Atlanta, GA - Media Reviews

Kiss and Def Leppard present electrifying show in Atlanta By Melissa Ruggieri

It’s not high art, but it’s big, fun and mindless.

Sometimes, that’s all you need from your rock ‘n’ roll.

The shared bill of Def Leppard and Kiss is a glam rock fan’s nirvana, and for three hours Friday night at Aaron’s Amphitheatre at Lakewood, both bands provided an old-fashioned dose of fist-pumping anthems.

When Kiss frontman Paul Stanley talked to reporters recently about this 40th anniversary run, he boasted that, “I believe this is the greatest and really the best stage that we’ve ever had.”

For a band prone to hyperbole, that is actually an understatement.

The “spider” lighting rig utilized by Kiss during its 75-minute set was worth the ticket price in itself, starting from the moment their show launched with Gene Simmons, Stanley and Tommy Thayer descending from atop the metallic creature for “Psycho Circus.”

It was an uneventful opening song, but succeeded in getting the band warmed up (quite literally, with the expected flash pots thundering with every downbeat) and Stanley a chance to find a comfort zone for his voice, which fluctuated from raggedy to on point throughout the night.

Among Stanley’s feathered shoulder pads and glitter guitar, Simmons’ floppy top-knot, drummer Eric Singer’s pursed red lips and Thayer’s “Star Trek”-worthy chest piece, it’s all so ridiculous. But so very, very entertaining.

As Stanley leaned into the crowd to deliver guitar picks via his tongue, Simmons ducked the tentacles of the “spider” and snarled through “Deuce.” There isn’t a lot of nuance to Kiss’ songs, but Thayer’s solos added finesse to popular stompers “Hotter Than Hell” and “Shout It Out Loud.”

The gabby Stanley frequently addressed the robust crowd of 17,000 (including one Mr. Saul Hudson, aka Slash, who watched the show from the soundboard), telling them in his nasally Brooklynese how he remembered playing Alex Cooley’s Electric Ballroom and the Fox Theatre.

“We’ve been coming here since before some of you were born!” he crowed.

A true statement, as a glance around the amphitheater found an admirable generational mix.

But for all of the fan-pleasing theatrics that Kiss still delivers, don’t forget, this band is a corporation first, a detail that came with reminders during the set changeover from Def Leppard when video screens flanking the stage scrolled an endless loop of Kiss products – the Kiss mini-golf course in Las Vegas, the Kiss-themed wedding chapel, the Kiss cruise, etc., etc.

No doubt, Kiss spends a lot of money on a jaw-dropping stage show to prove how much they love their fans. But they love their fans’ money most of all.

It’s amusing, actually, that for all of the advances in technology and stagecraft, Kiss fans want nothing more than to watch Simmons zip to the rafters and drool blood like a character in a cartoon horror movie while pounding out a bass solo and roaring “God of Thunder.”

Even Stanley’s quick flyover to an auxiliary stage, where he shook his fringed boots to “Love Gun”is a well-worn maneuver, but what Kiss fan will complain about having the Starchild within arm’s reach for 10 minutes?

Interestingly, midway through Kiss’ set, they paired a crunchy, bass-fattened “Lick it Up” with The Who’s “Won’t Get Fooled Again.” It allowed Stanley and Thayer to take another “spider” ride and sounded as taut as everything else the band presented during their set. But it was also the second time that night fans heard the song, as Def Leppard used it as the opening statement for their segment of the concert.

Def Leppard played before Kiss, yes. But they are no one’s opening act.

Kicking off their own 75-minute set with a live ending to The Who classic, the British quintet segued into “Let it Go” from their 1981 “High ‘n’ Dry” album before gliding into “Animal.”

Looking lean and cool in an assortment of jeans, leather, biceps and lots of Union Jack accessories, Def Leppard unfurled 14 of their hits under a blanket of colored lights and in front of a series of high-end video panels.

While it took singer Joe Elliott a couple of songs to find his upper range, guitarist Phil Collen ably aided on the high notes, while the rest of the band – bassist Rick Savage, guitarist Vivian Campbell and drummer Rick Allen – helped produce Def Leppard’s signature layered sound to near-perfection.

Watching Collen attack the fretboard and Allen, in bare feet, dexterously work his drum pedals, was a bonus to hearing their handiwork. And what a relief to see Campbell looking buff and strong as he continues to battle Hodgkin’s lymphoma.

After whizzing through an accelerated version of “Let’s Get Rocked,” in all its clichéd glory, Def Leppard took a two-song acoustic detour with a lovely “Two Steps Behind” – Elliott’s distinctive rasp sounded much better when not being forced to screech at 1982 levels – and the ever-ethereal “Bringin’ on the Heartbreak,” which eventually burst into a full-blown electric version.

A highlight came with the melodically rich “Hysteria,” which was paired with video clips of the band from its early days, with plenty of mullets, baby faces and original guitarist Steve Clark making appearances.

Frenetic lights and a wall of video TVs complemented “Rocket” (there are few things cooler than hearing Elliott bark, “Gui-tar! Drums!”) and the egregiously overplayed strip club anthem “Pour Some Sugar On Me” brought the crowd to an early frenzy.

Closing with an electrifying double shot of “Rock of Ages” and “Photograph,” it wasn’t hard to take Def Leppard’s immortal lyrics to heart: Long live rock ‘n’ roll.

By Access Atlanta 2014.

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