You wanted the best, you got the best – or at least a fairly authentic substitute.

 

IKONS Tribute to KISS played to a large crowd at the Sound Garden Saturday night. Almost two hours after they were supposed to start playing, IKONS hit the smoke-filled stage and started their set with Shout It Out Loud.

Dressed in accurate ‘70s KISS costumes and equipped with fire, blood and rock star attitudes, the IKONS’ version of The Demon, Spaceman, Catman and Starchild delivered hit after hit, mostly from the albums recorded before 1980.

 

It was obvious that IKONS were well rehearsed, as they had both the songs and their stage performance down to a science. But while they looked and played the part during the songs, a certain level of annoyance was felt each time they addressed the crowd.

 

They spoke in obnoxious ‘radio announcer’ voices. Why go to all the trouble of putting on elaborate costumes and learning all the songs if you’re going to constantly break character?

 

More than once they referred to the movie Detroit Rock City – the story of four high school friends trying to get to a KISS concert – while introducing a song, sometimes explaining an entire scene. If people wanted to see Detroit Rock City, they would have stayed home and watched it.

 

It took a while for the crowd to get into the show. It was about halfway through the first set when people started to leave their barstools for the dance floor.

 

By the end of the first set, the floor and speakers were packed with people dancing, and the members of IKONS walked around the bar and played Lick it Up, as they claimed, “for the ladies.”

 

Overall, it was a night of wild rock ‘n’ roll, fun and the closest you’ll get to seeing KISS in Lethbridge without a time machine. The primary goal of a tribute band is to entertain and play to the crowd’s need for nostalgia. Mission accomplished.