Kid`s Pit: KISS LOVES YOU UDINE
Udine. 4 pm. The temperatures are increasing in every
minute and so is the crowd, joining in front of the antique walls of Villa
Manin. The little town of Codroipo, near Udine turned into black and white that
day. It is the leaders of black-white troops, well-armed for the party all day
long and rock n` roll all night to blame. They sure came to take over the final
city before they started to move their
Kiss Army to Milan. The KISS. Leather-wearing long-haired Harley
Davidson riders, fathers carrying their kids on the shoulders, and many other
young and old curious wanderers who came to face the Kiss. Armed with face
masks or other Kiss equipment, they came to prove there ain`t important if you
speak Italian, English, Slovene, Croatian or German, but to see what you need
to see. Show, still calling itself so, after over 30 years. KISS.
Even though gates were opened at
6 pm and the gig began at 8pm, on 17th of July 2013, the troops of
excited and sunburnt fans were making their moves towards the walls and neither
heat nor crowd was able to stop the march. The space in front of Villa Manin
was filling up and their persistent »we want Kiss« brought many curious
by-passers, who tried to figure out why there is war satte in their town, why the
traffic is completely stopped and why the hell there are so many people wearing
funny masks and walking around there. So when the gate was finally opened, the
soldiers in first battle line managed to beat offensive security and conquered
place under the stage where only the most excited fans took place. The most
excited, I say, for they found the strenght under few hours of over-heated
waiting and securing their place in front of the gates, and they even ran right after they got their
ticket back. In the golden era of the band most of the visitors were wearing
make-up of some of the band members, in Udine the view seemed quite different.
The reason might be, as I`ve mentioned few times before, the heat melting the
make-up of many, who even at the scene of gig used the must-have white base,
black eyeliner and lipstick. While under the stage the curtain with the Kiss logo was lifted up, the already
overheated crowd was on fire even more. Only the matter of time was the moment
when its gonna burst. And so it did.
It exploded from large spider-formed construction above
the stage. Smoke covers the stage, the light blinds it all and the curtain
falls. The army is taken over by the well-known order »you wanted the best, you got the best. The
hottest band in the world. Kiss,« and after the first riffs of Psycho Circus,
the commanders of the Army took place on stage. The veteran generals of the
first band set, Paul Stanley and Gene Simmons, were accopmained by Tommy Thayer and Eric Singer, who took over the masks and
places of the original space-ace Ace Frehley and catman-drummer Peter Criss.
The beginning of the performance sounded „monstrous“, for the melodies of their
latest album Monster, which got them on American Billboard hardrock chart and
kick them on tour again, could be heard. The songs migtht not yet be well-known
to the public, but the spectacular show was. In the background the enormous
sign of Kiss, must-have part of concert scenes, was flashing. Letter after
letter, exactly as in good old times. Gene was marching around in his demonic
outfit and licking his guitar over and over again and stretching it in the way
probably nobody can. The major force anyway was Starchild Paul Stanley. His
hairystyle was still pretty wild, he kept the star on the eye and blood-red
lipstick and he proudly showed his hairy chest while entertaining the fans.
After they sang along the Italian Volare, he told couple of times how the band
loves it in Italy. He split the fans into two groups, the left and the right,
and dared them, to bring it on, for the show was going on with Sonic Boom`s Say
Yeah. When the time for »yeah« came, he left the microphone to the loudest
ones. Between too many hands desperately trying to catch one of the Stanley`s picks,
the others showed him hearts made with their palms. After Stanley`s a bit
vocally-less intensive Heaven`s on fire, when he didn`t forget on licking his
finger while »eat it like a piece of
cake«, he intensified energy despite two hip operations. He kept dancing in his
platform boots, circling around guitar and shooting the Demon with the fire
coming from guitar. Simmons kept a bit more peaceful, but proved his Demon
status.
After stretching his tongue,
which might not be as flexible as it used to be, and less virtuose sounds from
the ax-shaped guitar, resembling the motorcycle, he flew above the crowd to the
body of the spider and the whole stage turned green. The fans knew it was time
for God of thunder and even the blood-spilling show wasn`t left out. The gig
was well prepaired, for all the four members were completing each other. Each
and every one of them presented his skills to the visitors. After
few-minutes-taking shouts for Tommy and then Eric, Singer prepaired solo o
drums and Tommy on guitar and then they were both lifted up in the air, so the
skills of the mechanic spider could also be seen. They fire was shot in the air
and the major three guitar strummers lined up and moved their head in the
rhytm, just as you can see in the evegreen Kiss` videos. When the stage was taken
back by Stanley, he made the crowd go wild saying: „I have a feeling, like we
are a family. And when I get that feeling, I have to join you.“ Those, who
doubted how 61-year old is about to fly over the heads of fans in his
high-heeled boots along with his guitar, proved to be wrong. He did exactly
that and then he sang Love gun to them standing on the shelf between the crowd.
When the Love gun was cool and he returned back on stage, the older hits took
place. First measure of I was made for loving you were recognized to everybody
for it was a hit, which blew them right into the top of rockstars. Small
confetti started coming from the air and the night was falling on Villa Manin.
Stanley couldn`t reach the higher tones of I can`t get enough, but he left the fans
to do so. „You are so small and yet so loud. Tomorrow, when we are doing the
show in Milan, we will really be thinking of you,“ praised them Stanley, before
he changed Detroit rock city into Udine rock city. And he wasn`t wrong about
them. The absolute necessary was also Rock'n'roll all nite, when Paul even
smashed his guitar, but he didn`t gave the pieces away to the fans, fighting
themselves to get it. But they started to figure out, the party was about to
come to an end. The final solo belonged to Starchild and Black Diamond, which
was the last song of over-two hours lasting spectacular gig. He even shoot the
visitors with the camera, so they could wave themselves to the screen, and then
the Kiss members took picture surrounded with over 10 thousand arms in the air.
When the lights went down and the smallest hope to see the rockers once again
was gone, God gave rock'n'roll to you started to sound around the place.
Visitors kept standing in darkness and they sang the anthem so loud, as if the
band was still playing. So maybe Kiss ain`t what they used to be, maybe Udine
rock city is only a place in their well-prepaired merchandise map, maybe it is
about old glamrockers, joined to feel the old glory again. Doesn`t matter. It
all disappears in the moment, when the shouting crowd still doesn`t want to go
home. In that moment from the darkness on the stage suddenly the huge sign
flashes: Kiss loves you, Udine.
