This July I had another amazing opportunity to photograph some amazing bands at Moondance Jam 2011 in Walker, Minnesota. This was a very special year for Moondance Jam as they were celebrating their 20th Anniversary and also because this year they lost a great man, Bill Bieloh, who was the man behind Moondance. There was a fantastic tribute to Bill and he was remembered very well. Another thing that was special about Moondance 2011 is that KISS played! When I found out that Kiss was going to be at Moondnace I knew I had to make the trek up to Walker to attend. It didn’t hurt that my husband was going to be playing Moondance the same day with his band “Mish Mash” so it was a double win! What else is cool is that Moondance Jam put a link to my gallery website on their site! How awesome is that?!?! I have now seen Kiss live 3 times and this time I was lucky enough to photograph the show! Here is a little sample of images. Please feel free to visit the gallery where all of the images are located here. Prints of any of the images in the gallery are available for purchase. Please contact me with your wishes.
A little background of Kiss from our friends over at Wikipedia:
Kiss is an American rock band formed in New York City in January 1973. Easily identified by its members’ face paint and flamboyant stage outfits, the group rose to prominence in the mid to late 1970s on the basis of their elaborate live performances, which featured fire breathing, blood spitting, smoking guitars, shooting rockets, levitating drum kits and pyrotechnics. Kiss has been awarded 24 gold albums to date, the most of any American rock band. The band has sold more than 40 million albums in the United States, of which 19 million have been certified by the RIAA, and their worldwide sales exceeds 100 million albums.
The 1973–’80 lineup of Paul Stanley (vocals and rhythm guitar), Gene Simmons (vocals and bass guitar), Ace Frehley (lead guitar and vocals), and Peter Criss (drums, percussion and vocals) is the most successful and identifiable. With their makeup and costumes, they took on the personas of comic book-style characters: Starchild (Stanley), The Demon (Simmons), Spaceman or Space Ace (Frehley), and Catman (Criss). The band explains that the fans were the ones who ultimately chose their makeup designs. Paul Stanley became the “Starchild” because of his tendency to be referred to as the “starry-eyed lover” and “hopeless romantic.” The “Demon” makeup reflected Simmons’s cynicism and dark sense of humor, as well as his affection for comic books. Ace Frehley’s “Spaceman” makeup was a reflection of his fondness for science fiction and supposedly being from another planet. Peter Criss’ “Catman” makeup was in accordance with the belief that Criss had nine lives because of his rough childhood in Brooklyn. Because of creative differences, both Criss and Frehley were out of the group by 1982. The band’s commercial fortunes had also waned considerably by that point. Buoyed by a wave of Kiss nostalgia in the 1990s, the band announced a reunion of the original lineup (with makeup) in 1996. The resulting Kiss Alive/Worldwide/Lost Cities/Reunion Tour was the top-grossing act of 1996 and 1997. Criss and Frehley have since left Kiss again due to drug problems, but KISS continues with Eric Singer and Tommy Thayer, respectively. The band continues to perform with makeup, while Stanley and Simmons have remained the only two constant members.
Kiss has been named to many “Top” lists. They include Number 10 on VH1’s ‘100 Greatest Artists of Hard Rock’, 9th on ‘The Greatest Metal Bands’ list by MTV, #1 on Hit Paraders’s “Top 100 Live Bands”, 56th on VH1’s “100 Greatest Artists Of All Time”, 2nd on Digital Dream Door’s “Best Hair Metal Bands”, and 26th on Gibson’s “50 Greatest American Rock Bands”.
Kiss was nominated for the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, ten years after becoming eligible. However, on December 15, 2009, it was announced that Kiss did not make it in.