Detroit Rock City (1999) directed by Adam Rifkin and written by Carl V. Dupré. The film that follows four teenagers in a KISS tribute band on an adventure to see KISS in concert together.
Truth be told, Detroit Rock City might seem like your standard coming-of-age teen movie. We’ve all seen those “life-changing journey” flicks where mates go on some wild adventure and learn something profound.
You might think,
“Oh great, another one of those…”
“What’s so special about this one?”
Especially if it seems to have a predictable plot.
Four teenagers trying to see their favourite band might not sound like box office gold. It’s just another road trip/coming of age movie.
But for KISS Fan, “Detroit Rock City” is sounds familiar. And as the Advertising told you that It’s “a film made by KISS fans, for KISS fans.”
Interesting? huh!
Who the Hell are KISS?
KISS aren’t exactly known for their profound lyrics. KISS aren’t exactly Bob Dylan in the lyrics department. Their songs stick to the holy trinity of rock and roll: sex, drugs, and well… rock and roll!
We’re talking catchy-as-hell hooks that’ll stick in your head like superglue.
Let’s get one thing straight – Musically speaking, they’re not what you’d call virtuosos – none of the core members ever got named “Guitar God of the Year” or anything. But mate, their teamwork was tighter than leather pants in a heatwave, and they rocked harder than a concrete mattress!
While they never topped the Billboard charts (right?), they built an army of fans so loyal, they’d make the Marines look uncommitted. These face-painted became one of the most commercially successful rock bands ever – even without dropping new tunes!
Here’s what makes KISS special (according to my opinion): they never pretended to be anything other than pure entertainment. The band’s leaders, Paul Stanley and Gene Simmons, have been marketing geniuses since they formed in ’71 (back when they were called Wicked Lester – proper pub quiz knowledge there!). If you’re looking for deep, meaningful art, you might want to look elsewhere!
If we’re talking about “playing music” as some sacred art form, KISS might not even qualify as a brilliant band!
The two frontmen cheerfully admit they never aimed to create complex, superhuman music. Even though they started during the heyday of Black Sabbath and Led Zeppelin, when progressive rock was blooming with its musical complexity, the KISS crew probably figured that route wasn’t for them. They knew they couldn’t match the skills and creativity of those legendary bands, so they focused on basic rock that emphasized pure fun.
The Rise of KISS
This perfectly aligned with marketing principles: to succeed,
- you need to do something no one’s done before.
- If someone’s already done it, you need to do it better.
- And if you can’t do it better, you need to be different!
KISS chose to be different. Their main concern was making sure fans had a blast at their shows – and that’s been their secret to success for nearly fifty years.
Their first major difference was their makeup and costumes. To be fair, makeup wasn’t entirely new at the time – when they formed in the early ’70s, glam rock bands were already experimenting with it. Alice Cooper, the godfather of shock rock, wore eyeliner and incorporated theatrical elements in his shows. But while Alice Cooper merely wore eyeliner, KISS took it to another dimension entirely!
Each member created their own distinct persona: Gene Simmons as The Demon – a fire-breathing monster who spewed blood (well, yogurt with food colouring), Paul Stanley as The Starchild, Ace Frehley as The Spaceman, and Peter Criss as The Catman.
This was a brilliantly different approach to creating a band identity. Even kids who’d never listened to rock music (like me) were fascinated by KISS because they looked like they’d stepped straight out of a comic book (speaking from personal experience here!).
KISS
They successfully grabbed people’s attention, though their first three albums didn’t sell particularly well. Ironically, their attention-grabbing makeup backfired somewhat – critics claimed they were using it to compensate for a lack of musical ability.
Casablanca Records tried everything to make them famous (including organizing a kissing marathon!), but album sales remained stubbornly low. Even when Neil Bogart, Casablanca’s big boss who saw their potential from the start, personally supervised their third album Dressed to Kill (1975), it performed worse than their second album Hotter Than Hell (1974).
Despite poor album sales, their live shows were becoming legendary, featuring pyrotechnics, Gene’s fire-breathing and blood-spitting acts, dazzling lights, and smoke effects.
Combined with KISS’s high-energy performance, it created an unforgettable experience – even if you couldn’t quite make out what they were playing, you knew you were having a blast! This live success led Bill Aucoin, their manager, to realize what fans really wanted was the live experience, so he suggested releasing a live album to bridge the gap.
Back then (mid-70s), live albums were typically seen as mere time-fillers. But Neil saw the potential in Bill’s suggestion and agreed to release a double album despite the higher price point. Plus, with Casablanca nearing bankruptcy, a live album was a relatively low-cost investment that might bring in some much-needed cash.
ALIVE!
The response exceeded everyone’s expectations. “Alive!” (1975) sold incredibly well – better than all their previous albums combined. “Rock and Roll All Nite,” which had barely received radio attention in its studio version from “Dressed to Kill,” became a massive hit in its live form. reaching #9 on the Billboard chart – an astonishing achievement compared to their previous struggles.
Paul Stanley boasted that this success proved KISS’s strength lay in their powerful, energetic, and fun live performances. claiming their first three albums flopped because they were too dry in the studio, but once they captured the live energy, everything clicked.
(I’ll write more about “Alive!” when I have time – there’s quite a bit to discuss, especially about how that “live energy” might not have been entirely authentic. The band did quite a bit of studio touch-up work, if you catch my drift!)
After KISS’s breakthrough, their marketing machine went into overdrive. It started with their cleverly named fan club, the KISS Army, followed by an avalanche of merchandise from posters and models to pencil cases and lunchboxes.
They repackaged songs from their first three albums, released new material that suddenly seemed brilliant – when you’re on top, even your farts smell like roses! Destroyer (1976), produced by Bob Ezrin, became their masterpiece, followed by Rock and Roll Over (1976) and Love Gun (1977).
America’s Most Popular Band
1977 was such a peak year for KISS. Gallup Poll declared KISS “America’s Most Popular Band” in June.
imagine if you combined the theatrical madness of Lady Gaga, the merchandising empire of Taylor Swift, and the pyrotechnics of Rammstein. That’s the kind of cultural impact we’re talking about!
Now, we should take that Gallup Poll with a pinch of salt – polling accuracy can be debatable – but there’s no denying that KISS was one of America’s most successful rock bands at the time.
Their peak success lasted from 1975 to 1978, and “Detroit Rock City” captures this era of KISS mania perfectly. Any KISS fan watching will certainly feel nostalgic for the band’s glory days.
Detroit Rock City (The Film)
This is the period when our film takes place. Since it’s made specifically for KISS fans, everything about it is KISS-centric, starting with the title borrowed from their song “Detroit Rock City” from the Destroyer album.
Detroit itself is known as the Motor City, being America’s largest automotive manufacturing centre during the industrial boom. Musically, it gained fame in the late ’60s and early ’70s as the birthplace of proto-punk/garage rock.
(bands like MC5 (Motor City 5), Iggy Pop and the Stooges, and the Amboy Dukes. was born here)
While the song might seem like a tribute to Detroit’s rock scene, it’s actually about a car crash with an oncoming truck. If we’re stretching for a Detroit connection, we could say it’s fitting that a song from Motor City involves automobiles!
Interestingly, the film doesn’t actually take place in Detroit, but in Cleveland, Ohio. It follows four teenagers – Lex (Giuseppe Andrews), Trip (James DeBello), Hawk (Edward Furlong), and Jam (Sam Huntington) – who are in a KISS tribute band. They get tickets to see their heroes perform… only to discover the tickets are missing! Well, actually, one of their mums burned them! The lads then do everything in their power to make it to the concert.
That’s basically it – the rest is just filling in the story, leading to a happy ending…
Rotten Tomatoes gives it 41%, while audiences rate it at 82%.
Personally, I’m not a huge fan of the film, but it has everything you’d expect from a teen movie: comedy, touching moments, mischief, and some R-rated shenanigans, all wrapped up in proper rock’n’roll spirit with plenty of KISS!