Kings of the Nighttime World bring KISS to Norwalk

WHAT: Kings of the Nighttime World, a KISS tribute band
WHEN: 8 p.m. April 17
WHERE: Norwalk Main Street Theatre
COST: $15/reserved seating, $12.50/general admission
INFO: norwalktheatre.org or slafountain@sbcglobal.net

The Norwalk Main Street Theatre will be rocking and rolling all night this Saturday with the Midwest’s hottest KISS tribute band, Kings of the Nighttime World. The band will play some of the greatest hits from the KISS repertoire, and will perform in full makeup and costume with as much pageantry and showmanship any KISS fan would expect.

Admission to the performance costs $15 for reserved seating and $12.50 for general admission and tickets can be obtained in one of two ways, either at Berry's Restaurant, 15 W. Main, Norwalk or through the theatre box office. The box office is open on Wednesdays from 10 a.m. until 1 p.m., and on Saturdays from 1 p.m. until 4 p.m. The day of the show, the box office will be open from 10 a.m. until the show begins.

To help generate some excitement for the upcoming concert, and to explain what it is that people can expect at the show, Scott Leonard, who portrays the Gene Simmons character in the performance, took a few minutes to answer some questions over the phone with Funcoast about the upcoming concert on April 17.

Funcoast: How did the whole idea of playing in a KISS tribute come about?
Scott Leonard: Well, there was a time 11 or 12 years ago where we had an opportunity to play an opening slot for a relatively popular band in Chicago. It was around Halloween, and we thought it would be fun to dress up and perform as KISS, and so we did it just that once, just for fun.  Afterwards we had people come up to us who said they liked it, they wanted to know when we were going to do it again, and so it kind of just took off from there.

FC: Who is in the band with you, and has the band always had the same members?
SL: I play the Gene Simmons character, and Jay LaSalle plays the Paul Stanley character, and we’ve been with the band from the very beginning. We’ve had various different lead guitarists playing the Ace (Frehley) persona, and various different drummers for the Peter Criss character, but Jay and I have been there from the start. As of today, the lead guitarist, playing the Ace Frehley part, is Brian Schenk, and then the drummer who plays the Peter Criss character is Ron Melze. 

FC: When did you realize you could make a living performing as KISS, and how often do you tour?
SL: It’s not so much a full-time profession as it is a side project; all the guys in the band have full-time jobs as well, but we try to go out and play at various locations in the Midwest, usually on the weekends when we can, so it doesn’t disturb our ‘real’ jobs. But we’ve been doing it for almost 11 years now, so we try to play six to eight shows a year, once every other month maybe. We play mostly in and around Chicago, though we’ve played in Wisconsin, Iowa, Missouri, Florida, we even got a chance to play down in the Virgin Islands, and this will be our first time in Norwalk.

FC: KISS has a wide selection of music. Is there any particular style or era of KISS that you feature more than another?
SL: Well, we primarily concentrate on the older songs from KISS, primarily from the Alive! and Alive II eras, with the original band members. There won’t be so much of the music from later after the makeup came off and through the ‘80s, though; we play mostly the ‘70s music. We have the full makeup, costumes, etc., even the same type of instruments they used, so it’s hopefully a very faithful reproduction of the power and the glory that is KISS. 

FC: KISS is known as much for their showmanship as their musicianship during live performances. Can people expect something similar at the Norwalk show?
SL: I would say that not only is it a faithful reproduction as far as the songs go, but we bring also all of the visual aspects of a KISS show - the makeup, the costumes, and hopefully a great light show. We can’t necessarily do the pyrotechnics that the real band uses anymore, but it will still be an explosive show nonetheless. I’m definitely a fan of the Norwalk area, I come out to Cedar Point, almost every summer, so I’m real familiar with Sandusky, and it’ll be a thrill for me to come out not just to ride roller coasters but to rock for all of the people in the area.