Kiss released 20 albums and over 200 songs during their five-decade long touring career, but only a handful ever got the honor of opening the band’s live shows.
The opening moments of any rock concert are very important, particularly for a highly theatrical stage show such as the ones Kiss performed each night. When you’re descending from the rafters amid a blizzard of flames and sparks, you want to make sure your lead-off sound provides the perfect soundtrack for the spectacle.
With apologies to “Creatures of the Night,” “Psycho Circus” and “King of the Night Time World,” here are the Top 5 Kiss Concert Opening Songs:
“Modern Day Delilah”From: Sonic Boom (2009)
Tours: Sonic Boom Over Europe (2010) / Hottest Show on Earth (2010-2011)
After going over a decade without releasing a new studio album, Kiss returned in fine form with 2009’s gimmick-free Sonic Boom. The lead single “Modern Day Delilah” was one of the strongest songs from the group in decades, and made for a strong concert opener on the band’s ensuing tours. The ferris wheel-styled entrance used on these tours didn’t hurt either.
“Love Gun”From: Love Gun (1977)
Tours: Crazy Nights (1987-1988) / Revenge (1992)
The drum-crazy title track to Kiss’ final golden era album wasn’t used as a concert opening track for over a decade, but it filled the role quite nicely on the otherwise rushed, keyboard-clogged Crazy Nights tour. In more recent years, “Love Gun” was used even more effectively near the end of the group’s main set, as the soundtrack for Paul Stanley’s nightly flight out to a second stage in the middle of the crowd.
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“I Stole Your Love”From: Love Gun (1977)
Tours: Love Gun (1977) / Alive II (1977-1978) / Hot in the Shade (1990)
“I Stole Your Love” – the second Love Gun track in a row on this list – was tailor-made for the stage, with an big propulsive guitar riff and an infectious chorus. It got the lead-off spot for the band’s next tour tours but didn’t stick around in future set lists nearly enough. However, when Kiss got serious about reclaiming their legacy as the hottest band in the land on the 1990 Hot in the Shade tour, they brought this one back to serve as the opener again.
“Detroit Rock City”From: Destroyer (1976)
Tours: Destroyer (1976)/ Rock and Roll Over (1976-1977) / Alive II (1977-1978) / Unmasked Tour (1980)/ Animalize (1984-`1985) / Asylum (1985-1986) / Farewell (2000-2001)/ World Domination (2003) / The Tour (2012) / Monster (2012-2013) / 40th Anniversary (2014-2015) / Freedom to Rock (2016) / End of the Road (2019-2023)
As you can see by the list of tours above, there’s little doubt “Detroit Rock City” opened more concerts than any other Kiss song. The newly sophisticated and cinematic approach Bob Ezrin helped the band achieve on 1976’s Destroyer made it perfectly suited for the job, shining a nice spotlight on all four members of the band, from Gene Simmons’ unusual R&B-styled bass line to Stanley and Ace Frehley’s twin guitar interludes.
“Deuce”From: Kiss (1974)Tours: 1973-1974 club dates / Kiss (1974) / Hotter Than Hell (1974-1975) / Dressed to Kill (1975) / Alive! Tour (1975-1976) / Alive Worldwide (1996-1997) / Alive 35 (2008-2010) / KissWorld (2017-2018)
As with our recent list of Kiss’ album-opening songs, the narrow distance between the gold and silver medal winner comes down to a preference between the rawer sound of the band’s first three albums or the more polished approach of their later work. “Deuce” is a primal blast of Stones-style raunch that hits the ground running and never lets up.
It’s the song that the band used to open every show when they were on the rise to fame, it’s got some of Frehley’s best guitar work ever, and it’s where he, Simmons and Stanley perform their famous (if primitive) choreography during the final riffs. It’s the song the original lineup chose as the first number of their 1996-1997 reunion tour, and if wasn’t the first thing they played in recent years it was usually the first song Simmons would sing each night.
(Yes, I know “Deuce” wasn’t the opening song at the concert shown below, but it’s got better audio and video than any other clip on YouTube.)
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Gallery Credit: Matthew Wilkening
