Neal Family Archive

Concert Review

KISS & Motley Crue

by Diane Neal

August 3, 2012

The Cynthia Woods Mitchell Pavilion

The Woodlands, TX

As a former member of the KISS Army, Mr. Neal bought tickets to this show in The Woodlands without a second thought or even consulting with me.  Which is fine, I was up for it.  Granted the only KISS stuff I know is whatever Tulsa's KMOD ever played on the radio back in the day.  It never occurred to me as a kid to buy records of my own so I more or less never had any and relied on radio exclusively.  Same with Motley Crue, but I always liked what was on the radio so I was game for the show.

August rolls around and we make plans for the show which means babysitter for 3 kids and leaving work early.  I kept joking I had to go buy a new trashy outfit for the concert.  I admit I was expecting lots of older lady skanks to be out in full force.  The funny thing though about going to see a band that you liked when you were a teen or preteen is that while you are old now, they are even older.  Not sure which one is more sad.  Seeing early 50s Vince Neil in his rock and roll get up trying to conceal a gut or the skimpy outfits of some rough gals (not to mention Mick Mars who can barely move anymore bless his heart, but he can still tear it up with a guitar and I guess that is all that matters).  Surprisingly the concert had a lot of families-- I should clarify that.  A lot of dads with the kids.  Not so many moms there.  One guy had both his kids in full Kiss makeup.  Respect.  Lots of fat old dudes in concert Ts, lots of typical Texas gals done up with the boobs out and tans going.  The crowd alone was worth going to see.  One double date in front of our seats was distracting b/c it was clear they were there for the ladies to see Motley Crue.  One husband was kind of bored looking but had his beer so overall was cool.  The boyfriend from the other couple clearly had no idea who either of the bands were or any of their music.  I pegged him as being younger than the gal and a country music lover.  The gals just did some bad dancing together all night and ignored the guys.  And at one point one of them poured water all over herself and took her tank top off.  Classy!!

For a bunch of old dudes though I will say the shows were pretty awesome.  Lots of energy, everyone can still sing and they all seemed very psyched to be there.  I didn't necessarily enjoy being verbally abused by Tommy Lee and Nikki Six who seemed to think they were still engaging with 20 year olds  They obviously couldn't see who was out in the audience.  So that part was a little weird.   Very impressed with my first KISS show.  They still had a stage show with lights and fireworks and explosions and stuff even at an outdoor amphitheater.  My big surprise came when Paul Stanley spoke to the crowd.  I could swear I had seen him interviewed before but maybe not.  I had to ask Patrick if he was talking in his real voice.  You know that kind of general funny voice Adam Sandler does for many of his characters?  He is doing Paul Stanley.  I swear.  After that I couldn't listen to him without hearing Adam Sandler and smiling a little bit.   Just like when they played "Love Gun" I couldn't not think about the line from the movie "Role Models" . . . . and I'll leave it at that.  It's a family blog.  Rent the movie. 

Overall the show was way above my expectations and I'm glad we went.