KISS back with painter David Garibaldi as opening act rather than Diamond Dave

KISS back with painter David Garibaldi as opening act rather than Diamond Dave

Say it isn’t so. KISS have elected to continue their End of The Road World Tour with painter David Garibaldi as the opening act rather than Van Halen‘s former flamboyant frontman David Lee Roth (also known as Diamond Dave).

In a recent interview with RollingStone, it was noted to KISS bassist Gene Simmons that painter David Garibaldi was now the opening act for KISS on their the End of The Road World Tour. Simmons was then asked whether Roth would still be the opening act for KISS to which he replied:

“Not. But it bears noting that during Dave’s heyday, nobody did what he did. He was the ultimate frontman. Not Plant, not Rod Stewart, nobody. He took being a frontman way beyond anything. And then, I don’t know what happened to him… something. And you get modern-day Dave. I prefer to remember Elvis Presley in his prime. Sneering lips, back in Memphis, you know, doing all that. I don’t want to think of bloated naked Elvis on the bathroom floor.”

Sleaze Roxx had the chance to see both Garibaldi and Roth as the opening acts on KISS‘ End of The Road World Tour.

With respect to Garibaldi opening for KISS at the BB&T Center in Sunrise, Florida, USA back in early August 2019, Sleaze Roxx opined: “

“Although I was happy on this night to find out that Garibaldi was indeed the opening act, it was only because I wanted to have more time to get to the BB&T Center. I would have been happy with any opening act to extend our time to get to the venue and not miss a minute of KISS‘ set. In terms of Garibaldi himself, I was not looking forward to seeing him but curious to take in his appearance (if that makes sense). I was disappointed with KISS not having taken a younger band with them on this tour. After all, Paul Stanley and Gene Simmons had spoken in an interview with SiriusXM‘s Ozzy’s Boneyard late last year about some of the great opening acts that they had had over the years which included AC/DC, Rush, Bob Seger, Judas Priest and John Cougar Mellencamp, yet here they were bringing a performance painter to open their last tour! I get that Paul Stanley loves to paint and is probably thrilled to have Garibaldi on board to talk shop during KISS‘ North American tour but it’s really disappointing for a rock fan like me who isn’t into painting.”

In terms of Roth‘s opening gig for KISS at the Keybank Center in Buffalo, New York, USA in early February 2020, Sleaze Roxx stated: “Diamond Dave was his usual self grinning away, doing a few high leg kicks, and dressed in a flamboyant red jumper like suit. The Van Halen frontman was backed by an able crew that were all dressed in black and seemingly confined to their positions towards the back. Clearly, David Lee Roth was the star and everything was focused so that all eyes would be on him. The stage set up was kind of disappointing as it would have been nice for Roth to have some kind of backdrop with his name on it. Obviously, the big question on any concert involving Roth is how will his singing be.

This was only my second time seeing Roth live as a solo performer with my first time dating back to 1988 when he was touring in support of the his sophomore full-length solo album Skyscraper. Roth‘s vocals were pretty horrible and substandard in 1988 and he actually sounded better in 2020 than he did back then. Of course, it’s still early on the KISS tour so there’s plenty of time for Roth‘s voice to disintegrate further as the tour progresses. Nevertheless, the singer sounded pretty good to my ears and frankly, it was a real treat seeing him play live again as a solo performer. It was also nice to see KISS bring in a quality opening act for once. There is no question that KISS have had some amazing opening acts in the past as the list includes Iron Maiden, AC/DC and Judas Priest but in recent years, the band simply hasn’t brought out any quality opening acts or sometimes, none at all.”