KISS And David Lee Roth Deliver The Rock Spectacle We All Need

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These are, uh, interesting times to say the least. Between fears of the Coronavirus and the political sniping the day after "Super Tuesday," we can all use a night off from the real world. Well, who better to give fans a respite from what is shaping up to be an incredibly turbulent 2020 than the duo of KISS and Van Halen frontman David Lee Roth? As they showed before a sold-out crowd at L.A's Staples Center last night (March 4, 2020) the answer is no one.

KISS, the master showmen, added a little flair to this leg of their "End Of The Road" tour by bringing Van Halen frontman Roth out. It is a nice touch of nostalgia as the story is well documented of how KISS icon Gene Simmons was instrumental in helping discover Van Halen and producing their early demos in the '70s. It's also a brilliant musical move as Roth is a one of a kind frontman who has a wealth of Halen hits to ignite a crowd.

Man, did he do that at Staples Center, starting with the opening "You Really Got Me." Drawing liberally from the early days of Van Halen, delivering such staples as "Jamie's Crying," "Ain't Talking 'Bout Love," "Jump" and "Unchained," as well as his solo hits like "Just A Gigolo" and "Just Like Paradise," Roth, his trademark high kick still going at 65, showed why he is one of rock's all-time great frontmen. When was the last time you saw an entire arena on their feet for the whole set from an opening act? Exactly.

https://www.forbes.com/sites/steveba...s-center-show/

Steve Vai was also in attendance...posted on his FB page

"Decided to go out last night and see Kiss and David Lee Roth at the Staples Center.

I’m sure glad I did. Pia and I were in nostalgic bliss. I first saw Kiss when I was perhaps 14 years old at the Calderone concert Hall on Long Island. When Kiss Alive came out in 1975 it was as if the Gods of rock and roll theatrical entertainment manifested them from our wanting imaginations. We were all gobsmacked. It’s interesting to imagine what life would have been like without certain artists being born. Imagine your world without Queen, or Jimi Hendrix, or Led Zeppelin, etc. Those are a few that hit the mark for me, but KISS!!! They owned a particular space in the pantheons of Rock. I know my life would have had a lot less color in it without them. And they delivered spectacularly. It was the most over the top, sensational rock show I’ve seen. After so many years, they still deliver in the most authentic of ways.

And it was great to see Dave Roth and his band. They did a powerful set of all the classics. The band was exceptionally tight and Dave looked and sounded great.

Sometimes these early audience videos of the first few shows of a tour can be unfair and when those first few came out of Dave’s Vegas shows, I knew it was unfortunate, but I also knew he could sing better than that, and this was obvious to us at last nights show. He delivered like a boss and the audience loved it.

So glad I decided to go out."

What was unfortunate was Vai not being on stage with Roth.