KISS End of the Road Tour draws sellout crowd at Gainbridge Fieldhouse
By: Kevin Vickery
On Saturday, November 26th, the legendary band, KISS brought their unique blend of rock & roll and showmanship to Indianapolis as part of the final leg of their “End of the Road Tour” which is scheduled to end at Madison Square Garden in New York City on December 2nd and mark the end of the band’s fifty year touring career.
Having seen the band perform a half dozen times throughout my life, I didn’t want to miss the chance to see them one last time before they call it quits. I hadn’t seen them in several years and wasn’t sure what to expect, especially given that front man Paul Stanley had been recovering from the flu forcing the band to cancel their previous three shows leading up to their Indianapolis gig. I’m happy to say he was back in full force.
Stanley who at 71 years old is still delivering a performance that some people half his age couldn’t match. The same could be said for his counter part, Gene Simmons who at 74 years old has is still breathing fire, spitting blood, and wagging his tongue, like the rock star he’s been since 1973.
Stanley’s “Starchild” character and Simmons’ “Demon” persona are flanked by “The Spaceman” currently portrayed by guitarist, Tommy Thayer, and “The Catman” role being filled by drummer, Eric Singer. The latter of these two characters are replacements for original members Ace Frehley and Peter Criss who have been in and out of the band over the years.
Going into the show, I thought that the replacements were going to bother me or somehow make it a lesser KISS. That wasn’t the case at all and those guys did a great job in their character’s roles and as members of the band. Sure, there were some backing vocal tracks to help them get through the choruses but I didn’t even mind that. Frankly, it was mixed well and an untrained ear wouldn’t even notice, especially with all the fire, blood, confetti cannons, giant inflatable characters, massive video screens and more pyrotechnics than I’ve seen at a show in ages.
I was particularly excited when they played a few tunes from their non-makeup era like “Lick it Up” and “Heaven’s on Fire”. They also delivered all the hits any KISS fan would expect from opening the show with “Detroit Rock City” and closing it with “Rock and Roll all Nite”. In between they played my favorites like, “I Love it Loud”, “Love Gun”, and I’m always as excited as a little kid when I see Gene’s bass solo turn into “ God of Thunder”.
Speaking of kids, I thought it was especially cool to see so many younger fans there enjoying the music. I had the opportunity to speak with eleven year old Braydon Wilkins from Indianapolis who was there with his Dad and seeing KISS for the first time. He said, “As soon as we got into the arena, I was so excited!” And continued to say that he was, “Looking forward to hearing his favorite KISS song, Rock and Roll all Nite”. When they finally played it at the end of the show, he turned around and gave me a high-five with a smile on his face that spoke volumes about the experience he was having there with his Dad.
Outspoken and often controversial, bassist and co-frontman, Genes Simmons has said this tour will be the final run for KISS. In fact, when speaking of their final show at Madison Square Garden, he’s told Rolling Stone magazine, “And so I’ll say right here, right now, my hand on the Bible, it will be the final Kiss-in-makeup appearance.” Personally, I don’t know if that means the band is really going to retire, if they’re going to play without makeup, or if Gene has something else up his sleeve, but either way, I’m glad I was able to witness their last full band, firey, bloody, loud and proud, giant rock & roll show experience in Indianapolis.
Henry County resident and Ball State alum, Kevin Vickery, is bassist and lead vocalist for The Cousin Brothers. He spent several years working in Nashville for some of the biggest names in Country Music before taking over the reins at his family business. If you have a story idea or an event that you think Kevin should cover, contact him at kevin.makesomenoise@yahoo.com
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