They're older, soberer and ready to cash in all over again. A rock group that disintegrated a decade ago in a haze of booze and drugs, Kiss is back. This is the real thing. Kiss is cashing in on the nostalgia that people like Ugliono feel as their own youth fades into middle age. Kiss uses props that have been mothballed since 1977.
Flames shoot up from the floor.
There are deafening explosions. The ear-shattering heavy metal music is laden with raunchy lyrics about groupies and wild parties. Paul Stanley smashes his guitar onstage in a carefully choreographed routine. It's more noise than music, but fans don't care. That's enough to put the band at number 29 on the Forbes Top 40 this year.