- KISS, Def Leppard Cycle Through Hits With Few Surprises At Boardwalk Hall Show In Atlantic City ATLANTIC CITY – As a lifelong KISS fan who has walls full of memorabilia, nearly every album and DVD released, this is difficult to admit, but maybe its time for KISS to hang it up. It’s not that KISS still isn’t entertaining. They are, particularly for first-timers. The show, which frontman/guitarist Paul Stanley always refers to as the “Greatest Show on Earth” without paying royalties to Ringling Bros., remains impressive in scope. The giant stage for the band’s 40th anniversary tour, which landed at Boardwalk Hall with co-headliner Def Leppard on Saturday, boasts spiderlike arms, ascending and descending platforms, an impressive laser and light show and crazy pyrotechnics. And, of course, bassist/singer Gene Simmons spits blood and breathes fire. And it’s not that KISS still isn’t talented. Stanley’s voice remains powerful and able to hit a good deal of the high notes at 62 years old. Simmons remains a quality bass player and was wise to write songs in his register that he can still handle. Guitarist Tommy Thayer may be no Ace Frehley when it comes to originality, but he mimics Frehley’s licks – and mannerisms – quite well. And Eric Singer is a far better drummer than Peter Criss ever was. The problem with KISS at this point is that they seem to have given up. They are going through the motions with nothing new to add musically or theatrically. Since they can’t sell the amount of tickets they used to, the makeup-clad band now generally teams up every summer with another major headliner to help justify their arena status. This year it’s Def Leppard. Past collaborations included Motley Crue and Aerosmith. That dual headlining status means the band can only play 80 minutes, which means they basically play the same setlist every year. It’s always a treat to hear Simmons – The Demon - grunt through the abrasive “Deuce” and the ass-kicking “I Love It Loud,” and team with Stanley – The Starchild - on the sing-a-long anthems “Shout It Out Loud” and the night’s closer, “Rock and Roll All Nite.” It’s even better when Stanley wails at the beginning of “Lick It Up” and belts out “Love Gun” as the firecracker-like pyro matches the guitar licks. And when Singer pounds the drums and sings “Black Diamond” and Thayer and Stanley dual solo on “Detroit Rock City,” it’s a good time. But as most KISS fans will ask, How many times can you watch the exact same show? A KISS concert is now so formulaic that fans know whats going to happen before its going to happen. Singers drums will rise to the ceiling during Black Diamond, Simmons will breathe fire from the same sword hes been using forever and spit blood before God Of Thunder, and Stanley will jump on a harness and fly above the audience during “Love Gun. Don’t they have any new schtick to add to make it more exciting? Can’t they come up with any new, original ideas to give longtime fans something to go see again? To give KISS some credit, they did roll out three new – well, old, but new for this tour – songs this year: “War Machine,” one of KISS’ heaviest songs, remains one of the band’s best and was awesome to hear live again; the classic “Hotter Than Hell,” a poor choice considering all of the great songs they left off this setlist; and “Hide Your Heart,” a catchy, spirited tune that was on KISS’ under-appreciated 1989 album “Hot in the Shade.” And a nice surprise that was awesome to hear and see was Def Leppard guitarist Phill Collen join the band with gigantic KISS shoes and a little bit of makeup for Deuce, for which he offered a blistering solo and extended outro. After 40 years, the newly inducted Rock and Roll Hall of Famers seem determined to press forward, promising new music and future tours. But if they can’t even muster enough creativity to offer fans something different on stage every year, why bother? Less interesting from a theatrical perspective but possibly more musically relevant was Def Leppard, one of the biggest bands of the 1980s. Def Leppard’s 80-minute set was chock full of the hits that made them the superstars they became. Another band that likes to have a co-headliner to keep their arena status – two years ago they toured with Poison – it’s pretty impressive when you look at how many smashes this band recorded, and they played all of them Saturday. The problem with Def Leppard at this point is multifaceted. For starters, lead singer Joe Elliott basically goes through many his songs in a wimpy falsetto because he can’t belt it out like he used to. But the biggest problem is that some of its most popular songs from the mid-1980s haven’t aged well. They sound like dated, cheesy rock songs, particularly the hollow “Let’s Get Rocked,” “Rocket,” “Armagedden It and the intolerable crowd-pleasing Pour Some Sugar On Me.” Some of that material did stand up the test of time, such as the nights second song and rocking version of Animal, the infectious classic Hysteria, and Love Bites,” as cheesy as it may be, remains an irresistible guilty pleasure. That said, their early material still packs a punch, including the opener “Let It Go,” “Foolin’,” a cool, acoustic version of “Bringin’ on the Heartbreak, and the encores “Rock of Ages” and “Photograph.” And their teaser opener of The Whos Wont Get Fooled Again left the audience demanding more. For diehard fans, they also played 1993’s “Two Steps Behind,” a mediocre ballad that was on the “Last Action Hero” soundtrack, which wasnt any better as an acoustic version; and “Switch 625,” an instrumental from “High ’n’ Dry” (are you kidding me?!?!). An 80-minute set actually is to Def Leppards benefit, particularly for causal fans, since they dont have a particularly deep catalog that is worth exploring live. On paper, a night with Def Leppard and KISS sounds fun. There are plenty of worse things to do in the summer than listen to mindless rock songs from the ’70s and ’80s while watching an over-the-top stage show. But for true, longtime fans of both of these bands, it’s a reminder of one thing: Not everyone – and especially not every music act – ages gracefully. Read original story HERE: bit.ly/1zNRZzc Source: pressofatlanticcity | Photos: Ben Fogletto
Posted on: Mon, 04 Aug 2014 16:23:46 +0000
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