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MALDEN -- The KISS Concert is one of the most highly anticipated annual events at the Tweeter Center for the Performing Arts in Mansfield.

In addition to an eclectic mix of popular musicians, the daylong event has a festival feel to it, with plenty of food tents, merchandise stalls, and advocacy literature raising awareness about a plethora of social issues.

Many past KISS Concert attendees have commented on how they like the fact that they get to see several of their favorite performers in one day.

And while it may seem to the audience that everything is pulled together rather effortlessly, Joe Mazzei, marketing manager for KISS 108 FM, knows better.

Mazzei, 35, is the man behind the annual event that has been a mainstay in Mansfield for the past 13 years. In an interview in his office at the radio station's studio, Mazzei talked about some of what goes into preparing for and staging such an event.

lquote`This is a crazy time, but I like to think of it as controlled chaos,rquote' he said, referring to the few weeks leading up to the concert, which is Saturday.

Surrounded by autographed KISS Concert posters from previous years, pictures of his wife and infant daughter, and stacks of faxes and other papers having to do with Saturday's event, Mazzei is calm and collected as his attempts to hire a private jet for headliner Jessica Simpson and her ever-increasing entourage is met with seeming resistance.

lquote`When we started out, she was traveling with four people,rquote' he said, shaking his head, but still smiling. lquote`Now it's up to 20, so we need to get a bigger jet plane.rquoterquote

With more than one dozen performers, and even more needs to fill and egos to stroke, Mazzei takes the art of multi-tasking to a new level.

He began planning for Saturday's event last year, during KISS Concert 2003.

lquote`I travel with a clipboard and take notes. I'll do that at this show for next year,rquote' he said. lquote`As soon as it's over, we go into recap mode and look at what we did well and what we did not-sowell.rquoterquote

Mazzei said his favorite part of the event is the end, lquote`when we can sit back and look at all the things we added from last year that worked.rquoterquote

At the same time, he said that he and his staff are sometimes lquote`overly criticalrquote' of their efforts.

lquote`We beat ourselves up over what didn't go exactly the way we wanted it to go, but that's because we're so close to it,rquote' he said. lquote`We strive to over-perform and over-deliver.rquoterquote This year, a couple of the new additions to the concert include an on-stage bar (alcohol free, of course), where radio station listeners who have won passes can sit at a makeshift bar on the side of the stage and enjoy their favorite performers up close and personal.

lquote`We thought that would be pretty neat, so we decided to give it a try,rquote' Mazzei said. lquote`We're always looking for fun, new things.rquoterquote

Also new this year will be a second stage set up on the lawn at the back of the outdoor amphitheater. It will be called lquote`Damien's Lawn Partyrquote' and MTV's Damien Fahey, a former disc jockey at KISS 108 FM, will entertain the concert-goers between sets on the main stage.

Mazzei said that keeping the entertainment going almost constantly is one of the station's goals -- a sentiment echoed by Scott Morello, production director at KISS 108 FM.

Watching Mazzei and Morello work together editing a sound bite that is going to play between acts illustrates just how many details have to be hashed out to make the show go off without a hitch.

lquote`We want to have very little downtime,rquote' Morello said. lquote`We want to keep the energy and momentum of the show going strong.rquoterquote

To keep the time between musical acts to a minimum, one band is setting up behind a curtain toward the rear of the stage while another is performing in front of the curtain near the front of the stage. While some performers travel with their own instruments, most of those who play at the KISS Concert rent instruments.

lquote`Tweeter is a great venue and the staff is awesome, but it is not built for multiple act shows, so we have to bring in a lot of trailers,rquote' he said.

Because of the number of performers, each act is given a certain amount of time on stage. Mazzei said the individual time frames have to be pretty strictly adhered to throughout the day.

lquote`The hard part is when they start having fun and interacting with the audience and they have to leave the stage,rquote' he said. lquote`But they know we have to stick to the schedule.rquoterquote

Mazzei said there are the inevitable attitudes and egos, but it is usually from the people traveling with the performers rather than the performers themselves.

lquote`Most of them are really nice and happy to be here,rquote' he said. lquote`Some of them would play in clubs, but not in front of 20,000 people, so this is exciting for them.rquoterquote

When asked to recount some ego-laced stories, Mazzei said that one year, the KISS Concert hired a house band to perform with the various musicians in the lineup. Heading that band was Paul Shaffer, who has been David Letterman's musical director and sidekick for more than 20 years.

lquote`Rod Stewart was supposed to perform and he walked in, saw Paul Shaffer, and refused to perform,rquote' Mazzei said. lquote`I don't know what the issue was, but he didn't like him and would not play.rquoterquote

Mazzei said that Stewart must have felt guilty, because he ended up coming back to the Boston area shortly thereafter and playing a private concert for KISS 108 FM listeners.

He recalled how Mariah Carey refused to drink champagne from plastic cups, instead insisting on crystal glasses, and how she would not walk on a grassy area backstage without a carpet being rolled out first. She didn't want her high heels to sink into the wet ground, he said.

Mazzei said there are many more lquote`coolrquote' artist stories, like when Elton John surprised the members of N'Sync in their dressing room -- much to their delight -- and when two former members of New Kids on the Block performed as solo artists and decided to reunite for a lquote`very imprompturquote' sampling of New Kids on the Block songs.

lquote`The boys were a little rusty with the dance steps, but the crowd roared as if the Beatles had reunited,rquote' he said.

As he recounted experiences -- both good and bad -- at past KISS Concerts, Mazzei's enthusiasm was evident.

An avid music fan since childhood, Mazzei, who lives in Reading, said he always wanted to work in radio. lquote`I've always been fascinated by the lifestyle and culture of musicians,rquote' he said.

A rebel of sorts at the campus radio station at Curry College in Milton, Mazzei played hip-hop music and fine-tuned his on-air skills. He was hired as an intern at KISS 108 FM and never left. He has had several jobs at the station, including a part-time disc jockey known as Joe Public.

When he and his colleagues begin looking at musicians to recruit for the KISS Concert, Mazzei said they look for who's popular with listeners, who's available, and who is on the cutting edge of stardom.

Mazzei said that Cherie, one of the artists in Saturday's lineup, falls into the third category. lquote`She's going to be huge,rquote' he predicted. lquote`I mean at the level of Celine Dion.rquoterquote

While 15 artists have been announced, another few will be added at the last minute.

lquote`We always hold off on announcing a few of the performers,rquote' Mazzei said. lquote`It adds to the suspense and to the excitement.rquoterquote

When asked for a hint of who one of the artists might be, Mazzei held strong. lquote`No way,rquote' he said with a smile.

Keeping the surprise performers a secret isn't too difficult, since only about 10 KISS 108 FM staffers know who they are, he said.

lquote`If the names got out, we'd know it was one of the 10,rquote' Mazzei said. lquote`Everyone here wants it to be a surprise -- to have the `wow' factor.rquoterquote

Mazzei would only indicate that concert-goers won't be disappointed, before being beckoned by a colleague seeking information on just one of the many details that go into planning the KISS Concert.

lquote`Like I said, it's crazy around here, but I love it,rquote' Mazzei said. lquote`I feel fortunate. I love my job and I know that not everybody can say that.rquoterquote