Paul Stanley, Gene Simmons and Eric Singer opine on the best opening bands that KISS took on tour
Paul Stanley, Gene Simmons and Eric Singer opine on the best opening bands that KISS took on tour
KISS consisting of singer and rhythm guitarist Paul Stanley, singer and bassist Gene Simmons, drummer Eric Singer and guitarist Tommy Thayer were recently interviewed on SiriusXM Ozzy’s Boneyard. Stanley and Simmons were asked what were the best sets that they have seen from openers.
Simmons responded (as transcribed by Sleaze Roxx): “Best set? AC/DC on their first tour. A band that didn’t pay attention, shares the same philosophy. No matter what any other band is doing, thine own self be true. I’ve said it before bit it’s more truer now than ever. A lot of the people look the same and act the same and do the same thing. Rap, country — there’s a lot of sameness going on. Every once in a while, you see a band like AC/DC. Nobody’s like them. We’d like to think that we’re unique in that way too. Unique to have your own fingerprint because Mother Nature knows best. There’s no other fingerprint on earth like us and bands should march to the beat of their own drummer. See what I did there [pointing to Eric Singer]?”
Singer piped in: “I thought Rush was the best. I saw Rush open for KISS. I thought that they were the coolest opening band, especially back in…” Simmons jumped in, “in those days. ‘Working Man’ and all that.” Singer continued: “That was the Fly By Night Tour. It was early ’75 and KISS had Hotter Than Hell out, and Rush had just gotten Neil Peart, and they had ‘Fly By Night.'”
Stanley jumped in: “I think for us, Rush was most exciting. We’re kind of going off on a side tangent. When we first had them playing with us in Canada, and John Rutsey was still the drummer. The first album was so… It was, it was Humble Pie. It was Zeppelin. They obviously found their footing in something they wanted to do later on. They were always great. AC/DC with Bon [Scott] when we had them on tour, great! [Judas] Priest, Priest were phenomenal. Bob Seger — you know, we can go down the list. Bob Seger got his first gold album on tour with us. Mellencamp. John Cougar Mellencamp. Tom Petty. The list goes on and on.”
Excerpt from SiriusXM Ozzy’s Boneyard‘s interview with KISS:
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Rush‘s “Fly By Night” video:
Rush – Fly By Night (Official Music Video)
REMASTERED IN HD!Watch the official music video for “Fly By Night” performed by RushMusic video by Rush performing Fly By Night. (C) 1975 The Island Def Jam …