Gene Simmons Shows Bensalem A Good Time
by Alex Lloyd Gross
Gene Simmons is a founding member of KISS. While KISS is not touring anymore, Gene Simmons is and he brought his band, aptly named the Gene Simmons Band to Parx Casino for one heck of a show. Fans had no idea of what to expect. Would he play covers, or KISS songs? It was a mix of both.
As fans entered the theater, the entire place was bathed in red lights. These lights were a throwback to his 1978 solo album cover. He did a quick paid meet and greet before the show and just a few minutes past 8:00 PM he was on stage. The show was legendary and loud.
However, it was as far different from a KISS show as you can get.. First, there were some parts of the show where the crowd was quiet and Gene joked. with audience members and asked them questions, he even alluded to one girl down front that he could be her father.
At one point a KISS fan walked up to the front of the stage and held a photo of him and Gene. Gene acknowledged him for a bit, “Can I get you a sandwich or anything”? Gene asked. The fan asked for a guitar pick and he got one. Gene Gene made him wave to his wife, asked him what he was drinking, told him his beer looked like piss and sent him on his way.
Alex Lloyd Gross Photo-Delaware Valley News.com Gene Simmons points to the camera during the show.
“There are no rules”, Gene said during an interview prior to the show. Last night proved that. He brought out songs that had not been played by KISS, such as “Charisma”, “I” and an a bit of “Watching You”. He stopped that mid song and went into the next one. Gene previously said songs like that would not go over well and people would not be familiar with them. He was wrong as most in the crowd knew every word and sang along.
This was a rock show. Not a nursing home. Gene commanded the crowd to stand , when he saw six people in the front that were sitting down. “I’m older than you, bitch”, he said and those people were on their feet the entire night.
There was no one inside who did not like the concert and wished he would get off the stage. It was quite the opposite. When he announced the last song (“Rock and Roll All Night”,) he brought two hot girls and two random dudes in the audience on stage to sing with him. Before the song, one of the girls wanted a selfie with him and Simmons joked that she was holding up the show. Of course, he obliged. The crowd was wanting more. The band did almost two hours, playing KISS classics, “Calling Dr. Love”, “Christine 16” “I Love It Loud” just to name a few.
Shockingly, there was no merch to buy. 90 percent of the crowd came in a variety of KISS T shirts. Seeing the different shirts from throughout the years was interesting. Some were official merchandise, others were parking lot knockoffs.
Alex Lloyd Gross Photo-Delaware Valley News.com Gene wants to hear the crowd at Parx
They did an instrumental portion of a classic song off the 1975 Dressed To Kill Album. If you know the song, comment on social media or below. Here’s a clue, it starts with an “L”. Gene did nothing from his first solo record but he did do a Motorhead cover, (“Ace Of Spades”). The show ran just about two hours but could have gone longer.