KISS, live at the O2

They might have taken their sweet time getting here, but the self-proclaimed “hottest band in the word” are finally making their Dublin debut tonight and it's hard not to be more than a little excited as punters with shockingly bad Gene and Paul make-up stagger around, roaring at the huge backdrop. After a workmanlike performance from the Skid Row-aping Taking Dawn, it's time for the real deal, as their roadie screams into the microphone in time honoured tradition “Alright Dublin! YOU WANTED THE BEST! YOU GOT THE BEST! THE HOTTEST BAND IN THE WORLD! KISS!” And with that, pyros explode, newie ‘Modern Day Delilah' bursts out of the speakers and the Demon, the Starchild and the (stand-in) Spaceman and Cat begin their master-class in stadium rock.
Quite frankly no-one puts on a show like KISS. We've got a hydraulic drum riser, a ginormous screen feeding us technicolour images of the band, and in Paul Stanley we've one of the greatest frontmen in the history of rock ‘n' roll. Admittedly his voice is a bit strained on ‘Crazy Crazy Nights' (which gets a rare live outing) and ‘Shock Me,' but after 37 years of loyal service we can forgive him the odd bum note. Gene Simmons is no slouch either, spitting blood and flying to the rafters during ‘100,000 Years,' despite probably being a bit fed up of doing it for the last four decades, and with Eric Singer and Tommy Thayer doing an admirable job filling Peter Criss and Ace Frehley's boots respectively, the band are in the form of their lives.
While KISS have always been unfairly written off as being more about the spectacle than the songs (they've got enough confetti canons to rival a clown convention and Paul even flies over our heads on a wire and onto a platform at the back during ‘I Was Made For Loving You') it's impossible not to sing along to the power pop of ‘Deuce,' and ‘Calling Dr Love.' Set highlight has to be ‘Love Gun' though, and yeah, it's a bit weird cheering on Paul as he sings about his man bits, but if that makes us wrong, then we don't ever wanna be right. After a mammoth five song encore (‘Lick It Up,' ‘Shout It Out Loud,' ‘I Was Made For Lovin' You' a rare rendition of ‘God Gave Rock ‘N' Roll To You' and ‘Rock ‘N' Roll All Night') the venue is literally covered in confetti and spilt beer and the crowd lapped up every minute. They say you always remember your first time and when it comes to KISS's inaugural Dublin show, we reckon that old cliché may be true after all.