typical LA moment

[nostatic]

Head to Guitar Center in west LA to pick up a cajon for the boy to play at some gigs tomorrow. Pulling into the parking structure I see an area taped off with some relatively expensive cars parked there (though pretty common for LA - high end Benz, S4, Escalade, etc). I figure something is up and sure enough there is a small crowd gathered outside the "high end" guitar room. A little photo shoot. Amazing how long lived the franchise is...



Yes, the boys from Kiss in full regalia. We headed downstairs to get our drum stuff, and their current drummer (not Peter Criss) came down for some shots with drum kits. Gene Simmons walked past as well - he's freakin' tall with those platform boots. I think it was his wife or g/f hanging out, and there were some large gentlemen to provide "security."

Calvin's comment - "who's that? Oh, Kiss...can I get this percussion shaker?"

[speeder]

Never understood the whole KISS thing, even back in the day. They do have fans, though. That's for sure.

[Porsche-O-Phile]

Me neither. They do have quite the cult following but I never really found their music all that substantial. Fun in a "get drunk, get stupid, party 'till you puke" kind of way, sure but I also outgrew any desire for that about 15 years ago.

Can't argue with their success though. They've done well.

Isn't Gene Simmons about 70 by now?

[Rick Lee]

Kiss was the first band I remember hearing. I had the Shout It Out Loud single on 45 when I was about six. My folks wouldn't take me to see them back then, which was doubly crushing when I later learned that Rush opened for them in the mid-70's. The first time I ever saw Gene and Paul in person was at a Van Halen show in 1988, when they came out to the side of the stage before the show started. I saw Gene this past January at NAMM. He was pretty cool, posing for photos with anyone who asked.

[scottmandue]

Gene also has a pretty cool TV "reality" show call "Family jewels"... I normally despise reality TV but this show is campy and Gene is pretty self deprecating, They don't take themselves too seriously and it is usually pretty funny.

Never cared for their music much... however I did cover "I wanna rock n roll all night" in a garage band I played in.

I do think they have done a great job with their marketing and put on a great show.

I also think that many of us forget that musicians/actors/artist are real people with real bills to pay and every song they play or every movie they act in isn't always the purest altruistic moment of artistic expression... sometime you gotta do what you gotta do to put food on the table. How long would we last at our jobs if we told the boss "I'm not feeling the motivation to file this report." or "I just don't feel this parts requisition order is in alignment with my muse."

[fxeditor]

I never really liked them as a band but I remember thinking that TV special, "Kiss & The Phantom Of The Park", was super cool when I was a kid.

[m21sniper]

Not this kind of typical day in LA?

[Zeke]

Never saw much in KISS, so I'll go with Calvin's assessment.

I do admire innovation. I usually heard the music first before becoming familiar with the band. So they had to be listen-able before I was taken in by the glam or whatever.

Those were the days of good radio and I listened a lot. I came home with a Billy Squire tape (tape!!!) before my adolescent step kids had even heard of him. Thanks to old time KLOS. At least during the day after freakin' Howard Stern STFU.

I was in my 40's then. I don't listen anymore.

[sammyg2]

[jyl]

KISS and the Village People were about equally awful to me back when I cared about that stuff.

[looneybin]

isn't KISS doing promo work for Guitar Center?