Jon Kriegel
KISS & MOTLEY CRUE 8/29/2012 CONCERT REVIEW
The sold-out MN state fair grandstand was the venue on 8/29. A truly, very excellent show from both bands. The grandstand was packed, as were the floor seats. I was in the patio section, just behind the floor seats, but elevated to stage level. These are great seats, if you get in the first two rows because the walking aisle is in front of row 3 where I was, but still pretty good. The Crue opened, and Kiss was the closer. This show was worth much more than the $88 top tier face value ticket price the fair charged (single tix were routinely selling for $150 on craigslist, and top tier seats where fetching $400-$500). This combined show blew the 2012 Van Halen overpriced DLR turd tour way out of the water for half the price. So many comments overheard on the way out about what a great double show this was.
Motley Crue - Holy shit, what a stage show! The consensus was that this was basically the same stage show they do in Vegas, and some folks beside me said they were in Vegas to see the show a couple of months ago, and this out-did that slightly. The Crue entered from the right side of the plaza seating area, and together with a parade of court jesters and their onstage dancers holding MC banners and riding atop the shoulders of stage hands, they walked single file right in front of the patio seats thru the aisle at the back of the main floor chairs, and walked up a stairwell on the left of stage to start the show... hilarious and cool! Awesome industrial stage set with left and right video screen wings at stage level to make the stage seem wider and the spectacle bigger. The full-circle rollercoaster track that Tommy's drumkit rides on was on the right half of the stage. At one point, a fan is strapped into a chair on Tommy's drumkit, and goes along for the ride full circle! Lots of onstage antics, dancing girls, and a giant blonde Alice In Wonderland character who releases a dominatrix from beneath her skirt at the start of "Same Old Situation".. what's not to love? Sure, Vince's voice isn't very good, but he tried and it sounded passable. Mars was spot on, and Nikki's unremarkable bass lines blended into the background as usual.
Rating: 9 out of 10 (for the killer show, energy, and spectacle, not necessarily performance/talent)
KISS - Yep, the same old antics as always, opening with "Detroit Rock City" and flying down out of the light riggins on a steam-breathing platform, Gene's fire breathing to end "Firehouse", blood-vomiting and bat-flying into the overhead platform to start "God Of Thunder", and Paul Stanley's flying cable act taking him to the back stage behind the mixing board during "Love Gun" (which, fortunately for us, happened to be just to our left). The projection screen behnd the drumkit was top-notch high-def technology, stage-width to give it that "short, wide, and skinny" look, which was especially cool with all the lightning graphics during "Shock Me". Paul especially seems the most old and dated these days as he's looking a bit pudgy and his voice just can't hit the high notes or project as he could just 10 years ago. As for Gene, you'd think he's still in his 30s with his antics and stage presence. It must be quite a bore for Eric Singer to dumb-down his drum parts for a Kiss show, but he's getting paid well, so he rolls with it. He does handle lead vocals while drumming during "Black Diamond" al la Peter Criss, so he has some challenge there. The short drum and lead-guitar duet from Singer and Ace fill-in Tommy Thayer was an impressive part of the show, designed no-doubt to give the 63 year old Gene and 60 year old Paul a rest. Fireworks and confetti galore to end the show during "Rock and Roll All Night", of course, and even more state fair fireworks after the show in the left of stage sky. Overall, a bit of a tired performance (can't the guys just at least try to invent one or two new onstage schticks and antics, in addition to the old, tired favs? C'mon!), but a great stage show nonetheless. While I think the early 90s version of Kiss with Eric Singer and Bruce Kulick on lead guitar reached their talent and performance pinnacle, if this was the last time I see Kiss perform live, I'm satisfied.
Rating: 8 out of 10
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