I attended the KISS concert at Mankato’s Verizon Wireless Civic Center on Aug. 1. I’m not sure how many times I’ve seen the band now…I’d guess I’ve seen seven or eight shows. Maybe nine? I’m not the biggest KISS fan, but my husband is…KISS is one show we can go to together and we both enjoy it. That doesn’t happen too often! Our musical tastes are slightly “divergent,” to put it politely.

I enjoyed Monday’s show even more because I was on assignment for the Mankato Free Press. I wrote this review and enjoyed flexing my rusty reporting muscles. I also enjoyed writing  a concert review. I’ve been wanting to make a transition into cultural/arts/music/book reporting for a little while now, so I hope this leads to more opportunities. We’ll see!

Here’s an excerpt from my review:

If you’ve seen it once at a KISS show, you’ll see it again — Gene Simmons spitting blood and breathing fire, Paul Stanley shaking his booty, sparks coming off the lead guitar, the pyrotechnics, the synchronized choreography during “Deuce.”

Yet, it never seems to get old. And it didn’t for the nearly sold-out crowd at Verizon Wireless Civic Center Monday night, the vast majority likely repeat customers.

If it’s always the same, what’s the appeal? KISS, which has been performing for more than 40 years, is like that comfortable pair of jeans you can’t let go of, that grilled cheese and soup on a cold winter day, or that favorite movie you watch again and again when it comes on TV even though you’ve seen it a dozen times.