Gene Simmons says the rock business is dead

I think Bowie was the first with the big stage show, although
there might be some overlap. Before that, major artists would
just come out on the Filmore East stage in T-shirts and play the
most incredible (rock) music the world has ever heard. Funny -
Hendrix, Sly, Joplin, Cream, Tull, Creedence didn't seem to need
fireworks, guys running around in gorilla suits, makeup or
explosions to hold an audience's attention. I wonder why. Well,
Joplin and Hendrix didn't wear T-shirts, but the point is the
same. In fact, they dressed rather alike, now that I think of
it. The San Francisco thing, I think.

Re: large scale theatrical shows and Kiss

It's tough to recall who started the whole production intensive rock show thing. I remember that a bunch of prog bands were doing the full-blown production well before Kiss came along (+/-1973 IIRC). Yes, ELP, and a few others were doing that in 1970ish. I saw Genesis in 1971 and they already were employing costume changes, lighting effects, flash pots, etc. Kiss may well have commercially exploited that approach on a mass scale earlier than most and tip your hat to them for that. However, the approach was already well established before they came along.

Kiss had to compensate for their pitiful musical content with all those distractions.

There's something of a progression from Screaming Jay Hawkins to Arthur Brown to Genesis, Bowie and Alice Cooper. Not sure who or what predated Screaming Jay, if anyone, in the use of props. Arthur, of course, set his headpiece on fire, which was nifty.

Kiss and Cooper both captured audiences with a "shock and awe" approach that incorporated gimmicks and visual tricks. Although on first listen maybe not a revelation, but Coopers' band was highly musical with above average musical chops. Kiss was more of a phenomenon, as musical ability was not as advanced. Still, hard not to like "Do u love me", " King of the night time world", etc.