Holy smokes, I saw KISS for the first and last time this week.

Like everyone on planet Earth, I’ve been a listener of KISS since I started listening to rock and roll. However, I never truly appreciated them until a few years ago.

My appreciation amplified when I saw the movie Detroit Rock City senior year of high school. I didn’t have a musical bone in my body, but I had grown out my hair and started wearing Motley Crue, Led Zeppelin, and Rob Zombie shirts because I loved the image of the rocker. I mean, I was born and bred on rock and roll: From the Oldies 104.3 with Dick Biondi days to Steve Downes with WLUP – The Loop, I had rock n’ roll airwaves for breakfast, lunch, and dinner.

But KISS was always just that guy from the Family Jewels show and those guys with the face paint who sang, “I Want to Rock and Roll All Night” to me until I saw the Detroit Rock City flick. As I got older I started exploring their massive legacy.

It was post-viewing of DRC that I understood the power of KISS and the power of the KISS legacy.

When KISS announced they would be doing a farewell tour, I really wanted not only to go but to share the experience with my partner and my step-son. I’m lucky enough to have my step-son be a music explorer, so KISS was definitely on his radar. His mom – not so much.

With the band together, I knew I needed to warm them up because not only was this their first time seeing KISS like me, it was also their first ROCK show of all time! I never do anything of this caliber without preparing, so let me take you through my soundcheck prior to the show!

For starters, I needed my kiddo to see Detroit Rock City. DRC captures the very essence of not only KISS fandom but of rock and roll itself. So, he dove in and absolutely loved it!

The second phase of our little pre-show that week was to watch Scooby Doo Rock and Roll Mystery – this was a great idea from my kid because this is how HE knew of KISS – isn’t that freaking awesome! This was my first time seeing the flick, and man, was it epic!

And finally, we watched a handful of music videos and the essential VH1 rock documentary – When KISS ruled the World.

That was enough for us to go on Monday night and find ourselves ready to get our heads blown off, but did these senior citizens actually do that? Did they actually perform like the Gods of thunder that they are?

YES!

We saw EVERYTHING that you would want to see at a KISS show: Fireballs, guitars shooting fireballs, The Demon spitting up blood and rising in dramatic fashion, StarChild flying across the stage, Catman hitting a crazy drum solo, and Spaceman dueling guitar solo with Starchild. It was beyond epic.

Walking away with the knowledge that this was the last tour of all time – I couldn’t help but feel like I just witnessed true history in real-time. I mean, here are these guys that sound the same, rock the same, and sell out arenas like it was 1977. But, when I shared the news of my most excellent experience with my family (most of them rockers of old but a few are my age or younger), they all said, “They’re still alive?!” And that is what I mean when I say they are the most underrated band that everyone knows.

It’s a sad affair honestly. Here are these ICONS of rock and roll. Here are these GODS OF ROCK AND ROLL. Here are these MASTERS of ROCK AND ROLL, yet they seem to fall under the radar. I mean, one family member who commented on the fact KISS was alive just bought tickets to see Kansas – talk about a massively irrelevant band compared to the Mount Rushmore that is KISS.

My fear is that these legacy bands (not Poison or Kansas) are fading away because of some sort of warped sense of knowing that is created by the internet and the almighty algorithm. It’s hard to have an original thought or opinion when your world is controlled by the web, huh?

Well, it’s their loss! KISS gave what is arguably the best show I have EVER seen. It was a production. It was a masterclass in entertainment. I am glad I got to see them with my family because their last show of all time is on December 2.

Thank you, KISS, for keeping rock and roll ALIVE!