KISS rocked Wisconsin's northwoods for once-in-a-lifetime Crandon concert (and a stop for ice cream, too)

CRANDON - If Friday night was indeed the final chapter in KISS history in Wisconsin, it felt a little like a storybook ending.

It seemed both fitting and unbelievable that the End of the Road World Tour that has been zigzagging the planet since 2019 finally found its way down a two-lane road to an open field in the northwoods of Wisconsin as the band counts down the final 25-plus shows of what it has said will be its last go-around.

Eat your heart out, Tokyo, London and Budapest. Only at a gig at Crandon International Raceway, affectionately known by race fans as “The Big House,” could you see see Gene Simmons spew blood, Paul Stanley shake his tush and overhear this on your way to your car at night’s end: “Be careful. There’s some cowpies through here.”

It was an evening that merged thousands of race fans in town for the weekend-long 54th Polaris Crandon World Championships and 8th Red Bull Crandon World Cup with thousands of KISS fans sporting vintage tour T-shirts as far back as 1976’s “Destroyer" for a concert put on by Forest County Potawatomi Community. You could hear the sound of off-road racing next door as Foghat’s “Slow Ride” played on the grounds while long lines of concertgoers waited to get in with their lawn chairs.

For all the spectacle onstage — enough fireworks, flames, pyro and “Rock and Roll All Nite” confetti for half of Forest County — there was a certain rustic charm to the remote setting. The night sky made the lasers and towering video screens of Simmons, Stanley, Eric Singer and Tommy Thayer really pop, and a cool and breezy first evening of September felt like it could carry old-school rock anthems like “Shout It Out Loud” and “Detroit Rock City” all the way through Chequamegon-Nicolet National Forest.

KISS co-founders Stanley and Simmons seemed to embrace the small-town setting. After attending the groundbreaking in the morning for one of their Rock & Brews restaurants at Potawatomi Casino Hotel Carter in nearby Wabeno, they stopped for ice cream at Yeti’s Drive-In once they got to Crandon.

Still wearing the beaded medallions presented to them by the Potawatomi at the groundbreaking, they posed for photos with staff, customers and a poster that read “Are You Yeti to Lick It Up?”

Nobody was having more fun than Paul Stanley during the show

Once the makeup went on and the lights went down, they transformed from two guys in sneakers to rock stars in platform boots. After a thunderous 15-minute opening performance by Woodland Sky Native American Dance Company came the signature KISS intro.

“Crandon, you wanted the best, you got the best. The hottest band in the world. KISS!”

It was another 10 minutes, as crew appeared to wrangle the huge curtain with the band logo on it before KISS walked out and launched into “Detroit Rock City” at 9 p.m. For the next hour and 45 minutes, it was well-oiled, over-the-top machine that is a KISS show.

The theatrics are a familiar and much-loved schtick. Lead singer Stanley, the affable host for the evening, with the stage prancing and hand to the ear to the crowd. Simmons with all the tongue flashing and finger pointing, each one aimed with precision at the cameras onstage. Every pose, every movement is camera-worthy.

The real marvel is that after 50 years, KISS is still doing it — and doing it well and with such joy. Stanley seemed to be having a ball all night, especially on “Shout It Out Loud” and when trading guitar licks with Thayer on “Calling Dr. Love.” Singer, ever the cool Catman behind the drums, delivered a blistering solo on “Psycho Circus," and then did "Beth" closer to night's end.

As they ripped through one old-school classic after another, from “Heaven’s on Fire” to "I Love It Loud" to "I Was Made For Lovin' You," it was impossible not to feel like you were witnessing the end of an era. Bands with that kind of staying power and passion across generations are a rarity.

Stanley introduced “Lick It Up” as a song from 1983. “I wasn’t even born then,” said a fan in the row behind — and then sang along to every word.

KISS Army turned out in force in all ages and with face paint

David Moravetz, Green Bay, went to his first KISS concert in 1979 and has seen every tour that has come through the area since. It was the face paint that hooked him when he got his first album at age 10. His 17-year-old son, John, surprised him with tickets to the Crandon show. It was his first time seeing them live.

Even for somebody like David Moravetz, with all the albums, the pinball machine, the rooms full of memorabilia and a closet of tour T-shirts, the chance to see the band in Crandon felt special.

“They play huge venues all around the United States. They go to Europe and play 200,000 or 100,000 people and they come here to 20,000 or 30,000 in a little town in the middle of nowhere,” he said. “You would never think that would happen.”

Nathan Boravich, a Potawatomi tribal member from Green Bay, has been a fan since he was 10. His first concert was KISS at Lakeview Arena in Marquette, Michigan. Friday night was his second time seeing the band. He bought his father-in-law, Gary DuFresne, of Iron Mountain, Michigan, tickets for his birthday. They both rocked face paint.

“This is huge for us,” Boravich said of Forest County Potawatomi landing such a giant act. “I think it’s pretty cool that they’re able to get up there at the age that they’re at and still put on a cool show.”

Simmons, who just turned 74 on Aug. 25, hammed it up with media and fans during press interviews prior to the groundbreaking ceremony in Wabeno but talked seriously about KISS coming to the End of the Road of its touring career.

“The idea is to get off that stage before it’s a joke. We introduce ourselves with, ‘You wanted the best, you got the best. The hottest band in the world. KISS.’ Why would you do that if you don’t have the goods?" he said. "We’ve all seen bands that have stayed onstage too long. Have some dignity. Deeply, deeply grateful for this amazing life. Get off the stage. All things have to come to an end.”

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Kendra Meinert is an entertainment and feature writer at the Green Bay Press-Gazette. Contact her at 920-431-8347 or kmeinert@greenbay.gannett.com. Follow her on Twitter @KendraMeinert. 

This article originally appeared on Green Bay Press-Gazette: KISS took Wisconsin's northwoods by storm for Crandon concert