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Review: KISS Deliver 'Big Dumb Noise', AEROSMITH Offer Substance At St. Louis Gig

September 29, 2003

Kevin C. Johnson of St. Louis Post-Dispatch reports that "anyone who left the AEROSMITH/KISS concert at UMB Bank Pavilion Sunday night [September 28] with ear drums and eyebrows intact (the noise, the pyro),and eyesight undamaged (the side-butt display from Gene Simmons) got off easy.

"That's the kind of night it was when the two rock heavyweights joined forces for a co-headlining tour that came to town for a sold-out show featuring 20,000-plus fans crammed together to see the bands perform separate, full shows. No amount of firepower, or musical heat, could lift the chill off the air, however, though it mattered none to those there to rock out to the mostly classics-filled sets.

"KISS' music has always amounted to big, dumb noise, but for what the band offers, few others can do the same, and especially at the level KISS does. What's most amazing about KISS is that singer/bassist Simmons, singer/guitarist Paul Stanley and drummer Peter Criss, aided by new guitarist Tommy Thayer replacing Ace Frehley, are still able to bring it the way they do. The KISS Army doesn't mind that KISS has practically lifted what looks like a '70s show and transplanted it to present day.

"KISS' trademark heavy makeup and Halloween-friendly costumes make it difficult to tell how the band has aged, though its shenanigans have certainly grown creaky. Is Simmons' flame-blower trick really that interesting anymore?

"The show kicked off with Simmons, Stanley and Thayer lowered from an overhead platform onto the stage while pyro shot off around them. Mind-numbing bangers such as 'I Love It Loud', 'Shout It Out Loud', 'I Want You' and 'Rock and Roll All Nite' followed, and served as the soundtrack to a number of KISS' antics, including the drum kit that takes off like a spaceship, Simmons' flying through the air and blood-gushing mouth stunts, and Stanley's look-how-sexy-I-still-am style of playing." Read more.

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