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STRUTTER
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For pure rock and roll entertainment, no act in the history of the medium holds a candle to vintage KISS. Bootsy may be as cartoony, Iggy may have been as outrageous, Gwar may be as theatrical, AC/DC may be as loud, but when you're talking the whole Taco Grande no one holds a candle to the original Kabuki kooks. One monument to this historical fact is the existence of STRUTTER-Kiss Tribute act Supreme. Kiss tribute bands are in some ways more akin to Elvis impersonators than to, say, a Grateful Dead cover band, in that the audience doesn't just want to hear the music; they expect the performers to become the Originals. And though Paul Stanley's lips might not be as full, and though Ace Frehley might have some duct tape on his boots (more on that later), if you squinted your eyes during the STRUTTER ALIVE III Chicago debut...you believed! No corners are cut. In front of fifty four floodlights spelling out STRUTTER, deafening , blinding explosions and clouds of spooky stage smoke frame a circus of firebreathing, blood spurting, authentic costume wearing, smoking (literally) guitar playing recreations of original concert action, right down to Peter Criss tossing out roses at the end of Beth. Add to this an Action Roadie giving the audience the finger all night and you've got a Rock and Roll Supershow. Musician magazine said "Strutter does KISS in their prime better than KISS in their prime." Now I wouldn't say all that (except for sometimes outdoing Paul Stanley on the on the T.V. evangelist Rock affirmations "Rock and Roh-woh-lah!") but the magic was there, though, no doubt about it. After a pinky and forefinger extended fist pumping show, ROCTOBER spoke with them, still in makeup of course, in the V.I.P room over the Excaliber Dome.
Roctober: First off, how old are you guys?
Bill(Who portrays Gene Simmons): Late twenties.
Roctober: So you were a good teen age during the KISS Heyday.
Bill: Right.
Roctober: Where are you from?
Bill: From Ohio,Cleveland.
Roctober:What kind of touring have you done.
Bill: As far West as Texas, as far North as into Canada, as far East as New York and Florida. So we've done, like, half the United States.
Roctober: What other KISS tribute bands have you seen that you can speak well of.
Scott(Ace Frehley): I haven't seen any.
Gary:(Peter Criss) We've seen several.
Scott: I've seen KISS Army.
Roctober: Were they good?
Scott: They're satisfactory.
Roctober: Where are they from?
Scott: New York, Queens.
Gary: KISS Alive, KISS Army, Cold Gin...
Steve(Paul Stanley):There's several Cold Gins. One in LA, one in Albany New York.
Roctober: What's the worst name for a KISS tribute band you can think of?
Bill: There's one in Buffalo called SSIK.
Steve: Poison.
Gary: Beth would be the worst yet.
Roctober:O.K., can you tell me about your best Halloween when you were kids?
Scott: 1977.
Roctober: What were you?
Scott: Excuse me?
Roctober: What were you dressed as?
Scott: Ace Frehley. 1978, 1979, 1980, 1981 etc etc.
Gary: The best Halloween, probably about three years ago. But every year I've been Peter Criss. I've been Eric Carr once.
Roctober: Did you send in an application? Did you send a tape to KISS after (drummer) Eric Carr died (of complications during open heart surgery)?
Steve: They wouldn't read it anyway.
Gary: I was very interested in Eric Carr after Peter Criss quit. Very much. As a matter of fact I do play in the same vein as that also. I was very influenced by KISS since I was a kid and played in that style for quite a long time. So, yeah, Eric Carr...great.
Roctober: What do you think about KISS having this blonde guy?
Bill: Eric Singer. (The new drummer)
Scott: No comment.
Steve: What does it matter?
Roctober: I don't know, it's kind of a weird look...
Gary: It's out of context.
Bill: It's good cause he's from Cleveland.
Roctober: I don't know, well...it kind of takes away from the New York Jew Boy look.
Scott: KISS has lost a lot of their look from the early '70's.
Gary: Still a good band, but not the , uh...
Scott: No energy, no hype.
Roctober: What was the last tour you saw?
Scott: Last week.
Gary: Hot in the Shade.
Scott: I saw them the week before in Binghamton, NY.
Steve: I have a question. What's your favorite part about the show?
Roctober: Um...I liked the sword (that was brought out flaming for the firebreathing). Everyone else I've seen just uses a torch.
Bill: A broomstck? (laughter)
Roctober: Also I loved the smell of kerosene in the air afterwards.
Steve: You should sit next to him then.
Roctober: Is it just straight kerosene?
Bill: It's lighter fluid.
Roctober: Is it nasty as hell?
Bill: You get used to it.
Roctober: I also liked the duct tape on the boots.
Scott: Ace's old costume. Doesn't fit.
Roctober: Is that Ace's real autograph on the guitar.
Scott:Yeah. The costumes also pretty much beat up from the road.
Roctober: Wait a minute, is that actually Ace's old outfit?
Scott: Yeah.
Roctober: How'd you get it?
Scott: No comment.
Roctober: Well, O.K., Do you guys get groupies the way KISS did?
Steve: Oh yeah, not as much as we'd like to.
Roctober: Have you ever had a groupie that told you she'd been with the original KISS?
Gary: No, that hasn't happened to us yet.
Steve: That's a challenge.
Scott: We don't want a groupie that old.
Bill: Still definitely safe sex though.
Roctober: What's coming up for you guys.
Bill: We've got a couple of shows in Ohio, Cincinnati...We did like 200 shows over the last year, so this isn't something we do over the weekend.
Roctober: Anything you'd like the people to read?
Gary: Strutter Wants You!
Steve: Rock and Roll All Night!