10 Best Live Rock Bands
7. KISS
When KISS were getting the ball rolling in the early 70's, they were looking to put together the ultimate live show that would shock every audience they performed to. Dressing in horrifying black-and-white makeup, these masterminds of New York turned the rock stage show into circus-level hysteria.
Across the band's odes to sex, drugs, and rock and roll, the stage antics the group would employ were some of the greatest acts of showmanship every put on stage. On one side, Paul Stanley approached the stage like a rock and roll preacher as he stirred the audience to the verge of insanity whenever he stepped to the mic. On the flipside, Gene Simmons was the true embodiment of a musical Demon, as he would fly through the air, breathe fire, and spit blood between tracks.
Add to that Ace Frehley's smoking guitar and Peter Criss's levitating drums and KISS became the greatest circus act that was then infused with the right amount of rock and roll danger. As the band has worked their way through their 4th decade of rock and roll decadence, the KISS live show is still one of the biggest spectacles that the rock world has to offer.