KISS celebrates the big 4-0 in style at Alpine Valley; co-headliner Def Leppard tame kwa comparison 

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KISS celebrates the big 4-0 in style at Alpine Valley; co-headliner Def Leppard tame by comparison

KISS performs at Alpine Valley Music Theatre

Review: KISS celebrates the big 4-0 in style at Alpine Valley; co-headliner Def Leppard tame by comparison

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KISS wouldn\'t be KISS without the spectacle, and the band certainly wasn\'t skimping at its Alpine Valley Music Theatre show Friday as part of its 40th anniversary tour with co-headliner Def Leppard.

Fireworks erupted with the 75-minute set opener "Psycho Circus" — and popped during practically every song afterward; sparks even shot skyward from co-frontman Paul Stanley\'s guitar, "triggering" booming bursts above him for "Lick It Up." A dense fog shrouded the band at multiple points in the night and blasted down from above, as if the stage production itself were literally blowing off steam. There were flame throwers too, and co-frontman Gene Simmons spit fire at the end of "Hotter Than Hell."

But the greatest special effect was the showmanship of Simmons and Stanley — especially impressive considering the men are in their 60s and have been sporting the metal-studded black costumes and Kabuki-like face paint since the \'70s.

Stanley was the relentless hype man, telling the crowd that Aug. 15, 2014, would be a night they would never forget, and doing everything in his power to live up to his promise. Before "Love Gun," he stepped onto a zip line with those monstrous silver heels to fly above the crowd toward a stage in the middle of the amphitheater — but not before demanding a deafening audience roar. Like Stanley, the crowd gave everything it got.

Simmons continued to personify the superhero-inspired, larger-than-life spirit of KISS, with a barking, booming voice and comically crazed eyes. He was especially animated during a bass solo, stage blood trickling down his neck and onto his metallic chest plate, his tongue whipping about like it was a living parasite trying desperately to free itself from its host.

Musically, the band was engaged for an energetic set spanning from a roaring "War Machine" to a boisterous "Shout It Out Loud" to "Rock and Roll All Nite." And sorry, Ace Frehley fans, but lead guitarist Tommy Thayer deserves a lot of the credit.

At one point, Stanley called for the house lights and asked for fans there with their kids to hoist them up. "We were there for your parents, and we\'ll be there for you guys," Stanley said. And on Friday, KISS performed like it still had another 40 years left in it.

It says something about KISS\' live concert that a bombastic glam metal band like Def Leppard in comparison could seem so...tame.

Not that that was the case for the entirety of its 75-minute pre-KISS set. There was a strong start with "Let It Go" (sorry, kiddos, not the "Frozen" song) and "Animal," and a fine finish with "Rock of Ages" and "Photograph." The band was at its best when frontman Joe Elliott — as colorful as his plain white shirt Friday — stepped aside and let skilled guitarists Phil Collen and Vivian Campbell, bassist Rick Savage and impressive one-armed drummer Rick Allen rock out for "Switch 625," providing a breather from the set\'s repetitive, singalong chorus formula.

But "Let\'s Get Rocked" — coming off a momentum-sucking "Love Bites" — mostly got blank or bemused stares. Elliott asked the audience to sing along to an acoustic "Two Steps Behind" — but lips largely stayed sealed.

And when "Hysteria" rolled around with nostalgic concert footage and pictures playing on video screens behind the band, it was clear Def Leppard and the fans were having a greater time back in the day than they did Friday.

■ Def Leppard was its own bizarre buzzkill during "Armageddon It." As the band played, a series of rapidly increasing numbers popped up on-screen listing depressing statistics for everything from land lost to soil erosion, to the deaths of children under 5 this year, to the number of people infected with HIV/AIDS this year, along with the words "Scared?" "Are you happy?" and "Scream!" But hey, "Pour Some Sugar on Me," came next, and fans ate that up free of a guilty conscience.

■ Curiously, both Def Leppard and KISS played snippets of the Who\'s "Won\'t Get Fooled Again" during their sets. Inside joke?

■ Number of people I spotted wearing KISS makeup: 16 (two women, six kids, eight men...not including the actual band).

■ Number of people spotted in full KISS costumes: five, including a girl wearing Green Bay Packers snow boots her mom had wrapped in aluminum foil.

■ It\'s been 10 years since I\'ve seen a show at Alpine Valley, and I had forgotten what an incredibly spectacular venue it is. As in recent years, Alpine is hosting only a couple concerts this summer. Mark Campana, co-president of North American concerts for Live Nation, which operates Alpine, said if it was approved for camping, the number of shows would jump to seven to 10 a year. Speaking as a selfish concert-goer, I\'m all for this...although I\'m sure the neighbors might have something to say.

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