LYNN — Friday evening at Lynn Auditorium, Gene Simmons and his band rocked and rolled all night. Well, technically, it was only 90 minutes. But it was an insanely entertaining, freewheeling 90 minutes that contained many surprises, special guests and thrilled fans of all ages.
Simmons, bassist/vocalist for Rock and Roll Hall of Famers KISS, had postponed this show from Nov. 1. The wait was worth it. His 18-song set was comprised almost entirely of KISS songs, many of them true obscurities, including a couple that he claimed had never been performed live.
This wasn’t KISS — Simmons, in jeans and black shirt, wasn’t wearing his Demon makeup and there was no spitting of fire and fake blood — but it was still a heck of a lot of fun. A few fans arrived with their faces made up, including a young boy, dubbed Little Gene Simmons, who made it onto the stage with about 30 other kids during the set-closing “Rock and Roll All Nite.”
The evening started with two KISS klassics, “Deuce” and “Shout it Out Loud,” with the super-tight band blazing away. Simmons was backed by the nucleus of Nashville’s Thee Rock and Roll Residency, and the four longhaired guys had the ’70s rock sound down pat. They even knew 1966’s “Are You Ready?” and 1971’s “She’s So European,” two tunes Simmons said he’d never performed.
Hundreds of devil horns appeared at the first notes of the riotous “Parasite,” fueled by a triple-guitar attack and Simmons’ strong vocals; he’s a better singer than you’d expect. A cover of Little Richard’s “Long Tall Sally” and KISS’ “I (Believe In Me)” showed the band at its best.
Surprise guest Gary Cherone, the Malden-born Extreme/Van Halen frontman, added fire to “Strutter” and again showed he’s one of rock’s badass singers. A 22-year-old blind man, “Brian,” handled the vocals on “Calling Dr. Love” and wowed the crowd, Simmons and band, who were smiling throughout the tune.
Audience participation was a big part of the show. Some 20 women, all beautiful of course, were led on stage and shared backing vocals of “Do You Love Me?” They lingered at the song’s conclusion, snapping selfies with the star and his bandmates. Lynn’s former mayor Judy Kennedy was in the house, but I didn’t see her on stage; maybe she had laryngitis!
It was the men’s turn during “I Love it Loud,” with dozens of gents crowding the microphones. The bone-crunching rocker “War Machine” and teasing “Charisma” were other highlights.
Simmons was an affable host, contradicting his reputation as a jerk, and insisted that the black mop covering his head is his real hair, drawing laughs and disbelieving head-shakes from the crowd. To my eyes, it looked like the worst, cheapest wig available.
Oddly, there was no merch table in the lobby. Simmons might just be popular music’s most successful merchandiser; remember the KISS Kasket? He did hawk his “Vault Experience,” a $2000 10-CD music collection/meet-and-greet package, from the stage though.
Boston’s Watts opened with a high energy 30 minutes of fast rock ‘n’ roll that merged the sounds of AC/DC, the Stones, Chuck Berry and other classic bands and earned them a loud ovation at set’s end.
