Like so many impressionable teenagers of my generation, I got caught up in the hype around KISS in the mid-1970s. After hearing their debut at a friend’s, I picked up a copy of Dressed To Kill, their third album from 1975. This was just before all hell let loose with the arrival of Alive! later that same year.
When KISS announced they were playing February 23 and 24, 1976 at the Forum in support of Alive!, a buddy and I drove to the venue in Inglewood and stood in line for hours. We ended up with colonnade seats in the nosebleed section for the second night. Six months later, their spiffy new Top 20 album Destroyer making the rounds, KISS brought The Spirit Of ’76 Tour to Anaheim Stadium on August 20, 1976 for 42,000 fans — the largest crowd to date KISS had ever played before at that time. I happened to be among them.
Fifty years later, KISS Destroys Anaheim ’76 vividly brings back memories of that day. Sourced from the original multi-track tapes and remixed by Eddie Kramer, the complete 17-song performance captures KISS in their prime. The heat, plus too many loaded German chocolate brownies and vodka shots from a watermelon, taint specific recollections of the event, which also included Ted Nugent, Montrose, and Bob Seger and The Silver Bullet Band on the bill. The flash and pizazz of the production around a tighter, more seasoned KISS, along with what I consider a sweeter set of songs, are what stick out. For that purpose alone, KISS Destroys Anaheim ’76 is a rock and roll time machine firmly locked in on that hot bicentennial August night.
Indeed, the history, production, musicianship, and material on KISS Destroys Anaheim ’76 arguably transcends the Alive! albums (there are four) and subsequent releases from the group’s Off The Soundboard official live recordings series. Being at the Anaheim show and losing interest in KISS afterwards certainly sways one’s point of view. Kramer’s keen ear and advances in modern sound technology have something to do with it as well.
Producer Bob Ezrin gave KISS a much broader sound on Destroyer with extra layers and more EQ, the New York Philharmonic (for the ballad “Beth”), even a few hired session players to smooth out the edges. As a result, the four members of KISS were tasked with reproducing it all to scale on the concert stage. Size being everything with KISS, the Anaheim show was a massive first step forward into the big leagues of live rock and roll. You had giant screens flanking each side of the stage — a rarity back then. Pyrotechnics were vastly enhanced, smoke and fog thickened up, lighting intensified. Staircases framed the drum riser with the famous KISS logo overhead. Ace Frehley, Paul Stanley, and Gene Simmons were given more room to roam. Following a colorful Flo & Eddie intro, KISS break out with “Detroit Rock City” and “King Of The Night Time World,” The first two, larger-than-life rockers on Destroyer, to get the party started in Anaheim.
Fan favorites like “Strutter” and “Hotter Than Hell” find the band swinging through the set effortlessly without a break, aside from Stanley’s feisty banter. Drummer Peter Criss, shuffling in and out of the groove, brightens the already spicey “Nothin’ To Lose” with his soulful vocals. Frehley is especially impressive on guitar, brandishing a sizzling solo after “Cold Gin.” You can practically feel Top 40 hit “Shout It Out Loud” and catchy groupie ode “Do You Love Me,” two more from Destroyer, swallow the Anaheim audience whole.
Simmons, consumed by his demonic role, chugs along on bass, wags his tongue continually, roars his vocals, spits blood, and grinds out a solo that segues into his mythological epic, “God Of Thunder.” Criss gets in his kicks on the back-end of the song. After that, it’s time to “Rock And Roll All Nite.” The KISS anthem sports a cleaner mix, albeit a rougher start, than the famous ALIVE! version. Simmons’ vocals surge with wider range and confidence — a sure sign of how a stadium full of people can empower a performer. As the grand finale of the main set, you couldn’t expect anything less.
“Deuce,” which lifts off ALIVE!, begins the encore as Simmons’ windy growl and Frehley’s stinging lead work shake the timbers of the stadium’s rafters and beyond (that I sort of remember). “Firehouse” turns the heat up on an already sweaty and stoned crowd before “Black Diamond” delivers the final blow. As the closing track on the band’s eponymous first album, it finds Criss effectively pushing his vocal prowess to the forefront as he and the rest of the band harmonize on the chorus and power chord to the finish. You can hear the fireworks pop during the wind down. “Good night Anaheim…see you soon…” Stanley calls out before the eruption of fans and explosives fade into the distance.
Whether you were there or not, KISS Destroys Anaheim ’76 is a momentous document of how an unlikely mob of musicians in clown makeup and costumes ascended the world’s stage. The group’s momentum had its leaps and lapses in the years to follow, though they scarcely strayed too far from the mainstream. Keeping afloat during the hard rockin’ 80s and 90s, KISS have since been recognized as an institution worthy enough for induction into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame. One can only speculate how that one night in Anaheim is cause for celebration. I’m just glad I was there to be part of it.
~ Shawn Perry
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