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Print Edition: May 30, 2009
A HOMECOMING KISS, Part 1
Since I brought the rock band KISS to Cadillac in 1975 there has been one question asked of me (literally) at least once a week for the past 35 years: "Will KISS ever come back to Cadillac?"
I’ve done hundreds of interviews with journalists, book authors, and radio personalities, talked and exchanged e-mails with thousands of KISS fans, appeared in television documentaries on MTV and VH1, and most recently narrated the Cadillac section of the KISSology DVD (which you can see on You Tube at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kp8GhE6KxS4). My website devoted to the event at www.neffzone.com/kiss gets thousands of visitors each month.
With all that said, it always comes back to the "will they ever return" question. Well, let me tell you I’ve not been asleep at the switch all these years. I’ve been in pretty regular contact with the band’s manager, Doc McGhee. We’ve explored some concepts, but nothing has ever materialized.
What brings this to the forefront right now is that KISS is launching another nationwide tour in the fall. The gambit for this one is that it’s to be "fan directed." What that means is that you can vote to have KISS come to your town at http://eventful.com/performers/kiss-/P0-001-000062428-9 and the towns with the most votes will become the places where KISS will play. In theory every city in America has a shot to host a KISS concert.
When this news hit I had several people contact me about staging a campaign to bring KISS back to Cadillac. I’d love to see that happen. Realistically, though, it would require a miracle for Cadillac to tally more votes than other Midwest cities like Detroit, Chicago and even Grand Rapids. As of Wednesday we had 95 votes, so I’m guessing we’re already a tad behind. If KISS is ever going to return to Cadillac it will probably not be because we’ve registered more votes than anywhere else.
Beyond that stark reality, there are some other logistical matters that pose major challenges to hosting KISS again. The first of these, and perhaps the main one, is location. Where would you hold such a concert? The KISS tour will begin in September, so that means the concert would have to be indoors (due to the vagaries of northern Michigan weather). The only two places in Cadillac even remotely possible are the Cadillac High School gym (where KISS played in 1975) and The Wex. Did you see KISS on American Idol? Did you see the size of their stage? Even if they reduced that by three-quarters you’d have a hard time having enough room for more than a thousand seats or so.
Other challenges include: how to handle ticket sales, how to handle security, who gets in and who does not, and a thousand other details. Remember, in 1975 we didn’t tell anyone KISS was coming until the day before they arrived because we wanted to avoid any potential problems. Basically, only a core group of school and city officials were in on the magnitude of the undertaking until the very last minute.
That said, this is not the same band that came in ’75. Then, they were struggling to remain solvent and they had just released their first live album and no one knew how that would be received. Today KISS is a marketing juggernaut with over 85 million albums sold, 24 gold records, and more merchandise sales than any other band on the planet. It’s impossible to sneak them anywhere.
OK, so what to do. As I said earlier, we’ve not been asleep at the switch. A few years ago some local business owners and I began formulating a concept. Was there a way to recreate the spirit of that 1975 KISS event and do it in such a way as to be logistically possible and also affordable to all who wanted to come?
Mike McGuire, owner of McGuire’s Resort, Chris Huckle, publisher of the Cadillac News, and I looked into staging a KISS concert at potential outdoor locations either in or around Cadillac. Expense and logistics were a problem, but I did have a phone conversation with Doc McGhee (the manager of KISS) about this possibility. Bottom line; KISS was not interested in playing at a makeshift outdoor venue. At that point it was proposed that we look into bringing in a tribute band, which we kind of put on the back burner.
Last Halloween we turned up the heat on that burner. In an under promoted
show in Cadillac (that almost no one attended) I saw a great KISS tribute band,
Mr. Speed
from
Cleveland, Ohio www.mrspeedonline.com.
They put on a KISS concert experience complete with all the make-up, guitars,
and enthusiasm reminiscent of an actual KISS show. When I proposed we bring this
band back to Cadillac for a properly promoted show, Mike and Chris were
immediately behind the idea. We chose a date that does not conflict with any
Cadillac Viking athletic contest, which through a happy coincidence is one week
before homecoming.
In next week’s column I’ll detail a whole lot more about the event, which we’re calling "A Homecoming KISS." I’ll explain why this band at this time, go over the reasoning behind the location, and give more specifics about tickets. Right now the main thing you need to know is that no one involved in the promotion is making any salary from the event, several sponsors are donating goods and services, and every penny of profit is going to the Cadillac Viking Boosters. More details will also be on www.neffzone.com/kiss.
For now, here are the preliminary details:
Also, in a pre-concert promotional event, Mr. Speed will be appearing in Curly’s Pub at McGuire’s Resort on Saturday night, June 20, for a special acoustic guitar evening of KISS Unplugged music.
Jim Neff is a local columnist. Comments to neffzone@gmail.com. Read Neff Zone columns online at www.neffzone.com/cadillacnews.
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