Kiss's performance in Melbourne, Australia, on February 28th, 2003, at Telstra Dome, with the Melbourne Symphony Orchestra, conducted by David Campbell.Kiss's performance in Melbourne, Australia, on February 28th, 2003, at Telstra Dome, with the Melbourne Symphony Orchestra, conducted by David Campbell.Kiss's performance in Melbourne, Australia, on February 28th, 2003, at Telstra Dome, with the Melbourne Symphony Orchestra, conducted by David Campbell.
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This is a review of a concert I saw televised on ABC TV's second, digital channel, here in Australia. I can't say for sure that it is exactly the same as this title here-the one I saw would have been under 60 minutes in length, I think.
In this concert with Australia's Melbourne Symphony Orchestra, 70's glam rock super-group KISS perform all their hits in full make-up with the usual pyrotechnics. Amusingly, even the orchestra get to wear KISS style make-up!
For traditionalists, I suppose a major draw-back of this concert is that it does not feature original lead guitarist Ace Frehley, who is replaced by Tommy Thayer.
There are lots of crowd shots in this concert and hopefully this has been done honestly-by that I mean inter-cutting shots of the band with the crowd's reaction at the same time and not using flattering but out of synch cut scenes of crowds. The crowd is definitely enjoying themselves in any case and many of them have put on their make-up as well.
KISS' lead singer, Paul Stanley, is definitely the star of this show. He's full of banter-sometimes suggestive-and he wears impossibly high platform shoes. If you're a Gene Simmons fan (bass player), he doesn't seem as prominent as you would expect him too. Back to Stanley ("Look at moi! Look at moi!"), he continues with his desire to flaunt his hairy chest on stage, but, fortunately, he's not too old (YET!) for this macho display.
Occasionally the performances and banter can get a bit folksy and cloying-whether it's the niceness of Stanley, or the drummer Peter Criss' performance for his own moment in the sun, him singing "Beth". However, Stanley is interesting when he recounts the circumstances of the concert.
Even though I'm not a huge KISS fan, there are many songs to enjoy here-from "Shout it out loud" to the songs with acoustic guitar accompaniment (as opposed to the usual electric guitar treatment) such as "Sure know something" and "Shandi".
Yes, KISS are rock dinosaurs. When they sing "I want to rock'n'roll all night", you feel that maybe they are better off singing "I want to sleep all night and part of every day". However, they still are performers of skill.
My main gripe is that on some songs the backing orchestra actually detracts from some great songs. As a band they actually sound better in rock mode for some songs than with the symphony watering down their rock songs.
In this concert with Australia's Melbourne Symphony Orchestra, 70's glam rock super-group KISS perform all their hits in full make-up with the usual pyrotechnics. Amusingly, even the orchestra get to wear KISS style make-up!
For traditionalists, I suppose a major draw-back of this concert is that it does not feature original lead guitarist Ace Frehley, who is replaced by Tommy Thayer.
There are lots of crowd shots in this concert and hopefully this has been done honestly-by that I mean inter-cutting shots of the band with the crowd's reaction at the same time and not using flattering but out of synch cut scenes of crowds. The crowd is definitely enjoying themselves in any case and many of them have put on their make-up as well.
KISS' lead singer, Paul Stanley, is definitely the star of this show. He's full of banter-sometimes suggestive-and he wears impossibly high platform shoes. If you're a Gene Simmons fan (bass player), he doesn't seem as prominent as you would expect him too. Back to Stanley ("Look at moi! Look at moi!"), he continues with his desire to flaunt his hairy chest on stage, but, fortunately, he's not too old (YET!) for this macho display.
Occasionally the performances and banter can get a bit folksy and cloying-whether it's the niceness of Stanley, or the drummer Peter Criss' performance for his own moment in the sun, him singing "Beth". However, Stanley is interesting when he recounts the circumstances of the concert.
Even though I'm not a huge KISS fan, there are many songs to enjoy here-from "Shout it out loud" to the songs with acoustic guitar accompaniment (as opposed to the usual electric guitar treatment) such as "Sure know something" and "Shandi".
Yes, KISS are rock dinosaurs. When they sing "I want to rock'n'roll all night", you feel that maybe they are better off singing "I want to sleep all night and part of every day". However, they still are performers of skill.
My main gripe is that on some songs the backing orchestra actually detracts from some great songs. As a band they actually sound better in rock mode for some songs than with the symphony watering down their rock songs.
You wanted the best, you got the best...
KISS with the Melbourne Symphony Orchestra is quite a spectacle. The lineup for the 2003 concert at Telstra Dome in Melbourne, Australia featured Gene Simmons, Paul Stanley, Tommy Thayer replacing Ace Frehley and original drummer Peter Criss. Whilst the current line-up, with Eric Singer in for Criss, is better musically, the band were still in fine form at the one-off stadium show, playing all their biggest hits (including 'Shandi', that was a huge hit in Australia) backed by a mammoth orchestra for about half the show (they played a normal opener and were accompanied by a smaller orchestral section for an unplugged set in the middle of the show) and all the usual pyro, flame, blood and flying foxes you'd expect from a regular KISS show. This concert will prove to be a seminal moment for the band.
KISS with the Melbourne Symphony Orchestra is quite a spectacle. The lineup for the 2003 concert at Telstra Dome in Melbourne, Australia featured Gene Simmons, Paul Stanley, Tommy Thayer replacing Ace Frehley and original drummer Peter Criss. Whilst the current line-up, with Eric Singer in for Criss, is better musically, the band were still in fine form at the one-off stadium show, playing all their biggest hits (including 'Shandi', that was a huge hit in Australia) backed by a mammoth orchestra for about half the show (they played a normal opener and were accompanied by a smaller orchestral section for an unplugged set in the middle of the show) and all the usual pyro, flame, blood and flying foxes you'd expect from a regular KISS show. This concert will prove to be a seminal moment for the band.
10oliatla
The Melbourne Kiss concerts has probably the most magical performance of the year!!! I've been a Kiss fan since I was a kid and the Kiss Symphony DVD is a masterpiece! This concert is a guaranteed 'three-towel' concert for a every fan of 'old school' R N'R!!! The Melbourne Symphony Orchestra sound like they've played rock and roll for a long long time, they enjoy it and do a hell of a job!!! The DVD starts with a documentary that has all the background features of this concert, interviews with the band, David Campbell the conductor, some of the orchestra and fans waiting outside of the stadium. This is Australia's largest stadium set up... and for a reason!
This is a double DVD featuring the Kiss Symphony Story and Act Three on the first one. The second has Act One; Kiss at their peak in K(h)isstory, Two; Kiss along with The Melbourne Symphony Ensemble (Acoustic), and Three with The Melbourne Symphony Orchestra (brilliant show) + bonus features. This is a 'MUST-HAVE' for all of those who ever listened to Kiss. Good music, good sound, a lot of explosions and lots n'lots of Rock N' Roll. The Kiss songs sound great with the Orchestra such as: Detroit rock city, King of the night time world, Shout it out loud, I was made for lovin' you, Rock and roll all nite, and many more... :) Enjoy!!!
This is a double DVD featuring the Kiss Symphony Story and Act Three on the first one. The second has Act One; Kiss at their peak in K(h)isstory, Two; Kiss along with The Melbourne Symphony Ensemble (Acoustic), and Three with The Melbourne Symphony Orchestra (brilliant show) + bonus features. This is a 'MUST-HAVE' for all of those who ever listened to Kiss. Good music, good sound, a lot of explosions and lots n'lots of Rock N' Roll. The Kiss songs sound great with the Orchestra such as: Detroit rock city, King of the night time world, Shout it out loud, I was made for lovin' you, Rock and roll all nite, and many more... :) Enjoy!!!
Not that elevator muzak is a bad thing - on a pure business level - which is what Gene Simmons is ALL ABOUT.
If it started merely as a band, the Kiss Business Model has been consumed and re-wrought by the corporate idiom. Three decades after their inception, Kiss is an IDEAL which grownups hand down to their kids. Witness the demographic at Kiss events: the youngsters are AS FANATICALLY IMBIBED as their senior minders; verily, my older cousin opened my eyes to Kiss in 1978; I, in turn, indoctrinated the next generation, and thus it continues as we speak...
The legacy of Kiss cannot be arrested or dismantled by naysayers or critics any more - it has embedded itself into the psyche of four human generations on planet earth - and that's a lot of greasepaint. More than a cultural phenomenon - it is a CULTURE. A Kiss fan's existence extends 'from sperm to worm', evidenced by items such as Kiss Kondoms and Kiss Kaskets - as Paul shrewdly puts it: 'We're gonna get you coming' or going'!'
Detractors continually rant at Gene raking in their money - well, look closely at what he has provided in return for that money, you prodigal, avaricious, parsimonious pipsqueaks - PRODUCT - not just the usual CD & t-shirts - ALL MANNER of emblazoned merchandise, which you can choose to buy - OR NOT! None of the over 2,000 products that the Kiss Company produces are priced any more overtly than *other* lesser-known band-branded merchandise - so why the hissy fuss? Gene isn't bodily wrenching that money from you - if you don't WANT the Big Head Dolls or the Thermos or the Monopoly Game - DON'T BUY THEM!
Gene is targeted simply because he is identifiable as the individual straddling the Kiss pyramid - whilst faceless, rapacious corporations (such as the marketers of Batman, Dracula, Star Trek, et al) don't draw such fire because of the very nature of corporations: faceless drogues hawking products that a mysterious board of directors controls - yet these corporate strongholds crave your money as openly as Gene says he does, but no single person is identifiable as the perpetrator of those 'business models', so it's all okay.
HAVING SAID ALL THAT:
The promethean achievement of the oxymoronic "Kiss Symphony" (Kiss performing live with the Melbourne Symphony Orchestra) is somewhat diluted by the amateurish direction and headache-inducing editing of the actual concert footage. Except for Act II, where the 'unplugged' aspect decreed a more sober visual approach, Act I (band on-stage sans orchestra) and Act III (band and orchestra tutti) are so mind-bogglingly edited as to make one question the aptitude and experience of the editing team and directors. Sure, all the rock-god angles and flying pans are there, to give one a sense of witnessing an event akin to The Second Coming, but there is a dearth of simple stable shots, where one can gain a sense of proportion and scope - maybe that is exactly what Simmons&Co. DON'T want us to do, as this may detract from the supposed 'enormity' of the event - ?
But that's what doesn't quite make sense - firstly, the event itself is such an incredible melding of two incongruous entities that it needs no outre distractions to make it seem any more extraordinary; secondly, the mix is superb, the performance is exceptional and if there were any glitches with the technical aspects, they were negligible; thirdly, why try to distract at all? - you're *KISS*, fer crying out loud! Thirty years of legend is sewn into your coat-tails - the distraction of all the CUTS THEMSELVES detracts from the enormity of this event. Sure, certain passages warrant crazed slam-pans and angled cutaways, but the directors seem to have no discernible reasons for doing this WHENEVER THEY FEEL LIKE IT, ALL THE TIME.
Peter Criss has no pocket to speak of. That's the second unbearable aspect of this concert presentation. Any time The Cat is left alone to connect passages of songs with solo drumming - fuggedaboudit - like the mighty Mississippi, meandering all over America. Poor Stanley&Simmons, having to put up with Criss' excuse for a backbeat after the juggernauting of Carr and Singer. No doubt Criss is now aware of his post as the Luckiest Untalented Thuck In The World (besides Ringo, who shared the same fate - mediocre gimp hooks up with two dynamos and conquers earth) which is why he accepted Stanley&Simmons' dollar offering this time 'round.
Tommy Thayer's real hair looks more fake than Gene Simmons' wig.
Insofar as Thayer not exuding enough charisma, let's not forget that he is a relative newcomer to superstar status. It will take him a few years to possess the panache that Stanley&Simmons exude so naturally, having conquered the world many times over. Thayer has been Stanley&Simmons' right-hand man for some years now (among other tasks, he has written and directed many Kiss video features and was Ace Frehley's TUTOR in re-learning his licks of halcyon days) and does a superb job of rendering unto Ace fans what was once Ace's. AND - he's a better director than the knuckleheads who cut this video.
The amazement and humility of both Kiss and the MSO shines through, both acts having performed insurmountable feats, now thrown together, experiencing the others' world. It was refreshing to see Simmons, the super-confident, self-made millionaire, during a production rehearsal, cast his gaze about and remark in awe, 'Magnificent!' And Paul's look of childish ebullience when hearing his songs orchestrated and mouthing to the camera, also in awe, 'I wrote that!'
Faults noted, this presentation can still stand as an awe-inspiring authentication of who the The Hottest Band In The World really are.
(Movie Maniacs, visit: www.poffysmoviemania.com)
If it started merely as a band, the Kiss Business Model has been consumed and re-wrought by the corporate idiom. Three decades after their inception, Kiss is an IDEAL which grownups hand down to their kids. Witness the demographic at Kiss events: the youngsters are AS FANATICALLY IMBIBED as their senior minders; verily, my older cousin opened my eyes to Kiss in 1978; I, in turn, indoctrinated the next generation, and thus it continues as we speak...
The legacy of Kiss cannot be arrested or dismantled by naysayers or critics any more - it has embedded itself into the psyche of four human generations on planet earth - and that's a lot of greasepaint. More than a cultural phenomenon - it is a CULTURE. A Kiss fan's existence extends 'from sperm to worm', evidenced by items such as Kiss Kondoms and Kiss Kaskets - as Paul shrewdly puts it: 'We're gonna get you coming' or going'!'
Detractors continually rant at Gene raking in their money - well, look closely at what he has provided in return for that money, you prodigal, avaricious, parsimonious pipsqueaks - PRODUCT - not just the usual CD & t-shirts - ALL MANNER of emblazoned merchandise, which you can choose to buy - OR NOT! None of the over 2,000 products that the Kiss Company produces are priced any more overtly than *other* lesser-known band-branded merchandise - so why the hissy fuss? Gene isn't bodily wrenching that money from you - if you don't WANT the Big Head Dolls or the Thermos or the Monopoly Game - DON'T BUY THEM!
Gene is targeted simply because he is identifiable as the individual straddling the Kiss pyramid - whilst faceless, rapacious corporations (such as the marketers of Batman, Dracula, Star Trek, et al) don't draw such fire because of the very nature of corporations: faceless drogues hawking products that a mysterious board of directors controls - yet these corporate strongholds crave your money as openly as Gene says he does, but no single person is identifiable as the perpetrator of those 'business models', so it's all okay.
HAVING SAID ALL THAT:
The promethean achievement of the oxymoronic "Kiss Symphony" (Kiss performing live with the Melbourne Symphony Orchestra) is somewhat diluted by the amateurish direction and headache-inducing editing of the actual concert footage. Except for Act II, where the 'unplugged' aspect decreed a more sober visual approach, Act I (band on-stage sans orchestra) and Act III (band and orchestra tutti) are so mind-bogglingly edited as to make one question the aptitude and experience of the editing team and directors. Sure, all the rock-god angles and flying pans are there, to give one a sense of witnessing an event akin to The Second Coming, but there is a dearth of simple stable shots, where one can gain a sense of proportion and scope - maybe that is exactly what Simmons&Co. DON'T want us to do, as this may detract from the supposed 'enormity' of the event - ?
But that's what doesn't quite make sense - firstly, the event itself is such an incredible melding of two incongruous entities that it needs no outre distractions to make it seem any more extraordinary; secondly, the mix is superb, the performance is exceptional and if there were any glitches with the technical aspects, they were negligible; thirdly, why try to distract at all? - you're *KISS*, fer crying out loud! Thirty years of legend is sewn into your coat-tails - the distraction of all the CUTS THEMSELVES detracts from the enormity of this event. Sure, certain passages warrant crazed slam-pans and angled cutaways, but the directors seem to have no discernible reasons for doing this WHENEVER THEY FEEL LIKE IT, ALL THE TIME.
Peter Criss has no pocket to speak of. That's the second unbearable aspect of this concert presentation. Any time The Cat is left alone to connect passages of songs with solo drumming - fuggedaboudit - like the mighty Mississippi, meandering all over America. Poor Stanley&Simmons, having to put up with Criss' excuse for a backbeat after the juggernauting of Carr and Singer. No doubt Criss is now aware of his post as the Luckiest Untalented Thuck In The World (besides Ringo, who shared the same fate - mediocre gimp hooks up with two dynamos and conquers earth) which is why he accepted Stanley&Simmons' dollar offering this time 'round.
Tommy Thayer's real hair looks more fake than Gene Simmons' wig.
Insofar as Thayer not exuding enough charisma, let's not forget that he is a relative newcomer to superstar status. It will take him a few years to possess the panache that Stanley&Simmons exude so naturally, having conquered the world many times over. Thayer has been Stanley&Simmons' right-hand man for some years now (among other tasks, he has written and directed many Kiss video features and was Ace Frehley's TUTOR in re-learning his licks of halcyon days) and does a superb job of rendering unto Ace fans what was once Ace's. AND - he's a better director than the knuckleheads who cut this video.
The amazement and humility of both Kiss and the MSO shines through, both acts having performed insurmountable feats, now thrown together, experiencing the others' world. It was refreshing to see Simmons, the super-confident, self-made millionaire, during a production rehearsal, cast his gaze about and remark in awe, 'Magnificent!' And Paul's look of childish ebullience when hearing his songs orchestrated and mouthing to the camera, also in awe, 'I wrote that!'
Faults noted, this presentation can still stand as an awe-inspiring authentication of who the The Hottest Band In The World really are.
(Movie Maniacs, visit: www.poffysmoviemania.com)
After watching this concert I have to say it was maybe the best concert I have seen. You could really see that all the members of Kiss really liked what they were doing and gave the Melbourne audience everything. All the songs were great and couple songs like: I Was Made for Lovin You, Love Gun and Rock and Roll All Nite were more than great! As some posters here have said the only problem was that the editing of this concert was too fast. Kiss really is 10/10 performing live. The IMDb user rating 3.9 ??? OK..that really doesn't justify anything but the editing...
Ps. Sorry for my bad English?
Ps. Sorry for my bad English?
Did you know
- GoofsBecause the footage is taken from several performances, there are some continuity errors. Gene Simmons's bass guitar, for instance, sometimes changes between the Axe model (wide shots) and Punisher model (close-ups) in the middle of the songs.
Details
- Country of origin
- Official site
- Language
- Filming locations
- See more company credits at IMDbPro
- Runtime
- 3h 39m(219 min)
- Color
- Aspect ratio
- 1.78 : 1
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