Gene Simmons came to town for the systemic price gouging event known as Wizard World. Even though I had already had the privilege of interviewing Gene by telephone in February, I ponied up the exorbitant fee to briefly stand beside him in person and have him sign an album. Here was the KISS demon, a man who exudes cool and dominates a room like no one I had ever observed. A man who confidently walked into the football stadium where the convention was held, and asked the staff about its capacity, knowing he had filled venues of this size before, and could do so again with a few phone calls. Still, as much as I enjoyed observing him in the element of celebrity and businessman, it paled in comparison to watching him in his true element of the stage. The lower levels of the Pageant Theater were mostly filled for a much more fairly priced performance by his solo band.
