I am going to post a story mandolin great Bobby Clark told several years ago about being in a bluegrass band that ended up opening for KISS. Somewhat long but worth the read. Q - O.K., Bobby, I think we really have to have that KISS story. A - OK, here goes. The KISS story from someone who was actually there. Once upon a time there were two young bluegrass players named Bobby and Vince in a town called Oklahoma City. They played in a band together and went to high school together and ate a lot of pizza and played a lot of pinball, etc. Vince was sitting in Bobbys living room one night when Bobby got a call from the Bluegrass Alliance to come to Louisville and join their band. Bobby had one more year of school and Vince was out, so Bobby put Vince on the phone. After about 45 minutes on the phone, Vince came walking back into the living room with kind of a stunned look on his face and said, looks like Im moving to Kentucky. Thats not the KISS story, but it sort of leads up to it. The next year, my senior year in high school, I noticed an ad in the paper for An Evening With KISS. Freaky looking dudes in make up, leather, long tongues, etc. Didnt look like my kind of concert, so I didnt think anymore about it. One evening the phone rings and its Hal Clifford, leader of local string band, Mountain Smoke. Hey, Bobby, want to make $200.00 for a 45 minute set? My response was something along the lines of, Is the Pope a Catholic? Hal says, Meet me at the Municipal Auditorium as quick as you can get there. By the way, we need a fiddler. Know anybody? Yeah, Vince is back in town. Great, Ill call him, gotta go. So I tell my folks Ive got a gig and grab my mando and head downtown to the big auditorium, wondering what kind of event we would be playing for. I didnt realize that night was to be the show billed as, An Evening With KISS. When I got there Hal explained the situation- Even though it was billed as just KISS, the contract plainly stated there had to be an opening act. There was a heavy metal band from Tulsa booked, but they got POed during sound check and headed back to T-Town. KISS had refused to go on without an opener. So the promoter was in a bind and frantically went through his Rolodex. No rock acts were available that night. So he called up Hal and booked old, dependable string band, Mountain Smoke. Now, keep in mind the concert was scheduled for 8:00. Hal called me at 7:45. By the time we all got down there and got tuned up and ready, it had to be at least 8:45. Needless to say the natives were getting restless, after all, they were ready for An Evening With KISS. No mention of any warm up act, much less a puny little string band. We gathered in the wings. I have to say this was pretty exciting stuff for a high school kid. Getting to play at a big concert and all. The house lights went down... an excited murmur went through the crowd...the off stage announcer began the introduction...and now Oklahoma Citys own Moun-tain Smoke!... The excited murmer turned into a confused, angry murmer as we started into a fast instrumental, giving it all we had. At the end of the first song there was no applause. No boos either. Just the same confused, angry murmer. We started right into Jambalaya. As it ended a few clapped, quite a few more booed, many still just murmered. We quickly kicked into Alligator Man. Now there were more and more boos. Hal says, Orange Blossom. quick! As OBS ended, here comes a crumpled Coors can sailing through the air and lands at our feet. Hal says, Lets get the (heck) out of here. As the rest of us hurried off stage, Vince stepped up to the mic and yelled, KISS MY (REAR)! Most of the audience applauded then, but it was too late, no way we were going back out there. (I think, in hindsight, if we had cussed at the audience as soon as we were introduced, we might have been okay) Soon KISS was onstage, the audience was happy. We got paid, we were happy. Alls well that ends well. Let me clear up a rumor about that night that has gone around for years. The Daily Oklahoman reported the next day, and its appeared in several books that Vince mooned the audience. To the best of my recollection VG never dropped trou. Moderators Note: Just in case theres anybody out there who cant figure it out, Bobbys talking about Vince Gill.
Posted on: Mon, 24 Nov 2014 01:58:08 +0000
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