Days of Lore

“Get up and get your grandma out of here!” I can picture it now—a bunch of dudes lined up outside Tinseltown wearing makeup and spilling out of their black T-shirts, waiting for the greatest show on Earth. And I, Mark Lore, will be among them.

In what is surely a plot to prey on the feeble-minded, all the while lining the pockets of Gene Simmons®, KISS will be performing in Chico … sort of. The band has announced that it will be showing a 1976 performance at the Motor City’s Cobo Hall in select theaters across the country for one night only—Thursday, Oct. 26—including right here in good ol’ Chico, Californ-I-A. All of this, of course, coincides with the release of Kissology Vol. 1 1974-1977, a two-disc DVD loaded with rare footage and four full concerts from the band’s heyday.

KISS Alive! On the Big Screen will also include footage from 1975, when the band went to Cadillac, Mich., where it was pronounced KISS Day, proving early on that the band had a knack for shameless promotion. It was on that day that Cadillac officials, wearing makeup, gave the band the key to the city and KISS performed at Cadillac High School’s homecoming game. I wonder how many tongue-lashings Gene gave that weekend?

Anyway, if you enjoy rock ’n’ roll, you should watch it. The Tinseltown showing starts at 8 p.m.; tickets cost $10 and are available now.

God, I’m lame.

Alive! In Chico If watching KISS in a movie theater doesn’t sound appetizing, try these actual live shows on for size: Friday, Oct. 20, at Off Limits is the raunchy rock ’n’ roll of The Dead Romantics with Tell Tale Heartbreakers, The Fatals and Bob Howard’s new one-man act Sleazy Earl Ray. Show starts at 9:30.

On the mellow tip will be a night of acoustic music with Mark Growden, Julia Dawn, Boy Tiger and Blood Honey at the Crux Artist Collective, also on Friday. The first music performance at the Crux’s new lair starts at 8 p.m.

And Tuesday, Oct. 24, at Off Limits will be Three Fingers Whiskey, HillStomp and I Can Lick Any Sonofabitch in the House. Check out Carey Wilson’s story on SOB on page 34 for more details.

On a serious note By now most people in the community have heard about the tragic passing of local musician Josh Read. I didn’t know Read, but by all accounts he was a great person and a talented musician.

Read, who was general manager at Woodstock’s Pizza and played in local bands such as Jensing, Lee Vining and more recently in ’80s cover band Simply Irresistible, was found early Saturday morning in his backyard pool and was pronounced dead at around 5:30 a.m. He was only 33.

The autopsy was still pending at CN&R press time, but a spokesperson for the Butte County Sheriff’s Department said “full cardiac arrest” is believed to be the cause of death. She added that the toxicology report wouldn’t be ready for another two months.

Read’s roommate and bandmate, local musician and all-around sweet guy Clint Bear, is the one who discovered his friend and has been understandably shaken.

“I lost a true friend and one of the best damn bass players that I have ever played with. This is the most unbelievable thing that I have ever had to deal with in my life,” Bear wrote on his MySpace page.

A forum has been set up at the Woodstock’s Pizza Web site for those who want to pay tribute to Read: www.woodstockschico.com/Index.php.

My condolences go out to Read’s family and friends.