll. Bjork retained the perfect stoner rock look dressed (to put it bluntly) like a bum keeping his attention to the lazy rock and was aided greatly by heavy bass of the Bros' bassist and their baritone axeman Max Roddings. In fact so heavy was the grooves of the set that when I briefly ventured out of the mosh pit (if you could call it that) to break the seal that the entire mens toilets were shaking with a force that could only be compared to a dragon farting. As this gig was part of Brant Bjork's tour for his 2008 album 'Punk Rock Guilt' there were a few songs featured in the set, but due to my aforementioned lack of knowledge of his music I can't really tell you what they were. What I can tell you however was that the songs all reeked of dirty desert rock goodness that is so very under-appreciated in this day-and-age of bland Chad Kroegerness...but I'll save a further explanation of this for another day.
By the time Bjork and the Bros wrapped up their set of heavy grooves and amp'd tunes I was re-hooked on the stoner rock vibe and keen to grab a copy of their latest album, this would not be the case however. Due to the fact that this was a bar there was no chance of getting money out, so I've now resided to the fact that when Studylink comes through it will be right on the top of the list of things to claim as part of course related costs - I'm a Mass Coms student...it's gotta count for something right? But as far as Wednesday nights go, proclaimed Bjork midset, the night was about as close to a Thursday as you could get, and that coming from an underground legend in my books is pretty darn good.
Arrivingto the gig after a few late beers and an even later bus this reviewer unfortunately missed all but the final two songs of supporting act Second Gear Grind (UC represent!). However SGG proved they were more than worthy to support the a stoner rock legend with heavy bass and guitar driven rock led superbly by vocalist S.Bell's strong vocals showcasing their influence by the band that made Bjork famous but also combining it with a more metal-like sound reminiscent of sludge rock and metal. For the entirity of their epic songs (and I'm sure their set for that matter) they had the crowd grooving in such a way that only stoner rock fans can - heavy nodding and side swaying...the cool way.
Almost straight off the bat Bjork and his support band The Bros established themselves as all about the music launching straight into it; no arsing around, just pure unadulterated rock'n'motherfucking'roll. Bjork retained the perfect stoner rock look dressed (to put it bluntly) like a bum keeping his attention to the lazy rock and was aided greatly by heavy bass of the Bros' bassist and their baritone axeman Max Roddings. In fact so heavy was the grooves of the set that when I briefly ventured out of the mosh pit (if you could call it that) to break the seal that the entire mens toilets were shaking with a force that could only be compared to a dragon farting. As this gig was part of Brant Bjork's tour for his 2008 album 'Punk Rock Guilt' there were a few songs featured in the set, but due to my aforementioned lack of knowledge of his music I can't really tell you what they were. What I can tell you however was that the songs all reeked of dirty desert rock goodness that is so very under-appreciated in this day-and-age of bland Chad Kroegerness...but I'll save a further explanation of this for another day.
By the time Bjork and the Bros wrapped up their set of heavy grooves and amp'd tunes I was re-hooked on the stoner rock vibe and keen to grab a copy of their latest album, this would not be the case however. Due to the fact that this was a bar there was no chance of getting money out, so I've now resided to the fact that when Studylink comes through it will be right on the top of the list of things to claim as part of course related costs - I'm a Mass Coms student...it's gotta count for something right? But as far as Wednesday nights go, proclaimed Bjork midset, the night was about as close to a Thursday as you could get, and that coming from an underground legend in my books is pretty darn good.
Wednesday, November 5, 2008
Myspace secret show: Fur Patrol with Tiny Paper Daggers
Myspace secret gigs are always great excuses to go out and see some of NZ's best bands, but are even better when they're free! This was the case with the myspace secret gig at the Dux De Luxe last night (4th of Movember) featuring Tiny Paper Daggers followed by Fur Patrol, headed by the foxxy Julia Deans.
Arriving there with friends we were a tad annoyed that the gig room was late in opening, but at least it allowed time for a few pints of the Dux's home tap beers (of which the Nor'Wester and Ginger Tom are definately something to try!). Time was killed between chatting with the other (not even) 100 or so punters from the very diverse crowd, getting hit on by a peculiar 50-something year old peddie with a crutch and watching brave birds swoop down and thief unguarded meals.
Finally when we were allowed in we were invited to help ourselves to a plethora of myspace freebies including keyrings, bumper stickers, bags and even retro yo-yos - ensuring that the more immature-minded audience members, including yours trully, had something to do waiting for the bands to get into it.
This did not take long thankfully with Christchurch locals (and Bishop Julius hall representitives) Tiny Paper Daggers promptly launching into a blend of electronic-rock awesomeness, keeping themselves composed despite being understandably nervous in supporting one of the biggest names in NZ rock for an entire generation. Each and every member showed great stage presence especially their ecstatic drummer who pounded away at a small set of electric drums with great facials through their entire set before stepping up to an actual kit for one song. Tiny Paper Daggers got the entire crowd pumping and dancing receiving a well deserved roar of approval after each of their songs, earning them to be a band that needs to be watched in the future.
After a twenty minute (or what felt like it) break giving punters a chance to talk amongst themselves and get a few more pints the mighty rock institution that is Fur Patrol made their mark on the Dux. The former Wellingtonians' set was great mix of songs mainly derived from their new album Local Kid but also included hits from old albums Collider and Pet performed with stellar ease and rock'n'roll rawness rivalled by very few bands from New Zealand. Highlights included an intense 'Precious' and 'Hidden Agenda' as well as 'Silences and Distances' dedicated by Julia Deans to her dad who she was amazed was still around toward the end of their set. By the time Fur Patrol wrapped up and thanked everyone for their support the crowd were calling out for an encore which came not in the form of Pet's mega-hit 'Lydia' but instead Collider's 'Get Along' held the honour, a little bit dissappointing but a great song to end the night on nonetheless. All up Fur Patrol proved that they can still rock as hard as they did in their Wellingtonian days and that their new material is just as great as their classic albums.
Also as a side note Fur Patrol lingered round the bar long after to sign autographs and sell copies of the Local Kid for only $20 (score!) as well as chat very friendly to their deserving fans, proving that they are still very appreciative of the support they get. And of course thanks myspace for putting on another wicked secret show, keep 'em coming!
Check out Fur Patrol at Southern Amp 2008 this coming Sunday (9th of Movember) performing at 8.40pm following the mighty Little Bushman!
Also check out the video for myspacetv to see me do the devil horns to the camera halfway through. Yeah!
Arriving there with friends we were a tad annoyed that the gig room was late in opening, but at least it allowed time for a few pints of the Dux's home tap beers (of which the Nor'Wester and Ginger Tom are definately something to try!). Time was killed between chatting with the other (not even) 100 or so punters from the very diverse crowd, getting hit on by a peculiar 50-something year old peddie with a crutch and watching brave birds swoop down and thief unguarded meals.
Finally when we were allowed in we were invited to help ourselves to a plethora of myspace freebies including keyrings, bumper stickers, bags and even retro yo-yos - ensuring that the more immature-minded audience members, including yours trully, had something to do waiting for the bands to get into it.
This did not take long thankfully with Christchurch locals (and Bishop Julius hall representitives) Tiny Paper Daggers promptly launching into a blend of electronic-rock awesomeness, keeping themselves composed despite being understandably nervous in supporting one of the biggest names in NZ rock for an entire generation. Each and every member showed great stage presence especially their ecstatic drummer who pounded away at a small set of electric drums with great facials through their entire set before stepping up to an actual kit for one song. Tiny Paper Daggers got the entire crowd pumping and dancing receiving a well deserved roar of approval after each of their songs, earning them to be a band that needs to be watched in the future.
After a twenty minute (or what felt like it) break giving punters a chance to talk amongst themselves and get a few more pints the mighty rock institution that is Fur Patrol made their mark on the Dux. The former Wellingtonians' set was great mix of songs mainly derived from their new album Local Kid but also included hits from old albums Collider and Pet performed with stellar ease and rock'n'roll rawness rivalled by very few bands from New Zealand. Highlights included an intense 'Precious' and 'Hidden Agenda' as well as 'Silences and Distances' dedicated by Julia Deans to her dad who she was amazed was still around toward the end of their set. By the time Fur Patrol wrapped up and thanked everyone for their support the crowd were calling out for an encore which came not in the form of Pet's mega-hit 'Lydia' but instead Collider's 'Get Along' held the honour, a little bit dissappointing but a great song to end the night on nonetheless. All up Fur Patrol proved that they can still rock as hard as they did in their Wellingtonian days and that their new material is just as great as their classic albums.
Also as a side note Fur Patrol lingered round the bar long after to sign autographs and sell copies of the Local Kid for only $20 (score!) as well as chat very friendly to their deserving fans, proving that they are still very appreciative of the support they get. And of course thanks myspace for putting on another wicked secret show, keep 'em coming!
Check out Fur Patrol at Southern Amp 2008 this coming Sunday (9th of Movember) performing at 8.40pm following the mighty Little Bushman!
Also check out the video for myspacetv to see me do the devil horns to the camera halfway through. Yeah!
Saturday, June 21, 2008
Monsters, Bitter Old Men, a Dragon and Rock Gods - Rock2Wellington Night One Review
On TV n stuff you you know how you see in the music videos the massive big fuck off stadium gigs complete with fireworks and crazy onstage antics? (think the music video for 'Paradise City' by Guns N' Roses) Yep? Well that doesn't even come close to Rock2Wellington. Rock2Wellington was a show, not a concert.
This gig was pure rock n roll class all the way through, no doubt about it. The only thing that kind of bothered me was that, not being very knowledgeable about Wellington's apparent windyness and not thinking ahead, I neglected to bring my hoody to the outside gig and hence ended up shivering away my beer buzz before venturing into the pit subtley cacooning myself within other bogans.
Starting from the crazy ass guitarists squaring off with each other to win the RockFM's competition to win truckloads of free gear, there was such an awesome array of styles in their playing one dude even looked like Joe Satriani playing porno-groove licks, oh and a special mention to the second guitarist I think it was who had on a mask that strongly remesembled Paul Gray's Slipknot mask, and of course the final guitarist who upon realising the fellar before him shredded an amazing mini-set closed his own with smashing the hell out of his own guitar ending in true rock n roll style.
Right after this performance Finnish moster rockers LORDI took to the stage with a visually gobsmacking set complete with awesome as costumes that made you swear you had seen them in Lord of the Rings in that scene where the Orcs almost eat Merry and Pippin. Seriously those Finlandians love their Nordic shit, every one of the costumes looked like a zombie off a haunted viking boat, especially when their frontman Tomi Putaansuu (aka Mr Lordi) picked up big axes laden with fireworks and waved them around flaming furiously. Talking about fireworks their bassist made the crowd go wild by firing a bazooka full of explosive shit and firing it at the crowd (haha take that you diamond pit bastards!). Musically, I thought Lordi were pretty cool, not exactly 'wow thats a pretty sick solo' but 'hey that sounds pretty rocking!', especially with the chorus of one of their songs "The devil's a loser and he's my bitch" - fuck yeah! In a nutshell Lordi were scary looking rockers, but not metalheads as some may have assumed. Oh yeah and I've gotta mention the group of three kids behind me having a little mosh pit behind the rest of us watching screaming the words to Lordi's songs: good on ya for the determination but seriously annoying after the first two songs.
Lordi ***3 stars - worth seeing if you can, but should be alot more cooler when baked I think.
While setting up the stage for Alice Cooper Rock2Wellington organisers had a kiwi band by the name of SONIC ALTAR playing on a miniture stage to the side of the main stage, and well god dammit they were bad. Now that may be a bit of a bold statement to say straight off the bat but I say it because small-time NZ bands that barely anyone have heard of do not belong at stadium gigs, they belong at bars. The sound was shoddy and the frontman resembled Meatloaf in a bad way. I think the organisers may have realised it was silly just to have a single band playing on a tiny stage that no one was close to so they got Weta Workshop to make a big ass dragon that breathed smoke (but it's safe to assume that everyone wanted it to breathe fire) and fired lasers out of its eyes. Yup this was seriously an awesome sight to behold, if I ever win lotto I will guarantee you lil devils that I will buy that dragon and have it at every TRS gig. So you've probably guessed that I speant more time buzzing out to the dragon than I did listening to Sonic Crap.
Sonic Altar *.5 1.5 stars - would be cool to check em out in a smaller gig, but stupid to have them at a stadium gig
Dragon ****4 stars - ITS A FUCKING DRAGON that moves and shoots lasers from its eyes!! Doesn't make five stars because it didn't breathe fire.
Next up was ALICE COOPER, and holy crapshite this guy looks more and more bitter as he ages. What a stage show from the man who was the one of the first scary artists in the early days of heavy music (along with Ozzy). I cannot call this set a normal set, it was closer to a Rocky Horror Show broadway performance. It opened with Alice Cooper assasinating a dummy version of himself then later had a semi-story line where he abused his wife, who was played by his own real life daughter (at this point he played 'Only Women Bleed') and drove a stake through his own baby concluding with him being sent to a mental institution and finally being hung onstage. At this point his backing band performed an impressive intrumental for a good solid 5 minutes which led to Alice Coopers final songs including his some of his biggest songs 'School's Out' and 'I Wanna Be Elected'. Special mention to his stage antics during this latter song with roadies and extras running around with great big signs saying 'The Alice Cooper Party' and 'He Just Doesn't Care!'. But the songs that everyone was really hanging out for eventually came as the encore, 'Billion Dollar Babies' and the bitter-sweet 'Poison' had everyone singing out their lungs discarding all sense of caring.
Alice Cooper *****5 stars - Alice Cooper blew me away with his stage performance, swinging his walking sticks and crutch around and his general bitter appearance. Definately see this guy if you ever get the chance!
Unfortunately with the good comes the not so good. Of course while re-constructing of the mainstage attention was focused again on the secondairy stages with the this time THE SYMPHONY OF SCREAMS performing a sub-par set. Again I've got to say these guys belonged in a bar not a stadium, also with a band name like that you would of expected the vocals to be at least half screaming, I think I heard maybe 3 screams in the entire set. But in saying that I also feel sorry for them when their power and then lights were switched off abruptly leaving them in darkness as Kiss began.
The Symphony of Screams **2 stars - another band that should have been at a bar that weekend, not at this gig.
Oh yeah and the dragon was out again so I was watching that most of the time.
Before I go onto the headliners of the night I've got to mention the other side acts that performed while the kiwi bands and the dragon appeared. Firstly the zombie cheerleaders: they looked more drunk than anything else and it was always fun to watch them and spot them stumble over chairs in the poor lighting and try to reassemble themselves making it look like it was part of the plan. Secondly the dudes who set themselves on fire and smashed burning guitars, fucking good on ya! That was pretty cool to watch. And thirdly the fire dancers: interesting at first but then just became part of the background.
Never before this gig did I ever expect to see a KISS show and now that I have I can tell you they are one of the coolest, most rock n roll things ever and that they really are as cool as your parents say. Despite only Gene Simmons, the glorious man-slut that all guys want to be (apparently having slept with over a thousand groupies) and all girls secretly want to have, and Paul Stanley, the strangely camp but also cool as frontman, remaining as the original members of Kiss this was still an impressive set. The entire stage was decked out in true Kiss style: truckloads of speakers and elevating stage peices for all the members. The songs were all outstanding with a sort of Greatest Hits feeling to it, but it was still amazing, even when their new guitarist Tommy Thayer was encouraged by Paul Stanley to sing a song and got the entire crowd into it. The highlights of the set had to include Gene Simmons' infamous bloody spitting, fire-breathing and flying, Paul Stanley gliding over the crowd on a flying fox to perform a song at the sound tower to "bring the love to the back of the crowd". But the best moment was easily when Paul Stanley said "In 1979 when this song came out people said Kiss has gone disco...but that's because they never heard it liiiive" and lauched into 'I Was Made For Loving You'. As the set closed there was defnately a strong euphoric connection between every man, woman, child and bogan that was only acheiveable with seeing a Kiss show.
KISS *****5 stars - they oozed sex and rock n roll and I mean c'mon it's KISS!! Stay tuned for night two!
Maximus
This gig was pure rock n roll class all the way through, no doubt about it. The only thing that kind of bothered me was that, not being very knowledgeable about Wellington's apparent windyness and not thinking ahead, I neglected to bring my hoody to the outside gig and hence ended up shivering away my beer buzz before venturing into the pit subtley cacooning myself within other bogans.
Starting from the crazy ass guitarists squaring off with each other to win the RockFM's competition to win truckloads of free gear, there was such an awesome array of styles in their playing one dude even looked like Joe Satriani playing porno-groove licks, oh and a special mention to the second guitarist I think it was who had on a mask that strongly remesembled Paul Gray's Slipknot mask, and of course the final guitarist who upon realising the fellar before him shredded an amazing mini-set closed his own with smashing the hell out of his own guitar ending in true rock n roll style.
Right after this performance Finnish moster rockers LORDI took to the stage with a visually gobsmacking set complete with awesome as costumes that made you swear you had seen them in Lord of the Rings in that scene where the Orcs almost eat Merry and Pippin. Seriously those Finlandians love their Nordic shit, every one of the costumes looked like a zombie off a haunted viking boat, especially when their frontman Tomi Putaansuu (aka Mr Lordi) picked up big axes laden with fireworks and waved them around flaming furiously. Talking about fireworks their bassist made the crowd go wild by firing a bazooka full of explosive shit and firing it at the crowd (haha take that you diamond pit bastards!). Musically, I thought Lordi were pretty cool, not exactly 'wow thats a pretty sick solo' but 'hey that sounds pretty rocking!', especially with the chorus of one of their songs "The devil's a loser and he's my bitch" - fuck yeah! In a nutshell Lordi were scary looking rockers, but not metalheads as some may have assumed. Oh yeah and I've gotta mention the group of three kids behind me having a little mosh pit behind the rest of us watching screaming the words to Lordi's songs: good on ya for the determination but seriously annoying after the first two songs.
Lordi ***3 stars - worth seeing if you can, but should be alot more cooler when baked I think.
While setting up the stage for Alice Cooper Rock2Wellington organisers had a kiwi band by the name of SONIC ALTAR playing on a miniture stage to the side of the main stage, and well god dammit they were bad. Now that may be a bit of a bold statement to say straight off the bat but I say it because small-time NZ bands that barely anyone have heard of do not belong at stadium gigs, they belong at bars. The sound was shoddy and the frontman resembled Meatloaf in a bad way. I think the organisers may have realised it was silly just to have a single band playing on a tiny stage that no one was close to so they got Weta Workshop to make a big ass dragon that breathed smoke (but it's safe to assume that everyone wanted it to breathe fire) and fired lasers out of its eyes. Yup this was seriously an awesome sight to behold, if I ever win lotto I will guarantee you lil devils that I will buy that dragon and have it at every TRS gig. So you've probably guessed that I speant more time buzzing out to the dragon than I did listening to Sonic Crap.
Sonic Altar *.5 1.5 stars - would be cool to check em out in a smaller gig, but stupid to have them at a stadium gig
Dragon ****4 stars - ITS A FUCKING DRAGON that moves and shoots lasers from its eyes!! Doesn't make five stars because it didn't breathe fire.
Next up was ALICE COOPER, and holy crapshite this guy looks more and more bitter as he ages. What a stage show from the man who was the one of the first scary artists in the early days of heavy music (along with Ozzy). I cannot call this set a normal set, it was closer to a Rocky Horror Show broadway performance. It opened with Alice Cooper assasinating a dummy version of himself then later had a semi-story line where he abused his wife, who was played by his own real life daughter (at this point he played 'Only Women Bleed') and drove a stake through his own baby concluding with him being sent to a mental institution and finally being hung onstage. At this point his backing band performed an impressive intrumental for a good solid 5 minutes which led to Alice Coopers final songs including his some of his biggest songs 'School's Out' and 'I Wanna Be Elected'. Special mention to his stage antics during this latter song with roadies and extras running around with great big signs saying 'The Alice Cooper Party' and 'He Just Doesn't Care!'. But the songs that everyone was really hanging out for eventually came as the encore, 'Billion Dollar Babies' and the bitter-sweet 'Poison' had everyone singing out their lungs discarding all sense of caring.
Alice Cooper *****5 stars - Alice Cooper blew me away with his stage performance, swinging his walking sticks and crutch around and his general bitter appearance. Definately see this guy if you ever get the chance!
Unfortunately with the good comes the not so good. Of course while re-constructing of the mainstage attention was focused again on the secondairy stages with the this time THE SYMPHONY OF SCREAMS performing a sub-par set. Again I've got to say these guys belonged in a bar not a stadium, also with a band name like that you would of expected the vocals to be at least half screaming, I think I heard maybe 3 screams in the entire set. But in saying that I also feel sorry for them when their power and then lights were switched off abruptly leaving them in darkness as Kiss began.
The Symphony of Screams **2 stars - another band that should have been at a bar that weekend, not at this gig.
Oh yeah and the dragon was out again so I was watching that most of the time.
Before I go onto the headliners of the night I've got to mention the other side acts that performed while the kiwi bands and the dragon appeared. Firstly the zombie cheerleaders: they looked more drunk than anything else and it was always fun to watch them and spot them stumble over chairs in the poor lighting and try to reassemble themselves making it look like it was part of the plan. Secondly the dudes who set themselves on fire and smashed burning guitars, fucking good on ya! That was pretty cool to watch. And thirdly the fire dancers: interesting at first but then just became part of the background.
Never before this gig did I ever expect to see a KISS show and now that I have I can tell you they are one of the coolest, most rock n roll things ever and that they really are as cool as your parents say. Despite only Gene Simmons, the glorious man-slut that all guys want to be (apparently having slept with over a thousand groupies) and all girls secretly want to have, and Paul Stanley, the strangely camp but also cool as frontman, remaining as the original members of Kiss this was still an impressive set. The entire stage was decked out in true Kiss style: truckloads of speakers and elevating stage peices for all the members. The songs were all outstanding with a sort of Greatest Hits feeling to it, but it was still amazing, even when their new guitarist Tommy Thayer was encouraged by Paul Stanley to sing a song and got the entire crowd into it. The highlights of the set had to include Gene Simmons' infamous bloody spitting, fire-breathing and flying, Paul Stanley gliding over the crowd on a flying fox to perform a song at the sound tower to "bring the love to the back of the crowd". But the best moment was easily when Paul Stanley said "In 1979 when this song came out people said Kiss has gone disco...but that's because they never heard it liiiive" and lauched into 'I Was Made For Loving You'. As the set closed there was defnately a strong euphoric connection between every man, woman, child and bogan that was only acheiveable with seeing a Kiss show.
KISS *****5 stars - they oozed sex and rock n roll and I mean c'mon it's KISS!! Stay tuned for night two!
Maximus
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