Here's a video from the Final Tour I went to.
Watch it long enough to hear Vince pant "huzzah wuzzah baaaza baaazah FEEEEE Guhhh, huzza uhhh aaah huhhhh WAAA RAAAA"
Then just consider the fact that he's gained at least 30 pounds (maybe more) since the date of this video.
I don't begrudge bands getting out there and touring. I love concerts. I'd go to a different one every night if I wasn't so old and could afford it.
But there comes a time...
Nikki still sounds great (probably better than he did in the 80s/90s) and he looks the part. Mick? Well, Mick looks like a vampire, but he can still play. Tommy has lost half a step maybe, but he's still a pretty good drummer. And then there's Vince. Huffing and puffing and lugging his bowling ball gut around the stage. That might ruin it.
As much as I like KISS concerts it would be really hard for me to stand if Paul or Gene had swollen up like a bacon-and-beer-swilling country boy. Demon with a beer-barrel gut? Nope. Those guys -- love them or hate them -- have too much respect for their legacy/image/fans to do that.
When I saw KISS in New Orleans last February, Paul's voice was already struggling. He's struggled for years, honestly. I decided then that I was probably done and wouldn't see them again. And I hope they mean it when they say this tour (which is now extending into 2021 or 2022, I dunno) is the last. Unless I hire them to play my 60th birthday party.
Crue? I don't know. Rumor is they're touring with Poison and Def Leppard. That might be enough to draw me back for one last time. Until the next time I guess.
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