"I Want to Rock-N-Roll All Night...And Party Every Day". Was there ever a greater truth to all that which is Rock-N-Roll? Kiss wrote that. I have never seen Kiss. Nor would I consider myself one of their legions of fans. I do know that fire, makeup, explosions, leather, blood, etc. have always been entertaining as hell in the live format, so I've always felt I've cheated myself on some level for not experiencing the Kiss spectacle. The cheesy cock rock music had always kept me far enough away to ever afford myself the opportunity. Enter the tribute band.

"Paul Stanley says this is best tribute band ever!" Rock 105.3 (SD Cheese-rock kings) pimped the show with promises of pyrotechnics and all the rock-n-roll craziness you'd expect from a Kiss show. "Hotter Than Hell" were going to be my first Kiss (like) experience.

Upon arrival I was expecting to see some crazed Kiss fans in full make-up or at least mass leather rocker people. The bulk of the growing crowd were mostly 30 something normal rocker dudes, some leather rocker chicks and a good handful of the Kiss T-shirt sporting hard-core fans.

Even a few of San Diego's rock stars were present for undoubtedly flash-back filled night. Rocket From The Crypt's John Reis (Speedo) and Sprung Monkey's frontman Steve Summers were spotted hanging in the back and someone told me they saw a Lucy's Fur Coat alumni. Even the local professional rockers were drawn to the promise of something very Kiss-like.

The stage was set and I saw my first Kiss of the night strolling in the front doors and mingling through the wave of people that started talking to them. The closer I got I noticed they were all girls! I didn't know "Hotter Than Hell" were an all-girl tribute band! They weren't. But their make-up was so good and they were posing for photos so it wasn't until I got really close and noticed the blow-up air guitar Ace Frehley was wielding that it hit me that these were the rabid make-up sporting fans I was hoping for earlier. Cool. And they were chicks. Cooler. And they were trashed! (Side note: Paul Stanley and Peter Criss were kicked out for drunken behavior and then must have caused some ruckus out-side the club because they got hauled off to detox and the rest of Kiss were told to come pick them up in four hours or so. Can you imagine the looks on the faces of the rest of the detox population as the cops walked in a drunken/disorderly female Paul Stanley and Peter Criss? Priceless! Rock-n-roll y'all!).

After letting the crowd swell to a comfortable full, "Hotter Than Hell" - in all their Kiss-inspired glory - strolled onto the stage amid a pretty warm reception. To try and give a musical critique of their performance would be pointless. They played a bunch of Kiss songs. What I did find impressive was that they pretty much stuck to the old and less radio popular Kiss. So to a long time, hard-core Kiss fan...this was probably a fun set to experience. The second song they played was a decent version of "Strutter". They had the choreography down pretty good, diving and rocking in sync to the steady Kiss beat.

Gene Simmons did the tongue thing once and awhile (but not enough - can never get enough of that tongue thing). He lit something on fire once. But no explosions the whole night. Even SD glamsters Foxxy Roxx have flash-pot explosions and locals Butch Wax Duo out-fire these guys in a heart-beat. In true Arena Rock style - Ace Frehley got a lengthy guitar solo complete with smoking guitar. That was kinda cool. The crowd ate up all that - as well as the music. They sounded...like Kiss, I guess.

Kiss in a small club. With shittier equipment. They did have that Kiss logo in lights thing happening for their backdrop (but it didn't do the on/off tricks like the real Kiss logo). The more familiar songs like "Do You Love Me" and "Black Diamond" rocked the crowd well. It seemed the bigger the Kiss fan, the more they appeared to dig it. I did want to give props to Peter Criss who did a really good keraoke version of "Beth" and then threw out roses to the screaming girls (nice touch). A few lighters were even waived. There were two sets offered tonight and the highlight and biggest crowd sing along was the obvious "I Want to Rock and Roll All Nite" that found most every leather-clad hottie being pulled up on stage. Very Kiss.

On a whole, the experience was pretty entertaining (and I'm not even really a Kiss fan). I felt cheated on the pyro/blood/smoke angle - only getting one small dose of each. So don't expect a lot in that department from "Hotter Than Hell". From the crowd reaction and the choice of songs played (and maybe more specifically, not played - i.e. the entire "Unmasked" Kiss catalog was pretty much ignored) the "Hotter Than Hell" musical experience seemed to deliver. I personally thought the $20 door was a bit much considering a real Kiss ticket - along with MONSTER stage show - goes for another ten bucks or so. But upon strolling back my car, my "pseudo metal rocker for the night" friend Nicole asked Kiss fan "Manny" if it was worth it and he was like "Yea, totally. I would pay to see them again." There you have it. Straight from the fan. Rock.

(I can't wait until the next decade when the Marilyn Manson tributes start coming out!) - Bushman (with bowed head and raised "devil sign")

"Don't wage war on us because you'll lose you A-holes" - BC & Woody, Rock 105.3 Addendum: I caught some derogatory remarks about Rock 105.3's metal guy Mikey at the closing of the "Hotter Than Hell" set. Apparently, Mikey had invited the band to play on his Thursday Night Live segment and the band didn't want to play and thought they'd just hang out and talk (Mikey opted to just plug the show instead). The afternoon guys, BC and Woody were discussing this the next day and praised Mikey for his foresight into what kind of interest level would be generated by a Kiss cover band interview (insert sound of crickets here). BC & Woody offered up some questions that would have been asked like "What's it like to have no originality what-so-ever" , "How many stupid chicks have you laid by pretending your Kiss", "Does it bother you that Kiss has millions of dollars and you have to pay Buffalo Joe's to host your sorry ass show", etc. and then they ended with "Don't wage war on us because you'll lose you A-holes". Interestingly enough, earlier in the evening I had posed the question to Mark from No Cover "How big of an ego is one afforded when playing in a tribute cover band".

Thanks to "Hotter Than Hell" for answering my question.