Though I’m sure that you know his often sonic register from being a founding member of “The Hottest Band In The World” KISS, you might not be aware of the soulful side of lead singer Paul Stanley. Introducing Paul Stanley’s Soul Station where we find the Starchild unmasked and together with a solid ensemble of players brings the listener back to the dynasty that was the seventies Soul music. Check out their premiere video for “O-o-h Child”; a song originally delivered by The Five Stairsteps.
Artist: Paul Stanley Venue: Irving Plaza (New York, NY) Opener: Slunt Date: 10/28/2006 Label: New Door/Universal Music
Tonight was a night that KISS fans have been waiting for since 1989, as it has been that long since Paul Stanley had performed on a solo tour. He would choose Irving Plaza in New York City which guaranteed a level of intimacy to the attending and long sold-out crowd. Paul would be showcasing his first solo album in two decades “Live To Win” and choose as his band the members of the House Band for the hit television series “Rockstar: INXS & Supernova”. The opener for the set would be Slunt and together all of this combined would surely be a night to remember. Here is what an excited venue full of KISS fans got to experience.
I remembered catching Slunt as the opener for Motorhead sometime last year and at the time I felt that it was a badly matched pairing. The band had talent and a look – but to me could not generate the level of excitement needed for a Hard Rock Metal group like Motorhead. Yet tonight I would find myself feeling different, as the band led by Abby Gennet, a Rock & Roll siren if there ever was one, would truly impress me with their brand of high-energy Rock & Roll. The band features Pat Harrington (guitar), Chris Ruggiero (drums) and Jhen Kobran (bass) and all of them work perfectly with the kind of music Paul would be delivering tonight. They rock when it comes down to it, and they all look like they are having a great time onstage which is always what one should display during lively music. Their performance would focus on music from their debut “Get A Load Of This” and a sneak peek at some stuff on the forthcoming effort “One Night Stand”. Some people might remember Gennet from before, as she was a former MTV2 VJ. She simply decided that talking about Rock & Roll was not as fun as doing it. The group showed a great amount of personality onstage and we would find them after their set mingling with the audience at the merchandise booth and posing for pictures. This was a good mix of music and they are set to do most of the dates on Paul’s tour – it should help with sales of their new record I am certain.
