For as long as I can remember, there has always been KISS. And now, after 45 years of shocking the world, KISS is calling it quits, but not before one final tour. And perhaps we’ve heard the word “final” tossed around before, but I’m going to give them the benefit of the doubt this go-round. After all, these are no spring chickens.
Portland, OR is the first American city to bear witness to the “End of the Road” tour as these legends make their way around the globe one last time. RockRevolt Magazine was in the Moda Center to see it all go down.
The festivities in Portland were scheduled to begin at 7:30, but KISS didn’t take the stage until nearly 9:15 making for a very late night for some fans. Rumor has it that the tour had some difficulty making it across the border from their opening night in Vancouver BC. I’d love to insert some commentary about current border policy, but this could easily decend into a very dark place. We won’t go there. You’re welcome.
Opening for KISS was a very unique act, performance painter David Garibaldi. On stage with three black canvases, Garibaldi thrashed around back and forth flinging paint in seemingly random patterns and shapes. But when the paint stopped flying we were all left with incredible paintings of Freddie Mercury, Jimi Hendrix, and of course KISS.
As the 9:00 hour rolled on, the capacity crowd was pumped and ready for action. When the curtain finally dropped and the pyro kicked in, Tommy Thayer, Gene Simmons, and Paul Stanley descended from the ceiling with Eric Singer already seated at the drum kit. KISS opened the show with Detroit Rock City and the party didn’t stop for nearly two and a half hours. With over four decades of rocking, choosing which songs to play for their final tour must have been excruciating, but there were some aspects of the performance that have become staples of a KISS show. For example, there was fire, fireworks, and blood. During a portion of the show, Simmons spit fire. During another, Stanley rode a harness over the crowd to a second rigging on the other end of the arena.
Paul made several references to the many times KISS played at Portland’s Paramount theater. There were also references to the fact that Tommy is from Beaverton, a suburb of Portland. It seems that KISS has strong feelings about the rose city and perhaps that may be why they chose to make Portland their first US city on their final tour.
The music was classic KISS despite the mileage that could be heard vocally. The production for this tour however, is simply outstanding. In fact, from a production standpoint, this should be the standard to which all other tours should be compared. A massive LED screen made up the backdrop for the stage, while the area above the stage was covered with an array of octagonal LED panels. It’s hard to describe the amount of fire and pyrotechnics used throughout the show, but simply put, it was intense.
KISS Army or not, you owe it to yourself to see this show. It may be your last chance.
