Hello all from KISS ALIVE the TRIBUTE, Ft. Lauderdale, Fl

[KISS ALIVE the TRIBUTE]

Hello everyone,
I look forward to hanging out here with all of you good people.

I'm the founder and bass player for KISS ALIVE the TRIBUTE.
Yes, its for real, its not a hobby or a bunch of guys in bad Halloween costumes making noise.
KISS ALIVE the Tribute is not simply just another KISS TRIBUTE band, we are a national, theatrical
stage and music act made up of highly talented seasoned music veterans who happen to resemble the
members of the band KISS. We recreate the historic, classic Kiss experience from the mid 70's.

I enjoy talking with people about rock music so this place looks like it'll be very entertaining for me.
We're on Facebook so friend us if you are on there.
If your on youtube watch a few of our videos and enjoy.

Hope to talk with many of you and make some new friends.

[Packard Goose]

Highly talented, eh?

Then you have something over the original Kiss already.

[Tanaka]

Hello and Welcome

[Diamondjimi]

Welcome "Gene" !

[sarah's brother]

hola, katt

[chefcraig]

You played Cagney's? Hope you had tetanus shots before and showered heavily afterward.

And believe me, that's saying something considering I've played just about every rat-infested shithole in the Tri-county area. Some stand out, though. Let's see...in the eighties there was Flynn's, down in Miami. This was a couple of years before Miami Vice changed South Beach, and the venue was little more than a bombed-out bar in the cellar of a crumbling hotel. If the cocaine dealers liked your band, you were given free "amusements" every time you played or just showed up.

Then there was the Culture Room, which in the nineties had an enormous roof support about as round as a telephone pole sprouting up from the middle of the stage. They remodeled after a few years, which put the support roughly 3 feet in front of the stage.

And of course, there was the Metal Factory, which mysteriously was only open one or two nights a week. Also mysterious were the club's financial practices, which meant you and your band would make about 45 bucks a show, even though the head count of the audience could get to quadruple figures. Oh, and since the owners were dealing coke out the back door, you had to load your equipment through the front door. There was no ramp, either. This meant chucking your gear up and down the two and a half foot high stage. This also explains why our drummer quit using double bass drums and got by with a single and a double beater.

South Florida. Thinking about it reminds me of that quote "Musicians. Such a fine career, and such a sad profession." Welcome to the board.

[KISS ALIVE the TRIBUTE]

Thanks everyone and chefcraig.

Hey chefcraig, do I know you?

You evidently have lived down here or still do ????

We played the Metal Factory after it was called Pulp Live. It was better than when it was Rosebuds or the M factory, much nicer but the owner got cheap and started having all the " Play for Free" kiddie bands there and it ran all the locals out and basically put the final nail in it.

LOL .... Yea we played Cagney's in Davie, we were doing it essentially as a paid dressed rehearsal and that is much better than paying for rehearsal time. We did get dipped for fleas and ticks afterward,,,, ha ha

We are playing Big Dawgs II in Davie this Saturday the 22nd and we have a Guns and Roses Tribute opening for us at 10:00pm

[JerseyGirl]

[Mark]

Welcome to here

[cookie]

Welcome to our place

[chefcraig]

Thanks everyone and chefcraig.

Hey chefcraig, do I know you?

You evidently have lived down here or still do ????

Yeah man, I'm still here, about 8 miles west of you. Chances are we both chewed a great amount of the same dirt, at least gig-wise. I've been out of the game for several years now, but keep a hand in from time to time. I've included a handful of recordings at this site, and you can find them along with the much more inspired works of some of the other guys here in the A Place To Post Your Stuff thread.

Incidentally, my last gig was at the Metal Factory on a bill that included two teen-punk bands, us and a Led Zeppelin tribute group. A fight broke out between the underage nitwit fans of the punkers, leading to an all-out riot. Naturally, the Fort Lauderdale police responded by sending a single officer. As the chaos went on, the drummer and I stood on top of our equipment laden pick up trucks, him swinging a golf club and me using a baseball bat to keep people away.

Needless to say, the show was postponed by two hours as the club picked up the lost teeth and fixed the damaged furniture. In the interim, I wound up speaking with the lead singer of the Zep band, who annoyingly remained in character as Robert Plant, lousy England by way of New York accent included. He informed me that his group had been doing what my band had been doing (ie. playing originals and starving), when their manager made the suggestion two years earlier about playing as a tribute band. "Plant" then dropped a bombshell on me: They had been playing up to seven nights a week and rolling in the dough ever since.

I did some numbers in my head and quit the band later that evening. The guys continued on in various forms for the next few years, yet never managed to record anything past our first three albums, the last of which I wrote or co-wrote more than half of.

I don't really regret the decision, but the truth is I rethink it over and over every so often. Ultimately, we simply never met the fat guy with the limo and cigar. People outside the industry would be surprised to learn just how few groups or artists ever do. For all of the work and little (if any) financial reward, you'd be better off playing the state lottery. Yeah, the creating and playing part is cool, but after dinging my dong for the better part of a thirty year stretch, it was time to bow out with a miniscule amount of my dignity still intact.

Hats off to you and the guys for keeping up the good fight, particularly in this insidious cultural wasteland.

[KISS ALIVE the TRIBUTE]

I can tell that you are a seasoned vet. This business is not what everyone thinks it is. Glad to chat with people who can relate to it.

[bobbyg29]

Hello and welcome!