Paul Stanley defends KISS’ choice to keep playing the hits in their live set
Paul Stanley defends KISS’ choice to keep playing the hits in their live set
KISS frontman Paul Stanley was interviewed by The Morning Call in advance of the group’s tour stop at The Great Allentown Fair in Allentown, Pennyslvania, USA tomorrow.
The Morning Call spoke to Stanley about KISS‘ setlist and reported as follows:
So when KISS brings its “Freedom to Rock” tour to the Allentown Fair on Thursday, the show won’t be burdened with deep cuts. And even though it’s the 40th anniversary of both of KISS‘ biggest studio discs — “Destroyer” and “Rock and Roll Over” — KISS won’t be doing an album show like many other classic rockers. Instead, the concert will be a show full of hits.
“The cream has always risen to the top, and the people expect certain songs and they’ll get those,” guitarist/singer and founder Paul Stanley says in a phone call from his California home. Recent shows have included them all: “Shout It Out Loud,” “Beth,” “Love Gun,” “Detroit Rock City” and, of course, “Rock and Roll All Nite.”
“The idea of playing obscure songs is only appealing to a die-hard fan who knows our albums inside out,” Stanley says. “To go up on stage and play unknown songs for a handful of people as opposed to playing the songs that everybody wants to hear is really not in our best interests or the audience’s.
“We want to do the best show possible and we want to blow away people who get to see us once every two years, five years, 10 years. Those are the people who we put the show together for. If somebody comes night after night or sees 10 or 15 shows on a tour, well, they may be asking why we don’t change the show up much. But the fact is we don’t change it up that much because once it’s great, you don’t mess with it.”
You can read the rest of the interview with Stanley at The Morning Call.
Almost two months ago, Sleaze Roxx had noted that KISS’ setlist on their first night of their Freedom To Rock Tour only featured songs that dated 30 years or more except for one (“Psycho Circus” which dates back to 1998).