Get ready for a big night
There is no shortage of talent as MINI KISS take the stage
MINI KISS will play at the Newport Performing Arts Center from 7:30 to 9:30 pm on Friday, Feb.7. Tickets are $27 to $37. The center is located at 777 W Olive Street. For more information, go to coastarts.org or call 541-265-2787.
Gretchen Ammerman
Oregon Coast TODAY
The year was 1995, and the juggernaut that is the tribute band was still in its infancy.
A concert promoter got the idea to use little people to form a KISS tribute band and name it MINI KISS. For years, it was composed of a rotating number of members, mostly actors, who lip synced to the music and pretended to play their instruments.
Arturo Knight saw an ad on Craigslist that was seeking little people to fill in for shows near his home in Texas and joined the group after it had been around for decades.
“I didn't find out until later that MINI KISS was a gimmick,” he said. “It was mostly just people wanting to see little people. Everything was fake.”
Knight, who has been a musician since the age of eight, was confused by the idea that he was just supposed to stand there and fake the music.
“When I joined the band, I told the manager, ‘I can sing the songs, I don’t need to lip sync and I know how to play the bass and guitar’ and he basically told me to shut up and do my job.”
During the pandemic, the original creator of MINI KISS died and left the business to his brother, who had no interest in keeping things going, so he offered Knight the chance to buy him out. And that’s when MINI KISS became a true band.
“Ninety-nine point nine percent of work for little people is what we call ‘sell your soul’ work,” said Knight, who hits the stage as Mini Paul Stanley. “There is not one well-known musician that is a little person because it’s not easy, but we are all musicians. We are now going on three years with the same members and most people don’t even care about our size because we create such a real experience of seeing the original band. I’ve grown into the character more and more and our shows are the real deal. Our mini-Gene breathes fire and spits fake blood.”
Gone are the days of being incorrectly introduced by a television host as “Baby KISS.” Now, Knight and the group are living their best lives.
“I never thought I would be getting paid to play outside of America,” he said. “Being in this band has given me things I never thought I would have in my life.”
A Guinness world record two years ago for “World’s Shortest Band” was another positive experience.
“They flew us out to Milan to get the award,” Knight said. “It was amazing. People ask if it bothers me that the award was for our size and I tell them, "When was the last time you were flown to Italy to accept an award for a world record? We have also opened for Snoop Dog, Machine Gun Kelly and many more amazing artists. We are doing things that my younger self could not have even imagined.”
Over the years, members of KISS have been supportive of their most consistent tribute group.
“We’ve met them multiple times, and some members show up at our shows,” Knight said. “Gene [Simmons] supports us on social media. We are even doing a show in Washington with the Gene Simmons Band next month.”
Increasingly, primarily outside of the United States, the group is having the true rock and roll experience.
“Fans show up at the airport and hotels in makeup and costumes,” Knight said. “They treat us like we are the band. Especially since they don’t tour anymore.”
From kitsch to real careers, Knight said that MINI KISS is “the most blessed thing we could ask for.”
“Even if people come to laugh at us, the band just keeps getting bigger, giving us more freedom to have these amazing experiences.”
Knight finished the interview by making me laugh on purpose:
“We’re like getting the real band,” he said. “Just half off.”