KISS performs at Shoreline Amphitheatre in Mountain View, Calif., on Sept. 10, 2021. Sean Liming/STAFF.

MOUNTAIN VIEW, Calif. — A year and a half after wagging their tongues through Oakland mere days before lockdowns, KISS brought their End of the Road Tour back through the the Bay; this time to Shoreline Amphitheatre.

KISS performs at Shoreline Amphitheatre in Mountain View, Calif., on Sept. 10, 2021.

The band blasted “Detroit Rock City” through the pyrotechnics and smoke while being lowered on individual platforms from the rafters. It was over the top, but definitely KISS.

“You wanted the best, you got the best!” Gene Simmons yelled as the rockers launched into a rolodex of hits. Classics like “Deuce,” “Cold Gin” and “Black Diamond” intertwined with hits from KISS’ “Unmasked” era, such as “Heaven’s On Fire” and “Tears Are Falling,” all the way to “Say Yeah,” from 2009 album Sonic Boom.

The band again talked about how this tour, which it originally began in 2019, was its last. It was originally scheduled to conclude in July, but is now running through into 2022. Gene Simmons and Paul Stanley, both of whom tested positive for COVID-19 earlier this month seemed to be in fine form following the postponement of four shows to give them and the people who they had come in contact with to quarantine.

Keeping to its legendary stage presence, the band offered a spectacular light show and ear-shattering pyrotechnics, with Simmons spitting fire during “I Love It Loud.” Stanley introduced next song “Cold Gin,” noting that “many of you weren’t born prior to 1983,” when the song was released. Followed a four-and-a-half-minute guitar solo by Tommy Thayer, firework should out from his guitar and toward some UFOs (you’d have to see it yourself).

KISS performs at Shoreline Amphitheatre in Mountain View, Calif., on Sept. 10, 2021.

Following “Psycho Circus,” drummer Eric Singer played an epic five-and-a-half-minute solo. His performance was playful, cocky and flirtatious as his platyform rose 20 feet above the stage. He blotted the sweat away from his face and arms without missing a beat. Stanley then soared 15 feet above the crowd during “Love Gun.”

KISS concluded the show with the anthemic “Rock and Roll All Nite,” which featured blasts of confetti and purple and white streamers.

Performance painter David Garibaldi opened the show with a visually captivating 40-minute demonstration, painting Nikki Sixx, John Lennon and KISS. He used not just brushes but his fingers and palms as well. While listening to Mötley Crüe and others, attendees witnessed a black canvas transform, a little bit at a time and then all at once, as it wasn’t clear whom or what Garibaldi was painting until he was nearly done. 

The band signed the paintings, which were then offered to to fans as part of Live Nation’s Crew Nation fundraising efforts, supporting music industry workers during the pandemic. The campaign has raised $600,000, the band said.

Follow photographer Sean Liming at Twitter.com/SeanLiming and Instagram.com/S.Liming.