KISSTake – Mustang Bar, Perth, 27 September 2012

Shane | 28 September 2012 | Reply

Gags n’ giggles abounded as four middle-aged men in ever-so-slightly bulging spandex and wigs pranced about in super-high heels playing a bunch of 30-40 year old songs…

…but wait – the KISS tour isn’t until NEXT year, is it?

No, this is something similar, but very different indeed! From the other side of the Twilight Zone comes KISSTake, attacking the classic KISS back catalogue with a few drinks under the rhinestone-sparkling belts and a cheeky irreverence, making for a night not only chock-a-block with great songs and scorching guitars, but also a lot of laughs.

Fake Frehley warbles and wobbles about in gangly and unsteady, knock-kneed splendour whle Clean Simmons and Pizza Criss hold down the rhythm section with menacing and chunky chops respectively. Out front our master of ceremonies, the man for whom there is no cliche too far, nor random sequeway too bizarre, the one and only Poor Stanley, who keeps the jokes flowing fast and boasts all the right moves, right down to the wobbly hairpiece ever-threatening to wander off of its own accord.

You don’t come to a KISSTake show expecting technical excellence – it’s all about the fun, and as Fake Frehley said during their break, “it has to be taken in the spirit it is intended”. It sure was – as they rattled and stomped through Strutter, Deuce, 2000 Man, Firehouse, Do You Love Me, Talk To Me, Sure Know Something, Ladies Room, Rocket Ride and the surprise first set closer God Gave Rock n’ Roll To You, the laughs, whoops and constant stream onto the dance floor lets you know they’re doing something right.

With a second set equally full of classics like Let Me Go Rock n’ Roll, Shout It Out Loud, Calling Doctor Love, Shock Me, Love Gun, God Of Thunder, a righteous version of New York Groove (rechristened Northbridge Groove by Poor Stanley), and the “rock n’ roll national anthem” Rock n’ Roll All Night, the crowd – half fans, half bemused onlookers and passers-by attracted by all the noise – lapped up every stack-heeled wobble, every in-character flourish, and every one of these great songs by one of the biggest bands of the past 40 years. Culminating in a guitar-shattering exhibition by Stanley, the smoke cleared leaving a crowd hungry for more cheap thrills n’ spills.

Trulie summed it up best: “Watching them take the KISS out of themselves was the most fun I’ve had at a gig in ages!”.