Mitch Lafon | Brave Words & Bloody Knuckles
Special Report By Mitch Lafon
In June, Paul Stanley held a special press only conference call to discuss KISS’ upcoming tour with Def Leppard and his New York Times’ best selling book, Face The Music: A Life Exposed. Journalists from across Canada and the US were able to ask one question plus a follow-up. What you will read below are Paul’s answers to the questions that were posed (in proper sequence) by the various media invited to the one-hour event. In part three, Paul talks about the Rock N’ Roll Hall Of Shame (Fame), his favorite apps and how backstage has changed over the last forty years.
Please note: none of the questions were asked by this reporter.
In your book, Face The Music: A Life Exposed, you mention the 1974 show at the Paramount Theater (now the Kirby Center) in Wilkes-Barre, PA. Why did you include that specific show in your book?
“I just remember this questionable choice of an opening act. This poor guy was up there was juggling and riding a unicycle when people were clearly there to see these four madmen blow the place up, celebrate rock n’ roll and the cause of celebrating life. It just resonated with me that this poor guy was out there having pennies pitched at him and doing his best to do what he was hired to do. I don’t know why that stood out for me.”
You’ve been performing a lot of these songs for years. Have they taken on a new meaning for you?
“All of these songs are songs of victory. They are all songs of celebrating our winning. That we are here forty years later and singing these songs is a source of incredible pride and accomplishment. Each one of those songs is a celebration of going against all odds and going against the critics, the people who didn’t like us and winning. So, these are the songs of a battle won.”
How does your approach to the show change when you’re performing outdoors compared to an arena?
“We try to be observant of low flying planes when we’re outdoors, but it doesn’t change anything because what we do comes from the heart. It comes from who we are. It’s a different environment though because in an arena there’s a sense of being enclosed, entombed or encapsulated (which has its pluses), but being outside during the summer is a terrific dichotomy / contrast between what we do and being outside in the midst of a great summer night with the stars shining and everything else. We’ve been doing this for forty years and the reason people still buy tickets to see the classic acts is because you know that we will deliver the goods.There are countless acts nowadays who sing on a song that was basically put together in somebody’s living room on a computer and auto-tuned. You know damn well that those people are not going to be able to put on a show. Many bands and many artists who sell nowadays or certainly have downloads in huge numbers are nobody who you want to go see live because they haven’t learned the craft. The ones who have enough money to put on a great show are invariably dependent upon