He’s surprisingly soft-spoken tonight, the polar opposite of his usual rock n’ roll tent revivalist preacher act. The format: Although the show was promoted as “An Acoustic Evening of Stories & Songs” (presumably to differentiate it from two upcoming area performances with Def Leppard), the stage banter is kept to a relative minimum, perhaps due to Stanley’s recurring vocal issues following his 2011 throat surgery. (Apparently he can’t take the stage without shoulder pads of some sort.) In sharp contrast to his usual kabuki monster costume, Simmons – who manages to avoid wagging his legendary tongue even once during tonight’s performance – sports a blazer for the first few songs. Of course, they’ve famously declined to perform during the induction ceremony in protest over the Rock Hall’s refusal to let Singer and current guitarist Tommy Thayer take the stage alongside Frehley and Criss, but by revisiting the acoustic format on Thursday night at a California casino (Kissino?), Kiss curiously resurrects the memories of their MTV broadcast and subsequent reunion at a time when they clearly want anything but.Īccordingly, it’s no surprise that no additional “members of the family” take the stage during the group’s 110-minute performance, their first full non-Kruise set without makeup since they taped “Unplugged.” Notably, it’s also the first Kiss concert without production since another casino gig 11 years ago, when the group played an explosion-free Las Vegas one-off shortly after the Rhode Island nightclub The Station burned to the ground as a result of a pyrotechnic mishap during a Great White concert, killing dozens.Ī glowing logo behind the seated quartet provides the only stage decor. The timing of the group’s first full acoustic performance on terra firma since then is therefore quite odd, for as Simmons and Stanley continue to remind us on a regular basis, this is the year that Kiss has finally earned entry into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.

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