Michael Brandvold
Monthly Archives: July 2014
KISS at the Forum July 8, 2014
Marc Loren
Hey guys, thought I’d share this clip from last night. It’s the last two songs complete with confetti storm, fireworks and some great audience reaction shots. Hope you enjoy! The band was fantastic last night.
The Stephen James NOX Cover Story Pays Tribute to Famous Band Kiss
Stephen James channels an opulent rocker for this latest NOX magazine cover story that tributes famous band KISS. The tattooed top model is captured by photographer Juanjo Molina’s lens while posing in an industrial, mechanic’s garage.
Art direction and styling for this image series is courtesy of Abraham Gutiérrez who hand-picks Stephen’s wardrobe of colored suits, transparent rain gear and pattern-clashing separates.
The model sports the latest from Givenchy, Jimmy Choo and Balenciaga for this KISS-themed editorial that also recreates the famous band’s makeup looks. Antonio Estrada for REDKEN and MAC is in charge of grooming for the photo series and gives Stephen a clean-cut hair look that offsets cosmetics worthy of KISS members Gene Simmons and Paul Stanley.
Def Leppard’s Phil Collen Wears Gene Simmons’ Kiss Costume
Jeff Giles | Ultimate Classic Rock
Whatever else happens on Def Leppard‘s summer tour with Kiss, we can at least be sure that Lep guitarist Phil Collen is having fun.
Collen’s flair for road shenanigans surfaced recently on the Kiss Facebook page, where the band posted a picture of their tour mate all gussied up in Kiss bassist Gene Simmons‘ trademark costume while also wielding his distinctive axe. The photo was taken during the July 6 stop in Chula Vista, Calif. for the tour, which started June 23 in Salt Lake City, Utah and is scheduled to wrap up Aug. 31 in Texas.
Good as Collen might look as the Demon, don’t expect him to trade his Leppard spots for greasepaint anytime soon — once they wrap up this round of tour dates with Kiss, Def Leppard will get right back to work on their next album, their first since 2008′s ‘Songs from the Sparkle Lounge.’ And although the new record was initially supposed to be an EP, Collen says once the songwriting sessions started, the new material just kept flowing.
“We’re actually blown away, ’cause it normally takes us about five years to write 10 songs, and we’ve got 15 songs already — not finished, but we’re gonna have an album out next year,” he recently enthused. “So for us, that’s our big goal. Next year’s gonna be a really important year. We’ve got this great album. The recording has been really going fast and flowing, so we’re ultra-excited about that.”
Podcast Rock City, episode 30 – KISS Talk with Ken Mills and Jody Havenot
Joe Polo
KISS’ Paul Stanley Interview Part III – “Clearly, There Was A Time Where Backstage Was Hedonism At Its Finest… When You Are Given The Keys To The Candy Store, You Tend To Eat A Lot Of Candy… I Certainly Had A Sugar High”
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
Fred Zermeno | EGP
With half the number of players and a field half the size of what you see in the NFL, the pace of an LA KISS arena football game is twice as fast, higher scoring, and non-stop action. (EGP Photo by Fred Zermeno)
The LA KISS suffered the biggest defeat of its short history last Saturday, losing 46-64 to the Spokane Shock at the Home Depot Center in Anaheim, delaying a chance to win a spot in the playoffs.
It was a hard fought, action-packed, fast pace game, but at the end of the day the LA KISS offense was no match for the Shock’s defense, which shut down a couple of crucial drives on their road to the win. Adding to the loss were two interceptions thrown by six-foot-one KISS Quarterback Aaron Garcia (Sacramento State) that killed a pair of promising drives.
Three Sides of the Coin episode 82 – What if… KISS took the makeup off for Unmasked?
Michael Brandvold
Strange Ways podcast 25 – A discussion about the ALIVE albums. Part 1
Episode 25 finds your KISS ARMY bros,Jody Havenot and D-ROCK, joined by our Canadian Co-Anchor, ANDREW KISS!!! We got together for a little discussion about the Alive! legacy. We had a blast, and hope you do too! The conversation went a little long, so it is divided into 2 parts. Both are live and available for your auditory pleasure. And as always, thanks for listening, and keep on rockin’!