Larger Than Life band members take their tributes to the rock band KISS very seriously.

Not only do they copy the band/s costumes down to the 6-inch stage boots, but they also study the band/s mannerisms, playing style and solos to give their fans a mirror image of a real KISS performance.

In fact, the real KISS band liked them so much they were invited to play at the premiere party for the KISS boxed set. They can also be seen playing on the KISS DVD "Live From Las Vegas."

One of the original members of Larger Than Life, Val Popovic, said he got started as Ace Frehley because he wanted to be the lead guitarist in a band.

"I wanted to be a rock and roll star, and when that didn/t happen I was really sad," he said. "When I came home one day from band practice and saw an article looking for an Ace and a Paul to fill the band, I thought /Wow!/ I loved KISS when I was growing up. I looked at KISS like they were unreal."

Popovic, who lives in Modesto, tried out for the part as a challenge to himself.

Popovic and Jimmy Newell, who plays the part of drummer Peter Criss, soon became close friends.

With their other original members, Jay Harris as Paul Stanley and Andy Patche as Gene Simmons, they formed the hard-driving unit Larger Than Life that ended up being featured in a documentary movie called "Tribute," which was shown at film festivals and was recently featured on the Showtime movie channel.

In the movie, Patche, who was the glue of the band, ended up having a mental breakdown. The movie alleged he let the "Demon" character take over his life. Simmons is called the Demon character because of his blood-spitting and fire-breathing antics.

Popovic visited him in an institution and was holding onto hope that he would come back into the band. But Patche found Christianity and denounced the band for its supposed satanic leanings.

That led to some hilarious scenes of other bass guitarists trying out to play the part of Simmons. Towards the end of the movie, they picked up Dave Watkins for the Simmons part. Popovic said Watkins saved the band.

A couple of years have passed since the movie was filmed, and the lineup has changed again. But Popovic said it is for the better.

The band parted ways with Harris, who was convincing despite having much darker skin than the real Paul Stanley.

"We just saw things differently," Popovic said. "He tried to control everything."

The band added Gary Stevens to take over the Paul Stanley part. Stevens is a veteran of tribute bands, having played in Strutter, Hotter Than Hell and, with Jim Seda, KISS Army.

Stevens was also selected to play Paul Stanley/s stand-in for the movie "Detroit Rock City." He has recently moved from Las Vegas to Turlock to be close to the other band members.

Seda flies in from Kentucky to play the part of Gene Simmons at Larger Than Life/s gigs. He has been in KISS tribute bands since 1985. He also plays for his other band, New York/s KISS Army, on the East Coast. He makes his living at it full time and doesn/t have another "day job."

Seda, 39, said he started dressing up as Gene Simmons for Halloween in the 1980s. At that time, the real KISS members had already started playing without their trademark makeup.

Friends started telling Seda he looked the part, and Seda enjoyed playing the bass, so he decided to start playing with friends for fun. Eventually he got hired to perform as Simmons for pay.

Popovic said with the veterans of Stevens and Seda in the band, he and Newell feel like they are playing at a whole different level.

"We/re really a professional band," he said. "When we played at Harrah/s in Reno (recently), it was magical. People really thought it was a KISS show. They had no idea they were watching a KISS tribute band."

Larger Than Life tends to choose the play list for its concerts depending on the type of audience they are playing for.

If they are playing at a KISS convention, they can pull out some of the more rare songs. At shows like the ones in Santa Maria, they tend to play the songs people know, like "Strutter," "Detroit Rock City" and "God of Thunder."

But they always include the KISS rock anthem "Rock and Roll All Night" and the song "Shock Me," which acts as the backdrop for Ace Frehley/s smoking guitar solo. And, of course, they include Gene Simmons/ blood-spitting bass solo.

"The die-hard fans get more into it, and that opens you up to more songs," Seda said. "It/s also good to play for people who never saw KISS and are skeptical. You tend to win people over."

Larger Than Life has had many occasions to play on the same bill as other tribute bands for groups like Rush and Judas Priest.

Both Popovic and Seda have also met their heroes in person, although Popovic said he was a little disappointed in the real Ace Frehley.

"I met Ace and that was pretty odd," he said. "I don/t know if it was a let-down, but you realize that they are human.

"We/re using their makeup, logo and trademark," he added. "Gene Simmons signed a document that said we could do the movie /Tribute./ For Gene Simmons to even know you are alive is pretty cool."

The costumes the guys wear in Larger Than Life can cost as much as ,2,000, Popovic said. And they study the costumes to make sure they are all on the same page.

The band has adopted the stage appearance KISS used during the "Alive" era. "Alive" was a live double album, the band/s fourth album and the one KISS members said saved their career after their first three albums were slow to catch on.

Seda also has a costume with large spikes sticking out of his leather costume that Simmons wore in the "Love Gun" era.

Popovic said being in a tribute band isn/t much different than what was portrayed in the movie "Rock Star." In that movie, the character played by Mark Wahlberg pays excruciatingly close detail to the fictitious band he is paying tribute to.

In one scene, he stops his band/s rehearsal because his guitarist is not being faithful to the real band/s guitar riffs.

That/s something both Popovic and Seda can relate to. Popovic noted nobody would want to see a blond Elvis impersonator.

"Songs are written a certain way, and (a song) should be played exactly how it was written," Popovic said. "When I/m on stage, I gotta entertain, gotta do the moves, the positioning, and play … a lot of people notice that. That makes me feel good. It/s not an ego thing. It/s an homage."

Popovic, who enjoys playing Ace/s songs "Rocket Ride" and "New York Groove," explained that one time he saw the real Ace Frehley playing a solo and he almost cried because Frehley was playing it in the same position and style that Popovic learned the song. He felt they both probably learned the song in the same manner.

Seda also puts 100 percent into his tribute.

"I/ve played in bands in which the players weren/t any good, and I still played my part the best I could so people would say, /He/s good, no matter what band he is playing in,/" Seda said.

So what if one day Gene Simmons dropped out of KISS and they needed a replacement? Would Seda drop everything he was doing to join the real band?

"It would be nice," Seda said. "For me, doing tributes this long, it would be the icing on the cake. But, it/s totally up to them."

INFORMATION:

Larger Than Life will take over the stage at the Santa Maria Fairpark, 937 S. Thornburg in Santa Maria, at 8 p.m. Saturday, Jan. 29.

The special guest for the evening will be Smokin Gunz, which plays songs by groups like AC/DC and Nirvana.

Tickets are ,15 in advance or ,20 at the door and available at Boo Boo Records in Grover Beach and San Luis Obispo. The show is for adults age 21 and older.

For more information, call JDI production at 938-9134.

* Staff writer Steve Fairchild can be reached at 489-4206, Ext. 5014, or sfairchild@pulitzer.net.

Jan. 22, 2005