Here's something you might be interested in.
In January, on their web site, Kiss declared an overwhelming response to their own Kiss tribute contest. Over 200 bands from around the world had entered. They included: Kissexy from Italy, Spain's Kiss of Death, Kiss Czech Company from the Czech Republic, Kissin' Time from Argentina, Germany's Hot Kisses, and Alive! from San Diego.
In truth, Alive! is only half San Diegan. "Two of us are locals," Jon Douglas says. "One guy lives in L.A., and one band member flies in from North Carolina two or three times a month." That would be Paul Stanley, he says, as played by Alec Paul.
"I play Ace Frehley." Douglas, a guitarist, also works a day job as a radiology lab assistant.
Rocco Fonzarelli (he's the guy from L.A.) plays the part of Gene Simmons. I want to ask about reptilian tongue-flicking and if Fonzarelli uses a prosthetic tongue but instead I ask about the commuter approach to rock and roll all night.
"It's really difficult to put together a good Kiss project." Douglas and drummer Jason Lee Beckwith had been trying to get Alive! off the ground for the better part of a year. The worst of it?
"Dealing with musician flakiness."
That said, membership in Alive! the band comes with a high level of expectation. "It's hard to find people willing to put the time into learning both the music and the choreography." Yes. He said choreography, a necessity, one imagines, when the overstated Kiss show is by needs downsized to fit into the domain of dance halls and nightclubs.
Alive! does not disappoint. They travel with fake blood and smoke and fancy lights and go-go dancers and a custom 4' x 8' KISS sign that glows in the dark. All that makes Alive! an expensive gig. Douglas thinks they may have shelled out $18,000 on props and gear so far.
"The costumes alone can cost up to $1,000 dollars each."
Then again to be successful in the tribute business means that one must be exacting or go home. Douglas's Ace Frehley signature Les Paul, for example, spits smoke and has eerie halogen lights just like the Gibson that Frehley played at the Budokan Theater in Tokyo in 1977.
That year, Kiss sold out four nights at Budokan and thereafter became immortal. Kiss returned the following year in support of Alive II, a live album of controversial origin that was nonetheless wildly successful.
It turns out that the actual live tracks recorded for Alive II were deemed not useable by both the band and their record label and were scrapped. But the label eventually released the live album anyway, albeit one made of a composite of tracks recorded at the L.A. Forum and other studio tracks with applause and crowd sounds dubbed in later.
Fabrication or not, Alive II killed. At this early point in their career trajectory Kiss were solid gold. They could do no wrong. They were relentless, and they were everywhere, even in the East County.
At risk of shameless name-dropping, I will say that I chanced to meet the real Paul Stanley in 1979. Back then I worked at KCBQ, the AM Top 40 powerhouse radio station. I was the all-night guy. Sweet Daddy Jon Fox, who occupied the evening slot had broadcast that his old friend Paul Stanley was going to drop by (Kiss were in town to play the Sports Arena.) In disbelief I came to work a couple of hours early — Kiss was the biggest band on planet Earth at that moment in time — but when I rolled up on my motorcycle there it was: a black stretch limo parked outside, sparkling in the weeds and moonlight. At that time, KCBQ was in a ranch house out in the middle of a cow pasture in Santee.
I don't know what I'd expected but Stanley (no makeup that night) turned out to be intelligent and articulate to an uncommon degree. He stayed in studio for hours. He was a blast.
"We focus on the two live records from the '70s, says Douglas. Classic Kiss." For the most part he says their marketing strategy is to shy away from the local bar scene. Their hometown debut will be on the larger stage at Brick by Brick in April, and then they are off to Vegas for three nights of headlining at the Fremont Street Experience. ' "We'd love to get into bigger shows. A casino gig in Vegas, and, the House of Blues. It's on my list of to-do's." Otherwise Douglas, a guitarist, has not performed in a local band for five years. In the years prior to his sabbatical, he gigged with a Duran Duran-style pop band.
"But this is the most fun," he says of Alive! "I was a Kiss fan growing up."
In their Destroyer-era costumes Alive! members stand 7 feet tall. "We do our makeup prior to a gig." Douglas says that alone can take anywhere from 40 minutes to two hours, depending. "We walked into a 7-Eleven once all dressed up for a show to get food," he says. "They gave us a second look and that was all. I don't know." He laughs. "Maybe they thought we were going to rob them."
Alive! Saturday, April 21, at Brick by Brick 8pm $10 Hey! Ho! Let's Go! and Hellbent also perform.
http://sandiegoreader.com/users/photos/2012/apr/13/22811/
In January, on their web site, Kiss declared an overwhelming response to their own Kiss tribute contest. Over 200 bands from around the world had entered. They included: Kissexy from Italy, Spain's Kiss of Death, Kiss Czech Company from the Czech Republic, Kissin' Time from Argentina, Germany's Hot Kisses, and Alive! from San Diego.
In truth, Alive! is only half San Diegan. "Two of us are locals," Jon Douglas says. "One guy lives in L.A., and one band member flies in from North Carolina two or three times a month." That would be Paul Stanley, he says, as played by Alec Paul.
"I play Ace Frehley." Douglas, a guitarist, also works a day job as a radiology lab assistant.
Rocco Fonzarelli (he's the guy from L.A.) plays the part of Gene Simmons. I want to ask about reptilian tongue-flicking and if Fonzarelli uses a prosthetic tongue but instead I ask about the commuter approach to rock and roll all night.
"It's really difficult to put together a good Kiss project." Douglas and drummer Jason Lee Beckwith had been trying to get Alive! off the ground for the better part of a year. The worst of it?
"Dealing with musician flakiness."
That said, membership in Alive! the band comes with a high level of expectation. "It's hard to find people willing to put the time into learning both the music and the choreography." Yes. He said choreography, a necessity, one imagines, when the overstated Kiss show is by needs downsized to fit into the domain of dance halls and nightclubs.
Alive! does not disappoint. They travel with fake blood and smoke and fancy lights and go-go dancers and a custom 4' x 8' KISS sign that glows in the dark. All that makes Alive! an expensive gig. Douglas thinks they may have shelled out $18,000 on props and gear so far.
"The costumes alone can cost up to $1,000 dollars each."
Then again to be successful in the tribute business means that one must be exacting or go home. Douglas's Ace Frehley signature Les Paul, for example, spits smoke and has eerie halogen lights just like the Gibson that Frehley played at the Budokan Theater in Tokyo in 1977.
That year, Kiss sold out four nights at Budokan and thereafter became immortal. Kiss returned the following year in support of Alive II, a live album of controversial origin that was nonetheless wildly successful.
It turns out that the actual live tracks recorded for Alive II were deemed not useable by both the band and their record label and were scrapped. But the label eventually released the live album anyway, albeit one made of a composite of tracks recorded at the L.A. Forum and other studio tracks with applause and crowd sounds dubbed in later.
Fabrication or not, Alive II killed. At this early point in their career trajectory Kiss were solid gold. They could do no wrong. They were relentless, and they were everywhere, even in the East County.
At risk of shameless name-dropping, I will say that I chanced to meet the real Paul Stanley in 1979. Back then I worked at KCBQ, the AM Top 40 powerhouse radio station. I was the all-night guy. Sweet Daddy Jon Fox, who occupied the evening slot had broadcast that his old friend Paul Stanley was going to drop by (Kiss were in town to play the Sports Arena.) In disbelief I came to work a couple of hours early — Kiss was the biggest band on planet Earth at that moment in time — but when I rolled up on my motorcycle there it was: a black stretch limo parked outside, sparkling in the weeds and moonlight. At that time, KCBQ was in a ranch house out in the middle of a cow pasture in Santee.
I don't know what I'd expected but Stanley (no makeup that night) turned out to be intelligent and articulate to an uncommon degree. He stayed in studio for hours. He was a blast.
"We focus on the two live records from the '70s, says Douglas. Classic Kiss." For the most part he says their marketing strategy is to shy away from the local bar scene. Their hometown debut will be on the larger stage at Brick by Brick in April, and then they are off to Vegas for three nights of headlining at the Fremont Street Experience. ' "We'd love to get into bigger shows. A casino gig in Vegas, and, the House of Blues. It's on my list of to-do's." Otherwise Douglas, a guitarist, has not performed in a local band for five years. In the years prior to his sabbatical, he gigged with a Duran Duran-style pop band.
"But this is the most fun," he says of Alive! "I was a Kiss fan growing up."
In their Destroyer-era costumes Alive! members stand 7 feet tall. "We do our makeup prior to a gig." Douglas says that alone can take anywhere from 40 minutes to two hours, depending. "We walked into a 7-Eleven once all dressed up for a show to get food," he says. "They gave us a second look and that was all. I don't know." He laughs. "Maybe they thought we were going to rob them."
Alive! Saturday, April 21, at Brick by Brick 8pm $10 Hey! Ho! Let's Go! and Hellbent also perform.
http://sandiegoreader.com/users/photos/2012/apr/13/22811/