Paul Stanley's boots

Last night, my pal Gil Kaufman of MTV snapped this fantastic photo at a Kiss concert in Cincinnati, Ohio. I call it "Duct Tape Rock City."

David Pescovitz is Boing Boing's co-editor/managing partner. He's also a research director at Institute for the Future. On Instagram, he's @pesco.

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Anonymous

ive seen alot of bands with duct tape on their shoes. usually they duct tape them so that if they get close to the crowd people wont try and steal their shoes. I dont know if thats the case here or not but it could be.
-Lea Havoc
Anonymous

I worked with kiss during the last 4 tours they have done. The explanation here is new out fits was not made by the normal maker they have been using because he died a couple years back. Each band member came to me during the last 2 tours and complained about one thing or another about the outfits. One big complaint Paul had was the boots fit great till he got about 5 songs into the show. Then they seem to loosen up on him. During different points in the show Paul kicks his leg into the air and also makes some very high jumps and the boots as Paul said to me they come out of place. He meant they moved a bit. We tried all kinds of things to remedy this because you can’t have a show with the lead singer in a cast. I don’t remember this particular fix but yes we did try to always do something less noticeable to the crowd. This may have been some that was done late into the show when whatever fix we sent him out with had failed and we were just trying to last through a very few songs. The outfits cost upward of $20 thousand.
The boots are top quality but things do happen. One night Tommy freaked out because his left boot had a loose sole. He grabbed me like 5 hours before showtime and said lets go. He had a phone book in his hand and we jumped in a car and drove all over that town till we found an open shoe maker that could fix it. Made it back and he put his makeup on and costumed up and was on-stage ready like a pro.
The boots are not as heavy as they look. They actually seem lighter than the steel toed boots I wear. For Paul to be in his 60′s doing what he does on-stage is damn good. I am 10 behind him and when I stand in for one of them on sound checks without an weight on me I can’t do the moves they do. Paul runs every chance he gets even if it is up and down the stairs at the hotel. He works out for an hour before every show. He stays away from drinking for the most part and if he does have a drink he don’t get drunk.
For a band people love to diss every since the early 70′s I think it is a wonder they are still playing to 20-30 thousand people a night and it’s 2010. No other band out there can say this. My hat is off even if I didn’t like them because they have stuck around. And you don’t stick around nearly 40 years if you don’t have tremendous talent. Whenever I hear someone diss them and say they are has beens then I think of the stones whom this same disser would call a real band. The stones can’t sell the tickets KISS sells every night or stay on the road and do 92 shows in a year plus an album plus all the press they do. People every day talk to me about how good this artist or that artist is and most all of todays artist lip-sink every show and kiss is out there every night busting loose using there own vocal cords. So yes the dissers I hear represent a large amount of people whom know much less than they like to think they know. I just disregard those and listen to the more intelligent people out there. No you don’t have to like KISS but you have no choice but to respect them.
Bill Barol

I’m sorry, but for me the duct tape just turns the whole Kiss Experience into something cheap and tawdry.
Jack

Youâ€™re all wrong. The tape is there to keep his back in a New York groove.
Anonymous

Paul Stanely has always had the coolest boots. I actually bought a pair of his boots a couple of years back!
franko

maybe it was a last-minute fix, but i have to agree. then again, KISS has always been about theater, and what’s more theatrical than props that barely hold together, and look fantastic from a distance?
- gravytop
  
  i think was joke, no?
- Halloween Jack
  
  Agreed. I’ve seen photos of some of the props used on Star Trek, and the non-hero props (a “hero” prop is one used by the main actors and has the little blinking lights and fine detail for close-ups) look really shabby; you can tell that they’re made out of balsa wood or something similar and they’re dented and the paint is coming off. But on screen they look like pristine futuristic tech. I think the only reason this guy got this close-up is that he’s with MTV; from a distance, people probably thought that those gray-silver Xs were part of the design.
  - David Pescovitz
    
    Exactly what I was thinking when I posted the image. If it is for more ankle support, great! I was just surprised they wouldn’t use, at least, silver tape. ; ) And for what it’s worth, I’ve seen KISS play relatively recently and the show was fantastic and superfun.
millrick

i had always imagined Kiss traveled with a cobbler in their road crew.
sigh.
another rock & roll fantasy crushed by photojournalism…
theawesomerobot

Hey, these guys need more ankle support than they used to.
yupgiboy

If you look at any concert photos of Paul Stanley, the tape is there. It’s usually Black, though. I just saw them in Pittsburgh and it was wonderful, as always.
Anonymous

I work as a roadie for several high-profile artists, and this happens all the time.
For instance, a 4-member band had a vocalist that was supposed to play guitar on several songs. However, his guitar wasn’t really plugged into anything… the cable was just mixed between the cable-fest and nobody could hear one single chord he was striking.
- jeligula
  
  It pains me to say this, but as this man’s orthopedic doctor’s assistant, I can tell you that he was ordered to use that duct tape. It was a medical necessity. How dare you all make fun?
  - Fred H
    
    I’m just saying that those duct tape wraps should shoot fire or something. Medical necessity is fine, but I expect more from Kiss. Maybe some spangles or fake rhinestones?
Anonymous

If they would have used black duct tape, no one would have noticed. I am totally betting that the tape is for ankle support. I bet those boots are heavy!
Anonymous

You guys try to stand in those boots for several hours. Try it and see if you do not twist your ankle and fall flat on your ass. I think it is an ankle support.
Donald Petersen

Yeah, the man will be sixty in less than 18 months. Imagine stomping around onstage in your “seven-inch… leather heels” and getting a teensy bit sideways in a tangle of thrown panties, or slipping in a puddle of Gene’s spat blood. I’m sure he’s taped snugly into those boots every night, and if ski-boot straps didn’t make the Star-Child look like he has cankles, he’d wear those too.
- MrJM
  
  I suspect that the 58 year-old Mr. Eisen longs for the Crazy Nights-era when he could wear high-top sneakers on stage.
  
  “They say they can break you/
  Again and again/
  If life is cool footwear/
  Paul wears a ten!”
Anonymous

He has been using the duct tape for years!
Ghost Dance

Are those knee pads?
- Anonymous
  
  they’re hockey pants.
  
  “i don’t wear hockey pants.”
  
  – the batman.
  - lectroid
    
    “i don’t wear hockey pants.”
    
    - the batman.
    
    Uh, that’s “hockey PADS”
    - brix
      
      i’m sorry, are you suggesting that the batman wears hockey pants?
Anonymous

You guys do realize the starchild is over 60 now! LOL
kc0bbq

We get KISS, Rush, and Wierd Al at the Minnesota State Fair this year. It’s like heaven on a stick.

Now I’ll have to watch for the tape.
JIMWICh

‘There, I fixed it.’
Anonymous

Rotfl. My sister was at that concert– she’s a huge fan. I wonder if she noticed? ;)
- millrick
  
  “I wonder if she noticed?”
  
  why don’t you ask her?
  just wondering….
skimbleshanks

Hey what do you expect? They just haven’t turned on the smoke and mirrors yet.
mdh

If you can’t ‘duck it’, **** it.
lewis stoole

Billie Turner is a thief!
Anonymous

Kiss has been hit hard by the recession. Can’t even afford a new pair of go-go boots.
Anonymous

I bet those boots are a little heavy and bothersome when Paul goes jumping and running around on stage. The tape is probably to make them feel a little tighter on his feet so they don’t come flying off and hit somebody in the head….lol. That would be a terrible situation…. :0)
Anonymous

Derp. It’s for ankle support. Easy to sit back and spout uninformed criticism. When is the last time you’ve run around on stage for 2 hours in 7 in heels? huh? No one blinks when football players do the SAME EXACT thing, taping up their shoes and ankles for support, to prevent injury.
Baldhead

If you’re paying attention to the tape on his boots, then the show has bigger problems.

Oddly, I assumed “Bootsy” at first glance leading to the thought that they should play together.
- GlenBlank
  
  If you’re paying attention to the tape on his boots, then the show has bigger problems
  
  Heh, exactly.
  
  I showed up once do a show at a RennFaire, having forgotten my costume shoes, and had nothing but a pair of hiking boots. One of the Elder Ghods of the Entertainment department took one look and said, “Don’t sweat it – if they’re looking at your shoes, you’re doing it wrong.”
hep cat

That’s not duct tape , that’s gaffers tape.
Good ol’ Permacel 665 by the looks of it.
That Evening Sun

KISS probably has an endorsement deal with duck tape and they were filming one of the commercials that night.
showcasejase

I know this hack:
http://showcasejase.blogspot.com/2009/05/duct-tape-for-every-occasion.html

Duct tape is very handy for many situations, no?
Anonymous

You are all idiots!! That’s gaffe tape…professional theatrical stage tape. Not duct tape. True KISS fans rock with them no matter what.
freshacconci

You all realize he’s had two hip replacements? Paul’s getting on in years and I’m sure the tape helps with support. What else is he supposed to do? Retire gracefully?
- Antinous / Moderator
  
  You all realize he’s had two hip replacements?
  
  That bodes ill for Lady Gaga.