KISS in Cadillac – The Amazing Michigan True Story
There are a TON of great rock stories in America, but KISS in Cadillac, Michigan performing at their high school homecoming is the stuff of legend. And it really happened.
KISS in Cadillac – How Did It Happen?
In 1973 the Cadillac High School football team (Vikings) had a great season, finishing 9-0. You can imagine how excited they were going into the 1974 season – only to start 0-2, The coaches knew this team was talented and needed to relax a bit – so they started playing some Rock and Roll (assistant coach Jim Neff was in charge of the music), Jim chose a new band called KISS – in part because of the connection to football KISS (Keep It Simple Stupid) and because they were loud and fun and fit the bill.
Did it work? The team won their final seven games, and KISS found out about it – adopting the team as their own.
Then in October of 1975 the craziest thing happened. KISS came to Cadillac, Michigan to perform a homecoming concert. KISS in Cadillac is real folks…and it’s FREAKING awesome.
Over 40 years later this monument outside of the football stadium is a reminder of the power of rock and roll. And the only monument in the world dedicated to KISS. What’s it like?
It’s eight feet tall and it’s incredible. Pulling up by the high school football field in Cadillac, I honestly didn’t know what to expect – but when you see it…wow. We stood there and just soaked it in – you get a grin on your face and think about how the ENTIRE town embraced KISS back in 1974/75.
Gene Simmons in Cadillac – what could go wrong?
It’s such an amazing story about KISS coming to Cadillac (see ESPN story below). But Gene being Gene it’s definitely not surprising that he took an interest in the head cheerleader at the high school, even going so far as to jumping off their helicopter before the band left (from the field), running over to her and picking her up in his arms (she thought it was going to be a hug), he said “I could take you away with me” – to which her dad, did I mention he was the chief of police said “over my dead body”.
Classic Gene Simmons.
You’re going to be hard pressed to find a better rock and roll story than this – a community embracing a band like Cadillac did in 1974-75, and getting the love back from the band. The monument is amazing BTW, a testament to those events over 40 years ago.
