Here's something you might be interested in.
Ask a Hipster — Advice you didn't know you needed
Big Screen — Movie commentary
Blurt — Music's inside track
Booze News — San Diego spirits
Classical Music — Immortal beauty
Classifieds — Free and easy
Cover Stories — Front-page features
Drinks All Around — Bartenders' drink recipes
Excerpts — Literary and spiritual excerpts
Feast! — Food & drink reviews
Feature Stories — Local news & stories
Fishing Report — What’s getting hooked from ship and shore
From the Archives — Spotlight on the past
Golden Dreams — Talk of the town
The Gonzo Report — Making the musical scene, or at least reporting from it
Letters — Our inbox
Movies@Home — Local movie buffs share favorites
Movie Reviews — Our critics' picks and pans
Musician Interviews — Up close with local artists
Neighborhood News from Stringers — Hyperlocal news
News Ticker — News & politics
Obermeyer — San Diego politics illustrated
Outdoors — Weekly changes in flora and fauna
Overheard in San Diego — Eavesdropping illustrated
Poetry — The old and the new
Reader Travel — Travel section built by travelers
Reading — The hunt for intellectuals
Roam-O-Rama — SoCal's best hiking/biking trails
San Diego Beer — Inside San Diego suds
SD on the QT — Almost factual news
Sheep and Goats — Places of worship
Special Issues — The best of
Street Style — San Diego streets have style
Surf Diego — Real stories from those braving the waves
Theater — On stage in San Diego this week
Tin Fork — Silver spoon alternative
Under the Radar — Matt Potter's undercover work
Unforgettable — Long-ago San Diego
Unreal Estate — San Diego's priciest pads
Your Week — Daily event picks
Your Guy Doesn't Spit Fire
Lee: Kiss is cool, “as long as you don’t make too much money.”
Jason Lee of Oceanside started doing Kiss tributes 36 years ago.
“I remember being six years old and putting the pillows in a semicircle around the couch like a stage. I would air drum with chop sticks to [live album] Kiss Alive. My older brother was really into Kiss.”
Since then, Lee has sung and played drums in several bands, including Loss of Control (for 12 years) and various tribute acts emulating Van Halen, Jimi Hendrix, Black Sabbath, and the Black Crowes.
Now Lee’s immersed in his role of “Catman,” the character of original Kiss drummer Peter Criss. He plays in the local Kiss tribute band Kissed Alive, which has a dream gig on Halloween. “Up at Lake Arrowhead the kids really can’t trick-or-treat at houses, so all the businesses downtown hand out candy. Then at about 6:30 they have a big free outdoor concert. They hired us this year.”
Lee says the tribute racket has its drawbacks.
“You really have to be a fan of the band, otherwise you can get tired of it really quick. And people can get really picky over the details. Like, one Kiss tribute guy might say to another, ‘Your guy doesn’t spit fire, so he’s a big pussy.’”
But doesn’t the original Kiss ever get upset over the use of their intellectual property? “I heard that as long as you don’t make too much money, as long as you fly under the radar, they are cool with it.”
Isn’t Gene Simmons one of the most detested figures in rock? “I have no comment. I respect his business skills. I never met Gene, but I like his music.”
Kissed Alive appears November 2 with Ratts at Brick by Brick.
Here's something you might be interested in.
Your Guy Doesn't Spit Fire
Your Guy Doesn't Spit Fire
Lee: Kiss is cool, “as long as you don’t make too much money.”
Jason Lee of Oceanside started doing Kiss tributes 36 years ago.
“I remember being six years old and putting the pillows in a semicircle around the couch like a stage. I would air drum with chop sticks to [live album] Kiss Alive. My older brother was really into Kiss.”
Since then, Lee has sung and played drums in several bands, including Loss of Control (for 12 years) and various tribute acts emulating Van Halen, Jimi Hendrix, Black Sabbath, and the Black Crowes.
Now Lee’s immersed in his role of “Catman,” the character of original Kiss drummer Peter Criss. He plays in the local Kiss tribute band Kissed Alive, which has a dream gig on Halloween. “Up at Lake Arrowhead the kids really can’t trick-or-treat at houses, so all the businesses downtown hand out candy. Then at about 6:30 they have a big free outdoor concert. They hired us this year.”
Lee says the tribute racket has its drawbacks.
“You really have to be a fan of the band, otherwise you can get tired of it really quick. And people can get really picky over the details. Like, one Kiss tribute guy might say to another, ‘Your guy doesn’t spit fire, so he’s a big pussy.’”
But doesn’t the original Kiss ever get upset over the use of their intellectual property? “I heard that as long as you don’t make too much money, as long as you fly under the radar, they are cool with it.”
Isn’t Gene Simmons one of the most detested figures in rock? “I have no comment. I respect his business skills. I never met Gene, but I like his music.”
Kissed Alive appears November 2 with Ratts at Brick by Brick.
Comments