Nothin' to Lose

The primal energy of their studio records notwithstanding, KISS is meant to be experienced in a concert setting. A KISS show offers pure escapism: a chance to forget your problems or your dead-end job and be swept into a fantasy world of loud guitars and mind-blowing theatrics. The band’s juggernaut of sound and spectacle remains an immersive experience for both KISS and its audience.

At one point during a break between sets I was at the bar talking to Gene and out of the blue he lifts up his massive black platform boot so his leg is parallel to the floor. He’s pointing to a monogrammed gold dollar sign on the top and says, “You see this?” and he points to the gold dollar sign. I replied, “Yeah.” He said, “They call me ‘money bags.’

It didn’t need to be sharp and clean and photographically perfect because it put across the atmosphere of what the band were about.

We did whatever needed to be done to replicate…what you remember experiencing.

“If you can’t go over it, go around it. If you can’t go around it, go through it. If you can’t go through it, go around the other side. Whatever it is, just find a way.”

GENE SIMMONS: Paul and I decided to just react to the gut. We’ll know it when we hear it. We’ll know it when we feel it. It’s what makes us stop changing radio stations. Without verbalizing it that’s exactly what Paul and I decided to do when forming KISS.