Starchild Bringin’ It

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One of the best frontman ever. So energetic to watch, killer voice. That setlist was stellar! A Million to One!!!
 
As a kid in the '70s I was initially an Ace fan, but overtime, I realized Paul was the main person in Kiss. His songs, his rhythm playing, stage presence / frontman, and voice...total "rockstar" package. IMO.

Early on I learned there were many more guitarists who are better at lead guitar than I'd ever be; so I focused on playing rhythm and singing, and eventually added bass since there was always a shortage of bass players. I started to appreciate the skills of frontman/rhythm guitarists more and more.

As far as I'm concerned, there are many more great lead players than rhythm players, and even fewer frontman/singer rhythm guitarists. Of them, Paul Stanley, John Lennon and Steve Marriott are the standouts for me. None of their bands would have existed or succeeded without them. IMO.

I've told this story before, I was at Brian Guitars in New Haven, CT, 1978 or 1979, with a pocketful of money to buy my first real guitar. My guitar teacher worked there, and was showing me guitars, Les Paul Customs, Standards, SGs, etc., and in walks young guy with long black hair. My guitar teach asked me if I knew who that was; I said no, he said that's Paul Stanley from Kiss. As a big Kiss fan then, and before they took off their makeup, this was a big deal...he asked if I wanted to meet him, but to just say hi since he's busy. I had a guitar in my hand, my guitar teacher introduced me to Paul, he was nice, and asked me what my favorite Kiss song was, I said Hotter than Hell, he reached for the guitar I had, squatted down, and showed me a few of the riffs, handed the guitar back to me and said something about having to get back to NYC soon. IIRC, I think it was the '78 LP Custom I was holding and eventually purchased. The encounter was probably less than 5 minutes, and none of my friends believed me.
 
I've never been a big Kiss fan...unlike some HS classmates. But, I did go see them in 83, only to see Dokken as they were the opener. But Kiss was a pleasant surprise, put on a great show.
 
Racerxrated said:
I've never been a big Kiss fan...unlike some HS classmates. But, I did go see them in 83, only to see Dokken as they were the opener. But Kiss was a pleasant surprise, put on a great show.
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As much as I am indifferent about Kiss and never a huge fan when I saw them on the Reunion Tour in 1996 for a buddies bachelor party I had to admit it was a great show both theatrics and sound. :2thumbsup:
 
What’s funny is I noticed when watching, it’s the same venue they shot the rockstar show in and it’s the rockstar backing band that’s behind him. And then I saw that this was performed around the same time they were producing the show.

Edit…I was watching it again and he mentions they’re in Chicago, so may not be the same venue as I’m pretty sure they shot Rockstar in L.A. but it looks almost identical.
 
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skoora said:
What’s funny is I noticed when watching, it’s the same venue they shot the rockstar show in and it’s the rockstar backing band that’s behind him. And then I saw that this was performed around the same time they were producing the show.
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Yes, he just hired the band from the show. Rafael Moreira on guitar is a monster player.
 
Wow. I gotta admit that was pretty damn good. Of the cool old shit he did the song selection was great too. Tonight You Belong To Me live ? They fucking killed it. And I want You, it's been a long fucking time since I heard that one. Totally way less gay than I thought it would be.
 
rsm said:
As a kid in the '70s I was initially an Ace fan, but overtime, I realized Paul was the main person in Kiss. His songs, his rhythm playing, stage presence / frontman, and voice...total "rockstar" package. IMO.
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Yeah I'm with you man. I think over the years I've gained much more respect for Paul than the other members because he is the heartbeat of KISS and has been the whole time.
 
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rsm said:
As a kid in the '70s I was initially an Ace fan, but overtime, I realized Paul was the main person in Kiss. His songs, his rhythm playing, stage presence / frontman, and voice...total "rockstar" package. IMO.

Early on I learned there were many more guitarists who are better at lead guitar than I'd ever be; so I focused on playing rhythm and singing, and eventually added bass since there was always a shortage of bass players. I started to appreciate the skills of frontman/rhythm guitarists more and more.

As far as I'm concerned, there are many more great lead players than rhythm players, and even fewer frontman/singer rhythm guitarists. Of them, Paul Stanley, John Lennon and Steve Marriott are the standouts for me. None of their bands would have existed or succeeded without them. IMO.

I've told this story before, I was at Brian Guitars in New Haven, CT, 1978 or 1979, with a pocketful of money to buy my first real guitar. My guitar teacher worked there, and was showing me guitars, Les Paul Customs, Standards, SGs, etc., and in walks young guy with long black hair. My guitar teach asked me if I knew who that was; I said no, he said that's Paul Stanley from Kiss. As a big Kiss fan then, and before they took off their makeup, this was a big deal...he asked if I wanted to meet him, but to just say hi since he's busy. I had a guitar in my hand, my guitar teacher introduced me to Paul, he was nice, and asked me what my favorite Kiss song was, I said Hotter than Hell, he reached for the guitar I had, squatted down, and showed me a few of the riffs, handed the guitar back to me and said something about having to get back to NYC soon. IIRC, I think it was the '78 LP Custom I was holding and eventually purchased. The encounter was probably less than 5 minutes, and none of my friends believed me.
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That's a cool story. I would have shit myself if I saw Paul in a guitar store back in '78.
 
rsm said:
As a kid in the '70s I was initially an Ace fan, but overtime, I realized Paul was the main person in Kiss. His songs, his rhythm playing, stage presence / frontman, and voice...total "rockstar" package. IMO.

Early on I learned there were many more guitarists who are better at lead guitar than I'd ever be; so I focused on playing rhythm and singing, and eventually added bass since there was always a shortage of bass players. I started to appreciate the skills of frontman/rhythm guitarists more and more.

As far as I'm concerned, there are many more great lead players than rhythm players, and even fewer frontman/singer rhythm guitarists. Of them, Paul Stanley, John Lennon and Steve Marriott are the standouts for me. None of their bands would have existed or succeeded without them. IMO.

I've told this story before, I was at Brian Guitars in New Haven, CT, 1978 or 1979, with a pocketful of money to buy my first real guitar. My guitar teacher worked there, and was showing me guitars, Les Paul Customs, Standards, SGs, etc., and in walks young guy with long black hair. My guitar teach asked me if I knew who that was; I said no, he said that's Paul Stanley from Kiss. As a big Kiss fan then, and before they took off their makeup, this was a big deal...he asked if I wanted to meet him, but to just say hi since he's busy. I had a guitar in my hand, my guitar teacher introduced me to Paul, he was nice, and asked me what my favorite Kiss song was, I said Hotter than Hell, he reached for the guitar I had, squatted down, and showed me a few of the riffs, handed the guitar back to me and said something about having to get back to NYC soon. IIRC, I think it was the '78 LP Custom I was holding and eventually purchased. The encounter was probably less than 5 minutes, and none of my friends believed me.
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That's a great story. I met Ace at a bar called The Big Kahuna about 30 years ago when he was touring on one of his Frehley's Comet albums. He was cool. We bullshitted for about 5 minutes.
 
I think KISS worked because you had four really different people. Businessman, comedian, straight talker, and the core guy. Gene was always the face of KISS so people assumed he was running the show. While he was doing his acting and all of that, Paul kept KISS relevant.
 
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