25.01.2020 The Station, Cannock: Dressed to Kill, support: Words may differ


With the soon retiring Kiss returning to the download festival in Summer 2020, the original masters of shock rock have, by their own admission, reached ‘the end of the road’ allowing us time to reflect on a 4 decades long career highlighting a band that was so different in so many ways and so successful that it is hard if not impossible to top their achievements.

Any tribute band is up against the heroes they are trying to portray on stage and with Kiss’s live spectacles often called ‘the hottest show on earth’ it can’t be easy for a Kiss tribute band but the Station is an extraordinary venue with extraordinary people visiting for a good night out.

And Dressed To Kill did not disappoint – but first things first: ‘Words May Differ’ opened for them on a chilly January night and they were simply great. Good humour and banter on stage and solid songs well performed made it a joy to see Words May Differ play their original songs which were available on their CD ‘Words may differ – 1’ signed by all 5 members and for a mere fiver.

They also offered some covers including ‘Heaven and Hell’ (BlackSabbath) and ‘Rosie’ , a 1991 Richie Sambora (Bon Jovi) track and they fitted in very well with their own melodic yet hard hitting rock.










Not long after WMD left the stage ‘Dressed To Kill’ (named after Kiss’ third album, released on Casablanca Records in 1975) came on and started their set with the classic 1976 kiss track ‘Detroit Rock City’  and their highly enjoyable set included many songs from the classic/original Kiss line up (Gene Simmons, Paul Stanley, Ace Frehley, Peter Criss) including gems like ‘Firehouse’, ‘Cold Gin’ and ‘Deuce’.

Interestingly enough, I thought Dressed To Kill’s renditions of Kiss' 80s material were all amazing and super energetic and out shined the 70s Kiss tracks, which is a compliment as all tracks from all eras performed by this amazing tribute act were well performed and a lot of work has gone into their performances, which included the Demons’ blood spitting as well as a classic Peter Criss drum solo. When ‘Paul’ said ‘Eric Singer on the drums’ after the solo it drove home how modern it actually sounded yet stayed true to Peter Criss’s contributions.

The 80s tracks included ‘Heaven’s on fire’ , ‘Lick it up’, ‘Tears are falling’ , ‘Creatures of the night’ as well as the ever infectious ‘Crazy nights’.

What an awesome evening that was – hugely enjoyable




















photo credit: Penny Minnis and Thomas Janak

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