Our first encounter with Kiss tribute act 'Dressed to Kill' was way back in 1996 at the Woughton Centre in Milton Keynes. Kiss re-union mania was at its peak then and they were doing brisk business with the Woughton Centre stuffed to the gunnels with people. We saw them again at the same venue in 2008 (a few months after my back operation - I remember having a bad back and my foot hurting like mad) and they instantly won me over by opening with 'Creatures of the Night'. We saw them the following year at JB's in Dudley and I seem to remember them being pretty good then too.
We only found out the day before that there was a support band (Not Guns N' Roses - what a super imaginative name) and ummed and aahed about whether to arrive in time to see them or not. We decided we might as well, but due to leaving slightly later than expected, another shitty rain-soaked journey, and an unplanned garage stop to get a snack, by the time we walked in they were already on stage playing 'Welcome to the Jungle'.
By the time we'd visited the facilities and made our way into the main room, 'Axl' was sitting down at his keyboard (what, no grand piano?) and the band were plodding through 'November Rain'. Following this came one of my favourite GNR tracks 'You Could Be Mine' from the Terminator 2 soundtrack, but it all sounded a bit slapdash and 'Axl' wasn't really convincing me with his vocals.
A tedious rendition of Bob Dylan's 'Knocking on Heaven's Door' followed and it was only then I noticed the poor drummer stuck in the corner behind 'Izzy Stradlin' or whoever it was that replaced him (I have no idea, never really been a fan). To be honest he was the only one who seemed to be holding the whole thing together and it was something of a relief to hear the opening refrain of 'Sweet Child O' Mine' if only because it signalled the end of the perpetual tedium.
After a half hour break 'Dressed to Kill' took the stage for an impromptu soundcheck. Unfortunately it rather undermined their 'entrance' and made one pine for the old days of stage curtains. But that wasn't all that was undermining them, as they launched into 'Detroit Rock City' it was quite obvious that at least one of the guitars was out of tune. Despite some frantic fiddling from both guitarists, it continued for the first four songs or so. It sounded to me like one of 'Paul Stanley's' pickups had been adjusted too high and it was choking the E string, but that seems like an odd mistake to make and not something that could have been accidentally moved.
Anyway, the band continued, with 'Paul' well into his stage persona and once the guitar problems improved (I wouldn't say resolved) the band got into their stride a bit more. Even so, considering they've been doing this for over 30 years and are the 'official' Kiss tribute band, like the support act they seemed incredibly slap-dash and under rehearsed. Maybe this was their first gig in a while and they haven't been able to rehearse for it or something?
No 'Creatures of the Night' tonight, nor any pyro come to that (although given the relatively low turnout that probably wasn't financially viable), but we did get to see Gene breathing fire at the end of 'God of Thunder' - which, if I'd thought about it I would have been ready to photograph! It's funny though, because while the performance was pretty lax, it did remind you how great Kiss really were in the first ten or so years of their career (nothing played was later than 1985's 'Tears Are Falling' - which one young lad at the front was bizarrely excited to hear, hardly a classic!).
And while yes, they were sloppy and amateurish, you couldn't help but enjoy 'Paul's' mincing, pouting and general all round 'Paul Stanleyness'.
Songs played included Strutter, Cold Gin, Firehouse, Do You Love Me?, Detroit Rock City, Lick it Up, I Love it Loud, Shout it Out Loud, Tears are Falling, God of Thunder, the dismal Crazy Nights, I Was Made for Lovin' You and Beth (which we heard starting up as we were leaving). I don't know if they played anything else, but it seemed a strange choice to end on and we had sausages on a timer so we had to make a move.
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