Hangin' With KISS

People keep asking me if that's "really" Gene Simmons with me in that pic to the right. Indeed it is. I'm good buds with their agent. My man, Mitch, rocks and he's hooked me up with some great tickets, but nothing will ever quite touch the experience of hangin' with KISS.

Back when my best friend from childhood, Neil Patrick Harris, and I were kids, we used to fantasize with our older brothers about being KISS. Matter of fact, I was Gene Simmons for Halloween more than once. And the reason I play a Les Paul? Ace Frehley. My brother and I were obsessed with KISS for a few years, much to my parents' chagrin. I even remember discussing my favorite KISS song at the time ("You got nothin' to lose") with Misty Coors. Truth be told, I sorta' diefied the band.

Anyway, a year or so ago, I showed up at MSG with my best friend from high school, Robert Sayner, and another good friend of mine, and we picked up these tickets that Mitch has set up for us. We had seats A1-A3 --- the very front row for KISS!

I mean, when Gene blew his fire, we could feel it. When the explosions rocked the building on "Rock n Roll All Night", we almost got singed. I mean, it was so close and so cool. Peter Cris even gave the other friend who was with us a rose as he sang "Beth", practically to her. My ears rang for days afterward (probably cuz I took out the earplugs for "God of Thunder!").

Afterward we got to go backstage and hang in the dressing room. It was pretty fun, as it was just the five or six of us and we drank a beer and chatted with Gene and Paul. At one point, some editors from Rolling Stone came in. Apparently, RS had given KISS' latest concert a bad review because it was too similar to past shows. Paul was pissed and told them, "We're out there entertaining people and doing a great job, selling out arenas. People love our show. You know, criticizing our concert is like criticizing Christmas. It's pretty similar every year. What, you guys don't like Christmas!"

What a great line! I like Christmas. And I do like KISS' concerts too!

Here's another pic --- Gene's copping a feel in this one. As Mitch once said to me: "Everyone needs on their desk a picture of themselves with grown men with make up. Helps when you're meeting with new clients. "