Gig review: KISS at Quodos Bank Arena, Sydney

Gig review: KISS + Battlesnake at Quodos Bank Arena

By DAVE ‘METAL KINGO’ KINGDOM

I CAN still remember four-year-old me, running around, singing “I Was Made For Loving You” and vandalising my first school port (Yes, the old, hard suitcase-like ones) with “KISS”, back in 1980.

Fast forward some 40 years and you’ll still find that same little kid living inside a middle aged man. So, you can imagine my excitement when I got the chance to take my own two sons to see KISS live. I brought them both up on a steady diet of classic rock and although their musical tastes are now poles apart, they still both have an appreciation for good music.

So, when we had the chance to finally catch KISS on their last ever tour (Yeah, yeah, heard that before…) and after several false starts due to COVID-19, we were all pumped for the show to come. I had seen KISS before and knew the quality of the live show they put on, so I couldn’t wait to show my boys a great night out and for them to experience it for themselves.

The opening band were a local band named Battlesnake. They are a bit of a mix between Sabaton and the Red Hot Chili Peppers. Musically, they were not bad but I was put off by the fact that they played in their underwear and not much else. Noting the status and quality of some of the opening acts in other states (Dallas Crane, The Poor, The Superjesus, Tumbleweed, Wolfmother), I couldn’t help but feel Sydney got the shitty end of the stick.

Anyway, I digress.

KISS finally took to the stage at about 9pm. As usual, they kicked off with “Detroit Rock City” and the crowd went crazy! KISS are a bit like AC/DC in that when you go to see them live, you know exactly what you’re going to get. The set was full of their classic hits, with plenty of songs taken off their seventies and early eighties catalogue and not much taken from then onwards – which I was quite fine with.

Paul and Gene are both in their seventies and unfortunately for Paul, it showed. He certainly can’t hit the high notes like he used to but he made up for it by allowing the crowd to sing for him.

Gene did more singing than usual and was in pretty good form. Tommy Thayer played exceptionally well (*note that KISS is not exactly technically difficult music to play) and the only low point was a laborious dual guitar solo with Paul that was excessively long, boring and unnecessary but probably used to give Paul’s voice a break. Eric Singer was flawless and even stepped out from behind the drum kit and took to the piano for a rendition of Beth that was, dare I say it,  far better than Peter Criss ever did.

The show included all of the classics (“Shout It Out Loud”, “Deuce”, “Cold Gin”, “Lick It Up”, “God Of Thunder”, “Love Gun”, “Rock n Roll All Nite”, etc), as well as the expected pyrotechnics, blood spitting, flying on cables and sing-along moments to keep the fans on their feet for the entire night.

Four-year-old me was having the time of his life. Forty-something year old me was wishing that KISS could go on forever. If this truly is the end of the road for the “hottest band in the world”, then thanks for the memories and thanks for the music.