KUARANTINE – A Celebration Of ‘80s Kiss Music – Fits Like A Glove At Cohoes Music Hall

Written by Michael Bruce on April 4, 2026

The lead singer of Kuarantine, professional wrestler Chris Jericho, said more than once that it feels like a Kuarantine Friday. Chris was obviously referring to a Thursday night, start-the-weekend-early, party mode. It was a party indeed! Everyone was up on their feet, having a great time, and singing along to a lot of songs that you do not normally get to hear a live band perform. Which probably leads many people to ask the question of,

“Who is Kuarantine?”

Well, don’t you just love it when a band has a really cool backstory? Kuarantine certainly has a great backstory. In 2020, when the pandemic hit, and everybody was stuck at home trying to figure out what to do, musicians and entertainers were especially lost souls. There were no gatherings, there were no crowds, there were no concerts, and everybody was encouraged to stay inside their homes unless they needed bread and milk. So many musician types began to fill their time by doing things that made them happy. Many musicians used the internet as a tool to connect with each other, talk to each other, and record music with each other. Lots of fun musical projects started popping up because musicians had time to do fun things that they’ve always wanted to do. Very famous professional wrestler Chris Jericho was no exception to that rule. Chris is a huge music fan and is the singer of a band named Fozzy that he started in 1999. They have full-length albums out, and they play shows all over the world. Specifically speaking, Chris is a huge Kiss fan, and he thoroughly enjoys the albums that Kiss created during the 1980s and ‘90s.

Kiss, making their debut in 1974, is very well known for their huge stage shows and their big makeup face personas. Kiss also has a whole batch of songs from that ’70s era of the band that made them world famous. However, there is a large chunk of people who love the Kiss records that were created in the ‘80s/’90s when they did not wear the makeup, but still created really fun anthemic songs. During this time, founding members Gene Simmons and Paul Stanley went through some lineup changes to survive the times and keep the band going. Lead guitar players Vinny Vincent and Mark St John had short stints with the band until Bruce Kulick came along in 1984. He stayed with the band for the next 12 years. Also, throughout the ’80s/’90s time period, there was drummer Eric Carr. Many fans love this lineup of the band, consisting of Eric Carr and mostly Bruce Kulick. A lot of fans love the albums that were put out during the ‘80s and ‘90s.

However, Kiss, the band itself, and countless Kiss cover bands all over the USA perform mostly their ‘70s material. Kiss is best known for their ‘70s material. Songs from that era are celebrated all the time. Bands cover songs from the ‘70s era all the time. The ’80s and ’90s Kiss songs basically take a back seat most of the time. Knowing that many Kiss fans do love the ’80s and ’90s material, Chris Jericho decided to call upon his buddies to record covers of some of these ’80s Kiss songs during the pandemic. There was nothing else going on, so that was their idea of fun.

When the songs were released, it became a big deal fast. Not just because it was Chris Jericho, the famous wrestler singing, but because Chris and Co. were re-recording songs that people in the rock world did not expect them to do. The icing on the cake was that they did a pretty damn good job of it! Their Kiss covers actually charted on Billboard mainstream rock charts. For obvious reasons, they decided to call this non-makeup ’80s/’90s Kiss tribute band….Kuarantine.

This all leads me back to Chris Jericho. The lead singer of Kuarantine said to the crowd at Cohoes Music Hall Thursday night, “It might be Thursday, but it feels like a Kuarantine Friday”. There was good attendance to see Kuarantine, who has a good social media presence and is known throughout the entire Kiss nation and beyond. The most fun thing about the show starts even before they come out to perform. As a die-hard Kiss fan, which I am by the way, I wondered, as did others, what ‘80s Kiss songs would they choose to play? We were all hoping to hear ‘80s Kiss MTV hits, but we definitely wanted to hear a few deep tracks as well. Kurantine delivered all of the above, and it made for a terrific ‘80s Kiss party!

Kiss, the ‘70s supergroup and one of the most popular bands in the world, had a time period from ’80 to ’83 that was very difficult to survive. Most bands would have folded. Kiss kept plugging along, making albums that, in my opinion, were really good, but nobody cared anymore. The mighty had fallen, and concert attendance dropped dramatically. Luckily for Kiss, they most likely survived by having really good attendance, and hit songs OUTSIDE of the United States. However, in 1983, Kiss made a drastic move and took off their world-famous face paint. That, in conjunction with a good album, a strong song titled “Lick It Up,” and the ever-growing popularity of a new channel called MTV (Music Television), Kiss started drawing considerable attention to itself once again.

Throughout the ’80s, to a mild degree, Kiss flourished in the spotlight again. Their original fans, and many new fans, were enjoying their albums and concerts once again. The ‘80s Kiss sound was the sound of the times, but with their own original flair on it. Many of the Kiss MTV videos, the Animalize tour MTV-aired concert, home video tapes, and the live concerts themselves gave birth to a whole new buffet of super fun “Kissisms” that fans grew to love.

Kuarantine all-star band members Chris Jericho, PJ Farley (also of Trixter), Joe McGinness (various famous country bands), Kent Slucher (Luke Bryan), and Charlie Parra (YouTube sensation) are ALL huge ‘80s/’90s Kiss fans, and it shows. The band not only performs these ‘80s/’90s Kiss songs that hardly anyone else performs, but they also celebrate the quirky ‘80s “Kissisms” that all the die-hard Kiss fans know in attendance at their shows. It truly just adds to the fun. Things like having bras thrown out on stage to hang around their microphone stands. Chris acting out some of the famous song introductions and stage banter of Gene Simmons or Paul Stanley. The synchronized moves Kiss would always do live during certain songs. Arrangement-wise, they played the songs like Kiss did live in the ‘80s, including some of the fast tempos. Also, don’t think I didn’t catch Joe McGinness ending his guitar solo spot in the show, playing note for note the way Bruce Kulick performed the end of his guitar solo on the Crazy Nights tour!

So much of Kiss that is still popular and celebrated to this day comes from the ‘70s heyday. So for some rock fans, and of course die-hard Kiss fans who love the ‘80s/’90s Kiss as well, Kuarantine provides an excellent celebration of that time period. They perform “Unholy,” “Heart of Chrome,” “Turn On the Night,” “Uh! All Night,” “Who Wants To Be Lonely,” “All Hell’s Breakin’ Loose,” “Fits Like a Glove,” and many more. (I don’t want to give away the whole set list in case you want to be surprised if you go see them) It was so much FUN!

The band is really good. Kent and PJ make for a super solid rhythm section, and PJ, I believe, played a white bass just like Gene played on the Asylum tour. The guitar players were both outstanding at rhythm/lead playing and took turns playing the lead guitar parts. Both players did an excellent job of performing the guitar parts the way they should be honored and performed. I do have to say Joe McGinness TOTALLY captured the art, feel, and even tone of the famous ‘80s/’90s Kiss guitar player Bruce Kulick. Bruce is one hell of a guitar player, and he’s not easy to duplicate. Some of the solos, and “Bruceisms” as I call them, are a good study for any guitar player, and Joe perfectly nailed them! The entire band played the songs great, added quality backing vocals, and played them with their genuine Kiss fan hearts.

So Mike, what about Chris Jericho as the lead singer? I’m being totally honest. Chris did a respectable “good enough” job. Hey Chris, I love ya! I am NOT knocking you at all! ‘80s Paul Stanley is ridiculously hard to capture and sing! I’m actually giving you full credit for the effort you put into it! However, for what Chris may lack a little vocally, trying to sing ‘80s Mount Everest Paul Stanley, he makes up for being the ring leader of the ‘80s Kiss party. Chris is having a blast performing his idol’s songs in this cover band. He has such love for Kiss, love for these songs, love for his band, and love for the audience who he knows all came for the love of this same band, same songs, and same “Kissisms”.

So I say, bravo to Kuarantine for flying the ‘80s Kiss flag! It’s a contagious, happy place, fun feeling that the band gives off, and the audience sends it right back to the band. I guess you could say it’s as contagious as COVID once was during the pandemic, which became the birth of Kuarantine.

Photography by Stephanie J Bartik.