War Machine Takes No Prisoners
From Wikipedia: KISS is an American hard rock band formed in New York City in January 1973 by Paul Stanley and Gene Simmons.[1]Well known for its members’ face paint and stage outfits, the group rose to prominence in the mid to late 1970s with their elaborate live performances, which featured fire breathing, blood spitting, smoking guitars, shooting rockets, levitating drum kits and pyrotechnics. Before arriving at their current lineup, the band went through some lineup changes, with Stanley and Simmons the last two members of the original lineup of the band. Counting the 1978 solo albums, Kiss has been awarded 28 gold albums to date, the most of any American rock band.[2] The band has sold more than 40 million albums in the United States, of which 34 million have been certified by the RIAA[3] and their worldwide sales exceeds 100 million records, making them one of the world’s best-selling bands of all time.[4] The original 1973–80 lineup consisted of Stanley (vocals and rhythm guitar), Simmons (vocals and bass guitar), Ace Frehley (lead guitar and vocals) and Peter Criss (drums and vocals).
With their makeup and costumes, they took on the personas of comic book-style characters: Starchild (Stanley), The Demon (Simmons), Spaceman or Space Ace (Frehley) and Catman (Criss). Stanley became the “Starchild” because of his tendency to be referred to as the “starry-eyed lover” and “hopeless romantic”. The “Demon” makeup reflected Simmons’ cynicism and dark sense of humor, as well as his affection for comic books. Frehley’s “Spaceman” makeup was a reflection of his fondness for science fiction and his supposedly being from another planet. Criss’ “Catman” makeup was in accordance with the belief that he had nine lives because of his rough childhood in Brooklyn. Due to creative differences, both Criss and Frehley were out of the group by 1982. The band’s commercial fortunes had waned considerably by that point.
Buoyed by a wave of Kiss nostalgia in the 1990s, the band announced a reunion of the original lineup in 1996. The resulting Kiss Alive/Worldwide/Reunion Tour was the top-grossing act of 1996 and 1997. Criss and Frehley have since left Kiss again, but the band continues with Eric Singer and Tommy Thayer. Stanley and Simmons have remained as the last two constant members. Kiss has been named in many “Top” lists. They include Number 10 on VH1’s ‘100 Greatest Artists of Hard Rock’,[5] 9th on ‘The Greatest Metal Bands’ list by MTV,[6] number one on Hit Paraders’s “Top 100 Live Bands”,[7] 56th on VH1’s “100 Greatest Artists Of All Time”,[8] and 26th on Gibson’s “50 Greatest American Rock Bands”.[9] On April 10, 2014, Kiss was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, nearly 15 years after becoming eligible.
ABOUT THE BAND: War Machine is a full costume and make-up, musical tribute to 1970’s rock legends KISS. They have all the energy, smoking guitars, fire breathing, and represent the great music of the original band. Detroit-based, the band has been performing nationally for over nearly 20 years. War Machine has performed across America and Canada and at Official KISS conventions and Expo’s.
Over the years, the band has played live on stage with six of the ten original members of the KISS. Have been the opening act for over 58 National bands such as Cheap Trick, Nazareth, Rainbow, Vince Neil of Motley Crue, and Dennis DeYoung of STYX. War Machine set several attendance records for clubs and festivals during the summer of 2012/13 & 2014 seasons. The group finished one summer by performing with MSU’s Coach Tom Izzo (dressed in a KISS-like costume and sporting an accordian on stage) in front of 15,000 fans at MSU’s Breslin Center Arena. Video of the performance went viral nationwide.
The band has enjoyed performing at hotel/casinos, corporate and private events, comic book/memorabilia conventions, major league sporting events, & baseball opening day celebrations over the years.
War Machine is a unique tribute act boasts all four members sing and play their own instruments, no backing soundtracks, height acruate, and no wigs. The band also performs with authentic costume pieces purchased at rock memorabilia auctions, period correct guitars, drums and amplifiers for totally acurate stage sound reproduction.
Their song list contains hits that cover KISS’ 40 year career. The show features a giant KISS illuminated sign, light up staircases, smoking guitar solos, rocket launcher guitar, a fire breathing Gene, and note for note guitar solos.
War Machine loves KISS fans, family friendly, and always take time for ‘meet and greet’ after shows for costumed fan photos.
War Machine can be seen on Nationally Syndicated Food Network ‘Man vs. Food’. War Machine has been featured in numerous newspaper, magazine, television, and radio articles nationwide. Most recently the band was featured in a full five minute spot on the morning show of Detroit’s Fox 2 TV news, and commended as being one of the “Top Five Live acts in Detroit” of 2014 by Metro Times Magazine. Last year they filmed a pilot for the A&E TV channel’s pilot “Tribute Artist’s”.
2 comments for “KISS by War Machine”