(MUSIC FADES UNDER....)
Speaker 1 00:03
Grass Busters takes people with intellectual disabilities and gives them on-the-job training in horticulture. Jewett and Andrew have been coming along to Grass Busters for about 12 months now and they've become real valuable members of the team. It's one of our Grass Busters rituals as we're driving in between jobs. We've always got rock and roll playing on the radio or CDs and one of the favourites is KISS. The moment we put the CD into the slot it transformed the band into a concert of ringing.
Jewett, Akko, Gene and Simmons had his tongue out playing air guitar with Andrew in the back playing drums and everyone else headbanging and singing along at the top of their voice. These guys were born to rock.
Speaker 2 00:49
KISS is the best band in the world.
Speaker 3
KISS, I love it, my heart.
Speaker 1
It's really great to share that common bond of being a KISS fan. My first KISS concert experience was when I was 9 years old, 1980 VFL Parr. I've been to KISS concerts 7 times in total and I've always either worn makeup or full costume. So I knew from personal experience that if you dress in full makeup and costume you'll become a crowd favourite and get a lot of attention.
I wanted to give the guys a rock and roll star experience. So the guys and I did some of our own research, and we thought we'd go to the core of KISS. And we decided to make the 1977 Lovegun costumes. So we all had to choose our character so every time we played KISS in the band, Stuart would automatically stick his tongue out and transform into Gene Simmons. Andrew would be tapping away on his knees and so I thought Peter Chris is the ultimate character and of course I like guitar and the space man so I decided to be ace. But we had Dilemma, who was going to play Paul Stanley?
So I knew this guy Andrew G. He's one of our residents at the Willara Houses and that him and I go way back. We've been to a lot of concerts in the past and I thought he'd been to KISS. We've got to get him along and get him with the makeup on.
So here we are, the 9th of October. We're getting ready for the concert at Willara Head office in the toilets and one of our guys, Andrew, our Peter Chris, starts hyperventilating and having a panic attack.
Speaker 2 02:35
When I go to new places, I get nervous.
Speaker 1
While I'm colouring in his Peter Criss whiskers, I had to keep reassuring him that it was going to be alright and in the end he was going to have great fun. And the moment we arrived at the car park out the front of Rodlever Arena, people started to crowd around us for photos. It was an instant transformation, it was exactly what I hoped for. By the time we went into the venue and found our seats, we must have had over 30 photos taken with us and with every photo the guys just grew in confidence.
Speaker 2 03:14
There are this lot that I made paper and paper and stuff. I said it wouldn't take too much for anything.
Speaker 1 03:20
So at the moment the concert started the guys just let loose and just went in and had a good night of their life rocking out in Edinburgh. It was an awesome night. The guys came home absolutely knackered, but I reckon they could have gone back more straight away. So when we got back to Willara on Monday our ears were still ringing, our photos were already up on the Willara Facebook page and everyone thought we looked great and wanted to know more about how the concert went.
So get this, we were asked by management that since we had our costumes and make up ready to go, a real KISS concert became our dress rehearsal because they wanted us to perform KISS at the official Willara concert. The guys couldn't get there quick enough.
Speaker 2 04:12
Fucking hell! (MUSIC)
Speaker 1 04:23
Watching them come out on stage was amazing. They were confident, in character, and ready to entertain the crowd. Seeing them on stage, I realised they KISSed their fears goodbye!
(MUSIC)
SINGER 04:36
When it gets time, each driver's a while, go drive it crazy / And you say you want a new spirit, the party's something that will let me in / Each driver's a while, go drive it crazy.... I wanna rock and roll all night (FADES OUT)
