KISS & Motley Crue Slam Rihanna & Pop Music Performances [VIDEO]

Big news in the world of Rock this week, a joint tour featuring musical icons KISS and Motley Crue.  During the press conference announcing their 40-date tour, simply called "The Tour", the ever opinionated KISS bassist Gene Simmons explained to the crowd what kind of show they can expect to see, while taking a shot at Rihanna and live pop-music performances today,

"We're sick and tired of girls getting up there with dancers and karaoke tapes in back of them.  No fake bull***t.  Leave that to the Rihanna, Shmianna and anyone who ends their name with an 'A.'"

Making sure to not leave his tour-mate hanging, Motley Crue drummer Tommy Lee backed up Simmons, expressing his distaste for the state of live performances in the world of music today,

"No disrespect to Rihanna, she's a great singer, but we're in a slump for some sh*t that has some personality and appeal beyond a bunch of pop stuff that's floating around out there. I'm glad he said that actually because I don't think I can bear watching another f**king award show that is just a little bit better than 'American Idol.' It's f**king pathetic to watch people go out and f**king karaoke with a bunch of lights and video. It's all completely watered down."

It wasn't that long ago that Gene Simmons made similar comments about Madonna.  When it was announced that the Material Girl was set to perform at the Super Bowl Halftime Show, Simmons called it inappropriate and referred to Madonna as a karaoke singer whose show is 70% tape.

Your opinions of KISS, Motley Crue, Gene Simmons, and Tommy Lee aside, how do you feel about their comments on the state of live performances today?  Are too many stars relying on pre-taped audio tracks when in front of an audience?  For me, I can't say that they were wrong in what they said.  Very much on the harsh side, but they spoke the truth.  In the world of music today, guys who are in their 60s are putting on better and longer shows than singers in their 20s.  If I go to a concert, I expect the artist to actually be playing and singing their music, not just lip-syncing to it while they dance around on stage for just over an hour.  After having the pleasure of seeing concerts like KISS, Aerosmith, Black Sabbath, and Rob Zombie give fantastic stage shows as well as play live for longer than an hour, maybe I've been spoiled, but I expect to see that at every concert.  Why spend hundreds of dollars on a concert ticket to see a singer just use their CD for the audio?  You can spend $20 on a DVD and get the same experience at home.

Below is an exerpt of the press conference, with Gene's shot at Rihanna coming up around the 10:30 mark.

via The Huffington Post