Jeff Beck with THE IMELDA MAY BAND will be joined by a number of special guests, including:
* Ace Frehley
* Zakk Wylde
* Johnny Winters
* John McEnroe
* Meat Loaf
* Chris North
* Steve Miller
* Robbie Robertson
* Nils Lofgren
* Warren Haynes
* Paul Shaffer
* Nigel Lythgoe
* Johnny A
* Stephen Colbert
* Gibson Guitar Chairman/CEO Henry Juszkiewicz
* John Varvatos
Beck will pay tribute to his mentor and friend, the late guitar great Les Paul, with an intimate show consisting of Les Paul's memorable classics along with some rockabilly favorites. Celebrating what would have been Les Paul's 95th birthday, Beck will be joined on stage by Irish rockabilly sensation THE IMELDA MAY BAND.
Les Paul, known worldwide for his legendary performances and his incomparable innovations that shaped the evolution of music, remained a fixture in the New York music scene, drawing in crowds with regular gigs at The Iridium Jazz Club until the age of 94.
Jeff Beck's appearances will mark the official dedication of the performance space at the club to the late Les Paul.
Details:
When: Wednesday, June 9
6:30 p.m. Media Check-in
7:00 p.m. Red Carpet Arrivals
8:00 p.m. Show
Where: Iridium Jazz Club
1650 Broadway, New York, NY
A sell-out crowd filled Manchester's huge Evening News Arena, bursting with anticipation for the arrival of legendary rock gods KISS as they came to the final dates of their UK Sonic Boom Over Europe tour.
Then the lights dropped, the giant screens that flanked either side of the stage showed KISS making their way to the stage and the crowd erupted with excitement.
And then, the words that the expectant audience had been waiting to hear, the famous introduction...
Manchester, you wanted the best, you got the best... the hottest band in the land... KISS!
Out and out pandemonium took over as the curtain dropped. The band tore through Delilah from their recent barnstormer Sonic Boom. The gigantic arena reached boiling point as the guys blasted out hit after hit. Deuce, Dr. Love, and an amazing rendition of their 80s anthem Crazy Crazy Nights.
The band continued to dazzle fans with tracks Shout it Out Loud and the classic Detroit Rock City.
Then the "longest encore you've ever had" with Stanley flying out over the heads of the audience to a stage set up at the back of the arena from which he belted out I Was Made For Lovin' You.
An amazing once-in-a-lifetime night was wrapped up with God Gave Rock 'N' Roll To You before the all time rock party anthem Rock and Roll All Nite.
Manchester Arena was shaken to its rafters!
Becoming the new lead guitarist in a band that has been together for 35 years is never the easiest job. Much less so when that band is KISS, with its larger-than-life characters and hordes of obsessive fans. But Tommy Thayer doesn't look like a bundle of worries when we catch up with him, relaxing over a coffee at Gibson's UK headquarters.
Thayer isn't the typical hired gun. His relationship with KISS spans back to 1985, when his previous band Black 'N Blue supported KISS on tour. Since then Thayer has gradually become an increasingly important part of the KISS company. In fact, pick up any of KISS' albums, DVDs or box sets from the last 15 years and you will find his name among the credits, whether it's for being Gene Simmons' assistant or executive producer. So when Simmons and Stanley asked Thayer to take over the "Space Man" lead guitar role when Ace Frehley left Planet KISS in 2002, it was like the final stage of a 20-year apprenticeship.
"If Gene and Paul bring a new person into this band, not only do they have to fit in terms of being able to play with the right style and feel, but the most important thing is probably personality," says Thayer. "Finding somebody that you can live with, travel with, be with all the time can be tough.
"I first met these guys 25 years ago, so there was a comfortable rapport already established before I started playing in the band. It wasn't like Gene and Paul had to audition somebody and see what he was like and if he would change -- would he turn out to be a drug addict, etcetera. None of that was in question."
With everybody in KISS having their own unique identity, we asked Thayer about his bandmates. "Eric Singer, in my mind, is one of the greatest drummers in rock and roll," he emphasizes. "If I had to play in any band I would want him to be the drummer because he is amazing, and he hits hard. He's a great guy, too. He's the fire and energy of the band, both off-stage and on-stage. The off-stage part can drive us all a little crazy sometimes, but he is a fabulous guy.
And Gene Simmons? "Gene is a go-getter and one of the hardest-working people I've ever met. He's always got ideas about a million different things, some of which work, some of which don't. His mind is always busy. People don't realize how solid he is as a musician, though. If you really watch him, he's a great bass player. There are lots of great parts and moving lines, and he moves up and down the neck spectacularly.
What of Thayer's guitar foil, Paul Stanley? "Paul is a great guy, he's got a real sensitivity about music and being creative. He's the driving force in that aspect of KISS. He's the leader, and he knows music better than anybody in this band. He knows everything, every song, every band going back years and years. At the end of the day the buck stops with Paul when it comes to the creative side of KISS. He has the final word on anything we do."
Contrary to presumptions, Thayer says life in KISS is not all work and no play. "The idea that Gene and Paul are really serious is a misunderstanding. We all have a great time; it's got to be that way, but we're serious about what we do, deadly serious. At the same time we enjoy the spirit and the vibe with the four of us. When I get on stage I'm always smiling, and that's because I'm having a great time."
With his all-American chin and thick black hair (it's his own -- we checked his roots,) Thayer looks much more like the KISS comic book Spaceman than the booze-ravaged face of Ace Frehley ever did. His ability to pull off KISS licks seems effortless, but he's quick to dismiss the idea that he's doing an Ace impersonation. "This is the way I play. When I play KISS songs it just sounds right. It's not me trying to mimic anything.
"The reason it works is that I grew up in the mid-70s with what I call second-generation British hard rock bands, the ones that inspired US groups like KISS and Aerosmith: Led Zeppelin and Bad Company and Mick Ralphs and Jimmy Page. There was a great band called Foghat who were huge in the States.
"Ace Frehley was certainly part of the group of guitar players that I paid attention to. So today when I'm playing this stuff, people say to me, oh, you're just mimicking. But I have to say no, I'm just playing KISS songs... and probably doing it as well as anybody ever has."
Thayer was able to put his own mark on a chapter of KISStory during the making of the band's recent Sonic Boom album, contributing some vintage KISS solos and also writing and singing a lead vocal. And the guitar sound? If you didn't know better, you'd swear Sonic Boom was recorded in the late 1970s.
"There are a lot of pieces to the puzzle," Thayer explains. "We don't use active pickups. I played Gibson Les Pauls with Gibson pickups. Amp-wise I used my signature amp by Hughes & Kettner, which is a great amp -- not modern-sounding, more like a souped-up Marshall. I also used a late-'70s Marshall JMP, an old 50W 1973 Marshall and an older-style Hughes & Kettner combo called the Statesman. So it was all classic-type equipment to begin with.
"We recorded to tape, and that makes a difference. We weren't turning the gain up to 10 -- we went in the other direction and kept things distinct so that when we strummed the guitar you could hear every string. All this means that this stuff translates to the live stage perfectly."
That live stage might be a gargantuan KISS spectacular nowadays, but Thayer learnt his live chops in small venues around Portland, Oregon. "Playing clubs really enhanced my musical palette, but performing on a big stage like a KISS stage is a whole different monster. You really have to project to a big crowd and everything has to be more expansive."
The day we met Thayer, KISS were about to play an intimate show for 500 KISS fans at the Islington Academy. Considering the British music press haven't always been kind to KISS, why pick London for this special treat?
"Well, for us, this is the holy ground," Thayer says. "I don't know if you guys understand that. Britain is where all the great bands came from, the ones that influenced everyone in KISS the most. Starting with the Beatles on through Led Zeppelin, Deep Purple, Black Sabbath. Even into the 1980s with Def Leppard and Iron Maiden. I'm a big Def Leppard fan -- when they first came out I thought they were a great ballsy rock band. High 'n' Dry was a great album and it's still on my top-10 list."
With a tour schedule that proves they are as popular as ever as a live draw, and now an album that even the critics like, the KISS juggernaut looks set to rock and roll onwards.
"There is such a good vibe about Sonic Boom, and such good reaction from the public and fans that it can only make us feel that perhaps we should make another album before too much time goes by. We've talked about it a bit already, although nothing has been set yet, but it's definitely not out of the question. Never say never.
________________
Did You Know?
Royalties from Thayer's H&K amp go to the Children's Hospital in L.A.
His fave KISS tracks: "Things I don't hear often, like Anything For My Baby"
His KISS debut was KISS Symphony with the Melbourne Symphony Orchestra
Thayer is on the board of trustees at Pacific University in Oregon
"I would like to thank everyone for their condolences on the death of my father Friday afternoon. He lived almost a full day past his 91st birthday, and he was very proud of his sons.
"I know he will be watching me and I will always remember his laugh, his hard work habits, and the way he loved hearing about my career.
"We shared a great bond, and I was blessed to have him for so many years.
"I love you."
KISS has posted the following statement on its web site regarding Bruce's father's death:
"We offer our condolences and deepest sympathies to Bruce on his father's passing. Our thoughts and prayers are with the Kulick family."
Then the aforementioned curtain drops and KISS start a classic show that lets each band member shine. Guitarist Paul Stanley's moment of glory comes when he flies over everyone's heads to a revolving stage, where, with his sparkling guitar, he looks like a human disco ball. Equally impressive is legendary man-demon Gene Simmons (tongue constantly out) who stuns everyone as he breathes fire, spits blood, and, with his cape spread behind him, flies up to a special stage above the lighting rig to play I Love it Loud. On top of that, guitarist Tommy Thayer and drummer Eric Singer have a spectacular firework-enhanced guitar/drum solo competition that climaxes with Eric shooting a firework into the rafters from a bazooka.
As jaw-dropping as all of this is, the theatrics never overshadow the music. Tonight, as Paul says, they "dig deep," playing the classics alongside killer new material from last year's 4 K-rated Sonic Boom. With Crazy, Crazy Nights, Love Gun, Lick it Up and indisputable highlight God Gave Rock 'N' Roll To You, they send the all-singing, all-air-guitaring KISS Army to rock 'n' roll heaven.
Everything about the show is executed so brilliantly that there's simply no room for cynicism tonight, especially not with the three trillion tonnes of confetti exploding everywhere during the finale of Rock And Roll All Nite. This really, truly is the greatest show on earth.
________________________________
How Was It For You?
Gene Simmons: "KISS have always had a love affair with England, so to hear the Sheffield crowd sing God Gave Rock 'N' Roll To You tonight was truly insiprational.
Martin (fan) - Sheffield: "That was the sixth time I've seen them now and it seems the older they get, the better they are. KISS are the greatest band ever!"
Sadie (fan) - Sheffield: "I've never seen a bazooka fired during a gig before! That was my first KISS gig and I loved it! I'm going to see them again at Wembley.
Of course, you could talk about the band's record sales -- 80 million albums and counting. Or you could talk about how KISS has proven time and time again that it is one of the premier bands to ever appear on stage. But in these cases, merely mentioning "KISS tour" is enough to get fans salivating.
Called "The Hottest Show On Earth" tour and with most dates presented by Live Nation, it all begins at Wyoming's Cheyenne Frontier Days July 23, followed by the North Dakota State Fair July 24. Other stops include Burgettstown, Pa. (Pittsburgh), at First Niagara Pavilion July 29; Philadelphia at Susquehanna Bank Center Aug. 6; Mansfield, Mass., at Comcast Center Aug. 7; Uncasville, Conn., at Mohegan Sun Arena Aug. 19; Milwaukee at Marcus Amphitheatre Sept. 2 and Dallas at Pizza Hut Park Sept. 18 before wrapping in Phoenix at Cricket Wireless Pavilion Sept. 24.
A Citi Card presale begins June 2 and a general onsale for select markets begins June 4. For more information, click here.
KISS has hooked up with Guitar Center to offer "Guitar Center Onstage," an unsigned band competition which gives emerging groups a chance to open for the band at 22 tour stops. Click here for details (registration begins June 1.)
KISS will also host a live chat on Facebook via Ustream June 1. Click here for the band's Facebook page.
Describing the excitement and anticipation before a KISS show is almost as difficult as describing the magic of the performance itself. Most Irish KISS fans have only ever seen the band in pictures and on film, but those mediums only catch a glimpse of the power, the energy and show stopping, jaw dropping charisma and mesmerizing presence the band hold on stage. In reality, KISS holds a power over their fans almost unlike any other. Fictionally, they present themselves as larger than life superheroes, capable of catapulting you into another dimension of pleasure and rock n roll and in reality, they do just that.
Hearing the now legendary 'You Wanted the Best' intro directed towards Dublin sends shivers up the crowds spines moments before the giant KISS logo donned curtain drops and the stage explodes in flashes of lights and Pyrotechnics as Paul, Gene and Tommy appear high in the air above the drum kit. Opening with Modern Day Delilah from last years, Sonic Boom album, the band instantly personify and embody everything their fans had been waiting for.
Over the next two hours, the band thrill the O2 with a selection of new material including Say Yeah and Stand, alongside a dizzying array of classics, such as Cold Gin, Let Me Go, Rock N Roll, Deuce, Calling Dr. Love, Crazy Nights and 100,000 Years among many others. Musically KISS are as strong as any of their legendary seventies competitors like Aerosmith and AC/DC, but live, they deliver a performance other bands can only dream of being able to stage. From Gene's fire breathing after Firehouse, his blood spitting, stage flying bass solo, Tommy and Eric completing Shock Me with rocket firing guitars and a rig exploding bazooka to Paul's trip over the crowds heads to a revolving mini stage at the back of the arena for a performance of I Was Made for Loving You. All this is set against a backdrop of the most elaborate stage set the O2 is likely to see for many a year with risers on both sides, a massive screen that stretches the full length of the stage and at least a hundred smaller ones towering behind the band, the KISS army flags draped at both sides of the stage, the full KISS logo in lights and a rising drum kit.
Off course the theatrics have their place and they leave you in a state of awe but the true highlights at a KISS show come when they hammer the gig home with monumental classics like Love Gun, Shout it Out Loud, Black Diamond, Detroit Rock City, I Love it Loud and off course, the show closing extravaganza duo of God Gave Rock N Roll To You II and Rock And Roll All Night.
With confetti being propelled into the air all around the arena, the stage blitzed with lights, fire and three of music's most legendary characters on different risers and the iconic Paul Stanley, smashing his guitar to the cheers of 10,000+ fans, KISS have finally played their very first Irish show and it was everything and more than we could ever have dreamed it would be. Knowing Gene and Paul's absolute refusal to surrender the make-up, it won't be long before the Creatures of Night return and Ireland will warmly welcome back when they do.
Perform is the operative word too, as the group came to prominence in the mid-1970s on the back of their extravagantly theatrical live shows that feature silver stack-heeled boots, smoking Flying-Vs and the occasional assisted flight over the audience. These days only the flamboyant co-frontmen, bassist Gene Simmons and rhythm guitarist Paul Stanley, remain from the quartet who formed Kiss in New York in 1973 and have gone on to sell over 100 million albums.
Touring Europe with their latest, 19th lp Sonic Boom to promote, The Demon (Simmons) and Starchild (Stanley), and relative newbies Spaceman (guitarist Tommy Thayer) and Catman (drummer Eric Singer), have reportedly been performing "Crazy Crazy Nights", "I Was Made for Lovin' You", and "God Gave Rock 'n' Roll To You II" - which they adopted from Brit band Argent and made their own for Bill and Ted's Bogus Journey in 1991 - alongside "Modern Day Delilah", "Say Yeah" and "I'm An Animal" from the new album.
Concert goers can also expect a little more than the standard "hello Bucharest", "koszonom" and "sziastok" on Friday night, as Simmons was born to Hungarian parents and speaks the language fluently.
Now in their 50s and 60s, KISS will clearly never stop rocking now and underlined that point by becoming the first band to add an official coffin to the usual merchandising fare of T-shirts and tour programmes a few years ago. The KISS Kasket features the band's logo and pictures of its members, and is waterproof, so can also act as giant drinks cooler, for those who just can't wait to use it.
The ticket: The KISS - Sonic Boom Over Europe: From The Beginning To The Boom Tour 2010 comes to the Papp Laszlo Budapest Sportarena,Stefania ut 2, District XIV. (061) 422-2600 on Friday 28 May from 8pm. Tickets HUF 12,500 to HUF 19,900 More information at www.budapestarena.hu.
Nathan Marlowe and his wife Cynthia Manzo claim Simmons assaulted them and took their video camera after he spotted them filming him at L.A. mall The Grove in December.
The couple subsequently filed for a restraining order against the rocker, but that request was thrown out by a judge, and they are currently pursuing a civil claim through the courts, suing the bass player for assault, battery and infliction of emotional distress.
It has now been revealed Simmons won't face criminal charges over the alleged incident as officials in L.A. have concluded there is not enough evidence to prosecute, according to TMZ.com.
The civil case continues.
A mere six years ago, Christina and Patrick Vitagliano, a seemingly normal couple, sat at their kitchen table and came up with one of the most "frightening" entertainment ideas ever perpetrated on the American people - Monster Mini Golf. Christina wanted the concept to have three important factors: fun for all ages, inexpensive yet profitable and, above all, it had to be cool. So they took the 50-year-old proven concept of miniature golf, moved it indoors and added black lights, sound, special effects, a live DJ, and monsters - from frightfully animated to humorously absurd. Then they did what mini-golf needed - brought it to the 21st century and gave it a good dose of cool.
Now after 6 years and over 25 locations nationwide (and growing), the founders of Monster Mini Golf have decided it is time to kick up their edgy cool concept yet another notch. Along with monsters, black lights, special effects and mini-golf -- it's time to ROCK! When it's time to rock - it's time to call KISS!
The Monster team is currently seeking an on-strip Las Vegas location and is looking to open the first-ever "Monster Mini Golf presents KISS" mini-golf facility in the next 12-18 months. That's right, mini-golf, monsters and KISS. It's going to ROCK so hard it's SCARY.
Live Nation Merchandise is the licensing agent for KISS and was instrumental in brokering this deal.
Visit Monster Mini Golf on the web at www.monsterminigolf.com.
You won't want to miss this, as a special, unique concert ticket pre-sale code will be revealed exclusively to fans during the chat!
Due to the undoubtedly large number of KISS Army Members who will be participating, if you'd like to ask the band your question in advance of the chat, please visit the KISS CHAT EVENT PAGE to confirm your attendance and leave a question on the Event Wall.
Chat begins at 10:45am in Los Angeles; 1:45pm in New York City; 6:45pm in London, and 3:45am in Tokyo.
After nearly four decades of touring and recording, KISS has hundreds of songs to choose from, but bassist Gene Simmons promises a new show.
"Every time we go on tour we add new stuff people have never seen before," he said. "We continue to add more songs to our large repertoire."
Their latest album, Sonic Boom, is "classic KISS without sounding retro," guitarist Paul Stanley said.
"The Hottest Show on Earth" tour will kick off July 23 in Cheyenne, Wyoming, with at least 22 concerts, mostly on weekends through Labor Day.
"We just finished playing the world, doing the biggest tour that we've ever done and we thought we were going to take a break," Stanley said. "All of the sudden we started thinking 'Nah! We're having too much fun.'"
The first time a number of now-legendary bands -- including AC/DC, Bon Jovi, Rush, Iron Maiden and Judas Priest -- played in front of a sold-out stadium crowd was when they opened for KISS.
KISS announced a competition between unsigned bands for a chance open at one of the summer concerts.
"Somebody gave us a chance once," Simmons said. "We're going to be giving new bands a chance."
Simmons, 60, and Stanley, 58, have been with the band since it formed in 1972. Eric Singer first joined as drummer in 1991 and lead guitarist Tommy Thayer was added eight years ago.
The band is currently playing Europe, and will take a month off before beginning their U.S. trek in Cheyenne, Wyoming, on July 23. Dates are on tap through Sept. 24 in Phoenix, Ariz.
KISS, a relentless rock 'n' roll merchandising machine, is out promoting its first album in 11 years, "Sonic Boom," which debuted at No. 2 on the U.S. pop chart last October. But the flamboyant foursome is in the enviable position of not having to worry about either album or ticket sales in the recessionary environment.
"The bands that have to worry about the recession are the ones who don't give their money's worth to the audience," singer/guitarist Paul Stanley told Reuters by telephone from Prague. "If you come to see us, your money will blind you and deafen you and pummel you."
He promised there would be enough fireworks "to bring down low-flying aircraft," which explains the name of the tour.
Stanley's business partner, singer/bassist Gene Simmons, said in a separate interview from the Czech capital that it was OK in principle to be "piggish" about ticket prices and let capitalism take its course.
KISS, however, generally keeps prices to a relatively modest range of $60 to $80, and offers VIP packages to those who want to pay upward of $1,000 to meet them backstage, Simmons said. A spokeswoman for concert promoter Live Nation Entertainment Inc (LYV.N) said pricing had not yet been confirmed for the U.S. tour. The band is donating $1 from each ticket to the Wounded Warriors Project, a group that helps rehabilitate veterans of the Afghanistan and Iraq wars.
The new tour will mostly take place during the weekends so that Stanley can maintain a semblance of domestic weekday normalcy with his young family in Beverly Hills.
The show clocks in at about two hours, composed largely of old favorites from the band's 36-year career, such as "Lick It Up" and "Shout It Out Loud." The U.S. set list will likely be the same as that for Europe, with no changes from show to show.
KISS, rounded out by guitarist Tommy Thayer and drummer Eric Singer, has dusted off a pair of old hits for European fans, "Crazy Crazy Nights" and "God Gave Rock 'n' Roll To You II." It is also playing three tunes from "Sonic Boom." Neither Simmons nor Stanley was inclined to unveil additional tunes from the album.
Stanley, who produced "Sonic Boom," said he hoped to start work on a follow-up by the end of the year. Simmons seemed less enthusiastic about returning to the studio.
Merchandising is Simmons' specialty, with the band granting licenses to about 3,000 products, ranging from coffins to coffeehouses to condoms. Simmons, who stars with his family in the reality TV show "Gene Simmons: Family Jewels" and appears in a commercial for tour sponsor Dr Pepper, regrets that he has barely begun to tap the band's potential.
"I want this world to be called Planet KISS -- oh, by the way, we already own that trademark," he said. "I want every breath of air you take to be KISS air. You should be charged for every breath of KISS air that you take."
Since 1973, the world has known the black-and-white painted faces and costumes of the fantasy New York band, whose career started with crunchy guitar songs and has continued uninterrupted to this day. Later they fit into the popular disco sound. They produced a less-than-well-received concept album, came to disputes and replaced members, and put their masked faces in storage for many years. After a hairspray metal glam phase, the band returned to its earlier virtues and a reunion of the original lineup.
Two musicians from the original band, guitarist Ace Frehley and drummer Peter Criss, are now out again. But, Gene Simmons (bass) and Paul Stanley (vocals and rhythm guitar) have found fine, sound musical replacements with Tommy Thayer and Eric Singer. They have had to take the roles of their predecessors (and even their stage gestures reflect this 1:1) but it doesn't really bother anyone. In the past year, KISS enjoyed their acclaimed Alive 35 tour and the release of "Sonic Boom" (Roadrunner,) their first studio album in ten years. And as the slogan "Sonic Boom Over Europe: From the Beginning to the Boom" promised, the song selection resulted in Austria hearing almost every episode of KISStory.
The group was not only wild onstage together but also musically explosive. The Hallenstadion became a sold-out rock and roll circus.
With their new, successful hit "Modern Day Delilah," KISS appeared, as is proper for rock and roll entertainers of their caliber, on a floating bridge over the stage with flames licking the sides. Loud, powerful, and compact, the quartet rocked old material ("Deuce," "100,000 Years," and, most strongly, "Black Diamond,") current number ("Say Yeah," and Simmons' cliche-applied "I'm an Animal") and even reminisced over the 80s ("Crazy Nights.") The atmosphere continued to boil over throughout the night.
But that's just part of the circus. Attractions like Simmons spitting blood and soaring to dizzying heights with his axe bass while "I Love it Loud" intones; Thayer firing rockets from his guitar and Stanley flying over the heads of the standing-room-only attendees while "I Was Made for Lovin' You" begged audience members to dance along. And, the beautiful "God Gave Rock N' Roll To You" was almost hymn-like as the show closed with a brilliant "Rock and Roll All Nite," anthemic in a never-ending rain of confetti and indoor fireworks. As Simmons, Singer and Thayer rose to the ceiling on hydraulics, Stanley smashed his guitar -- and this again was part of the circus. None of this needs to be questioned -- it's just pure entertainment!
"You wanted the best?" "You got the best!" "The hottest band in the world: KISS!" What followed were 120 minutes of rock and roll circus, including fake blood by the liter, guitar fireworks, loud explosions, a drummer floating up to the ceiling and a singer strutting and stomping on silver platform shoes. "Reality" definitely has no place in the Kiss universe.
No matter. The forefathers of full-frills stadium rock thrilled 15,000 visitors at the almost completely-sold-out Wiener Stadthalle, insistently invoking the healing power of rock and roll. Since 1973, Kiss' music has always followed the same pattern: highly flammable, rebellious blues-rock with glam visuals and sing-along lyrics that fluctuate between campy and grandiose. Stylistic musical experimentation and innovation? Please. Who needs it anyway?
Certainly not Gene Simmons, who together leads the band with singer Paul Stanley. "We have more firepower than most countries in the Third World," announced the 60-year-old bass player to the world at the opening of "Sonic Boom Over Europe" tour. And he's right. Here's to the pyrotechnics.
Of course, KISS, which has sold over 80 million albums during their career, is famous for their performances that are always a kind of vaudeville: the booms, the smoke, the rockets fired from guitars, and that bombastic, hard-rocking sound. The capital city quaked, the audience cheered wildly at the theatrical spectacle. It was a perfect rock and roll show in a colorful, Cinemascope format.
The New York foursome gave Austria a two-hour concert potpourri, spanning their 37-year career. From the current "I'm An Animal" on the indestructible classic "Detroit Rock City" to the guilty pleasure disco hit "I Was Made For Loving You," a massive tidal wave of drum beats and guitar rock barraged the band's fans. For the encore came "God Gave Rock'n'Roll To You" and "Rock And Roll All Nite," the latter about anthemic ecstasy in a state of permanent partying.
Kiss offers the salvation that only rock and roll can bring... if only for a single evening.
KISS is immortal as their music, though, and nowadays it's so cool that KISS fans can collect high-quality recordings of each and every show thanks to the massive job carried over by KISS' technical partner Simfy Live (formerly known as Concerts Online.) I was scheduled to meet up with the recording team at the Mediolanum Forum to see how all everything is set up in order to let fans have their show in hand at the same time KISS are backstage taking off their greasepaint!
I can tell you the Simfy guys are doing a tremendous job; it's even unimaginable how many things are set up for every show and immediately afterward packed as fast as possible in order to be shipped to the next venue.
The KISS shows are taped on 46 tracks, including some crowd mics, as well as mics on the snares, toms and pedals of Eric's drum kit. The recording is made on a pair of PCs in order to be able to switch for one to another in case of technical difficulty and to ensure getting the recordings done. Cutting tracks and tagging them is done almost live, and even the special effects? of the guitars moving from the left channel to the right (during Tommy's solo, etc.) are done live thanks to a video installed in the control room where the guys are able to follow KISS playing and choose the right timing to fade in and fade out the guitars lines.
All concert are ready to be sold at the 11th song (normally "100,000 Years" near the end of the show) while the remaining portion becomes downloadable early in the afternoon the next day. It's almost incredible to see and amazing to listen to, believe me!
For more info on Simfy Live products and show listings, visit simfyLive.com.
The band is already colorful, larger than life and they have a storied history, so capturing their legacy on cardboard seems like a no-brainer. As far back as 1978 the band has been part of the non-sports card scene. Through the years, many other companies have produced KISS card sets, but none fully captured the elements that are familiar to modern trading card collectors, including autographs and memorabilia. Press Pass has taken KISS card collecting to the next level, and with Legends of KISS they've reached a new pinnacle.
Legends checklist contains 100 base cards, and as a long-time KISS collector it is safe to say that these are the very best looking KISS cards ever produced. Each card has a watercolor paint finish and combined with classic KISS images it is sure fire winning combination. The set includes photos from all eras of the band. You'll find shots from the early days with Ace and Peter, the 80s non-makeup years, and shots of what many believe to be the strongest live KISS lineup with Paul Stanley, Gene Simmons, Eric Singer and Tommy Thayer.
The card backs feature quotes from the living rock legends and also makeup several mini-puzzles. There are multiple parallel collections for those looking to piece together a rarer, complete set. First Edition Base Parallels come from the first sheets that were pressed at the printer, and these cards are sequentially numbered and limited to only 33 sets. Proof Edition Black and White parallels are seeded about 1:4 packs, and the more rare Cyan edition are #'d to 25 in hobby boxes. You can find Magenta, Black and Yellow parallels in retail products at stores such as your local WalMart. There are also Press Plate cards. Press Plates are one of a kind KISS collectibles of each of the 100 cards and are one of the four color plates used to print the cards. You could find a Cyan, Magenta, Black or Yellow plate and have a completely unique collectible all to yourself.
With the KISS Pop-Ups you can enjoy a 3-D replica of Gene, Paul, Eric, Tommy, Peter and Ace. These cool inserts pop and fold out so that you can stand them up and display them. They also featured the wicked paint design of the base cards and look like mini works of art.
One of the great aspects of seeing KISS live is their amazing costumes. With the Rock Star Relics cards, you can own a piece of a concert-worn outfit from Gene Simmons or Paul Stanley. KISS Kuts feature autographs from the founding members along with a swatch of costume! You could also unpack autographs from Ace Frehley and Peter Criss or a card with all four original members. Unlike many sports card products where memorabilia and autographs run rampant, I give Press Pass credit for spreading out the autographs and memorabilia. The autographs are #?d to low quantities and the three levels of memorabilia cards are seeded 1:90 packs. Their plan to keep these types of cards limited seems to have worked, as previous cards have reach three-digit sale prices and if you do a quick search on eBay you can find a few autographs from this product that are fetching just under $300. The memorabilia cards range anywhere from $40 to $90.
Ironically when I spoke about this collection on my radio show, I actually got some flak from my co-host who had a blogger say that talking about KISS cards was boring. I beg to differ, and so apparently do many collectors, as these cards are far outshining many of today's biggest sports stars.
I opened a box and unfortunately didn't find any memorabilia or autos, so needless to say, as a fan I was a little disappointed but, I am two cards shy of the 100-card set and did find 8 parallels and 4 Pop-ups. The cards' beauty alone will have me purchasing multiple boxes, but as a KISS fan, I am spoiled. They have always delivered the total package. The albums often had a little bonus inside, such as a poster or tattoos or a Love Gun. I think it would be cool to include one big hit in every box of KISS product such as a guitar pick box topper or even a sketch card to deliver value to each hobby box.
Luckily for me, and the hundreds of thousands of other KISS fans, the Legend of KISS continues to grow.
KISS, which has sold over 80 million albums, continues to enjoy their career 37 years after its formation. And, as befits stars of this caliber, they travel by private jet.
After their concert in Zurich, the shock-rockers KISS took off for their next concert in their own KISS jet. Of course, the KISS Jet is adorned with the band's famous logo. Blick.ch captured the jet on video as it left Zurich-Kloten.
It was eleven o'clock when the drummer of the legendary rock band KISS chose to detour from his touring schedule to visit the watch city. Eric was treated to a private tour of the Omega Museum, which had been opened just for him. Enjoying a day off from KISS' European tour (which passes through the Hallenstadion in Zurich and the Geneva Arena,) he was welcomed by Stephen Urquhart, President of Omega.
The guardian of time (and beat) in KISS, Eric is also a big fan of Swiss watches, which he has acquired with passion for many years. His collection, which includes hundreds of beautiful pieces, is expanding throughout the band's world tours, and he has managed to establish contacts with representatives of luxury brands. His rock star status helps greatly. Above all, Eric is an ambassador for TAG Heuer, though he is also fond of Jaeger-LeCoultre, Patek Philippe and, of course, Omega, which featured its "Speedmaster" wrist model for the occasion.
"I must have been five years old when my father gave me my first watch, a cheap plastic model. But I was immediately fascinated by the object and it was like a click occurred," Eric confided.
Dozens of Paul Stanleys (star and kissing lips) and Eric Singers (cat's face) abounded, and an amorous couple was spotted, one person made up to look like Tommy Thayer (spaceman) and the other made up like Gene Simmons (the one with the tongue) dearly kissing each other.
A short hour later the makeup scene repeated itself onstage at the Hallenstadion: During the melodic guitar solo of "Cold Gin," the second song of the evening, Gene Simmons let his tongue slip over the neck of Thayer. Monsters they may be, even in this strictly heterosexual hard rock. And if nothing else, the comic-book monster that Kiss is provides a very impressive presentation.
The show's intro movie showed the musicians as giants over a sea of buildings, and the band entered on a raised platform that swung to the stage front. Stanley appeared with an untamed mane of hair and chest hair showing. Simmons, in turn, wore his characteristic hairstyle and prowled around the stage like a lizard. Soon, a bra dangled from Stanley's guitar, and Simmons spit fire.
Countless detailed, visual elements shape this production, right down to the appropriate lead guitar shapes that visually define KISS, and they have remained almost unchanged for decades (except for a short period when they unmasked.) It wouldn't be professional to forget to mention their signature costumes too. But this show was indeed also about the music.
Kiss songs are really pop songs, they are - more pointedly - a little closer to Abba than Led Zeppelin. Sure, they rock harder in crunchy riff songs like "Deuce" or "Detroit Rock City", but the crafty calculated effect on the audience is quite similar. Kiss is, and always have been, completely in control of what they do. In any case, the nearly sold-out stadium hall was very satisfied.
And yes, Paul Stanley also flew.
Tickets for "An Evening With KISS" go on sale Saturday, May 22 at noon. Admission prices are $68.00, $58.00, and $38.00 plus applicable fees. Fair admission ($11) is not included with tickets and must also be purchased to attend the concert.
Tickets will be available at the Minnesota State Fair box office and via Ticketmaster.
It's the pre-gig announcement they've been using more or less continuously since their first show in January 1973.
But tonight, as the US legends storm the stage with an eye-watering arsenal of pyrotechnics (a colossal 500 of them), hydraulics and spark-shooting guitars, they prove they really are "the hottest band in the world". Literally.
Flames the size of skyscrapers burst from the stage as a string of explosions announce the arrival of the four-piece - on a platform that swoops from the ceiling to the floor. It is, no question, one of the most impressive entrances you'll ever see. And it doesn't hurt that, as they descend, they are belting out an amped- up version of Modern Day Delilah, one of the highlights of their new Sonic Boom album.
It's a return to the muscular, no-frills rock'n'roll of their classic '70s period, And tonight, amid the bangs and crashes of the greatest stage show the SECC has ever seen songs from it (particularly a sensational Say Yeah that has the 10,000 crowd singing along lustily) hold their own against fan faves like Cold Gin, Deuce and a mesmerising Detroit Rock City.
As they ramp up the theatrics - the fire-breathing of bassist Gene Simmons, the duel between guitarist Tommy Thayer and virtuoso drummer Eric Singer that ends in the destruction of a lighting truss - it's obvious they're here to entertain. And then some.
But strip away the bombs, the make-up and the larger-than- life showmanship, take away every last dramatic burst of flame, and, at heart, Kiss are simply one of the greatest live bands you'll ever witness.
Eye-wateringly tight, blessed with tunes that sound like the missing link between The Kinks and Led Zeppelin, they're phenomenal on their own.
Add in the fact that Paul Stanley is easily the best frontman in rock'n'roll right now - a kind of space-age Little Richard who hollers, struts and testifies his way through this explosive set - and you have a dynamite combination.
You may have seen Bowie, Springsteen, even Alex Harvey at his peak, but until you've seen Kiss you ain't seen NUTHIN' yet.
A FULL recording of this show is available from www.simfylive.com.
"I am now residing with and engaged to a lovely girl named Rachael Gordon. My inspiration and end all. She is the best thing that's ever happened to me and we constantly inspire each other.
"If you haven't found your true love in life yet... when you do, it is truly a new awakening!
"She has revived my spirit in every way and made me live again."
Ace, 59, was previously married to Jeanette, with whom he has a 29-year-old daughter, Monique.
After openers Taking Dawn had warmed up the crowd, a gigantic black curtain bearing a silver KISS logo was unfurled to hide the stage. It didn't, however, hide the six confetti cannons in the pit, giving us a hint of what was to come, and also confirming our earlier suspicion that the band had indeed brought arena-sized stage effects to their Islington Academy gig in March.
At around 9pm the video screens kicked into life, prompting a roar from the crowd. In the moments before the band appeared, I had a slightly surreal moment noticing KISS manager Doc McGhee standing a couple of feet away watching himself on the (almost) live video feed showing KISS heading for the stage.
A KISS show is always as much about the theatrics as the music, and 'subtle' and 'understated' are just not in their vocabulary. The tone for the night was set in spectacular fashion when the curtain dropped and the band exploded into view with Gene, Paul and Tommy appearing on a platform at the back of the stage, and rising over Eric's drumkit before descending into the thick fog of pink and red smoke that had temporarily engulfed the stage (along with the photo pit and everyone in it).
"Modern Day Delilah" and "Cold Gin" set the pace, with the band delivering KISS classic after KISS classic to the eager crowd, flanked by a variety of great stage effects, and the gigantic video backdrop following their every move.
"Crazy Crazy Nights" was a massive crowd singalong, reportedly added to the set largely due to huge demand for it in the UK (where it was a Top 10 hit in 1987).
Tommy Thayer took on the vocals for "Shock Me", with a (literally) explosive guitar solo, followed by Eric Singer's drum solo and a firework battle between guitarist and drummer carried out high above the arena stage, assisted by a hydraulic platform and levitating drumkit.
Gene's fire-breathing and blood-spitting was, as always, a great crowd-pleaser; the bass player was then flown on wires to the top of the lighting rig and performed "I Love It Loud" from the top of the arena bathed in red and green light, before returning to the stage for "Love Gun", "Black Diamond" and main set closer "Detroit Rock City".
After a short break, the band returned to the stage to do "the longest encore you've ever seen" and launched into classic 80s track "Lick It Up" followed by "Shout It Out Loud". Paul Stanley teased the crowd and had everyone shouting his name before flying directly over our heads to rapturous cheers and delivering "I Was Made For Lovin' You" from a platform by the mixing desk, before returning to the stage.
Wembley became a church of rock for "God Gave Rock And Roll To You II" and final anthem "Rock and Roll all Nite" was a frenzy of confetti, smoke, hydraulic platforms and pyrotechnics, ending the party with a bang.
This was a fantastic show - if you go to see KISS you are guaranteed a night of pure entertainment - they are true showmen and loads of fun, and reward the loyalty of their fans with one of the most impressive stage shows you are ever likely to see.
Simmons' legal team filed court papers in Los Angeles asking a judge to declare that accuser Victoria Jackson has suffered no harm from the star of costume rock and reality television.
Simmons' lawyers said Jackson has threatened to sue over the "alleged assault that never occurred" unless he pays her $185,000.
The dispute stems from a November 2009 appearance Simmons and fellow band member Eric Singer made on the ESPN television show "SportsCenter."
Jackson has stated in a letter to Simmons, 60, that he hugged and "grinded" her in a hallway at ESPN studios in Los Angeles, when he was there for "SportsCenter."
But Simmons' lawyers say Jackson's grinding allegations are "implausible if not impossible" because he was in his KISS costume with a codpiece that sits over the groin.
KISS began its career in the 1970s and scored hits with "Detroit Rock City" and "Rock and Roll All Nite." Simmons has since become a reality TV star on "Gene Simmons: Family Jewels".
An ESPN spokesman said the company was not involved in the lawsuit.
Fast forward 2 years and not only have KISS just completed the UK leg of their new European tour they are doing it on the back of a new (and acclaimed by both fans and critics) album in 'Sonic Boom'.
When KISS first announced the tour though myself and friend Andrew sort of just left it. We had heard the album and knew how brilliant it was and obviously we knew what an amazing live act KISS were but we just sort of left it. Until about 2 months ago when we realized how annoyed and miserable we would feel if we were sat at work or at home knowing KISS were playing live in our country!
So off we headed to the sold out Wembley Arena on the last night of the UK leg of the (deep breath) 'Sonic Boom Over Europe: From The Beginning To The Boom Tour'.
After getting there we were pleasantly suprised to find the merchandise stand outside the arena, which would save valuable time in getting a good spot at the front. After getting our shirts we waited just under 2 hours outside and were let in about quarter past six.
But before we could see KISS there was the small matter of the support band Taking Dawn. While this were OK, their music was quite average and generic and you could plainly see the only reason they got this slot was due to the influence of their record company the ever powerful Roadrunner Records. Not even the singer jumping off the stage into the crowd at the end of their set (which closed with a painful cover of Fleetwood Mac's 'The Chain') could keep the interest up.
A few minutes after they had vacated the stage the huge KISS curtain dropped and we had the agonizing wait for the band to hit the stage...then the lights went down and this happened...
Launching into the first track from 'Sonic Boom' Modern Day Delilah was a fantastic opener that sent the crowd into a frenzy with the entrance over Eric Singer's drumkit.
Proving it was from 'The Beginning' they continued with a song from the self titled first album - Cold Gin and followed that with other early gems Let Me Go, Rock N' Roll and Firehouse.
It was back to the Boom for the album closer Say Yeah which was then followed by another cut from the debut album with the brilliant Deuce.
Then it was suprise time. A song that the band aren't massive fans of (and this was proved by Gene Simmon's rather bored backing vocals) but it is KISS' biggest selling single in this country. Of course I mean Crazy, Crazy Nights. A song also that hasn't been played on any tour since the Hot In The Shade Tour of the late 80s or possibly the Revenge tour of the early 90s. It went down a storm.
After another 70's era highlight in Calling Dr. Love it was Tommy Thayer providing vocals for Shock Me which led into Tommy's guitar solo and Eric Singer's drum solo. Which included both of them being levitated on platforms and shooting rocket launchers. Brilliant.
The final new song of the evening was I'm An Animal and then it was Paul Stanley's brilliant vocal display in the "song we always play...because it's good!" 100,000 Years.
Instead of going up to the rafters for 'God Of Thunder' Gene Simmons now goes up to I Love It Loud after his blood spitting bass solo. Our position was such that we would have got cramp if we looked up at him for too long. It's a great song though from the often forgotten 'Creatures Of The Night' album.
The hits kept rolling with Love Gun, Black Diamond (which included a segment of Whole Lotta Love by Led Zeppelin) and the main set closed with the ubiquitous Detroit Rock City.
After a brief break KISS returned promising "the longest encore you've ever seen". It wasn't but it was the most brilliant!
Kicking off with the title track from 1983's Lick It Up they carried on the one of rock musics ultimate party tracks Shout It Out Loud before Paul Stanley got on the zip line to the back of the arena for the always fantastic I Was Made For Lovin' You.
Another big suprise was the inclusion of God Gave Rock And Roll To You a song not heard on these shores since the early 90s! I remember this song when it first came out (Bill and Ted's Bogus Journey!) and it was just mind blowing to hear it live. I may have welled a bit.
What else could KISS finish with but Rock And Roll All Nite? And that they did, blasting the arena with confetti cannons...I swear I must have ingested a couple of pounds of the stuff.
It was a hell of a show, and surpassed the Download 2008 performance by a mile! Paul did promise they would return and I hope they do. He is 58 now (you wouldn't know it from the nights performance) so they can't leave it THAT long!
Although to be honest I never thought I'd see KISS once let alone twice, and the second time sop close so I can always live with that.
That setlist in full...
Modern Day Delilah
Cold Gin
Let Me Go, Rock N' Roll
Firehouse
Say Yeah
Deuce
Crazy, Crazy Nights
Calling Dr. Love
Shock Me (with Tommy and Eric solo's)
I'm An Animal
100,000 Years
I Love It Loud (With Gene's solo)
Love Gun
Black Diamond
Detroit Rock City
Lick It Up
Shout It Out Loud
I Was Made For Lovin' You
God Gave Rock N' Roll To You
Rock And Roll All Nite
The opening riff of "Modern Day Delilah" resounded through the arena as the curtain fell to reveal the rockers in trademark tight costumes and make-up.
Paul Stanley got the crowd roaring to "Crazy Crazy Nights", which sounded as good as when it broke into the UK Top 10 back in 1987. The band continued to amaze fans with classics such as "Calling Dr Love", and when Tommy Thayer took on Ace Frehley's role as vocalist on "Shock Me", the song ended perfectly with a guitar and drum solo, and fireworks and explosions going off here, there and everywhere.
Every fan in the house was looking forward to the spectacle of Gene Simmons's fire-breathing display. It didn't disappoint, sending the crowd into a frenzy as he spat blood and flew to the top of the stage to sing "I Love It Loud" before being lowered back to perform the crowd-pleasing "Love Gun".
The band returned to do what Stanley described as "the longest encore ever", packed with Kiss tracks such as "Black Diamond", "Detroit Rock City" and "Lick It Up", making for an incredibly satisfying greatest-hits package. But even that didn't come close to the reaction that the band received when Stanley came swinging over the crowd to perform "I Was Made for Lovin' You" from a platform in the middle of the audience.
The band closed with the epic "God Gave Rock'n'Roll to You" and the rock national anthem "Rock and Roll All Nite", before Stanley smashed up his guitar. After nearly four decades of rock'n'roll, and a combined age of 218, Kiss show no signs of calling it a day - and hopefully we can expect many more years of great music and live shows.
One of the most popular rock guitarists of the 1970s, Frehley became an inspiration to a generation of guitarists with his lead-guitar prowess and atmospheric Les Paul sound.
Ace Frehley performed with KISS from its inception in 1973 until his first departure in 1982 before rejoining KISS in 1996 for a very successful reunion tour. Frehley's second stint lasted until 2002 as Ace went back to being a solo artist again, but the stories and memories still remain from touring in one of rock and roll's most successful acts of all time.
One the red carpet just before his performance with Slash at the at the sixth annual MusiCares MAP Fund benefit concert on May 7 at Club Nokia in Los Angeles, Ace Frehley talked about putting his memoir together and how he got help remembering some of his old stories that he might have forgotten.
"It's gonna be memoirs, you know," he said.
"I just turned 59, [so] I think it's about time I start getting the stuff out and writing it down on paper before I forget it.
"It's hard for me to remember a lot of the stuff, so what I've been doing is getting together with people I used to work with, and they usually have better memories of situations than myself. Getting together with old bodyguards... They have the best stories about me... stuff I don't remember."
A short video clip of Ace Frehley talking to the Artisan News Service about his upcoming book can be viewed at this location.
With a stunning new stage show and a 140 minute set-list that stretched from their 1974 debut album "Kiss" to 2009's "Sonic Boom", the costumed rock superheroes were lowered on to stage on a floating platform amid a hail of pyrotechnics. "The Demon" Gene Simmons, "The Starchild" Paul Stanley, "The Spaceman" Tommy Thayer, and drummer "The Catman" Eric Singer, launched straight into one of their killer new tracks, "Modern Day Delilah" before plunging back to '74 for "Cold Gin".
At the age of 58, Paul Stanley can rock out with the best that present day rock 'n' roll has to offer. Winning over anybody who was unsure by announcing he would be calling the city "Birming-um" rather than the typical American "Birming-ham". A task he stuck to for the next 2 hours during a heaven sent performance, for old and new KISS fans alike.
The 20 track set included: "Firehouse", "Deuce", "Crazy, Crazy Nights", "Calling Dr Love", "100,000 Years", "Love Gun", "Black Diamond", "Detroit Rock City" and "Lick It Up".
Tommy Thayer's guitar fired rockets during "Shock Me" and "I Love It Loud" saw 60-year-old bassist Gene Simmons hoisted high above the stage to the lighting gantry, tongue waggling and dribbling blood down his chin.
This was as much about the theatrics as the music. Fireworks, explosions, innovative video screens, a barrage of spectacular lights, and at times Eric Singers drum kit hovering in mid-air. This was an exciting spectacle although business as usual for KISS. The ultimate showmen in the ultimate heavy rock pantomime.
The show drew to a close with "I Was Made For Loving You" where Paul Stanley took flight over the crowd to a stage at the rear of the arena, before returning to end with "God Gave Rock 'n' Roll To You" and "Rock And Roll All Nite".
With their apt motto: "you wanted the best, you got the best", and on the eve of our General Election, it was KISS that got the vote from the LG Arena faithful. A truly fantastic show!
But that was the old Frehely. He's been sober for four years now and was recently on hand at the Grammy Foundation's annual MusiCares concert in L.A., an event that celebrates musicians and their sobriety. Once known for his partying, Frehley tells Spinner that he's truly a changed man. "Years ago I was a crazy party animal and people used to come up to me and say, 'Man, Ace, I got wasted the other night just like you,'" he says. "Now I've got fans coming up to me saying, 'Hey, you got sober and you're one of the reasons I decided to get sober.' I get that kind of feedback now when I meet fans, when I read fan mail and there's nothing better than that."
Still, Frehley is used to hearing that he's been an influence on people, only it's usually guitarists that sing his praises. At MusiCares, he shared the stage with Slash and the Donnas' Alison Robertson, who are both big fans of Frehley. "It's always great playing with other musicians. It's also a great situation where I'm the older guy, I've influenced generations of guitar players," Frehley says. "It's always good to walk in a room and know everybody kind of looks up to you because I guess I've earned it."
Indeed, he has earned that admiration from guitarists and the adulation for being sober. So, which means more to him: the praise as a guitarist or for being sober? "I think the sober thing is more important because I've been getting that guitar thing for a long time," he says. "I'm only coming up on four years sobriety September 15, so that's more special."
Vinnie Vincent last year sued KISS, along with A&E Television Networks, for using his image without his permission. According to TMZ.com, Vincent claimed in the August 2009 lawsuit that his image was used in a DVD boxed set called "Kissology: Volume 2 1978-1992". In addition, Vincent claimed his image was used as part of the "roast" episode of A&E's show "Gene Simmons Family Jewels", the "reality"-TV program featuring KISS bassist/vocalist Gene Simmons and his family. Vincent also claimed Simmons defamed him on an A&E show called "Private Sessions", though he didn't specify what defamatory statements were made.
Vincent, whose real name is Vincent Cusano, played with KISS from 1982 to 1984, co-writing "I Love it Loud", "Lick it Up" and other songs.
Back in October 2006, Vincent lost a Supreme Court appeal in a dispute over royalties with his former KISS bandmates. (See Vincent's petition in PDF format at this location.)
Justices declined to consider lower court rulings dismissing Vincent's claim that he is owed royalties for his contributions to the band's 1983 album "Lick It Up".
The poster was found in the collection of one of KISS's very first roadies.
The auction can be viewed here.
It's not just the physical armour, which along with platform boots makes bassist Gene Simmons around seven feet tall. Their self-confidence hubris is almost impossible to dent.
"You can be three or 73 and a Kiss fan," declares guitarist Paul Stanley, who along with guitarist Tommy Thayer and drummer Eric Singer make up the rest of the band.
"Our fans are celebrating our jubilant approach to life and the fact we don't take rubbish from anybody and you can come out a winner.
"So they're an army, they're a team, they're a tribe, and as time goes on we become more iconic.
"Even with a change of member the band become stronger and it shows that nothing can stop Kiss."
Since the band have been going for 36 years, maybe they've earned their right to their hubris.
Since their formation in New York during the glam rock era, they've sold a hundred million albums.
The original line up of Simmons, Stanley, Ace Frehley and drummer Peter Criss put on face paint to create four characters - Demon, Starchild, Spaceman and Catman. It's endured and become a trademark.
This year they released their first studio album for 11 years, Sonic Boom. It's been acclaimed for its "original and youthful" 70s sound - possibly something to do with the band using analogue tapes for the recording.
"We did such a successful tour two years ago and the band never felt better," explains Stanley.
"And there came a time when we looked at each other and thought it shouldn't just be about celebrating our past, and it was time to write another chapter.
"Sonic Boom is arguably the best thing we've done in 25 years. It's four people going into the studio and committing to making a great album.
"You can't make a great record when you're going, 'How can this band make me more famous?' You've got to think: 'How can I pay tribute to this great institution? And I believe Sonic Boom is a classic album - it's not a retro album at all."
Endurance test
Self-deprication isn't in the band vocabulary - but fans don't mind at all. The group have attracted a devoted following known as the Kiss Army.
"Without our fans we're nothing," says Simmons. "There is a relationship and love and respect between fan and band that is unequalled.
"On the other hand they have the highest expectation. If you think you can go out there, sit on a rug and strum a few songs on an acoustic guitar, good luck to you."
The fans may love it, but gigs can be an endurance test for the band. Running round in armour and stacked heels is hard at any age - but Simmons is now 60 years old.
"Try walking around in these for two and a half hours," he says, pointing to his enormous boots.
"This is not a sympathy ploy, by the way. We're proud of our energy, we welcome any band that has the courage to get on stage with us. U2, Rolling Stones - we like you very much. Come play with us."
Simmons may also be a reality TV star - his family are in the Gene Simmons Family Jewels series on US TV - but by far the most lucrative part of Kiss's career has been their merchandising.
They are the number one merchandise band in the world - selling everything from dolls of themselves, to snooker cues, rubber ducks and even branded coffee.
They also helpfully sell fridges which can double up as a coffin for devoted members of the Kiss Army. As Simmons once remarked: "Planet Kiss sounds a lot better than Planet Earth."
"Our job is to give the fans what they want," argues Stanley. "It would be selfish of us not to.
"When other bands complain about what we do, it's because they're so damn boring that nobody wants one of their T-shirts or a doll or a Mr Potato Head, whatever. We work in a way that if you don't like the merch, don't get it."
Surprisingly for a band so focused on their own product, they confess they see the UK as "the holy land" because it's produced so many of their musical heroes.
"We are dyed in the wool Anglophiles," maintains Stanley. "Growing up - we wanted to be in The Beatles, Led Zeppelin, The Kinks, The Yardbirds, The Pretty Things."
"Don't forget Slade," adds Simmons, with a completely deadpan face.
"For a small country - there must be something in the water," Stanley continues. "It's frightening how many great acts come out of the UK."
Simmons agrees: "Song writing is alive and well over here. Keane write terrific songs, Arctic Monkeys are great.
"But we're waiting for stars. We want to see the new Marc Bolan, the new David Bowie before he went all disco - when he was Ziggy, he ruled the world. We're looking for people like a rock'n'roll Lady Gaga - get out there and make a spectacle of yourself.
"We ourselves are proudly entertainers. Yes, we made it this far with our music, but on stage we pummell you, we deafen you, we blind you - and we leave you smiling."
Kiss play Birmingham NEC on May 11 and Wembley Arena on May 12 and 13th.
Tickets for the concert go on sale 10 a.m. Friday. Admission prices are $70, $59 and $45 plus applicable fees. Fair admission is included with tickets.
Through midnight Sunday or while supplies last, a buy-one-get-one-free ticket offer applies to $45 seats in the upper grandstand.
Tickets will be available at the fairgrounds box office, 1202 E. 38th St., by visiting www.ticketmaster.com, or by calling (800) 745-3000.
The legendary rock 'n' roll warriors - done up in their trademark warpaint - ripped the roof off Glasgow's SECC on their mega Sonic Boom Over Europe Tour.
And the rockers turned the huge arena into a giant cauldron as 10,000 sweaty punters sweltered in front of their awesome show. The superstar group appeared on a steel bridge which swooped over drummer ERIC SINGER, then on to to the massive stage as they thundered out Morning Day Delilah.
It was their first Scots gig since 1992 and frontman PAUL STANLEY, 58, screamed: "It's been a long time since we were in Scotland and y'all better be ready.
"Man, it's an honour to be here. We are gonna get this place so hot that they're going to have to call out the fire department."
Crazy axe-lord GENE SIMMONS despite being 60, coughed up BLOOD, which covered his face while he cranked out I Love It Loud.
The outrageous rockers, who've shifted over 100 million albums, thundered out tracks from their glittering 37-year career including Crazy Crazy Nights. And guitarist TOMMY THAYER joined the other two for some sychronised dance moves.
Two hours of insane stunts and deafening rock music - just another day at the office for Kiss.
He's in no imminent danger. A-Listed is a shade over 6ft but, even without his platform boots, America's most legendary rocker is a good few inches taller.
And standing side by side with his towering presence, you get the distinct impression that, if anyone's going to be molested, it won't be him.
A hand the size of a bear's paw, and just as heavy, drops on A-Listed's shoulder.
Suddenly, in the space of a stalled heartbeat, it snakes from shoulder to throat as he grabs A-Listed in a playful stranglehold.
"I'm 230lbs. I could never have joined The Rolling Stones," he grins. "They're HALF my size."
The God Of Thunder, it turns out, has a wicked sense of humour.
A-Listed is backstage with Kiss as their brilliant Sonic Boom Tour rolls into Europe.
Around us, the greatest rock'n'roll show of all-time is being assembled.
More than a dozen massive artic trucks have disgorged tons of equipment as 44 permanent crew members - plus a squad of hired-in locals - rig the stage with hundreds of lights, pyrotechnics and special effects.
"There's a lot of fire," explains one of the crew bosses. "It gets hot anywhere within 100ft of the stage."
Zip-wires, hydraulics and a state-of-the- art video-screen system sit alongside amps, guitars and recording kit (so gig- goers can buy an instant record of the show on USB as they leave) because Kiss don't do things on the cheap.
And they're determined that when the Sonic Boom Tour arrives at Glasgow's SECC tonight, on their first visit to Scotland in nearly two decades, the fans get their money's worth... and then some.
"We're more than a band, we're a phenomenon," says Paul Stanley, who founded the multi-million-selling act with Simmons in New York City in 1972. "But without the fans, we wouldn't be here.
"The whole premise of Kiss is that when you're paying to see us, we feel we owe you everything.
"It's an exciting brand of rock'n'roll that comes off as pure entertainment.
"When you come to see Kiss, you get a show. You get something special. It'll dazzle you... and it'll DEAFEN you."
They're on the road, of course, to promote their latest album Sonic Boom, a return to the world-beating form of vintage Kiss classics like Dressed To Kill, Destroyer and Love Gun.
And while album highlights like Modern-Day Delilah, Say Yeah and I'm An Animal are key elements of their stunning live set, it's also heavily loaded with fan favourites like Deuce, Firehouse and Rock'N'Roll All Nite from the mid- 1970s period that made them superstars.
"We're covering everything from the beginning to the Boom," Paul explains.
"But not only that, it's the greatest stage set we've ever had and the greatest show we've done too. We're having a great time.
"It's really a celebration of the band and a celebration of the fans. We've all been in this together for a long time - and there's a reason for that. This show sums up why we've lasted so long. And why we're better than ever."
SONIC Boom is available now on Roadrunner Records.
"I love the sound of my own voice," he admits at the start of our face to (make-up-free) face chat in a swanky London hotel.
But for the all the bravado and bombastic stage shows, the KISS bassist and lead singer is a big man with a big heart, not least when it comes to seeing the influx of new young fans in the crowd having caught the KISS bug, thanks partly to their long overdue album Sonic Boom.
"It's the kick of a lifetime and sometimes very emotional on stage," says Gene. "I know this sounds likes a soundbite, and I accept that criticism, but when I'm on stage I have a Jekyll and Hyde kind of thing.
"When I get up on stage it's full-on who I am at that time. I'm sweating like a pig even though I'm not out of breath, you're adrenaline kicks in, your heart's pumping, your chest cavity gets bigger.
"And when I look out into the audience and I see a five year-old kid in KISS make-up on the shoulders of his dad in the same make-up, it really affects me emotionally. I have cried on stage and when they see it, they cry.
"There's this band-fan connection. There is a KISS nation, a KISS Army."
Some of Gene's softer side has been witnessed by the 84 countries that broadcast the at-home show Gene Simmons Family Jewels.
"I am that person at home and I am who I am on stage. We thought T-Rex was just a predator. It was discovered recently it was not, it was a very loving parent and took care of its young."
Back in eight-inch heels, Sonic Boom has restored the sense of excitement about KISS, but it was a long time coming.
"A car doesn't go very far,no matter how good it is,without a highway. You need a road and without Walmart, our retail partner, I'll be damned if I'll be involved in a record that somebody gets to download free.
"It's ridiculous and is an insult to people who work hard writing songs, recording, only at the end to have somebody not pay you for it.
"How would you like to be a plumber working on somebody's house and then they say 'I'm sorry, you didn't expect to get paid for that, did you?' Last time I checked, KISS is not a charity and we don't pretend to be."
Money aside, certainly there is a sense of KISS seeking to restore some of the values that have been lost amid the internet boom.
"The sad part is the next Beatles or the next KISS, the next new band that comes out of a small town, without a record company as a support system, couldn't go anywhere.
"A record company has distribution, marketing and sales people, posters and records going to record shops.
"It's very sad deserving new bands will not get the chance because some college kid some place believes he doesn't have to pay for music.
"But we're changing all that with our relationship with Walmart and we'll find retailers who are willing to sell the records and with that you can have an internet conduit.
It's not often the frontman of one of the world's biggest rock acts asks you to squeeze his thigh. Then there are probably few blokes at Gene Simmons' time of life that have rock hard limbs to boast about.
One thing the make-up and costumes have helped do for KISS is make them timeless. "But I'm also stunning," quips Gene as Hear & Now cops a feel.
"I'm 60 and I'm beautiful and we are in great shape because you get up every day and you work at it. Get rid of stress, get rid of anybody in the band who's a drug addict, an alcoholic.
"You sleep good, you eat good: life is good. And the thing that'll eat away at you are those a**holes around your life who will use you or anything as an excuse, vampires, the dregs of the earth."
It may come as a surprise to many that KISS have never been an act to drink bars dry or smash up hotel rooms. They prefer to keep the hellraising on stage... While that sense of clarity has seen KISS clock up many rock landmarks in their 37 years, Gene admits some of their story has been by chance.
"The truth is, you fly by the seat of your pants and you have a good time. The shrewd person has a general sense of a direction and place and within that you've got to have leeway. You're acting in a movie, this is the script, these are the lines but while you're doing it you play with it so you get a better performance. When something is too rigid, it cracks. So while it's good to have a plan, life is what actually happens."
The night before we speak, the band play an exclusive 800-capacity club in north London. It's a massive contrast to their explosive headlining of Download Festival in 2008.
"Without exaggeration my living room is bigger than that place," says Gene, who denies any nerves whatever the size of the stage.
"I never did. There are performers who really get under the skin of it and you claim the stage like an animal p***ing on the ground. This is my territory. There's no fear involved."
And that kind of attitude is partly what has kept KISS alive, as well as never giving themselves a lifespan.
"It's akin to being at a party and having the time of your life; great looking girls, good times, and somebody comes up and asks 'How long are you staying at the party?' The only honest answer is 'I don't know, as long as it's a party.'
"You've got to make your own rules, sleep when you want, get up when you want. There's no template. You get to make it up, you are the governor. What job in the world gets you that.
"And how about this - they introduce you to the idea of a record company who I always thought were our best friends and they're going to give you a stack of money, an advance, and you never have to pay it back."
Of course, KISS have repaid their sponsors many times over since Gene and Paul Stanley began playing garages in Detroit. While some will be hard-pressed to name many of their singles everyone is aware of the fantasy make-up and escapism their stage-show represents.
"I'm reminded of during World War One when the British and Germans were lined up in trenches, it was Christmas Eve, they stopped shooting and they met. And you know what they did together, they sang.
"So whether you go to a church and sing a hymn or whether you do an Irish jig, sing. Birds do it, animals do it, they sing. Don't go throughthe day without a melody in your mind."
And with the likes of Rock n' Roll All Night and Crazy Nights, KISS have certainly supplied a few down the years.
"By some estimates KISS are the most well-known human faces on planet earth," adds Gene. "Not everybody knows what your prime minister looks like; everybody knows what KISS looks like. And we're fans of your prime minister, by the way." And right now, Gordon probably needs that.
The band was formed in New York in 1973 and soon settled on the line-up of Paul Stanley on guitar, Gene Simmons on bass, Ace Frehley on lead guitar and Peter Criss on drums.
After various changes of personnel the original quartet reunited briefly and in 2006 were honoured at the first annual VH1 Rock Honors event.
2008 saw Kiss with Tommy Thayer on lead guitar as the new Spaceman and Eric Singer as drummer and Catman, along with remaining founder-members Simmons and Stanley, headlining festivals and playing to a record 400,000 people.
Then the unthinkable happened, after a decade of saying they never wanted to do new recordings, they announced they were releasing a brand new album with "a real 70s Kiss sound".
Sonic Boom contains 11 tracks including the shattering opener Modern Day Delilah and is a real return to form.
This is the band's first UK arena tour in more than a decade and using elements from their Kiss Alive 35 US tour, is a fresh new show tailored to European fans and showcasing the new album.
"The Kiss Alive 35 Tour was just the start," explains Paul Stanley.
"Sonic Boom Over Europe leaves that show in the dust.
"New stage, new setlist, new outfits, new album!
"We're covering the whole musical history of the band on a stage that takes Kiss one giant step further in our eight inch heels. You wanted the best? You GOT the best!"
Simmons agrees.
"Now, more than ever, Kiss is a four wheel drive monster truck. Our mission? To rock Planet Earth. To spread the gospel of Sonic Boom."
Kiss will be blasting the stage of the MEN Arena on Monday night.
Fireworks, flame jets and flying bass players made for a spectacle that proved why the KISS motto "You wanted the best, you got the best" is so apt.
They may have released their debut album in 1974 but songs from last year's long player, Sonic Boom, peppered the two hour 15 minute set and did not seem out of place among classics like Deuce and Shock Me. They even opened with recent single, Modern Day Delilah, before plunging back to '74 for Cold Gin.
A string of hits followed, including Crazy Crazy Nights, Calling Dr Love and Love Gun.
And during I Love It Loud 60-year-old bassist Gene Simmons flew high above the stage, his famous tongue waggling and blood dribbling down his chin.
This was as much about theatricals as music. As 58-year-old frontman Paul Stanley commented before the show, "We've got to a point where we can't do bigger - we can only do better and different."
Innovative video screens and a barrage of lights added to the excitement.
There was solid support from guitarist Tommy Thayer and drummer Eric Singer, both, like Simmons and Stanley, sporting that famous black and white make up which transforms them into alter egos The Starchild, The Demon, The Catman and The Spaceman.
On the eve of our General Election it was KISS that got the vote of the LG Arena faithful.
Rating: ****
But last night the costumed rock superheroes pulled out all the stops with a brand new stage show and a set-list that stretched from their 1974 debut to 2009's Sonic Boom album.
Lowered on to the stage on a floating platform amid a hail of pyrotechnics, Gene Simmons, Paul Stanley and Tommy Thayer, as well as drummer Eric Singer, launched straight into one of their killer new tracks, Modern Day Delilah.
What followed was two hours of KISS heaven for the fans, with a dizzying set-list that took in hits including the long lost Crazy Crazy Nights, Lick It Up and God Gave Rock 'n' Roll To You II, as well as Kiss staples including Detroit Rock City, Cold Gin and Rock and Roll All Nite.
Paul Stanley won over the crowd as soon as he announced they were calling the city "Birming-um" instead of the usual American pronunciation, "Birming-ham".
Tommy Thayer's guitar fired rockets during Shock Me, I Love It Loud saw the demonic Gene Simmons spitting blood and flying up into the rafters, while during I Was Made For Loving You Paul Stanley took flight over the crowd to a stage at the rear of the arena.
Business as usual for KISS then - the ultimate showmen in the ultimate heavy rock pantomime. They know what their fans want and deliver it in shed loads.
But hey, with the greatest respect, we were only here for one band. And that band is of course the HOTTEST BAND IN THE WORLD...
Speaking of HOT, if their US accountants had realised the price of petrol over here I am sure the amount of live flame used would have been seriously cut-back. It was as if KISS were trying to single-handedly burn away the oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico such was the sheer amount of bombastic pyrotechnics used tonight.
This was a 'show' in every sense of the word; timed to perfection, with no room for ad-libbing, everyone knew what was expected of them in order to deliver. And deliver they did. This was quite possibly the best KISS show I have ever been to and there have been quite a few of my not inconsiderable years.
I already knew the set-list before turning up as it quite simply had to be the same running order as the first UK show in Sheffield, any deviation would caused insurmountable timing and choreography problems. Nothing went unplanned. The only time we saw a roadie on stage was to douse the flames of Gene's sword and fire-breathing histrionics. It was just perfection. Tommy Thayer knew exactly where to stand and when, launching canon-shots from his guitar high into the ceiling gantry. Eric Singer knew where to aim his firework bazooka in order to shoot down the dummy lighting rig. Gene gurgled his blood to perfection and when launched into the air on top of the lighting rig way up in the heights of the LG Arena there was no sense of danger; this is Gene - he lives and breathes it every day.
But despite the 'mechanics' of such a stage show, it was still oh so exciting. I mean, this was the same Starchild and Demon I knew as a young man. And forgive me die-hards but Tommy & Eric make such a better Spaceman and Catman than those 'other guys'. Tommy even sings 'Shock Me' now too.
KISS do have a new album to push and they manage to squeeze 3 tracks in between all the Klassics we have come to hear. Modern Day Delilah opens up the show, which incorporates the famous 3-man lift over the top of the drum riser. 2nd single Say Yeah was an obvious choice but I'm An Animal appeared the weaker of the three, there are stronger songs on Sonic.
Paul was up to his usual tricks to playing off one city against the others on the tour but endeared himself greatly when pronouncing 'Bir-ming-um' as we do instead of the typical US-drawl of 'Bir-ming-HAAAMMMM'.
All the KISS-tricks were utilised, nothing was left in the locker. Pyros, confetti bombs, fireworks aplenty, video screens, including the awesome back video wall, which was the full width of the stage and about 20 feet high. As well as the blood, of course, the mic-swinging, the flying-over-the-crowd trip out onto the central podium for Paul to sing, I Was Made For Lovin You... They left nothing to chance.
This was KISS doing what KISS do best - entertain!
And they can still lay claim to being the HOTTEST BAND IN THE WORLD... bar none!
It's hard to remember a time when KISS - as a brand, as an image, as a logo - did not serve as a universal shorthand for rock'n'roll. Or at least for the excesses of rock'n'roll.
For 35 years lazy magazine editors have been able to reach into the archive for pictures of Gene Simmons breathing fire or Paul Stanley pouting outrageously and the point is made: this is what rock music looks like.
And it might be reasonable to suppose that the men themselves conform to this archetype; that the past four decades have been an exercise in barely diluted hedonism lit by a thousand flash bombs, peopled by a million groupies and financed by uncounted piles of dollar bills.
And so they have. But meeting Simmons and Stanley - the two remaining original members of the band they founded in 1973 - is an experience that many fans and most aspiring young bands would find mildly unsettling, because it quickly becomes clear that this is a duo driven by something other than the desire for fame and cash and Charlie. Whisper it gently, but the ethos that underpins the KISS success story is... the protestant work ethic. Go figure.
Several times our conversation moves back to the sacking of fellow original members Ace Frehley and Peter Criss, and when it does, what rankles is the former members' refusal to work hard enough, to deserve the privilege of what Simmons describes as becoming 'a kind of God walking the face of the Earth'. "Ace and Peter couldn't do it," he says, discussing the pair's drink and drug problems. "When they came back for the reunion tour in '95 - it's almost embarrassing to tell this story - but Tommy Thayer, who had been in a KISS tribute band, had to sit with Ace and teach him his own solos! Y'know, if you use for 30 years your brain is going to be mush..."
Stanley, too, is quick to reveal this frustration with former colleagues: "We were so limited with Peter and Ace because they couldn't learn new songs, so our set was the same year after year. People would ask 'why doesn't the set change more' and we'd go 'oh, the classic songs..' whatever. But the truth was we couldn't change it."
All this might be characterised as the kind of ungracious bitching that occurs whenever a band breaks up, but the relief felt by Simmons and Stanley to be rid of dead weight, and their enthusiasm for the current line up (completed by guitarist Thayer and drummer Eric Singer) is palpable. This is candour, it seems, not sour grapes.
The new album, Sonic Boom - their best since the early '80s - has seen a return to the writing and recording practices of their earliest work, and, by their own accounts, has been fun to make: "It's a lot to do with not having to babysit Ace and Peter. I'm sorry to say that as soon as they left the band, it became enjoyable again," says Simmons.
The band's last studio album was 1998's Psycho Circus which, despite a belting title track, was something of a curate's egg - good in parts. Fairly small parts, at that.
"The results of that album were a reflection of what went on in the studio," says Stanley. "Y'know, trying to make a KISS album when you don't have a KISS, making an album when you're in contact with attorneys more than the people who are supposed to be in the band doesn't make for great music." Members of the band were barely on speaking terms for Psycho Circus, practically phoning in their parts and demanding quotas of their own songs on the album: "And the problem with song quotas is that good songs get left out because you have to put on somebody else's crap," says Stanley.
The contrast with the recording process for Sonic Boom could not have been more marked: "The rehearsals were quick and the recordings - well, all the songs on Sonic Boom were, at the worst, second takes. We did one, I think, that was a third take and Eric was worried he'd lost the spontaneity...," says Stanley, clearly thrilled by what he describes as 'the spirit' of the new line-up. "The classic line-up was classic at one time," he says, "but there comes a point when you don't want to put Pele on the field anymore."
"Plus," says Simmons, "you have to be fit - what we do is exacting. If you're in the Stones, you can drink all night and then run around on stage OK. But we do two-and-a-half hours on 8-inch platform heels with armour and studs and 30-pounds of other stuff, blowing shit up, flying through the air... There are no female backing singers, no one backstage doubling us. It's exhausting, so if you've got members of the band who can't keep up - and we have in the past - let 'em stay home."
The new album was, for the first time in decades, written exclusively by the band's current members (and produced by Stanley). The results are great, so why had it been so long since Simmons and Stanley wrote as a team, given that the combination had worked so well through the band?s formative years? "Because we became big babies," says Stanley. "We became spoiled kids who wanted things our way. And Sonic Boom wasn't going to be about anyone getting their way - it was about making the best album we could make. I said to Gene that it was important that we write together, and he scratched his head and was a bit leery about it, but as soon as we began writing, it sounded like it was supposed to sound."
Simmons describes he and Stanley as 'two sides of the same coin', but, speaking to them in the incongruous setting of the cutesy Charlotte Street Hotel, it becomes obvious that, while they must have always shared a similar vision, the two men have contrasting, if complementary, personalities. Simmons speaks in expansive generalisations, making sweeping gestural statements that often - usually - diverge widely from the central subject. A discussion about Simon Cowell segues disorientingly into a monologue on mankind's atavistic inclination toward song, illustrated by the example of opposing sides singing Christmas carols together on the front line in 1914. An instinctive, unstoppable raconteur, he paints with the broadest possible brush, while Stanley, more thoughtful, at times quite guarded, addresses the detail.
A simple question - what is the best song you've ever written for the band? - elicits revealing responses from the duo (I interviewed them separately). Stanley thinks for a moment before answering ('Love Gun') before going on to justify his choice in some detail. Simmons, in contrast, seems bewildered to be asked the question. He is silent, by my count, for a full eight seconds. And eight seconds is a long time for Gene Simmons to remain silent. When he, at last, answers ('Deuce') his reason given is that the song has opened the band's show for decades. That means the fans like it. So it must be good. Art doesn't come into it - this is showbiz, folks.
Simmons is the soul of KISS, Stanley its musical intelligence, and everything is grounded in that unforgiving work ethic. And, listening to stories about the band's early days playing the New York club circuit, it seems it always has been. They've paid their dues: "One of the first shows we did was at South Edmonton College, or something," says Simmons, "filling in for someone who'd cancelled. And [the show] was in the lunchroom. There was no stage - they just put the lunch tables together and we put our amps on there and, of course, it collapsed. They were big amps..." So you turned up with the costumes, the whole show, to play an obscure student union? "Of course! It's KISS! It's not Fairport Convention, c'mon..."
A reputation for staging a more energetic live show that most made support slots difficult to come by at first, a problem that might have proved terminal for the band. "It's true we couldn't get on tours," says Simmons, "so we ended up on the strangest bills you could ever imagine. We opened for Savoy Brown and Argent and Manfred Mann, and we were not allowed to do encores - that was in our contract. But then, with Argent, we tried to squeeze in an encore because the audiences were going nuts - I'd be breathing fire, giving birth on stage, whatever the fuck we had to do, y'know? And when we tried to do the encore, our power would be pulled by Argent's road manager. One night, the third of fourth time we try it, we notice the power was still on, but we don't have any more songs to play, so we start the set again. And we get halfway through before we go off - thank you and goodnight. We found out later that Junior, our black road manager - a lot of our road crew at the time looked like Hell's Angels, because they were - had got the Argent road manager in a headlock and had locked him in a case at - I'm not supposed to say this - at knifepoint. The next show we were thrown off the tour..."
Success, when it came, came quickly, and the band progressed from falling off lunch tables in South Edmonton, to headlining major arenas within 18-months of releasing their debut album: "I remember," says Simmons, "we put the band together in New York City, on 10 East 23rd St, and Madison Square Garden was on 33rd St - ten streets, you could walk it - and I remember walking in the front doors, through the crowd (nobody looked at me twice), walking backstage, putting on the makeup and then walking up on stage and blowing the roof off. That was cool..."
The potential, though, was always there for a spectacular implosion - conflicting big egos, drink, drugs, and musical differences that lead to near break-ups, dalliances with disco, actual break-ups and eventually, the dreaded concept album. "Success just seemed to breed the worst in all of us," says Stanley. "Let's be honest, there were some guys in the band whose creativity was marginal anyway, and once they became slaves to sycophantic friends and drugs and alcohol - not only did they have nothing to offer, but they slowed the vehicle until it wasn't moving at all. And, also, Gene and I lost that hunger, that passion. It was something we had to re-find, and it took quite a while to get it."
Part of that recovery process involved losing the makeup and toning down the wardrobe (it could hardly have been toned up, now, could it?). Of the decision to unmask, Stanley says: "I wanted to do that because I kind of felt that we?d become?? a long pause here... "a parody of ourselves. We were a menagerie. Somebody would leave the band and, suddenly, we were five steps away from having Elephant Boy and Snail Man. It became silly, y'know, instead of our saying, 'this is what we started as, and this is how we'll continue', which is where we are now. When you have four figures that look that iconic, don't mess with them, y'know? Puppy boy.. man!"
I met the band the day before KISS played a rare one-off club show at the 800-capacity Islington Academy ("It's in a shopping mall? That's perfect for KISS!" said Simmons on being given the news of the venue's inauspicious location). On that north London stage, even from 20-feet away, the band look and sound utterly indistinguishable from their 1977 manifestation. No other band has aged so invisibly. The show is fantastic.
At least, the fans think it is fantastic. Critics have always been ambivalent at best, openly hostile more often. Doesn't that ever hurt, even a bit? "I'd rather know what 20,000 paying members of the audience think than one guy who may have his own reasons for liking or disliking us,' says Stanley. "Some of the most vehement negative reactions we've had should probably be worked off on a psychiatrist's couch, y'know? C'mon, we're just KISS, folks..."
Simmons answers the same question, typically, by pointing out the compensations of rock stardom, the perks not shared by those of us who only get to write about rock stardom: "Look, the Pope doesn't get groupies for Godssakes... I'm 60 and I can walk down the street and still... [a sweeping gesture of the arm to indicate the passing high-class totty of Charlotte Street] anything that moves. And if it doesn't move, we can work something out. What other job gives you that?"
Critics be damned, then. But with another huge arena tour about to kick off, can a band whose appeal lies so much in the physicality of the live show, perform like the KISS of 30 years ago?
"When we're on stage today," says Stanley, "we have to be not as we were, but as people remember us. When we first put together a show for the reunion tour [in 1995], we had to put together a show on a scale bigger than ever before, because that's how people remembered us." Because people expected the pyromaniac's wet dream that was the gatefold photo of the classic Alive II album? "Yeah, but if you look at that photo, there's only about a hundred lights - there's nothing up there. We did that photo during a sound check in San Diego. We went up on the lifts and they set everything off, every bomb, every pyro effect we had. So, did that ever happen in the show? No. But it's what people think they remember. And that's what we have to deliver every night."
But, as Stanley admits, the physical preparations for a tour are harder now he and Simmons are closing in on pensionable age. Both look fantastically fit up close, but there must be a temptation to call it a day, lie back, play with the kids, get fat, spend the money? "Y'know," says Simmons, "I could buy jewellery, watches, all that stuff. Do you see any of that on me? No. I'm having such a ball just being Gene Simmons. And? I'm my own biggest fan."
Kiss play Wembley Arena on 12 & 13 May.
Q: What made you decide to work with Washburn Guitars for your stage and signature guitars?
A: I think the key to great success is always a great team and great collaboration. That's why over the years I've sought out new partners from time to time. Washburn in an earlier incarnation had a terrific team, whereby there was no red tape to cut through or hoops to jump to see a design through from sketches to prototype. With the new Washburn team, I'm feeling that same excitement and the Flying V is the first indication of great things to come.
Q: When you sat down with Washburn to create your signature model, what was your main priority in what you were looking for?
A: I wanted very much to go back to a classic workhorse of mine during the 70s. At that point, I found that less was more. I had disconnected and removed one of the pickups on my original V and then had a mirrored pickguard made for this single pickup configuration with two controls. I missed the simplicity and directness of that approach and also missed the physicality of playing a V, so I decided to resurrect it, faithfully. It’s important to remember that any guitar that I make available to the public, is first and foremost, played and valued by me.
Q: What are your favorite features on a guitar? What do you look for when you’re designing a new signature guitar?
A: All of my guitars are based upon the combination of materials and aesthetics that made the classics that I grew up with and grew up wanting, so great.. In other words for me it's hard to beat the combination of a mahogany body with a maple cap humbucking pickups and a set neck.
Q: How do you pick the finishes of your signature guitars?
A: The classic look of the band has always revolved around black, white and silver and for me, it's most comfortable and in keeping with ongoing tradition that makes KISS unique and familiar.
Q: How important do you think "character" is in a guitar? Your signature obviously has an unorthodox style to the body shape and such. Do you think the audience, regardless if they are guitar players or not, cares about how the guitar looks on stage?
A: I do. I think that how a guitar looks is important to the player in that a guitar that a musician feels embodies their personality will bring out certain things in them that another guitar probably won't. In terms of live performance, I think the right guitar conveys and reinforces an attitude.
Q: What ever happened to that awesome Rhinestone Flying V that you used on the Rock and Roll Over Tour?
A: I still have that guitar and its brand spanking new grandson is onstage with me every night on the Sonic Boom Over Europe tour.
Q: Which is your favorite guitar to tour with?
A: Up until this last tour, the PS2000 has been my number 1 "go to" guitar on stage. But now, with my single pickup flying V, it feels like I have gone full-circle to where I once started. It sounds and looks awesome.
Q: Have you ever thought about designing a double-neck guitar?
A: Because of my high energy performance and belief that a live show should entertain, double-neck guitars have always been a challenge for me. I have designed some in the past that I was very happy with and should the need arise; I will take another crack at it.
Q: What do you look for in your amplifiers?
A: Most of what I tend to use is based on a Marshall Plexi. As with certain guitar characteristics, the classic Marshalls embody the essentials that make the cornerstone of my sound. That being said, there are many terrific tube amps that are based on those specifications.
Q: What happens to left over guitar picks from the tours and how many picks does KISS go through per tour?
A: I don't think there are ever leftover guitar picks on the tour. As soon as they get stuck on the microphone, I flick them into the crowd. It's a job just keeping them ready for me.
Q: As far as stage production goes (e.g., lighting, amps, effects, etc), what has been your favourite, or most impressive, improvement in recent years that you really like?
A: I think the biggest leap forward for live shows was the advent of wireless systems, which we actually pioneered and road tested for the originators, Schaffer-Vega. Funny at that point we almost had to tell the audience that we were wireless because they often didn't believe we were playing because we weren't plugged in. The freedom that the wireless system and ear monitors have given has taken all of the barriers and barricades off of the stage.
Q: We've never seen you play a Fender. Do you have any specific likes/dislikes about them?
A: I have a couple of terrific Stratocasters and although I love playing them, they are not part of what I do or the school that I come from, but in the right hands, they are understandably one of the true icons of rock 'n roll.
Q: Do you ever sell and/or intend to sell some of the guitars in your personal collection?
A: I have in the past sold quite a few of my guitars and the ones that I have retained are ones that are connected to me both sonically and emotionally and have a much deeper personal value to me.
Q: What type of music do you listen to and who have been your biggest influences?
A: I listen to all types of music and feel that there are only two types: good and bad. Music is like food. If you only eat one type you are malnourished. Push yourself out of your comfort zone and try something different. As a writer or musician, in general, I believe you are better off bringing influences to your music that are outside of the type you might play.
Q: How have you stayed focused on making music and getting up on stage in front of so many people throughout the years?
A: As long as I love what I'm doing, I can do it honestly and with commitment and passion. Any bad times you go through help you to determine how much something means to you by what you're willing to do to revive or resuscitate it.
Q: Do you have any tips on how I can improve my guitar technique?
A: The same rules apply to anything you challenge yourself with and want to excel at, it's all about practice. There's no substitute.
Q: Do you have any tips on how I can improve my singing technique?
A: It's always important to support your voice from your torso and diaphragm and keep it out of your throat. Too many aspiring singers shred their throats thinking you can squeeze notes out of it. You can't. The more you can incorporate your head tone, supporting it with your diaphragm and chest, the more you'll avoid wrecking your throat
Q: Do you do anything special to keep the wear and tear on your guitars to a minimum?
A: Nothing. Like women and many other things in life, a lot of things look better from a distance than up close. My guitars take a beating on tour.
Q: What advice would you give to your son Evan about playing guitar and making music?
A: My son is a phenomenal guitar player and my only advice to him early on was to dig as deeply into the roots of what he loves and discover where it all started, rather than being consumed with copying the current guitar hero per se. I made that point to him by reminding him that Jimi Hendrix didn't start by playing Purple Haze.
Q: For the Sonic Boom Over Europe tour, will you play some medleys like you did in 2001 in Australia???
A: There are no medleys in the current show, but I think that this is by far our best show and set list to date.
Q: When will KISS be coming to my town?
A: Keep checking the Kiss website. We will be announcing US shows probably within the next few weeks. We are in the midst of our European Sonic Boom Over Europe Tour and have decided that we're having too much fun to stop.
Q: My question concerns the BEST BALLAD KISS ever recorded. Why was “Nothing Can Keep Me From You” not released as a single? It is much better than Aerosmith's “I Don't Wanna Miss A Thing”. I feel you were robbed of a #1 single.
A: I believe it actually was, and sometimes the resistance we've met at radio has made airplay impossible, but ultimately, you all listen to what you choose.
Q: There has been some KISS tablature published throughout the years. Does KISS give the companies the exact tablature?
A: As close as some of them may be, there are obvious subtleties that are missing. The challenge, whenever playing someone else's music is to find the nuances. When you do, you unlock "that door".
Q: What is your songwriting process?
A: With writing, I tend to come up with a musical idea first and then build on that both lyrically and musically. My lyrics tend to come from stream of consciousness and organically what sings over chord changes or a riff and then it's just a matter of filling in the blanks.
Q: What do you think about bootlegs?
A: I think that any time someone steals what isn't theirs; it's criminal and should be dealt with accordingly. Nobody has the right to sell what isn't theirs. Nobody has the right to decide how much your work is worth, what you deserve or what you should get. The whole notion of bootlegs and file sharing is as criminal and ridiculous as me calling stealing your car, sharing transportation. You can't sell what you don't own.
Q: Is it true, that there one day will be an official "KISS The NEXT Generation???
A: The band has never been stronger, had better reviews, bigger turnouts, or had more fun. There is no end in sight and we are proud of where we've been, thrilled with where we are and excited by where we're going.
Q: If KISS were to play their last show, would Ace and Peter play?
A: I'm not sure that when Kiss plays its last show, I'll be playing.
Q: If Eric Carr were still alive, what would be the chances of him still being in the band?
A: That's too hypothetical a question. His loss was a tragedy and it's pointless to hypothesize.
Q: What do you think of Anomaly? And is the reality show with Ace a go?
A: Honestly, I've never heard the whole album. For me, the most important thing is that Ace is alive and hopefully doing what he loves. As far as a reality show, I have no idea what you're talking about.
Q: Grant me one wish: Never let Peter Criss and Ace Frehley be members of KISS again.
A: Your wish is granted.
Q: Is it true that Eddie Van Halen wanted to join KISS and that Eddie Van Halen wrote the guitar solo for Love Gun?
A: I have no knowledge of that being so. No, Van Halen was not a known band at that time, so that would be impossible. The solo was actually based on a solo from a song called "We Ain't Got Nothin’ Yet" by the Blues Magoos.
Q: Do you have material for future new album?
A: Yes. We had such a great time making Sonic Boom and it was so easy, effortless and the results were so terrific that there doesn't seem to be much doubt that we will do another.
Q: When can we expect the next studio record?
A: No idea, but I'm sure within the next year or two.
Q: Do you have any plans for releasing more live footage DVDs?
A: There is a Kissology 4 in the works.
Q: What are your future solo plans?
A: I currently have no solo plans; when KISS is firing on all cylinders, that's good enough for me.
The original KISS lineup consisted of Gene "the Demon" Simmons (bass, vocals), Paul "Star Child" Stanley (rhythm guitar, vocals), Ace "the Space Man" Frehley (lead guitar, vocals), and Peter "Cat Man" Criss (drummer, vocals), each of whom lived up to his nickname by donning outlandish costumes (platform heels, spiky boots, shiny armor, black leather, and the like) and kabuki-style makeup.
The black-and-white face paint not only lent to the comic-bookish look of the band, it gave the members a shroud of mystery as, remarkably enough, few fans ever saw KISS without their makeup, at least until the airing of MTV's 1983 television special, KISS Unmasking, which featured naked-faced Gene, Paul, and, less interestingly, replacement members Vinnie Vincent and Eric Carr.
In addition to the makeup and costumes, KISS distinguished itself with its over-the-top live performances, with their explosions, columns of flame, flashing lights (including a giant KISS logo backing the band), clouds of smoke (including smoke pouring out of Ace's Les Paul guitar), Criss's elevating and sparking drum riser, Paul's preening and strutting, and Gene spitting "blood," breathing fire, and wagging his preternaturally long tongue.
The gimmicky nature of KISS lent itself extremely well to merchandising. One of the more highly sought-after vintage KISS collectibles is the line of Mego dolls from 1978. In near mint condition, a boxed Ace, Gene, Paul, or Peter sells for around $250-$300, while nicely preserved loose figures routinely change hands for anywhere between $50 and $125.
Other vintage KISS collectibles of note include: a toy guitar ($250 loose, $1,000 boxed); an assortment of belt buckles (most ranging from $35-$125); Destroyer and Love Gun jigsaw puzzles ($25 each); a Tiger record player ($500 loose, $2,500 boxed); a Colorforms play set ($175); View-Master reels ($30); a View-Master Show Beam cartridge ($350); a KISS On Tour board game ($100); an AMT Custom Van model kit ($125-$150); a radio control van ($300 loose, $2,500 boxed); and a pair of mass market paperbacks: KISS ($40) by Robert Duncan and Headliners: KISS ($20) by John Swenson. (Pricing is for complete, near mint condition items).
In 1978, Donruss released a set of KISS bubble gum cards. Series one contained cards 1-66 ($40-$65 for a set) while the somewhat harder to find series two contained cards 67-132 ($65 to $85 for a set). According to The Sport Americana Price Guide to the Non-Sports Cards (Edgewater Book Company, 1988), Donruss reprinted series one with 21 new photos on front and a new puzzle on back. The book mistakenly claims that this was due to the death of Peter Criss, but in reality Criss had simply left the band and was replaced by Eric Carr, who also replaced Peter on the cards. The 1980 set is scarce and easily fetches upward of $150 for a complete set.
One of the most famous of all KISS collectibles is Marvel Comics Super Special no. 1 ($175 in near mint), which is better known as the first all-KISS comic book. Produced in magazine-sized format, the issue was written by the great Steve Gerber and drawn by graphic literature luminaries Alan Weiss, John Buscema, Rich Buckler, and Sal Buscema. In addition to the story, which features KISS, as super-heroes, battling Mephisto and Doctor Doom, the issue includes photos of Ace, Gene, Paul, and Peter giving blood. The blood was not for the Red Cross. Rather, it was mixed in with the ink used in producing the comic book - an infamous stunt that helped tremendously in promoting the issue, which sold more than 400,000 copies.
For Jim Johnson, who writes reviews for The Comics Buyer's Guide, that comic book was of particular importance.
"After I joined the KISS Army Fan Club," Johnson said, "one of the newsletters touted that KISS was going to be featured in an upcoming comic book from Marvel. I had not been a comic book collector at that point, but that comic, actually a magazine, turned me into a fan of something other than KISS: the comic book industry, whose products I have been reading for over 30 years and writing about for nearly 10. This hobby has spawned working relationships and lasting friendships. It's a good bet that had I not been exposed to KISS, my life would be nothing like it is today."
Johnson doesn't really collect KISS merchandise, but the few items he has owned over the years do have meaning: "I never had enough money and/or space to buy enough memorabilia to consider myself a collector. However, I proudly wore that reflective KISS logo belt buckle back in the '70s, and I absolutely treasure the first volume of Kisstory (1995, $125), the humongous and definitive hardcover of the band's history that's signed by all four original members. And those Paul Stanley guitar picks I grabbed at a show during his solo tour in 1989."
When asked how he became a KISS fan, Johnson said: "I first noticed KISS the same way a lot of people did, by hearing Rock And Roll All Nite on the radio. I was 12. But I didn't know anything about their makeup and theatrics until my older sister showed me Dressed to Kill. I listened to that album repeatedly and every single song rocked, and the sight of these four guys in three-piece suits and face paint on the album cover instilled an insatiable sense of curiosity that sent me seeking out whatever articles or tidbits I could find. As I learned about their costumes and stage theatrics, I discovered that they were not only the hottest band in the world, but also the coolest. I was hooked."
Johnson further extolled the virtues of the impact KISS had on his life: "As a kid just trying to blend in and be one of the gang, I envied the audacity of these guys who dared to be themselves and do what they wanted to do, regardless of what anyone thought of them. From KISS, I eventually learned that individuality was something to be embraced, instead of hidden, and once I did, I was happier than I ever had been in my life."
KISS was founded by Gene Simmons, who was born Chaim Witz in Haifa, Israel, and Paul Stanley, who was born Stanley Eisen in Queens, New York. They belonged to a band called Wicked Lester, which met with little success. In late 1972, the duo hired Peter Criss (born Peter Criscuola in Brooklyn, N.Y.), who had placed an ad in Rolling Stone, for a new incarnation of Wicked Lester. In early 1973, Ace Frehley (born Paul Frehley in the Bronx, N.Y.) answered an ad in The Village Voice and auditioned for the band, showing up wearing one red and one orange sneaker. Despite his wardrobe malfunction, Ace was hired, and the band was renamed KISS shortly thereafter.
It's incredible to think that it's been almost 18 long years since KISS last played in this neck of the woods during their naked faced Revenge tour and with the intervening years being marked by a sporadic festival show or London appearance, the Northern KISS Army were hungry for action.
With a Top 10 album under their belts with their first album in over a decade, Sonic Boom has revitalised the band who famously claimed that their recording days were over and with the promise of an all new stage show and a revamped set list boasting the old, the new and the new/old the stage was set for the band to deliver the goods.
As showtime approached the sense of anticipation was almost tangible and when the lights finally went out the roar of excitement reverberated across the city and with the legendary opening battle cry booming out from the PA, Newcastle were ready for the time of their lives.
Never ones to make a polite entrance, KISS descended down from above the colossal drum riser on a smoke spewing platform flanked by face melting columns of flames as "Modern Day Delilah" heralded the return of the masked maestros.
Over the ensuing two hours KISS exceeded expectations of their own glittering heritage as they dazzled the crowd with the promised old ("Deuce", "100,000 Years", "Love Gun"), the new old ("I Love It Loud", "Lick It Up") and the new ("I'm An Animal" and their new anthem, the sizzling "Say Yeah"). When they dusted down the huge UK hits for their first airing in years "Crazy, Crazy Nights" and "God Gave Rock 'n' Roll To You II" the crowd went nuts.
From the very first second of the show Paul Stanley, who is in fine voice throughout, is the ring master, the consummate showman, the one that whips the crowd into a frenzy while dancing and posing across the stage. He works every single inch of the huge stage whilst making every last person in the arena feel like he's performing just for them. During "I Was Made For Loving You" he flies out across the audience onto a huge revolving stage to reach out to those at the very back row. If there's a better frontman out there then he's yet to show his face.
Gene Simmons is the anti-thesis of Stanley as he stalks menacingly across the stage all mean and moody and prior to "I Love It Loud" he's bathed in an eerie sea of green light as he vomits blood before flying to the top of the lighting rig. Sure it's one of the oldest tricks in the KISS book but it's just as effective now as it was back then as the crowd chant "Gene, Gene" over and over again.
There has been some criticism from some quarters about the original Spaceman and Catman identities being taken by lead guitarist Tommy Thayer and drummer Eric Singer however these charges are dispelled immediately as Singer in particular, who is a revelation throughout, drives the band forward with an energy that was missing in some of the latter performances prior to Criss's departure.
Much credit too must go to Tommy Thayer. Taking the place of the hugely popular Ace Frehley was never going to be easy but he nailed the parts to perfection and although he may lack Frehley's goofy, aloof persona, his reliability and ability certainly makes this line up arguably the best in terms of musicianship. Having said that, perhaps switching Frehley's signature tune, "Shock Me" for Thayer's very own "When Lightning Strikes" would help Thayer forge his own identity.
All too often a drum solo and guitar solo is the cue to head for the loo but KISS take these as an opportunity to show off a few effects and Thayer and Singer combined their solo spots with Singer high above the stage on his drum riser while Thayer shot rockets from his guitar. Not to be outdone Singer brought down a section of the lighting rig with a bazooka!!! Simply priceless.
Saving the big guns until last...literally, "Detroit Rock City" and "Black Diamond", featuring Singer on vocals, shuddered with a cacophony of explosions which merely served as an hors d'oeuvre to the confetti covered, guitar smashing, pyro-fest of "Rock'n'Roll All Nite" which saw the band hoisted high up into the air as the show reached its foundation shaking climax.
At a time when the news makes depressing reading, whether it's recession, volcanoes or General Elections, it's reassuring to know that for two hours at least all that can be forgotten as KISS take you on a Rock 'n' Rollercoaster of a ride which leaves all your troubles behind and proves yet again why KISS remain the greatest live spectacle of them all.
GLAM rockers KISS brought a spectacular show to Liverpool ECHO arena.
The heavily made up leather-clad troubadours, were in the city for the first time as part of their Sonic Boom Over Europe Tour.
This is the first tour in 11 years that Kiss have made of the UK so it was a rare treat for fans who dressed up as their idols with Starchild, Demon, Spaceman and Catman faces in the crowd.
The band, who have been together for nearly 40 years and sold 80 million albums, played fan favourites including Crazy Nights, God Gave Rock'N'Roll to You and I Was Made for Loving You.
IN AN era where bands don't know where their next royalty cheque is coming from, where downloads have overtaken CD sales and record contracts need a business case not an A&R man, most bands are understandably understated in their live shows.
Stripping back the set to a few acoustic numbers, peppered with a few electric numbers, most bands see touring as a lucrative way of making up for slower record sales.
Bands, that is, apart from KISS. The New York quartet who kicked understatement out of the dictionary with their sparkly platform boots certainly know how to put a show on.
With fireworks shooting out of every possible inch of space (including the tops of the guitars) and jets of flames bursting out of the stage, their live show has to be seen to be believed. There's no corner cutting , no expense spared and it's all the better for it.With fireworks shooting out of every possible inch of space (including the tops of the guitars) and jets of flames bursting out of the stage, their live show has to be seen to be believed. There's no corner cutting , no expense spared and it's all the better for it.
Kicking off a 20-song set with the riff party that is Modern Day Delilah from new album Sonic Boom, they went straight into the innuendo-laced Cold Gin from their 1974 debut album.
In two songs they'd strutted their way through a 35-year career, but the join didn't show. KISS are nothing if not consistent, and it's hard to tell the new songs from their older material.
From there it was onto Let Me Go, Rock 'n' Roll, Firehouse and Say Yeah, which they began with a Beatles reference, with Paul Stanley singing the "yeah, yeah, yeah" lines from She Loves You.
There was another nod to the Fab Four leading into Crazy Nights - clearly the band just can't get enough of the Mersey sound.
A high point, quite literally, came when the mid-blood-vomiting Gene Simmons flew into the rafters for I Love It Loud. Wagging that famous tongue, he looked every inch the lord of misrule.
Theatricals aside, the music certainly works. The musicianship is top notch, the harmonies spot on and the guitar and drum solos suitably impressive. It's a show that would work without the whistles and bells. But with it, it's even better.
Returning to the stage for encores, they captivated fans with I Was Made For Loving You, God Gave Rock N Roll To You and Rock N Roll All Night. It was a masterclass in rockstardom - and what teachers KISS are.
All in all, KISS proved that when it comes to live shows they are still the best, and can quite happily still live up to those introductory words of "you wanted the best, you got the best." - eGigs
Thirty-six years on from their inception KISS remain a unique force to be reckoned with; an enigma - living legends who deliver a hearty rock romp of a night out as rip-roaringly bombastic as ever. You've gotta love them for it. - The Star Sheffield
And the sheer scale of this explosive event will leave a lasting impression on all those present. Rock stars just don't do gigs like this anymore but then KISS aren't just any old rock stars. - Rock On Rush
You'd think after almost 40 years of being a band they may have succumbed to perhaps slowing the pace a little in their live shows, but as the Sonic Boom Over Europe tour hit Newcastle's Metro Radio arena yesterday, I can honestly say I've never been so entertained. - Evening Chronicle
AS SOMEONE who has only ever appreciated KISS from afar, I'd like to take this opportunity to publicly state that they are phenomenal.
You'd think after almost 40 years of being a band they may have succumbed to perhaps slowing the pace a little in their live shows, but as the Sonic Boom Over Europe tour hit Newcastle's Metro Radio arena yesterday, I can honestly say I've never been so entertained.
Opening with Modern Day Delilah, and with a whole lot of flames as accompaniment, their impressive stage entrance was merely the tiniest hint of things to come.
This, combined with vocalist Paul Stanley's seemingly genuine affection for the audience, meant that by the third song it was like a lesson in expert crowd control.
Everybody appeared to be in awe of the four glitter-clad men on stage and I found myself getting just as caught up in the excitement as yet more stages appeared amidst the fireworks, just in time for Gene Simmons to fly (or be hoisted via cables) into the riggings for I Love It Loud.
Taking a wide range of songs from their extensive back catalogue, and utilising every ounce of energy they had, it quickly became apparent that KISS were here to entertain at any cost.
There's no sign of any self-important introspective 19th album ballad being wheeled out, it's a non-stop party atmosphere with no expense spared - exactly what their legions of fans have come to expect.
This attitude, for me, was possibly the most impressive aspect of the entire night.
Aside from being more than competent musicians and consummate showmen, this is the band that invented the multi-platform promotional market. The band's stage set-up is one of the craziest things I've ever witnessed, and the visual displays alone would probably account for the ticket price, yet it's blindingly apparent that their only concern is the audience's enjoyment.
It's refreshing to see and goes a long way to explaining their multi-generational fan base.
Background: Born Jan. 20, 1952, as Stanley Bert Eisen in the Bronx, N.Y., to a furniture salesman and a nurse. Formed a short-lived band, Wicked Lester, with fellow New Yorker Gene Simmons in the early 1970s. They dropped that name and formed KISS with Peter Criss and Ace Frehley in January 1973.
Big dreams: As a child, Stanley was shy but felt in his gut that he could be a rock ‘n' roll star. "When I first saw the Beatles on ‘Ed Sullivan,' I was a pudgy, little, unpopular kid. But I had this epiphany that I could do what [the musicians on TV] were doing. To think that when you could count your friends on two fingers, and you're not the kid who's taking home the trophy for best looking, is your innate voice talking."
Early days: KISS struggled early on, but worked to give the impression that it was successful. The band intentionally limited its New York appearances — even though it often had no gigs elsewhere — so fans would think the group was out on tour. The members saved money by setting up their stage equipment themselves, but did so hours early so no concert-goers would see them. For the same reason, they delivered fliers for upcoming engagements in the middle of the night. "There's no substitute for hard work, for lonely hours and sleepless nights," Stanley said.
Marketing and makeup: They didn't call it branding at the time, but KISS did whatever it could to distinguish itself — hence, the garish Kabuki-style greasepaint and 7-inch platform heels. "It was creating an illusion," Stanley said. "That's key."
Hard-working band: Success came partly from KISS' reputation for raucous live shows — punctuated by Simmons' infamous fire breathing and blood spitting. "From very early on, I don't want to say we were a service-minded company, but we were about giving people bang for the buck," Stanley said. "I wanted to be the coolest-looking band, the loudest band, the one with the most gear on stage, the one blowing stuff up."
Shutting out noise: The band members largely ignored the scathing reviews KISS regularly received from critics. One exception: an effort to mollify naysayers with an album that broke from the band's musical style. The album not only inflamed critics further but also got a cold reception from longtime KISS fans. "We did a bloated, self-important and completely ill-conceived concept album in the ‘80s called ‘The Elder,' " Stanley said. "That was a time we became more concerned with trying to impress our peers and get credibility from people who didn't like us. Life's too short to try to convert people who don't like you."
Not overdosing on success: Stanley embraced the stereotypical rock star lifestyle — to a point. "I stayed away from drugs. I saw people around me dying. I remember the first blush of fame, thinking, ‘Gee, this and drugs is a sure recipe for my demise,' " Stanley said. "When people said ‘sex, drugs and rock ‘n' roll,' I said, ‘You keep the drugs.' "
Financial lessons: Since getting burned financially early in his career, Stanley has paid more attention to money. "Anybody who's foolish enough to say, ‘I'm only in it for the love of what I do,' is bound to get screwed, because if you're not attentive to the financial aspects of it, someone else will be," he said. "And the person who has their arm around your shoulder will have their other hand in your pocket."
Side gig: Painter. Stanley began painting in 2000 "to let off steam and depressurize." He later began doing gallery shows and selling his work. He estimates that he sold about $3 million in paintings last year, many to people who are not KISS fans. "There are certainly enough KISS fans who might be introduced through me and find a connection" to his art, he said. But "when you're spending fifty, sixty, eighty thousand on a piece, there's not that many KISS fans in that strata."
Favorite song: "Love Gun."
Rocker Gene Simmons says his band KISS is the most recognized cultural icon today and beats out even Disney's Mickey Mouse.
"You don't know how big the image is. By some experts, it is believed to be the most recognized pop culture image on Earth - even above Mickey Mouse," he said, contactmusic.com reports. "You know, there's no U2 comic book, there's no Mick Jagger action figure. We have our own Visa card. You can go into Wal-Mart and get sweets with our faces on. We have a Dr Pepper soft drink campaign now. It's unbelievable."
While some might argue with Simmons, his comment is not nearly as controversial as when John Lennon told a reporter in 1966 that the Beatles were "more popular than Jesus." That statement sparked an outcry from religious groups and some radio stations refused to play the band's songs.
But earlier this month the official Vatican newspaper, L'Osservatore Romano, said the comment was "meaningless."
When not on the road (KISS is currently touring Europe), Singer resides in California, where he keeps a collection of more than 100 timepieces.
International Watch: Do you recall your first watch?
Eric Singer: Yes, it was a German brand on a Speidel Twist-O-Flex band. My father was the band leader on the S.S. United States & S.S. America Ocean Liners in the 50's-60's out of New York, crossing the Atlantic roundtrip forty-eight times. He would bring toys and such back for my sister and brothers and that is when I got my first watch-when I was five or six years old. I still have the watch today although it does not run.
Later in my early teens I got a Glycine for Christmas. And I acquired my Father's LeCoultre triple calendar moonphase and Gallet mini chronograph after they were retired from his wrist.
What timepiece(s) are you considering for your next purchase?
I am always looking, and right now am thinking about a Blancpain 500 Fathoms. I recently acquired a Ball Diver Chronograph that has awesome gas tritium indices and glows like no other watch!
What type of watches typically attract your attention?
I love chronographs or big Italian-style watches. I tend to go for something different, although I do respect traditional watches. TAG Heuer is one of my favorite brands because of their automotive/racing heritage. I think they have done a great job of remembering their past and retaining their roots while being very inventive with modern interpretations of many of their classic watches. Being a car person has always attracted me to this brand. Some of the Italian brands I own or wear are Anonimo, Panerai, U-Boat and Giuliano Mazzuoli/Manometro.
Do you wear a watch onstage?
No. They would get trashed, and mechanical watches are not made for such shock and abuse.
How many watches do you bring on the road?
I always bring four to five watches and rotate them daily on my wrist. I know that I usually will acquire something new along the way and try to only bring a couple, but I can't seem to do that. It is almost like leaving your kids at home!
TOMMY THAYER: We're leaving for Europe next week. We've been rehearsing for several weeks now and we're very, very excited about the new 2010 Sonic Boom tour.
2. On SONIC BOOM? How did you generally approach writing your solos?
TT: Some solos I worked out on my own, on others Paul helped me with direction. I usually had an idea where I was going to go with each solo before we recorded them.
3. How would you compare writing with Gene to writing with Paul?
TT: There are no rules to writing songs, particularly where you start from. Paul and Gene have different styles and approach to writing songs. Gene usually has a backlog of song ideas that he pulls from. Paul usually has newer ideas. I think they are both best when they're spontaneous.
4. How did it feel to do the lead vocal on "When Lightning Strikes?" & was this written specifically with your voice in mind?
TT: Yes it was. I wrote the song with some help from Paul. We wanted a straight ahead rocker and I think it came out great.
5. With KISS guitar solos generally being pentatonic based, how do you feel other modes fit/or don't fit within the context of KISS' music?
TT: The KISS style and sound is timeless and was established early on. It's a blues-based hard rock style. It is what it is.
6. In the the current show, on the jam in '100,000 Years', how did it develop into you & Paul trading licks?
TT: I think it was one of those things we didn't plan the first couple times, and then eventually it became a part of the show.
7. "Lick It Up" has some interesting elements live, how did the current arrangement come together, with the segment from 'We Don't Get Fooled Again'?
TT: I think originally I was doing that finger-plucking thing and Paul was singing "I Want You.. I Need You" Later on that evolved into the Who part. I really like that.
8. How did the idea for new costumes come about?
TT: We were flying on our jet to Milwaukee for a one-off gig last year and we were talking about that we needed to get started on new KISS outfits. Paul picked up a pad of paper first and started sketching some ideas. We all tweeked things a bit.
9. Can you tell us a bit about your Hughes & Kettner signature amp?
TT: The HK Tommy Thayer Signature amp has a warm ballsy, in-your-face tone that really works well. I'd recommend it to anyone that wants a serious guitar amp. They look good too!
10. Any set list surprises planned for the European leg of the Sonic Boom tour?
TT: There will be some new songs and other great stuff. Always taking it to another level! We can't wait!
'You wanna bite?' Kiss's legendary bassist Gene Simmons, leathery-faced without his iconic make-up, strides into a London hotel room with a takeaway baguette. When I decline, Simmons doesn't skip a beat: 'OK, how about the sandwich?'
It's like being chatted up by Krusty The Clown. But 37 years after they originally formed in New York, Kiss haven't lost their touch - and they've returned for their Sonic Boom Over Europe arena tour, named after their undeniably kick-ass 19th LP. Simmons veers intriguingly between outrageous flirt, entrepreneur and Rock School lecturer.
'You have a moral duty as a rock star,' he insists. 'All these audiences work at jobs they dislike and spend their pay cheques on something they love: they wanna see Kiss. How f***ing dare any of us ruin that trust? So we introduce ourselves with: "You wanted the best, you got the best." There's a sense of pride.'
In the adjacent suite sits Kiss co-frontman and Sonic Boom producer Paul Stanley (the band's current line-up, including guitarist Tommy Thayer and drummer Eric Singer, dates back around a decade); he's more softly spoken than Simmons yet still given to explosive bravado. Both men are sharply intelligent, articulate and responsible for air-punching party anthems such as Detroit Rock City and Rock And Roll All Nite.
'I'm a great believer in not over-thinking lyrics,' says Stanley. 'You might become technically better as a songwriter but you lose what originally made your songs great. Tracks like C'mon And Love Me were written in 20 minutes - would they be better if they took two months?'
Kiss's latest tour set-list covers their musical history. 'We've got amazing video screens and some new tricks,' Stanley enthuses. 'We've got to a point where we can't do bigger - we can only do better and different.' However, he's reluctant to credit Kiss's mega-success to their extravagant visuals. 'At the core of Kiss is a great band,' he insists. 'And if that's lost on some people, then f*** 'em.'
Simmons, meanwhile, still recalls the first time he donned his 'Demon' facepaint: 'It felt powerful and fascinating, like being a shaman. I'm much too big for the term "musician" - I'm an entertainer,' he barks.
'Kiss harks back to the court jesters and travelling gipsies of old; they used sleight of hand, they romanced a few girls. Music was part of the whole culture.'
It must feel like Simmons came of age in Kiss. 'Sure. It's the key that unlocks all the doors. Being in a band is better than being James Bond - he's got a licence to kill, baby, I've got a licence to thrill. You can be an ugly bastard and get any girl and more money than God.' Did he always bank on being an iconic brand? Simmons doesn't immediately reply but opens his wallet to display his Kiss Visa card. 'You wouldn't expect how well we've done it,' he says. 'We've gone where no band has gone before.'
So Kiss are phenomenal and a phenomenon - and they know it. 'Our live shows are so multi-generational they're more like a tribal gathering,' says Stanley.
'It's super when you see little kids alongside people in their seventies, and everybody feels like they belong. People relate to the spirit of the band, which is to live your way and succeed on your own terms. There's no hypocrisy in being successful and still railing against conformity. I'm damn successful but I got here by not taking crap. I still don't take crap, so if anybody needs a champion, let it be me.'
Surely Simmons would have something to say about that? 'When I was a kid, I wanted to be rich and famous, and now I've actually trademarked the phrase...,' he counters before his voice trails off. 'I forgot the question 'cause I love the sound of my voice too much.'
Perhaps Stanley should get the last word after all, then. 'Democracy in a band is insane,' he says. 'I think the way it works with Gene and me is that whoever feels strongest at that moment gets their way. One thing's for sure: as good as your last Kiss show was, next time - this time - will always be better.
Kiss's Sonic Boom Over Europe Tour starts on Saturday at Sheffield Arena.
Still going strong after all these years and boasting thigh muscles men half his age would kill for, The Demon talks Donald Trump, William Shakespeare and Family Jewels - and that's just for starters.
We can't wait to see the man himself on action in Newcastle on Sunday and we'll have a review of that show right here within hours of the final curtain falling.
For now sit back and enjoy a few more words of wisdom from an individual who has truly brightened up these pages during the past fortnight.
rushonrock: Do you ever relax?
GS: If I'm loping about then I'm not as good in Kiss. I'm like an athlete who, when he's not competing, is working out all the time. If you don't work out you lose your edge when it comes to competition and for me it's the activity that gets the heart pumping. I am a 60-year-old with the thigh muscles of a man half my age. Use it or lose it - that's my philosophy. Your lungs, your brain, whatever.
rushonrock: So just how do you keep on top of everything with all your various projects on the boil?
GS: I do what Santa Claus does - I make a list, I check it twice and make sure who's been naughty and who's been nice. It's all very organised. I need to spend time with my family and keep track of my projects and it's all written down in order. I need to remind myself that Kiss is a brand, not a band.
rushonrock: Do you have a full-time secretary?
GS: I use a traditional diary with room for notes. The Blackberry means well but it's failing is that it treats all information exactly the same - when it-s not. 'Blow up the world' is a big thing and 'clip your toenails' should be in small letters because they're not the same value. See what I mean? But that?s not what the Blackberry does.
rushonrock: Is modern technology important to you?
GS: Look, when you get an email with an attachment nobody reads it - they just skim. In my business and in my world where I deal with CEOs of companies - if Donald Trump sends me an email I want to understand what it says. For important stuff you need to consider it and digest it and that means a computer screen. So I sit down three times a day at a computer to digest and understand my emails. Other than that I use my traditional diary with a pen and lists.
rushonrock: And do you still use an old fashioned telephone plugged into the wall?
GS: I do have a mobile phone. Very few people use it but it's called the money phone. You can reach me and if you have money you call. If you don't, and you call up and say 'hi Gene' you'll get the reply 'wrong number'. I don't chat.
rushonrock: It was another trip away from the family - how are they doing right now?
GS: I'm so proud of both of my kids. Nick has performed on and co-written some songs on the new Bruce Kulick album and Sophie's captain of her volleyball team and she's a real chanteuse. I've done demos with her but I'm not pushing anything. They're both going to finish school and that's the first and most important thing. After that they'll do all of the rest of the stuff. Sophie starts college next year but Nick is almost through. His mid-term college report card was A, A, A, A and B-plus. Not sure about that B-plus...
rushonrock: Nick and Sophie are familiar faces to fans of Gene Simmons Family Jewels but how did that show come about?
GS: The opportunity arose to do Gene Simmons' Family Jewels and they allowed me to do it my way - with no interference. Shakespeare was right when he said all those year's ago that the world's a stage and we're all just players. I say play on. I use the show as a means of furthering the Gene Simmons brand. I have Simmons books, Simmons magazines, Simmons records and now Gene Simmons' Family Jewels.
rushonrock: Is the TV show more important than Kiss?
GS: It's separate to Kiss - they're two different things. But just as Clark Kent works at the Daily Planet and is also Superman and Dy Jekyll is also Mr Hyde - I'm Gene Simmons and I'm also in Kiss. You can be two people at the same time as long as you don't cross over.
The clock is fast counting down to the return of the mighty KISS to our shores, and we took the opportunity recently to sit down discuss the tour with the guitar-playing half of the greatest band in the world - that is to say, Paul Stanley and Tommy Thayer.
You can see what the guys had to say here.
The organization's third annual induction ceremony will be a star-studded red carpet event honoring the class of 2010 which includes Les Paul as well as Jack Nicholson, Danny DeVito, Susan Sarandon, President Woodrow Wilson, and more.
Tickets for the ceremony only range from $30.00 to $90.00 and are available through the NJPAC box office at www.njpac.org or by calling 1-888-GO-NJPAC.
In other news, Ace Frehley will appear at the sixth annual MusiCares MAP Fund benefit to celebrate women in recovery and salute former first lady Betty Ford and the Betty Ford Center at Club Nokia in Los Angeles on May 7.
Ace will join Corey Parks (NASHVILLE PUSSY), Slash (VELVET REVOLVER, GUNS N' ROSES), Matt Sorum (VELVET REVOLVER, GUNS N' ROSES), Lemmy Kilmister (MOTÖRHEAD), and Allison Robertson (THE DONNAS) for a special performance.
The veteran bass player and rock solid businessman still looks good in a pair of platform heels and boasts the steely thighs of a 30-year-old.
You can catch him and rest of the guys from Saturday May 1 in Sheffield and the across the UK in Newcastle, Liverpool, Birmingham, Glasgow, Manchester and London.
For Simmons rocking is his business - and business is good.
Look out for Part Two of our Gene exclusive next week.
rushonrock: Sonic Boom proved to one of the albums of 2009 but it was a long time coming. Do you wish you'd released a new record sooner?
Gene Simmons: I don't think we should have done something sooner. I say everything in its time. If you're a farmer and you bring your stuff to market before it's open - when it's closed - then nobody buys it. It's the first rule of commerce. And what I'm in is actually called the music business. It's not called music. Everybody thinks great I'll just do music' but what about the business?
rushonrock: So why was 2009 the year to take your stuff to the market?
GS: When we thought about releasing Sonic Boom we thought where is our retail partner? There are no real record stores anymore so as a band we have to ask ourselves where can we sell our product? And once we got Wall-mart on board it gave us the chance to pay attention, without worries, to the record.
rushonrock: What worries could you possibly have?
GS: I will be damned if I'm going to allow somebody from Newcastle College to download the new record for free after we've spent six months of our lives working on it. Kiss is not a charity and we don't pretend to be.
rushonrock: So it was a six month, rather than a six year project?
GS: We were in South America playing stadiums last April and on the off days we started strumming a few guitars and coming up with the bits ? the backbone or what we call the clothing of the songs. But by June we started rehearsing and in July we recorded it and then we were done.
rushonrock: But with the album comes touring and you're committed to a lot of gigs around Sonic Boom ? do you have the time to do it justice?
GS: Releasing and touring a new record properly is a big undertaking and all of what I do takes time. But perhaps I sleep less than other people do and prefer it that way. I like doing lots of stuff at the same time. Most people work 9-5 and then afterwards they might go to the pub. I never do that. I don't drink or smoke and I?ve never taken a vacation in my life. It[s not because I have anything to prove to anyone else but because I really enjoy activity and enjoy working full time.
rushonrock: You're about to play UK arenas but your last gig here was at the tiny Academy in Islington - how was that experience?
GS: When we played London in March it was the smallest venue we'played anywhere in the world for more than 20 years. It was very tough to breathe. The Co2 kicked in as it bellowed out from our huge stage cannons and it caused a few anxious moments.
rushonrock: Your 'canons' caused you to cut short the show didn't they?
GS: We use the cannons at stadium concerts and if you're in the last row of a huge arena you still get pelted with the dry ice and the strips of paper. It's designed to take over a venue and it's the same idea as Avatar ? and that's why I love that film ? it envelopes you. That's what we want to do with Kiss and a Kiss concert. We want you to taste it, smell it and even orgasm on it. Hear it, see it, use all the five senses. But in Islington the air just disappeared because when the Co2 hits the room it takes over and the oxygen disappears. Your chest cavity tightens and it's difficult to breathe.
Fans will recognize The Fabulous Dancing Pig from the Internet show "Westlake and The Pig". This time, The Pig is unleashed and out of control.
"Punk Goes Classic Rock" is the ninth in the series of the highly-successful "Punk Goes..." compilation series that has already sold over 600,000 albums and 1.5 million singles over the past decade.
Over the past ten years, the "Punk Goes..." series has become an internationally recognized brand, with past compilations featuring name acts such as THE ALL-AMERICAN REJECTS, GYM CLASS HEROES, JACK'S MANNEQUIN, THRICE, ALL TIME LOW, and PLAIN WHITE T'S. Past compilations include "Punk Goes Pop 1" and "Punk Goes Pop 2", "Punk Goes Acoustic" and "Punk Goes Crunk".
"Punk Goes Classic Rock" track listing:
01. HIT THE LIGHTS - "More Than A Feeling" (originally recorded by BOSTON)
02. VERSA EMERGE - "Paint It Black" (originally recorded by THE ROLLING STONES)
03. THE ALMOST - "Free Fallin'" (originally recorded by TOM PETTY & THE HEARTBREAKERS)
04. MAYDAY PARADE - "We Are The Champions" (originally recorded by QUEEN)
05. THE SUMMER SET - "Rock 'n Roll All Nite" (originally recorded by KISS)
06. WE THE KINGS - "Caught Up In You" (originally recorded by .38 SPECIAL)
07. A SKYLIT DRIVE - "Separate Ways (Worlds Apart)" (originally recorded by JOURNEY)
08. I SEE STARS - "Your Love" (originally recorded by THE OUTFIELD)
09. PIERCE THE VEIL - "(Don't Fear) The Reaper" (originally recorded by BLUE ÖYSTER CULT)
10. FOREVER THE SICKEST KIDS - "Crazy Train" (originally recorded by OZZY OSBOURNE)
11. THE MAINE - "Pour Some Sugar On Me" (originally recorded by DEF LEPPARD)
12. ENVY ON THE COAST - "All Along The Watchtower" (originally recorded by BOB DYLAN)
13. EVERY AVENUE - "Take Me Home Tonight" (originally recorded by EDDIE MONEY)
14. NEVER SHOUT NEVER - "Bohemian Rhapsody" (originally recorded by QUEEN)
15. BLESSTHEFALL - "Dream On" (originally recorded by AEROSMITH)
You can stream the entire album at this location.
"Glee, The Music: Volume 3 Showstoppers" features 19 songs from the second half of the season. While the announcement doesn't include which series regulars will be singing on each song, we do know that guest stars Jonathon Groff, Idina Menzel, Kristin Chenoweth, Neil Patrick Harris and Olivia Newton-John will be featured on the disc.
The complete track list:
1. Hello Goodbye
2. Gives You Hell
3. Hello
4. A House Is Not a Home
5. One Less Bell to Answer/A House Is Not A Home (Kristin Chenoweth)
6. Beautiful
7. Physical (Olivia Newton-John)
8. Total Eclipse Of The Heart (Jonathan Groff)
9. Lady Is A Tramp
10. One
11. Rose's Turn
12. Dream On (Neil Patrick Harris)
13. Safety Dance
14. I Dreamed A Dream (Idina Menzel)
15. Loser
16. Give Up The Funk
17. Beth
18. Poker Face (Idina Menzel)
19. Bad Romance
The album will be released May 18, 2010.
Come celebrate the 25th Anniversary of the release of KISS Asylum with special guest former KISS guitarist Bruce Kulick. Bruce will do a Q/A and be available for photos and autographs throughout the day. NY's KISSNation will rock the Fan event with rare and never before heard live KISS tunes including a few from Asylum!
Children 12 and under get in free! KISS merchandise and collectibles will be on sale throughout the day. There will be giveaways and contests too.
VIP Ticket holders get an Official KISS I Was There Philadelphia T-shirt!
Meet Paul on the 2010 Sonic Boom Over Europe Tour and get the most collectible KISS guitar of all... the one Paul Stanley BREAKS at the show you attend!
There is only one Paul Stanley Washburn guitar broken at each show, so only one is available for purchase per each city on the KISS Sonic Boom Over Europe Tour.
You have a once in a lifetime opportunity to buy this exclusive collectible & meet Paul Stanley on the KISS tour!
When you order, you get:
* The Paul Stanley Washburn guitar, broken and autographed by Paul himself at the show you attend!
* A meet-and-greet with Paul for you and one other person at your selected city on the KISS Tour prior to the show!
For more information, visit www.paulstanleyguitars.com!
Celebrity Extra: Thank you so much for talking with me. I’ll get right into it so you can start your morning.
Paul Stanley: My morning starts when my 3-and-a-half-year-old walks in the room.
CE: That’s true. I’m thinking about the rock-star lifestyle, but you’re actually a family man as well.
PS: I am a family man and a rock star.
CE: I think it is going to come a surprise to a lot of your fans that you are such a great artist. You fairly recently started showing and selling your artwork to the public — what made you decide to share it with the masses?
PS: I’ve been doing it for quite a few years now. I started painting 10 years ago really as a way of finding another creative outlet. I’m always looking for another way to express myself, and that’s how I attempted to find myself. So whether it was doing Phantom of the Opera or painting or doing what I do in KISS, they’re all ways for me to emote stay creative. That’s who I am, that’s what’s in my blood. I originally painted with no expectations of ever doing a show or of ever showing anybody my art. It came about because I hung the piece in my house, and people kept saying, “Who did that painting?” And funny because I wasn’t very secure or confident in my ability, I never signed it. To this day that piece isn’t signed, but it gave me food for thought, because people seem to connect so much with it that I got talked into doing a show. At this point I’ve been averaging probably anywhere from 12 to 15 shows a year around the county, and they’ve been amazingly successful in a way that quite honestly leaves me speechless.
CE: What do you like best about when you tour with your artwork and when you get to interact with the public?
PS: I think it’s terrific to connect with the people who have made you who you are, made your life possible. I never became famous to cut myself off from the people who made me famous. But, the great thing about art is that I think anybody who appreciates somebody’s work gets so much more out of meeting the person and getting a sense of what’s behind the piece. Ultimately what’s most important is that you have your own sense of what a piece means because you’re taking it home.
Much in the same way that I believe that life and theater are, unfortunately, intimidating to people because there are critics whose livelihood depends upon convincing you that you need them to tell you what’s good. And I try to break through that because whether or not someone else likes what you like is irrelevant. If you’re a vegetarian, what difference does it make that somebody else loves steak. So that being said, I guess I’m out there trying to not only show people who are collectors of serious pieces, I’m also trying to show people who have never been in a gallery how much art has to offer. I’m a big believer that whether you’re living in a van or a villa, art would look great on your wall. So, you don’t need a degree to have an opinion, and you don’t need an education to know what you like. You don’t need to justify your taste, and it’s enough that you like something. So, I try to get people to experience things that they wouldn’t necessarily experience and also enjoy it.
CE: I’ve checked out the websites and galleries, and I don’t know how to describe art other than I like it or I don’t, and I do like yours. I love the use of bold colors — many of the colors remind me of the sunset in the Southwest, like Utah and New Mexico. I think it's great that you are bringing your artwork to people for them to like, not to dissect, to declare: "This is good!" or "This is bad!"
PS: Oh, it does people such a disservice ultimately. It may guarantee somebody a job but the fact that, that there are people around who, who somehow convince you that you need them to tell you what’s good is unfortunate. I’m here to tell you that you know what’s good. Good is what you like. And nothing more and nothing less. You don’t need to justify, qualify or explain what you like. And if you love something and somebody else hates it, what good is it to them? So, it’s purely an individual like or dislike, and I try to make sure that people can enjoy something without feeling that it’s a test and that there is going to be a quiz.
CE: Do you get a lot of KISS fans coming to the openings or is it mostly serious art collectors, or a healthy mix of both?
PS: There is a very healthy mixture of both. Obviously there are a lot of KISS fans who come out of curiosity, and that’s terrific too because they're seeing something they perhaps they wouldn’t see otherwise. And then there are people clearly spending unsizable amounts of money for pieces to hang alongside other pieces by other artists that they may like. It’s been a great cross-section.
CE: Does your painting inspiration come from a different place than your songwriting inspiration, or is it interconnected?
PS: I think everything I write about or paint comes from my life. I tend to believe if you don’t wake up inspired everyday you either should go back to sleep or turn your life around. Life on its worse day is a miracle. So, I tend to treat it as such. I celebrate life every day.
CE: You’re not just a “hobbiest” painter — you’ve sold millions of dollars worth of paintings. If you had to make a choice between being a painter for the rest of your life or a rock star, would you be able to choose?
PS: That would be a very, very tough, tough choice for me. Thankfully I don’t have to make it. I came to art later than music in the sense of really applying myself to it, and at this point I can’t imagine life without it.
CE: I was surprised to learn that you attended New York's High School of Music and Art, for art not music.
PS: It’s funny, when I first saw Fame, and then I went to my school, I was expecting to see people dancing on the cars, but it wasn’t happening. For me, I put art aside at some point because I’m just not a fan of being told what I need to do by somebody else. Some people are cut out for listening to authority and some are just cut out for going their own way. I just soured on art and I had people living their life through me or wanting to see me accomplish what they do. I’m the hardest worker you’ll ever meet, but it’s gotta be on my terms. So, I kind if got tired of art and put it aside. By the way, I also had a dubious distinction of probably being one of the few people to go to that school who ever failed art. That sets me in very lofty company. I came back to painting and came back to art, because I needed another way to express myself. Whether it’s doing theater or whether it’s through Phantom of the Opera, I love challenge. I also have an innate sense of what I’m capable of doing and I have to follow those inspirations and aspirations. Perhaps it serves in some way as a role model to others that if you have a true sense of what you are capable of, the only thing standing between you and success is you.
CE: I know late last year KISS was touring in the U.S., and you begin touring in Europe in May. Is there a noticeable difference between the American KISS Army and the European fans?
PS: Interesting question. I have to say, worldwide it’s very much the same. I really believe that KISS has transcended everything that is rock-and-roll in the sense that rock-and-roll tends to be music that’s owned by a specific age group and to think of it as purely their music, when in fact with KISS, it’s more of a tribal gathering. It’s all ages and everybody feels a part of it because everybody believes in the same lifestyle and the same values — or lack of values. KISS transcends everything that other fans have to live within, and rightfully so.
CE: KISS is such an iconic staple of anything in pop culture. You are referenced many, many times on TV shows, other music, movies — KISS was pretty much a main character in the movie Role Models.
PS: Yeah, we are a part of Americana, and we are part of everything that makes up the American lifestyle and the American dream
CE: Fans were thrilled that you released Sonic Boom back in October. Am I jumping the gun, but can we expect another KISS album within the next few years?
PS: Making that album was so much fun, and it reinvigorated and restated everything that we are that yeah, I think that we’ll see another album.
CE: You are such a prolific songwriter. If possible, can you narrow down some of the favorite songs you've written?
PS: "Love Gun" is one of my favorite songs, because it’s simple and direct and I love singing that every night. I love “God of Thunder” because it’s always fun to know that Gene's signature song was actually written by me.
CE: Can you tell me about the experience of appearing on Extreme Makeover: Home Edition?
PS: It was terrific because basically a lot of schools and the school system in general is losing all it’s funding for music. It’s really criminal because any scientific study has shown that programs in schools involving music only help with the academics and other forms of education. So the fact that they’re pulling the plug on so much of the music education is something that’s alarming. On that particular episode of Extreme Makeover Home Edition, there was a family who basically were losing their house and they were big champions of music and music education and gave lessons. They had their home rebuilt, and through the Mr. Holland’s Opus Foundation we gave a very, very handsome amount of instruments to a school that very much needed it.
CE: I am so glad you are helping to being awareness to this. As someone who was in band and choir all through school, it really saddens me to see the arts programs going through so much neglect.
PS: Oh yeah, it’s a calamity — it’s way beyond a problem. I think it has far-reaching implications.
If you'd like to see Paul's artwork, or to check if he might be heading to an art gallery near you, head over to paulstanley.com.
The ABC Trust - a charity dedicated to helping the lives of children in Brazil - has launched a KISS charity auction via eBay.
Funds raised will help support a project called the Street Child World Cup, where teams of street children compete in a football tournament.
(The 'ABC' in ABC Trust stands for Action for Brazil's Children - see what they did there?!)
Anyhow, up for grabs is the following prize, which includes:
* Two exclusive Meet And Greet Tickets to see KISS at London's Wembley Arena on May 12
* Personal photograph with KISS
* Autograph session (includes 8?10 autographed photo)
* Exclusive KISS concert shirt
* Collectible KISS tour poster (limited edition, numbered)
* Official KISS tour program
* Official Meet And Greet laminate
* Set of KISS Sonic Boom guitar picks
* $100 voucher for the official KISSonline store
To enter your bid, go here.
Find out more about the ABC Trust here.
There will be the option to buy the separate recordings on a 1GB USB stick, audio CD or as MP3 download.
Instead of the KISS Kollectors box, they are offering up the Gold KISS USB Stick. A 16GB USB KISS Gold stick (which is empty at first) will be available.
Fans can buy the Gold edition at any time even prior to the tour and then download the concerts of their choice onto the usb on a subscription basis.
There will be three bundle packages:
* 1 Gold stick plus 5 concert download codes.
* 1 Gold stick plus 10 concert download codes.
* 1 Gold stick plus (at least) 30 concert download codes (ALL European recordings).
"Sonic Boom Over Europe" will see dates in Ireland, Switzerland, Italy, Austria, Czech Republic, Germany, Norway, Finland, Sweden, Demark, Holland, France, Spain, Belgium and, not only will the tour feature KISS' first U.K. arena shows in 11 years, but it will see the band breaking new ground completely with their first ever shows in Slovakia.
About the upcoming tour, guitarist/vocalist Paul Stanley stated, "The KISS Alive 35 Tour was just the start. Sonic Boom Over Europe leaves that show in the dust. New stage, new setlist, new outfits, new album! We're covering the whole musical history of the band on a stage that takes KISS one giant step further in our eight inch heels. We're stoked. You wanted the best? You GOT the best!"
For more information, visit Simfylive.com.
P>Write a story, any story you can imagine in 100 words or less, and use all six of these words: KISS, scooter, face, paint, rock, and guitar. Then, submit a photo that helps visualize your story. Be creative! Write a story, any story you can imagine in 100 words or less, and use all six of these words: KISS, scooter, face, paint, rock, and guitar. Then, submit a photo that helps visualize your story. Be creative!
CLICK HERE TO ENTER THE KISS CROSSRUNNER SCOOTER GIVEAWAY NOW.
While on set in Long Beach, California on Friday afternoon (April 9), the guys personified the heavy metal band KISS.
Cory Monteith took on bassist Gene Simmons, Mark Salling was rhythm guitarist Paul Stanley and Kevin McHale played lead guitarist Tommy Thayer. No word on who played percussionist Eric Singer yet.
Click here for photos from the set.
Click on the lessons below to open a window and watch.
* Bruce Kulick Guitar Lessons: Hand Strength
* Bruce Kulick Guitar Lessons: Using A Pick
ON a leather sofa in the library of his hotel room sits Gene Simmonds, the blood-spitting, fire-breathing, tongue-wagging frontman of KISS.
It's the morning after the band's fanclub show at the Islington Academy, and he's sipping a cup of tea. It's so dark I can barely see him, but he repeatedly calls on room service to dim the lights, to the point where I can just make out his features, minus that famous make-up.
"That's better," he sighs. "Come and sit here, next to me."
The show in the 1,000 capacity Academy was like seeing a quart squeezed into a pint pot. The KISS show fits an arena, and Gene, 60, has more than enough charisma for 10,000 fans to share. So sitting two feet away from him is like watching a film with my nose pressed against the cinema screen.
Next month Gene and the band - "Starchild" Paul Stanley, guitarist Tommy Thayer and drummer Eric Singer - take to the ECHO arena stage.
"It's the first time we've been to Liverpool, ever I think," says Gene in that big husky voice that I've heard on all the Rock School replays, and belting out on Guitar Hero. "Which is strange because it's somewhere I've always wanted to play. I've been fascinated by the place ever since I heard The Beatles.
"There is no way I'd be doing what I do now if it wasn't for The Beatles. I was watching the Ed Sullivan show and I saw them. Those skinny little boys, kind of androgynous, with long hair like girls. It blew me away that these four boys in the middle of nowhere could make that music.
"Then they spoke and I thought 'What are they talking like?'. We had never heard the Liverpool accent before. I thought that all British people spoke like the Queen. The only time you heard a British accent was when they played the Nazi in war films.?
Suddenly he switches into a surprisingly good Scouse accent.
"Overnight I became an Anglophile," he chuckles. "I read up on The Beatles, who they were, where they were from. I learnt about Liverpool, Rory Storm and the Hurricanes, Ringo's band, and The Quarrymen and all that.
"I read up everything they did in the news. I followed their failures and their successes.
"The Beatles were a band, of course, and I loved their music. But they were also a cultural force that made it OK to be different.
"They didn't look like everyone else, and they still made the girls scream."
Making the girls scream is something gene specialises in - on stage and off. Gene has never married, and has reputedly bedded 3,000 women and dated Cher and Diana Ross, but now lives in Beverly Hills with longtime partner and former Playboy Playmate Shannon Tweed.
On stage he puts on a stage show as big and overblown as you could imagine. On a stage filled with dry ice and a plethora of pyrotechnics, the giant Kiss logo in flashing lights, he roars the likes of Calling Dr Love, Rock and Roll All Nite and Detroit Rock City. More than a concert it's a theatrical experience that most bands could only dream of.
"I wish there were more proper shows around," he says, a little sadly. "When I go and see a show, I use my eyes as well as my ears. If I just wanted to listen, I'd sit at home and play the record.
"It's the same with our show. If people make the effort to come out and see us play, we'll put on a show. You've got to give people some bang for their buck. It's not enough to just go out and sing your songs. If there's nothing to look at then you're short-changing your fans."
From the very beginning, KISS have paired their look with that distinctive sound.
"We said let's put together the band that we never saw on stage," laughs Gene. "We were four boys off the streets of New York. We started putting our early songs together in a loft above a Sears store (American department store Sears, Roebuck and Co). We knew how we sounded, but we needed to see how we looked, so we went down to Sears and got a mirror. Then we went to the drugstore and bought a bag of women's make up, and some white clowns' make up from a costume shop on the street.
"We didn't have a clue. We sat in from of the mirror with a handful of Maybelline and played around like kids, drawing, rubbing it off, drawing more.
'I had no idea that we were creating the four most recognisable faces in the world."
That's a big claim.
"They've done polls where they show people a series of faces. Not everyone knows what Barrack Obama looks like, but everyone can recognise KISS."
The make up has become synonymous with the band.
"I do it myself before every show," explains Gene. "Mine takes the longest - two hours most nights - each point has to correspond."
He shifts closer on the sofa and draws with his fingers on my face.
"I start with the first point, then each one has to fan out in the right way," he explains, tracing the lines on my now closed eyes. "Then I have to make both eyes match. It's harder than it looks. Paul's is easy. He has that one star, so he gets to do what he wants."
While he's in Liverpool gene hopes to make some time to look around Mathew Street, and maybe listen to some new bands.
"I like British music - bands like Keane and Arctic Monkeys," he says. "But they don't have much star quality. I listen to them and there's this big sound. Then I open my eyes and they look like pizza delivery boys. I mean, you don't have to spend two hours doing your make up and spit fire on stage, but it helps."
KISS play the ECHO arena on May 4. Tickets are on sale from the ECHO ticketline on 0844 800 3680
Allan Brown alleged that Simmons and others kept him out of a deal he helped arrange between the musician and the racing league. He also claimed they characterized him as ``lazy' and ``rich' to racing league officials.
Brown's lawyers filed papers March 29 with Los Angeles Superior Court Judge Terry A. Green stating that the case had been resolved. The terms were not divulged, and the lawyers were not immediately available.
In the suit filed in September 2008, Brown was seeking unspecified damages from Simmons and his two business partners. He also is alleging breach of fiduciary duty and is seeking an accounting of monies.
Simmons has worked with IndyCar racing in the past, and co-wrote a song for the league titled ``I Am INDY.'
The rockers kick off their series of concerts next month and admits he will be overcome with emotion if he sees youngsters emulate the group's heavily made-up appearance.
Gene - who is famous for his 'Demon' black and white face paint - said: "When I see a five-year old in KISS make-up on his Dad's shoulders at one of our concerts I will cry with happiness."
The 60-year-old star says fans going to the concerts will be in for a treat because the shows are so spectacular.
He told Absolute Radio DJ Iain Lee: "KISS is about size and the bigger the better. At some of the really big outdoor shows we have had to warn local airports not to send planes overhead because the fireworks can go up 500 feet."
When the guys were in the UK recently on a promotion trip in support of the album and the announcement of the tour dates, we took the opportunity to sit down and have a chat with bassist Gene Simmons about his bass playing career, influences and set up...
RR UK: So, Did you start playing the bass first, was that your first instrument?
Gene: No, my first instrument was guitar, self taught and I did it like anybody else in the prehistoric days- we took albums, which went 33 rpm, and we slowed them down. So grrrrrr rrrrr [sound of slowed down record],like that. But then I could pick up the notes and the chords and copy them, and then try to play along with them, but of course when the record sped up to full speed it changed, didn't it, the tonality went up! Ha! But in either case that's how I learned how to play guitar, and then of course meeting other guitar players who showed me voicings and Sus4 and so on. And then, I saw the Beatles on the Ed Sullivan Show and thought 'gee, this is a good job, girls scream, you get to dress funny, wear your hair kinda kooky', and that was it it, it's better than being a plumber. So I wanted to do that and then I noticed when I first went out meeting other guys in other bands, there were a million guitar players but no bass players. So I decided to pick up the bass, because I'd get into a band easier.
RR UK: So when you're talking about going back and playing over records that you liked, trying to play those, what kind of artists were you trying to mimic back then and learn the parts to?
Gene: Gee there was a lot of stuff, a lot of R n? B records you know- Otis Redding, Stax Vault, Sam and Dave records, things like that. Turned out to be a guy named Steve Cropper mostly, in the Mar-Keys and the House Band, Booker T and The MGs, was all Steve Cropper. Steve Cropper and Otis Redding actually co-wrote 'Respect' and first recorded it, and then it was recorded by Aretha Franklin. And when you hear 'Soul Man' [hums tune] that's all Steve Cropper- before your time [laughs]. And so those were the original guys that I learnt from, and then of course from listening to the British groups, to hear a major A chord from Pete Townsend or somebody like that teaches you the basics of guitar, and learning to play guitar early on was actually a help in writing songs; of course you can be a bass player and write songs but by knowing guitar a little bit you can actually write the parts.
RR UK: So how old were you, say, when you first picked up a guitar?
Gene: I was 14, and I remember immediately write my own songs. [sings] 'My uncle is a raft, and he al-ways keeps me floating, he is so good to me, he treats me tenderly, it doesn't matter who you are, My uncle is a raft'. I was just throwing words up and writing everything, and originally it was it sort of Bonzo Doo Dah band. You should look this band up, it's an English band in the early sixties but eclectic initially. I listened to everything, R'n'B, Beatles and stuff, and then really started to hone in on the early great sixties anglo bands, I'm a big anglophile. One listen to 21st century Schizoid man, by... you don't know what I mean, right?
RR UK: 21st Century Schizoid man- rings a bell but I couldn?t tell you who it's by off the top of my head
Gene: Look it up. [We did- King Crimson, Ed.] Just great stuff. So much great stuff. Thunderclap Newman produced and written by Pete Townsend. There were so many... there must have been thousands of British bands, yes The Beatles, yes the 'Stones, Kinks, Zombies, Hollies, ah Searchers, Fortunes, Tremalos, Sounds Incorporated, a million of them, Jerry and The Pacemakers, and on and on, thousands and thousands of bands, and I devoured all of them. And there's some new English groups that are really interesting- Keane write good songs, Arctic Monkeys write good pop songs. The problem is they're not stars. You don't have a clue what their names are, and you don't care what they ate for breakfast or who they're shagging. And a star is what Elvis Presley is, yes you like the songs but you either want to fuck him or you want to find out who or what he?s doing. That's the sign of a star. And if you're in Kasabian or anything else, and you can't tell me who's in the band, and people on the street don't know you're in a band, you're not a star. A star is bigger than what he does. Even the people who hate you are curious about you as a personality, that's a star.
RR UK: That's very true. So how old were you when you started playing the bass then?
Gene: Fifteen.
RR UK: Fifteen, so you'd been playing guitar for about a year. Do you remember the first bass that you bought or was bought for you?
Gene: My mother bought me a Kent bass, which was like a copy of McCartney's Hofner, like a violin body. A white Kent bass. Cheap, 35 dollars. But it played.
RR UK: And how long were you playing that bass for?
Gene: I played that bass [thinks] for probably three years.
RR UK: So it stood you in good stead then...
Gene: Oh yeah. I played it through The Missing Links, and The Long Island Sounds, these are bands that we had, and Cathedral. And then I got an EB1, which was a bass guitar made from, kind of a Gibson offshoot. And of course that was stolen.
RR UK: So you mentioned some bands there then, so one you'd got your bass you started playing in some bands- tell us a little bit about some of the bands that you were playing in before you had Kiss.
Gene: The bands mostly played high school dances, and it was a way to get chicks; to allow you to.. you know... [laughs] When you're a teenager you hope that she'll let you take her down to the laundry room and see what colour her bra is, you know, and all that naughty stuff. And of course if you were in a band you could pretty much do anything that you wanted to, versus a pre med student- they just wouldn't get any. If you play guitar in a band, that skirt comes right up. It exists today; of course it doesn't exist with synth bands... do Franz Ferdinand get laid? I don't think they're that kind of band.
Sami: How many bands would you say that you played in towards, eventually, Kiss?
Gene: About five; it was Long Island Sounds, Missing Links, Cathedral, I'm embarrassed to say Bullfrog Beer, which was a college band although I never drank and never got high, and then Wicked Lester, and then finally Kiss.
RR UK: So were some of those more in line with your early inspirations, or were they rock bands?
Gene: No. The early bands were kind of a mixture of everything, we did Otis Redding, Aretha Franklin, to instrumentals by The Ventures, to Sander Sham and the Farrels- very obscure stuff- 'Brown Eyed Girl' by Van Morrison... and then we all tried to do Beatles stuff, and in the band I was the singer. Of course I had a much higher voice then...
RR UK: You mentioned that you were self taught, did you ever have any theory lessons? Did you learn how to read music or any of that stuff?
Gene: No. I can't read a stick of music, I've written hundreds of songs, I've had them covered by Lenny Kravitz and Stevie Wonder, and Cher, and almost anybody that you care to mention, but I couldn't tell you if you wrote it down on a sheet of paper, and neither could Lennon and McCartney or Jagger and Richards, or Jimmy Hendrix- they couldn't read or write music. But they could write songs.
RR UK: So when you think back over all the people who've endorsed you over the years, can you remember what guitar and bass companies have endorsed you over the years?
Gene: I haven't taken the endorsing route too much. I was involved with Ampeg amplifiers for a while, but what I do instead is manufacture and sell my own guitars. I am the guitar company and I am the creator- the Gene Simmons axe is a massive success. They go for 5000 dollars a piece, each one is numbered and signed and so on, but I actually own the trademark. Guitar players call their instruments the axe, I play my axe, but I'm the only one who actually owns the phrase!
RR UK: So what's your rig onstage, what's your set up?
Gene: Um, I have my Punisher or Axe basses, which I manufacture and sell, and usually there are four Ampegs, 360 SVTS- they usually stick out anywhere, from 200 to 300 watts RMS- and if we're playing outdoors a few of them will be connected. And a combination of Cabinets, some of the cabinets have the 8 10 inch speakers, yeah, there would be 8 10 inch speakers in one cabinet, then I have another cabinet with 4 12 inch speakers, and another one with 2 18 inch speakers. So it's a big, big sound.
RR UK: So how often do you practice, both when you're on the road and just at home?
Gene: Hardly ever. I mostly pick up a guitar and doodle, and sometimes things come out of it, or on piano, just doodle and see what happens.
RR UK: What tips would you give any kids out there who're picking up a guitar or bass?
Gene: Steal. Take a lick, check it twice, find out if it's naughty or nice, turn it upside down, play it backward. You know 'Sunshine Of Your Love'? If you do it backwards it's your riff. Play it backwards, tear the middle of it upside down, inside out, and by Frankensteining your way though it, take a piece from here and a piece from there, you create your own. I mean, what is cooking except taking things that everybody's been using all along and just making your own mixture. 'I'm a creator...?'- you create nothin! Salt and pepper have always been here, and you take chicken and vegetables, there's nothing original about it. So when you listen to The Beatles, totally original. No, it's not. They took Carl Perkins' kind of songwriting abilities, and stuck in some Chuck Berry and some Little Richard, and they covered everybody's songs, and Motown and Everly brothers harmonies, and when you see the elements, the DNA that makes it up, you see that this 'Beatle body' is made up of bits and pieces of all of American music. But when it comes out as The Beatles, it's a brand new thing. [In Liverpool accent] Y'know what I mean?
RR UK: [Laughs] Yeah I know what you mean. Final question- what would you say are your top riffs ever, that you?ve heard and have just blown you away?
Gene: Riffs that I've written, or other people?
RR UK: Other people.
Gene: Well by some estimates, 'Smoke On The Water' is the most often played riff by all guitar players, new guitar players certainly...um...but I'm a major Jeff Beck fan. When he had his 'Truth' and 'Beck-ola' albums... Top riffs? Jeff Beck, 'Plynth'. Uh, Mountain- 'Never In My Life', 'Satisfaction' by the 'Stones- it's undeniable, as soon as it starts, the song's there, it's undeniable.
"Technically, we've been around for 12 years, but as far as having presence in the marketplace, I guess we are new band on the scene," Armes tells Spinner.
The genre-bending seven-piece formed as a hip-hop ensemble when the members were still in high school. Now in their early twenties -- Armes will celebrate his 25th birthday at the Junos in St. John's, Newfoundland this Sunday -- Down With Webster have already toured with the Roots, held a month-long stint on the Vans Warped Tour and attracted the attention of industry shakers such as Timbaland and Gene Simmons.
In 2008, the KISS bassist publicly courted the band, stating his intention to sign Down With Webster to his newly minted label, Simmons Records.
"It came out of left field. My phone rang and someone said that Gene Simmons was on the radio talking about us," Armes explains. "Later that night we were sitting in a greasy-spoon diner eating bacon and eggs with him. It was very cool and flattering, but being Gene Simmons it was all very over-the-top."
Timbaland, who hooked up with the band for an all-night jam session at famed Miami recording studio the Hit Factory, was equally taken by the young band. He called Down With Webster "the illest group I've ever seen live in person," invited them on a series of tour dates and offered to sign the band to his label.
In the end, Down With Webster turned Simmons and Timbaland down and signed with Motown Universal. Earlier this year Down With Webster released 'Time to Win: Volume 1,' a 7-track debut that features 'Rich Girl$,' a reimagining of the Hall and Oates classic. On a recent promotional tour, screaming girls lined up in suburban malls for a chance to meet the band.
"We are seven young guys and we attract a lot of females. We don't have a problem with girls screaming. It's a pretty cool thing," Armes says.
But he's quick to point out the Down With Webster is a serious live act that produces its own material. Early in their career, without the benefit of a video or an album, the band relied on extensive MySpace and Facebook campaigns to become one of the biggest draws in their Toronto hometown.
"When we started to sell out concerts the labels got interested," says Armes.
For Down With Webster, playing live is where it's at, and according to Armes the band doesn't spend much time thinking about industry awards or album sales.
"Selling records isn't an active thing you do," Armes points out. "If people like your music and it sells, that's great, but the proof that what you are doing is working is seeing people at the shows interacting with the songs you've written. That's the justification for it all."
Armes was in a dentist's waiting room when he heard about his band's Juno nomination. He said the news came as a complete surprise, but admitted the nod has triggered the band's competitive streak -- still, he's not getting his hopes up.
"It's totally bad-ass. But we've been so busy on the road and recording, it just wasn't on our radar," he said. "There's steep competition, but we've worked really hard. If it happens, it will be great. If not, we'll keep grinding it out and hopefully one day it will."
To meet Bruce and attend the clinic, you may purchase tickets at the store or online for $25. The ticket price includes a copy of Kulick's new solo album, "BK3" on CD, a poster, a "BK3" signature guitar pick, and an 8x10 color photo.
The clinic will feature Bruce performing songs from "BK3" along with tracks from his years in KISS and will be followed by a meet-and-greet and autograph session.
For more information, visit www.therockandrollemporium.com.
He adds, "I feel curious about this. How they will sound on CD? It remains to be heard!"
The idea to make big-band versions of heavy metal and hard rock classics came from OULU ALL STAR BIG BAND and its artistic director, Tapio Maunuvaara. After inviting Ahola to take part in the project, they then selected a set of melodic songs and OULU ALL STAR BIG BAND hired various people to make the new arrangements of the songs for the big band.
The "Big Band Goes Heavy" repertoire has so far been performed live twice — on November 7, 2009 in Oulu, Finland; and on March 13, 2010 at the Oulu Music Festival.
KISS: I Was Made For Loving You.
In the brand new issue of Classic Rock magazine, which goes on sale next Wednesday (March 31), KISS guitarist/vocalist Paul Stanley was asked if McGhee was still KISS' manager in light of the reports that Doc was now representing GUNS N' ROSES. "That's been very funny," Paul replied. "A few weeks ago I said to Doc: 'It would've been nice if you'd told us.' Doc replied: 'I had nothing to to do with it.'"
Stanley added, "Axl has decided, from what I understand, that Doc is his manager. That's a one-way agreement. because Doc is not managing GUNS N' ROSES. One day he certainly might but he's not right now. And he definitely is still our manager."
Neither GUNS N' ROSES nor Axl Rose is listed as a client on McGhee Entertainment's official web site.
The title is set to be the first entire book of quoted insights from rock stars on the topic of sex to ever be published.
"Sex Tips From Rock Stars: In Their Own UNCENSORED Words" is born from the world's first extensive study of rock stars concerning sex, in which international rock stars who've won Grammy Awards, topped the Billboard charts, and been certified multi-platinum, candidly share their sexual instincts, urges and experiences.
The following rock stars had enough balls to be interviewed and go all the way in "Sex Tips From Rock Stars":
* Acey Slade (MURDERDOLLS, DOPE)
* Adde (HARDCORE SUPERSTAR)
* Allison Robertson (THE DONNAS)
* Andrew W.K.
* Blasko (OZZY OSBOURNE, ROB ZOMBIE)
* Brent Muscat (FASTER PUSSYCAT)
* Bruce Kulick (KISS)
* Chip Z'Nuff (ENUFF Z'NUFF)
* Courtney Taylor-Taylor (THE DANDY WARHOLS)
* Danko Jones
* Doug Robb (HOOBASTANK)
* Evan Seinfeld (BIOHAZARD)
* Ginger (THE WILDHEARTS)
* Handsome Dick Manitoba (THE DICTATORS, MC5)
* James Kottak (SCORPIONS, KINGDOM COME)
* Jesse Hughes (EAGLES OF DEATH METAL)
* Jimmy Ashhurst (BUCKCHERRY)
* Joel O'Keeffe (AIRBOURNE)
* Lemmy (MOTÖRHEAD)
* Nicke Borg (BACKYARD BABIES)
* Rob Patterson (KORN, OTEP)
* Toby Rand (JUKE KARTEL)
* Vazquez (DAMONE)
For decades, they have held the power to attract the world's hottest supermodels, Playmates and Pets. They have smorgasbords of groupies awaiting them at every tour stop. They've seen sex in all its most bizarre forms, all around the world – and now they let you in on the sizzling action!
"Sex Tips from Rock Stars" is the world's first extensive study of rock stars concerning sex, in which many of music's most celebrated rockers share their dos and don'ts on a long list of sexual topics. They provide you with an abundance of uncensored bite-sized tips and tongue in-cheek pointers on every single aspect of sex — from dating to divorcing.
Some ideas are practical and surprising, others are as naturally wild and crazy as their millions of fans would expect. These international rock stars take you deep inside their uninhibited world of sex, drugs, and rock'n'roll as they come clean on their dirty little secrets for the very first time. Your own carnal fantasies will come alive when you find yourself taking on this book's raunchy ideas and super-hot sex tips, all with the confidence of the rock stars themselves. Don't say you weren’t warned!
Titillating, weirdly informative, and thoroughly entertaining, "Sex Tips from Rock Stars" provides you with wall-shaking, earth-quaking turn-on moves in what is perhaps the most politically incorrect version of the birds and the bees the world has encountered.
For more information, go to this location.
The 30-year old segment can be viewed here.
This week's auctions include proof sheets for the 1977 Marvel KISS comic book and KISS Alive Forever; the 1982 Flo & Eddie press kit, several lots of rare KISS cover story magazines and photos from 1974-2000 including the rarely seen 1975 photo session which inspired the cover art for "Destroyer", an original KISS Army fan club kit, Eric Carr's 1980s business card, a even a ticket to KISS's self-promoted 1973 Hotel Diplomat concert. As one of the 80 artists commissioned to be part of the Cow parade in Margaret River, Mrs. Hatchett unleashed her inner rock star to create an eye catching KISS cow, complete with make-up and body armor, that bass player Gene $immons would be proud of. Titled 'Moose Mania-KISS Cow', Mrs. Hatchett said she had an absolute ball designing and creating the heavy metal bovine with some help from her husband to put on the finishing touches. "My husband was enlisted to do the labor of love stuff like cutting the metal (donated by Grenville Hall of Allfab Engineering) and bolting all the bits onto the cow," Mrs. Hatchett said. "He (Douglas) used to say one artist in the family was enough however, he appears to have changed his mind of late." Mrs. Hatchett said it was great working with nuts, bolts, metal and many other bits and pieces which sparked an inspiring new type of art for her to work on. "I am grateful to Radio West for commissioning me to complete this rather unusual piece of art," she said. "The huge bonus is that this bovine amongst others will be auctioned off for charity which I think is just fabulous." Joyce Hatchett's KISS cow will be on display at the Art GEO complex in Busselton's main street for the duration of the Cow Parade Festival. More than 300,000 visitors are expected to see the cows during the three-month duration event.
Here is a message from KISS to Erik during last year's "Idol" finals. Erik performs KISS's "Shout it Out Loud" on Swedish Idol before a sold-out Malmoe Arena of 12,000!
The rocker-turned-painter, 58, unveiled his latest work, Crossroads, a portrait of 1930s-era bluesman Robert Johnson. Stanley used a delicate palette knife instead of a brush to capture the music man's essence. "For me, the most important point is not to get bogged down in minutiae. I try not to work something to death." The father of three -- who continues KISS's Sonic Boom Over Europe tour in May -- is well aware that his legacy will be more for his music than art. He's OK with that. "I will never be a starving artist," the Starchild admits, "but it's very interesting to find my footing."
The Band’s Younger Fans In 2004 we did the Rock The Nation Tour, and then we didn’t do any kind of full-length touring until last year in Europe, and that’s where we really noticed the resurgence. All those shows did extremely well for us, and we noticed the age demographic had completely changed. All of a sudden there were a lot of young kids, and when we’d ask, “Hey, how do you know about Kiss?”—thinking that maybe their parents were Kiss fans—a lot of them said, “We found you on the Internet through YouTube”…or through Guitar Hero…or Rock Band. So it’s the kids themselves discovering Kiss. And next thing you know, they go out and buy the CDs or videos. And then next thing you know, they want to come see the band live! Surviving The Music Business I look back now at all the drummers who’ve attained longevity in the music business…it’s not an easy task. Being a journeyman musician is different from being in a band. If you’re not a songwriter, or you’re not the principal owner of a successful band, to survive in this business is very hard work. A lot of drummers talk in interviews about their workout regimen and “I’m working on this ostinato thing where I’m playing this with my left hand,” and that’s all great and fine. But the majority of people will never be able to use that kind of technical ability unless they create some kind of niche for themselves. Ultimately most players just want to have a career in music, whether it’s as a studio musician or being in a band with some success, where they can just play for a living. It’s almost like a rare art form to be able to play music for a living. And the way people view musicians in America is different from the way they view them in Europe. Overseas they look at dance and theater and music and all that as a cultural and artistic expression, and they really support and admire it and respect it in a different way. Jazz musicians are totally revered in countries like Switzerland, Belgium, and Germany. When people ask me for advice about being in the music business and making a living, I tell them that you’re on not only a financial roller coaster but an emotional roller coaster as well, and you have to always remember that it is a business. Everybody is aware that musicians look at their art as being a part of our cultural fabric and that we are very emotional about it. Unfortunately, a lot of businesspeople are very aware of that. The best way to take advantage of people and situations is to tap into their emotional side, knowing that they’re not always going to make decisions based on logic. A lot of times the business can prey on that. I don’t want to sound negative; I just try to be realistic. There are some very, very shrewd people in the music business, and I think if you’re not business-minded you’ve got to remember, no matter who you’re working with—even if it’s the best friends you grew up with—the minute you throw some fame, success, and money into the equation, you will see people change. Not everybody—some people do retain their humbleness and their roots. But you have to be aware. Early Years/Favorite Drummers I watched bands on TV, and I saw many on Ed Sullivan’s show. I went to see concerts, I saw Led Zeppelin one time—so I did get to see Bonham live! I never got to see the Beatles or Jimi Hendrix with Mitch Mitchell or Cream with Ginger Baker. I was a little bit young for them. Even though I was aware of all that music because I had an older sister and brother, I only got to experience them on TV or on records. These days anyone can buy DVDs or watch performances by just about anyone on the Internet. Years ago, when I saw Tony Royster Jr. at twelve playing like Dennis Chambers, I was like, “Forget it, it’s over.” [laughs] I remember another guy, Thomas Pridgen, coming to the NAMM show with his grandmother when he was a little boy. I used to talk to him all the time. He’s another one who has turned into a monster player. His grandmother made it her mission to help her grandson achieve his dreams. But she also taught him how to be a nice, respectful person. She is a great lady, and I give her a lot of credit for the success he’s had, because you need support factors in your life. My parents were both musicians. My mother played viola and sang, played a little piano too, and my dad played violin and saxophone and was a bandleader. And I started playing in my dad’s band when I was fourteen. My dad also took me to see big bands all the time. To this day Buddy Rich is my favorite drummer, and he always will be. It’s tough to name the best all-around drummer, because what each person does is different. And I always like to think that if you play in a band and you do your thing, it’s not about who is better technically. What’s more important is who is right for the situation. I know guys that can play circles around me all day long, but they’re not the right person to play in Kiss. They might not have the right chemistry to work with Gene [Simmons] and Paul [Stanley], or maybe they don’t sing; there are a lot of factors to fitting into certain situations. It’s not just about the drumming. But getting back to who some of my favorite drummers are…in my opinion Vinnie Colaiuta is probably the best all-around drummer today. If we have a modern-day Buddy Rich—if you want to use that term—a guy who we can say sets the bar and everybody else is a notch below it, that person to me is Vinnie. He can play anything. He played on Megadeth records, with Faith Hill, and he’s played with Frank Zappa, Jeff Beck, Sting…and he does it all well. I love Dennis Chambers because I think Dennis is like Vinnie—a drummer who can go in and play with a fusion band and floor you, but at the same time he can just play a straight-ahead groove. I’ve seen Dennis play in a jazz trio at a little jazz club with a traditional kit, not play double bass, just old-school bop. And then I’ll see him playing fusion with Niacin, then real pocket stuff with Santana. Simon Phillips is another; he always has that real smooth groove, and his drums always sound good. He has a certain sound that he gets, and he’s really good about knowing how to pull that sound out of his drums. A lot of the sound is how you hit the drums and how you play. Steve Smith is another one that comes to mind who can play anything. Gene And Paul A lot of people don’t realize that Paul and Gene are really good musicians. They’re very underrated and don’t get the credit they deserve. And I’m not saying this to defend them or stick up for them; I’m just saying the truth from my experience. Gene is a great bass player. And Gene and Paul are music aficionados—Paul in particular is like a walking music encyclopedia. He can name the most obscure song and tell you who sang it and when it came out. Kiss Makeup—With And Without To be honest, I like both. I look at them as two different animals. I’ll never forget the first time I did a gig with Kiss in makeup. It was in 2001. The show was in Japan and Ace was still in the band, and it was surreal, like an out-of-body experience. I was like, “I’m on stage with Kiss, and I’m the drummer!” Mind you, I had already played in the band without the makeup, so I wasn’t like a star-struck fan. But we’d gotten to Japan late, so we never did a production rehearsal. I never had the makeup on, other than for a photo shoot, so when I walked out on stage with the makeup, that was for the first time! It was so trippy and a very cool situation. Be careful what you wish for, right? [laughs] Now, trust me, I don’t feel like someone handed me a winning lottery ticket either. In life you go through a lot of ups and downs. Sometimes learning how to survive is as important as learning to play. And I never had a drug or alcohol problem—I watched other people around me, and it taught me that wasn’t the path to go down. Life in general is about learning how to survive. Anyone in the arts can tell you it’s not easy. Unfortunately a lot of times you’re not going to be successful or you’re barely going to get by, but you live and learn. Maybe you’ll get a job behind the scenes and can still be in the business. The main thing is you have to persevere. If you want to be a musician you have to be smart enough to learn survival tactics and be business-minded so you can make a living. I don’t want to be a “great” starving artist; that’s not attractive. Remember, I’ve been in and out of Kiss three times in eighteen years. So I’ve learned that nothing is forever. But anything is possible, and I feel very blessed. For more with Singer, check out the May 2010 issue of Modern Drummer.
Rumours have circulated for more than a year about a KISS venture in Melbourne. If all goes to plan, December 31 will see the opening of KISS CoffeeHouse Melbourne, directly opposite Crown Casino, complete with memorabilia from the band's 35-year rock'n'roll career. The Melbourne man who negotiated the deal with the band, Steve Agi, is calling on investors to buy into his $5 million cafe and family restaurant. Agi is a coffee fanatic who spent more than a year negotiating with founding band members Gene Simmons and Paul Stanley for the Australian rights to the KISS CoffeeHouse business. He plans to spend $1.5 million revamping the vacant Tea House building at 28 Clarendon Street, opposite Crown Metropol hotel and next to the Melbourne Convention and Exhibition Centre. One KISS CoffeeHouse exists, at Myrtle Beach in South Carolina. It opened in 2006 and displays band memorabilia and sells merchandise. A seven-metre KISS boot marks the entrance, while the coffee is said to be ''hotter than hell'' and it only comes in two sizes - gold and platinum. According to the investor proposal for the KISS CoffeeHouse Unit Trust, which was emailed to potential backers at the weekend, six shares in the business are being touted at $250,000 each. Each share will give the owner 5 per cent equity in Melbourne's KISS CoffeeHouse. The rest will be controlled by Agi, who pays a licence fee to KISS and to New York Stock Exchange-listed Live Nation, which owns the band's merchandise rights. ''KISS CoffeeHouse - Melbourne is the ultimate brand synergy between the hottest band in the world, KISS, and the highly caffeinated, coffee entrepreneur, Steve Agi,'' states the investor proposal. Agi is the publisher of the Melbourne Coffee Review - Cafe Guide and BeanScene Magazine. He also operates the coffee recycling business Ground Zero. His private company, Caffiend Enterprises, will be the licensee and manager of the KISS CoffeeHouse. Potential investors are being promised a range of other perks should they invest. These include: ? An invitation to meet KISS and ''other celebrities that are part of the KISS entourage''. ? Membership of the KISS Army. ? Input into the design of the premises. ? First option to take a share in subsequent KISS CoffeeHouses. ? Special VIP invite with five friends to all VIP events, including the grand opening and appearances by KISS. ? Rare KISS merchandise and paraphernalia, ''signed personally to the investor''. According to the proposal, KISS have entrusted Agi ''and him alone for the first time in their 35-year history with their unique brand name and concept and as such both Gene and Paul are confident in his ability to select a group of investors who will be worthy to be associated with the KISS brand''. The proposal makes several ambitious claims, including a first-year return of between 5 per cent and 10 per cent, and that the value of the $250,000 investment will ''double after 12 months''. It also claims a ''risk of failure at ZERO''. Those claims are not backed up by financial estimates, costings or an independent report. Instead, Agi calls on readers of the investor proposal to consider it ''a calling, an opportunity to live a dream and enter a world that eye has not seen nor money can buy''. He adds: ''This is a once in a lifetime opportunity to be a part of what others dream of, KISS is real and you can live out your dreams and fantasies as a global rock star and owner of the hottest brand in the world.'' The KISS CoffeeHouse will have to succeed where Starbucks failed. The US giant has accumulated losses of more than $204 million since it arrived in Australia in 2000, and has closed 64 shops. In its most recent operating year in Australia, Starbucks lost $4.58 million, down from a $56.4 million loss the previous year. Agi did not return calls.
01. Hard Luck Woman "As a child growing up in the Seventies, I was big time into Kiss. Their album 'Love Gun' came out when I was around 11 years old, and I had to have it. I asked my Mom for the money to buy it, and she said to me (in thick Italian accent) "You want the money? You go get a job." I didn't even know I could get a job at that age." But get a job he did - one that taught him how to win over the public with the quick flash of a smile: "I made 50 cents an hour and fell in love with the business. The idea that, just by cutting a slice of pizza, pouring a fountain soda, smiling a little, I could make someone's day a little better, totally hooked me."
During KISS' 1979 "Dynasty" tour, KISS played the now-demolished Checkerdome in St. Louis, Missouri. To promote the concert, Gene and Paul appeared (without makeup) on the long-running local afternoon talk show "Newsbeat". This week's auctions, which end on Sunday afternoon, include several highly sough-after official 1970s KISS items, such as the 1978 trash can, the Thermos backpack, the 1976 Cadillac High School "KISS special" newspaper, a stage-used Peter Criss "Beth" rose, original photographs from a 1974 press conference, the 1970s KISS garbage can, several vintage KISS cover story magazines-including a 1973 Melody Maker page 1 article on New York glam rock, a factory-sealed posters lot and several additional items. The KISS auctions can be viewed here.
"Friday Night Rocks" can be heard every Friday night on the Internet between 11:00 p.m. and 2:00 a.m. EST at this location.
So I've only seen bits and pieces of "Gene Simmons Family Jewels" over the years and didn't have any preconceived opinions of the A&E series -- which premiered in 2006 and celebrates its 100th episode this season as TV's longest-running family reality show (overtaking MTV's "The Osbournes" for that niche honor). What I did see, in watching tomorrow night's fifth-season premiere, is a show meshing the requisite reality elements -- including facing-the-camera "confessionals," underscored here with weirdly "Leave It to Beaver"-type music -- with some genuine emotion. It's obvious that KISS frontman Gene Simmons, despite all his public bravado and bluster (overbearing at times), loves his longtime partner, former Playboy centerfold/actress Shannon Tweed, and their kids -- Nick, 21 and Sophie, 17. And it's obvious those feelings are mutual. I think that explains some of this show's appeal, and why it's had such a long shelf life ("Family Jewels" has averaged roughly 2 million viewers each season). Since I'm not a regular viewer, perhaps I was influenced by what transpires in tomorrow's season opener, as Shannnon discovers a lump in her breast (while out shopping for clothes in LA with her sister, Tracy Tweed) and undergoes a biopsy -- keeping all but the most basic information from Gene, who's just embarked on yet another long KISS tour. There is absolutely nothing contrived as cameras record Shannon's journey when she's given the news about the lump, has the biopsy (on camera), then nervously awaits the results -- preferring to keep her emotions to herself rather than "burden" her family. I'm not sold on the idea of having had cameras there to record Shannon's biopsy, not because it's graphic (it isn't), but because you'd think such a private moment should remain, well, private. But in this information overload age of Twitter and Facebook, it's not all-that-surprising this was included in the show -- and kudos to Shannon for being honest enough with herself, and with the show's viewers, to share her experience in this fashion. And she and Gene have since become advocates in the fight against breast cancer -- so no argument from me. Check it out.
Gotta love when a plan comes together! Paul Stanley and KISS fans get a chance to own a true custom CRACKED MIRROR PS KISS Stage Guitar for THOUSANDS less than the USA Custom! A FRACTION of the price! And - the PS1900 Cracked Mirror guitars are unique and simply spec'd out like NOTHING ever done on the Paul Stanley/Washburn front! This is a Boogie Street Exclusive my friends. The opportunity to get a TRUE Paul Stanley Custom guitar - for under 2000 USD! BSG worked with Paul directly and the good folks at Washburn to bring a different version of Paul's PS series KISS stage guitar done up in Paul's famous Cracked Mirror design! These guitars were fully approved by Paul, Washburn and BSG. The hand inlaid GLASS Mirror was designed after Paul's PS2000 USA Custom Shop PS guitar. You know the one. The guitar with the 10,000 USD Retail Cost! In the best BSG tradition of taking established designs and working with the artist to 'tweak' them - we truly have made an unique and custom guitar. Totally custom - totally special and totally AWESOME! The PS1900 Cracked Mirror customs were handmade in Washburn's Indonesian facility. The PS1900 has a 'Bronze' set-in metallic paint scheme. These guitars feature open coil Seymour Duncan USA humbuckers. A JB in the bridge and a '59 in the neck. The fingerboard is in unstained ebony. The body and neck binding is in BLACK. The headstock is unbound. The bridge is genuine USA TonePros. The wiring is USA. The Star Tailpiece and Grover KEYSTONE tuners are USA. The classic Paul Stanley split block inlay starts on the 1st fret as opposed to the 3rd fret. The Case is a sculptured leather exterior case. It's not a 'gig bag'. It's a leather covered, shaped case with rigid sections and protection bulit into the case. Washburn is also adding in a 2nd protection bonus - a Washburn/Paul Stanley gig bag (not pictured). There are 25 of these guitars made with Chrome Hardware and 25 made with Gold Hardware. Beyond cool! Do not miss out! We had considerable preorders and while we do have some left in each hardware color - we do not anticipate they will last long. Whether you are in the USA or outside the USA - here is your chance to click and buy your part of Paul Stanley guitar history! http://boogiestreet.com/home/?p=2106
When did you learn to paint? I discovered I wanted to paint about 10 years ago. Whether or not somebody can paint is really subjective. I started painting because I wanted another outlet and another way to express myself. I didn’t do it with the expectations of showing it to anybody. I was doing it purely for myself. When people saw some of the pieces in my house, they wanted to know who did them. Ultimately, I ended up doing a show. Besides being really gratifying, it was also really successful, so that started the ball rolling. I’ve done about 20 shows since then. Have you done any sculpture? I’ve done some sculpture but I really haven’t had time to focus on it. Primarily, I’ve been involved with painting. It’s something that keeps surprising me in terms of where it’s going for me. It’s very interesting because I’ve been, in anybody’s criteria, extremely successful with art. It’s interesting because I’ll never be a starving artist. I’m really developing in front of people. For a lot of reasons, success came very quickly so it’s interesting to develop in front of an audience or a group of collectors and people who appreciate what I’m doing. My criteria from the beginning was always to not get involved with the minutia of depicting detail as much as depicting emotion. Interestingly, that seems to work for other people, too. Because, again, I painted for myself but clearly the connection has been quite broad-based. Who buys your paintings? It’s interesting because obviously, my success gets my foot in the door. But as I’ve said before, you can still slam the door on my foot. You ultimately can’t survive on notoriety in a different field. There are people who come to the gallery who have never been to a Kiss concert, and it’s an interesting cross section because there are also people coming who’ve never been to a gallery before and I think that’s terrific. I think that the arts in general have a snob and very elitist kind of impression. There’s a lot of snobbery in it and it intimidates the average person into not wanting to experience it, which is a shame because it hurts everybody. When people don’t go to theater because they think that it’s for people in tuxedos and white gloves, it’s only slitting the throat of actors and people in theater. When people don’t go to galleries because they think they have to know something, that’s something that’s propagated by critics who make a living by making people think they have to look to them for an understanding or the criteria for what makes something good. What do you think is good art? Something is good because you like it and nothing more, and that’s all you need. You don’t need to justify why you like something. And if somebody else loves something and you don’t, what good is it to you? Critics should see themselves more as entertainers. They have no diploma for what they’re doing and they’re creative writers. To put any more stock in what they’re saying than you would in anyone else is your loss. I hear you’re doing a children’s show with Gene Simmons. Right now we’ve just made a deal to do a cartoon Kiss show, and who better than us? Truth be told, Kiss is so far beyond a rock band at this point. Rock bands make music. Phenomenons impact society and the way we live. After 35 years, it’s interesting to go to a Kiss concert and see kids from 3 to adults of 73, as opposed to some bands where people feel it’s purely theirs or their age group’s. Kiss concerts are more about a tribal gathering — it’s about people who have the same point of view and they share it together. So it’s unlike any other concert. We just finished a world tour and we’re back out starting in May in Europe again doing stadiums and arenas over there. So it never ends. Do you put on your own makeup? You betcha. Don’t you? It’s great. It’s a very reflective time, kind of like a fighter in the locker room before a fight warming up. We’re putting on the war paint and getting ready for battle. Have you ever played Kiss’ music on Guitar Hero? I haven’t and I’m sure there are people who are much, much better than I am. However, you have to go pretty far to beat me at my own game when you strap on the real thing. I read you’re a fan of Lady Gaga. I think she’s terrific and the real deal. And there’s always stuff that comes along that’s interesting or catches you momentarily, but I think what she’s doing goes a lot deeper. I really think that she is what she lives. And she is what she creates. And it’s impressive and refreshing to see something that’s that cool and that deep. Will Kiss do another tour of North America? Yes. Quite honestly I have to decide if and when. As far I know, it’s still impossible to be in two places at once. As much as I try, I have to pick and choose.
"KISS has become a tribal gathering," Stanley said. "It's a life force. We have people who come to these concerts from ages from 7 to 75. It's like a communal church to celebrate rock and roll." But just as his fans have such a passion for KISS' music, Stanley is equally passionate about his artwork. For the last decade, Paul has been painting acrylic paintings and prints. The paintings are on display at the Wentworth Galleries in Fort Lauderdale and in Boca Raton. "It's been phenomenal," Stanley said. "I am so fortunate that it's doing so well. I'm still in awe and humbled by the response. It's been amazing" Paul took on the Mona Lisa, which had a special meaning to him. Every icon can use a fresh coat of paint," Stanley said. "I know all about that; so I pulled her kicking and screaming in to the 21st century!" He created a painting he called "All You Need Is Love," for his wife. But he also has one that's simply called "Scream!" "The cool thing about this I was miserable and now I look how far I've come," Paul said. "That's what great about paintings and art; they can be a cool snapshot of certain period." From ripping off some of the most recognizable riffs in rock & roll history to painting artwork that sells for as much as $70,000; Paul is one creative person who rocks everything he touches. "I wake-up everyday thinking life is a miracle," Stanley said. "If you're not inspired every day you're not living life." Paul is also never one to shy away from the spotlight, especially when it comes from CBS4's Lisa Petrillo. "Not to offend Gene Simmons or anything, but I always thought you were the cutest KISS member," Petrillo told Stanley. "I still am," Stanley fired right back. KISS sets out on a European tour in May. Paul's artwork is on display at the Wentworth Galleries in Ft. Lauderdale and Boca Raton. The Boca Raton galley is open Friday night from 5-9 pm and then moves to the Fort Lauderdale gallery from noon – 2 p.m.
“You should know what your choices are in planning your estate,” said Simmons, co-founder of Cool Springs Life Equity Strategy, in an interview with Bloomberg Television in New York today. Simmons said his company can benefit athletes and entertainers who earned fortunes without building financial expertise. Kiss has broken box-office records set by Elvis Presley and the Beatles, according to Simmons’s Web site. The band benefits from licensing agreements that sell apparel, wine bottles and jewelry emblazoned with the Kiss logo. “I just want to address those of you out there who might be like me, in pop culture, basketball players, entertainers, rock stars, people like that,” he said. “We are not really the most well-informed people, and yet, because we’ve worked really hard, and the American dream is alive and well, we’ve been able to become high net-worth individuals.” Cool Springs offers loans to life-insurance policyholders against their eventual payout. The company says it can help clients minimize estate taxes and eliminate life insurance premium payments. “We have access to literally $7 billion to loan you against your life insurance policy at Libor flat,” Simmons said, referring to the London interbank offered rate, a lending benchmark that was set at 0.278 percent today.
Kourosh Taj, co-president and head of programming, confirmed the news to DMW on Thursday in an email: “NGTV filed for chapter 11 protection primarily to implement a reorganization plan with the cooperation and consent of our senior secured lenders.” NGTV caters to the 18-34 demograpic and describes itself on the website as “the world's largest producer of uncensored celebrity news and entertainment programming.” Headquartered in a 24,000 square foot production facility in Beverly Hills, NGTV boasts a 10,000-hour library of exclusive, uncensored originals, as well as 'directors cut' music videos. The company's technology partners include Akamai, Brightcove, DoubleClick, Avid, Sun Microsystems, Digidesign, IBM and StorageTek. NGTV videos have been very popular on YouTube and the company claims to be the third most-watched YouTube partner, with 445 millions views and counting. In November 2008, Variety wrote that reality TV specialists Mark Burnett Prods. ("Survivor," "The Apprentice") became an equity partner in No Good TV when it entered into a partnership to develop some of NGTV's privately-funded content into traditional television series. "I have been very impressed with the fiscal responsibility exhibited by NGTV," Mark Burnett told Variety at the time. "It becomes very profitable for them to shoot a show for network or cable because the costs are low enough, even in a low ad market like this one." NGTV has not revealed any details as to whether it plans to emerge from bankruptcy as a fully functioning company, if they are going to sell off assets or whether staff being are being laid off in connection with the reorganization.
On January 5, 1982, KISS members Gene Simmons and Paul Stanley visited New York's MetroMedia TV studios to promote their poorly received concept album "Music From The Elder". During the taping Simmons and Stanley even participated in a comedy sketch where they threw a stuffed animal through a burning hula hoop of fire. The posting of these final three "outtake" clips, concludes the year-long rollout of the lost 28-year-old interview which was published in ten parts. This week's auctions include: the 1976 Cadillac High School "KISS special" newspaper, a stage used Peter Criss "Beth" rose, original photographs from a 1974 press conference, the 1970s KISS garbage can, several vintage KISS cover story magazines-including a 1973 Melody Maker page 1 article on New York glam rock, a factory-sealed posters lot and several additional items. The KISS auctions can be viewed here. The final three "Elder" "outtake" segments can be seen here: Clip 1, Clip 2, Clip 3.
CLICK HERE to listen live to Sixx Sense beginning at 7 PM tonight. CLICK HERE for the complete list of radio stations airing the show tonight.
Turns out, fronting for KISS may just be Paul Stanley's day job. The legendary rock band's enigmatic singer has also been pursuing a career in the art world, when he's not on tour or recording. Mr. Stanley, 58 years old, started selling his colorful abstract paintings at the Wentworth Gallery a few years ago. Last year, he garnered more than $3 million in sales. He has two new gallery shows opening in Florida this weekend. When Mr. Stanley picked up the paint brush about 10 years ago, he never thought anyone would see his work, he said. He got into painting because he found it to be cathartic, a way to express emotion. "I really just felt I needed another creative outlet," he says. In 2005, a friend in Hawaii encouraged him to put on a gallery show there, and he agreed. "I was speechless that it was a success and that people wanted to take the pieces home," he says. Mr. Stanley's paintings are vibrant, colorful, acrylic-on-canvas creations, often featuring abstract patterns and geometric shapes. He describes his work as "kind of a giant stream of consciousness where I use color and texture instead of words." Though both his music and his art serve as emotional outlets, the similarity between the two end there. "The beauty of art is that there really are no rules as for as I'm concerned—and if there are any, I don't want to want to hear about them," he says. "Music takes a lot more structure… With art, the only boundary is the edge of the canvas." His upcoming exhibitions will open at Wentworth Gallery's locations in Boca Raton and Ft. Lauderdale, Fla., this Friday and Saturday, respectively. Mr. Stanley's original artworks are priced from $15,000 to $80,000, and giclées, which are prints on canvas, sell for about $1,500 to $6,000. The musician still spends the majority of his time focused on KISS, though. Following the October release of "Sonic Boom," the band's first studio album in 11 years, KISS will hit the road for a three month European tour in May. The enduring rock group, which rose to fame in the '70s and became known for its inventive live performances and marketing, is also working on an animated television show for kids. "We sing about things that are timeless," Mr. Stanley says of the group's broad appeal. "We sing about belief in yourself, celebrating life and following your dreams." As for KISS's own celebrations, Mr. Stanley says that the band still embodies the storied revelry of its earlier days—but to a different extent. "With time your desire or lifestyle changes," he says. "But rock 'n' roll is as healthy and crazy as ever."
The Kiss rocker's A&E series, "Gene Simmons Family Jewels," is quickly approaching its 100th episode, and his relationship with girlfriend Shannon Tweed is still intact, his kids Nick and Sophie are behaving themselves, and the media hasn't unearthed some dark family secret that's been hidden for years. With a history littered with Jessica Simpsons and Nick Lacheys, Hogans and Gosselins, having a clan survive life in front of the camera is a feat worth celebrating. "Those families were destined to be torn apart. Television cameras just happened to catch it," Simmons told the News. "My life is an open book. What you see is what you get, and I don't care." "Gene Simmons Family Jewels" returns for a fifth season this Sunday at 9 p.m. on A&E with a special one-hour episode that focuses on Tweed and a personal health scare. When she finds a lump in her breast, the family rallies around her to get through a difficult time. Simmons and Tweed also will appear on "The Doctors" today at 9 a.m. on WCBS /Ch. 2 to discuss the matter. "You men out there, you have to talk and make sure your loved one goes today, not tomorrow, to see wonderful doctors who are there to save lives," says Simmons in the segment. The fifth season of "Family Jewels" is not only a milestone for the series, but a landmark in several of the family members' lives. Gene turns 60, Nick turns 21 and graduates from college, and Sophie graduates from high school - all of which are caught on tape. "The kids are going from young teenagers to a grown man and a woman," said Simmons. "There's going to be a different dynamic because they're both moving out of the house." Asked if that's going to be tough for him, Simmons replied, "What do you think?" Simmons at least has a day job to distract him - he's in the midst of a two-year world tour with Kiss, and working with bandmate Paul Stanley on a new kids' series with production company E1 Television. The show will either be a live-action "Power Rangers"-type series or a show about a rock band. Either way, the main goal is to expand the Kiss empire. "This world should be Planet Kiss," said Simmons. "Every step you take should be on hallowed Kiss ground." But whether he's rocking out on stage, mugging for the cameras or keeping his kids in line, Simmons says he can't complain - life has been pretty good to him. "Whether people think I'm a moron or a genius, all of it's fair," Simmons said. "I'm lucky enough to not be flipping burgers. I have nothing to whine about and never have. "If I was growing up, who would I want to be?" he added. "I'd want to be Gene Simmons."
1. Max Fleischer's Superman These original animations by Max Fleischer were like little movies and so realistically drawn. Seeing them as a kid, my jaw would drop. Like Fleischer, other major cartoonists like Stan Lee, Jack Kirby and Bob Kane who did Batman, were almost always exclusively Jewish and created these kinds of superheroes with secret identities. The secret is that Superman is really Jewish. 2. Michigan J Frog He first appeared in a fifties Warner Bros short (One Froggy Evening). A construction worker finds a century old suitcase in a building's cornerstone and out comes this frog bursting into song with top hat and cane. With dollar signs in his eyes the man puts him in front of an audience but the frog doesn?t sing and he loses all his money. So the frog's put back into the suitcase and the situation repeats itself in the 21st century. It shows the greed in man. 3. Pepe Le Pew He was based on black and white movie star Charles Boyer (Boyer's character Pepe le Moko from 1938 film Algiers) and insatiable with his lust because of course he was always after that pussy. You saw him using paint as a ploy but it's always about the chase, it's the human condition. The woman always feigns that she's not interested, 'I'm not easy, I'm not hard to get', when the truth is, we all know she wants some. 4. Snidely Whiplash Snidley featured in the Dudley Do-Right of the Mounties, a short in-between the Rocky and Bullwinkle cartoons and was the cliche of the silent villain. He would always be waxing his moustache and wearing a top hat. He always wore black and had wide angled White Anglo Saxon Protestant features and generally lurked around. He was the arch-nemesis of Dudley Do-Right, a Mountie who was lucky to catch him. 5. Willy Zilla My Dad the Rock Star was a cartoon show that I created and had 26 episodes. It's about a 12-year-old boy called Willy whose father's an over the top rock star with green hair, and his mother a hippy. The inspiration came from when my son was nine-years-old or so and took to school a poster of me throwing up blood and spitting fire and said 'This is my dad the rock star'. 6. Tom (and Jerry) The entire premise is that the cat is going to try to torture the mouse, but ultimately get his comeuppance. Tom always ended up beaten because he was the bad guy. I knew Hanna Barbera and met them many years ago to discuss a KISS cartoon. They ended up producing our movie KISS Meets The Phantom. I still have signed cells in my collection that they signed for me. 7. Marvin the Martian Dressed in Roman headgear you never see his face, just his eyes. Marvin first appeared in a series of Bugs Bunny cartoons. They first meet on the moon and Bugs asks 'What's up Doc' and Marvin says 'Oh, I'm going to blow up the Earth' in this Dick Van Dyke accent; and his voice is shocking. You expect something ominous to come out of his mouth He thinks he?s so bad, but he's just silly. 8. Wile E. Coyote It was a very violent cartoon and of course Roadrunner never got the sad end of this, it was always Wile E. Coyote. He was integral to this unique cartoon where you never saw towns, you never saw people. Only if there was a truck coming might you see the hand of the truck driver, there were no other people ever in it. Wile E. Coyote who never caught the Roadrunner was unlike any other character before or since. 9. Droopy I love Droopy. He's a dog patterned after Truman Capote and that's dangerous. He clearly seems to be a dog of angst because you never heard emotion in his voice and he was a happy go lucky dog, kind of like Truman, who I knew back in New York, along with Warhol and all those guys. I don't know (what he thought of Droopy) but I'm sure he got a kick out of it. 10. Dr. Quest Johnny Quest was a strange choice for a cartoon because the boy was neither funny nor strong and had an Indian sidekick with a turban, they were all peculiar choices; especially the father as a scientist who invented all kinds of things. And it's odd that he brings his boy and his best friend along with a dog and a bodyguard but hardly spends time with the boy. Very strange indeed.
EUROPEAN TOUR Q: You are now here promoting you upcoming SONIC BOOM OVER EUROPE tour. What can European fans expect from that tour? A: The stage is the same one that we used in the States with all the video screens. It's that stage with some new bells and whistles added in and a new set list for Europe. Q: It's great to hear that there are changes in the set list. So have you already decided how many SONIC BOOM songs will be on the set list? A: My guess is there's got to be four. Q: How about the 80/90's material. There are lots of fans in Europe who are huge fans of the eighties and nineties KISS material. Will there be songs included from that period as well? A: I'm sure "Crazy Nights" will be in the set and "God Gave Rock & Roll to You". It's really hard to cover everything from the beginning. So it means we have to leave out some songs. We can't just keep adding songs. It's great when people say "how about doing this one or that one" so ok then, what will be taken out of the show then? Q: Everybody remembers that THE ALIVE 35 tour was hugely successful here in Europe. What kind of expectations do you have for this upcoming tour? A: I think if anybody thought that was great, and it was, then this will be greater. It wasn't a fluke, it wasn't by chance that the last tour was great...the band is great! Q: Once this European leg is over you're going to continue this tour in the U.S. Do you have plans to continue this tour after those U.S shows? Perhaps Japan or Australian tours are also on the way? A: Not sure...there's talk that after we do Europe we go back to do the States again but I really don't know? We'll have to see. There are so many offers to play, but I also want to be home. There's little ones in my house that want daddy home and that's a priority. Q: It's a great thing that you're now going to play a club gig here in London. Is it completely out of the question that you would do more shows like this in the future, in kind of the same vein as what you did with the KISS IN YOUR FACE shows some years ago? A: It's very difficult to be able to do them. The fact is we were over here and we're not in touring mode, we haven't even started rehearsals for the tour. We're just basically going up there and playing. But when we're on tour, days off are very important for us to take it easy. You can't go out there and exert that amount of energy and kick that amount of ass and have a day off and go "hey lets go play a club". That's ok if you are playing 90mins a night or if you're playing two shows a week, but we don?t do that. So a day off is a day where we take it easy. Q: Well... After this SONIC BOOM tour is completely done, what KISS will do next? A: As of now, I really don't know. There's nothing hidden that we haven't announced. SONIC BOOM Q: Overall, how satisfied you are for the sales numbers and overall feedback what you?ve got of SONIC BOOM? Was there anything surprising there either in positive or negative way? A: I'm thrilled because it's a great album. I said from the beginning whether it sells 10 million copies or 1 million copies, it's all the same to me. At this stage of the game it about making a great album, anything else is just a bonus. In America we had the album available exclusively at one place which has a good side and a bad side. The good side is they support it, the bad side is, it's the only place you can get it. So there are plusses and minuses but I couldn't want a better album, I couldn't imagine a better album. Q: The reviews for the album have been very positive all the way. A: That's right. The reviews for SONIC BOOM have been really good. It's great to do an album which is undeniably good, right? "laughs". Thank you. Q: From producers view, what was the biggest difference to produce this album vs. your latest solo album LIVE TO WIN? A: It was totally different. LIVE TO WIN wasn't a KISS album. It was me trying not to do a KISS album. If I wanted to do a one man KISS album I would do ANIMALIZE. To do a KISS album I wanted all the elements that make great KISS; everybody contributing, Gene and I writing together and no outside writers. Those all are things that over the years fell away for reason or another. It's easy to make an album when you don't write the songs and someone else writes them for you. It's easy to make an album when you let someone else play your instrument. It's easy to make an album when you say I have to have 4 songs on the album whether they are good or bad. It can be easy to make an album but it's not the way we should make an album. This album was made following certain rules, somebody was in charge, and it is much easier with someone in charge. The band will tell you it was the easiest album that we ever made because we had great guidelines. Q: You've stated many times that this is the best line up of KISS ever. Now after finishing your first studio album with this lineup, do you still agree with that statement? A: I totally agree with that statement. There aren't nights when the band isn't in top form. Like I've said before, we've now got a band with four people who are all saying, "How can we make the band more famous?" instead of, "How can I make me more famous?" Q: Although it was stated that all material on SONIC BOOM is brand new, actually there are a couple of songs which were originally written a long time ago, like "Nobody's Perfect" by Gene. Would you tell us something more about those songs and how you decided which material was used for this album? A: I never heard another version of that song. Was it called "Nobody's Perfect"? Q: Yes, and actually there are some early tapes where you can hear the rough version of that song... A: I don't know? Most of the songs he has rehashed I always know about because I hear them year after year. That song sounded really good. Most songs that have not been used usually haven't been used for a reason. We tweaked that song so... I can't say? Q: Many fans criticized, especially here in Europe, that when album came out there wasn't enough promotion made for it. Was there any certain reason why you didn't do a promo tour like this when album was coming out? A: Probably because we are busy. Also, its great to do promotion but someone has to pay for it. If someone isn't willing to pay for the promotion I am not a charity. I give you a great album and if you want more than a great album then you need to buy me a ticket and find me a place to play. Q: Well because our time is soon coming to an end here is the very last question. Is SONIC BOOM going to be the very last KISS album ever? A: I don't think so. I think that within the next twelve months we are doing another album. Q: Really??? A: Yeah. I think it will take twelve months to eighteen months. Q: That's something to wait for. Thanks for your time and have a good show tonight. A: Thank you and have a good time.
From Black Sabbath to Alice Cooper and KISS, Eric Singer tells Phil Ascott how he's landed gigs with rock and metal royalty over the past 25 years through determination, talent and good fortune. Perhaps God really can give rock n' roll to you... KISS - Sonic Boom (2009) Harking back to their classic Destroyer album, Paul Stanley instigated new rules for the writing and recording process of the band's first album in 11 years, ensuring jam sessions rocked and rolled all nite... "I was pleasantly surprised when Paul called up to say, 'I'm thinking about doing a new record but I want to do it as a band and play live. No outside songwriters.' That was basically saying make sure it's your idea, don't bring a song that you had going with someone else. Paul used to write his songs and Gene used to write his, then they'd bring the material to the band and each would get a certain amount of material on the record. That was thrown out the window. It was like, 'We're gonna jam ideas and arrange them so that we're comfortable enough to go into a studio. Then in the studio we'll put them under the microscope.' Brilliant. That's how I first started making records. I used an old Rogers kit - I wanted to use vintage - and a Pearl free-floating plexiglas snare that was perfect with it." Alice Cooper - The Eyes of Alice Cooper (2003) Eric's second album with glam shock icon Vincent Furnier was unfairly maligned, according to Singer... "I played on Brutal Planet (2000,) The Eyes of Alice Cooper and Along Came a Spider (2008.) But out of all those Alice albums, Eyes... was the most fun and the coolest because it was done garage-style, live as a band. We literally went to a room, with all the amps and the drums in the same room, not even really using partitions, and we just blasted the songs out. I got frustrated sometimes because you have so much volume, with the bass guitar and the guitars bleeding into the mics, but we did most songs without a click track, just live as a band. It was truly old school. Probably because of a bad record label and no support, that record went by unnoticed, but if anyone gets the chance then go check that record out because it's a really cool, straight rock n' roll record." KISS - Revenge (1992) Another chance meeting whilst recording with Badlands landed Eric his most prestigious gig to date, although it would be a while before he entered the studio with the glam rock titans. "I was in New York recording the Badlands album in 1989 and someone said [KISS guitarist/singer] Paul Stanley was looking for a drummer for his solo tour. Ironically I was staying at a hotel right around the corner from his offices so I went over and met with him, chatted a bit, and the next thing I know he's hired me. I played on 'God Gave Rock N' Roll To You' for the Bill and Ted's Bogus Journey soundtrack, as Eric Carr was ill. Then when he was too ill to do Revenge I got called in to play as a studio musician. Producer Bob Ezrin was a crazy guy but a genius. I remember we were recording a track playing along to a drum machine so he could monitor the time, and he would speed the drum machine up and slow it down in different sections to have the song move around and feel more natural." Badlands - Badlands (1989) Ray Gillen, the young singer who replaced Glenn Hughes in Black Sabbath for the initial Eternal Idol sessions only to quit the band along with Eric, formed this 'supergroup' with ex-Ozzy Osbourne guitarist Jake E. Lee. "I get a lot of drummers to this day that ask me about that band. The guys were great players and for me it was the chance to do our own music, write my own drum parts that didn't have a predetermined drum sound or direction. KISS have a sound and style. I have to make my drumming fit in to the sound. Same with Black Sabbath and Alice Cooper. But when you create your own music you're like a painter and you have a wide open canvas to create what you want, your own sound. I enjoyed that experience but it didn't work out on a business level. I used two Pearl MLX kits and the GLX to record and we recorded live, not to click tracks. We were inspired by Zeppelin, Sabbath, Deep Purple, Grand Funk Railroad, Humble Pie - it was about being organic, like a classic 70s rock band." Black Sabbath - The Eternal Idol (1987) From heaven to hell. What started in the Caribbean paradise of George Martin's AIR Studios descended into squabbling and ended three producers, two singers, two bassists and a mess of an album later. "A completely different record, not the same vibe at all. Things were very disjointed and you could see things unravelling. The recording was initially a lot of fun because we were in the Caribbean for six weeks, swimming in the ocean and we had a gourmet chef in the studio. I used an old Pearl GLX to record. It had Super Gripper lugs - you didn't have to unscrew the tension rods all the way to take the drum heads off. It was supposed to make it quicker, but a lot of people thought they were a pain in the ass. I thought they were some of the better drums Pearl made, really loud with a big, bombastic sound. I still have that kit. We got a really cool drum sound originally, but they ended up switching producers twice and I was long gone out of the project by the time it was mixed." Black Sabbath - Seventh Star (1986) As they say, "Right place, right time." Just a year into his first professional job touring with '80s metal princess Lita Ford, Singer was drafted in for sessions with her boyfriend at the time, one Tony Iommi. "It was the first actual record I did for anybody! It was going to be a Tony Iommi solo album with lots of different singers but ended up becoming Black Sabbath featuring Tony Iommi and had Glenn Hughes singing on the whole record. Most of those songs started with just us jamming riffs; there were no melodies or arrangements, per se, with a vocalist in mind. It does help when you know what the vocal phrasing is going to be because as a drummer you can accentuate and be more melodic and enhance the arrangements. We didn't have that luxury. For my first record it was a great experience working with Tony. I recorded with a Sonor Phonic red mahogany veneer kit in standard sizes, two 24" bass drums, and 13", 14" 16" and 18" toms. I bought that kit in 1979 and still have it to this day."
"You men out there, you have to talk and make sure your loved one goes today, not tomorrow, to see wonderful doctors who are there to save lives." - Gene Simmons On Wednesday, March 17, Rock star Gene Simmons and his girlfriend Shannon Tweed, stars of A&E's Family Jewels, appear on the Emmy-nominated daytime talk show THE DOCTORS, from Stage 29 Productions and CBS Television Distribution. The couple opens up about Shannon's recent breast cancer scare that began with one seemingly trivial symptom. Revealing shocking statistics about the disease, Simmons states that one out of eight women will get breast cancer, and makes an emotional plea urging men everywhere to make sure their loved ones get tested immediately upon showing any symptoms. For local listings, CLICK HERE.
This week's KISS auctions include: a 1996 makeup/blood-stained Gene Simmons microphone guard, a complete set of the 1978 KISS school notebooks, sheet music, never-before-seen pictures from the second show of the 1974 "Hotter Than Hell" tour, a 1970s signed photo from original guitarist Ace Frehley, several vintage KISS concert T-shirts and tons more. You can see the auctions at this location.
KISS guitarist Paul Stanley fluffed his thick, shaggy hair as bassist Gene Simmons fidgeted in the background, their eyes looped in black makeup, faces painted chalky white. As the seconds counted down to 4 p.m., Stanley leaned on the green button in front of him. "Clang, clang, clang!" went the bell as the clock struck the top of the hour. Flap, flap, flap went Simmons' famous tongue, stretching to the tip of his chin and back again. "Bang!" went the gavel, which Stanley brought down with a thud. The white-haired man next to him, Larry Young, head of Dr Pepper Snapple Group, smiled gamely and hoisted a Dr Pepper Cherry soda. It was closing time at the New York Stock Exchange, and if it weren't for the fact that a Scottish terrier named Sadie, the Aflac duck, Sports Illustrated swimsuit models and snowboard champ Shaun White would soon stand on the same platform, the KISS-meets-Dr-Pepper spectacle might have been more of -- well -- a spectacle. But abnormal has become normal on the ornate bell podium. The stage once reserved for corporate leaders has become one of the nation's highest profile red carpets, a result of the global melding of the corporate world with entertainment, sports, politics and social causes. Just as entertainers seek out a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame, stars of all ilk clamor to ring the opening or closing bells at the world's largest stock exchange, a task broadcast to more than 100 million people worldwide. "I'd say the hardest thing about managing the bell calendar is that we only have two a day to offer," said Marisa Ricciardi, the exchange's vice president for marketing and branding. The bell, opened to guest ringers since 1995, already is booked through June. For those who sound the chimes, it is "a reinforcement of their accomplishments," she said. "That emotional connection, I think, is what drives the demand." Exchange officials gather weekly to sort through dozens of requests, each department head lobbying on behalf of their applicants, often sent by publicists. Special events -- the anniversary of an exchange listing, a corporation's initial public stock offering -- get priority, a juggling act for planners trying to fit in high-powered schedules. "We turn down less than we say 'yes,'" said Ricciardi, declining to identify rejects. The general rule is not to offend anyone. But standards have loosened because a new generation of trading floor employees isn't so bothered by commercial antics. The decision-makers try to keep the calendar newsy. After snowboarder White won gold at the Vancouver Olympics, it was a no-brainer to grant his wish to ring the bell when he visited New York. A giant Hershey's Kiss rang just before Valentine's Day. When the United Nations General Assembly met in September, an array of world leaders took to the podium. "It's a thrill even for the most sophisticated people," said Howard Rubenstein, whose public relations firm, Rubenstein Associates Inc., has a client list that includes several bell-ringers. Rubenstein has ushered many of them to the podium, where a wooden gavel used after the closing bell lies next to a thick metal mound worn down from decades of pounding. "It's neat -- you feel like a judge," said Liz Ann Sonders, chief strategist for investment firm Charles Schwab, who has done the closing twice. On March 5, she opened. "There is no greater goose-bump event." There's no denying the giddiness that overtakes people as they gaze out at the traders below. "What else is on TV every single workday?" said Larry O'Donnell, who had two goals at his Feb. 5 opening ring: to represent Waste Management Inc., the Houston-based company of which he is president and chief operating officer; and to promote his star appearance on the premiere of "Undercover Boss," a reality TV show. The bell has been used for more than 100 years to mark the opening and closing of trade. It used to be performed by exchange employees who would "stand there rather stoically. They wouldn't smile," said Rich Adamonis, the exchange's chief spokesman. As the exchange sought to increase its visibility and give listed companies a means of celebrating milestones, officials hit upon the idea of inviting guests to sound 10 seconds of ear-splitting chimes. The increased mixing of corporate and entertainment industries heightened opportunities for bell events. Time Warner Inc. is listed on the stock exchange and owns Sports Illustrated magazine. Each year it trots out swimsuit models, albeit fully clothed, to advertise the February swimsuit issue. KISS appeared with Dr Pepper officials on Jan. 25 to celebrate the 125th anniversary of the soft drink, and to promote a Super Bowl commercial featuring the band singing the praises of Dr Pepper Cherry. The superstars have helped turn the ringings into top-flight entertainment, featuring, among others, Nelson Mandela, Snoop Dogg, Darth Vader, the Energizer Bunny and countless presidents, prime ministers and princes -- many of the guests with animals or mascots in tow. Lions, cats, dogs and even a bald eagle have appeared. On Feb. 18, the newly crowned winner of the Westminster Kennel Club's dog show, Sadie, used her left paw to ring the opening bell. Perhaps the most famous opening was on Sept. 17, 2001, the day the stock exchange reopened after the Sept. 11 attacks. After a moment of silence, New York rescue workers and city officials rang the chimes. Another such occasion occurred when a cancer-stricken boy received his dying wish: to ring the bell. The traders spontaneously tossed thousands of shreds of paper into the air and gave the boy an ovation. It was a poignant moment that showed the bell's evolution from a mere noise to an event and, for some, a dream come true. "Few bells," Adamonis said, "are just bells alone."
Premier Guitar: One thing I noticed working with you was the strength of your rhythm playing. How did you develop such a solid feel? Frehley: I was really inspired by Keith Richards, but even more so by Pete Townshend. I was such a huge fan when I was a kid, and I used to sit next to the record player and figure out every WHO song. What amazed me was the way Townshend did his multiple strums. Playing a lot of WHO music really helped develop my right hand, which helped with not only my rhythm technique but my leads, too. I remember also — though I haven't thought it about in years — I used to hang out with this crazy black dude when I was a kid. I was about 15 and he was 22 or so. We used to play in the veterans hospital on Kingsbridge Avenue in the Bronx. He loved the STONES, and I would go over there with him and a drummer, and he made me play the same song over and over for like half an hour! He'd dance and sing and go crazy to the point where my hand was falling off. We weren't getting paid. We were just trying to make these guys happy. Since I was the only guitar player, I couldn't play a lot of lead, so by the end of the set my hands hurt. But I have to thank him for that, because he pushed me and it just made me a stronger, better guitar player. Premier Guitar: You brought Anton Fig — who played drums on a lot of your early solo work — back for this album. Does playing with him help you play better? Frehley: I met Anton around the time I was putting songs together for my first solo album when I was with KISS. He had only been in the country for a few years, because he'd grown up in Cape Town, South Africa, and had been around that amazing beat his whole life. Eddie Kramer heard his demos and asked if he wanted to work with me. Ironically, I had another friend, Larry Russell, who also heard Anton play and came to me independently and said he had a great drummer for me. To me, that's karma, so I jumped at the chance to jam with him. We've been close friends ever since. The greatest things about Anton are his fills and the space he leaves. He doesn't try to fill up everything, and I really like the fact that he plays slightly behind the beat, à la John Bonham. A lot of drummers play on the beat, and when they get excited and the adrenaline is pumping they play ahead of the beat, which gives some songs a nervous feel. I like to have a relaxed feel, and Anton always holds the song back with a solid rhythm. Me and Anton have been playing so long together we almost have this telepathic communication, where I'll think something and he'll do it, or I'll just look at him and he'll know what I'm thinking. Things come together so quickly, and it's just a joy to work with him. Premier Guitar: You used some of the players in your live band on the record as well, didn't you? Frehley: Yes. When we first started tracking at Schoolhouse Studios, Anthony was a big part of putting this all together. I developed a lot of these songs with him. He's a real strong bass player and added a lot to these songs, as did Anton Fig. Then we moved up to Ace In The Hole Studios, and it was a whole different mix. Derek Hawkins, who plays guitar with me, helped a lot when we started tracking there. He helped me think through a lot of the parts, and he showed me the dropped-D tuning for "Outer Space". Derek also did the slide runs on that song, which sound great. He laid down the original bed track of that song and really helped with it. Scot Coogan, who also plays drums with me live, sang background on "Pain in the Neck". He really helped me with "Sister", which he also played drums on and sang on. Scotty is more of a live drummer, and he really bought that track up. Premier Guitar: How was it working with different engineers on various parts of the record? Frehley: The basic tracks were recorded at my live bassist Anthony Esposito's Schoolhouse Studios on 27th Street in New York. It's really live feeling in there, and Jay Messina did those tracks. Working with Jay is always great, because I've done so many projects with him, going back to "Destroyer" and so on. He always adds something with the way he mikes things, and his room miking technique with drums gives you more flexibility when you're mixing later on. So that was a great way to kick off the album. Then I moved everything up to my studio in New York, which is a different room sound, with different gear and so on. That's when I started working with you and Alex Salzman and Tim Hatfield. All of you guys added something special. When it came to tracking guitar solos, I thought working with you was probably the most exciting, because when I started playing great solos and getting great sounds it made you excited, which would make me more excited! It was a good marriage there, and you kept pushing me to do more takes. Those were probably some of my best solos. Marti Frederiksen also mixed the record and did some engineering, in addition to playing bass and singing backgrounds on "Fox On The Run". He really helped the guitar parts breathe better. But everybody did a great job. I learned so much by watching you guys on Pro Tools. It's the best education I could have gotten. It's not only a good feeling to be more knowledgeable now, but it also helps me because now when I go into a studio with an engineer I've never worked with before, I know whether they're doing it right or not! When I think about editing, say back with Eddie Kramer and Bob Ezrin, it was all on two-inch tape. We'd have to slice the tape and put it back together to see if it worked. If it wasn't cut exactly where we wanted, we'd end up with little slices of tape all over the machine. It was such a nightmare. Now, it's amazing. I really appreciate how great it is to edit with programs like Pro Tools. Read the entire interview from Premier Guitar.
Get ready for KISS to conquer Europe again with a fan party featuring five of the best Italian KISS Tribute bands live at the Lucille Music Hall in Verona, Italy!! Live 4 Win (Paul Stanley Tribute), Psycho Circus, Reason to KISS, KissKonfusion and JulietKISS are set to perform. KISS Memorabilia will be on display, and KISS merchandise will be available for purchase. A raffle will be organized with prizes that will blow your mind, including a Washburn Paul Stanley Cracked Mirror guitar and an original Rock And Roll Over Print Proof signed and kindly offered by the artist, Michael Doret, KISSonline will be attending the fan party. We are looking forward to visiting with KISS Army Europe! Free entrance for all! and 1 free gadget for masked freaks!!! Saturday, April 17 - Doors open at 8 PM Live Show at 10 PM Lucille Music Hall "I'm the voice of Guitar Hero 6," the KISS bassist said bluntly on the British show Game On currently viewable below and on YouTube. The quote was excised from a larger interview and played--and replayed--for comic effect during the 12-and-a-half-minute show, which made much of the fact that the game hadn't been announced yet. That isn't entirely true, though, since Activision used its most recent earnings call to confirm that two music games would be released in the back half of the year. One of those has been named as DJ Hero 2 multiple times, and the other was an unnamed Guitar Hero game. Coming after Guitar Hero 5, that game is likely being referred to as "Guitar Hero 6" internally at Activision, though the title has not been formally announced. However, as of press time, the publisher had not responded to requests for clarification or comment. In archetypal self-promotional style, Simmons also used his interview to say the best way for a Guitar Hero player to become a real musician was to buy the Gene Simmons Axe controller. Then turning serious he advised them to practice and "play with somebody who knows how to play, watch what they do, [and] copy." (Video).
KISSonline will hold a KISS Army members-only ticket pre-sale for both events. Stay tuned to KOL for more details soon. July 23 Cheyenne, Wyoming 2010 Frontier Days Musically, too, they seem alien: no new band makes this kind of bludgeoning, basic heavy rock with any expectation of replicating the success Kiss have had over nearly 40 years; no modern band would sing lyrics like Stanley and Simmons's - "You pulled the trigger on my love gun!" - without an eyebrow raised to signify the joke. Nevertheless, it's an overwhelming, almost physical sensation to see the giant Kiss logo in flashing lights, and to hear songs that are part of the fabric of American rock - the likes of Calling Dr Love and Rock and Roll All Nite - in these confines. Every word to every song is bellowed back at the stage, and Simmons and Stanley fill the venue with their charisma, projecting to a back row that's a good couple of hundred yards behind where the last member of the audience is actually standing. After little more than an hour, Kiss finish with their best song, Detroit Rock City, 500 people throwing their hands into devil's horns. And then they are gone, leaving the crowd to wonder if they've imagined the whole extraordinary evening. Five out of five stars. At Dublin Arena (0818 719 300), 7 May. Then touring.
This is all rather surreal. In two months' time, KISS will play to 20,000 people in London as part of an eight day UK arena tour. Tonight, their audience numbers just 800. Officially, according to Gene Simmons, the smallest KISS gig in decades is being played on "an impulse," -- the band are in London for promo duties following an appearance alongside world heavyweight boxing champion Wladimir Klitschko and actress Sophia Loren on Europe's biggest TV show, Wetten Dass..? in Germany -- but in truth, it's difficult to imagine a band who've mapped out their career with a forensic eye for detail doing anything spontaneously. A more cynical soul might note that the buzz generated by flying rock hacks from all over Europe into London for this one-off date won't harm ticket sales for those arena shows at all. Whatever, given that a half-decent KISS tribute band could sell out the Islington Academy, seeing the genuine article up-close-and-personal is a true 'pinch me' moment: cynicism is for another day. What tonight proves beyond doubt is that, deprived of the pyros and bells and whistles that constitute their traditional show, KISS can stand on their stack-heeled feet as a great rock n' roll band. This is still very much a show, with all the retina-scorching lights and tongue-waggling that entails. "KISS' legacy is kicking the live rock concert in the nuts," says Gene Simmons after the gig. "If people are paying almost a week's wage for a live event, you bet we're gonna give them something to look at." The stripped-down presentation, however, demands focus on the songs, and tonight's set list is a fan's wet dream. Cold Gin, Black Diamond, and Love Gun are songs which have kick-started 10,000 rock n' roll dreams -- this, remember, is the band who inspired everyone from Trent Reznor and Kurt Cobain to Dimebag Darrell and Scott Ian to pick up a guitar -- and the shrieks of excitement from the audience as each classic riff is unfurled are priceless. It's fantastically dumb, of course -- "We can change the world," squeaks Paul Stanley before Rock and Roll All Nite brings their initial set to a close -- "but we're not gonna do it tonight!" -- but it could hardly be more fun. There is but one misfire: the CO2 cannons blasting out confetti during the song leave the quartet literally gasping for air and in serious danger of passing out, meaning that their encore is restricted to just a delirious Detroit Rock City. But, by then, their triumph has already been signed and sealed with a KISS. A truly unforgettable night. Can we have AC/DC at The Barfly next, please?
Simmons Records/Universal Music Canada is a deal between Gene Simmons, the singer-bassist with rock veterans KISS, Canadian business woman Belinda Stronach and Universal, the country’s biggest music company. “We are proud to announce our first signing: The Envy,” said Simmons in a statement. “You will be hearing a lot about them soon. We have embarked upon fulfilling our mandate to discover new and exciting Canadian talent and to take them around the world. Count on it!” The deal is actually a joint venture with Remedy Music, a division of Crystal Math Management who represent Metric and The Midway State. “Working with Gene has been amazing!” commented Shaun Frank, The Envy’s lead singer, in a statement. “We’ve been in touch almost every day for months now, working on the music and planning the release. We’ve all really clicked on a creative level and are excited to show the world what we’ve been up to.” The Envy, who formed in early 2009, are currently recording with Juno award-winning producer Gavin Brown (Billy Talent, Metric, Three Days Grace) as well as the legendary songwriter/producer Desmond Child (Katy Perry, Aerosmith, Bon Jovi, Tokio Hotel) for their Simmons/UMC debut release. Last year, the band toured across the country with such contemporaries as Marianas Trench, The Midway State and Stereos. Canadian Music Week is currently underway in Toronto from March 10-14.
The CD will include STRYPER's renditions of the following classics: * JUDAS PRIEST - "Breaking The Law" The San Manuel table has been signed by KISS members Gene Simmons and Paul Stanley, as well as Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger, Ray Romano, Magic Johnson, Mary Hart, Huell Hauser and Mayor Villaraigosa. 100% of the proceeds will go to City of Hope, a research, treatment and educational institution dedicated to the prevention and cure of cancer and other life-threatening diseases. The auction runs until March 15, and can be accessed via Ebay.
"We're honored to be involved in carrying on the KISS legacy," comments Frank Saperstein, Senior VP of Kids and Animation for E1. "It's wonderful to collaborate with the creative forces behind one of the greatest rock bands of all time and unquestionably one of the most recognized worldwide." E1 has snagged the KISS brand as it eclipses its roots, building energy in new family and youth media outlets. KISS's role as the face of Dr. Pepper, their significant presence during Super Bowl XLIV, and their appearance on the 2009 "American Idol" finale, which reached over thirty million viewers, has made the make-up and leather-clad giants a household name for kids and families today. The KISS tradition continues to grow generation after generation transcending age, race and creed. "KISS continues to be the juggernaut of licensing and merchandising, from KISS M&M's to KISS Dr Pepper," remarks KISS co-founder Gene Simmons, "KISS is a band, but also the only music BRAND. Continuing in our 35-year history of going where no band has gone before, we are proud to partner with E1. Like all things KISS, we intend to make this a very special show for our fans." "We couldn't be more excited. Coupling E1's successes and ingenuity with the global force of KISS guarantees an express pass into the homes of our youngest KISS Army members with a show of superior quality," adds KISS co-founder Paul Stanley. The as-yet-untitled series will be produced and distributed worldwide by E1. Executive Producers are John Morayniss and Frank Saperstein for E1 Entertainment; Gene Simmons and Paul Stanley of KISS. E1 and KISS will handle all licensing and merchandise for the series.
Hosted by CNN anchor Max Foster, "Connector of the Day" is an interactive segment of the program which encourages viewers to submit questions online, which are then asked by Max on air. Watch the "Connector of the Day" segment featuring KISS here.
There was no blood, fire, explosives or hydraulic lifts to divert your attention, just 100% rock n' roll with a healthy dash of outlandish make-up, of course. Kicking off with Modern Day Delilah, the stack-booted and silver-suited quartet dipped into their vast back catalogue to drill out high tempo oldies Calling Dr. Love and 100,000 Years like guys half their age. Hardly drawing breath, they provoked metal carnage during Black Diamond. And they turned up the heat even more for a celebratory Rock & Roll All Nite and Detroit Rock City. As Gene Simmons once said: "Rock is about grabbing people's attention" -- and KISS allowed their music to do just that.
As the metal monster band's frontman and bassist for 35 years, Simmons is the 60-year-old head of a multi-million dollar empire run with his surviving Kiss partner, guitarist Paul Stanley. It has included comic books, TV series, condoms, board games, guitars, credit cards and 100 million album sales. A brand new album, Sonic Boom - Kiss's 19th studio outing and their first in 11 years - came out last October and Gene is in town for a secret gig as a prelude to a full UK tour in May. The baseball cap and black leather jacket-clad Simmons was born Chaim Witz in Haifa, Israel in 1949. He was then raised in extreme poverty by his concentration camp surviving Hungarian-Jewish mother in New York. These days, Gene is clearly his own biggest fan. "I'm Gene Simmons," he says rather unnecessarily, offering a handshake, adding without irony, "It's great for you to meet me." He removes his chewing gum and sticks it to the mahogany table beside his dark glasses. "That's eBay right there," he tells me. Surprisingly, it is not Kiss gum. "We stay away from food products," Simmons retorts. "One person chokes and sues you, then you go out of business." And going out of business isn't in the plans Gene keeps in the handwritten black filofax. "Know where you are and what you are doing," he advises. "I've got books like this at home going back years," he adds, showing me the latest business plans for a film production tie-in. But surely by now he has enough money? "You always want more," Gene smiles. "It gives you the freedom to go anywhere and do anything, right down to paying for your mother's hip operation, if she should need it. More is a good word." But despite his success, Simmons has never forgotten his heritage and named his daughter Sophie after Meryl Streep's character in the holocaust survivor movie Sophie's Choice. "I wept uncontrollably when I saw it," he says. "It's my mother's story, although she never talks about it. I know she used to cut the Commandant's hair for food scraps - she was only 14." Simmons reached a more mainstream audience when he hosted the C4 reality TV show Rock School. On another TV series, Gene Simmons Family Jewels, he invited the world into his unconventional Beverly Hills homelife where he's been "happily unwed" to former Playboy Playmate Shannon Tweed for 25 years. They have two children, Nicholas (21) and Sophie (17). In the past he's lived with both Cher and Diana Ross, and has slept with an estimated 4,700 - and counting - women. "Well I didn't actually sleep with them," Simmons explains. "Sleeping doesn't really get you anywhere. All men have an open relationship - I'm just honest about it." Kiss became successful soon after forming in 1973 but, with their make-up and costumes, were derided both by critics and their peers. "We certainly were," Gene agrees. "We had the attitude that we were in a gladiatorial arena and we made sure we won. We'd politely shake hands with anyone we played with, and then show them a spot in the back yard where they would be buried." The Kiss man may have had plenty of sex and rock 'n' roll, but he's very anti drugs. "Anyone who goes onstage on drugs and expects people to pay full ticket price is, frankly, an abomination," he says. And that's clearly Simmons' recipe for a long life at the top - be a businessman first and foremost rather than your typical rock hedonist.
The rocker admits the drama, which tells the story of a Polish immigrant, affected him greatly - because his mother, Flora, was herself an immigrant to the U.S. And Streep's emotive portrayal in the movie inspired him to name his now 17-year-old daughter Sophie. He says, "I wept uncontrollably when I saw it. It's my mother's story, although she never talks about it. I know she used to cut the Commandant's hair for food scraps - she was only 14."
Simmons, in England after playing an intimate show at the Islington Academy in London this week, revealed a love for British music, but also declared that Noel and Liam Gallagher are its only “interesting people.” “God bless the UK for giving the world the music that makes all our lives better,” he told radio station Xfm. “A thousand years from now they’re going to look back on the 20th century and what have the countries of the world given us? The United States gave the world atomic weapons. England gave the world music. “What a great legend.” Simmons went on to single out Keane, Arctic Monkeys and Franz Ferdinand as particular favourites of his, but complained that “What’s missing is stars”. “I don’t care what they do, who they’re shagging, where they live… they’re not interesting people. “The most interesting people to me are the Gallagher brothers,” he continued. “The interesting thing about them is they’re drug addicts and alcoholics and they fight with each other. That’s really it.” Kiss will begin their European tour at Sheffield Arena on May 1.
KISS were a huge influence in shaping Design For Music. We wanted to create album covers and design for bands ever since we first saw a KISS album cover, and we've always loved their iconic logo and branding. And the strength of that classic double lightning bolt logo that's appeared on thousands of KISS branded products from pinball machines to lunchboxes is no accident?it was designed by original lead guitarist Ace Frehley, himself a graphic designer before joining KISS full-time. The KISS logo has withstood the test of time incredibly well, despite being worked harder than any other logo in the music industry. It features all the hallmarks of a classic rock band logo: Has clear legibility at any size, from a scaled-down version on the spine of a record or CD cover, to an immense backdrop constructed from 1000 gigawatt lightbulbs. Is easy for fans to replicate on schoolbooks, leather jackets, and tattoos. Is timeless and unique thanks to its own custom typeface, drawn by original lead guitarist Ace Frehley. Looks completely and utterly badass. Lightning bolts! As KISS bassist Gene Simmons himself has stated "KISS isn't a rock & roll band, it's a rock & roll brand." Ain't that the truth. From the get-go, KISS has been about branding, product design and marketing, with fans paying incredible amounts of money for the latest items in a long line of KISS branded merchandise that reaches back to the mid-1970s. The ?40 tickets (about $60 USD) for last night's show were going for an extraordinary?wait for it??500 (that's a wallet emptying $750 USD) hours before the show. Recession? What recession? We were surprised and delighted that KISS chose to cram a scaled down version of their arena stage into an 800 capacity club for this event. The band were never going to turn up and play in jeans and T-shirts, of course, but we weren't prepared for the sheer spectacle of KISS transforming a nightclub into a 20,000 seater arena. According to the organisers, only 500 of us could be squeezed into the venue due to the size of the stage that KISS installed, and as you can see from our photos, that iconic logo was very much in force and blazed at full, blinding intensity, throughout the show. Witnessing the usually arena-straddling KISS in this uniquely intimate setting was like gawping at Godzilla caged up in a zoo, and we couldn't help but be floored by the sheer level of professionalism, excitement and flat out rock & roll intensity that KISS delivered last night. See you at Wembley Arena...
This clip is being released to promote a continuing series of KISS auctions from eBay seller EliteWorks. Several highly sought-after KISS collectibles are featured this week: a handwritten setlist from the band's legendary New Year's Eve 1973 concert at the Academy Of Music, an unused ticket and ad from KISS's final 1983 South American concert, the KISS solo sampler promo LP, the Weenie Roast reunion tourbook, as well as the 1977 Thermos backpack and dozens of additional vintage 1970s KISS items! The auctions can be viewed at this location.
At Sunday’s (2/28) grand finale at the Key Club on Los Angeles’ Sunset Strip, a packed house partied with rock stars--and like rock stars--as each of the competing bands performed new music they wrote during the week as well as some rock classics. Hosted by ROCK ‘N’ ROLL FANTASY CAMP founder David Fishof, the evening also saw the auctioning of signed electric guitars for Haiti relief funds. The next ROCK ‘N’ ROLL FANTASY CAMP will be held at the acclaimed Abbey Road studios in London, England over Memorial Day weekend (May 25-31) and will include Nick Mason (Pink Floyd), Jack Bruce (Cream), Spike Edney (Queen), Mick Ralphs (Bad Company) and Joey Molland (Badfinger) as well as returning counselors Mark Hudson and Kip Winger. ROCK ‘N’ ROLL FANTASY CAMP does exactly what it says! Regardless of experience, campers are provided with a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to rehearse and record at the legendary Abbey Road Studios, with some of rock’s most iconic stars by their side. The week culminates in the opportunity to perform live on stage at the world’s most famous rock club, THE CAVERN in Liverpool, where the Beatles first made their name. The camp is so much more than a ‘meet & greet’ opportunity, it truly provides a full-on rock experience--with 10+ hours of daily jamming with the rock star counselors, meals with celebrity musicians, a CD of the campers’ music recorded at Abbey Road Studios and a DVD of their live performance at The Cavern. While no experience is necessary, to ensure that all campers get the most out of their week, Rock ‘N’ Roll Fantasy Camp is introducing a “Masters Program” for more accomplished participants. By submitting tapes/videos ahead of the camp, they can be assured they will be grouped with other musicians of their caliber. The best recommendation comes from participants and counselors alike who return to camp after camp. For more details on the camp, go to http://www.rockcamp.com.
Kiss first came to my attention when I heard Kiss Alive, the classic double album recorded at Detroit's legendry Cobo Hall in 1975. I remember being blown away by the rawness of the production, and by the whole look and concept of Kiss. I just had to see them LIVE. As luck had it they were due to play two nights at the Hammy Odeon (as it was affectionately known back then) but could I get a ticket? No chance. Both gigs sold out in two hours flat! I turned up on the night without a ticket and casually asked a tout what price he was charging. "25 pounds for the circle, or 50 pounds for the stalls." This was way out of my price range. So I decided to play a patient waiting game. I knew that once Kiss were on stage, the touts would get desperate. Kiss were loud, even from outside the venue, I could clearly hear Deuce, Strutter and Flaming Youth from the just-released Destroyer album. A tout approached. "How much have you got mate?" "A fiver," I replied. "Oh, go on then'." And I was in. A stalls ticket near the front, what a bargain. As I made my way through the foyer, a rather embarrassed lady offered me a promotional Kiss mask. "Oh, go on please take one, I've got a bus to catch, and I?ve still got two boxes to get rid of!" As I made my way down to the front, Kiss were launching into Hotter Than Hell, complete with flame bolts and Gene Simmons' funny leg routine. And, yes, the great man spat out fireballs. Paul Stanley, meanwhile, donned a fireman's helmet, complete with flashing light, during Firehouse. Sadly a lot of the special effects and pyro Kiss had planned were booted into touch by the then GLC (Greater London Council); they were deemed too dangerous. So most of the special effects came courtesy of Gene Simmons. The houselights dimmed and all one could see was his eerie face, and a hideous thumping bass. God, he looked evil. He slowly opened his mouth and out came this oozing red blood that took an eternity to hit the ground, a feat only recently repeated by Tom Williams, the Harlequins wing, in the infamous Blood Capsule rugby scandal! Kiss were very entertaining, Ace Frehley was all over the place, and certainly lived up to his name of Space Cowboy. Peter Criss's drum kit slowly rose to the heavens, and Paul Stanley's raps were, let's just say a tad predictable. Stuff like: "Come on London, shout it out loud!" But there was no denying Kiss's singalong appeal, especially during the likes of Black Diamond and the anthemic Rock And Roll All Nite. A great show, despite the GLC! NOW: Venue: Islington O2 Academy, London - Date: March 2, 2010 So jump forward in time some 30-odd years and here I am seeing Kiss for the first time since Hammy Odeon in 1976. Kiss in a small venue, now this I gotta see. But just like Hammersmith all those years ago I had trouble getting in. This time, though, it wasn't the touts' fault, it was the bloody guest list! Simply, my name wasn't on it. Frantic text messages went unanswered, as once again I could clearly hear Kiss on stage in the background. Modern Day Delilah from Sonic Boom was thumping its way down to the box office. Cold Gin and Let Me Go Rock 'N' Roll came and went before the band's press officer, Paul Elliott, finally emerged having read my 20 texts pleading to get me in. It was like Groundhog Day. It seems that if I'm prepared to miss the first three numbers of a Kiss set, I will eventually get in, and so it proved. With a much-needed beer I headed toward the middle of the Kiss Army and they were lapping up every chord that Kiss could throw at them. Say Yeah, another stomping newie, got the thumbs up. This was my first look at Kiss without Criss and Frehley. Although with the make-up on it could be anybody up there on stage. But Eric Singer (drums) and Tommy Thayer (guitar) seemed to slot right in to the Kiss groove. Although I'm not so sure about Thayer's barnet - the 'matted' look was, erm, odd! It was refreshing to see Simmons and Stanley looking virtually the same as they did all those years ago at the Odeon. They clearly both still love playing live, and genuinely seemed to be having a ball. So were the lucky 800 Kiss fanatics who sang along to every tune. Gene Simmons snarled his autobigraphical Calling Dr. Love before the band went into overdrive on 100,000 Years, pre-historic Kiss complete with nifty guitar solos. Other highlights included Love Gun, Black Diamond (still as fresh today as it was at the Odeon in 1976) and the inevitable Rock And Roll All Nite complete with the one special effect of the night - a confetti shower! Encore? of course, it could only be Detroit Rock City - an absolute barnstormer. Although the set was relatively short it was great to see Kiss close up in a venue this size. Something had to give, and in this case it was the stage show. But Kiss have such a good back catalogue of music, so are the effects really necessary? If you wanna see the full show then Kiss are coming back in May for the Sonic Boom tour. Overall, I think the Hammersmith show had the edge mainly because Kiss were younger and hungrier back then, and it was the original line-up. But what I liked about the Islington show was the warmth and genuine love that Paul Stanley and Gene Simmons still put in into this monster that is called Kiss. After 35 years of solid touring, Kiss are still very much ALIVE.
BigMusicGeek.com: How much did you ultimately contribute to the recording sessions for "Animalize"? Rumors are persistent.. Bruce: "I did a little ghosting, which is probably what you'll read if you do a little looking into it. (Former KISS guitarist) Mark St. John was already having problems and two of the songs weren't finished, so Paul [Stanley] asked me to do it. He said something like 'Don't cut your hair.' Two months later, I realized why he said that when they asked me to go to Europe with them. It was something that I thought would be very interesting because I thought I would be in the band for two or three months, something that would look good on my resume. I didn't think it would turn into twelve years. I just kinda slipped into there. There was not big announcement or anything. I was kinda frustrated by that, but I understood it at the time. It was pretty embarrassing for them to go around touting a new guitarist that could make an album and a video appearance, but can't tour." BigMusicGeek.com: In hindsight, how do you feel regarding "Asylum"? Do you consider it one of the group's weakest releases? Bruce: "I think it's a good record. I never really felt like it was a weak record. I think, for me, the biggest criticism was that the artwork was a little to 'artsy-fartsy,' but it was something that Paul really liked. I tend to prefer the more typical KISS colors. But at the time, that was the vibe. I think there's some really cool stuff on there and I stand by all the stuff that I did. If there's one record during my KISS tenure that irked me, it's (1989's) 'Hot In The Shade'. I thought maybe it had too many songs and there wasn't any real chief on it. But there was still some real great stuff on it between 'Forever' and 'Hide Your Heart'." BigMusicGeek.com: When Ace [Frehley] permanently left the group in 2002, were you given seriously consideration as a replacement? Bruce: "I would hear that my name would come up, but I know that Ace put them in such an awkward position sometimes that (current KISS/ex-BLACK 'N BLUE lead guitarist) Tommy (Thayer) would have to suit up. And that happened more than a few times. It even happened where he had to go out and play. I believe it was for a private party that they were booked for. I think at that point, they were like, 'We can't carry on like this.' I think they knew that approaching me without any guarantee when I already had the gig in GRAND FUNK… I think it was just so easy for Tommy to do it since he was already there and used to play Ace in a tribute band. I can easily go on record saying that I miss playing in KISS. There's absolutely no doubt. But I also established my own identity during those twelve years, so for me to become Ace or something, which is the role Tommy is more or less in, is something I would be less comfortable with. I think it was much more natural for Eric [Singer] to do that with only five years in the band without the make-up and only a few albums ('Revenge' and 'MTV Unplugged') under his belt. I kinda represent the 'Crazy Nights' era." BigMusicGeek.com: When (late KISS drummer) Eric Carr passed away in 1991, was there any doubt the group could continue? Bruce: "Eric had some great contributions to the band, but we were in the middle of starting 'Revenge' with (acclaimed producer) Bob Ezrin (ALICE COOPER, PINK FLOYD) and I knew that the machine would keep going. It was sad, of course, but we were too committed. Unlike a LED ZEPPELIN who just falls apart when a drummer dies, Gene [Simmons] and Paul are just going to keep moving forward. I don't think it was the wrong decision. Fortunately, 'Revenge' had a nice tribute to him with the song 'Carr Jam 1981'. I was the one to play first after we buried our friend. It was crazy, but work is a good healer. It affected all of us in our own way very intensely, but the truth of it is that you want to remember someone fondly, so I found it very exciting to play on a track that I didn't even know existed until he passed away. So I just looked at it that way. I know Ace put his name on his new record (2009's 'Anomaly'), which was cool. He and Eric were very close, actually." BigMusicGeek.com: How would you describe your relationships with the various members of KISS? Good, bad or otherwise? Bruce: "It's great. Not only am I considered part of the family, I'm really tight with Eric [Singer]. Gene, Paul and I speak fairly often, especially Gene as I've worked with him recently. Paul and I did a fantasy camp where he was a special guest and that just blew everyone away. In fact, I was just backstage at a KISS concert last week. Carte blanche, go wherever you want to go, ya know? I was just hangin' out in the hospitality room, practically watchin' them put the make-up on. It's always been really cool. It was kinda funny when I was walking out of the arena because some of the fans were stopping and going 'Hey! There goes Bruce.' (laughs)" Read the entire interview at BigMusicGeek.com.
On last Sunday night's episode of ABC's Extreme Makeover: Home Edition, rock icons KISS (www.KISSonline.com) showed their good will to a family in need while at the same time helping Extreme Makeover: Home Edition viewership grow by 2 million viewers from the previous week's telecast. Ratings blossomed 32% in adults 18-49; the networks best young adult performance in that hour in six weeks. Also for the episode, Marvel Entertainment designed a Super Hero themed boy's room and created a custom comic book cover for the boy. When the hit show told legendary rockers KISS about a family of KISS fans in Gainesville, Florida, who started a home-based, non-profit music school while their own home was falling down around them, the band heeded the call during their recent North American KISS/Alive 35 tour. Tobin and Jill Wagstaff, a couple with four children, operate Studio Percussion, Inc., a school that currently serves about 200 people, half of which receive financial aid or a full scholarship. The non-profit school can only afford to pay Tobin, 29, a salary, so Jill, 32, must also work as a pre-school teacher to pay the bills. The couple's devotion to their family, school and community leaves little time and resources to tend to their home that was in dire need of repair. The floors and rooftops were completely rotting and the home's electrical system was faulty which posed more than one hazard. In just seven days, Extreme Makeover: Home Edition team leader Ty Pennington, the design team and the Gainesville community successfully rebuilt the Wagstaff's home while the show sent the family on a surprise rock and roll vacation. The Wagstaff's flew to Tulsa, Oklahoma, to meet KISS whom had just played in Tulsa in support of Sonic Boom, their first album in 11 years. During a touching episode, KISS and The Wagstaff Family, on behalf of Gibson and Mr. Holland's Opus Foundation, a non-profit music group, met at Wilson Middle School in Tulsa to present musical instruments valued at over $50,000 from Gibson to the school as well as their own school back home in Florida. The Emmy award-winning reality program Extreme Makeover: Home Edition, now in its 7th season, is produced by Endemol USA, a division of Endemol Holding. It's executive-produced by Anthony Dominici. David Goldberg is Chairman, Endemol North America. The show airs Sundays from 8:00-9:00 p.m., ET on ABC.
Paul reveals, "Once the confetti cannons went off, we barely made it off stage. None of us could breathe or catch our breath. Each of us thought we were the only one until we saw each other. Pretty scary and there was no way we could continue. We came out for the encores but couldn't get past one. Still, all in all, an amazing night that left many breathless!"
Catching Paul and Gene in a club venue four decades after the band first set out to recruit the Kiss Army is a surreal experience. Everything about the band for the past 30 years has been big. Big arenas, big anthems, big heels and big money. But here they were, back to their rock and roll roots and, quite emphatically, back to their best. Paul Stanley's fixation with the Appleton sisters (yes, of All Saints fame) proved there's life in the old dog yet, and the Love Doctor was aimed almost entirely at his newest fans. They lapped it up. And the most obvious blonde bombshells in a venue bursting with beautiful people, frenzied fans and The Mighty Boosh (!) weren't alone. This was a spectacular show from a rock beast you would imagine had nothing left to prove. On this evidence they clearly do. Opening up with Sonic Boom's Modern Day Delilah might have been seen as a gamble by some, but the majority of those present knew every word. Throwing in Say Yeah for good measure, Kiss were keen to showcase their best album for 20-plus years, and why not? It's a quality record from a classy band. Of course it does beg the question, why wait so long to roll out an album of original material? Maybe it's all about keeping the fans keen, and those inside Islington's Academy were certainly that. A stunning rendition of Black Diamond was a real treat and before that, Cold Gin sounded cracking - even after all of these years. The decision to drown the audience in a fog of dry ice and a storm of shredded paper during a bristling rendition of Rock And Roll All Nite could have backfired - at times it was hard to breathe and impossible to see the band. But as an overall visual effect it was typically outrageous - betraying a band which has become used to the arena stage and the big production statements. Encoring with Detroit Rock City was a delicious way to conclude an extremely tasty set, and as far as whetting the appetite for this summer's concerts it did the trick. Haven't got your tickets yet? You'd be a fool to delay it any longer. Setlist: Modern Day Delilah; Cold Gin; Let Me Go, Rock N Roll; Say Yeah; Doctor Love; Got To Choose; 100,000 Years; Love Gun; Rough Diamond; Rock And Roll All Nite. Encore: Detroit Rock City.
The band's setlist was as follows: They are called The Demon, The Starchild, The Spaceman and The Cat. They are known under the band name KISS. And their stage show is as addicting as crack ... Just like Vladimir Klitschko (33.) KISS gave him an order: Rock "Fast Eddie" out! The boxing world champion met the hard rockers at "Wetten, dass ..?" in Erfurt. Guitarist Paul Stanley and bass player Gene Simmons (with the long tongue) identified themselves as Klitschko fans since the last time the double Champs visited the United States. Stanley handed Klitschko his battered Washburn guitar, stating: "Do the same with Eddie Chambers!" "Fast" Eddie Chambers won the World Cup in Hamburg, fighting with a win over Universum fighter Carl Froch. Now, the AMI calls Klitschko on March 20 in the Dusseldorf Arena(live, RTL.)
It was 1974 at Cadillac High School in Central Michigan, and you could hear a pin drop in the way-too-tight locker room before football games. That's when an enterprising assistant coach named Jim Neff had an idea -- why not rev up the defense by playing a little pregame rock 'n' roll? Like, for example, KISS? When the bold plan led to a big winning streak and a conference title, Neff and the band he loved hatched a daring plan to bring KISS to Cadillac's 1975 Homecoming. Chris Connelly looks back at two outrageous days in the history of high school football. Click here to visit ESPN MediaZone... towards the bottom of the page is a clip from the KISS Cadillac piece.
Billboard's annual Money Makers list - Top 10: 01. U2 - $108,601,283 Billboard writes: "Although the overwhelming majority of AC/DC's 2009 earnings came from touring international arenas and stadiums (it pulled in $41.4 million from concerts and ranked No. 4 on Billboard's 2009 tally of the top 25 highest-grossing tours), the Australian rockers also experienced consistent album sales from their catalog. Indeed, the group's highest-selling album was its 2008 Walmart-exclusive 'Black Ice', which shifted 227,000 copies. But coming in at a close second was the classic 'Back In Black', with 215,000 copies. In total, the group sold 1.1 million albums in 2009." #10 - METALLICA: $25,564,234 Billboard writes: "METALLICA had at least two things to celebrate in 2009: its induction into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and the release of 'Guitar Hero: Metallica'. Along with touring revenue — the band pulled in $22.8 million from 55 arena shows reported to Boxscore that drew more than 968,000 fans — METALLICA sold 694,000 albums in 2009. The majority of those sales came from its Rick Rubin-produced 2008 release, 'Death Magnetic' (297,000). Album sales revenue totaled $1.6 million. And most of METALLICA's track download earnings came from its 1991 hit 'Enter Sandman', which sold 450,000." #34 - KISS: $11,833,930 Billboard writes: "KISS spent 2009 on the road promoting its highest-charting album, the Walmart-exclusive 'Sonic Boom', which debuted at No. 2 on The Billboard 200 and sold 238,000 copies. The new set helped KISS earn $10.6 million in touring revenue and $879,000 in album sales." Check out the entire list at this location.
KISS had "a compartment reserved directly behind the driver," concert organizer Ossy Hoppe stated at a press conference in Frankfurt. He added that the American musical legends are very straightforward, stating, "There were no special requests." The choice of transport was due to logistical reasons: "On Friday afternoon, we'd need four hours on highway; by train, we'd be there in a good two hours." Kiss guitarist and vocalist Paul Stanley said, "Sometimes we see a little of the landscape this way." When initially approached on the train, he joked: "We've already purchased the train!" Kiss will be on German television Saturday for the first time in ten years in the German TV. "We are pleased to be here," said singer Gene Simmons (60). In May and June, KISS will return for concerts in Germany: Leipzig (21.5.), Berlin (26.5.), Hamburg (31.5.) Oberhausen (1.6.) Festivals Rock am Ring and Rock im Park (3 to 5.6 .)
Loaded Joins KISS Loaded is sitting comfortably backstage at the American Airlines EnormoDome in downtown Dallas, with more slop on our face than Amy Winehouse preparing for a night on the pop. We look bloody stupid. But we don't care, because tonight we've been invited on tour with legendary US rockers, KISS -- the fire-breathing, firework-exploding, leather-clad, heavy metal four piece with more hits than Holly Sampson's homepage, post-Tiger Woods. Heavy Metal Firegods The reason for our arrival on the band's stadium-packed Texan party tonight is to revel in their longevity as metal's craziest animals. Formed in New York City in the early 70s, KISS are an unbelievable 35 years old. Their career has straddled hard rock, metal and disco, and they've flogged over 100 million records -- including hit singles "Crazy, Crazy Nights," "I Was Made for Lovin' You." Even their song "Love Gun" went on to provide the name for another inspirational British group, the Sex Pistols. This heavyweight chart success is only half the story, however. For over three decades, KISS have been metal's premier live band with a stage show that comprises pyrotechnics, blood bags and ludicrous, high-wire acrobatics -- it's estimated their tour overheads come in at a whopping $1m dollars a week. The crashes, bangs and wallops have also been offset with some pretty crackpot costumes: onstage the band sport Farrah Fawcett haircuts, face paint, medieval armor and foot-high platform boots. In his leather chaps, bat wings and studded gloves, bassist Gene Simmons -- one of the most legendary names in rock and roll ever. "We're superheroes with guitars and drums," says lead singer, Paul Stanley. "I don't want to see someone onstage who looks like my neighbour, and I really don't want to pay $50 to watch somebody play an acoustic guitar while sitting on a stool and a Chinese rug. I want to see explosions and bangs, as well as getting some great rock n' roll songs!" "When I was a kid I saw everybody from the Beatles to Led Zeppelin. We've always wanted to be a band that combined all of that." Tonight is special because Loaded is joining KISS to get a taste of their high life. Paul is applying makeup to our faces. A base layer of white foundation has been decorated with a black star over my right eye and some blood red lippy. This has been the image of Paul for much of his career. It's even got a name: the Starchild; but on my chops it's not as impressive. I look like a crap mime artist outside a French public toilet, but this look has helped the band pull thousands of women and make millions of dollars. Ready for Take-Off "It's important to get this stuff on for the show," says Stanley. "When I put the make-up on, I feel like a boxer getting ready for a fight; it puts me in the right state of mind." He's not kidding. Moments before showtime, Loaded have been invited to walk with the band from the dressing room to the stage. The idea: to witness the chaos of a globe-straddling band making their entrance in front of 15,000 metal crazies. Seeing that mass of humanity screaming is one real buzz, too. Led Zeppelin blasts through the speakers at jet plane volumes and KISS, standing at over 7ft. tall in heels, climb the stairs to the stage. Dallas goes crackers as the first firework explodes with a bang. This is rock n' roll as God intended. Fire and Glory If you want an idea of what a KISS show sounds like, imagine guitar riffs heavy enough to turn Stereophonics and a host of Britrockers green with envy; hear anthems designed for a foot-to-the-floor motorway drive; and imagine a heady mix of Led Zep, Lennon and McCartney, AC/DC, Slash and Donna Summer. If you want to know what a KISS show looks like, then look towards Cirque du Soleil, the Blue Man Group, or a US-led invasion on a rogue state in the Middle East. It's loud, crazy, and the best live show you'll see all year. For each anthem, and there are plenty -- "Lick it Up," "Rock and Roll all Nite," "Detroit Rock City," -- Dallas is shaken by Catherine wheels, 20ft. flames, and a guitar solo in which Paul Stanley is fired to the other end of the arena on a trapeze. Guitarist Tommy Thayer fires small rockets from the end of his guitar into the air. During "Hotter Than Hell," Gene Simmons breathes fire, spits fake blood, and levitates 40ft. on a winch. And the man's 60. "People think it's the best thing they've ever seen," says Simmons. "Every time we get onstage we make a holy vow: you wanted the best, you got the best house band in the world. People think we're kidding, but we actually mean those words... I would throw my own mother out of the band if she didn't live up to our expectations." Have you ever had any accidents onstage? Gene: Sure, I set my hair on fire. In the early days we used to do a trick where I'd put lemon juice in the roots of my hair so it would stand up. I'd hairspray the end so it stayed there. On the side of the can it should have read 'Gene, you're a moron. Once you spit fire you're going to light up like a matchstick.' So, the first show we did with it was on New Year's Eve, 1973 with Iggy Pop, and we were fourth on the bill. It was before our first album came out, but by the third song, I was on fire. People had to come put me out. The fans went nuts and we stole the show. Sure, I almost died, but people told their friends 'Wow, what a band! They set themselves on fire like Buddhists. You gotta go see them.' You're all approaching pensionable age now. How long can you see KISS, as a group, going on for? Paul: Forever. I think that as each person leaves, we'll replace them with another. That way, the line-up we have now could all die, but the band could go on forever. Wouldn't that be a great idea? KISS tour the country in May. Beg, steal or borrow to get a ticket.
Tickets for KISS' intimate UK club show on March 2nd, 2010 sold out within minutes today! Thank you again, KISS Army... and we'll see you in London!
In advance of the full European tour, KISS will play a special one-off club show at London's O2 Academy Islington on 2nd March 2010. With just 500 tickets available to the public, this show is a rare chance for fans to see one of the world's biggest bands in an intimate venue. Says KISS frontman Paul Stanley: "We thought this was the perfect opportunity to do something a bit crazy. With all the buzz about our upcoming tour, we thought, let's come to London, strip it down, turn it up and blow the roof off the O2 Academy. What better way to say 'thank you' to our most devoted fans than to pummel them?" Very limited tickets will be available from www.livenation.co.uk from 12.00 midday tomorrow Wednesday, 24 Feb 2010.
"This past Sunday, one week after the passing of THE KNACK singer and frontman Doug Fieger, a memorial service was held at his home in Los Angeles, California for his close friends and family. "I met Doug about four years ago when we did the Rock 'N' Roll Fantasy Camp together. I was impressed with his talent and passion for music, and from working with him I got to see that Doug was a gentle soul who really cared about people. "I was at his home about a year after the camp to ask him about him performing on a song for my new solo disc. He loved the music and agreed to sing on it. "After showing me many of his vintage instruments and gear, it was clear that we both shared a deep appreciation of the music that we loved and the instruments that we used to create our sounds. He sang the song 'Dirty Girl' about a year after that, as my schedule and his treatment for the cancer that took his life would dictate when we could get the job done. "Doug was a total pro. He came into the studio and nailed the song in an hour, including his tambourine part! "I kept him informed on the progress of the tune, and, of course, once it was mixed I shared the end result with him. He was very pleased with the song, and that was important to me, but I always wanted him to see the final product. "At my Cat Club CD-release party on February 1st, I met THE KNACK bassist Prescott Niles, who told me he would be seeing Doug that week. I gave him a copy of 'BK3' and asked him to please give it to Doug along with my best regards. I called his home 10 days later to see if I could speak to him or his family. His lovely sister Beth answered and confirmed that Doug did indeed get the CD and that it was on his dresser. I was not aware at the time that his battle with lung cancer would be taking his life only a few days later. "Doug passed away on Sunday, February 14th. It was news I was expecting at some point but that I never wanted to hear. "Yesterday, a week later, I found myself at his home again, this time to pay my respects. "I remember his house being meticulous, but musical: he has a Ringo BEATLES drum set in the living room, along with various Vox amps. 'How cool was that?' I thought! "I spoke with his family, and Prescott, of course, was there, as well as other musicians that knew Doug. After some testimonials from the people closest to him (even 'the' Sharona who inspired the hit song), I realized what an intense and sad reality Doug had to deal with after he found out about his cancer. "His older brother Jeffery said it the best, that he learned the word 'courage' from Doug, and that the powerful way his younger brother dealt with this illness was a lesson he will never forget. "Shortly after that I noticed some of my music heroes in attendance at the home, as both Jeff Lynne from ELO and Joe Walsh of the EAGLES had come to pay their respects. "The event felt totally surreal to me when none other than Ringo Starr and his lovely wife Barbara Bach walked in. "What an amazing tribute for Doug to have known a member of THE BEATLES well enough to have him attend his memorial. "I could never have known from the comparatively brief amount of time I spent with Doug how much he meant to so many people. He touched many lives with his music, but it was his personal relationships with his friends and industry mates that brought everyone together to say their goodbyes to a man that will be very missed. "I was just lucky enough to have met him and worked with him before he left us."
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"Sonic Boom Over Europe: From The Beginning To The Boom" will see dates in Ireland, Switzerland, Italy, Austria, Czech Republic, Germany, Norway, Finland, Sweden, Denmark, Holland, France, Spain, Belgium, Hungary and, not only will the tour feature KISS's first UK arena shows in 11 years, but it will see the band breaking new ground completely with their first-ever shows in Slovakia. Acclaim for KISS on their recent spectacular, sell-out, "KISS Alive 35" North American tour has been universal. METAL HAMMER hailed the "Return Of The Kings!" MOJO declared: "A KISS show is as thrilling and bombastic now as it was in 1975." Whilst utilizing elements of "KISS Alive 35", "Sonic Boom Over Europe: From The Beginning To The Boom" will be a fresh, new show tailored to the bands European fans and showcasing the brand new "Sonic Boom" album. Widely acclaimed as another KISS classic, "Sonic Boom" rocked Planet Earth when it debuted worldwide and burned up the charts - the album is also the highest charting album of KISS' career in the USA. Paul Stanley says, "The 'KISS Alive 35 Tour' was just the start. 'Sonic Boom Over Europe' leaves that show in the dust. New stage, new setlist, new outfits, new album! We're covering the whole musical history of the band on a stage that takes KISS one giant step further in our eight inch heels. We're stoked. You wanted the best? You GOT the best!" Gene Simmons says, "Now. More than ever. KISS is a four wheel drive monster truck. Our mission? To rock Planet Earth. To spread the gospel of Sonic Boom." Look near the bottom of this page for "Sonic Boom Over Europe: From The Beginning To The Boom" tour dates
America's first-ever hard-rock and heavy-metal music awards show is back! The second annual REVOLVER GOLDEN GODS AWARDS presented by Epiphone will take place Thursday, April 8, returning to Club Nokia in Downtown Los Angeles. The show will later be televised on VH1 Classic on Saturday, May 22 (air time TBA). Friday – March 19, 2010 -7:00 PM – 9:00 PM Wentworth Gallery - Town Center Mall For additional details or to RSVP - please call 561-338-0804 or 800-732-6140 Saturday – March 20, 2010 – Noon – 2:00 PM Wentworth Gallery - Las Olas For additional details or to RSVP - please call 954-468-0685 or 800-732-6140
Disco Inferno: Casablanca Records Founded by Neil Bogart in 1973 after eight years in the music business, with money provided by Warner Brothers, Casablanca signed their first act, KISS. The band's self-titled debut album was released in 1974. Gene Simmons: It was a really strange time when the businessmen were not in charge of record companies. Crazy and wild people were in charge of record companies. Neil Bogart was crazy and wild. We wore more makeup than most clowns, higher heels than most women, and more leather than you normally find in an S&M bar. Neil was honest enough to admit that he didn't get us, but he gambled on our passion. Paul Stanley: After Neil signed us, we spent a year or so opening for anybody who would let us. Every time we walked out onstage, if people weren't outright laughing, they were hitting one another in the ribs and snickering. But when we played, they went crazy. What we lacked in musicianship we made up for in conviction. Larry Harris (Co-founder, Casablanca): The music business now is not even a ghost of the same animal that it was then. Record companies don't stick with an artist more than five minutes if they don't see success immediately. We stuck with KISS for four albums before they broke. The whole mindset is different. Warners did not share Neil Bogart's belief in KISS, so Bogart made arrangements to pay back the $750,000 he owed them, and by the end of 1974 Casablanca had become an independent label. The following year KISS had their first hit record, reaching number nine with 1975's double live album KISS Alive! Larry Harris: The success of Alive! came as a major surprise to us. It caught us totally unaware. Gene Simmons: Almost overnight we went from being a working band to national superstars. Despite appearances to the contrary, Casablanca had been struggling financially until multinational corporation PolyGram bought half of the operation for $15 million in 1977. Gene Simmons: We went from recording for a label where we had a personal relationship with the president to recording for a large entity called PolyGram with an enormous staff. We felt lost. Bill Aucoin: We made an incredible deal with PolyGram for KISS. From that point of view, it was good for KISS.
Fieger died Sunday (February 14) at his Woodland Hills, California home after a battle with cancer. He was 57 years old. Says Kulick: "I was incredibly saddened to learn yesterday of Doug Fieger's passing away after a long battle with cancer. "I was fortunate to get to know Doug through our work with the Rock 'n Roll Fantasy camp, and was pleasantly surprised to learn that in addition to his well known work with THE KNACK (who can forget the incredible riff that forms the hit 'My Sharona'), Doug was also a fellow guitar freak who had an amazing collection of gear. "I am honored to have had Doug perform on [Kulick's recently released third solo album] 'BK3' and I am very grateful to have known him."
The full interview is available all February long only on Fuse on Demand. Watch a clip of the episode here.
Now there's something new to celebrate in V-ville: the Tribal V, a ferocious rock 'n' roll animal that premiered in an exclusive limited run last year and continues to embody the spirit of today's most snarling, intense sounds. This savage beast of a guitar has Gibson's own uncovered ceramic magnet humbuckers -- a 496R in the neck and a 500T in the bridge -- and sports a tribal tattoo-inspired design on top of its solid mahogany body. Top that off with an unbound ebony fingerboard, a distinctive white custom finish, matching white pickup mountings and black chrome hardware with a factory mounted Kahler tremolo bar system, and this gorgeous growler really comes to life. And there's no better way to celebrate the Tribal V's Godzilla-sized tones than with a sequel to "Monsters of the Flying V." So in the spirit of Godzilla Raids Again! and other great cinematic follow-ups (Shaft in Africa, anyone?), we present more victorious V players -- a look at another generation of classic musicians with great taste in guitars from all corners of the rock and blues worlds. And the cast members are: Paul Stanley: Some people have stars in their eyes. As KISS' rhythm guitarist, Stanley had a star on his eye. But he also had a serious array of Flying Vs and other Gibsons in his hands over the decades. For Stanley, the Flying V made a perfect blackboard for teaching a generation of '70s kids how to "Rock 'n' Roll All Nite."
ANSWER: I always tell people that want to make it in music be prepared to work hard for a long time to make things happen. There are no short-cuts. There's no rules. Effort = Success. Good luck! ---------------------------------------------------------------------- QUESTION 2: Hi Tommy, My name is Travis from Australia. I am 14 years old and I was added to your Facebook page, but when I sent you messages and stuff like that you don't reply, so I was wondering if you could write back to me on Facebook. I am a big fan and I love playing guitar and I know some of your songs. I have been playing for two years and I'm pretty good at it. Please write back TRAVIS STRACHAN, San Remo, NSW Australia ANSWER: Travis, I'm glad you wrote. I don't have an official Facebook page. There are some pages that fans have set up which is cool, but remember it's not me, so I won't be writing you back from that! Good luck playing guitar, I'll see you on the big stage in a couple years! ---------------------------------------------------------------------- QUESTION 3: When are you going to start singing "When Lightning Strikes" in concert. LOVE IT! See you soon, KEVIN COOMBS, Wisconsin Rapids, WI ANSWER: I probably will sometime. The hard part is for us to decide what songs to play because there are so many great ones. On the Alive 35 tour we couldn't play too many new songs from Sonic Boom because we'd have to take out a "classic" to do it. We wanted to take that slowly so we played "Modern Day Delilah" and "Say Yeah" which both rocked. Gene's got some killer stuff to do too. You'll hear more SB tunes in concert this year. See you on the road!
SEASON FIVE WILL MARK THE 100TH EPISODE OF THE HIT REAL-LIFE SERIES NEW SEASON PREMIERES SUNDAY, MARCH 21 AT 9 PM ET/PT WITH A SPECIAL ONE-HOUR EPISODE Legendary rock god and multi-hyphenate Gene Simmons returns with his unconventional family for an all-new season of A&E's hit unscripted series "Gene Simmons Family Jewels," premiering with a special one-hour episode on Sunday, March 21 at 9:00 PM ET/PT. Season five, which will cross the 100th episode threshold, begins with a terrifying moment for America's most traditional, non-traditional family. Shannon has a health scare that makes the family rally and Gene is caught between two worlds - being there for the mother of his two children and being on tour with KISS. Recent docu-series featuring a family dynamic have proven to tear families apart, but the Simmons-Tweed clan just keeps growing closer together. The new season will give viewers a behind the scenes look at the family's many adventures and milestone moments that make them so cohesive. From Sophie's high school graduation, to Gene's 60th and Nick's 21st birthdays, this is going to be a very emotional year for Gene and Shannon as both their children are fast becoming adults. With everything going on at home, KISS has been in the midst of a two year, sold out world tour, celebrating 35 years of rocking the planet. Viewers will be meeting up with Gene in several cities that KISS plays on its American leg of the tour and get unprecedented all-access. The family also spends more time on the road with Gene. The Demon's touring schedule didn't allow much at home time with the kids when they were younger, but this time, the plan is to keep the family close. His goal during the tour is to fulfill his obligations but not miss important family moments as he serves two masters - KISS and family. In addition, this season will feature Nick playing with KISS members Tommy Thayer (Lead Guitar), Eric Singer (Drums) and dad on bass at Comic-Con for the launch of his newest graphic novel, Incarnate, which Nick both wrote and drew, Sophie looking at colleges, Gene touring his roots in New York City, and much more.
Holiday Inn Cleveland South Independence For hotel rooms, call 216-524-8050 and ask for the special KISS Expo rate. Cutoff for the special rate is February 26. Commented Bruce: "I am very excited to announce my appearance at the Cleveland KISS Expo on March 28. I hope to share with you all exciting details of my 'BK3' release, which is available February 2 at all major chains (Best Buy, Walmart, FYE) and online at Amazon.com and iTunes and more. The new CD features Gene Simmons and his son Nick, Eric Singer and John Corabi and many other featured guests. I hope you enjoy the new CD and please come say hello in Cleveland. We will have a great time at the expo!" For more details, go to this location.
The critically-acclaimed KISS album will be pressed on 180 gram vinyl in five colors - Purple, Red, Green, Blue and Black. The album will be packaged in a full color gatefold jacket and includes lyrics on the inner sleeve and an exclusive 22" x 33" color poster! Only 1000 of each color will be pressed!! Because of the limited quantities, we are now taking pre-orders and expect the albums to ship in 6-8 weeks. The Limited Edition KISS' SONIC BOOM Vinyl is available exclusively at KISSONLINE.com, the official home of KISS! PRE-ORDER KISS SONIC BOOM ON VINYL NOW
KISS Kompendium is an eye-popping compilation of the previously out-of-print Stan Lee Marvel comic book adventures of the legendary heavy metal band, as well as the famed Psycho Circus and Dark Horse editions and KISS's own KISStory. Only copies of KISS Kompendium purchased at Borders will be signed. Store Info: Press Pass' strong run of trading card sets dedicated to the music legends KISS isn't even close to a finale. Up next on the company's set list is Legends of KISS, a 100-card themed set that tells the story of the band through their own words - a set that, when placed in pages, tells the story from card to card. The set will include the first cards to bearing both a concert-worn memorabilia swatch and an autograph - KISS Kuts - while there will be another helping of autograph cards to lick, err, pick up. Also new will be a six-card set of pop-up cards as well as a few parallel sets - First Edition (limited to 25) as well as cyan, magenta, yellow and black Proof Edition Parallels. Legend of KISS is set to arrive on April 21.
Each seven-track digital download LOST EP is currently available via iTunes. Preview the tracks at the ABC Music Lounge. Both Hurley and Sawyer's EPs feature KISS tracks; "C'Mon and Love Me" and "Strutter," respectively. Listen online at itunes and abc.go.com.
"The basic premise of this is I'm Dr. Love -- you're not," Gene Simmons tells ET. "Dr. Love is here to make you all feel better, girls." Airing during the second quarter of the big game this Sunday, the ad features the return of Gene as Dr. Love along with lead singer Paul Stanley and the rest of the Kiss line-up rocking onstage with Mini Kiss, extolling the virtues of Dr. Pepper Cherry's uniquely smooth taste. "It's a little hint of Kiss with a little hint of cherry," says Paul in pitchman mode. "It's always the sincerest form of flattery," says Gene of the band's pint-sized counterparts. "Mini Kiss has everything that we have -- perhaps not the same size, but then size isn't important... Yes, it is important, isn't it?" "That's right, and they work for half price," adds Paul. "Their songs are shorter." Native New Yorker and major Kiss fan Joey Fatale, who plays mini Gene, came up with the idea for his tribute band one day while looking at one of the Kiss albums. "It just popped in my head, the name Mini Kiss," he explains. "I said this'll be cool - four little people dressed up as Kiss." After their first gig at Studio 54 in Manhattan, they were an overnight success, and the rest is history. "If it wasn't for Kiss, we wouldn't be here," he says reverently. Watch ET for more with Kiss! (video)
Frehley will begin his It's Ace Downunder Australian tour in Perth on Monday. He rose to fame wearing the black, white and silver Spaceman face paint with one of the world's biggest bands, and the last time he was in the country was in 2001 for the Kiss reunion tour. But Frehley, 58, said he was enjoying himself much more on his first solo Australian tour. "It's great - I don't have to deal with three other egos," Frehley told AAP, laughing. "It's a pleasure to be able to control my own destiny and not have to argue with decisions other people make. "Obviously I'm not playing the big arenas like I would have with Kiss, but you know, everything is a trade-off in life. I'm much happier now." Frehley was originally due to tour the country late last year, but had to postpone because of other commitments. The rescheduled tour has extra dates, with shows in Perth, Adelaide, Melbourne, Sydney and Brisbane in early February. Frehley said fans could expect a selection of Kiss songs and some of his own material, including tracks from his latest solo album Anomaly. "I'll be doing a cross section of stuff I've written over the years, like Cold Gin and Shock Me, a couple of Kiss classics that I didn't write, and I think I'm going to include Talk To Me in the set, which I know was kind of a hit here," he said. "Australia has always been a great place for Kiss, and for me, and I can't wait to kick some butt on stage, turn the amps up and let it go." During his two weeks in Australia, the famous rock and roller is also hoping to get in a bit of R and R. "It will give me a chance to enjoy the beautiful countryside and all the sightseeing in Australia, lay on the beach, shop, go to casinos, and if I can get hold of a motorcycle I'd love to go for a ride," he said.
"We do a multi-track recording of each night and make the recording available on a USB drive right at the end of the show," says Gerrit Schumann from German company Music Networx, which makes the recordings. "We have USB duplicators that do it pretty much automatically at the venue. We stop recording about half an hour before the end of the show and include a download code, with which the fan can then download the encores and remaining 30 minutes online." Each stick cost about $20 and an artist will get anywhere between 20-50% of the price, he says. With around 1,000 sticks sold a night at 58 dates last year, that adds up to several hundreds of thousands of dollars for the band. They will do it all again for their European tour this year, where they will also introduce an instant download-to-mobile option. Kiss, already the masters of music merchandise, are also selling meet-and-greet gig packages in the UK. You can still buy recordings from KISS' 2009 North American Tour at CONCERT-ONLINE.com.
Comments Youth: "I can't even begin to say how excited I am to play with Ace!! "Like many guitarists my age, Ace is the reason I started playing guitar; he's my Chuck Berry, my Jimmy Page. Every note I play, it all comes back to Space Ace, and I think [Frehley's new album] 'Anomaly' is a smoking classic Ace record,so I'm planning on it being a blast!!"
On a recent autumn afternoon, Paul Stanley was relaxing at his L.A. home prior to hitting the road for another leg of Kiss’ Alive 35 tour. He took the occasion to talk with Guitar World about the long and winding road that has brought him and the band from Alive! to Sonic Boom, Kiss’ latest album. GUITAR WORLD Is it significant that Kiss were propelled to the top of the charts in 1975 by a live album? PAUL STANLEY Definitely. I think we’ve always been a live animal. What we found back then was that our first three studio albums weren’t selling particularly well, yet we were quickly becoming a band that was selling out live venues everywhere. There was no correlation between our ticket sales and our album sales. It became clear that what was needed was an audio souvenir of the Kiss experience. But I don’t think we could ever have predicted that Alive! would become as big or as important as it did. As soon as it came out, they couldn’t keep it in the stores, because it was the album that everybody who loved the band had been waiting for. GW Why did you decide to release Sonic Boom as a package with a live DVD and a bonus album of rerecorded Kiss hits [titled Kiss Klassics]? STANLEY With all the classic Kiss albums, you always got more than just an album. We put in tattoos or posters, or love guns [Love Gun came with a cardboard “love gun” (assembly required)]. Working with Wal-Mart as the exclusive distributor of Sonic Boom put us in a position where we could do more than just put out an album. Wal-Mart made it possible for us to include the disc of 15 classic tracks and the DVD of performances from one of our stadium shows in Buenos Aires. GW The songs on Sonic Boom seem custom made for big stadiums. “Stand,” in particular is quite anthemic. It’s even got the “Hey Jude,” crowd sing-along ending! STANLEY At our best, that’s what we do when we write. Actually, I think my style of songwriting comes more from the [late Fifties/early Sixties] days of pop than from heavy metal. I think a song needs a verse, a prechorus and a chorus. These are things that a five-minute guitar solo is never going to take the place of. GW Your stuff is always pretty classically structured: a good bridge and, as you say, three good verses and a killer chorus. STANLEY Yes. I like to think that a song comes full circle. It leaves you satisfied at the end because it takes you back to where you started, only at a higher level of emotion. Dynamics and the way you build a song’s arrangement are important, but you have to build on a foundation. GW In the early days, you and Gene shared writing credit on some of the band’s best-known songs, including “Rock and Roll All Nite” and “Strutter.”,P>STANLEY Yeah. It’s interesting. Gene and I often put both our names on them. And there are other songs that we didn’t put both our names on, but where we also had a big hand in each other’s writing. And on Sonic Boom we wrote together. I was very adamant that we write together. I think there was a little hesitation about it at first, but it was effortless. At first Gene said, “Well, we write differently now, and our styles have changed.” I said, “No. It’s essential to the chemistry of the band to have us write together.” Both our names are on a lot of the new songs. GW How did you and Gene come to drift apart in the early days? STANLEY We always had somewhat different approaches to songwriting, but that was what made those early songs special. I think at some point we both decided that we wanted things our way. We were big kids with big egos. We just decided to go off on our own and do it exactly the way we wanted. We didn’t want to compromise, didn’t want anybody else’s input. And those are the songs that came later in Kiss. But the two people who wrote those original songs were still capable of writing with that same chemistry. The chemistry didn’t go away. We just had to push away a couple of roadblocks. It would have been insane not to take advantage of that chemistry. GW You’re lucky. Not everybody can get back to that place. Sometimes great songwriting teams reunite after many years and it’s just not happening anymore. STANLEY I think part of the reason, again, is that you have to be selfless. Writing a great song has to be a bigger priority for you than getting your own way. Once the ego is out of the way, the potential is unlimited. I think there was a great sense of group unity and purpose on this album. It wasn’t about promoting any one person in the band; it was about waving the flag of a great band. GW Do you actually remember writing “Rock and Roll All Nite”? STANLEY I do, absolutely. We had had a meeting with the [Casablanca] record company president at the time, Neil Bogart, who said we needed an anthem. The whole idea of a rock anthem was strange to us, because it wasn’t common back then. We asked him what he meant. He pointed to Sly and the Family Stone and said that their song “I Want to Take You Higher” is an anthem in the sense that it’s a song the fans can rally behind, one that speaks to the common experience between the band and the audience. So I kind of went, “Got it!” I went back to my hotel room, picked up the guitar, played an A chord and sang, “I wanna rock and roll all night and party every day.” It came really easily. I then knocked on Gene’s door and said, “What do you think of this?” He thought it was great and said, “I have a song that isn’t finished.” It was called “Drive Me Wild.” So we put his verses for his song “Drive Me Wild” with the line “rock and roll all night and party every day,” and that was the song. I remember it as clear as yesterday. After that, “partying” became a commonly used term in the English language. I just thought it summed up the idea of having a great time. It got all kinds of other connotations with time, but the essence of what we were, and certainly the life we were living on tour, was rock and rolling all night and partying every day. GW I think Kiss can take credit for turning the noun “party” into a verb. STANLEY Yes. We wanted “to party,” as opposed to going to a party. GW But Gene always says, “Oh man, I never did drugs.” STANLEY And that’s true. To us, “to party” meant to have a great time. I can remember clearly people would say “sex, drugs and rock and roll.” And I would say to them, “You keep the drugs, just give me the sex and rock and roll. Whatever I’m gonna do tonight, I want to remember tomorrow.” GW In Kiss, you wrote so many of the songs, and you were the lead singer. Does it bother you that to the average person on the street Kiss is “that guy with the tongue”? STANLEY That’s the kind of question that only somebody who knows music would ask. But I think it’s fair to say that Gene’s persona and his look are what has come to be known as the epitome of the Kiss image. If the band had to be summed up in one face, it would certainly be his. Look, we all have different aspirations in life, and Gene’s is to be in a spotlight all the time. Anyone who isn’t deeply aware of the band as a musical force would naturally assume that Gene is the central part of the music, whether it’s as the front man or lead singer. He’s certainly got the biggest mouth. GW We’ll give him that. STANLEY But with time, hopefully everybody becomes comfortable with their role and thankful for what it is—and not too concerned with what it isn’t. Everyone around us certainly knows that this album wouldn’t have happened without my asserting to some extent how we should have done it. Gene and I are different people, but we’re both very much essential to the mix. GW Gene can be quite confrontational. Is he that way with you? STANLEY No, no. He knows when not to rattle his saber. You know, Gene is very much about getting a rise out of people and saying things that will elicit a reaction. But our relationship isn’t about that. We have known each other for 40 years. Our bond is much deeper and much more genuine than that kind of thing. But yeah, he’s certainly a piece of work. GW Being that he is, as you said, into getting a rise out of people, is he the first one who said, “Hey guys, what if we put on makeup?” STANLEY Look, he would take credit for inventing water. GW That’s not what I’m asking. STANLEY Yeah. I would hope that he would be generous enough to acknowledge that the synergy and chemistry in the band resulted in much of what we did in the beginning. I think as an only child Gene was probably much more used to saying “I” and “me” instead of “we.” GW We’ve talked in the past about how, in the early days, Kiss’ presentation was more transgender glam/New York Dolls before you went with the cartoon superhero look. STANLEY In the beginning, before we ever had a record deal, we initially were more glam, and we used lots of colors in our stage outfits. Once we saw the New York Dolls, whose waists were as big as our wrists, we realized that we looked more like linebackers in drag. Quickly, Gene and I looked at one another and said, “The colors have got to go. How about we go to black and silver?” That’s when we really formed clear identities for each one of us. It wasn’t meant to be kabuki, but it was much more graphic than glam. GW So what was it like to go back and rerecord a bunch of the old Kiss songs? STANLEY It was actually a lot of fun to revisit those songs. Because over the years of playing them, while we certainly presented them with their core identity and sound, we weren’t playing them the way they were initially recorded. So to go back and re-cut those songs was almost like going back to school or looking at your old snapshots and recreating the poses. GW It sounds like you studied the original recordings very carefully. STANLEY Totally. We really went back and matched the tempos, keys…everything. It’s interesting, because a lot of those songs were slower than we remembered, because the live versions of them tend to be much more high energy. So to listen to them and cut them again was a real challenge at times. We captured the sounds of the guitars and everything, but vocals are something where you really want to match the inflection, cadence and tone of the original. Over the years, though, you start to sing differently. Tonally, your approach to a melody may be different. So getting it back to that was really interesting. There were times when I’d have to listen to a vocal line by line in order to nail it. GW It was that obsessive? STANLEY Oh yeah. We wanted the re-cut versions to be virtually interchangeable with the originals. GW What are some of your personal favorite songs among the Kiss catalog? STANLEY Oh, “Love Gun.” I think that’s a great song to this day. “Detroit Rock City,” “I Want You.” I’m a big fan of “God of Thunder,” because I always like the idea that Gene’s signature song was written by me. GW And now you’re back on the road, celebrating the 35th anniversary of Alive! STANLEY Yes. The show is built around the songs on Alive! And then there’s a big chunk of other classics thrown in. And here we have Sonic Boom coming out, so some of those songs will find their way into the show. So it’s very much a celebration of everything we’ve done, but focusing particularly on the 35th anniversary of Alive! GW Are you still seeing the old fans? People who have been with Kiss since day one? STANLEY There are some of them still there, sure. But Kiss has become multigenerational. Some of the original fans are bringing their kids, almost as a rite of passage, so their kids can experience what they did. And we see teenagers, too. I think Kiss connects with that part of everybody that wants freedom and to live as they choose. It’s a night for everybody. You know, if you can’t look like Kiss, at least you can feel like Kiss. GW And plenty of people try to look like Kiss. STANLEY You know, that’s a great compliment. Because it’s not easy. GW I think that by fictionalizing the band, by becoming characters, you’ve kind of sidestepped the problem that so many bands face: the problem of growing old. STANLEY I think the band has become iconic in that the identities of our four characters transcend the music. We’re certainly a band first and foremost, and that’s what’s important to me. Yet, just on a purely visual level, you can bring a photo of Kiss anywhere in the world, show it to someone and they’ll tell you it’s Kiss, whether or not they’re familiar with the music. We seem to have diversified in so many ways. But still, to me, the core of it is about the music. And that’s what Sonic Boom gets back to—the music.
A company that controls photos and posters of the rock group Kiss is suing to stop the sale of a book with pictures of the performers. Kiss Catalog Ltd. says trademarks are being violated by "Vintage Kiss Photos: 1974-1981." The lawsuit names Marc Scallatino of Blackwood, N.J., and photographer Janet Macoska of Cleveland. Kiss Catalog, based in New York, is asking a judge to shut down vintagekissphotos.com. Macoska says she sold some Kiss images to Scallatino but warned that he couldn't use them for a book. E-mail messages seeking comment were left Tuesday with Scallatino. The lawsuit was filed last week in federal court in Detroit, where part of the 1975 Kiss album "Alive!" was recorded at Cobo Arena.
'Wetten, dass..?' is the most successful television show in Europe! The entertainment show regularly draws over 50% of all German-speaking viewers. KISS will perform on the show to promote the Sonic Boom album and their upcoming Sonic Boom Over Europe Tour.
Gene Simmons, a.k.a. "Dr Love" and star of the current "Trust Me, I'm a Doctor" ad campaign, will also be featured with all of his KISS band mates in an upcoming Super Bowl ad for Dr Pepper Cherry. Naughton, star of the classic Dr Pepper commercials and the 1981 film An American Werewolf in London, is ranked by AOL.com as one of the "Top 25 Ad Icons of All Time." In addition to ringing the NYSE Closing Bell, Dr Pepper also has a special anniversary surprise planned that no one will want to miss. Webcast: A live webcast of The Opening Bell (beginning at 9:29 a.m.) and of The Closing Bell (beginning at 3:59 p.m.) will be available on the homepage of nyse.com.
Sirius Satellite radio: "I know that people will buy this," Simmons told Examiner.com. One of the two models is a high-end version that is limited in number, which sells at $5000.00 each. It is available now through a special website. Obviously a collector's item for Kiss fans, the instrument comes with an elaborate hard-shell case that has Simmons' face displayed on it in full Demon make-up, surrounded by flames. He said fans can go to a Gene Simmons website to buy one. Simmons, whose band has been playing together and releasing music for 35 years, also stated that he personally designed the bass, as well as the case. Each bass comes with a certificate of authenticity. A far less expensive Cort replica, the GS-AXE-2 will be made available in guitar stores at around $500.00, starting on February 1, 2010. The GS-AXE-@ bass was displayed for the first time ever today at the NAMM Trade Show, by Simmons, himself. Simmons offered a peek at one of the basses this morning at the National Association of Music Merchandisers NAMM) trade show at the Anaheim Convention Center. The Kiss icon was a special guest at the Exclusive Product Preview Day, which highlighted a myriad of new products for musicians at the trade show held as a confab for music instrument and music product companies. NAMM is a non-profit organization that integrates relationships between companies and consumers, and strengthens the $17 billion international musical instruments and products industry. The convention this week marks the 108th trade show that has been held by NAMM. Orders for retailers will be accepted at the NAMM Show. Orders will ship in March. Simmons told Examiner.com that each one of the bass guitars was hand made by only one individual. "It takes about a month to make one," he said, adding, "The wood is from Thailand. The weight has to do with the thickness. The fact it is so solid helps make it superior. It gives the bass its resonance." He added, "Hold this bass. You can feel that thickness." While most guitars are made with the body and the neckpiece as separate pieces that are connected, Simmons' bass is made in one piece. Simmons says doing this gives it better sound. "Hold this," Simmons told Examiner.com. "You can feel how solid this is." The Cort GS-AXE-2 bass will include a padded bag with Simmons' face on it. It will have a 34 inch scale, a hard maple neck, rosewood fretboard, die cast tuners and Might Mite pickups. Simmons got the name for the bass from the term "axe" that refers to instruments. He has owned the trademark to the word "axe" for almost three decades. Simmons said he decided to do this because so many fans have requested a bass like the one he plays. Says Simmons, "I owe the fans everything, because they made my life possible." For those who want to Kiss some Axe, this is the perfect vehicle.
Hailed as an stunning classic by audiences & critics alike upon it's release in 2008 by Universal Pictures/Ume/New Door Records - 'One Live KISS' is a unique, personal, and intimate concert film featuring the legendary Paul Stanley of super group KISS & directed by acclaimed filmmaker Louis Antonelli is back as it was meant to be experienced - Larger than life on the big screen!! - in shattering multi-channel digital theater concert sound!! One show only on Saturday, March 6th @ 3:00 pm (doors open @ 2:00 pm - arrive early * special audience prize giveaways planned!) After the screening of 'One Live KISS' CIMM fest '10 will host an in person Q&A with producer/director Louis Antonelli, and other special guests! Lincoln Hall (across from the historic biograph theater) Tickets are limited - online pre- purchase recommended Visit the CIMM FEST 2010 website for advance tickets and further information about 'One Live KISS' plus all of the exciting events scheduled for this year's festival - March 4th - 7th , 2010 in Chicago!
I do recall that one year one of us folded and went out as Peter Criss’ “Catman,” black and white make-up running down our cheeks from the tears of disappointment, settling for the lesser known, less exciting member of KISS, who possessed none of Simmons’ powers—bloody-mouthed, fire-breathing, serpent-sized, cunnilingus-dazzling tongue! The Hughes' brothers latest directed movie "The Book of Eli" is now in theatres.
Kiss's hotly antipated 'Sonic Boom Over Europe: From The Beginning To The Boom? tour comes to the UK and Eire in May. You can win a pair of much sought-after tickets to see Gene Simmons, Paul Stanley, Tommy Thayer and Eric Singer at one of the following shows: Sat 1st May Sheffield Arena (UK) But the character's spine-chilling howl comes from somewhere else together. Rock stars Gene Simmons - lead singer of Kiss - and David Lee Roth - frontman of Van Halen - were among the many people who came in to the studio to provide animalistic sound effects for the film. Director Joe Johnston explained that the creature's blood-curdling ululations weren't as simple to achieve as you might expect. He told BoxOffice they had listened to the baying sounds of werewolves in other films but thought most sounded phoney. Johnston said: "When we were designing [Benicio's] howl, we were going off in a lot of different directions. We tried a lot of things to see what would work and be interesting. We listened to every wolf howl ever done on every film. We listened to all of them. And you'd be surprised how unconvincing most of them are. Some were just wolves, but some were men going, 'Aoooooooo!' "We didn't get a lot from our research in what's been done before. We were looking for this great pure tone - we knew we were going to process it and overlay elements but we wanted that great foundation. "We tried Gene Simmons and one of Gene Simmons' howls is in the movie. I don't think Gene Simmons would recognise it, but it's in there. We had David Lee Roth come in and do a few howls. "It was great. These guys, they're not only singers - they're comedians. Hilarious sessions. You can imagine Gene Simmons and David Lee Roth in there howling with the picture on the screen. And they would do it, crack a few jokes, and try it again." Johnston explained that the veteran rockers were among many 'howlers' who contributed to the monster sounds used in the film. "We had opera singers come in and howl, we had animal impersonators. Gene Simmons and David Lee Roth were pretty near the end of the process. By then we knew what we were looking for, we were homing in on it. And their stuff became the most useful stuff that we did. "I don't think they would recognise it after what we've done to it because we've digitally processed it and added cool overtones and all that stuff. "We were basically just looking for a wolf howl you'd never heard before. What we realised is that everybody in the audience knows what a wolfman sounds like. Even if it's from their imagination, it's all pretty much the same thing. "We just wanted our howl to be the best version of that howl. And I think we've come up with something that's definitely spine-tingling, and at the same time it's familiar enough that the audience is going to recognise it - it's what they expect, with enhancements."
A KISS Army ticket pre-sale will take place this Tuesday, January 19.
Right off the bat, Sonic Boom is a nostalgic album. The brains behind the band, Stanley and Simmons, haven't changed a thing about their sound - there are no nu-metal or grunge influences, just good ol' fashioned rock. If anything, they've only become more comfortable writing for themselves than for the music charts and critics, who've often been ruthless and unapologetic to any experimental releases. A lot has also been said about the absence of Ace Frehley, but in all honesty, Tommy Thayer is equally adept on lead guitar - and adds his own sprinkle of overdriven magic to the Kiss legacy on tracks such as 'Say Yeah'. The man is talented and shouldn't be forced to live in the shadow of another great guitarist. Love 'em or hate 'em, Kiss is legendary. Behind the face paint, flashy costumes and pyrotechnics is a group who have further cemented their name into the rock 'n roll almanacs with the release of Sonic Boom. Do yourself a favour and get a copy of the special edition release, which features an additional best of "Kiss Klassics" CD and "Live in Buenos Aires" DVD. This is a must have album! Best Tracks: 'Russian Roulette', 'Stand', and 'Say Yeah'
Gene Simmons will be at the CORT USA/Westheimer booth #4458 at noon. Gene will take photos but will not be signing autographs. Tommy Thayer will be at the Hughes & Kettner booth #6555 for an exclusive poster signing session at 2pm. Eric Singer will be signing autographs at the Zildjian Cymbals booth at 2 PM. Attendance at the NAMM trade show is restricted to companies who make, buy, and/or sell musical instruments and products.
TOP 20 CONCERT TOURS 1. (1) U2; $5,907,424; $93.25. With each pose, the musician pursed his lips, mugging for the many cameras that bunched around him. Simmons, the co-founder of Kiss, was the first celebrity to make an official appearance to the NAMM Show, a major music products convention that is expecting to draw more than 85,000 people to the Anaheim Convention Center. Simmons came to the media preview event to show off his Axe Bass guitar. The four-day show starts Thursday. The bass guitarist appeared without his signature star-eyed makeup, but he still was there for show in his sunglasses, leather jacket and beige boots. Simmons explained that he created the Axe Bass, which he has used for more than 30 years, for his fans who want them. For $5,000, fans can buy a special bass that Simmons will sign. Those buyers also can go to a sound check and backstage at a Kiss concert or special parties where Simmons appears. Less expensive version sell for about $600. "The fans have been clamoring to get their own and you can get your own by going to genesimmons.com," Simmons said, the first of many times he repeated his Web site address. Simmons is a regular at NAMM, where he usually promotes products. He's looking forward to NAMM again this year. "Wherever I go, trouble follows," Simmons said.
Simmons asked the aggressor to keep his distance, but undeterred, the agitated Marlowe continued to approach Simmons while moving closer to Simmons' minor daughter. When Marlowe approached Simmons' daughter for the second time, Simmons, fearing for Sophie's safety, placed himself between his daughter and Marlowe, grabbed the device out of Marlowe's hand and moved Marlowe aside so his family could reach their car. Marlowe's companion, Cynthia Manzo, joined him in the traumatic incident that ruined the Simmons' family outing. Simmons is appalled that people who attacked his family are suing him, claiming personal injuries, loss of consortium, and citing "emotional distress," when none of those charges are true. According to Mallen, "we look forward to meeting these charges in the court room and proving them false."
With numerous dates throughout Europe, KISS' "Sonic Boom Over Europe: From The Beginning To The Boom" tour is set to become THE rock event of 2010, built around the incredible success of "Sonic Boom," the first new KISS studio album in eleven years. In addition to Madrid, Barcelona and Vitoria-Gasteiz, "Sonic Boom Over Europe: From The Beginning To The Boom" includes performances in Ireland, Switzerland, Italy, Austria, Czech Republic, Germany, Norway, Finland, Sweden, Denmark, Holland, France, Belgium, England and, for the first time, Slovakia.
KISS (1974) - Gene: I no longer had to work for a living. I went on salary, I became the richest person in the world. Not only was I in a band, doing everything I wanted - I was getting $75 a week! Favourite track: Deuce. HOTTER THAN HELL (1974)- Paul: Difficult second album? No, we were all piss and vinegar - "If you didn't like the first album, here's another!" We were releasing them every eight months. Favourite track: Hotter Than Hell. DRESSED TO KILL (1975) - Gene: It was produced by Neil Bogart, our record company president, who couldn't produce. We started attracting lots of groupies. Mostly, I remember lots of girls. Favourite track: Two Timer. ALIVE! (1975) - Paul: A sonic souvenir of the live show. Was it enhanced? You bet! Who wants to hear a guitar string break every time they put on a song? One week it was gold, the next platinum. Our rollercoaster ride had begun. DESTROYER (1976) - Gene: A coming of age, or perhaps just a coming. (Renowned producer) Bob Ezrin kicked us in the butt and made us do a record we couldn't do on our own. They were our songs and performances, but he brought it out of us. Favourite track: God Of Thunder. ROCK AND ROLL OVER (1976) - Paul: Many said Destroyer wasn't raunchy enough for them. So we decided to go back to something a little more basic. It's a great album but, sonically, the songs didn't sound like they should have. Favourite track: I Want You. LOVE GUN (1977) - Gene: Eddie Kramer produced but he was more an engineer so we took more control for this one. Ace and Peter started to become very difficult as alcohol and drugs began to take over. Favourite track: Love Gun. CREATURES OF THE NIGHT (1982) - Gene: The (huge!) drum sound was my insistence. If any track led to that huge sound, which was recorded in a hall with doors open and the mics on a slight delay, it was I Love It Loud. I love the title track too. Favourite track: I Love It Loud. LICK IT UP (1983) - Paul: Creatures was better, but we finally took the make-up off and Lick It Up sold three or four times as many copies. The first step in establishing another persona for the band. Touring without make-up was invigorating. An exciting time. Favourite track: A Million To One. ANIMALIZE (1984) - Gene: I like a lot of the record but I was pre-occupied with Hollywood, doing my first movie, Runaway, for Michael Crichton. My songs weren't stellar. Favourite track: Heaven's On Fire. REVENGE (1992)- Gene: One of my favourites. We reunited with Bob Ezrin, and it's a very different time from Destroyer. I finally felt comfortable in my own skin. I stopped playing the Paul game, trying to look pretty with nice hair - I was never very good at that. Favourite track: Unholy. SONIC BOOM (2009) - Paul: A culmination of everything, good and bad that went before it. It's a pure, honest album and I couldn't be more proud of it. We found our way home. Favourite tracks: Modern Day Delilah and Say Yeah. SONIC BUSTS And here the pair recall some, er, not so classic ones: UNMASKED (1980) - Gene: My fault. It was a strange period, with pop and dance dominating, and we lost our way. It was also the end for Peter Criss. Anton Fig's playing drums and the main memory is of protecting the fans from the news Peter was gone. Favourite track: You're All That I Want. MUSIC FROM 'THE ELDER' (1981) - Paul: We all bought into Stonehenge and truly thought we were making a masterpiece, but we weren't - we were masturbating. A bloated, overblown, pompous piece of pap. Favourite track: I - because that's the last one and the album's over. CARNIVAL OF SOULS (1997) - Paul: Tuning down to D and singing about the darkness of the world while living in mansions in Beverly Hills was a little absurd. We were no more from Seattle than from Saturn. Favourite track: I Will Be There.
"Go ahead, touch it - I won't tell anyone..." I'm in a Minneapolis hotel room with a true rock legend, the fire-breathing, bloodspitting demon bassist of Kiss - Gene Simmons. And the man they call the God Of Thunder, who claims to have slept with more than 5,000 women, is inviting me to squeeze his thigh. I'm pretty sure I'm not the first to have heard that line. No cause for concern though. Iron-thighed Gene, 60, is proudly demonstrating the condition he needs to be in for the gruelling extravaganza which is the Kiss live experience. The Alive 35 tour celebrates three-and-a-half decades since this incredible outfit first emerged from New York city. "We're gladiators in the arena. There's a physicality to what we do that nobody does," says Gene. "When you hit that stage, the adrenalin hits your veins, you physically become bigger and thicker. I become stronger and less susceptible to pain. But I come off-stage and I'm black and blue from the armour I wear banging in to me." The 16,000-odd fans who packed out the city's Target Arena the previous night -- many of them in their teens and early twenties and a fair few sporting make-up while tottering on 7-inch stack heels -- wouldn't be surprised by Gene's battle scars. They're probably still recovering themselves. Kiss's show has always been the stuff of rock folklore - with ridiculous levels of fireworks, flame and confetti, set-pieces including vocalist/rhythm guitarist Paul Stanley gliding on a zip-wire from the stage into the middle of the arena, Gene flying up to the gantry and Tommy Thayer's rocketfiring guitar. Despite a muddled post-Seventies history of line-up shuffles and direction changes, this is THE Kiss experience rock fans my age grew up dreaming of witnessing. Except... except it's probably even better than it was back then, even more of a spectacle -- and those classic songs have never sounded better. An extraordinary achievement after all these years. Among all the rock 'n' roll fantasy on stage, there's a new element -- all four are clearly having a whale of a time up there. Gene says: "If God gives you the opportunity to be Gene Simmons -- what the f*** are you gonna do with that? Are you going to quit after ten years because you have all the money and chicks you could ever need? Or are you gonna ride that pony and see how fast it will go until it drops?" Paul adds: "We do have fun and that's the difference. We also have a lot of pride when we're up there. We have a good time and really enjoy each other and that's, er, new!" The singer is referring to bad times that came shortly after the 1996 reunion of the band's original line-up, marking the return of drummer Peter Criss and guitarist Ace Frehley after nigh on 16 years. Paul says: "From there it was really downhill. There's magic in people seeing the original line-up but, outside that, if you listened to it objectively, it grew old quickly." Paul and Gene were watching a re-run of the late Seventies, as drink, drugs and egos tore the band apart again, leading to their farewell tour in 2000. "All of the b******t we had to go through with the drugs and booze and lack of self-esteem that Ace and Peter had just sucked the life out of us," says Gene. "It's been a thorn in my side for a long time. Even the phrase sex, drugs and rock 'n' roll -- what a loser's phrase that is! Why isn't it just sex and rock 'n' roll? How did drugs become cool? "You can't win a marathon high, you just can't. Don't get me started, it makes me furious." Some old-school fans have a hard time accepting the line-up now, seeing it as Gene and Paul with two hired hands (despite drummer Eric Singer having been on board for 17 years and guitarist Tommy for nine). You only have to see the chemistry between the four, on and off-stage, to realise that is not the case. Paul says: "Hired hands? Ridiculous. That does the band such a disservice. The truth is, when I have questions most of the time I go to Tommy, not Gene. When I want feedback I go to the others. "And anybody who thinks we could have made (new album)Sonic Boom with another line-up is out of their mind." Ah, Sonic Boom. A blistering and long, long overdue return to form for what, for a good few years in the Seventies, was the biggest rock band in the world. The new album's success (it entered the US chart at No 2) will see more new tracks included in the live set by the time Kiss arrive in the UK for their spring tour. Old Blighty holds a special place in the band's hearts and the feeling is mutual -- extra dates have been added after the initial Wembley and Glasgow shows sold out. Paul says: "I'm an Anglophile and the roots of everything I do are there. Led Zeppelin came out of there -- what more do you need? That makes it the Holy Land! "Whatever we did there in 2008, which was damned good, is dwarfed compared to what we're doing now. You ain't seen nothing yet. Not because the show is that much bigger but because WE'RE that much bigger. We're pretty lethal - and proudly so. "We're that much surer in our boots - and these are big boots." They certainly are.
Friday – March 19, 2010 -7:00 PM – 9:00 PM Wentworth Gallery - Town Center Mall For additional details or to RSVP - please call 561-338-0804 or 800-732-6140 Saturday – March 20, 2010 – Noon – 2:00 PM Wentworth Gallery - Las Olas For additional details or to RSVP - please call 954-468-0685 or 800-732-6140
The legendary rock band don't adhere to the commonly used phrase because it glorifies drug use - one of the problems which tore their original line-up apart in 2000. Bass player Gene Simmons said: "Even the phrase 'sex, drugs and rock 'n' roll' what a losers phrase that is! Why isn't it just sex and rock 'n' roll? How did drugs become cool? "You can't win a marathon high, you just can't. Don't get me started." Gene - who claims to have slept with nearly 5,000 women - and singer/guitarist Paul Stanley are the only original members left in the band, who had their heyday in the 70s. Drummer Peter Criss and guitarist Ace Frehley joined the group for a 1996 reunion but Gene and Paul realized they had still had the problems which originally caused the breakdown of Kiss in the 80s. Paul said: "There's magic in people seeing the original line-up, but from there it was really downhill." Gene, 60, added to The Sun newspaper: "If you listened to it objectively, it grew old pretty quickly. All of the bull-(expletive) we had to go through with the drugs and booze and lack of self esteem that Ace and Peter had just sucked the life out of us. It's been a thorn in my side for a long time."
Every time it seems the 12-year-old has beaten it, the disease or infections resulting from it recur. "His spirits are usually up, but I think he's sick of being sick," said his mother, Carol Smith. The disease is also taking a toll on the family financially. Critter's story received some national attention last year after he stated in an interview with The Enquirer that he was a big fan of the rock group KISS. Word reached the band, prompting singer Paul Stanley and drummer Eric Singer to call Critter at the hospital and fly him to Milwaukee in June for one of their concerts. To help them with mounting bills, a benefit will be held from 6-10 p.m. Saturday at the Newport Elks Lodge, 3704 Alexandria Pike in Cold Spring. A $10 donation per person will include food, beverages and a live band. Several raffles will be held, and donations of items for the raffles are still being accepted. "I'd like to raise $10,000," said Critter's aunt, Janet Smith Kalfrat of Bellevue, one of the organizers of the event. "I really don't know if that's possible, but whatever we raise will help." Critter, a fifth grader at Fourth Street Elementary School, was diagnosed in July 2007 with acute lymphoblastic leukemia, a cancer of the white blood cells. In the six subsequent months, he underwent a round of radiation, five chemotherapy treatments and a bone marrow transplant. He returned to school and was in remission for 15 months until the cancer reappeared in January 2009. Cincinnati Children's Hospital Medical Center was as much his home in 2009 as his own home in Newport. He's avoided overnight stays at the hospital since mid-December, but has been too weak to return to school. His low white blood cell counts have made him very susceptible to infections. Critter will undergo several tests this week to find out why the counts are so low. Once they increase, he will resume chemotherapy treatments. Kalfrat said Critter may be at the fund-raiser. "He wants to be there," Kalfrat said. "It will just depend on how he feels." To donate raffle items, or for more information on the event, call 859-291-9120 or 859-240-5010. Donations can also be made at any Fifth Third Bank location to the Christopher Smith Benefit Fund.
"My fans have been waiting a long time to hear BK3," says Kulick, "so I wanted to hold an event that was open to all. The KISS Coffeehouse is a very cool place and I'm very excited to be able to meet my fans, and celebrate the release of BK3 with them." Special VIP packages are available via Bruce's website, kulick.net/bk3releaseparty, and include a personal meet & greet with Bruce, an autographed copy of BK3, a BK3 poster, an exclusive early admission VIP laminate, and a BK3 guitar pick. BK3 will be released on February 2nd on Twenty 4 Records/Rocket Science Ventures. The album, Kulick's first since 2003, features 11 tracks and special guests, including Gene Simmons, Nick Simmons (who sings lead vocals on the album's first single "Hand of the King") and Eric Singer. The KISS Coffeehouse is located at Broadway At The Beach in Myrtle Beach, SC.
Dr Pepper, the oldest major soft drink in the U.S., is teaming up with legendary rockers KISS as a first-time advertiser during Super Bowl XLIV. The ad will air in the second quarter of the big game and feature Gene Simmons returning as "Dr. Love" in the next evolution of the brand's "Trust Me, I'm a Dr" campaign. Paul Stanley and the entire KISS lineup will join Simmons to describe Dr Pepper Cherry's uniquely smooth taste - achieved with a "kiss" of cherry flavor. "Being a part of the big game gives us access to nearly 100 million viewers. We're taking this opportunity to reach as many fans as possible to promote our innovative Dr Pepper Cherry flavor and celebrate our 125th Anniversary. This is just the right ad at just the right time," said Tony Jacobs, vice president of marketing for Dr Pepper. Created by Deutsch LA, the new spot is an extension of the "Trust Me, I'm a Dr" campaign that features notable pop culture "doctors" including Kelsey Grammar (a.k.a. Dr. Frasier Crane), Dr. Dre and Julius Erving (a.k.a. Dr. J). Simmons is the first doctor to be featured a second time. "When Gene Simmons recruited his band mates to join him in the campaign, we knew it was a perfect combination for a Super Bowl ad - a flavorful new product and flavorful characters," said Jacobs. Throughout its 125-year history, Dr Pepper has created some of the most iconic ad campaigns in America, including "I'm a Pepper," "Be You" and "Just What the Doctor Ordered." AOL.com ranked the 1970s' "I'm a Pepper" ad among the "10 Commercial Jingles We Can't Forget." The new ad is just one element of Dr Pepper's year-long celebration of its 125th Anniversary which kicks off Jan. 25, 2010. For more information on Dr Pepper, visit www.DrPepper.com.
Stanley, who'll turn 58 on January 20, says that the things that spurred him and KISS to super-stardom still drives the band to carry on. "There's no substitute for the enormous crowds, or the response or the mania that we see and that's directed at us," he says. "There's no substitute for me getting up onstage and having 15,000 people calling my name — y'know, all the accoutrement, all the stuff that goes along with it... the women, everything."
The countdown is on, party plans are in place, and champagne corks will soon be popping around the world. While most partygoers will be swaying to the strains of "Auld Lang Syne," we thought it would be fun to compile a list of rock songs appropriate for ringing in the New Year... as we say goodbye to 2009, hello to 2010. "Rock and Roll All Nite" - Kiss (1975) Gene Simmons and Paul Stanley deliberately set out to compose an anthem when they began writing this signature Kiss song, which first appeared on the band's Dressed to Kill album. Stanley first penned the chorus and the melody, and afterwards Simmons wrote the verses.
In 2009, I photographed 73 concerts and events, and the year was packed with a ton of great tours. These are my picks for the top ten best gigs to photograph in 2009. KISS: When photogenic bands come to mind, I think music shooters have to think of KISS, and this fact was only cemented by the Alive/35 tour this year. Paul Stanley and Gene Simmons, though they may be pushing 60, were still epic on stage and it was a pure adrenaline rush photographing this show. Non-stop posing and mugging by the band along with arena-blinding white lights made this a sure bet of an assignment - like shooting fish in a barrel.
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In a way, the spectacular presentation of KISS symbolized the year - a climax, a brooch of gold. It was an unprecendented year for Peru. 2009 was a hinge, a breaking point, a before and after: for the first time, Lima climbed to the heights of being an additional capital of music in South America. No more did we look with envy to Buenos Aires, Santiago or the various cities in Brazil where A-1 bands often land. Kiss at the Estadio Nacional still nests in the collective memory of the lucky ones who witnessed the unique visual display of pyrotechnics accompanying the ever-rocking quartet's rock-and-roll, a soundtrack that has delighted generations of listeners. Simple songs of verse-chorus have penetrated the masses -- the brains of millions of fans around the world. And these songs have remained fixtures for parties and nights of revelry. KISS symbolizes the great celebration of the year.
"Modern Day Delilah" - KISS Tuesday through Thursday, Salt Lake City will be enveloped in EVE, a new three-day festival to help Utahns ring in 2010. A highlight of this new event will be the Battle of the Local Tribute Bands. KISS Thiss will be one of the bands performing. KISS Thiss - Even though he lacks the lengthy tongue, Salt Lake City resident Kevin Sweat enjoys playing the "Demon" role of Gene Simmons in this tribute band. "They're the most fun to play, because of the makeup," said Sweat, who has played the Simmons part for four years. He said before each concert each band member spends about an hour applying the signature face makeup. The band tries to faithfully replicate the musicianship of "Detroit Rock City" and "Lick It Up. " But the members, who range in age from mid-30s to late 40s, have fun for another reason. "It's all about remembering the good ol' days," Sweat said.
Concert Online is now offering a two-CD collection of remixed and remastered versions of "only the very best live performances of all KISS Alive 35 klassic hits." The result: The two-CD "Best Of KISS Alive 35" set — filled to the brim with 27 smashing live audio tracks recorded in 21 locations! Ranging from genuine "KISS Alive!" klassics such as "Deuce", "Strutter" and "Rock and Roll All Nite", covering the all-time rock hymns "Detroit Rock City" or "Shout It Out Loud", up to their latest single, "Modern Day Delilah" and anthems such as "Lick It Up", this KISS Alive 35 two-CD set has it all. "Best Of KISS Alive 35" track listing: For more information, go to this location.
KISS' fire-breathing frontman, Gene Simmons, has been slapped with a civil suit by a couple who claim his inner demon came out after they tried to videotape him at a local Los Angeles mall. According to media reports, Nathan Marlowe and his wife, Cynthia Manzo, accused the 60-year-old Simmons of threatening and assaulting them and then swiping their video camera after they shot footage of the bassist at the Grove mall. Per the complaint, the pair approached Simmons and Marlowe asked whether he believed in monogamy, since he once claimed to have bedded more than 1,000 women. The rocker turned Family Jewels star allegedly went ballistic, then attacked him and grabbed the camcorder. When Manzo tried to intercede, he assaulted her, too, the suit claims. The couple filed a police report but failed to win a restraining order last week against Simmons. They are seeking more than $25,000 in damages for assault, battery and infliction of emotional distress. A rep for the tongue wagger was unavailable for comment.
Commented Tobias: "I met Bruce in 2008 in Los Angeles. KISS drummer Eric Singer (who has played drums for Tobias' AVANTASIA project as well) had played him our AVANTASIA album 'The Scarecrow' and Bruce must have liked my voice as far as I know. So eventually he asked me to sing a song on his solo album, 'BK3', which is gonna come out in February 2010. I liked the idea, I liked the track, I liked Bruce, and so, of course, I did it. "Bruce has always been one of my favorite guitar players, he is one of the classic '80s shredders who got a unique tone and a terrific feeling. His playing is very tasteful. "Now, I was looking for an additional lead guitar player for AVANTASIA to add a new color to some songs and it stood to reason to ask someone who had just become a member of my extended family, so I went for him, and I am happy he liked the idea and immediately agreed. "Bruce is a super-cool guy. He sacrificed Christmas Eve to start the recording sessions for me in Los Angeles. That says a lot about his work ethic. He is a real pro and a class act!" So far Tobias has confirmed the following musicians to be part of the forthcoming AVANTASIA opus: * Klaus Meine (SCORPIONS) AVANTASIA project will celebrate its comeback next year with a new epic masterpiece, to be released on April 3, 2010 as two separate albums and in a limited deluxe edition (in one box set) entitled "The Wicked Symphony" and "Angel Of Babylon". Regarding his decision to release the next AVANTASIA chapter in two separate CDs, Tobias said, "I have always given my very best, but this new chapter in AVANTASIA's history is too much and too ambitious to be just a regular album. I have worked on it for years now, and it has become even more than two albums! "I knew that story would be spread out over two albums back then when we started working on it in 2006, 'cause we had written a real rock opera of over 20 songs even back then. But since then, we kept composing, and out came even bigger and better material. "Looking at the music industry today with all the CD burning and downloading, I guess in the near future many of us traditional rock and metal bands won't be able to spend such a production budget. I am afraid I won't be able to afford so many guests and such a big production with orchestration and a choir and all that. That's why this production takes so much time; it may be the last big epic I will be able to afford, and I want it to be the biggest piece I have worked on so far." Kiske has appeared on every AVANTASIA album so far, including the first two full-length releases, "The Metal Opera" (2001) and "The Metal Opera Pt. II" (2002). On the topic of the new AVANTASIA album's musical direction, Sammet recently stated, "We've got quite many songs, and it ranges from epic ballads to metal opera. From pop to hard rock to folk to speed metal. My best friend, who co-wrote the story of 'The Metal Opera' back then, just listened to some of the tracks and he said that it will blow people away and enchant AVANTASIA fans and it will surely piss people off . . . It's just enchanting music. And these days honest and good music is kind of offending to some, that's pretty sick, isn't it? But as long as I get goose bumps hearing majestic music, I do not really care if I am fashionable or not." The most recent album from AVANTASIA, "The Scarecrow", was one of the 20 best-selling albums in whole Europe during the fourth week of January 2008, according to a press release. "The Scarecrow" was released on January 25, 2008 as a standard CD as well as rare picture (double) vinyl. It features a long list of guest musicians, including Bob Catley, ex-MASTERPLAN frontman Jorn Lande, ex-HELLOWEEN singer Michael Kiske, Alice Cooper, KISS drummer Eric Singer, SCORPIONS guitarist Rudolf Schenker and GAMMA RAY's Kai Hansen. The album produced a Top 10 German hit single, "Lost In Space", and entered the national charts in 15 countries, with the CD landing in the Top 10 in four countries.
This album, heralded as a "return to Kiss' golden sound," was not just an advertising proclamation. It did become - with, of course, a much more modern sound - pure reality. Kiss typically wants to rock with chants and big stadium choruses, but sometimes a song with poignant character will pop up (Stand.) And while sometimes over-the-top, a brilliant, crisp hard rock song sneaks in too (I'm An Animal) Songs dealing with, simply put, the objectification of women as eternal man-rocker-conquering you'll get far in abundance. And so it probably should be. Fans will appreciate "Danger Us" operating almost like a younger daughter of the famous smash "Detroit Rock City." As you hear at the opening of each Kiss concert: "You wanted the best? You got the best," in its genre, Kiss really still is the best.
Nathan Marlowe and his wife Cynthia Manzo filed the lawsuit Thursday in Los Angeles Superior Court. The complaint claims Simmons attacked the couple, threatened them and took their video camera at The Grove mall on Saturday after they started filming the rocker. The couple's attorney, Matthew Nezhad, says a police report was filed. The couple sought a restraining order against Simmons on Wednesday, but that petition was denied. Simmons has not been arrested and no charges have been filed. A phone message seeking comment from Simmons' entertainment attorney was not immediately returned. The couple are seeking damages of more than $25,000.
Nathan Marlowe and Cynthia Manzo claimed they tried to film Simmons at Los Angeles' The Grove center on December 19th. Marlowe alleges that Simmons lashed out at him after spotting the camera, grabbing him by the throat and headbutting him. He also alleges the musician then turned to Manzo and choked her, before saying, "I will kill you." The pair filed papers at L.A. County Superior Court and asked a judge to grant them a restraining order to prevent Simmons coming near them again. However, the judge decided to dismiss the request as they hadn't proved they faced "a threat of future harm", according to TMZ.com.
Chris Laney's debut solo album, "Pure", was released in March 2009 via Metal Heaven. The songs on the CD were all written by Laney with co-writers like Bruce Kulick (KISS, UNION, GRAND FUNK RAILROAD), Lennart Östlund (LED ZEPPELIN, THE ROLLING STONES, ABBA, GENESIS), Mats Levén (THERION, YNGWIE MALMSTEEN) and others. Laney sang all songs on "Pure", which included appearances by guest musicians J. Koleberg (ANIMAL, ZAN CLAN), Nalle Pahlsson (TREAT, ANIMAL, ZAN CLAN), Vic Zino (HARDCORE SUPERSTAR), Martin Sweet (CRASHDIET) and Zinny Zan (EASY ACTION, SHOTGUN MESSIAH, ZAN CLAN). Chris Laney has been involved in music all his life. He started to tour at the age of 13 and was in bands like SCRATCH and SEVENTEEN. He is a multi-talented musician who plays piano, drums and other instruments, but the guitar is what has become his closest friend. He is also known as a brilliant songwriter and producer. He spends time working at Polar Studios that was built by members in ABBA. As a producer/engineer, Chris Laney has worked with artists like CANDLEMASS, EUROPE, CRASHDIET, Bruce Kulick, Brian "Robbo" Robertson, EASY ACTION and others. As a guitarist, Chris Laney was previously a member of Randy Piper's ANIMAL and ZAN CLAN, bands where he was also the main songwriter and producer. Laney released two albums with ex-W.A.S.P. guitarist Randy Piper and his band ANIMAL, "Violent New Breed" (2006) and "Virus" (2008). Chris also released one album with ZAN CLAN, "We Are Zan Clan … Who the Fxxk Are You" (2005) and the DVD "Kickz The Livin Shit … Outta Stockholm" (2006). For more information, visit www.chrislaney.com.
'The Rock Show' is hosted by Jeff Collins, and every December features a Top 30 Rock Albums of the year show. #1 KISS - Sonic Boom It's the 70's all over again! Big killer riffs and booming choruses - KISS are back. They've followed their awesome appearance at Download with an album, which takes rock back to its raw and raucous best.
Children at the Boys and Girls Club of the Foothills discovered Monday that the Demon and the Catman aren't nearly as imposing without their makeup. Gene Simmons and Eric Singer, also known respectively as the Demon and the Catman of the legendary rock band KISS, visited the club and signed autographs while imploring the kids to stay away from drugs and alcohol. Though the lead singer and drummer of KISS didn't wear their patented white and black make-up, Simmons did oblige repeated requests to show his infamously long, slithering tongue. "I would stick my tongue out, but look how dirty the floor is," Simmons told one child before relenting. Simmons, who says he's never done drugs or taken a sip of alcohol, told the children that original band members Simmons said the main reason for the visit was to inspire young people. "Everybody should go out of their way to do something nice for young people," Simmons said. "They can wind up being great, or they can wind up robbing a 7-11. We just wanted to show up and show them somebody cares." Keelan Ellis, 17, of Azusa said he is also a long-time fan and plans to cover KISS songs with his band. "My first talent show I dressed up as (KISS guitarist) Paul Stanley," Ellis said. A representative from Disney gave away about 100 KISS T-Shirts as well as hundreds of DVDs and memorabilia to the children. Bob Monk, the executive director of the Boys and Girls Club of the Foothills, said he was impressed with the positive message the band members brought to the kids. "While they may look a little frightening on stage, they're really kind to the core," Monk said.
Over eleven years after "Psycho Circus", the famous rockers made up and led by Paul Stanley and Gene Simmons are back with "Sonic Boom". For this 19th album, Kiss decided to offer a myriad of tubes produced by Paul Stanley and Greg Collins. Already hailed by fans and critics, the album signals a big comeback in the American charts. Warning: these new songs are becoming classics. Far from being outdated, the rockers remind us that their style has not aged. With the same energy as their debut album, the musicians offer eleven tracks resuming their original sound, which was so successful in the 70s. From the first track, "Modern Day Delilah", the quartet sets the tone with their now-famous guitar riffs. The album continues without a single false note in the worthy tradition of rock 'n' roll with "Yes I Know (Nobody's Perfect)", "All For The Glory", "I'm An Animal", or "Say Yeah" , all sublimated by the incredible voice of the crazy Gene Simmons. With this project, Kiss gets back to basics -- unquestionably the greatest pleasure, and finest hour, for KISS fans.
In his "Behind the Player" DVD, Frehley gives an intimate behind-the scenes look at his life as a professional musician, including rare video footage. Go behind the make-up and see the real Ace Frehley as he unmasks his guitar playing style and a behind-the-scenes look at his life. "Behind the Player" also includes rare live performances as well as in depth guitar lessons by Ace on the KISS classics "Cold Gin" and "Shock Me" and the new song "Pain in the Neck". Ace will lead you through the proper way to play these classics as well as the origins and inspirations of the songs. "Video Tab" shows exactly how Frehley plays the tracks. The video-game-style animated tablature is similar to Guitar Hero, but shows how to play the tracks for real. Watch the Spaceman perform with special guest musicians Matt Sorum (VELVET REVOLVER, GUNS N' ROSES), John 5 (MARILYN MANSON, ROB ZOMBIE), George Lynch (DOKKEN, LYNCH MOB), Chris Wyse (THE CULT), Tommy Clufetos (ROB ZOMBIE) and Scot Coogan (BRIDES OF DESTRUCTION). Completing this ultimate black diamond are rare live footage, rare KISS photos and a documentary about Ace. Check out preview clips from Ace Frehley's "Behind the Player" DVD at this location.
KISS Kompendium is an eye-popping compilation of the previously out-of-print Stan Lee Marvel comic book adventures of the legendary heavy metal band, as well as the famed Psycho Circus and Dark Horse editions and KISS's own KISStory. Only copies of KISS Kompendium purchased at Borders will be signed. Store Info: The Kiss rocker insists the 'Believe' singer, who he previously dated, was happy to know about his huge number of conquests because it proved to her he was honest. He said in an interview with German newspaper Bild am Sonntag: "She was shocked, but also happy because she knew that I would never lie to her. "And that's how it is. Liars are only men who swear eternal fidelity but they know that no man will ever be able to adhere to that." The bass guitarist admits many people don't believe he has bedded so many ladies, but he can prove it because he takes a photograph of every one of his conquests. He said: "Esquire magazine has just tried to prove empirically that this was physically impossible. But they had to admit that it works. And it's true. I'm honest and show my girlfriends this photo album." Gene, 60, is famous for his 'Demon' black and white face paint and he admits he has applied his trademark make-up to many girls he has bedded. He revealed: "I have painted it on women's faces who wanted to wear it for the sex. Once I had a girl who had a tattoo of my face between her legs. I just felt sorry for her boyfriends."
The 25th annual induction ceremony will be held on March 15 at the Waldorf-Astoria in New York City. ABBA, GENESIS, JIMMY CLIFF, THE HOLLIES and THE STOOGES will be inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame next year, the Hall of Fame Foundation has announced. The ceremony will be broadcast live on Fuse TV.
OK, synagogue may have made more sense but that's not the point. The point is that when you think of bands that were able to transform the Igloo into some seedy house of hard rock Kiss is somewhere near the top. And the last time they came through this area it was all wrong. They were sent out to the pasture in Burgettstown and forced to open for Aerosmith in the daylight, which is like making Dracula walk on the beach. Last night, on the Kiss Alive 35 Tour, they made it right one last time under the silver dome. It wasn't like those gigs in the '70s, of course, when the place was teeming with rowdy and stoned teenagers. There were little kids getting their faces painted in the hallways along with paunchy dads, and at one point Stanley yelled, "Hold up your children!" The stage was different, too -- considerably cleaner and more hi tech with dozens of amps that doubled as video screens and a jumbotron to provide a better look at Gene Simmons' blood, sweat and tongue. Kiss rolled in with a new album, "Sonic Boom" -- "Go to Walmart.com!" Stanley screamed -- but only bothered to play two of the songs, the heavier-metal single "Modern Day Delilah" and "Say Yeah." The rest of the show was reserved for classics like the explosive opener "Deuce," the sexy "Strutter" and "Let Me Go, Rock 'n' Roll," given a full blues-boogie jam treatment. An 18-song set over two-plus hours left plenty of room for Kiss shtick -- like the wanky soloing that bands just don't do anymore, the best of which was Ace replacement Tommy Thayer shooting literal and figurative sparks from his Les Paul at the tail end of "Cold Gin." The latest Cat drummer, Eric Singer, had a spinning riser for his thunderous solo. Stanley, still pretty ripped at 57, got to scream even more than he sang, and flew across the arena on a wire for "Love Gun." And then there was The Demon, who revels in this lair as much he did in '75. Why he felt the need to mess with tradition, though, is a mystery. Maybe I missed something but I thought he was supposed to breathe the fire on "Firehouse" and spew the blood on "God of Thunder." He didn't even play those two classics, doing his thing instead on the lesser "Hotter than Hell" and "I Love it Loud." While the middle of the show sagged just a bit, the last half hour was pure Kiss heaven with Stanley opening the band's best song, "Black Diamond," with a "Stairway to Heaven" tease, before handing over the vocals to Singer. Fan favorite "Rock and Roll All Nite" was intro-ed with some Kiss philosophy: "If you came here tonight to hear a band tell you how to end global warming," Stanley hollered, "you're in the wrong damn place! We came here to escape from the world!" What followed was a hand-clapping, sing-along with a wondrous confetti shower. "Lick it Up" morphed into "Won't Get Fooled Again" and the four-song encore was capped with Thayer's guitar fireworks and a blast of pyro on the anthem "Detroit Rock City," designed to make everyone from junior and grandma leave feeling like they just saw the circus. While the two frontmen of Kiss are getting up there in years, Stanley issued something of a promise to the kids in the crowd. "We were there for your moms and dads," he said. "And you know somethin' -- we'll be there for you!" As long as they can walk out onstage in those 7-inch heels, Pitttts-burrrgh! will no doubt be there for them too.
KISS and AEG Live regretfully announce that the Tuesday, December 15th sold-out KISS performance at the Essar Center in Sault Ste. Marie, Ontario will have to be postponed due to severe weather conditions between Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, where the band is performing tonight, and Sault Ste. Marie, Ontario. "While our attitude is always 'the show must go on,' the safety of our crew and drivers has to be our first priority," said KISS' manager Doc McGhee. "Concerns about unsafe driving conditions between the two cities cannot be ignored." The Sault Ste. Marie KISS show will be rescheduled as part of the band's summer 2010 tour. Tickets for the December 15th show may be used for the rescheduled summer show or refunded at the point of purchase.
KISS Kompendium is an eye-popping compilation of the previously out-of-print Stan Lee Marvel comic book adventures of the legendary heavy metal band, as well as the famed Psycho Circus and Dark Horse editions and KISS's own KISStory. Only copies of KISS Kompendium purchased at Borders will be signed. Store Info: Borders Council Bluffs (and Omaha, as Paul Stanley noted throughout the show) was the latest stop on the rock band's "Alive 35" tour which coincides with the release of their latest album, Sonic Boom. Paul Stanley, Gene Simmons, Tommy Thayer and Eric Singer, with an average age of 50-something, are living proof of the old saying you're never too old to rock n roll. Age certainly didn't stop the Starchild from flying above the audience and landing on a platform in the center of the arena. And it definitely didn't stop the Demon from climbing into the rafters and reminding fans just what a musical master and talented showman he is. Classic stunts like drooling blood, spitting fire and dangling that famous tongue drew a reaction from the crowd that was beyond enthusiastic. Tommy Thayer delivered an impressive guitar solo highlighted with celestial footage behind him and projected on the screens above the stage. Lightning fast licks were even more amazing when they were performed with his guitar held over and behind his head. Of course, a rock performance is incomplete without a drum solo and Eric Singer took drumming to new heights, literally, with a performance that lifted him above the stage and lifted fans out of their seats. With a visually and aurally stunning stage show, the KISS set list included the classics beginning with "Deuce" and "Strutter" and moving on to fan favorites like "Calling Dr. Love" "I Love It Loud" and "Rock and Roll All Nite". Thrown into the mix were new songs "Modern Day Delilah" and "Say Yeah" which involved a bit of audience participation. The inevitable encore packed in just as much power as the main event with "Lick It Up", "Love Gun" and "Detroit Rock City". But no song was more fitting for the night than "Hotter Than Hell", a perfect description of the temperature inside the MAC thanks to pyrotechnics, fireworks and bursting flames that would have made Dante feel like he was right back in the Inferno. Soldiers of the KISS Army, both young and old and even a few decked out in full black and silver regalia, were on the frontlines of an unforgettable performance. Once declaring "You wanted the best, you got the best!" KISS continues to deliver on that promise. For more information: Visit the KISS website. To purchase a live recording of Friday's performance on a USB wristband or two-CD set, visit Concert Online and select the Council Bluffs event. "Sonic Boom" is available exclusively at WalMart.
In his IMV "Behind the Player" DVD, Frehley gives an intimate behind-the scenes look at his life as a professional musician, including rare video footage. Frehley then gives in-depth lessons for how to play "Shock Me" and "Cold Gin" and jams the tracks with special guest musicians, including Matt Sorum (GUNS N' ROSES, VELVET REVOLVER), John 5 (ROB ZOMBIE, MARILYN MANSON), Chris Wyse (THE CULT), Tommy Clufetos (TED NUGENT, ALICE COOPER, ROB ZOMBIE) and George Lynch (DOKKEN, LYNCH MOB). "Video Tab" shows exactly how Frehley plays the two tracks. The video-game-style animated tablature is similar to Guitar Hero, but shows how to play the tracks for real. Check out preview clips from Ace Frehley's "Behind the Player" DVD at this location. Get your copy at Guitar Center or www.IMVdvd.com. The producers of the IMV series donate $.25 from the sale of each DVD to Little Kids Rock, an organization that gets instruments in the hands of underprivileged kids.
About 150 seats to the classic rock act's concert at Essar Centre have gone on sale over two or three days since Dec 1. Some are prime front-row ducats. Diehard fans determined to see the band's first-ever show in Sault Ste. Marie on Tuesday are quickly snatching up small releases of seats from the arena's website. They're gone just minutes after they become available. "It's amazing to see people on the site regularly and see the tickets go right from our box office co-ordinator Nicole (Mosley's) monitor," said marketing and events manager Trevor Zachary. He's estimating "up to 100 tickets" could go on sale some time Monday or Tuesday after the band's production manager arrives and takes a first-hand look at the downtown arena. "If he feels we can open up more seats then that's what we'll do," said Zachary. More seats on top of those 100 could be released once the stage is set up. There are still an estimated eight to 10 seats in the first three sections on the floor up for grabs. A possible large-screen erected in the arena's parking lot that would broadcast the show live for fans who couldn't score seats won't be happening. Several factors, including a frosty blast of weather that will see temperatures dip to -10 C on Tuesday and security concerns, nixed the idea, said Zachary. Besides, he has to find room for 13 transports and "at least" six tour buses that are shipping Kiss and the band's concert equipment from their show in Pittsburgh on Sunday to the Sault. The number, Zachary acknowledged, "is an awful lot." Most bands have a total of about 10 vehicles that can be housed on the south end of the arena property near Bay Street. Zachary may have to tap some of the main parking lot to house the transportation end of the Kiss army.
"Family Guy": In the Season 3 episode "Road to Europe," Peter and Lois go to KISS-stock, a five-night concert featuring the band. He and Lois dress in KISS makeup and stand near the stage, but when Gene Simmons points the microphone at Lois during "Rock and Roll All Night," she doesn't know the words, and Peter is humiliated. They head to a Denny's restaurant, where KISS is eating and Lois recognizes Simmons by his birth name, Chaim Witz, and they talk about how they dated before Simmons was in the band. "Role Models": Paul Rudd and Seann William Scott star in this 2008 comedy about two friends, Danny and Wheeler, who get in trouble and are sentenced to 150 hours of mentoring kids. Wheeler's love of KISS helps him seem cool to the wild child he's placed with. For the final act of the film, the four main characters don KISS makeup. "Detroit Rock City": This 1999 movie takes place in 1978, where Lex, Trip, Hawk and Jam's favorite band is KISS. They're pumped up to head to a concert in Detroit, until Hawk's ultrareligious mom (who thinks "KISS" stands for "Knights In Satan's Service") lights their tickets on fire. The four friends have to find a way to get out of school, get to Detroit and get into the concert. Without getting caught. "What's New, Scooby-Doo?": During the '90s-era incarnation of the cartoon series, the episode "A Scooby-Doo Halloween" shows the mystery-solving gang in a town where KISS is playing at a Halloween concert. The song "Shout It Out Loud" plays during the episode's chase sequence.
The Starchild, Demon, Spaceman and Catman brought all of the above and a ton of pyrotechnics to the stage at the Mid-America Center. Paul Stanley, Gene Simmons, Tommy Thayer and Eric Singer strutted around and played every classic in their arsenal, with the notable exception of "Shout It Out Loud." And this is KISS, so don't forget about all of the flames and flash. They basically pulled off every arena rock trick in the book. The stage was enormous, in three sections with several moving pieces. Fireworks and spouts of flame shot out of the stage, while vast video screens displayed the tricks and licks - both guitar and otherwise. Confetti filled the arena while lights flickered and swirled. Band members got in on the action as well. Simmons and Stanley flew around the arena on cables. Simmons spit fire and blood, and Stanley smashed a guitar. Thayer shot fireworks from his axe and made pieces of the stage explode. All four members of the band got an individual solo. In short, it was the spectacle of rock spectacles. While they've all been seen and done, KISS probably invented them, so all the madness and explosions didn't feel cliche. It helped that the audience bought into it. Thousands filled the arena - only a few empty seats dotted the back of the venue - and clapped, sang, screamed and held up lighters during the two-hour set. Stanley played to the crowd all night long, mugging for pictures, tossing countless guitar picks to fans and, at every turn, shouting "Council Bluffs . . . and Omaha!" "I know a lot about you people," Stanley said to cheers. "I know some of ya' came from Omaha. The rest of ya' are locals. Some people talk about big cities. I believe in cities like you that really know what rock and roll is all about." The KISS Army even got into songs from the group's 2009 album, "Sonic Boom," its first in 11 years. "Modern Day Delilah" and "Say Yeah" fit right in with classics that included "Calling Dr. Love" and "Rock and Roll All Nite." The show's encore hit most of the band's big hits, including "Lick It Up," "Love Gun" and "Detroit Rock City." Many in the crowd wore KISS makeup, including two groups in full KISS regalia - armor, too. Quite a few in the audience were children probably experiencing their first KISS show. Many, many others were obviously KISS Army veterans, sporting T-shirts and tattoos supporting the rock 'n' roll legends. Stanley enjoyed the support. "One thing is for sure, you are representing the Kiss Army in grand style," he said.
Tommy Thayer hasn't strutted his stuff as a member of Kiss for nearly as long, but he concedes to feeling some kinship with the famed British musician when it comes to being dubbed new kid on the block. "If Ronnie Wood is the new Stone after 35 years, I'm definitely the new guy in Kiss," says Thayer, who officially took over lead guitar duties when original axeman Ace Frehley finally departed for good in 2002. "But my place in the band has become more and more fortified as time goes on, and that's great. Good things take time and this continues to build and grow for Kiss and for me personally, too." And, of course, Thayer can take some comfort that drummer Eric Singer, who first joined Kiss in 1991 but departed for a spell in the mid-1990s when the band reunited with Frehley and original drummer Peter Criss for the Alive/Worldwide Tour, is not original, either. And Thayer is not the first axeman to take over during the notoriously troubled Frehley's absences from the band; Bruce Kulick, Vinnie Vincent and the late Mark St. John also did guitar duties, some for longer than others, some painted up, some not. But overall, Thayer appears secure in his own skin -- or, perhaps, makeup. "It's an amazing feeling. You know, we're riding a big wave right now and I'm honoured to be playing lead guitar in Kiss now." No doubt. Maybe that's because Thayer has found his promised land. The Portland, Ore., native, now 49, was just another Kisscrazed kid in the 1970s, whose desire to learn the electric guitar was likely sparked by the likes of Frehley and other such notables of that decade, including Alice Cooper and Deep Purple. The profound difference, though, between Thayer and his young counterparts lies in the fact he would go on to actually trade guitar licks with Paul Stanley, sport the flamboyant Spaceman persona once occupied by Frehley and stake claim to being part of Gene Simmons' inner-circle, ever so coveted these days since the ample-tongued demon's side career as a reality show darling took off.
Now let's get this party started by saying if you're a fan of KISS you already know the score, if you are not (Why The F**k Not?) then you should give this record a spin. If you have already decided you don't like the band no matter what then A: Why are you reading this and B: this record isn't for you and you should just f**k right off now thank you very much... So back to the people who do matter, those still on this page at this point... Now depending on when you got into this band, will define your opinion on it; if you are an early 70's child circa Alive-Alive II (pre Double Platinum) then you are searching for the holy grail of 'Destroyer II' and this isn't it... Gene Simmons says, "SONIC BOOM" may be the best new record we've done since Destroyer! It is Rock And Roll Over meets Love Gun. Sonic Boom certainly has hints of 'Love Gun' and 'Rock N' Roll Over' (and that's close enough for me). Imagine asking the Beatles to do 'Sgt Pepper II' 30 years later and them in fact hitting close to 'Abbey Road/Let It Be' or The Stones getting their Ya Ya's back out but just missing the turning for Main Street - the world would gasp in awe of a band being able to do that, well they should do just the same for KISS... If you are a child of 'Dynasty till' the make up came off for 'Lick It Up' and you are searching for 'Creatures II' then you just better hold onto your hats... The same can be said for those who came of age during those hazy eighties days of 'Asylum' seeking 'Crazy Nights' for 'Revenge', then trust me there is plenty on offer for you too... Then to cap it all, if you joined the 'Psycho Circus' at the end of the century or discovered the band in this century, then this deffo is the best KISS record you evah heard baby... As I have got older I have fallen in love with all the different chapters of KISSTORY even though the first album I bought was 'Double Platinum' and the Solo albums and then had a ten year love affair till' those 'Crazy Nights' where I fell out of love, but 'Revenge' reminded me why I loved them & I was back on track and ain't got off the train since... This in fact is a combination of ALL era's of KISS, you can hear elements of certain times from each track, The opening track 'Modern Day Delilah' could easily be added as a 'missing' track to a 'Creatures Of The Night' re-issue as it just drives straight into the heart of hard rock... I Love It Loud... 'Never Enough' again could be Missing In Action from 'Animalize/Asylum' and slips right into the big chorus of the mid eighties, 'Yes I Know (Nobody Perfect) could be an outtake from Gene Simmons 1st solo album or in fact 'Rock N' Roll Over' as the guitar solo out Ace's 'Ace'... it has that whole driving groove that the band used to do so well, let's face it they invented 'Bubblegum Rock' and were The Beatles with make up... Some people will brand this album 'Throwaway' but they always miss the point because that is the point with KISS, It's part of the fans 'make up' to just love to drive fast, f**k hard, drink & play loud rock n' roll, the songs are easy to get into, easy to sing, easy to love and yeah Keep It Simple Stupid... 'Stand' is for me the 'Standout' track on the album, and should have been the lead cut / single as it just rolls into Paul Stanley's solo album groove with Gene involved too, Yes it has dual vocal & boy do we just love that shit, it's one of those fist pumping, foot tapping classics that the boy's just rode into the psycho circus on, You wanted the best, You got the best... They sound like a band again, All for one, one for all, Four lads who shook the world... It also is a call to arms to each other and the KISS ARMY... 'All For The Glory' I presume is Eric Singer picking up the 'Drummer Who Can Sing' mantle, he had big boots to fill with both previous occupants of the drum stool (Peter Criss / Eric Carr) and he has done so with such credit, he has kept so true to the band and the fans, he is a shining star at last in the Kiss Kamp... Same can be said for Tommy Thayer who has licked it up to stand alone as the combination of Ace, Vinnie, and Bruce from the previous incarnation, he always was Black n' Blue with influence but he certainly has come of age with this record, sure he's keeping to the script, but his ad-lib lines are well rehearsed and delivered with ease and the guitar parts just scream for more... Just listen to the solo in 'Danger Us'... And so it continues right to the end of the record, it's just more of the same and if you ain't completely hooked by the time you get to the killer closing cut in 'Say Yeah' and just press play from track one again, then you ain't no lover of rock, you ain't no lover of KISS and you ain't no friend of mine... All that's left for me is to convince them to come to the home of the birth of rock n' roll (Liverpool-The Beatles) and play live in the city's Echo Arena, I want to see the Fab Four drive down Penny Lane past Strawberry Fields in full make up bringing rock n' roll full circle in 2010, so it was, so it is so shall it be... They tour the UK & come close at Manchester MEN... I'm holding out for that Echo... No band should sound this good on a brand new record this far down the line, it's been 35 years (THIRTY FIVE) since the bands debut album in the seventies and they sound fresh and hungry, they have taken all the great bits from every decade and put it all into one, this album is like a decade by decade best of... Like I said NO band should sound this good after all this time, one band does... KISS...
The father of all over-the-top rock 'n' roll shows is on its way to town. KISS and all of its makeup, fireworks, spouts of flame, flashing lights, fire-breathing, blood and booming guitars will take over the Mid-America Center tonight. The group is on its "Alive 35" tour, celebrating the anniversary of its live album, "Alive!" The band is expected to play all the songs from "Alive!" as well as some of its new songs. That's right, the rockers are still making new music. Released in October, "Sonic Boom" debuted at No. 2 on the Billboard Top 200, KISS' best debut ever. Walmart is the sole retailer carrying the album. It comes as a three-disc package: The first disc includes new material, the second has rerecorded versions of old songs, and the third is a DVD of six live videos. The current tour also will feature a few things old-time KISS fans haven't seen: "New stage, new battle gear and a pyro arsenal that will again show everyone that there is only one KISS," guitarist and singer Paul Stanley said in a press release. "For 35 years, Kiss raised the bar for what a rock concert should really be. This year is no different- all new, all killer ... all KISS!" Gene Simmons added. "The master's class in rock is in session! KISS rules."
In the spirit of the KISS Army, when the ABC hit show "Extreme Makeover: Home Edition" told legendary rockers KISS about a family of needy KISS fans in Gainesville, Florida, who started a home-based, non-profit music school while their own home is falling down around them, the band heeded the call and launched the offense during their Tulsa stop on their North American KISS/Alive 35 tour. Tobin and Jill Wagstaff, a couple with four children, operate Studio Percussion, Inc., a school that currently serves about 200 people, half of which receive financial aid or a full scholarship. The non-profit school can only afford to pay Tobin, 29, a salary, so Jill, 32, must also work as a pre-school teacher to help pay the bills. Their utter devotion to their family, school, and community leaves little time and resources to tend to their home that is in dire need of repair. The floors and rooftops are completely rotting away and the electrical system throughout the house is faulty. In just seven days, "Extreme Makeover: Home Edition" team leader Ty Pennington, the design team, and the Gainesville community are rebuilding their home while the show sent the family on a surprise rock and roll vacation. The Wagstaff Family, who are huge KISS fans, flew to Tulsa, Oklahoma, to meet the band who played at the BOK Center in Tulsa on December 8 as part of their North American KISS/Alive 35 tour in support of Sonic Boom, their first album in 11 years. The next morning KISS and The Wagstaff Family, on behalf of Gibson and Mr. Holland's Opus Foundation, a non-profit music group, met at the Wilson Middle School in Tulsa to present $100,000 in instruments from Gibson to the school as well as their own school back home in Florida. Some of the students at the school in Tulsa even donned the famous KISS make up to show their support. The KISS episode of "Extreme Makeover: Home Edition" is scheduled to air in March/April, 2010. The Emmy award winning reality program "Extreme Makeover: Home Edition", now in its 7th season, is produced by Endemol USA, a division of Endemol Holding. It's executive-produced by Anthony Dominici. David Goldberg is Chairman, Endemol North America. The show airs Sundays from 8:00-9:00 p.m., ET on ABC.
That's not just because candy that melts in your mouth, not in your hand, didn't fit with blood and fire. Rather, Kiss members were the "Knights in Satan's Service," underworld, underground metal minstrels that your mom and dad hated -- even though they drove you to the show anyway -- and a partnership with the Mars company was unthinkable. KISS Of course, it didn't take long for Kiss to become a franchise and a slice of Americana. Now on the "Alive 35" tour, which hits the Mellon Arena on Sunday, it's topsy-turvy, with dads 40 to 50 turning their kids on to Kiss and bringing them along to the show. We didn't see the family Kiss event coming then, and we didn't see it coming as late as 1988, when the recently unmasked Gene Simmons was telling the PG, "We may put on the makeup again once someday, just for the hell of it, but we don't want to be an oldies show like the Monkees and just go through the motions. Kiss isn't about that. If there's a reason we've spanned the generations, it's because we stayed current." Kiss' claim to currency on this tour is that for the first time in 11 years, there is new musical product. "Sonic Boom," a throwback to the classic Kiss sound, was released in October, packaged with a sonic upgrade of the greatest hits and a live concert DVD. It was sold exclusively at Wal-mart next to the M&M's and Kiss Potato Heads that flew out the door without having wings -- well, except for the Gene one. "People say 'What about the Mr. Potato Heads and stuff?'" says Kiss guitarist Tommy Thayer. "To me it signifies that Kiss is an iconic group, with this great history now. But it really starts with a great rock 'n' roll band. We go out there and do a take-no-prisoners, bombastic show, and at the end of the day the merchandise doesn't drive the rock band, the rock band drives the merchandise. And people love it." Kiss started kicking around New York City in January of 1973, after frontmen Gene Simmons and Paul Stanley abandoned a project called Wicked Lester, and recruited Peter Criss and Ace Frehley for a concept that would combine the sound and theatrics of glam-rockers Alice Cooper, MC5 and the New York Dolls -- and go further over the top. Rather than a devilish acronym, the name was derived from Criss mentioning to Stanley that he had been in a band called Lips. It's hard now to imagine Kiss squeezing its high-flying act into a nightclub, but that's the way it started, with the full intention of one day destroying arenas. By the end of '73, Kiss, rejected by bigger labels, was signed to the upstart Casablanca Records for a self-titled debut album that wouldn't set the world on fire -- although Simmons did torch his hair a few times while breathing fire. In '74, Kiss started touring outside New York, beginning with Canada, and did play nearby cities such as Cleveland and Youngstown. The first visit to Pittsburgh was April 15, 1975, at the Stanley Theatre with Rush. Rich Engler, just a few years into the formation of concert giant DiCesare-Engler Productions, remembers that night for a few reasons. First of all, he loved the idea of Kiss, even though he wasn't all that familiar with the music. Not many people were, as there was no radio support for the band. "None," Engler recalls, "but it didn't matter. We wrote our own radio spots, saying 'Kiss is hotter than hell and dressed to kill!' and those spots got the curiosity seekers out. They also had the Kiss Army and they were diehard." On the day of the show, Kiss management informed Engler that the band wanted a limo. Engler hadn't worked that into the budget, so he talked his wife into picking them up at the airport in their Rolls-Royce. "This one time," she declared. "She goes out and picks them up and they didn't have their makeup on," Engler says. "They go, 'We don't want anyone to see us, so don't drive anywhere where people can see us.' So when she got down near the city, during rush hour, they were like crouching down in the back of the limo, and of course, at the time, no one would have recognized them anyway because nobody knew them. She calls me and says, 'That one guy is a real character, that Gene Simmons.' She said he had some sexual wisecracks, as he always does. At least he didn't make any advances -- yet." The show ended up being a near sellout, almost filling the 3,000-seat hall, and while Engler was prepared for rock theater, he wasn't up to speed on every detail. "The next thing I know," he says, "I see this big ball of fire they're blowing out of their mouths during the show and they catch the top curtains on fire. Fortunately, they were flame-retardant so they sort of like caught and then smoldered. We had to send someone up there with a fire extinguisher and spray it during the show. It was a little drama. The crowd went absolutely crazy for them." There was minor drama backstage as well. Says Engler, "I'm standing with my wife, and Gene comes over to me and says, 'Hey, she needs to be manhandled.' I said, 'Don't worry, I'll do the manhandling. You just play your music. ...' " Later that year, on Dec. 20, Kiss returned with plenty of ceiling space for smoke and fire under the Civic Arena dome. This was two months after releasing the explosive "Alive!" and scoring a first Top 40 hit with "Rock and Roll All Nite." Neither of the local papers wrote a word about the show. Kiss was back already in April 1976 on the "Destroyer" Tour and then again in January 1978. By then, Kiss was voted the most popular band in America in a Gallup poll, so the band got its first ink in the Post-Gazette, a review that read like no one had ever heard of the group before. It noted the "Barnum-and-Bailey-meets-Dracula theatrics" and went on to say, "The'70s are nearly over and still haven't acquired a definitive adjective such as 'roaring' for '20s. So maybe Kiss does represent the decade." Perhaps. But going into the '80s, the "hottest band in the land" was starting to simmer, a victim of fan fatigue, internal band tensions, too many comics and cartoons, the ill-advised "Music From 'The Elder' " concept album with strings and synths, the departures of Criss and Frehley and the 1983 unmasking. Simmons and Stanley continued to tour with a string of replacements and churn out an album almost every year, but much of the Kiss Army had deserted. Sadly, by 1984, an unpainted Simmons was blowing fire again back at the Stanley Theatre with Eric Carr on drums and Vinnie Vincent on guitar. It wasn't even sold out. Later in the decade, they were back at the Arena, but playing to half the house on tours for "Asylum" and "Crazy Nights." A decade later, enough time had passed for Kiss nostalgia to kick in, spawned by a reunion of the original quartet at the Grammy Awards in 1996. When they came through the Arena that summer, they were sporting the best-selling tour of the year. Now, here we are 13 years later and nine years after The Farewell Tour -- never, ever believe those! Kiss has rocked the Super Bowl, the Olympics and "American Idol," waged a tour with Aerosmith, and continued to change members like underwear. Stanley has released a solo album and endured two hip surgeries to keep him flying around in those boots. "The Demon" has become an unlikely reality TV star with "Gene Simmons Family Jewels." And the Kiss blitz is on with "Sonic Boom" weighing in as the highest-charting Kiss album ever (No. 2). Lucky enough to enjoy this resurgence is the newest member of Kiss, guitarist Thayer, who actually has a long history with the band. Thayer, 49, first saw Kiss on the theater tour in Portland in 1974 and his band Black N Blue later opened for Kiss in the '80s. As sort of a goof, the guitarist then took on the role of Ace in the Kiss tribute band Cold Gin, which was good enough to be invited to play Stanley's birthday party in the early '90s. Thayer was then hired as Simmons' assistant before getting to play some of the guitar parts on 1998's "Psycho Circus" and then actually donning the Spaceman suit for the first time in 2002 -- with no mixed feelings about replacing Ace. "What an honor," Thayer says. "To the contrary, I would have had mixed feelings about a new character or something because after 30, 35 years, you don't want to try to fix what's not broken. That's Kiss. People debate that on a certain level, but there's never been a question in my mind that was a smart choice. Let me ask you, if somebody said, 'You're going to be the new lead guitarist for Kiss tomorrow and wear the Spaceman persona outfit, what would you do?' " (I would get guitar lessons and do it ...) Anyway, those who saw Thayer on the Aerosmith tour were relieved to see that not only could he shred, but he wasn't trying to put his own stamp on Frehley's parts. "Kiss has a legacy, a history," he says. "I remember when I used to see concerts and maybe they had a different guitar player and the guy came out and didn't play the signature solos the way they were recorded -- I was always disappointed. I thought to myself, 'If I'm ever in this situation, I'm going to go out and nail them to the T.' " Thayer does manage to make his presence known on "Sonic Boom" with a variety of heavy guitar styles, ranging from Ace's to Rage Against the Machine's. "We didn't make a retro album or something," Thayer says. "The goal was to make one of the greatest Kiss records we could ever make and the approach was smart. Paul spearheaded this and we approached it like a new band coming out of the garage without all these outside influences. The cool thing about it is, it does encompass all the great eras of Kiss. There's '70s flavor in there, '80s flavor, '90s 'Revenge'-era flavor. There's a little bit of everything in there, including some new vigor as well." Kiss being back on top coincides with the potential ending to a long-simmering, rather controversial snub. At last, after the first-ever fan protest (in 2006), Kiss is nominated for the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and will learn this month if it has the votes. "It's very exciting," Thayer says. "I personally think it's laughable that Kiss isn't already in the Hall of Fame. Although, this is not something that defines Kiss. Kiss is already an iconic group, one of, if not the biggest American rock groups ever, so Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, it's nice, but Kiss is already a hall of fame band. I'm so proud to be in it."
Fast forward to 2009 and my how times have changed. KISS is prime family entertainment. Parents, grandparents, aunts and uncles gather their children by their hands and lead them into an arena that has been transformed into the Kiss Army's home base of operations..... and all are welcome. Face painting stations line the main concourse so adult and child alike can be transformed into their favorite band member. The atmosphere is electric. The mood is joyful. KISS has come to town. "I saw my first KISS concert when I was fourteen. I had to sneak out to see them and risked a beating of a lifetime from my father if he ever found out." John Edwards smiles down as his eight year old daughter as he recalls his fond memories of childhood rebellion. "And now I am bringing my daughter to her first KISS show." Edwards is not alone. KISS has turned into a cross generational celebration of ROCK . Grandparents in their 60's enjoy KISS as much as they did in their teens. "My grandpa brought me to tonight!" beam 12 year old Tyler Henson as he puts on his new KISS t-shirt just purchased at the merch stand, by none other than his grandfather. Thomas Hanson recalls the 1970's when KISS was under fire for their wild concert performances. "It is all so laughable now. KISS is exactly as they were back then. I guess it just took some people longer get it." As the lights go down, the massive black KISS curtain drops. The arena surges to life as thousand leap to their feet. Strobe lights of white, red, blue and green bath a stage now swirling with thick coils of smoke as Paul Stanly and Gene Simmons first appear. The crowd rewards them as their voices reach deafening levels. KISS has just taken stage for their first arena show in Tulsa. "I WANT TO ROCK AND ROLL ALL NIGHT!!!!!! AND PARTY EVERYDAY!!!!!!!" Close to 15,000 fans screamed out the lyrics in unison as the KISS ARMY infiltrated the once peaceful void of Tulsa's BOK CENTER. "TULSA!!!! WE HEAR OKLAHOMA CITY HAS THE REP FOR BEING THE CITY THAT ROCKS IN OKLAHOMA," Paul Stanly shouted before the ravenous crowd which replies with a chorus of boo's. Stanly smiles, "But NOT tonight. Tonight it is all you!" And the crowd goes wild in agreement and appreciation...... KISS will have a 10 page photographic feature in ROCKVILLE MAGAZINES 2010 March anthology.
So it turns out giving a concert away online is a pretty good way to sell beer and video games. On Nov. 25, Kiss partnered with live streaming video platform Ustream for an online broadcast of the bombastic and pyrotechnic closing concert for its "35 Alive" tour at Los Angeles' Staples Center. The broadcast drew more than 2 million views -- Ustream's feed was viewed on its own site as well through social-media hubs such as Facebook -- and it generated enough buzz to rate as a trending topic on Twitter during the Thanksgiving eve performance. The 1.1 million unique visitors, while not rocking all night, stuck around a while: The average viewing time during the broadcast was 43 minutes. "We knew we'd get a big audience," said Kiss' longtime manager, Doc McGhee. "But we didn't know they'd stay on for that long." Ustream executives said part of the reason for the lengthy viewing times -- and the big audience -- was a backstage pre-show segment that ran before the concert started, which ramped up online buzz before the musicians took the stage. Golden opportunity The results obviously pleased the event's exclusive sponsor, Anheuser-Busch, which had the logo for its newly launched Bud Light Golden Wheat brand in the corner of the screen. (That brand's launch has featured a number of clever branded-entertainment partnerships, including a much-discussed "Saturday Night Live" takeover in October.) "We're looking for ways we can connect outside the 30-second spot," said Keith Levy, VP-marketing at A-B. "Ustream was a unique way to do that." Mr. Levy said A-B found its way to Kiss through its extensive sponsorship of ABC's "Jimmy Kimmel Live," which has featured a number of high-profile musical acts, including Kiss. That deal, reportedly valued at $5 million, gives A-B sponsorship of some 187 of the show's concert events, as well as a spotlight on Bud Light in a series of live commercials. Also benefiting from the massive live audience was Activision, which recently released a three-song Kiss "Track Pack" for its "Guitar Hero 5" game. That pack -- which includes the songs "Modern Day Delilah," "I Was Made for Loving You" and "Lick It Up" -- was plugged throughout the show via a text scroll on the bottom of the screen, and those efforts seem to have paid off: Activison Senior VP-Marketing Will Kassoy said the Kiss pack has had the best sales of any of the 15 "Guitar Hero 5" downloadable track packs since the game's September launch. (Activision doesn't release totals.) Mr. Kassoy said Activision is likely to look to live-streaming concerts to boost track sales again. "We'll definitely look to create these kinds of partnerships again in the future with other top-tier bands," he said.
Mike Judge: Yeah, I had originally described the character as looking like Gene Simmons with a pony tail and a suit and tie. I was kind of naive though, in that I thought no one would recognize him without the Kiss makeup on. I didn't realize how huge the reality show was. The only time I had ever seen him without the makeup was on Politically Incorrect about 9 years ago and thought he would be great playing an agent or high-powered attorney.
The band helped surprise the entire school with a presentation of about $100,000 in new musical instruments from Mr. Holland's Opus Foundation at an afternoon assembly. "In public education, there is no crisis greater than the lack of money going into musical enrichment," KISS guitarist Paul Stanley said at the assembly. "The government needs to understand musical programs in schools is not a luxury. It's a necessity. Stanley asked whether students wanted to see their school's 40 new trumpets, flutes, alto saxophones and violins, and they responded with deafening screams of affirmation. Wearing royal blue "Extreme Makeover Home Edition" T-shirts, Wilson teachers came running in the back doors of the school auditorium carrying the instruments. 'How do you feel?" Stanley asked Wilson band director Doug Scott on stage. "I'm just ecstatic," Scott replied. "I can't put it into words. This is just the greatest thing I could possibly hope for. Principal Caleb Starr explained outside of the assembly that producers approached the school with an offer of free musical instruments as part of an upcoming edition of the show. A Florida music teacher and his wife and kids are getting a brand new house and the teacher wanted to give musical instruments to a school in need as a way of paying the show?s act of generosity forward to others. The Mr. Holland's Opus Foundation stepped up to make the donation to Wilson Middle School in the family's name. Producing the television show segment was an all-day affair at Wilson, 1127 S. Columbia Ave. In the morning, band and orchestra students helped unpack the brand new instruments, which will be used for the first time at Wilson's winter concert on Thursday. "I'm really excited and really nervous," said seventh grader Kira Palmer. "My dad - whenever I was really young, like eight - we watched five hours back-to-back KISS concerts together. It was really cool. PTA members visited classrooms all morning, choosing a few students in each to have their faces covered with KISS' trademark face paint. The band finally arrived in their luxury bus about 1 p.m. They were whisked through a rear entrance to a makeshift "green room," where Tulsa Superintendent Keith Ballard and other officials greeted them, thanked them for their part in the special event and asked for a quick picture together. Almost an hour later, the band loaded back onto their bus to make a grand entrance through the school's front doors with the Florida family getting a new house from "Extreme Makeover." School workers, parents and visitors crammed into the main hall to get a look at the group who violated numerous school dress codes as they made their way into the lobby wearing full stage makeup and costumes complete with spiked, skintight pants with thigh-bearing cutouts, winged capes, bare chests and skyhigh platform boots. In between the ABC camera crew's multiple takes of the entrance, KISS bassist Gene Simmons showed off some of his notorious behavior toward women, too. At one point, he backed a female officer from the Tulsa Police Department, who was providing security for the band's visit, into a doorway using his backside and then strutted off, leaving her grimacing in the corner. About 2:30, the entire student body filed out of their classrooms into the auditorium for the special assembly. ABC production workers had them scream and holler as loud as they could a few times for the sake of cameras throughout the room, and then Ed Sanders, a personality and designer from the ABC show, took the stage to begin the assembly. Even though students knew to expect KISS, the band burst through the auditorium?s back doors, surprising them. The band members highfived their way through the shrieking, jumping mass of students and took the stage.
Sleaze Roxx: I was looking at your website and I saw that you attended the KISS show in Anaheim. So I imagine you have heard "Sonic Boom"? What are your thoughts on it? Bruce Kulick: I have heard it. It's not a record that I have heard a lot. I think I've heard it twice. I knew when it came to the live show they were only going to do two songs live anyway. I think they did two that night, I actually couldn't stay for the whole show as I had a flight the next day to Europe and I still needed to pack. I think it was wonderful that they did a new record, I'm proud of Paul [Stanley] for taking charge and producing the record. It was great that they didn't bring in anyone from the outside and he went for it. The end result was a fine record. Sleaze Roxx: You and Eric Singer stepped aside when Peter Criss and Ace Frehley came back, Eric eventually returned and now Tommy Thayer is in the band. Were you offered the opportunity to wear the Ace paint? Would you have ever done that? Bruce: Great question. I do get asked [that] on occasion... To be honest, I'm relieved that I wasn't asked. Honestly, playing the Ace role would be very awkward for me. It was very natural for Tommy to walk into that role, eventually being in KISS ran its course with Ace. If you followed KISS since the reunion with Ace and Peter, there were a number of times where it looked like Ace was going to miss the show, so the band had Tommy dressed up as Ace backstage ready to go. They did a private gig that Ace didn't take part in, Tommy played and then they did the promo for "That '70s Show", Ace didn't want to do it and Tommy stepped in. Tommy played Ace in a KISS tribute band that was very successful. He's a great guitarist and it was very natural for him to be Ace. For me, I think after spending all those years establishing myself as the guitarist in KISS in the non-make-up era, to then put on the paint wouldn't be a good match. Of course, I miss the guys and miss being in the band, but I think Tommy is able to do much more for them than I would be able to right now. Playing that role would not be as comfortable for me as what I used to do. If they did a "Revenge"-era version of the band and I wasn't there I'd be hurt, I'd be very hurt. I'm not hurt now and I think you can understand that sentiment. Read the entire interview from Sleaze Roxx.
BUCKCHERRY opened with a strong set, playing tunes off their newest album "Black Butterfly" and pushing their live CD, "Live and Loud". Naturally they wrapped up with "Crazy Bitch" and the stadium was singing along. But it was obvious everyone was there to see one band. KISS. And what a show! I've never had the chance to see KISS live until now and I was blown away. Almost literally what with the pyro and all. Opening up with "Deuce", KISS played it up for the crowd and the photographers in the pit for the first two songs and threw out guitar picks to the crowd all night long. This is one band that knows how important their fans are and they showed that all night long. Gene Simmons even pulled a little ten year old girl up on stage to take a few pictures at one point and officially winning him 'rock star of the decade' in my book. The set was a great mix of classic KISS - such as Dr. Love - as well as some tunes from their newest album "Sonic Boom". If you haven't gotten it yet I highly suggest, as Paul Stanley said, that you get yourself to Walmart and buy it. One of the most famous KISS songs, Rock and Roll All Night, wrapped up the first part of the set with the crowd singing along and confetti flying through the air. Cold Gin had an amazing guitar solo in which Tommy Thayer shot sparks from his guitar into the lighting rigs above the stage - causing a piece to come crashing to the stage. Planned? I don't know but it was awesome either way! 100,000 Years saw an incredible drum solo from Eric Singer as his drum platform raised into the air and rotated. Of course Gene Simmons had his bass solo as well during I Love It Loud. And if his playing wasn't enough you got the always loved blood dripping from his mouth only to be topped by Gene being pulled straight up a good 40 feet into the air to continue the song from a platform atop the lighting rig. Not to be outdone, Paul Stanley took to a rope and metal ring and flew out across the crowd to land on a second stage on the opposite side of the arena for Love Gun. The show ended with the famous Detroit Rock City and pyro that shook American Airlines Center. There is no doubt in anyone's mind that KISS still has it and will for a long time coming. Check out their website and get their latest album "Sonic Boom" at a Walmart near you and keep the KISS Army alive!
Oakville residents voted Tom Linhares' Gene Simmons' Family KISSmas float, runner-up in the new Oakville's Choice Award for the Santa Parade. "Tom said the looks on the faces of not only the kids, but the adults, as he went by, were something he'll never forget," said Pam Damoff, chair of the 2009 Santa Claus Parade. Not many who attended the Nov. 21 parade are likely to forget seeing Linhares, a. k. a. Gene Simmons, either. He was clad in black leather and silver rivets, complete with elaborate KISS makeup. It was the Gene Simmons Family KISSmas and all of Tom's family - his wife and four children - took part. "I tried not to stick out my tongue at the kids, but I did at some older ladies," laughed Tom. He confessed he's been a KISS fan for several decades, since he was 10 years old - and it?s fun. What has become a Halloween tradition, to dress up a la KISS, usually Gene Simmons, was extended into Christmas this year. "This will be the first KISSmas our family celebrates," said Tom who has always done the makeup, but this year bought a stage costume. "It's not every day that you can strut your stuff down Lakeshore Road and get away with it," smiled Tom, who said ultimately the comic book style of KISS, the dressing up as someone else briefly, all appeal to the child in him. And KISS plays rock music. It just so happened the theme of this year's parade was a rock'n'roll Christmas. Tom admits he's probably the biggest KISS fan on the west side of Winston Churchill Boulevard. And while the float represented a financial commitment, Tom said it was not expensive given the amount of fun he and his family had. Nor many local residents - if you go by the online votes. While his wife Suzanne drove the float, his children Aaron, 19, Amanda, 11, Julia, 6, and Hailey, 2, took part as well. They all painted their faces except Hailey, who wanted to be a princess, said her dad. Tom said he even hung mistletoe on the float, then added, "But I had no takers. My wife kept jerking the truck." Tom said placing as a runner up surprised him- St. Ignatius of Loyola won, as well as being named best overall float - but said, "It made my mom so proud." "I love where I live, I love Oakville," said Tom, a middle manager at a Mississauga plant who first moved to Clearview in 1995 and then moved to his home in Falgarwood.
Iconic rock act KISS greeted fans on Wednesday to sign memorabilia for the new Hard Rock Hotel & Casino, a day after a near full-house concert at Tulsa's BOK Center. Hundreds upon hundreds of fans raised digital cameras - and screams - in unison as the foursome marched in wearing full makeup. Their inches-tall platform boots raised them to superstar status as they peered over their fans. They said hello, and within minutes the scene evaporated. Beautiful blonds handed the band two guitars: A Washburn guitar and Gibson bass, it was passed around, autographed and set aside. That didn't keep fans from packing in shoulder-to-shoulder to watch what 12-year-old Michael Hernandez called a "once-in-a-lifetime event." "This may even be more exciting than the concert," said his mom Kathi Hernandez. "The band is right there, right in front of us." Band members Tommy Thayer, Gene Simmons, Eric Singer and Paul Stanley stayed at the hotel Tuesday and Wednesday night before heading out to Kansas City to continue the Alive/35 world tour, hotel executives confirmed. The band's been around for 35 years. That's a lot of time to win over hordes of fans, young and old. Take 9-year-old Skylar Leach, for example. She and brother Trey, 12, and dad Charles, brought in an electric guitar on the off chance someone in the band might autograph it. "They said 'no autographs' earlier," said Charles Leach, standing in the chill and hefting a black and white Fender as his children huddled next to him. "But Paul took my guitar," said Skylar Leach of KISS lead singer Paul Stanley. "He signed it." She pointed as a Sharpie-tattooed black star and scribbled signature dried on the pickguard. Skylar Leach beamed. During a news conference, asked what the most surprising thing was about those intervening decades, Stanley said bluntly, "You." He pointed to the crowd. "We've become something multigenerational. We just hope we can give back to you all that you've given to us over the years." Young children sat on shoulders as parents swayed underneath them, all singing along to KISS hit "Rock and Roll All Nite" as it played over the intercom. "This is what Hard Rock's all about," said David Stewart, CEO of Cherokee Nation Entertainment, which owns the property. "The word's out that Tulsa's the place to be. We'll just keep adding to it all." But there's something else, too. ... "And of course, there's all the pretty girls," said KISS bassist Gene Simmons. "It must be something in the water."
"I can't believe what all they have planned," said Caleb Starr, principal at Wilson. "This is going to be an amazing experience for the kids and the adults." Starr said producers from "Extreme Makeover" approached him with an offer of free musical instruments from Mr. Holland's Opus Foundation as part of an upcoming edition of the show. "They're rebuilding the home of a music teacher and his wife," said Starr, "and the teacher wanted to give musical instruments to a school in need. They asked if we would be interested and we jumped on the opportunity." Starr said he was thrilled to learn KISS would be at the school to formally present 40 brand new musical instruments to Wilson students. "It's like when you were a kid and Mickey Mouse would visit," said Starr. "I'm sure when it's all over I still won't believe it's happened!" A bus carrying the music teacher's family, KISS members and show producers arrived at Wilson, 1127 S. Columbia Ave., at 10 a.m. The group took a tour of the band room and surveyed the dilapidated musical instruments with Wilson music teacher Doug Scott. KISS frontman Paul Stanley, a passionate supporter of the Mr. Holland's Opus Foundation, went from classroom to classroom gathering students to become face-painted members of a KISS mini army. The event-filled day culminated with a KISS/"Extreme Makeover"/Mr. Holland's Opus Foundation rally where KISS formally presented the instruments. Starr said he hoped there would be time for one more event. "I hope I get to put Gene Simmons [KISS's infamous bass player and lead vocalist] in detention for sticking his tongue out," he said. According to the Mr. Holland's Opus Foundation web site, the organization donates both new and refurbished instruments to school and after-school music programs that lack the resources to keep up with equipment loss due to attrition, depreciation and wear over time. An infusion of instruments enables more students to participate and to experience a quality music education, according to the site. Wilson Middle School has 515 students, 93 percent of whom qualify under federal poverty guidelines for free or reduced-price meals.
"I can't believe what all they have planned," said Caleb Starr, principal at Wilson. "This is going to be an amazing experience for the kids and the adults." Starr said producers from Extreme Makeover approached him with an offer of free musical instruments from Mr. Holland's Opus Foundation as part of an upcoming edition of the show. "They're rebuilding the home of a music teacher and his wife," said Starr, "and the teacher wanted to give musical instruments to a school in need. They asked if we would be interested, and we jumped on the opportunity." Starr and his students were thrilled to learn KISS would be at the school to formally present the 40 new musical instruments to Wilson students, including violins, trumpets, saxophones and flutes.,P>"Everybody was like, KISS is coming," said 7th grader Kira Palmer. "Oh my gosh, they are donating instruments, I'm like 'no way,' but now that this is happening, I'm just really glad that they're doing this." Students got their faces painted just like the members of KISS. According to the Mr. Holland's Opus Foundation web site, the organization donates both new and refurbished instruments to school and after-school music programs that lack the resources to keep up with equipment loss due to attrition, depreciation and wear over time. Wilson Middle School has 515 students, 93% of whom qualify under federal poverty guidelines for free or reduced-price meals. "It means a new opportunity for kids that want to be in the band, but we didn't have enough instruments so they can now be in the band," said Michael.
"I can't believe what all they have planned," said Wilson principal Caleb Starr in a release. "This is going to be an amazing experience for the kids and the adults." Starr said producers from Extreme Makeover approached him with an offer of free musical instruments from Mr. Holland's Opus Foundation as part of an upcoming edition of the show. "They're rebuilding the home of a music teacher and his wife," Starr said, "and the teacher wanted to give musical instruments to a school in need. They asked if we would be interested and we jumped on the opportunity." Starr and his students were thrilled to learn KISS would be at the school to formally present the 40 new musical instruments to Wilson students, including violins, trumpets, saxophones and flutes. The release states Wilson Middle School has 515 students, 93 percent of whom qualify under federal poverty guidelines for free or reduced-price meals. KISS will be at the school to formally present 40 brand new musical instruments to Wilson students. "It's like when you were a kid and Mickey Mouse would visit," Starr said. "I'm sure when it's all over I still won't believe it's happened!" In addition, KISS member Paul Stanley will go from classroom to classroom gathering students to become face-painted members of a KISS mini army. Music students helped unpack the new instruments to prepare for the arrival of ABC "Extreme Home Makeover" crews and KISS. "I'm really excited and really nervous," said seventh-grader Kira Palmer. "My dad, whenever I was really young like 8, we watched five hours back-to-back KISS concerts together. It was really cool." Awnaway Morris, 12, helped unpack the ten trumpets, ten flutes, ten violins, and ten alto saxophones on Wednesday morning. Buzz about a surprise at Wilson began circulating among students a week ago, but no one knew legendary rock 'n' rollers were involved until Wednesday, she said.
Dickison has worked on stage productions of "Beauty and the Beast," "Sweeney Todd" and "A Christmas Carol," and on some independent film productions. One of her specialties is replicating the makeup worn by KISS members during performances. Here are her tips for putting on one's best KISS face. For Paul Stanley (modeled by Abby Krizner, of WXDX-FM, 105.9): Start by drawing the star points over the right eye. It's easiest to pinpoint five dots, then connect them into the shape of a star. Next, fill in the star with a black, creme makeup -- Dickison recommends Ben Nye -- using a synthetic brush. Red makeup outlines the lips to exaggerate the peaks; red creme makeup is used to make the lips look fuller. Then, the eyebrow without the star is exaggerated, again using black creme makeup. A translucent powder is then applied with a puff to set the makeup, using a rolling motion. Next, white creme makeup is applied to the outline of the star and lips to define them. Finally, white creme makeup is applied to all the other areas of the face to complete the character. Make sure there are no streaks or bare spots, then reapply the translucent powder. For Gene Simmons (modeled by Trib reporter Rege Behe): Simmons' makeup is symmetrical, a flame-demon pattern over the eyes with large points. Again, Dickison creates the outline first, one eye at a time, to create symmetry. Black creme makeup fills in the design, and translucent powder is used to set the makeup. Move on to the other eye and repeat process, making sure the points are as symmetrical as possible. Next, the lips are exaggerated and filled in with black creme makeup. Add a widow's peak on the center of the forehead. Again, outline these areas with white creme makeup using a brush. Then, white creme makeup is applied to the rest of the face and set with translucent powder.
CLICK HERE to enter the KISS KOMPENDIUM SWEEPSTAKES In '77, blood from each member of the rock band KISS was drawn by a registered nurse and poured into vats of red ink used for printing the band's first comic book. It was created by Marvel legend Stan Lee and was the beginning of a hugely successful KISS comic book franchise. All are now out of print. Now, for the first time, the KISS Kompendium combines the most breathtaking KISS comic books into a lush oversized collector's compilation. Brought to life by graphic illustrations as riveting and hardcore as the band's real-life fire-breathing line-up, the Demon (Gene Simmons), Starchild (Paul Stanley), and the other band members' superhero alter egos defeat evil in over 1200 pages of stunning KISS comics! This is a book authorized by KISS. KISS founding members Gene Simmons and Paul Stanley have contributed the forewords to this. The book also includes exclusive never-before-seen backstage photos from KISS' newest tour along with commentary by the band-members. This is a must-have for every KISS fan eagerly awaiting the band's new album, their first in over 10 years, and a perfect holiday gift for comic-book lover to pour over time and time again. The KISS Kompendium, over 1,200 pages of KISS comics - is on sale now - is available for order at Amazon.com
Some 35 years after its inception, Tuesday night's KISS concert at the BOK Center was Disney gone horror show. When it comes to rock 'n' roll, that's a very, very good thing. From the audience pit railing, a pint-sized devil-faced Gene Simmons hoisted his rock hand at the real deal, who towered over him and returned the salute. The devil grinned and twirled, cape spinning out as he strutted away. The night was full of "classic vintage KISS," yelled Stanley. He lead a cheeky, rock pep-rally and cheering contests between youngsters and oldsters. Of course, they all won. Indeed, the set list was heavy with early classics that exploded in old-school showmanship. "Deuce," "Strutter," "Hotter Than Hell," "Calling Dr. Love," "Shock Me," "Rock and Roll All Nite," "Shout it Out Loud," "Lick it Up" and more pounded out with fierce volume and ecstatic cries from the crowd. They struck out on a vintage hit parade that included party anthems about women, sex, private parts, women, sex acts and bombast. And sex. And bombast. And women. There were smoke grenades, fire breathing, blinding strobes, silver-glittered platform boots, rows and rows of video screens, stories-tall LED projection screens, blood-spitting, aerial acrobatics, whirling drum kits, noodling guitar solos. What else? And that tongue - bassist Gene Simmons' outstretched, crimson-wet, wagging,taunting tongue. If all the showmanship didn't all so utterly embody the very essence of KISS - and genuine rock 'n' roll - it would be a tired, hilariously overdone cliche. Many claim that KISS invented the spectacle of arena rock some 35 years ago. For this tour, the band re-invented them. Stanley gets it. At times, the near-parody brought the crowd to laughter. It's always to laugh near, not at, right? It was surreal when singer and guitarist Paul Stanley warned about the dangers of drunken driving before launching into "Cold Gin." Yeah, he said it. Paul Stanley, one of the most bombastic greasepainted faces in rock pushed a little bit of personal responsibility onto his fans. He also touted new classics and Wal-Mart - about half a dozen times -before launching into the first tune of the night from their first studio album in 11 years, "Sonic Boom." Though new, it only warranted two songs in the two-hour concert: "Modern Day Delilah" and "Say Yeah." At times, the guys looked a bit awkward when they'd go knock-kneed, hovering over 8-inch platform boots as they leaned into blistering guitar and bass solos. But c'mon, they were playing "Detroit Rock City." Confetti cannons exploded. Fireballs flash-heated the arena. Lead guitarist Thayer's the babe-in-ax at age 49. He also stole the show with his four-minute long solo and his rocket-shooting guitar, which happened to take out a piece of scaffolding. So what if all of the guys in the band are firmly embedded in middle age. They've had a lifetime to perfect this. Heck, they practically invented it.
In the 11 years since releasing the patchy Psycho Circus, Kiss have marketed kaskets, opened a koffeeshop, and released krappy solo albums, apparently on a mission to make everyone but diehards forget that, for a few LPs running, they were the greatest rock band of the '70s. It's a breath of fiery air, then, that their latest is as close to a return to classic form as anyone could reasonably expect. "Never Enough" and "Stand," in particular, equal the anthemic might of "Rock and Roll All Nite," while "Danger Us" actually transcends its silly titular pun. The clich?s (sorry, lyrics) otherwise define hoary, as backbones slip, things go out of the frying pan and into the fire, and hearts beat like drums. Nice to hear some things never change.
Come 9 p.m., the giant curtain with the KISS logo came down to a screaming audience, large clouds of white smoke rolled off the stage making way for Paul, Gene and Tommy! Eric Singer, the drummer was safely perched high on top of the 12 feet tall KISS logo, making him nearly invisible to my camera. It was great to hear some good old fashion rock-n-roll, no drum machines, backup singers or endless stage dancers to distract the crowd from the actual music. There were of course the 30 feet tall flames of fire shooting up from the stage, fire works explosions and Paul's fire spewing guitar, layers of white make-up, black leather galore, and the iconic platform boots. In addition to playing their mega hits such as Calling Dr. Love and Detroit Rock City they played songs such as Modern Day Delilah and Say Yeah form their new album Sonic Boom. Which, according to Paul Stanley, we should "run out and get from our nearest Walmart." This was one of the strangest on stage endorsements I have heard lately. The new songs have the classic rock-n-roll sound that will be loved by both the KISS aficionados and new fans alike. Judging from the enthusiastic, alcohol filled, yelling and screaming audience, classic rock-n-roll is ALIVE AND WELL, at least in Austin.
Wracked in the proverbial nuts of our immune system, Aftermath downed whatever meds he needed to make it to Toyota Center, because there is always the slim chance that this will be the "last tour" in the same way that everyone always has that twinge of guilt when they miss the Stones or Dylan date in their hometown. Those artists are also sadly depleting natural elements that can't be just reconstituted at a later date for consumption. True it is that KISS is now down to only two original members, but you people gobble up The Who without Moon and the Ox like they were a bag of Walker's Crisps, so what difference does it make? All KISS fans need to survive is Gene Simmons' pornographic tongue and Paul Stanley's hammy stage banter to get us through. Plus fire. And blood. Old-school KISS fans, the ones who in their teens and younger when the band used to swing through the old Sam Houston Coliseum and the Summit, are a special and rare breed. Not only have they seen the show for the past 35 years, they still enjoy it just like the very first time. Once you see those four letters light up behind Paul and Gene, it's hard to not feel that you are now a part of a rock and roll lineage whatever age you are or whichever number KISS show you are on. KISS starts the night with that old familiar "You wanted the best, you got the best..." line that temporarily gives the band ownership of whatever venue they are playing in. No one else has the balls these days to have a disembodied voice introduce their band with such a lofty introduction, and it's a shame. "Deuce" and "Strutter" open the show in a flash of fire and heavy smoke, as they have for going on almost five decades. If you squint your eyes just right, it's 1975 all over again. There would be no lulls during the show, with the band picking out every single punishing glam-metal hallmark in their repertoire with Hotter Than Hell-era tracks like the title track, "Parasite" and "Let Me Go, Rock 'n' Roll" getting equal footing. These were the songs that a decade ago changed Aftermath's mind about the band, after growing up only hearing the same two KISS songs in commercials and the like his whole life. It was then he realized that the band wasn't so far sonically removed from his beloved New York Dolls and Stooges. Every KISS hallmark was present, from the pyrotechnics to Gene playing spewing fire and blood. At one point during one of the flame breaks, we spied Paul teasing out his hair in a dark corner of the stage while Gene held court. Even though they aren't from the original line-up, Eric Singer and Tommy Thayer are now old salts. During an extended Thayer solo session, a lighting rig fell from the exploding scaffolding and onto the stage. Gene flew into the rafters to spit blood at us and howl out "I Love It Loud" from one hundred feet in the air. Everything after "Loud" was pure KISStory, from "Rock And Roll All Nite" to "Love Gun," where Paul swung out over the audience and to the back off the house to play on top of his own platform. Yes, they played "Lick It Up" from their unfettered and unpainted days, but it's still a solid jam in our book. These are their legacy songs, the ones that you will see on obits and nostalgia trips from here until eternity. If you can't grin like an idiot during these pure pop-metal nuggets then you are an emotional and rock and roll eunuch, and Aftermath doesn't want to drink with you. Ever. Paul introduces the closer "Detroit Rock City", the opening cut off the epic Destroyer, and Aftermath couldn't help but change the lyrics to "Houston Rock City" as he screamed along to the anthem. Our faces were warmed by all the heat from the stage, and gave us a healthy glow as we walked into the coldness and frost of the evening. Set List: Is it even possible that Gene Simmons could have slept with 4,600 women? Why so incredulous about our Gene? Would you dare question the veracity of a Hagar, a Coverdale, or even a Nugent? Topknot or not, Gene Simmons can hold his own with any other rock 'n' roll god. It's more than "even possible," my good man. In fact, it's quite probable. John Allen Paulos, an actual mathematician, says, "Gene Simmons is around 60 years old, and let's assume he's been sexually active for at least 40 years. Since 4,600 ÷ 40 = 115, he'd have had to average 115 women a year during that time, or about two a week. Physically that seems easily doable." Even if you adjust the figure to account for the time Simmons has spent in monogamous relationships with Cher, Diana Ross, Shannon Tweed, and Paul Stanley, you must factor in the infinite opportunities for group sex that the world's hugest rock stars and sex columnists confront daily. "So a famous and rich rock star is able to score with a variety of women during the most explosive moment of sexual freedom of all time?" says Dale Sherman, author of Black Diamond: The Unauthorized Biography of KISS, referring to, among other things, the '70s. "Yeah, it sounds feasible." Besides, it's legends like these that fuel what's come to be called the Kiss Army, an all-volunteer youth force that is, as I understand it, dedicated to the service of its blood-spewing idol, Mr. Simmons. So the next time you are moved to question the "modern-day man of steel," as the song goes, have a word with yourself. The Demon is good with numbers.
Indeed, when Comics Guy first glanced at the new Radical Comics offering, the story did not seem all that original, the art appeared to be closer to the traditional style one would expect from Marvel and DC - rather than the realistic, cinematic art most of the company's line is known for. The whole point of the project seemed to be to exploit the name of its creator and penciler, Nick Simmons, son of KISS rock legend Gene Simmons. However, once Comics Guy actually read "Incarnate," he was pleasantly surprised. Because, while the idea of a being who cannot die is not original, the way Simmons portrays Mot - the series' star - is a bit edgy. Mot is a boy who cannot die. He has been riddled with bullets, burned at the stake, doused with napalm and hung from a gallows - and still walked away. Though he has wandered the world for centuries, Mot's youthful appearance is not only disarming to his enemies but also symbolic of the way he acts. Impulsive and immature, Mot is the kind of guy who will shoot another immortal in the face for kicks so he can make a joke about his target's appearance afterward. Mot continues to search for meaning in a life without the possible release that death provides. As a result, he sees no meaning in life itself and it doesn't bother him one bit to kill humans - he justifies his coldness by noting how so many humans kill each other. The only thing that bothers him is that his hunger for human flesh causes him to kill humans even when he doesn't want to. Another reason why Mot has little moral grounding is that his origin is a mystery. He has been worshipped as a god, feared as a monster and scorned as a devil while living in plain sight. The ironic thing is that not only do others struggle to define him, but he still has trouble describing himself. Yet, the combination of not knowing how he came to be and never facing anyone he has had to truly fear, combined with knowing his life will never end, has made him impulsive and narcissistic to the extreme. The idea that he could die is absurd to him, a metaphor for how the young view themselves as invincible. Note to President Obama: Just TRY to get Mot to purchase health insurance. When Mot hears a shadow group called the Sanctum has found a way to kill the immortals - Mot included - he lets out a laugh that would chill the Joker. When they demonstrate that they mean business, Mot slices and dices them with such efficiency and glee it would make Wolverine jealous. As the war escalates, Mot realizes he does not identify with either side, which makes his ensuing actions even more unpredictable. Though the story is complicated, it is an excellent introduction to all the main characters. Simmons writes and draws them in a way that makes everyone compellingly fresh and unique. While it would be fair to say this three-issue arc isn't bursting at the seams with depth, character development or psychological profiles, it is also fair to say Simmons is just scratching the surface with these characters and that the tale he has cooked up is good, action-packed, bloody fun. 'Big plans' for 'Incarnate' Nick Simmons says that if the demand is there (and early sales numbers indicate it is), "Incarnate" will be the first of many tales he tells with these characters. "I have really big plans for it in the future, for all the characters," Simmons told Comics Guy. "One thing that needs to be made clear, though, is that it's not a horror book. The way I describe it, the differences between my book and a horror book is the same as the difference between the movies 'Saw' and 'Blade.' One's a horror film. One is - for the most part - an action film. Both are very, very bloody, both have elements of horror and both are names of sharp cutting instruments. But they're two very different sorts of films." Part of the reason Simmons chose Radical is that it was willing to break with conventional comic industry thinking and give him the amount of pages he felt he needed to tell his story. So issue No. 1 was 56 pages; issue No. 2 was 52 pages and issue No. 3 will be 64 pages. As part of Radical's "Bigger Books! Bigger Value!" campaign, all three issues are $4.99.
To play in one of the biggest rock acts of all time means that you constantly have to be on top of your game at all times. It's easy to say that most players couldn't handle the constant drumming for 2 straight hours, a long drum solo, singing backup vocals on every song (and leads on 4), having explosions and fireworks constantly going off, and 20,000 people watching your every move. Then again, not everyone can be like Eric Singer. With the aforementioned necessities of vocals and stamina that are required for a Kiss concert, Eric not only displays his skills around the kit with his tremendous fills and solid timekeeping, but also as an entertainer with flashes of showmanship included on almost every crash of a cymbal or flip of a stick. His kit for the Alive 35 tour is almost as eye catching as his playing. With a Smoked Acrylic Masters Premium kit, Eric's drums are sure to attract the attention of the 20,000 strong in the crowd as it turns from looking almost solid black to transparent with a flash of the lights. Eric's sizes for this Smoked Acrylic Masters kit are as follow: Eric Singer's Alive 35 Tour Kit: The 24x15 kick drums allow Eric to have a combination of the attack you get from a 24x14, combined with the punch and boom you get from a 24x16 or 24x18. Although argued by some to be too bright the acrylic shells that make up this kit seemed to have the perfect amount of pitch which lead to beautiful sounding transitions and rolls from the high tom to low floor toms. Eric's 14x6.5 acrylic free floating snare drum held a snappy amount of pop and crack, while still sounding full bodied and warm. In total, the brightness of the acrylic shells are the perfect mix when playing in massive arenas and stadiums and they held up beautifully throughout Eric's continual hard hitting. The Alive 35 tour is continuing on in the US for only a couple more dates, however, starting in early May of 2010 Kiss will be heading overseas to capture audiences on a 2 month long European tour. For more information and for tour dates, please visit www.kissonline.com or on Myspace at www.myspace.com/kiss. Also be sure to pick up your very own copy of Kiss' latest album "Sonic Boom" which features such singles as "Modern Day Delilah" and "Say Yeah".
Celebrating thirty-five years since its initial release, KISS are wrapping up their Alive 35 tour as they play a good portion of their classic live album along with the incorporation of a few tracks from their new album Sonic Boom. It didn't take long for the pyro to explode as KISS opened with "Deuce." KISS practically perfected and most likely patented their live show. Watching KISS live is an experience like no other. I was surrounded by people of all ages who seemingly knew the words to every song. The songs are just as big and outlandish as the costumes they wear, but only a band like KISS can pull it off. As a KISS purist, I was initially skeptical about the replacement of Ace Frehley with Tommy Thayer. These concerns quickly subsided after watching an electrifying rendition of "Shock Me" with Tommy handling the vocals and guitar riff effortlessly. Long before Will Ferrell asked for more cowbell, "Calling Dr. Love" was answering the call with its heavy cowbell intro. "Cold Gin" is another KISS classic song that had some levity when Gene Simmons used his trademark tongue to lick Tommy Thayer's neck while he was playing guitar.Tommy later had his moment to shine for a guitar solo as he fired "rockets" from the headstock of his guitar that caused one of the lights to fall from the stage. The bloodletting of "I Love It Loud" was unbeatable with Gene hoisted high above the stage singing and stomping along. Paul pointed out the obvious when he mentioned that if you came to the show expecting to end global warming or stop world hunger, you were in the wrong place. The solution according to Paul was to "Rock and Roll All Nite" and party every day. It was escapism at its best. A four song encore kicked off with the twin guitar attack of "Shout It Out Loud". KISS even visited their unmasked days by playing the 1983 classic "Lick It Up". I honestly had no idea what the song meant back in the day but loved watching the video. "Love Gun" and "Detroit Rock City" closed out their set for a memorable, nostalgia filled night.
The print runs are limited to 250 IRIS Giclee prints per design. Each KISS Giclee is printed on "Museo Textured Rag" 325 gsm digital Watercolor paper and comes with a certificate of authenticity.The trimmed size of the prints are 25" square, and the image size centered within that will be 20" square. Pre Order - Sonic Boom Giclee Print But, he says, he doesn't doubt that he is the celestial, starry-eyed "Spaceman." Thayer's journey to replace the KISS co-founder and greasepaint-wearing guitar virtuoso was a long one. "Being compared to Ace is only natural," said Thayer, who's been the official KISS lead guitarist since 2002, after Frehley left the band for good. "I've lived up to those expectations pretty well. The band just continues to grow." In fact, its popularity keeps expanding. With nearly four decades of touring under its belt, KISS isn't just a band. It's a mega-brand that markets bombast and rock and attitude to more than three generations of fans, in things including video games, comic books, soda and its newest studio album release, "Sonic Boom." "We've never had many fantastic live reviews - ever," said Thayer in a recent telephone interview with the Tulsa World. "We've always been the band that critics love to hate." Until now. Thayer said the band's world tour is "the biggest set KISS has ever taken out. It's bigger; it's better; it's truly kicking butt. "Without sounding like I'm tooting my own horn," Thayer stopped and said, then laughed. Too late. If Thayer sounds cocky, he has a right to be. In many ways, his story is the ultimate fan story. He, too, wore the KISS makeup for Halloween when he was a kid. He, too was in a tribute band named Cold Gin. Indeed, he even played as Ace Frehley. In about 20 years, he's morphed from a songwriter in rock act Black and Blue - who opened for KISS decades ago on a regional tour - to a guitarist in a KISS tribute band, to a KISS lackey, to the band's official lead guitarist. "All that time, I was really working for those guys (in KISS)," said Thayer. "It evolved. It just gets more and more exciting as we go along." Years ago, he was the first to organize the cultish, Star Trek-like KISS conventions. He helped arrange the 1996 KISS reunion and world tour. "Gene hired me as help. I wanted to get into the music business. I wanted projects and responsibility. I wanted people to know that I can do a lot more than just play guitar." And boy, has he. He's helped with videos. Sound checks. Rehearsing. Recording. Writing. Touring. Everything. Even by doing his own makeup before every single show. "It's a whole two-hour transition process," he said with a chuckle. The entire band closes itself in one room to get into character: Tommy Thayer as the Spaceman, co-founder Gene Simmons as the Demon, Eric Singer as the Cat and co-founder Paul Stanley as the Starchild. "It's our nightly ritual," he said of the band's inner sanctum routine. "No one else is allowed in before the show. Nobody."
KissFAQ: You've summarized [your new solo album] "BK3" as being your "Revenge", which, for non-makeup-era KISS fans, is high praise. Does "BK3" represent the definitive Bruce Kulick album to date? Bruce Kulick: There's no doubt I spent enough time and energy and I feel extremely proud of it. I think it was worth the wait and the expense I undertook for it, because it was a lot of work. I really approached it with the attitude that this has got to be the best of me, in the way I felt the "Revenge" album was the best of KISS for the non-makeup era. I wanted this record to be up that kind of quality and I feel like [producer] Jeremy [Rubolino] and I accomplished that. KissFAQ: You partnered with quite a few artists and fellow musicians on this record from John Corabi to Tobias Sammet, THE KNACK's Doug Fieger and guitarist Steve Lukather. Was this the original concept from the outset or did it turn a corner when Gene and Nick Simmons became involved? Bruce Kulick: There was never a big plan, except to make a great record. When some of the songs were being cut, Jeremy and I realized certain songs wouldn't be great for me to sing because that's not my best instrument, my guitar playing is. After asking Gene to participate and him saying yes, we realized we would have a song for him, and that was going to be amazing. And then he said to me, "Hey, how about Nick?" And I said, "Ooh....okay. What song would he like?" We then showed him a couple of the tracks that we cut that we weren't really sure who would sing. But not everything was very tailored to any of these featured guests. It just kind of organically happened and I was very very pleased with everyone's contributions, and the result. I couldn't be happier. KissFAQ: The album gets off to a moving start with "Fate", and the lyrical content is a snapshot of your days in KISS, complete with subtle KISS song references — "Goin' Blind", "War Machine", "Paralyzed", etc. Intentional? Bruce Kulick: Ah, the first person that caught it! Those words weren't put in there to be ultra clever, they just fit what I am trying to say. So, in some ways, they were definitely a tip of the hat to KISS but there's a reason to say, "Laser beam, war machine" because I was imagining myself on the stage, and certainly if you look at the lyrics it follows me along my journey within KISS. The attitude of the song was always supposed to represent, "I am who I am and here I am...this is me and I'm not going to let anything get me down." I wanted everyone to know that I am not going to live in the KISS shadow. I'm really super proud of what I contributed to KISS and I miss being in the band and all. But it's still something to celebrate, not anything to feel like I am underneath them. KissFAQ: One thing that is evident on the album through songs such as "Fate", "Final Mile" and "And I Know" is the projection of your vocals. Are you gaining more and more confidence as a singer? Bruce Kulick: Well, I have to thank Jeremy for really pushing me. And sometimes we sang the songs two or three times to get it right...and it took that. My vocals weren't as produced on my other solo records so I feel like his direction and his insistence on everything being as powerful as it could be was part of the strength of making my voice come across in a more confident fashion. KissFAQ: Any plans for an official single in advance of the album? Bruce Kulick: I think there might be a digital single for "Hand Of The King" but I am not sure as of right now. You know, for me I didn't make the album with singles in mind. My attitude was just to make the best record I could. If it turns out that that a song really draws people to the record, great. KissFAQ: Touring plans? Bruce Kulick: I am not sure how I am going to handle that between GRAND FUNK RAILROAD and everything else. I would like to say that I am going to try to get out there, but I just don't know how yet. KissFAQ: With the "Kissology" series, one of the things that emerged was the opportunity to look in the rearview at nearly the entire life of the band. And many fans were again able to take take notice of the vitality of the non-makeup era. Shows such as Detroit '90, Sao Paulo '94 and "Unplugged" all show a confident and musically strong KISS lineup that was able to do justice to virtually anything in the KISS catalog. Did you get a sense of pride in watching all that footage? Bruce Kulick: Absolutely. I'm extremely proud. Obviously for the fans of KISS that were into the "other" eras and weren't strict about just the makeup era, they know what I've contributed and I think any of them that were appreciative of what I did are going to really enjoy "BK3". Because as much as I didn't make it for the fans — you know, you do your own music for yourself — I just know that if I am excited about something, they will be too. And so far the reaction has been great. Read the entire interview from KissFAQ.
But not just BIG. It's all brash and rocket-fueled and obvious. The group's Saturday night show at Toyota Center, part of its Alive 35 Tour, blasted into the heavens on leather wings and a rock 'n' roll prayer. The KISS Army was there, an impressive mix of young, old and very young in full makeup. Gene Simmons lords over the crowd like some sort of spandex vampire. (He could totally wipe the floor with those Twilight boys). And Paul Stanley is equal parts ringmaster/hype man/dancer. Simmons licked guitarist Tommy Thayer's neck during Cold Gin and spewed blood before rising to the rafters. Stanley swung like Tarzan over the crowd and onto a small stage near the rear of the venue. Musically, the band was forceful. The band tore through snarling, spirited renditions of Hotter Than Hell, Calling Dr. Love, Parasite, 100,000 Years, Black Diamond, Rock and Roll All Nite -- songs that had middle-aged fists pumping in the air and grade schoolers hopping in the aisles. There were the usual tricks: extended guitar solos, professions of love for the city, toast-your-face fireworks, a revolving drum kit. But what might have felt utilitarian in lesser shows was high drama here. Every moment was punctuated with a BOOM! BANG! CRASH! New tunes Modern Day Delilah and Say Yeah -- from the group's 19th studio disc, October's Sonic Boom -- rallied the crowd (as did seemingly endless blasts of confetti). Stanley addressed fans frequently, often lapsing into banshee wails. And Simmons is still an undeniable force with a gymnastic tongue. He was alternately funny, frightening and full-on freaky. The quartet rolled out Shout It Loud, Love Gun and a set-closing Detroit Rock City -- ending the set on the same furious, feverish note it started. Youth be damned. Expect to see KISS stomping through town in another 35 years.
The huge KISS curtain dropped from the lighting rig and there they were, streaming out the first few bars of Deuce. I have to say that no one on earth comes even close to putting on a show like KISS do. They are the masters of theatrical rock & roll, and even if you don't like the music, the admission price would be worth it just for the show alone. KISS even make normally mind numbing solos interesting - Gene Simmons has always been famous for his blood spitting, and after that, he is hoisted up a couple of hundred feet to the roof of the building to sing I Love It Loud. No matter how strong the harness, I would be crapping my pants up there! Eric Singer's drum solo has a revolving stage in which he gets each side of the arena in a cheer-off - not to mention a firework or two. Tommy Thayer hasn't taken up Ace's flaming guitar, but he shoots rockets at different parts of the stage to set off huge bombs. It was great to hear two new songs as I haven't heard them live before. I had seen Modern Day Delilah on You Tube, but Say Yeah was a totally new experience, and I have to say that it goes down so well with the crowd singing along with the chorus. During the end of the main set closer, Rock & Roll All Nite, a confetti storm starts, and it's hard to imagine how much paper is used for it as it comes down in torrents. It was even hard to sing along as bits of paper kept landing in my mouth. For Love Gun, Paul Stanley gets ferried to a stage at the back of the arena so he can sing out there, before coming back to do a little solo of his own as the introduction for Black Diamond. As the last chords of Detroit Rock City were still ringing in my ear, I let the main part of the crowd get going. When a lot of them had left, it was funny to see the mess that the paper storm had left. It was inches deep in some places, and some kids were using it to throw at each other. One thing I forgot to mention about the crowd is that it is the biggest age range in a rock crowd you will ever see - there were people there from 5 - 65, and next to me were to 15 or 16 year olds with their parents. That's some going as at that age, most kids would rather be seen dead than going out with their Mum and Dad! Even when I got out in to the street, you could see paper blowing everywhere as it was still coming out of peoples clothing. I was so impressed by the night's show, the trip would have been worth it if that was the only one I could make. I am so lucky to have two more ahead of me, and I can't wait!
This was high comedy during KISS' spectacular and fun rock extravaganza Friday night at a crowded Erwin Center, a cavernous venue that could barely contain the show's endless eruptions of theatrical bombast and pyro porn. KISS is performance art - children, like so many in the audience, devour this stuff - accompanied by an extremely loud soundtrack of rock ditties. For 35 years, their concerts have been a savvy blend of bluster and balderdash, with a cloying infusion of Jerry Bruckheimer. (If they began today, KISS could be a CGI creation.) They do it well, and the four band members worked hard Friday to keep the audience involved with flattering between-song banter, constant eye-contact, call-and-response games and by anointing the masses with flurries of guitar picks. Simmons, Paul Stanley and relative newcomers Eric Singer on drums and Tommy Thayer on guitar (who does a fine imperson-Ace-tion) never took the crowd for granted, constantly checking in, begging our approval and throwing it right back, like an enormous, flame-strewn self-esteem seminar. They opened with old-timers "Deuce" and "Strutter" with Stanley promising a night of "classic vintage KISS." For more than two hours, the band stomped through a hit-list of songs about sex, partying, sex, drinking, rocking and sex. The crowd thrilled and sang along to "Hotter Than Hell," "Cold Gin" and "Black Diamond." The show hit its stride with faster, hookier songs ("Calling Dr. Love," "Parasite") and foot-stomping anthems ("Rock and Roll All Nite") that matched the volcanic production values. Amid a backdrop of JumboTrons, sirens, rising platforms, confetti and flaming mushroom clouds, Simmons spewed blood and fire, Thayer shot rockets from his guitar and Stanley wiggled his rear-end at fans before smashing his guitar. Singer's drum platform spun around. It's no secret that Simmons, lascivious demon-beast, with that long-legged skulk and spiked armor, is the show's cynosure. In a literal high moment, he was lifted by cables to the rafters, where he mounted a platform and gazed down upon his worshipful kingdom. There he bellowed 1982's "I Love it Loud," his lips and chin stained with fake blood. The song ended and the lights went out. Set list: "Deuce," "Strutter," "Let Me Go, Rock 'n' Roll," "Hotter Than Hell" (Gene Simmons breathes fire off a sword), "Shock Me" (with Tommy Thayer on lead vocals), "Calling Dr. Love," "Modern Day Delilah," "Cold Gin" (Thayer guitar solo, with rocket-firing guitar), "Parasite," "Say Yeah," "100,000 Years" (Eric Singer drum solo, Gene Simmons bass solo (with blood spitting), "I Love it Loud," "Black Diamond" (with Singer on lead vocals), "Rock and Roll All Nite" (with stadium-clogging confetti storms). Encores: "Lick it Up," "Love Gun" (Paul Stanley flies over audience), "Detroit Rock City" (Paul smashes guitar). More fire.
KISS never does anything in moderation. That's not what one expects from the group nicknamed "The Hottest Band In the World". When the KISS ALIVE 35 World Tour recently reached North America after a year and a half of performing to sold-out arenas and stadiums the world over, one had to know it would be one of their biggest, most impressive setups to date. The end result included a massive screen stretching across the wall of the stage like a movie screen that just got outed for steroid use. Said screen was anchored by an endless amount of smaller screens, all neatly wrapped in enough towers of flame and fiery explosions to level a small town. Last night's show was the 10th time I've seen KISS. Just as they did at my first show in 1992, KISS held the standing-room-only crowd at TD Garden in their collective palm, treating the audience to a two-hour-plus set of hits and history backed by the aforementioned visual presentation. It's what the band is best known for in the live setting, and last night's show certainly reminded everyone why they are the unquestioned kings of the live concert experience. The set got off to a bombastic start, with their incredible cover of the Hollywood Stars' "King of the Night Time World", followed by "Deuce", a favorite dating back to the band's earliest days. Gene Simmons belts out the track with as much power and panache as he did when he was just a young, aspiring, twenty something Demon looking to attain rock 'n' roll stardom. Audience participation was rampant throughout the evening, as Paul Stanley -- the longtime star of the KISS center stage and the band's onstage emcee -- would lead the crowd through fist-pumping call-and-response sessions, punctuated by his acceleration above the audience from the main stage to a smaller stage in the back of the arena, to belt out "Love Gun" surrounded by some of his greatest admirers. As Stanley made clear last night, KISS has never been a band who dealt with talking politics or preaching about the world's troubles. The music of KISS changed the world by providing music lovers with escapism in its purest, most basic form, better than any other band in history. In keeping with this ideal, the band turned TD Garden into a rock 'n' roll dance party, as fans of all ages and cultures filled the aisles, letting the music take over their minds and bodies. Tracks including new single "Modern Day Delilah" and classics ranging from "100,000 Years" to "Lick It Up" to the band's immortal anthem "Rock And Roll All Nite" provided the crowd with more than enough reason to forget their worries and concerns with everyday life and turn a Monday night into something resembling a late Friday night. Amidst showers of light and ivory confetti, KISS delivered what was, far and away, the biggest and best live concert event anyone in the Bean has ever experienced. Yes, that includes U2 and that silly giant crab they gave us at Gillette Stadium a few weeks ago. Sit down, Bono. As exhibited onstage, the band's current lineup of Stanley, Simmons, lead guitarist Tommy Thayer and three-time KISS drummer Eric Singer is arguably the most musically dynamic KISS lineup since their acclaimed early 90's lineup (which, interestingly, contained a near-identical lineup; just swap out Thayer for Bruce Kulick). The overall musical performance was tight, precise, and more energetic than anyone could expect from a group whose members' age ranges from 48 to 60. In particular, Thayer and Singer impressed, the former exhibiting impressive guitar chops and the latter bashing the skins with ferocious execution. The snarling bass licks of Simmons showcased his underrated musical talent, while the golden voice of Stanley, while slightly weathered after over 35 years of performing, still showcased great range and brought chills up the spines of the beautiful cougars in the crowd who screamed ecstatically with every gyration of his hips and wiggle of his ass. All of this comes during a tremendously exciting time for KISS. Their first new studio joint of original material in 11 years, Sonic Boom, drops this week exclusively at Walmart, amid huge anticipation and promotional hype. The band is fresh off receiving their long-deserved nomination into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. Without a doubt, the world's ready to be KISSed like never before. If last night at the Garden was any indication, it's a KISS they will not soon forget. Once again, the people of Boston have experienced firsthand why KISS are America's biggest band ever. The Bean has been conquered one more time.
For more than 35 years, the New York-formed pyrotechnics kings have ruled the roost of combustible rock. The Demon, Spaceman, Catman and Starchild stomped out their niche in music history with their larger-than-life live act, which included mile-high platform shoes, greasepaint, elaborate costumes, explosions - and loud, loud, loud rock 'n' roll. The current KISS tour lineup includes Tommy Thayer, Gene Simmons, Eric Singer and Paul Stanley. "Fans can expect some iconic KISS 'Alive' classics as well as some hits off our new release, 'Sonic Boom,'" said Stanley in a recent press statement. RIGHT NOW: Read full KISS fan stories from our readers online. Here's a sample: "Gene Simmons had written some songs while on tour that he wanted to get recorded and booked some studio time at the studio. Long story short, I ended up in an all night session with Gene." -- Paul Hanewinkel, Broken Arrow "The first word I learned to spell as a child was 'KISS' complete with lightning bolt S's. The second thing I learned to spell was my own name, complete with lightning bolt S. KISS took priority even over my own name!" -- Steven P. Conrad, Tulsa "My favorite KISS story is actually about my mom. ..." -- Damon Lewis, Owasso "There they were, side by side, pictures of us as Kiss and as ourselves including our real names. Our classmates were blown away." Frank Mitchell, Tulsa "I first became a KISS FAN in 1974, when I bought their eight track tape, because of the cover." -- Benny McClintock, Bartlesville Read their full stories and more online at tulsaworld.com/KissStories.
Thirty-five years later, some things haven't changed. Inane network television. Gasoline shortage. Recession. A KISS album - their 19th original studio project and first new album in 11 years, Sonic Boom: loud, heavy on the guitars and melodic rock, recorded on tape. Thirty-five years is an impressive stretch for any relationship, particularly one that began this way: "He was wearing overalls and he had a beard," Paul Stanley recalls of his first meeting with Gene Simmons. "I didn't like him. Steve [Coronel, friend and co-writer] said, 'Gene, Paul writes songs also.' Gene said, 'Oh yeah? Play one.' I did. He looked at me and went 'Eh.' ... I wasn't crazy about ever seeing him again..." So much for first impressions. On their second meeting, Stanley and Simmons locked into a groove that has outlasted most marriages. Together, they have survived the best and worst of times: venom from the media, personnel changes, a fragmented and imploding music industry. Through it all, the recording and relentless touring continued, and KISS fans, the loyal millions, never wavered. KISS today is Stanley, Simmons, drummer Eric Singer and guitarist Tommy Thayer. It's a powerful, well-run machine, and that's no accident. Being part of a band that operates on pure adrenalin, focus and determination, that cares not a whit about outside opinions, and whose members are beholden to its rock and roll history is not a "job" from which one clocks out when the platform boots are put away every night. According to Tommy Thayer, being in KISS - being KISS - is a musical and personal commitment. It's about partnership, respect, hard work and a lot of loud guitars. Thayer spoke to Premier Guitar about the making of Sonic Boom, KISS 2009, and what it means to have the ultimate gig as lead guitarist in a band that knows no middle ground. When did plans begin to record a new album? Paul spearheaded this project and he decided to do a studio recording again. During my years with Gene and Paul they've been very ambivalent about it because they were put out with the whole thing. Psycho Circus [1998] was not a great experience, and the results weren't satisfying to anybody, really. It left a bad taste, to a certain extent, and over the last few years the state of the recording industry has been funky. Where KISS is in their career, to do something is challenging and risky because you'd better hope it comes out the right way, otherwise it can be more of a liability than a positive thing. Fortunately, Sonic Boom turned out well. Paul is smart; he made a band album and he took control. We did it on tape, recording together, no outside writers, none of the silly things bands do to try to please and play politics. We have a KISS record and we're not bound by anybody else. So we wrote, recorded and finished it, and nobody heard anything until it was done. It's KISS in the purest sense, it worked out very well, and when it was finished we all said, "We made a damn good record." How long had it been since you recorded on tape? At least 10 years. I thought it was obsolete! We recorded at Conway Recording Studios, in Hollywood, with Greg Collins. The setup is great. We had Eric's drums in a booth, Paul, Gene and I were together, we had the amps in iso and we cranked it out. We rehearsed the songs at Mates and at SIR in Hollywood. When we first got together, Gene, Paul and I, in different combinations, the point was to write and not over-think. In 20 minutes we'd get a cool idea together, the basic structure, take it to rehearsal, make sure the arrangement was good, practice it four or five times and take it to the studio. We didn't record the album all at once. We did it in sections. We were touring here and there, and then we did the first three songs. We went to South America, and on days off we were in our hotel rooms with guitars and mini-Marshalls, putting songs together and recording on our laptops. We'd come home and do the same thing: rehearse, record three songs. We did vocal and guitar overdubs at Greg's private studio, The Nook, in Studio City. The whole thing, from start to finish, took a total of six weeks, which is a relatively short period by today's standards. My vocal on "When Lightning Strikes" took 20 minutes. Which computers and software did you use on the road? We all have Macs and Mac Pros and GarageBand. It's the easy way to record. No one in this band is super technical. Gene, in particular, is low tech. You send him an e-mail with an attachment and he e-mails you back and says, "I don't do attachments." He does it to the band, to Doc McGhee, no matter who you are! Or if the e-mail is too long, "I don't scroll." That's where he is. He hasn't figured out how to do attachments; he doesn't know how! The fact that we can all turn GarageBand on - I figured that out! How did working with tape change your approach to recording, if it did at all? One of the main things we did differently from other groups is that we recorded very organically, together as a band. Today, 99.9 percent of people record a drum track and build from there, adding guitars and vocals, step by step. We recorded all the basic tracks together as a four-piece, occasionally fixing bass notes and doing vocals and guitar solos, the way it was done in the 1970s and before. It's a different approach, and I know that from experience Was it worth it? Oh, absolutely! Part of doing it this way is what gives it that real, spontaneous sound. If you make a record too perfect, if you do it step by step, it ends up sounding good, but the feel can be generic. This way, the flow has a real feel. Walk us through your gear: the room, guitars, amps, how you created that organic sound. It was pretty simple. I used Les Pauls and my Gibson Wine Red Deluxe. It's not a guitar I use on the road. I got it in the mid-'80s and it's a good sounding Les Paul for the studio and at home. I borrowed Paul's Gibson 61 SG Reissue and used that more than the Les Paul for rhythm and solos because it has a nice mid-range. I used an old Marshall, my H&K Tommy Thayer Duotone and Statesman combo amp, and an orange practice amp of Greg's for the raspy edge on my solos. My strings are Ernie Ball Hybrids, 9-46 gauge. The only pedal I used in the studio to give my solos a nicer boost was an Ibanez Tube Screamer. It's an original from the 1970s or '80s that I borrowed from Doug Aldridge of Whitesnake 24 years ago and never gave back. Every time I see him, he asks for it and I say, "I'll give it right back!" Doug gave me a really nice lead guitar sound on this album! What is your role as lead guitarist in a two-guitar band, and how does it change from studio to stage? They turn me up and turn Paul down, and that works! Two-guitar bands are my favorite because of the interplay, especially in KISS. When we're writing, we try to have that counterpart and interplay between the guitars and voicings so that we're not doing exactly the same thing. That's a big part in the way the songs were written. The other thing that makes the sound of our two guitars distinctive is that we use different approaches and settings to set the two off, and the more we do that, the better we are. The familiarity we have, the years of playing together, including Gene, have solidified that sense of rhythm and feel. We're all locked in together. It gives us a lot of power and we're all good at that. It just works. What are you using onstage? My live set-up is very straightforward: four Hughes & Kettner Tommy Thayer Signature Edition Duotone amplifiers, plus four Hughes & Kettner 4x12 speaker cabinets. I use four Gibson Custom Shop '59 and '60 reissue Les Pauls in sunburst, black and silver sparkle, one Custom Les Paul with rocket/gerb firing system [pyrotechnics], and a Gibson Custom Shop Explorer in Silver Sparkle. I use no effects onstage besides an octave divider and an MXR digital delay used in my guitar solo. You've been involved with KISS for 20 years. I began songwriting with them after Gene produced Black 'N Blue. I recorded demos with them. Then Black 'N Blue ran its course and I needed a job. I worked for KISS' organization and helped out on projects; it's now 15 or 20 years ago. It evolved quickly, with more responsibility and spearheading projects, conventions, the reunion tour, DVDs, editing. As Ace and Peter bowed out again, I was heir apparent because I knew how to do it. When did you begin to feel like a band member? There was always a strong familiarity between us, knowing each other very well, even when I worked in their office. I got in the band in 2002-2003. One of the main elements to making things work in a band is being comfortable with each other. Gene and Paul have been around a long time, and one of their main criteria is that everyone be comfortable and compatible personality-wise. People think that being in a band is all about how you play, and certainly that is a big part, but personalities are important too. It took me a year or two to feel confident and a part of the band, and that's understandable. KISS has a long history, and you can't just come in feeling like you're a big part of this. Having had a lot of input with the new album, I definitely feel very much like a solid member. When fans attend KISS concerts, they want to hear the songs played a certain way. How do you stay true to form without feeling like you're playing in a cover band? First of all, I don't want to do it any other way. People sometimes suggest, "You should put more of your personality into the old songs." No. I want to play them the way they were written and recorded originally, because when I see a new guitarist in a band, I want to see him nailing it the way it's supposed to be. I hate going to concerts where the new guitarist is playing a new interpretation of the songs. That doesn't work for me. The other side of that is that sometimes I take flak for copying Ace. No, I'm playing KISS songs and making them sound the way they should. Ace was a part of the 1970s sound, and I don't want to do them another way. Capturing the KISS sound is a big part of the new record, and if people say I'm an Ace clone, fine, all I'm doing is capturing the classic sound of KISS. Tommy Thayer is there, too, but it's not 75 or 80 percent Tommy Thayer. That's a different direction, although my style is very similar to Ace's style, and he was one of my influences. Are the members of KISS underrated as musicians and songwriters? I think that has always been true with KISS. They took a lot of flak in the old days: "Oh, they can't play." To me, they were the band with great nights and off nights, so that can make them seem less consistent. The band today is fiery and in your face. We go out every night and lay it down, and the point of view that someone may have taken before doesn't apply anymore. Eric is one of the greatest rock drummers out there, I don't do so bad, Gene and Paul have been at it for a long time, and we're all very cohesive and strong when we're together. We're coming from the same place in how we approach the songs, and that can be very lethal onstage, especially with a big P.A.! Does being the guy who replaced the guy [Frehley] who replaced the guy [Kulick] who replaced the guy [St. John] who replaced the guy [Vincent] who replaced the original guy [Frehley] cost you rep points? Can you be Tommy Thayer, guitarist, and not just Tommy Thayer, replacement guitarist in KISS? Or is being Tommy Thayer, replacement guitarist in KISS, the gig and that's enough? It's more about that, because at this point does it really matter? Look at the Stones. There have been a lot of configurations in that band, and they're still around. I don't try to compete with that concept. I'm the guitarist in KISS 2009, the band is kicking ass, and so I'm not worried about what came before me. This is where I am now, and I'm standing proud with a great new record, enough said. It is what it is. I'm the guy onstage, I'm doing it very well, and that's all I need to know. Is there a guitar album in your future? Honestly, I don't aspire to do a solo or guitar album. It doesn't seem like something I want to try to approach. It would never be as good or as important as KISS and I have no desire to do it. It doesn't appeal to me. Remember, I like two guitars! What is the difference between playing guitar and being a guitarist? There's a big difference. Playing guitar, to me, is more a technical, rudimentary thing - picking up a stringed instrument, making chords and playing solo lines. A guitarist, especially in a band like KISS, opens up a whole other world of attitude and point of view and approach that's unique. When someone listens to the new record and says, "Tommy did real well and he's on the mark," or when fans say that, part of me thinks, I am on the mark. Not that it's about what people say, because I feel it inside and the guys tell me I'm doing it right, and that's reassuring. To do this and do it well is not as simple as some people think. Combine it with the personalities involved, and living KISS day to day - it's not a simple thing. Making it work so smoothly is part of being the guitarist in KISS. And I can assure you that being the guitarist in KISS is completely different from being the guitarist in any other band. ___________________________________ Tommy Thayer's Signature H&K In 2008, Tommy Thayer partnered with Hughes & Kettner for the launch of his line of Tommy Thayer Signature Edition guitar amplifiers. As mentioned by Thayer and Sonic Boom co-producer/engineer Greg Collins in their interviews with Premier Guitar, the Duotone was used for recording the album and performing live. What makes the Duotone particularly special is that Thayer donates 100 percent of the royalties earned from sales of the amp directly to the Childrens Hospital Los Angeles. Thayer is on the Board of Trustees at Pacific University in Forest Grove, Ore. He works to bring new musical instruments into school band programs in his home state and has made speaking appearances at middle and high schools. He also hosts the annual Pacific University Legends Golf Classic, bringing together musicians, celebrities and PGA pros to raise funds for Pacific University's Athletics Program in Oregon. Thayer credits his parents for instilling his philanthropic interests. "I get a lot of that from them," he says. "My dad taught me that it is very important to help people and that it should not be all about yourself; that helping others is a quality you should always have."
Collins played an integral part in the making of the new album. When Paul Stanley expressed his desire to cut a "classic" KISS record, it was Collins who suggested they do it the "classic" way: on tape. From first rehearsals until final mix, he worked closely with KISS at Conway Recording Studios and his own studio, The Nook. His technical expertise, coupled with an understanding of KISS that can only come from a longtime fan, helped create the album that diehard KISS supporters had clearly been waiting for: Sonic Boom entered the Billboard Rock Albums chart at No. 1 and the Top 200 chart at No. 2. In an interview with Premier Guitar, Collins described his working relationship with KISS and how he captured that "classic" sound. Was this your first time working with KISS? We did a series of re-recordings of their classic songs two years ago, ostensibly for use in licensings and syncs. It went really well, so they decided to release it in Japan last year as Jigoku-Retsuden and included it in this new package release [as KISS Klassics] for Wal-Mart. Prior to that, I mixed Paul's [2006] solo album, Live to Win. That was my introduction to Paul. How did that project come about? I was recommended to Paul by a few people. Victor Intrizzo, an amazing drummer who plays with Alanis Morrisette and was in Beck's band, played on Live To Win and he put Paul and I in touch. Paul and I talked on the phone and we hit it off. I'd been a lifelong KISS fan. I remember the Christmas I got my first record player and five KISS records. I was obsessed from then on. KISS and the Beatles were my first musical obsessions. I've come full circle, co-producing this record, for sure. Why did you choose to use tape? Paul and I talked, and he basically wanted to make a '70s-inspired KISS record, a "makeup KISS" record. That was the first description he threw at me, and I was very excited about that idea. To me, that meant doing it the way records were made in the 1970s, and that meant tape. If you have the time and the budget, working with tape is great for a few reasons. First, the whole process is more paced. You have rewind time and reel changes. When I started working in studios in the early 1990s, we still did most of our recording on tape. Most of it was analog, but digital tape formats like the Sony 3348 machines were also just coming in. As an assistant engineer, I learned from some of the best - people like Ed Cherney and Jim Scott - how to edit tape, work with slave reels, and fly background vocals using sync offsets between two machines. There is actually a mathematical formula for that. Now it's a lost art that went away with the advent of computer-based recording, but some of those techniques are still ingrained in my brain. I miss certain things about that process, which was much more organic and human. With digital technology we've all developed a form of Attention Deficit Disorder because we expect everything to happen immediately. Results are expected right away. With tape, the band plays, the tape rolls, you stop the machine and there is a moment of, "Oh, I hope it's still there," and then you hear the playback and it's kind of magical. The second benefit of using tape is the noise floor it creates. The hiss that's inherent with tape recording, I believe, is a good thing. Third is compression. Tape shapes the transient peaks of the drums, so it softens the hard edges and makes things a little easier on the ears. Recording engineers have often used that as a tool. You hit the tape really hard for certain tracks and it comes back sounding compressed. You can't really get that particular sound out of a piece of outboard gear. How involved were you in the rehearsals? I was present for most of them. We spent some time figuring out what guitar/amp combinations we liked during the first round. For the rest of the rehearsals I would mostly just observe and provide occasional feedback. If something sounded like classic KISS to me, I'd usually jump up excitedly and throw two big thumbs in the air. It was fun just to be a fly on the wall during their writing process. We did the record in a few small batches. Paul would call and say, "We've got two or three songs, here's our window, see what we can do." We would go to the rehearsal studio for a day or two, the band would get the songs arranged to a certain point, then we'd go to Conway and bang them out. After a couple of run-throughs for sound and arrangement tweaks, it was usually two or three takes and that was it. There were no click tracks and very minimal editing between takes. Which room did KISS use for recording and how was it set up? We actually used two studios: Conway Studio A for tracking, and my own studio, The Nook. Conway A is my favorite for tracking because the live room has amazing acoustics and the main monitors are among the best I've ever heard. It also has three big iso booths, so I can put every amp in its own space without too much leakage. The main room is great for drums, but because we wanted to go for a "seventies" sound, I put Eric's drums in one of the booths so that I could get a drier sound where appropriate. I also kept the doors of the booth open so that the sound would spill into the live room, where I had a stereo mic that provided a nice, big room sound. You might notice that "All For The Glory, "Never Enough," "Animal" and "Say Yeah" feature a more roomy sound than the rest of the tracks. While mixing, I tried to use a minimal amount of reverb and stuck to a vintage plate and chamber. Again, I was trying to use things that would have only been around in the 1970s. Everyone in the band has gear endorsements and lines, and we used their signature-model guitars on the re-records, which sound great, but for Sonic Boom I was adamant that we use old vintage amps and instruments - Eric used the first drum set he ever owned as a kid to make this record. I always had this image in my head of old pictures of Gene playing Gibson basses, so I borrowed a couple of different ones for him. We rented two vintage Ripper basses, and in a video they put online you can see him playing one that's a Sunburst, but on most of the tracks he used a blond-finished Ripper that I found at a music store around the corner from my studio. I went there on a whim one day and it was like fate, because that bass was hanging on the wall right in front of me when I walked in, and when I tried it out it had the most massive sound. I'm mainly a bass player, so I'm particularly obsessive about bass sounds, and I knew right away that this was the one to use. It took a while for Gene to get comfortable playing it, but in the end he was glad he did. It turns out that he actually used to play the "Grabber" model basses. At one point we brought one of those in, but that particular one didn't even come close to the Ripper. Tommy played his vintage Les Paul on most rhythm tracks, and a '61 SG body-style Les Paul reissue on some solos as well. He used a two-amp setup for rhythm guitar consisting of a mid-'70s Marshall JMP 100-watt head - we tried four or five before we found the right one - and his Hughes & Kettner Statesman combo amp. My intention was not to have a too modern, high-gain guitar sound. As a reference point I used the first KISS record, which is probably my favorite sounding of their early makeup era, and also, of course, Destroyer. We also talked about other great classic guitar sounds, like the ones on AC/DC's Back in Black. Over the years KISS' sound has evolved toward being a lot more aggressive and edgy than that, but I think we struck a good balance between the sound of the 1970s and something a bit bigger and more vivid. Again, the thing I was watching out for was to not have the amps too gained out. The typical modern sound for heavy bands is something like a Mesa Boogie Dual Rectifier and boost pedals, and that's definitely not what we wanted. For rhythm tracks we went cable to amp. The only pedals in line were splitter boxes - Radial Tonebones - so that we could drive two amps at once, and no effects. It's the pure tone of the guitar and amp. We tried to find the sweet spot on the amp gain, where it sounded rich but you could still hear every note in the chord. For Paul's amp setup we used a 1966 Fender Bassman head and a Randall MTS head. The Bassman is a great vintage amp, which is the majority of his tone. The Randall MTS is a modern amp but it has modular plug-in preamps based on older classic amp circuits. We used the one modeled after a Marshall Super Lead. All of Paul's tracks were done with either a Gibson custom-shop Les Paul or SG into the Bassman/MTS rig. With Gene, it was the Ripper bass into an Avalon U5 DI box and a mid-70s Ampeg SVT head and 8x10 cabinet. Some SVTs distort in a really good way, but many do not, so it was another process of finding just the right one. During mixing I also ran the direct bass signal through a Marshall JMP-1 preamp for even more distortion, which you can hear on the song "Russian Roulette." What about mics? On the bass amp I used three mics. I tend to put a lot of mics on the amps and use only one if it has the right sound, or blend them together. The phase relationship between mics and the DI is very important, but that doesn't mean everything has to be perfectly in phase. Sometimes two mics slightly out of phase can sound amazing, and you can use that blend as a sort of EQ. On the bass cabinet I had an AKG C12 placed two or three feet back from the amp. I used a Shure Beta 52 dynamic and an SM 57 up close on different speakers. The mic pre-amps were Neve 31104's, which I balanced and mixed to tape through a Vintage 1176 LN compressor. On each of the guitar amps I also used three mics. Tommy's Marshall was running through a 4x12 cabinet, and the H&K combo amp is an open-back 2x12. I used a Heil PR30 on the 4x12. It's a dynamic mic, somewhat similar to an SM57, with a frequency response that's just great for distorted guitar. I find that it has more clarity and bite than the typical 57. I also used a Royer 121 ribbon mic. What I love about the Royer is that it gives a ton of midrange, and when you boost mid- and high-frequency EQ it always sounds really good. You can really dig in and it never sounds too harsh. It fills things out and sounds thick and full. I also used an AKG 414 for a different flavor. With distorted guitars I don't compress too much. I used a Neve 33609 compressor, but never more than -3 or 4dB of compression. I find it best to let the amp, and then the tape, handle that. On Tommy's combo amp I used an old RCA 77 ribbon mic and a Sennheiser 421. Paul's Bassman was going through a 2x12 closed-back cabinet with Celestion Vintage 30 speakers. For the Randall it was a Colossus 4x12 cabinet and for both cabinets I used the same mics: the PR 30, the Royer and the 414. Paul and Gene's lead vocals were done almost entirely with a Shure SM7. For Tommy I used a Neumann SM 69, the stereo version of a U87. For Eric I used a Blue Blueberry cardioid microphone. The vocal chain was an Inward Connection tube sidecar console and an Anthony DeMaria LA-2A-style compressor. Guitar solos were done half at Conway and half at The Nook. We split the signal into four amps for a little more flexibility in sound between the songs. We had Tommy's vintage Marshall and the H&K head that he uses onstage, as well as a couple of smaller amps, a Fender Pro Junior and a little toy Orange amplifier [Orange Micro Crush] that runs on AA batteries. You can buy it at Urban Outfitters! It blended in fairly prominently for edgy, buzzy solos that sound '70s and fuzzy. How was the album mixed? We recorded all of the basic tracks on tape, transferred it into Pro Tools, and I mixed it entirely on a 1986 SSL 6000 analog console I had installed in my studio specifically for this KISS record. How would you summarize the overall experience of making Sonic Boom? It was amazing, because I was working with people that I idolized as a kid. Over the years I've learned that the dynamic in every band is different, and sometimes it can be tough, with politics, egos and however many years of baggage. I couldn't believe how incredibly healthy the creative relationship is with KISS. Paul was clearly in charge of the record, but he was open to everyone's ideas. Everything was discussed in an enjoyable, fun way. There was no sense of egos overwhelming the process or anyone being marginalized in any way. It was one of the most enjoyable experiences I ever had working with a band. This doesn't come as a surprise. You know, the first thing people ask me is, "What about Gene?" Gene is very methodical and professional... and very funny in a self-deprecating way. He's also very underrated a bass player. I really loved doing bass overdubs with him. He has a style all his own and it's a huge part of what makes KISS sound like KISS. Paul has said that no other lineup could have made this record and I believe he's right. Everyone in KISS is confident about their role in the band. They're not trying to please anyone but themselves, which is the best way to make music. There was no sense of anxiety, no label, no A&R guy. It was just the band and myself, trying to make the best KISS record we could. It was a completely natural process, and hopefully the results speak for themselves.
The following artsists are confirmed to appear: Sammy Hagar (CHICKENFOOT, VAN HALEN) Rock 'n' Roll Fantasy Camp is the ultimate music experience that allows musicians and enthusiasts alike the once in a lifetime opportunity to jam with legendary rock stars, play live on stage at major concert venues, and live their rock 'n' roll dreams. For more information, go to this location.
Gene Simmons, in this interview, talks about their Rock N' Roll Hall Of Fame nomination, the KISS army and playing Madison Square Garden for the first time. KISS was nominated for induction into the Rock n' Roll Hall Of Fame this year. Gene says, "It's appreciated, but we don't take it too seriously. Our fans are everything to us. The KISS Army is legendary and has become iconic. It's become its own thing. Every other band in the world knows about the KISS Army, and they'd give their left nut to have it. So, nice to be nominated, but it'd be nice to win. It's not the end all or be all. We do our talking onstage!" Despite the major studio successes, Gene says the place he knows his band has left a mark is on live performances. He says, "All we know is that when we go to see wrestling and we see fireworks or we go and see McCartney or any other band live and you see spectacle and fireworks, and all that, where'd that come from? The stampeders? If the only thing we've done is raise the bar substantially for live performances, that's good! Then we've left our mark! It's no longer enough to just get onstage with a tie-dyed t-shirt and sneakers, and look at your shoes and think that you are giving people a show." Sonic Boom is the band's first studio album in 11 years. Gene says the album is filled with the vitality of their older albums. "Eleven brand new songs; it's a three-disc special package. The second disc has 15 songs by this line-up re-recorded. The third disc is of us in South America at Buenos Aires Stadium in April, just a few months back. And what Sonic Boom is, is this is who we are now. No keyboard players, no children's choirs, no synthesisers, none of that. Meat and potatoes straight down the line, and it all goes back to a spirit of innocence that we had when we first started, when we first strapped guitars on our shoulders. Eric Singer and Tommy Thayer sing their own songs. The band is back to being full octane." KISS's new members Eric Singer and Tommy Thayer replaced Peter Criss and Ace Frehley. Gene says that fans are going to have to live with the replacements because they couldn't deal with Criss's and Frehley's problems anymore. He says, "In football teams, there's a number. If one of the players gets kicked out of the band three times for not being a team player and for using drugs and alcohol, 'your ass is grass,' as they say in New York! You may have been worthy of the team once. Why the hell would you continue to keep somebody on the team if they're not carrying their load?" The band kicked off its 35th anniversary celebrations recently and Gene was very happy to meet two guys who attended one of their most famous concerts from back then. He says, "We met the guys on the back cover of the double live album (Alive). You have to remember in those days, it was lunacy to release a live record, much less a double live record. KISS has always been like that - nuts! So, the back cover shows two fans in the middle of a sold out hall, three nights I might add, and they're holding a KISS banner that they made. Well, those two guys showed up all these many years later with the same banner. One's a successful real estate agent and the other is a doctor. The KISS Army, that's right!" After more than a decade, KISS also returned to Madison Garden. Gene says he has fond memories of playing there the first time. He says, "I will tell you a story... The band was put together at 10 East 23rd Street. It was a loft, and The Garden was 10 blocks away. I would walk up there and see basketball or The Stones or whoever else was playing." "We all have dreams! And when KISS played there for the first time, I walked in through the front door because in those days people didn't know what we looked like without the makeup. They were just aware of KISS. They thought that we looked like that 24 hours a day. So, I walked in through the front door, walked through the crowd, went backstage, put on makeup, got up onstage and rocked the house! The rock 'n' roll rites of passage, if you will. It was like climbing Mount Olympus; when you get to the top, the view is amazing!"
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KISS brought their fiery rock and roll show to the Don Haskins Center on Wednesday night. The platform shoe wearing rockers played a set consisting of KISS classics like set opener, "Deuce," "Strutter," "Dr. Love," "Love Gun" and "Lick it Up." KISS is one of those bands that incite weird and very disparate feelings in people. Some say, "f*ck KISS," but other's say, "F*cking Awesome." People that say the latter are either super fans of the group or they were lucky enough to catch the blood and thunder of their theatrical live performances. Once a person sees KISS, the convert's perception of how live rock and roll should sound, feel and to an extent look like, changes completely. These guys are damn exciting to see. They are a loud, awe-inspiring, all engulfing experience that you'll never forget. When that black curtain emblazoned with the KISS logo falls, bombs go off and these 4 wild men in grease paint go to work. This squad of 7 foot tall superheroes w/ instruments who are - The Demon, the Star Child, the Space Man, and the Cat Man - glimmer and sparkle like something out of this world. Your mind finds it hard to get used to it at first. It does not know what to make of these unreal figures ? cartoonish and garish in nature - in a real life setting. But, soon, your brain gives, and there they are, right in front of you, jumping and lurking about in clouds of dry ice fog. They spit blood, shoot rockets, fly over the crowd, practically set the venue on ablaze with bombs and towers of fire while burning your retinas with that extra huge light up KISS logo they never leave home without. Very real. Very loud. Very trippy. As you're taken in by the experience, you start to notice that these guys have basically taken the Chuck Berry and Alice Cooper ethos to the extreme. Then you begin to realize that these guys are driven, to the brink of insanity, to be world-class entertainers. These guys are Gene Simmons and Paul Stanley, founders and seemingly, permanent, members of KISS. They started this group way back in 1973 in the birthplace of many a rock group, New York, with two other guys, Ace Frehley, KISS' first lead guitarist and Peter Criss, KISS' first drummer. As a struggling band, the four young New Yorkers with attitude and big dreams rehearsed constantly, played countless shows at dive bars, dilapidated hotels and other assorted odd realms you may have encountered in the early '70s. By 1975, the group had released three albums to little or no critical acclaim or chart success, yet, retained a rigorous touring schedule. However, they were playing to packed crowds on a regular basis, so they decided to release a live album to chronicle the bombast of their show. That album, "KISS Alive!," was a hit and has since become a classic and sold millions of units. Their music from the 70's is arguably their best. It was very riff driven, contained catchy choruses, very underrated lead guitar work (check out Alive!, seriously) and their lyrical content was shameless, ex: "Put your hands in my pocket grab on to my rocket!" KISS' sound was mixed just right in their best releases from that period: "Destroyer," produced by Bob Ezrin, "Rock and Roll Over" and "Love Gun" both produced by Eddie Kramer who engineered sessions for Jimi Hendrix. And the rest, as they say, is KISStory. KISS spent the rest of the '70's dominating their audience, selling millions of albums and merchandise. During the 80s all that behind the music stuff happened: there were line up changes, they experienced a drop in popularity, released tepid sounding albums. Most disheartening of all, they took off their makeup. In 1996, KISS embarked on a reunion tour with original members Ace and Peter. It was a success and showed that the world wanted the super hero KISS back. The reunited KISS released an album, "Psycho Circus," but began the new decade with a "Farewell" tour. It seemed like old problems arose and Ace and Peter once again left the group. In hindsight, that "Farewell" tour was really one last hurrah for the original lineup. KISS has continued, as always, with Gene and Paul. They have retained the original look of the group with Tommy Thayer on guitar, a longtime jack-of-all-trades in the KISS organization and Eric Singer on drums, who actually played with the group in the early 90s. KISS version 2.0 has released a new album entitled "Sonic Boom," which features a return to their 70's style of songwriting, riffing and producing. Their current tour celebrates the new album and lineup as well as KISS' 35 years in the music biz. KISS understands that rock and roll should be loud, colorful, full of fire and passion and they always make sure to deliver only THE BEST in their live performances, with or without certain members in the group. Their performance was everything that a KISS show promises to be, a top-notch spectacle. Gene spit fire and blood. Paul, who is quite possibly one of the best frontmen alive, flew over the crowd to a revolving platform. Tommy shot rockets from his guitar and Eric played a crazy drum solo. They also played songs that delighted hardcore fans, like "Parasite" and "Cold Gin" and played classic interludes found on their first live record. They ended their Don Haskin's performance with Detroit Rock City and let loose with pyro at the very end. This strange rock and roll group that began in the 70's has been lambasted by critics, shunned by the 'normals' and have been unfairly ignored by the rock and roll hall of fame, until recently. Despite that, they seem to outlast fads and trends and have influenced many bands and guitarists, most famously Dimebag Darrell. Not all bands would benefit greatly from donning grease paint, but there's just something special about KISS. KISS' show is a cataclysmic catharsis. These guys are one of the few practitioners of this lost art. A young band or musician may scoff at KISS, but they should really be paying attention and taking notes.
But there's another, more vital role that the men in tights and black-and-white makeup have played in our world these past 36 years. "We all came here to escape from the world tonight," Stanley announced more than midway through a 2-hour and 15-minute performance Wednesday before a sell-out crowd at UTEP's Don Haskins Center. Escapism's exactly what these kabuki rockers are all about, well, that and a high profit margin. In Kiss' world, a rock 'n' roll concert isn't supposed to pummel you with platitudes about global warming and world hunger. It's about rock 'n' rolling all night and partying every day, slugging down that last-call glass of cold gin and licking up the love gun. And the El Paso crowd sure licked up their heros. About three generations of 'em, in fact. There were little kids wearing Simmons' trademark demon makeup, and there were a few guys my age (52) who did the same. Current guitarist Tommy Thayer and long-running drummer Eric Singer certainly are improvements, instrumentally speaking, over the guys they eventually replaced, original guitarist Ace Frehley and original drummer Peter Criss. The newer guys may wear the older guys' makeup, but they're definitely better players. That gives founding members Simmons - he of the lascivious tongue wagging - and the screechy-voiced, ever-playful Stanley plenty of room to just be Kiss, pointing at audience members, flicking an endless procession of souvenir Kiss guitar picks to the crowd, vamping for the three video screens and doing what they're famous for. In Simmons case, that's spitting fake blood on "I Love It Loud," which ain't exactly "God of Thunder" but still provides the drama when he flies up to a platform high above the crowd to sing it. Stanley's big stunt, aside from shimmying in those four-inch platform boots, is flying over the floor crowd to a raised, circular, rotating stage during "Love Gun," one of four songs that make up the 15-minute encore. The stunts, old and newer twists on a form of pyrotechnic spectacle Kiss practically pioneered, are as famous as the songs these guys have made popular over the years; anthems like "Rock and Roll All Night" and "Shout It Out Loud." That Kiss pulled out all the stops, musically and visually, in the final third of the show was a good thing. It provided an appropriately celebratory conclusion to the performance, which started strong with "Deuce" and "Strutter." New "Sonic Boom" song "Say Yeah" had "crowd-pleasing sing-along" written all over it. Stanley made that escapism comment during the best part of the set, as well as praising the military members of the audience as "the real American heroes" and boastfully pointed out the pre-teen additions to the Kiss Army. It's easy to get cynical about Kiss, a band that once took off the makeup when it was commercially expedient, then put it back on 13 years ago when the band's fortunes needed a serious goosing. But you couldn't help but get the sense that the band's out to do more than pad its bank accounts on the current "Kiss Alive 35" anniversary tour. Just as they Kiss did back in the 1970s, these four guys in kabuki clown makeup are also out to make us smile and forget our troubles for a couple of hours.
The American rock band, who formed in New York City in 1973, are back on the road and heading to Scotland. Picture the scene as their fans dig out the six-inch platform boots in a bid to re-live the first time they caught Paul Stanley and Gene Simmons stick out their oversized tongues while noodling on guitar and bass. Along with session musicians Tommy Thayer and Eric Singer, the heavy metal gods will wreak controlled havoc at Glasgow's SECC on May 9 next year. The Sonic Boom Over Europe: From The Beginning To The Boom tour, including bits of The Kiss Alive 35 Tour, proves heavy metal isn't dead, just comatose from fans drinking too much Horlicks. Paul, 57, said: "The Alive 35 Tour was just the start. Sonic Boom leaves that in the dust. New stage, new set list, new outfits, new album. "We're covering the history of the band on a stage that takes Kiss one giant step further in our eight-inch heels."Gene,60, added: "Now, more than ever, Kiss is a four-wheel-drive monster truck. Our mission? To rock Planet Earth. To spread the gospel of Sonic Boom." Ahem, yes, and with 80 million album sales, who can argue that Kiss remain one of the most iconic and influential rock bands of all time. Throughout their 35-year career, they have established themselves as one of the great live rock acts. Nominated for the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame two months ago, Paul insists a new generation are ready for Kiss, thanks to their mums and dads. "They want to share the experience with their kids," he said. "I love seeing the wonder on kids' faces. It's very gratifying, humbling and exhilarating. "Everybody is borrowing from us, but they will never be us," said Paul. "It only takes money to have a Kiss-type show, but you will never have Kiss. The Sonic Boom album has gotten reviews I couldn't write better. It is great to have an album out that is undeniably good." But isn't all that make-up an inconvenience after all these years? "I liken it to putting on war paint," said Paul. "It is a big part of who we are. If you win the lottery, you don't complain about taxes. When you've been as lucky as we are, there's not much to complain about."
Longtime co-leaders Paul Stanley and Gene Simmons kept a healthy crowd at Jobing.com Arena on its feet with two hours of classics and a handful of songs from the band's new "Sonic Boom" album on Tuesday, Dec. 1. Kiss purists no doubt lamented the absence of guitarist Ace Frehley and drummer Peter Criss, but the band sounded sharper and more energetic as replacements Tommy Thayer and Eric Singer settled into their permanent status with the group. The band, nominated this year for induction into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, continues to stage one of the most over-the-top shows in rock. The Glendale crowd, which included a number of children with faces painted to match their parents' heroes, ate up the extra-large helping of pyrotechnics, fireworks and acrobatics by bassist Simmons and singer-guitarist Stanley. As if anyone needed reminding, master of ceremonies Stanley pointed out that Kiss concerts are all about escaping from the pressure of the outside world for a few hours. If anybody came to the show seeking musical commentary on global issues, Stanley said, "You came to the wrong damn place, people!" Kiss dished out plenty of escapism through such classic tunes as "Strutter," "Calling Dr. Love," "Shout It Out Loud" and "Lick It Up." The band tore through an extended version of "Cold Gin," with guitarist Thayer showing off his fast fingers, playing over his head and behind his neck. Wearing the "Spaceman" get-up formerly donned by Frehley, Thayer pulled one of his predecessor's tricks out of the bag as fireworks shot from the neck of his guitar. Simmons, owner of the most famous tongue in rock, wasn't about to be topped in the showmanship department. Wearing his bat cape, spiked shoulder armor and 7-inch platform boots, Simmons started spitting fake blood before being pulled by cables to a platform about 70 feet above the stage. The 60-year-old bassist even had a couple flame-shooting devices straddling him as he sang the dance-rocker "I Love It Loud" atop the lighting truss. Stanley waited until the four-song encore to take flight, riding a cable and metal ring over the crowd to a small stage on the back of the arena floor during "Love Gun." That pummeling tune showed off the solid backup vocals of Thayer and Singer. Kiss may have created a new concert classic on "Sonic Boom" with "Say Yeah," a rocking anthem that allowed the crowd to sing along using the song's title. By the time Kiss started to wind things down, playing its mega-hit "Rock and Roll All Nite" as tons of white confetti flew over the crowd, the band had more than delivered on its promise to make fans forget more serious matters for one evening.
The TV star admits she was a struggling young actress, working in a diner, when she fell for the rocker. Sagal recalls, "I was 18 years old, I was a waitress at this restaurant and Kiss came in after one of their concerts - it was when they just started, so I went over and I waited on them... and Gene Simmons thought I was kinda cute, so we ended up kinda going out." And she quickly realised that dating Simmons was a huge career boost for a budding star, who had dreams of becoming a singer: "I took him to my band practice... and he took me to Casablanca Records and he got me a record deal. Pretty good date, right? He sort of got me my first big professional break."
I GET THAT A LOT features celebrities tricking everyday citizens in a case of supposed "mistaken identity." Working ordinary jobs, these celebrities confuse customers who can't decide if it's the actual celebrity or an astonishing look-alike. As these celebrity jesters continue to deny their true identities, various reactions from their customers solicit exasperated and hilarious responses. Celebrity participants include Julie Chen (CBS's THE EARLY SHOW, BIG BROTHER) working at a yogurt shop, Paris Hilton as a gas station employee, hip-hop legend Snoop Dogg as a parking lot attendant, Rachael Ray ("The Rachael Ray Show") working at a dry cleaner, Gene Simmons (legendary rocker of the band Kiss) as a psychic guru and skateboard sensation Tony Hawk working in a surf shop.
"I worship cake and cookies," said KISS bassist Gene Simmons when pressed for a guilty pleasure. "If women were made of cake, it would solve all my problems. I don't care about pasta and steaks. I don't eat lobsters or crabs; to me they're cockroaches. I tolerate food, but I dream about cake." Not to be confused with Cookie Monster, 60-year-old Simmons is the larger-than-life, blood-smeared, fire-breathing demon of kabuki rock gods KISS. Celebrating 35 years as the self-proclaimed hottest band in the world, KISS brings its dynasty of spectacle to Texas this week, with a concert at Austin's Frank Erwin Center on Friday, followed by shows in Houston and Dallas on Saturday and Sunday. Among KISS' caboodle of famous tricks and treats, of course, is Simmons' serpentine lollipop licker. "When I was a kid in seventh grade, the girls all used to say, 'Hey Gene, show us that trick you do,'" he said. "So, I'd stick my tongue out and start wiggling it, and they'd all start giggling like turkeys to the slaughter." Forever paired with co-founding KISS guitarist Paul Stanley, along with first-rate Tommy Thayer and Eric Singer on guitar and drums, respectively, is touring to promote new album Sonic Boom. KISS also is revisiting the unlikely 1975 career-launching concert album Alive! Financed on their manager's credit card and released as a last-ditch gamble following three failed studio albums, Alive! blasted Simmons, Stanley and original members Ace Frehley and Peter Criss into fame and fortune. "All we knew was we were making anywhere from $85 to $150 a week and never had to go flip burgers," Simmons said of the lean years. "We were having the time of our lives, and groupies were raining down like cats and dogs. In hindsight, it was just really a case of throwing caution to the wind." As with all things KISS, Alive! offered as much for the eyes as the ears. Besides such staples as Rock and Roll All Nite, Deuce, Strutter, Firehouse and Black Diamond, the Detroit rock city in-concert album cover captured the dressed-to-kill fearsome foursome in all their action-figure glory. And it was staged. Asked why KISS' pop-culture appeal persists, Simmons said, "Are you going to line up for the next Jennifer Aniston movie?" he asked. "Does he love me? Does he not? Shut up! Where's the monster and how are we going to survive? Give me the end-of-the-world story."
Having played the world, is there one place that stands out to the dynamic rocker? "This past year after we finished a European tour, I had my whole family -- my kids, my wife, my parents and her parents, fly to Italy. We stayed in a Medici villa in a little town called Vicchio, in the Mugello region," Stanley says. "While we were there, we visited a little town called Scarperia. This street [Via Roma] was just so terrific -- a pizzeria on the corner and gelato and pastry shop up the street. What else do you need?" "There's a building called II Palazzo dei Vicari [built in the 14th century,] something between a museum and a city hall and a government building -- a fabulous, fabulous building, where you can learn about the Medici family and see family crests and all of these great artifacts." The town's mayor gave Stanley special access to a precious historical archive within II Palazzo dei Vicari. "The crazy part is that there are no windows in the tower, and these signed records of purchases of land and births -- these amazing journals dating back to 1100 -- are just out in the open and you can pick them up." "Down the street not half a block from II Palazzo dei Vicari is a pizzeria. Michelin-starred restaurants, there are enough of those, but this pizzeria -- we went back two or three times. Just the best pizza. I'm a purist in terms of New York pizza, but real Italian pizza just raises the bar." "There are beautiful, beautiful streets in Pisa and Verona. But this street was so quaint and so untravelled, not a tourist spot. The town is not a tourist spot. This one street, just for the pizza alone! Plus good Sicilian cannoli. With everything else available to us, we wound up driving back for the pizza." More To Explore: The municipalities of Scarperia and Vicchio are located in the Mugello region of Tuscany, 25 kilometers north of Florence. 1. II Palazzo dei Vicari, Via Roma 73. 2. "We went to the local markets where we bought groceries and cheap Lambrusco; we made dinners and had a great time," Stanley says. 3. The Mugello region is also home to a Ferrari test track. "They opened the track for us and brought in paramedics and fire trucks and everything -- Ferrari can't do it without doing it full tilt -- they were being very gracious. But I'm really not that keen on going 150 mph in a car, so your dad, my son, my father-in-law and one of my security guys went in the car with the test drivers." 4. Grab a slice at Osteria De' Poeri, Via Roma 78/80. 5. In 2008, KISS performed at Arena di Verona, an amphitheater with a history that includes ludi [public Roman games,] operas, and now rock concerts. Built in A.D. 30, it's the best-preserved ancient structure of its kind.
Fast-forward 13 years to the "Kiss Alive 35" tour, which stopped in Glendale, Arizona's Jobing.com Arena on Tuesday night. Not a whole lot has changed. Kiss opens with the same three songs and closes with nearly the same encore of "Shout It Out Loud," "Love Gun," and "Detroit Rock City," with the addition of the 1983 hit "Lick It Up." Of course, no one at Jobing.com Arena is complaining. Like watching your favorite movie over and over to experience the same emotions, the same thrills again and again, seeing the rockers in their costumes provides a familiar sense of comfort to the head-bangers in the crowd. Gene's voice is in excellent shape throughout the show (in fact, the "Demon" is on top of his game. He generates some legitimate chills during his classic blood-spitting routine, which appears before he sings "I Love It Loud" perched on the light stanchion high above the stage); longtime drummer Eric Singer far outshines anything Peter Criss ever did behind the drum kit and provides convincing lead vocals on "Black Diamond" and unexpectedly good harmonies throughout much of the set; and Tommy Thayer (now starring in the role of "Space Ace") bests Frehley in replicating the solos Ace made famous and exceeds expectations while singing lead (and sounding a lot like Ace) on Frehley's signature tune, "Shock Me." Paul gets points for being incredibly fit, perpetually in motion, and being the most flexible and active of the band, despite being nearly 60 years old. The band gives the people what they want: flashpots, blood, classic songs, flashpots, fire-breathing, great costumes and frenetic light show, flashpots, and a high-energy performance. Gene proves why he is a consummate showman (Gene obviously really likes performing these songs); Singer and Thayer punch up the tunes with musicianship and verve often lacking in Ace and Peter's performances; Paul, over-the-top though he is, is in fine form, his voice nearly as powerful as it was three decades ago and his ability to jump, prance, and dance in those silver platform boots cannot be overstated. Paul's climactic speech still seems genuinely extemporaneous when he tells the assembled that a Kiss concert isn't about solving the problems of the world, it's about rocking 'n' rolling all night and partying every day.
If you show anyone in the world a photo of KISS, it's pretty likely that they will tell you right away who it is. That kind of cachet is hard to come by in the fickle world of music. The monster that Gene Simmons, Paul Stanley and crew have created is alive, kicking and scratching, and will certainly be for many years, even after they finish their time onstage. Their lucrative creation is completely absurd and they have gone to great lengths to keep it that way. It's genius, really. When I first saw the KISS Destroyer Tour as a kid in 1976, all of the elements were already in place. It was an over-the-top exhibition of the most elaborate circus turned horror fest. And, as a rock show, not a play was left in the playbook with all of the tricks in the history of rock music pressed into use. When Peter Criss and Ace Frehley left the band, their iconic characters kept marching forward. Fans were showing up, year after year and show after show, to see the spectacle. Although the band behind the makeup may change, the experience will be consistently familiar. True to form, the show at the Oracle Arena was instantly recognizable. Just as in 1976, pyrotechnics, explosions, blood and "faster, heavier, harder and louder" were the defining features of the evening. There was a fire-breathing, tongue-wagging, blood-spitting demon wielding a bass guitar in the shape of an axe. There was a guy with a star over his eye and a cat playing drums. Oh, and there was some classic '70s hard rock, too. There were old songs and new ones that you would swear were old. It was all thoroughly entertaining. For KISS fans, it was idyllic old school rock 'n' roll entertainment with the volume set to 11. This time out on the Alive 35 Tour, Paul Stanley and Gene Simmons brought along guitarist Tommy Thayer and drummer Eric Singer for an evening of neo-vintage entertainment. After opening with "Deuce" and "Strutter," the band played hit after hit including "Calling Dr. Love," "Let Me Go, Rock 'N Roll," "I Love It Loud," and "Rock and Roll All Nite" before returning with an encore of classics, which included "Shout It Out Loud," "Love Gun," and "Detroit Rock City." Stanley also stretched his trademark New Yawk-tinged vocals with a couple of new songs including a surprisingly demanding "Modern Day Delilah," which sounded as if it had been plucked from the vault of KISS oldies. In their roles as the iconic "Spaceman" and "Catman," Thayer and Singer confidently ripped through the familiar songs as if they had been doing it all along. Stanley was busy strutting, posing and cavorting, while Simmons did his best to appear menacing. If only we hadn't seen him out of character in his Family Jewels reality television series. Or would that be in character? All of the other essential ingredients were also on display just as they have been for more than three decades. The guitar picks were flying like confetti into the face-painted crowd. There were dueling guitar solos, a rotating riser for the classic drum solo, and Gene and Paul suspended, flying on cables above the crowd. There was also an incident where Thayer's guitar appeared to fire explosives, knocking a set of stage lights from the rigging onto the stage below. The KISS Army was out in strong numbers, many of whom were sharing their fondly remembered youth with their kids. There were also the merely curious, those folks just wanting to see what a KISS show was all about. For the hottest band in the world, the spectacle is the show.
For B.B. King, Buddy Guy, Bob Dylan, Bruce Springsteen, Roger Daltrey and so many other active icons of rock and blues circuits, those are words to live by. And 35 years after influential NYC quartet Kiss came on the scene with its self-titled debut and immediate follow-up Hotter Than Hell, they too are back touring the world and releasing new music. Released last month exclusively to Walmart as a three-disc set, Sonic Boom is Kiss's 19th studio album and first since its 1998 album Psycho Circus. Disc one has 11 new tracks, disc two has 15 re-recorded Kiss Klassics, and disc three is a six-song excerpt from a Kiss show this past spring. Age is of no concern to this band - half of whose members are pushing 60 years of age. Nor does it show on record or in concert for these make-up-wearing mega rock stars. Founding member and rhythm guitarist/singer Paul Stanley still has his dynamic vocal range and knack for writing instant hard rockin' classics, like album opener "Modern Day Delilah." Co-founder and bass machine Gene Simmons still effortlessly spouts out groove-laden licks (not to mention fire, in concert) and gruff vocals. Guitarist Tommy Thayer, who plays a similar style of lead guitar as the "space man" he replaced, Ace Frehley, does a more than admirable job throughout the album of playing exciting leads and fills, as on "Delilah," the excellent '80s-ish "Danger Us," and the Simmons-sung "I'm An Animal." Disc two's Kiss Klassics compilation was, before this release, exclusively sold in Japan in 2008, along with a live 11-track DVD of a Kiss show in Budokan in 1977. Most of these re-recorded Kiss Klassics don't veer much from the originals. But, the new version of fan favorite "Black Diamond" (with drummer Eric Singer replacing Peter Criss on drums and lead vocals) is an improvement over the original simply because the slowed down tape at the end lasts for under 30 seconds now instead of going on and on for nearly two whole minutes. Disc three, the six-song DVD, is a short excerpt of a Kiss show from Buenos Aires, Argentina in April of this year during its KISS Alive/35 World Tour. And the selections from it are all aces, from "Deuce" and "Hotter Than Hell" to "Watching You" - one of Kiss's most underrated hard rockers - and closer "Rock And Roll All Nite," the band's signature party rock song. Also included is a stretched out version of "100,000," which on record and on stage still has a vintage Black Sabbath-type rhythm to carry it along. The only disappointing aspect of the DVD portion of this release is that it is only six songs long. Ones guesses that the band had to resort to the short DVD in order to keep this three-disc set at a reasonable price. Kiss fans can certainly live with and appreciate that. And besides, any fan looking for a full Kiss show has decades of live albums and bootlegs to choose from. Ones does hope that eventually Kiss will release this full Buenos Aires show, as the rowdy, enthusiastic fans down in Argentina always seem to bring out the best in bands who play there, especially metal bands. In short, Sonic Boom, is a fun, sleazy hard rock and roll record mostly in the vein of its '70s material. In other words, it's the album Kiss fans have been wanting the band to make for over 20 years (and likely wondered would it ever be made). With 33 tracks for a recession-friendly price of $12 at your local Walmart, it's one hell of a bargain. Nonetheless, if you're a new or longtime fan, you'd be a fool to not pick it up. And with the holiday season fast approaching, Sonic Boom will make a great stocking stuff for dad as well.
Kiss exploded onto the stage and started hamming it up and working the crowd in the only way the self-appointed "hottest band in the world" could. Bassist Gene Simmons and vocalist Paul Stanley, the two band constants through the years, were decked out in the usual garb and makeup that has accompanied them through a good portion of the past three decades. Part of the "Alive 35" tour, this show celebrated their 35th anniversary and featured mostly older songs - although a few tracks from their new album, "Sonic Boom," made it in there too. "Deuce" and "Strutter" opened the show, followed by a heap of glam rock goodness, including "Cold Gin," "I Love it Loud" and "Black Diamond." Several of Simmons' trademark antics were conspicuously missing from the evening, including the blood spitting and fire breathing. But not Tommy Thayer's rocket guitar stunts. Carrying on Ace Frehley's signature maneuver, Thayer shot off multiple "rockets" (or at least some type of flying fireworks) into various spots in the venue. During the third firing, a sizeable chunk from the light rigging fell from the ceiling, narrowly missing the crowd. Since no one was hurt during the pyro-gone-wrong (or perhaps pyro-gone-right) incident, it probably made for one of the better moments of the two hour event. Even if it wasn't entirely accidental. The night appropriately wrapped up with what Stanley dubbed as "the longest encore you'll ever hear." A barrage of greatest hits that included "Shout it Out Loud," "Lick it Up" and "Love Gun" and a wave goodbye the only way Kiss knows how: with a giant, rotating pinwheel fireworks explosion of course!
My parents were understanding, but after being relayed this information, I was out of luck. They pulled the plug on my incessant, week-long campaign for the funds to purchase the KISS comics I wanted so desperately and seemingly everyone else in my third grade class had acquired. I immediately went into super-stealth mode. Under the guise of "hanging out," I spent time at the loose-parenting confines of my next-door neighbor Todd, playing with Gene Simmons and Ace Frehley dolls, listening to "Destroyer" on his record player and watching their movie "KISS Meets The Phantom of the Park" on TV. Years later, and long after they'd dispelled the acronym theory as silliness, my parents watched me and three high-school friends drive to the San Diego Sports Arena to see a KISS show in 1988. They were touring on "Smashes, Thrashes, and Hits," a compilation that included the single "Let's Put the X in Sex." It was a decent show, but they played without make-up or costuming and it was far from the full KISS experience. Friday night, after almost three decades in the making, I was finally witness to the true spectacle of KISS. Returning to the Sports Arena on their "ALIVE 35" tour, the band was in top form. Gene Simmons, Paul Stanley, Tommy Thayer, and Eric Singer delivered a sensational rock and roll spectacle to the jam-packed arena. From the time the perennial show opening "YOU WANTED THE BEST, YOU'VE GOT THE BEST! THE HOTTEST BAND IN THE WORLD...KISS!!" was shouted over the speakers and the gigantic signature curtain fell, the fully-costumed band gave the throng of fans exactly what they came to see. Ripping through six straight favorites recorded prior to 1978, it was obvious the quartet is more than happy catering to the will of its loyal subjects - many of whom painted their faces in allegiance to the macabre, super-heroes the foursome portray, one even going so far as to don Simmons' demon make-up and full vested suit as seen on the group's "Dressed To Kill" album. The band did squeeze in two songs from their latest release, "Sonic Boom," tucked in between a non-stop barrage of long-time hits. But even though the merchandising machine was in full effect - fans could buy the usual shirts and hats as well as anything from USB wristbands of that night's show to guitar straps to embroidered thongs - it seemed more than anything about giving longtime supporters a great show. Between two massive "KISS ARMY" wall drapes, the band pounded out hit after hit from a colossal stage littered with video screens, bright lights and fog machines. Even as they approach the four-decade mark in their career, the group doesn't seem tired of entertaining. Throughout the entire two-hour show, each member continually mugged for the audience, Simmons constantly sticking out and wagging his trademark tongue and Stanley spitting and throwing guitar picks as far as they would reach. The highlight of the night came as Gene Simmons spat blood during a fog-ridden bass solo that culminated in him being lifted a few stories in the air to a small platform above the stage. All eyes were focused near the Sports Arena's rafters as he led the crowd in a version of his trademark "I Love it Loud." Topping that, as they played their biggest hit and last song of the set, "Rock and Roll All Nite," 350 pounds of confetti were shot out of high-powered air cannons, covering the entire building inside and out into the hallways. After a quick break, it was back for an encore filled with more than enough pyrotechnics, flames, fog, explosions, and sirens to match the bombing of Dresden. The appreciative capacity crowd, ears ringing and eyes adjusting, sent them to the next tour stop with an extended ovation. As satisfied fans coursed out of the arena doors and I headed back to my car, I couldn't help but smile. For a group that first caught my attention when I still slept with a night-light, it seemed the "hottest band in the world" was better than ever.
Being a serious music collector and following bands of many genres for the past 32 years, KISS holds that place as the first real big one that got me. I found other music that hit me deeper and transformed my view of music and the world later, but those four dudes in makeup, breathing fire and pounding out ear splitting rock anthems, was about the coolest thing for a young boy growing up in the 1970's. Although I saw a lot of kids at the show tonight at The Pearl, it was mainly the grown up KISS fans back for a nostalgic ride, dragging their kids to see the band rather than the other way around. The show tonight at the Pearl proved that KISS is still the ultimate concert spectacle and it's backed by straight forward, no holds barred, rock and roll tunes. KISS is about escaping for a couple of hours and being totally over the top and a place to let your inner rocking, air guitar playing and sign of the horn waving spirit flow freely. To paraphrase what Paul Stanley said tonight, "Lots of other bands get up on stage and talk about stopping global warming, or getting rid of world hunger, but KISS is about forgetting the world's problems. The world is going to be just as screwed up tomorrow when we all wake up, so let's take off for the night." Gene Simmons and Paul Stanley still rock and pack a mean punch, blasting off what sounded like a few hundred of pounds of pyrotechnics just to make sure you noticed. They opened the show with Deuce, Strutter and Let Me Go Rock and Roll - three classic tunes. The show openers were followed by a big set of mostly early KISS material originally recorded before the band shed their makeup in the early 80's. Thankfully they reformed in the 90's as the original KISS and revived their early material along with their classic show, outfits and makeup. It reminds me of classic Coke - you just don't mess with a formula that works. They closed the set tonight with their most famous and well know rock anthem, Rock and Roll All Night and blasted out the largest amount of confetti I've ever seen at a concert blanketing the entire venue in white paper strips up to my ankles. They returned to the stage for not one but three encores: Shout It Out Loud, Love Gun and Detroit Rock City. The songs still hold up and they still sound like KISS even with half of the original lineup out of the band. It's definitely a nostalgia trip that was worth hopping on a for a few hours and I hope the guys keep at it because KISS Alive 45 will be a lot of fun to watch!
"If you think a rock and roll band is going to solve the world's problems, you're in the wrong damn place!" he shouted to the sudience. Then the band attacked a robust little number called, "Rock and Roll all Nite." Solving world hunger or global warning or any of the world's ills is not the objective of KISS, glowered the grease-painted 57-year-old rock icon, whose work attire remains an ensemble of tight black Spandex pants stamped with silver stalls, tall silver heels and a sparkled black vest exposing ample swarthiness. Stanley's point is well-taken. KISS has never been about anything but rockin' out, escaping from whatever stress reality presents. That's one reason for the fantastic onstage alter-egos - to get away from it all. Some have a stiff drink to knock the edge off; others dial up "Rock and Roll Over." There's little question, given the proven KISS formula, that it would be impossible to stand in front of an audience with a face full of demonic makeup, wearing a codpiece the size of a catcher's mitt, and intone, "I need to take a moment here and say this: I think it is sinful that more than 47 million Americans are living without health insurance. And now, here's, 'Dr. Love.'" Some bands can accomplish the delicate merger of rock and moral consciousness - Bono has turned the midshow call-to-arms monologue into an art form. But those bands need to exist on separate planes. Sad to say, but we can forget about ever seeing a KISS/U2 double billing. That's fine. KISS exists as a singular entity. It is a uniformed culture, this 35-year-old KISS Army, and it seems to be growing with every reunion, anniversary, and lineup change and time demarcation. Saturday's audience was a sea of veteran rock zealots who had grown up with KISS, many of whom seemed bent on making sure their children followed suit, even if it meant explaining to their pre-teens that there was fulfillment in being painted to look like a cat or spaceman for an event that was not Halloween. The band borrowed from its early years, much to the delight of those who played KISS on the miracle of vinyl in those days. "Strutter" is still a favorite. "Hotter Than Hell" was in there. "Dr. Love," "Shock Me," "Shout It Out Loud," "Lick It Up," and the finale, "Detroit Rock City." Fans of KISS shtick delighted in Gene Simmons' fire-breathing moment to cap "Hotter Than Hell." Playing to his strengths as always, Simmons still regularly tongues at the audience. Eric Singer and guitarist Tommy Thayer were provided lengthy segments to prove that, if it ever came to this, they could hold an audience for six or seven minutes without the others. The current KISS lineup - with Eric Singer on drums and Tommy Thayer on lead guitar -- has produced a release, "Sonic Boom," most critics like and that debuted No. 2 on the Billboard charts in its exclusive distribution deal with Wal-Mart. Theatrically, KISS still impresses visually and audibly. But KISS' famed pyrotechnic show, replete with flames and sound bursts, repeatedly rocked the small theater, and just when you thought, "One more blast from that stage would be obnoxious," - the show's over. "Rock and Roll all Nite" and the encore, capped by the great "Detroit Rock City," was set amid a blizzard of white confetti that nearly rendered the band invisible. At the center of all this tumult was the familiarly hypnotic KISS sign. KISS continues to flash and fire away, glad to rock 'n' roll, and that's the only message today's KISS Army needs to know.
Faithful fans and curious gawkers alike were in for a special treat, as the band pulled all the stops for what ended up being KISS's first ever live concert webcast, streamed exclusively through Facebook.com and Ustream.tv. The current tour pretty much follows the template of the second CD included with copies of KISS's new release Sonic Boom: a riff heavy, high-energy set of "classics" impervious to critical assaults or accusations of cheesiness, embarrassing sexism, repetitiveness, etc. The band is heading into its fourth decade unrepentant and, shall we say it, victorious. Who cares if the Spaceman and the Cat are now two (very good) hired hands instead of Ace Frehley and Peter Criss? The foursome who took the stage last Wednesday led by Gene Simmons and Paul Stanley reenacted the KISS of the good old early days, a kabuki circus full of fire, stage blood and stage banter. Stanley and Simmons (to paraphrase their two favorite bands) got back to where they once belonged because it had been a long time time since they had rock'n'rolled. Bottom line: they delivered. Here are a few memorable snapshots from the KISS show last Wednesday at the Staples Center: 1. Half of the fun of attending a KISS show: the fans When Gene Simmons thought up the KISS concept (read his amazing manual Sex Money Kiss where he explains his entire gameplan and how it succeeded), he realized that each concert could become for the fans a cross between the circus, the freak show at a country fair, and a year-round Halloween parade. He was right. 2. The other half of the fun: showmanship! It's really four guys on a stage, a couple of them pushing 60. And they really, really wanna give you a lot of bang for your buck. KISS plays in front of a wall of screens that can flick in seconds from an illusion of Marshall stacks to the very flames of hell. Speaking of which, there's a lot of actual fire onstage, and the heat could be felt from the back of the Staples Center. Our photographer, standing next to the stage, was almost burnt to a crisp within 20 seconds of the band's entrance. (Yes, KISS is even closer to the firebombs and flares for the entire show, which partially explains Simmons' melting makeup later on.) 3. Did we mention the insane, circus-like, old-school carny showmanship? After a rumbling bass solo and black and white images of foreboding clouds, for no apparent reason Simmons start gargling blood, as the giant screen focuses on his face. This goes on for several minutes. Then, he flies to a platform over the stage, from which he regales the audience with "I Love It Loud". Everybody loves it, loud. Later on, it's Paul's turn to dazzle the punters, by jumping on an acrobatic harness, flying across the stadium and doing "Love Gun" from an elevated platform in the middle of the crowd. New guys Eric Singer and Tommy Thayer also get their stunts: the drummer rotates 360 degrees during his solo, and the lead guitarist gets his chance to show the skeptics he can fill Ace Frehley's platform boots by shredding alone onstage while the other guys take a break. Thayer even riffs on Beethoven's Fifth and (so that you don't forget this is a KISS show and not a Steve Vai recital) he ends by switching to a guitar that orgasmically shoots fire from its neck. 4. The music, against all odds, holds up. There were a few musical highlights, particularly towards the end. "Rock and Roll All Nite" is still untouchable, and the band was cooking during "Black Diamond" and "Lick It Up". Even though some of their lyrics and posturing (particular Simmons') are easy to mock, last Wednesday's stroll through their "classic" repertoire confirmed their status as a credible bridge between the heavy rock they started emulating in the early 1970s (The Who's Live at Leeds, early Sabbath and Deep Purple, Zep), and a lot of later American heavy metal. During "Calling Dr. Love," it was hard not to notice how much Guns N Roses and Motley Crue are indebted to the original Rock n Roll Circus. 5. The bizarre communion between KISS and their fans is something to behold. Can you spot the Gene Simmons doppelganger in the audience? You know, the guy who probably woke up early the day before Thanksgiving and planned his whole pre-show schedule around decking himself out in an exact replica of whatever ghoul drag Simmons wears onstage, including hair and make-up? See him? This dude came to the show alone and spent the entire performance mouthing Gene Simmons' lyrics in perfect synch. You could switch from the stage and the giant screens to where this guy was sitting and not miss a line. That's motivation--and it's also testament to a kind of loyalty that these ancient clowns (we're calling them clowns in the Grand Gignol/Fellini way, so no judgment is implied) can inspire. Or, as Paul Stanley put it from the stage near the fina "LOS AHHHNNGEEEEEHLEEEEZZZ!!! TURN UP THE LIGHTS. HOLD UP YOUR CHILDREN. WE WERE THERE FOR YOUR MOMS AND YOUR DADS AND WE'LL BE THERE FOR YOU!"
Before the show, I checked out the merchandise stands. Kiss is still the master of marketing as they have been for decades. The atmosphere was more like a carnival than a concert. CDs and/or digital storage devices of the show were being sold for immediate distribution after the performance. T-shirts, posters, and other collectibles galore were for sale, and face painting was available (just pick your favorite Kiss persona, past or present. People were buying; recession be damned. The people watching weren't too shabby either. Lots of Kiss look-alikes were walking the halls. These fans really get into it. The stage was covered by ceiling to floor curtains while the crew set everything up. Then it was time for Kiss. As the big screens showed their march through the halls of the Sommet on the way to the stage, Gene Simmons gave us the first of at least a hundred tongue wags right into the camera. Dressed to kill in their traditional costumes and makeup, they were like soldiers marching off to war. And they would be taking no prisoners. The first thing that struck me was that Simmons' bass was coming through loud and clear and strong. The sound was excellent, and the visuals, well, were typical Kiss, which equates to fantastic. Stanley did most of the inter-song bantering, and everyone else did their talking through their vocals and instruments. Simmons breathed his fire, drooled continuously (so much so I was afraid he would short out his guitar), spit his blood, and flew up high above the stage on the lighting trusses at one point during the show. Stanley flew in a different direction; across the length of the arena to a back platform he gave the folks back there a treat for one song. At one point the two original members were on really high elevating platforms on opposite sides of the stage. Guitarist Tommy Thayer was all over the stage and blazing the fret board throughout the show, and drummer Eric Singer was absolutely insane for two hours. As for the set list, any group with as large a set list as Kiss is vulnerable to complaints. They just can't physically play everyone's favorites in two hours. For example, several women asked if they played "Beth." Well, this show was too rocking for that. What they did do was an impressive cross-section of their hits, with a few off the new album (Sonic Boom), which by the way are pretty darn good. I won't list them all, but some of the notables were "Hotter Than Hell", "Modern Day Delilah" (one of the good new ones), "Dr. Love", "100,000 Years" (with a nice drum solo by Singer), "Black Diamond", "Shout It Out Loud" (good to hear), "Love Gun", a rockin' "Detroit Rock City", and the ever-popular "Rock and Roll all Nite". Whew! In general, this was the ultimate rock show. If I wanted to show a rock virgin what a rock and roll concert was all about I think I would take them to a Kiss show. I'll have to try that next time; should be very entertaining.
If any of you are wondering why you haven't seen Australia's renown lighting crew chief Motley recently, it's because he's been living a childhood dream - working for KISS! "I filled in for Bryan Hartley (KISS's longtime Lighting Director) on some KISS shows in the USA and Europe (07 & 08) after doing the Paul Stanley tour as Lighting Director in Australia," Motley explained. "Bryan was / is busy with Aerosmith and Trans Siberian Orchestra so Patrick Whitley sent an email, "Need KISS LD, what you up to for 18 months off and on?". My reply: "touring with KISS, I guess!" Motley has been getting great feedback from all industry types. "I had Lenny Kravitz in NYC at front of house, and I nearly got nervous, but once the first 30 seconds of the show are over, I am in the groove and don't realise what is going on around me until just before the encore." The rig is 64' wide and made up of 7 trusses wit 2 x 8' side trusses to give it a wider look. The stage is 106' with scaff wings built in the seats at most arenas. The set and backline is set up at front of house on a rolling stage. Lights include 7k Syncro Lite x7, V*L3000 Spot x24, V*L3500 Wash x82, 4Lite DWE {Inline} x26 {Audience}, 4Lite DWE {square} x18 {Stage}, Atomic Strobe x34, CB12 LED Truss Toner x58, ETC Source4 Par NSP x4 {Gene Blood Gag}, Red Police Beacon x10- all controlled by a grandMA. All air lights are in pre-rig truss except Syncrolites and inline Audience 8lites, so there are not many cases to store. Lighting is supplied by Epic, based in LA. Crew Chief is Sean Kohl, and Andy Figueroa is the KISS sign tech. There are 13 trucks and 6 tour buses all pretty full up. "The show design started with the band saying they want a set full of video and a big video screen {60' by 20')," said Motley. "We went to do a bunch of Festival shows in Canada and two in the USA, so it was different lighting vendors and systems everywhere. The VL3500 with the beam blaster in was the only fixture that would cut over all the video. We took the big screen and the old set to see what would stick and ended up with the show. "Then Patrick sent me a hand drawing and asked me to draw it up in 3D; after a few bounces back and forth he went to the set company All Access and got it turned in to a reality. "The strait truss look fit with the big square set and video so I kept it simple. The joke is that you can tell it was designed by a crew chief! The only thing I was asked was the band want Syncrolites, the rest it up to me. "There are a few cues in a KISS show that must be done - the rest is what I call a 80's Ozzie pub rock rig on steroids. There is not a lot of movement in the rig until the end of the show. Drum riser goes up to 16' and rotates, Paul flies from front of house and Gene flies up to the front truss. "It's been a good buzz, as I went to KISS in 1980 in Sydney and came home and told Mum I am going to be a roadie and make big rock shows. Somehow I have now gone full circle. At first it was a bit weird talking to band members in full make up and 8" boots so they end up 7' tall - twenty-nine years later who would have thought, but after so many years of touring I have no problem with it at all."
Three decades ago, his father, Gene, and the other members of KISS promoted their 1977 Marvel Comics Super Special by opening their veins and donating the proceeds to be combined with the ink the issue was printed with. “My dad is proud to point out that that’s the best-selling Marvel comic of all time because it was a single issue and KISS fans are collectors,” Simmons, 20, tells Sun Media on the phone from his California home. In the years since, KISS has continued to dabble in graphic novels. The elder Simmons went so far as to publish his own comics line, in addition to an ongoing collaboration with illustrator Todd McFarlane whose toy-line manufactured KISS action figures. So it’s perfectly naturally that the rock icon should spawn a comics creator as well: Writer-artist Nick, whose supernatural horror serial, Incarnate, is now in stores from Radical Publishing. Dark, stylish and bloody, it chronicles the conflicts of immortal creatures called Revenants — one of whom is a pasty, raven-haired teenager named Mot. It is also what’s called American manga — referring to the Japanese style of art that has inspired the younger Simmons since he was young. Superheroes, he explains, never really interested him. “My dad grew up in that era, so that was his thing … I’ve always been a fan of manga. That’s how I’ve always drawn, so if I tried to draw naturalistically, that would be a new thing.” So far reviews have been positive and sales, undoubtedly stoked by his surname, strong. “I have no illusions. It’s all my dad’s doing.” Yet unlike other celebrity progeny, Simmons expresses no desire to distance himself from his heritage. “I’d be an idiot not to use that resource. I wrote and drew a comic book, but the fact I get press for it is entirely due to my father. I’m under no illusions about that. And I’m grateful for it.” Besides, he’s also savvy enough to know that while his name may open doors, “I still have to walk into the room and prove myself.” At times more so than an unknown writer and artist might. Fanboys were “locked and loaded” in advance of Incarnate’s release, he says. He knows this because he’s one of them — a true believer who can quote dialogue from Paul Dini’s Batman animated series or cite subtext from Alan Moore’s Watchmen. “Comic book fans are jealously protective. They’re almost like music snobs or elitists,” Simmons says. “If just one thing is wrong, they will tell you because they know all the facts and are passionate about it.” In rock music, he notes, there are casual fans. “There aren’t really casual comic book fans because you have to get off your ass and search for it.” Maybe so, but comics have become Hollywood’s medium of choice of late, with even obscure comics being snapped up for feature film treatment. Incarnate may follow that route, he says, although he wanted to adapt it into an animated series like Spike TV’s Afro Samurai. “Unfortunately the market for animation is not like the market is for motion pictures.” In the meantime Simmons remains active in other media — most famously on the A&E reality show, Gene Simmons Family Jewels. “It’s a source of income and I’m not just freeloading off my father, I’m actually contributing to the family. I get paid to be myself — that’s not really that hard.” He sounds less enthusiastic about the idea of a music career, even though he has his own band, Hands of God. “It’s just for fun. People think I’m on the show just so I can have a music deal, so I can be Kelly Osbourne. But that’s not the case — no disrespect to her.” After all, if he really wanted a recording contract, he has connections. “I would probably,” he says frankly, “ask my dad to help since he knows some people.”
So evidently, you have the duty. How many phoners do you have to do a day? Not that many, maybe one or two here and there because everyone in the band does interviews. So they're not just torturing the new guy? Naw. Gene and Paul like to talk too much, so they?re not going to let that happen. How's the Kiss biz treating you? Well, without sounding typical, it's going better than we could even imagine. You know, "Sonic Boom" was just released three or four weeks ago - I'll get to that in a minute - but the tour has just been spectacular. We've just come across Canada, and now we're coming down the West Coast, as you probably know. The shows have been packed out, and we've got a huge stage set out with us: bigger, more and better of everything. It couldn't be better, because to be quite frank with you, a lot of tours are kind of struggling in this day and age because of the economy, but the Kiss tour continues on and it's very strong. Who goes to a Kiss show these days? Well, that's changed and that's part of the success. You've always had the die-hard fans, the ones that?ve been with the band forever, and those people are still there, which is great, but now they're bringing their kids. The face of the Kiss crowd has completely changed: a lot of younger kids, a lot more girls these days. That's a good thing. Yeah, it's more diverse, and you know, multigenerational, I would say. You've got a whole new resurgence of young kids coming and joining the Kiss Army. We didn't really notice until last summer in Europe - we did a big tour over there - and then we were in South America this spring, and the whole face of the crowd was changing and just getting bigger and growing. It had to do with all kinds of things. We were on "American Idol" this year, and we have songs on the "Rock Band" video games, Dr Pepper commercials. There's just all kinds of stuff where the shows are really packing out. So where does "Sonic Boom" fit into all the rest that came before? Well, "Sonic Boom" is the first Kiss studio album that I've been actively involved with as a member of the band, and if I do say so, it's a great record. We're really proud, and the critics and the fans alike have been exemplary. We did this record with the idea that we weren't going to do it like most bands do it anymore. We went back and did it on analog tape. Actually to begin with, we wrote and rehearsed songs with the band. There wasn't anybody from the outside, record labels or management saying you should try to do this or that, and we just did something from the gut, really. And we wrote 11 rock 'n' roll songs that are sort of in your face, from the gut songs, no outside writers. We didn't try to write a radio song, a power ballad or anything like that, and it just came really pure and for real, you know, and more so than any Kiss record in a long time. I didn?t realize it until near the end of the recording that this thing is really good, and it feels right, and I think it's because we didn?t have outside influences and politics playing a role. Usually, you have A&R people telling you what they think because they have money invested, but we did this all ourselves and put it out on Kiss Records. Most bands fall prey to the dreaded "creative differences," which often means "need a bass player, man" or "need a drummer, man" but in Kiss the guitar player seems to be the rotating position. Do you ever feel like the extra crewman that beams down to uncharted planet with Kirk and Spock? You know, Kiss has been going for 35 or 40 years now and there have been several guitar players, but a couple of the guys were just in there for a year or two. But it's kind of a hallowed spot to be filling. You know, Ace Frehley was the original lead guitarist, and I grew up as a fan. Did you go see them as a kid? Oh, yeah. I was a huge Kiss fan. I got their first record for Christmas in 1974. I went to their shows in Portland, where I grew up, and I put on makeup when I was 15 and - lo and behold - you never know where things will take you. How?d you get this job? I know you were in a Kiss tribute band as well as Black 'n' Blue before that, but did you have to go through some crazy, intense audition scenario or what? Not at all. It kind of happened organically. I used to be in Black 'n' Blue, which had several records out on Geffen, and before that, we had an opening slot on a Kiss tour in 1985. That's where I met these guys. We hired Gene to produce a couple of records, so we got more involved, and I started writing with them and so on and so forth. Eventually after Black 'n' Blue had run its course, they asked me to just come and work for them because they needed someone to understand, which I always did. I got Kiss and I understood, so they had me spearheading a number of projects. They did the reunion in '96. Ace and Peter came back, and they put the makeup back on, and it was a big, successful tour and at that point, I was working behind the scenes just doing whatever needed to be done. I was looking more to a music career at that point. I had my band and we took our shot. We did good, but it wasn't a career for life, so I was thinking more music career. So when they were having problems and Ace and Peter left, I happened to be there. I had done sound checks, rehearsals, even some recording behind the scenes, so it was just kind of natural, and about seven or eight years ago they said, "Tommy, you're the guy!" How many thousands of songs did you have to learn overnight? Already knew 'em, you know? Like I said, I'd done sound checks and rehearsals and when Ace re-entered the band, I actually had to help him relearn his parts. The other cool thing is that my wife and I actually live out in Ventura County out in the Westlake area. I love it out there. We've been out there 11 or 12 years. I used to live in town, but all the traffic and the craziness, I just got tired of it. Black 'n' Blue had quite a run. You?re too humble. How did all that prepare you for all this? Well, they say Tommy is the new guy, but I've been doing this professionally for over 25 years. I've been at this for a long time, and I know what's going on. How did you end being a guitar player? When you're a kid in fifth grade and they say, "Hey, you wanna join the band?" I ended up picking up the saxophone, and I played it all through high school. But when I was in junior high, I wanted an electric guitar, and the main reason I wanted to do that was because I thought it looked cool. Finally, I got one, and that completely took over, and I lost interest in the concert band. Even though saxophone is very cool, I was just overcome with the electric guitar and being in garage bands and all that. So your first gig with Kiss then was an easy transition? Yeah, it really wasn't as extraordinary as some people might think. Just the fact I was officially in the band was amazing, but as far as actually doing it, it wasn't a big challenge. Was there any discussion of any sort of Plan B or were you always going to be the Spaceman? Paul and Gene didn't want to change and have new characters. It's so established - 35 years and going on from there - they don't want to start reinventing the wheel at this point. They did that 20 or so years ago when Ace and Peter left, and they changed it, and it didn't really work out very well. There's a few diehard fans out there who think it's blasphemous that I'm wearing Ace Frehley's Spaceman makeup. There's still a few people saying that, but we've got 15,000 people out there every night and they're not complaining. You know how the Internet is. It just gives people something to bitch about, but they still come to the shows.
This year, the band launched a first-ever fan-routed tour and released "Sonic Boom," its first album in 11 years (which entered the pop charts at No. 2, a career high for KISS). If you ask Paul Stanley, KISS' co-leader, the band is KISS at its best- with co-leader Gene Simmons at his side, as well as recent additions Tommy Thayer (guitar) and Eric Singer (drums). We talked to Stanley about the fan-routed tour, its new album and why critics and multi-generations seem to love KISS these days. I know you guys are a little more than halfway done with the tour; how do you feel it's gone so far? In terms of worldwide, it's the biggest and most successful tour we've ever done. It's been not only a great show in terms of turnout and response from the audience, but I've never seen so many great reviews. You have to remember we're a band that's always been loved by the public and hated by most critics. All of the sudden, either those critics are out a job, or they've had a change of heart, because it's suspicious to see so many over-the-top reviews. Along those lines, I've seen pictures on your Web site of little kids and families at your concerts. Thirty years ago, that wasn't the image people had of KISS. KISS has always been about writing our own book as to who we are and what we are. It usually doesn?t follow what other bands are doing. At this point, we are so multigenerational and proud of it. We do have new fans, meaning teens and 20s, but we also have older fans with their kids. For many people, KISS has always been the soundtrack to their lives, so it?' passing something along to their kids. I couldn't be more proud of the band and what we mean to so many different people. Where does that dedication come from? What is it about the band that inspires that in people? I think it's the idea of being the underdog who always manages to win. We've had a career of doing things our way in the face of every known obstacle and we do more than survive, we thrive. If you were going to create "the perfect KISS," which past or present members would be in the lineup? They're in. This is the best KISS ever. Because this is a KISS where you've got four unique personalities, but you've got four people who are all dedicated to the idea of trying to make the band more famous, rather than trying to figure out how to have the band make them more famous. You only have to come see the band to know that this is as good as it gets.
Stanley spoke with the Las Vegas Sun as the band prepared for a show this week in Anaheim, Calif. How are you going to scale down your live show, which is built for arenas and stadiums, for a small theater like the Pearl? We have special shoehorn where we take our size-12 foot and jam it into a size-9 shoe. Rather than go back to a big arena, we wanted to play the Pearl again (Kiss performed at the theater in August 2008). Every seat is unobstructed, which you don’t get often, but we’re not going to do the lounge thing. We’re going to test how much volume this place can handle. Palms owner George Maloof likes to bring in bands he’s a fan of. Is that how Kiss came to play the Pearl? Yeah, he is a fan. I’ve known George for about 15 years now. I was there when it was just rebar, talking with him about the day Kiss would come to town. We were envisioning it even then. You have a place at Palms Place, right? I’ve had a place there since it was under construction, before it was completed. There were reports last year that you might be in Las Vegas, as a resident, as the Phantom in “Phantom — The Las Vegas Spectacular” at the Venetian. Any truth to that? I was in Las Vegas having meetings, and we’d discussed that. I’d played the role before (in the Toronto production), but for a lot of reasons it wasn’t to be. I think it’s a great show — terrific. I still intend on doing it on Broadway, but there are only so many hours in the day, you know? We have the Beatles-themed Cirque du Soleil show, “Love,” at the Mirage and an Elvis-themed Cirque show at Aria called “Viva Elvis.” You’ve seen “Love,” right? I did and it was absolutely terrific. Would you be interested in a Cirque-produced show with a Kiss theme? Sure. We’ve been in talks with different people with possibilities … not Cirque people, but we’ll see what develops over time ... Anything is possible with Kiss.
The US supergroup - Gene Simmons, Paul Stanley, Tommy Thayer and Eric Singer - are promising to put on the most spectacular show of their controversial career. "This is the best Kiss ever...it's the biggest and most successful tour we've done," boasted guitarist Paul. "You only have to come and see us to know this is as good as it gets." Kiss have been wowing fans on the other side of the Atlantic with their new stage show based on this year's hit album, Sonic Boom. Kiss are reaching a whole new generation of fans thanks to recent high-profile television appearances. They went down a storm appearing on the final of American Idol 2009, where they performed hits Detroit Rock City and Rock And Roll All Nite with contestant Adam Lambert. The show was watched by more than 30million viewers. And bassist Gene Simmons is a reality TV star in his own right. He has achieved top ratings with Gene Simmons' Family Jewels, a fly- on-the-wall show focusing on his offbeat home life with ex-Playboy Playmate Shannon Tweed and their kids, Nick and Sophie. Kiss formed in 1973 and their string of albums includes Dynasty (1979), Unmasked (1980), Animalize (1984) and Revenge (1992). The colourful band, whose infamous live shows have featured blood, fire and smashed guitars, have also played big events such as Super Bowl XXXIII, the Winter Olympics in 2002 and the 2008 Australian Grand Prix. Despite several line-up changes, Kiss claim they've never been more popular with young music fans. Paul said: "We have many new fans - mainly in their teens and 20s - but we also have older fans who bring their kids to the gigs. "For many people, Kiss has been the soundtrack to their lives, so it's passing something along to their children. "I couldn't be more proud of the band for what we mean to so many different people."
The face-painted rock superheroes, riding on the crest of a wave after a stunning performance at Download in 2008 and the seemingly never-ending Alive 35 world tour, arrive at the LG Arena on Tuesday May 11, 2010. Tickets go on sale at 9am this Friday, November 27. In typical bombastic Kiss style, the tour goes by the title of "Sonic Boom Over Europe: From The Beginning To The Boom", hinting at a setlist including nearly four decades of Kiss classics, right up to the new material, which deliberately evokes the spirit of the early Kiss albums. The tour features Kiss's first UK arena shows in 11 years. Acclaim for Kiss on the Alive 35 tour has been universal. Metal Hammer hailed the "return of the kings!", while Mojo declared: "A Kiss show is as thrilling and bombastic now as it was in 1975." Whilst utilizing elements of "Kiss Alive 35", the Sonic Boom tour will be a new show tailored to the band's European fans and showcasing the Sonic Boom album. Guitarist and singer Paul Stanley says: "The Kiss Alive 35 Tour was just the start. 'Sonic Boom Over Europe' leaves that show in the dust. New stage, new setlist, new outfits, new album! "We're covering the whole musical history of the band on a stage that takes Kiss one giant step further in our eight inch heels. We're stoked. You wanted the best? You GOT the best!" Bassist and singer Gene Simmons says: "Now, more than ever, Kiss is a four-wheel-drive monster truck. Our mission? To rock planet Earth. To spread the gospel of Sonic Boom." Today - November 25, 2009 - Kiss, which also features drummer Eric Singer and lead guitarist Tommy Thayer, are performing to a global audience when their show at the Staples Center in Los Angeles is streamed live on Facebook. This one off event will be unique chance for European fans to see the Kiss Alive 35 show before it changes for the European run.
"We were here for your moms and dads, and we will be here for you," Stanley told the audience in the close to sold-out arena. Parents who brought their children seemed reassured that somehow the world would be a better place because of this. Many brought offspring as young as three years old, dressed up like members of Kiss, in full costume and make-up, to pay homage to the band, famed for their imagery. Die-hard Kiss fans, ranging from adolescents to rockers in their forties attended the concert, dressed in full Kiss regalia. The band attracted a crowd that ranges into their fifties. Those who attended the concert not dressed up as someone in the band, showed up wearing either Kiss merchandising, conservative clothing, or rock and roll couture de rigueur of Los Angeles, a city that is arguably one of the rock and roll capitals of the world, not to mention home to Kiss member Gene Simmons. Last night's concert again proved that Kiss still has managed to retain its "Kiss Army," its dedicated legion of fans. The ever merchandising Kiss has made last night's Los Angeles concert available for purchase as a double CD. For those who attended the Staples Arena show last night, the recording of the show was made available by purchasing a voucher, and picking up the first CD and the box at the concert. Then after registering online, the second CD with encores would be mailed to them. In addition to the live CDs, Concert Sticks, which are packaged in Kiss collector's boxes, are available immediately after each Kiss concert at Concert Online and/or official merchandise booths. USB sticks give fans live MP3s immediately after concerts. The company Concert Online teams with mobile audio recording studios and accompanies musical acts throughout their tours and record every show live. The resulting live recordings are split into individual tracks on-site, labeled, converted to high-quality MP3s (320 kbit/s) and copied to "Concert Sticks" (USB drives). These can also be purchased on the website. In many ways, Kiss is the W.W.F. of rock and roll. Paul Stanley dresses as the "Starchild," bassist Gene Simmons is "The Demon," drummer Eric Singer is the Catman, and their guitarist, Tommy Thayer is the Spaceman. Kiss were dressed in their iconic outfits, comprised of silver and black spandex, leather and metal chains and studs, and extremely high platform shoes, with their faces covered in make-up, identifying them with their long-known characters. Although the band has gone through some personnel changes, the song remains the same, and so does the show, which is what their fans want. The band, which is arguably most celebrated for their live stage shows and imagery, offered entertainment and spectacle. Kiss' iconic logo on stage flashed throughout the concert. "Last night we played in Anaheim," Stanley announced to the audience, which resulted in loud booing. "Funny," Stanley quipped. "That's what they said about you. You're going to play for those Beverly Hills rock and rollers," joked Stanley, referring to last night's audience. Simmons stuck his tongue out and wiggled it at the audience many times during the night, and sometimes he had fake blood dripping out of his mouth. Pyro that included green, yellow and orange flames shot up from the stage, flame pots erupted, as well as sparklers and firecrackers. At one point, Simmons carried a flaming torch, and appeared to breathe fire out of his mouth. In another effect, sparks appeared to shoot from Thayer's guitar. Fog emanated on stage, and masses of confetti fell from the ceiling onto the floor of the audience. The song "Black Diamond" ended with firecrackers. Elaborate video screens were split to show different vignettes of the band members at the same time, and included colorful graphics. Drummer Eric Singer played while elevated on a large platform. Between two of the songs, Stanley urged fans to not drink and drive. Stanley, who was the most animated member of the group last night, screeched at the audience, "Do you want to know how to end global warming?" The audience responded with a resounding "Yes." The guitarist then proclaimed, "If you came to see a band tell you how to stop global warming, or how to end world hunger, you came to see the wrong band. Tonight is to escape the world's problems." Stanley then assured the audience, "The world will be just as screwed up tomorrow," which drew massive laughter from the audience. This was the segue to the band's party anthem "I Wanna Rock And Roll All Nite." Stanley also managed to destroy a guitar on stage. Both its neck and its body ended up with fans in the first two rows. At times, Stanley made gestures to the audience and pantomimed to get his points across, as he introduced the band's songs throughout the evening. At one point, he played the intro from Led Zeppelin's "Stairway To Heaven," an apparent joke. For those with a sharp ear, a bridge from The Who's song "Won't Get Fooled Again" was briefly vamped on guitar. The musical repertoire of the evening was vintage and new material, like "Modern Day Delilah." Part of the spectacle of the evening included Simmons and Thayer being simultaneously raised on each end of the stage to the top of the arena on platforms that were suspended in mid-air, while the platforms shot out massive flames. One of the visual highlights during the concerts was when Stanley said to the audience, "I'm coming out there!" At this juncture, he was suspended on wires, and was flown over the audience, landing on a platform that was placed high above the crowd. It was located towards the back of the arena, which was dense with Kiss' film cameras for video. There was more spectacle when Stanley was flown over the audience, back to the stage. As much as Kiss had pyro for its audience last night, the audience held a flame for Kiss.
The reality is that the 49-year-old Portland, Ore., native has been a part of Kiss' inner circle for more than 20 years, but only a member of the group — whose "Kiss Alive 35" tour comes to the Don Haskins Center Wednesday — since 2002, when Frehley left for the second time. "People say I got their coffee. Yeah, I went and got the coffee. Other times, if we were meeting at the studio, Paul might call and say, "I'm going to get the coffee today. What do you want?'" the guitarist, more amused than defensive, said during a tour break in Florida. And, yes, it's true that Thayer once helped Stanley paint his house. Thayer was staying with Stanley while sifting through hundreds of the band's photos for "Kisstory," their limited-edition, 440-page memoir published in 1995. "I was in Paul's guest house doing the photo thing and one day he walks in and says, "Hey, can you help me paint my master bedroom?' It wasn't all of the sudden I'm painting his house," Thayer said. "Paul and I were painting his bedroom. ... It wasn't just me. He was painting, too." Thayer knows there are Ace fans who don't like him, who criticize him for donning Frehley's "The Spaceman" makeup and costume (owned by Simmons and Stanley) and re-creating Frehley's guitar solos. As a Kiss-loving kid, Thayer was an Ace fan himself. He later played Frehley in Cold Gin, a Kiss tribute band. He also helped Frehley relearn some of his own guitar parts for the original lineup's reunion tour in 1996. "These things take time," Thayer said of fan acceptance. "You can't expect to walk in on the first tour and own the world. There's a certain reverence to the thing I'm doing, the position I'm coming into in the first place. It's Ace Frehley; a big shoe to fill." But with Kiss' new album, "Sonic Boom," Thayer feels he's come into his own. It's his first studio effort with the group, which also includes Eric Singer on drums. He's been credited by fans and critics alike for helping make it one of the group's better albums in a long time. "I feel almost a little more liberated now, because when I joined this band I had big shoes to fill replacing somebody like Ace, which is not an easy thing, and everything that goes along with that," Thayer said. But he noted that "I can say (the album's) as much mine as anybody's." Thayer said the band has been re-energized by the first three legs of its "Kiss Alive 35" world tour, which was launched last year to mark the band's 35th anniversary. The North American leg contains much of the material included on its breakthrough "Kiss Alive!" concert album, plus plenty of the pyro for which the band is famous. It's the band's first extensive tour in several years, and the longest one that Thayer has been a part of as a member. The idea to make a new album grew as the band toured Europe and other parts of the world for the first time in years. "We had a gut feeling that maybe we should do this now," Thayer said, noting Simmons' and Stanley's reluctance after their last studio effort, 1998's "Psychocircus," tanked. The "Kiss Alive 35" tour has been good to tour openers Buckcherry, who last toured with Kiss in Europe after their debut album came out a decade ago. "We were excited. We've been touring 10 years and they're celebrating 35 years," singer Josh Todd said. "It's just kind of a rock 'n' roll event. At this time, there are not a whole lot of rock 'n' roll events." Thayer understands the importance of being in a band as big, and notorious, as Kiss. He prefers the detractors to the alternative. "The day when nobody is talking about it anymore," he said, "is when we need to be concerned."
The bassist, vocalist and self-proclaimed "Demon" who made his name with the notorious costumed rock band will meet and greet fans who buy a Gene Simmons Axe Bass from 6 to 8 p.m. Monday at ROCK STAR gallery at Kierland Commons, Greenway Parkway and Scottsdale Road. A Gene Simmons look-alike contest open to the public will be held from 4 to 6 p.m. the same day. "Growing up, I was never able to really connect with the Beatles in a personal way," Simmons said from Saskatoon, Canada, where he was performing. "If I liked one of their instruments, I just had to go off and buy it in a store. It was very impersonal. There was this gulf between the fan and the band. "I wanted to make it personal for my fans. If you are buying something from me, I owe it to you to talk to you, take a picture and maybe kvetch a little." But the Demon and marketing genius may have materialistic motives for the event, which takes place on the eve of his Tuesday concert at Jobing.com Arena in Glendale. "It is clear that these are superfans, because each bass cost $5,000," Simmons said. "Besides being a collectible, the bass itself is on the highest level, and it is autographed." The black and silver bass guitar is a limited edition that is autographed and hand-numbered by the performer. The guitar comes with a custom-painted leather case, hand-embellished with a likeness of the superstar's stage persona, the Demon. Kiss is on a 48-city tour that includes stops throughout Canada and the U.S. to promote the band's latest CD, "Sonic Boom." It sounds like a grueling schedule, but the 60-year-old rocker claims he does not need any preconcert workouts for his blood-spitting, fire-breathing act. "I am on stage with 8-inch platforms (shoes), guitars, leather and armor. It's like being in the Marines and doing two hours of training," Simmons said. After 35 years, the singer still digs his music gig. Simmons co-founded his legendary band in the early 1970s. Kiss has broken box-office records set by the Beatles and Elvis Presley and is still going strong. Simmons was born Chaim Witz in Israel, the son of a Nazi concentration-camp survivor. He came to the U.S. at age 8. Simmons attended college in New York and graduated with an education degree, although he was in rock bands since he was a teen. He is also a merchandising whiz, his empire having grown to include the reality-TV show "Family Jewels," cartoons, comic books, best-selling books, clothing and more. He has been in numerous films, including "Extract," which was released this year, and "The Christmas Story" which is expected in theaters in December. "All I ever wanted to do was fit in," he said. "I couldn't speak a word of English. Everyone would make fun of me and call me stupid. "My revenge was getting them all to work for me. Education is powerful. Once you know that, you can rule the world. Without an education, you get to ask the next person in line if they want fries with their order. Power comes from brains, not brawn." Simmons doesn't do many private meetings, so the event at the ROCK STAR gallery is special. The gallery sells music collectibles and celebrity fine art.
In the lobby of the Honda Center in Anaheim on Tuesday, veteran fans watched the parade as they awaited KISS' explosive arrival onstage. "This is huge! KISS is my whole life," declared Robert Edmondson, 43, of Monrovia. His smiling face was painted in the style of "The Demon," worn by singer-bassist Gene Simmons. He had a long, black wig over his hairless scalp. "My mom took me to a concert in '77 and I flipped. I wanted to be Gene Simmons. Look at me," he added, rolling out a long tongue. "We have something in common." As a big-time rock act, KISS is in a category all its own, the ultimate critic-proof band, and its appearance Tuesday night was less a concert than a circus of music, pyro and costumes. This is what KISS does, and the KISS Army loves them for it. Riffs, not rants "You know we got trouble in the world," singer-guitarist Paul Stanley noted late in the two-hour performance. "If you came here thinking a rock 'n' roll band could tell you how to end global warming . . . you're in the wrong place tonight!" The best of the old songs were still catchy and delivered a nice cheap thrill as Simmons shouted "Rock and Roll All Nite" to an exploding cloud of white confetti. "Black Diamond" erupted with dependably crashing hard-rock riffs. At or near 60, bandleaders Simmons and Stanley remain a lively presence on stage, kicking up their platform shoes and maintaining the same commitment to grand gestures, stunts and fire-breathing. The makeup shields the band from the obvious passage of time, preserving its image just as it was in the glittery 1970s. Two of the original members -- drummer Peter Criss and guitarist Ace Frehley -- are gone, but longtime replacements Eric Singer and Tommy Thayer filled those slots, respectively, with enthusiasm and ease. With the notable exception of the band's 1983 hit "Lick It Up," most of the night was devoted to KISS' '70s heyday. The new 'classic' But the quartet also performed songs from "Sonic Boom," its first studio album in 11 years, which was released exclusively through Wal-Mart. The album, produced by Stanley, was aimed at reconnecting with the thundering rock hooks of the band's most popular era, and fans were not unhappy. New songs included "Say Yeah," a catchy, anthemic tune that had the crowd singing along, as the many video screens on stage filled with the faces of fans wearing KISS makeup. Thayer unleashed a heavy riff on "Modern Day Delilah" as huge flames of orange, yellow, red and green exploded behind him. Stanley had at least one new message for the KISS Army on duty: Buy that new album. "Get your butt down to Wal-Mart and pick up a copy," Stanley urged. "It's good. It's classic."
Paul Stanley is co-founder and part-owner of an endlessly diversifying entertainment company called KISS. As "The Starchild," he sings, plays rhythm guitar and writes songs for the band. There's a new album to promote, Sonic Boom, which Stanley's really proud of, and a world tour that brought him to Staples Center last night. Born in the middle of the baby boom, Stanley Eisen turned 12 when the Beatles played The Ed Sullivan Show. He grew up in Queens, New York, and attended the High School of Music and Art, alma mater of entertainers, hip designers, real-life Mad Men and MAD magazine luminaries. Stanley studied art there, though he also dabbled in rhythm guitar and was under the heavy sway of those first, unstoppable Zeppelin albums. Eventually, he went into showbiz, partnering with a driven Israeli immigrant who calls himself Gene Simmons and rising to the top of his profession. There were highs in the '70s, some lows in the '80s, but the band soldiered on in spite of critics and naysayers. Stanley had been visiting Los Angeles for work since the early '70s. In the '90s he left the East Coast for good, had a kid with a gorgeous actress and bought a big place in Beverly Hills. Fast-forward to 2001: The actress turned into a complicated divorce, and Stanley turned to his first love, art, for "therapeutic reasons." At the age when Sinatra was brooding about the September of his years, Stanley kept fit (give or take a heart scare or two), kept working at his day job, took up painting and rebuilt his home life with a lawyer he met at ritzy Italian restaurant Ago on Melrose Boulevard. Now 57, Stanley is still very wealthy and still working hard for the band he started. He's happily married to his second wife, with whom he has two small children. Beverly Hills magazine described their small 2007 wedding at the Pasadena Ritz-Carlton as "magical." Stanley travels a lot for work, and when we caught up with him on the phone he was in Saskatoon, Canada, nursing a sore throat. He couldn't wait to get back to his family and beloved adoptive city. "I really like to unwind in L.A.," he says. "Since I got kids of all different ages, I do different things. With the young ones - I have a 9-month-old daughter and a 3-year-old son - I like to go to Paradise Cove [in Malibu]. We sit around and play in the tide pools. There' nothing I like better than that. "But then with my 15-year-old son," he continues, "we go to McCabe's and play with the guitars there." It's easy to picture Stanley - the hip, older dad with the long hair - and his teenage son, Evan, driving to the venerable Santa Monica music store on the weekends, the latest Raconteurs (he keeps up with classic-sounding new bands) or old-school Humble Pie blasting from the stereo. "I love McCabe's," Stanley adds raspingly on the phone from his hotel room. "It's very old-school, reminds me of the guitar stores I used to go to in New York in the '60s." This doesn't mean he's averse to Guitar Center, where he and Evan continue their bonding sessions over expensive vintage gear. Another thing Stanley loves about the city is high-end cuisine, particularly Italian. "I really like Cecconi's [in West Hollywood] and Osteria Mozza. Italy has my favorite food and it's my favorite place to go on vacation." While others, like boisterous business partner Simmons, spend the spoils of success on gaudier stuff, for art-crazy Stanley an ideal family vacation is renting out a Medici villa. After years in the showbiz mecca ("Man, Sunset Boulevard! It just blew me away. When I first arrived, I thought the Rainbow on Sunset was the closest I had come to rock & roll church!"), this Queens boy is now enjoying the kind of personal L.A. renaissance experienced by many successful men his age as they move past the September of their years into uncharted Octobers and Novembers. And he has even started getting attention for his paintings. The efficient lady who arranges Stanley's press appointments tells us that one day some people came over to his house, noticed the framed artwork and started raving about it. "After that, he starting showing it in galleries and it's made about $3 million in sales," she says. Not bad for a side gig begun as an exercise in post-divorce solace. Still, the painter's life will have to be put on hold while Stanley minds the store. His main career in showbiz is what's paying for the very comfortable life of the Beverly Hills gourmand, the rented villas and the art supplies. After all, Stanley Eisen plays rhythm guitar and writes songs for the world-famous band KISS.
The disc was billed as the return of the original Kiss, since it came in the midst of the reunion of guitarist/singer Paul Stanley and bassist/singer Gene Simmons with the two other original members, guitarist Ace Frehley and drummer Peter Criss. "Psycho Circus," though, ended up being a lackluster effort on a musical level, and far less than advertised when it came to being called a triumphant return of the classic Kiss lineup. Instead, Frehley and Criss hardly played on that 1998 CD, with studio musicians handling what ostensibly were their parts. The band also had several outside writers contribute to roughly half of the songs. So Kiss had something to prove when the band decided last year that it wanted to make a new studio CD. For one thing, this was a new lineup for Kiss, with guitarist Tommy Thayer making his full-fledged debut, and drummer Eric Singer, who since 1996 has been the band's drummer whenever Criss wasn't in the lineup, back on board. Interestingly, the band decided that if Kiss was going to fail on this album ---- the newly released "Sonic Boom" ---- there would be no one to blame but the band members themselves, as Stanley took the reins on the project. "I think the most important thing that I noticed about this record was it was really done well; one, there was no outside producer," Singer said, commenting in a recent phone interview about Stanley's role in the CD. "I think working with great producers can be a really great thing. People can get you to think outside of the box or think of things differently than you might ordinarily do it, and sometimes bring a certain type of performance out of you that you might not be able to get yourself. ... But ultimately at this point, nobody knows how to make a Kiss record better than Kiss. I think that was kind of the mindset." But it wasn't just Stanley who went into "Sonic Boom" ready to step up to the plate. "Everybody went in with the attitude of hey, we know what we want to do," Singer said. "We want to make a rock 'n' roll record. We want to do it organically, which means us recording the record live, everybody playing on the record, no outside writers, no outside musicians ---- do it the right way, the real deal, like the way records were originally made." The decision to keep "Sonic Boom" an in-house project has paid off. The new CD has been greeted by many reviewers as the best Kiss album since such classic early releases as "Dressed to Kill," "Destroyer" and "Love Gun" ---- and a CD that actually sounds much more like the work of the original Kiss than "Psycho Circus." The success of "Sonic Boom" represents a welcome turn of fortunes for Kiss. The reunion tour of 1996-97 with the four original members was a major success as a live venture, but by the end of the decade, it appeared the band's days were numbered. In early 2000, the band announced it would do a farewell tour that would run from that summer into 2001. Before the tour was over, Criss split with the group, and Singer, who had joined the group after the 1991 death from cancer of drummer Eric Carr, rejoined Kiss to finish the tour ---- which, of course, turned out to be far from a final jaunt. By 2002, Frehley had also played his final gig, with Thayer filling that slot. When the band returned to the road in 2003 to co-headline a tour with Aerosmith, Criss had been brought back. This time, Criss lasted only for about a year. In 2008, with the 35th anniversary of the band's formation in New York City looming, Kiss announced it would begin the "Kiss Alive/35 World Tour," with Singer and Thayer joining Stanley and Simmons. Singer said he was angry at the band after it brought back Criss in 2003, although he had no complaints about the group cashing in by reuniting the original lineup. Before rejoining Kiss, Singer said he cleared the air with Simmons and Stanley. "I told Gene how I feel about how they dealt with me in certain things," Singer said. "I always understand the business side of things. It's not called music friends. It's called music business. I'm fully aware of that. I've been doing it for a long time. I get it. The only thing I ever said was, there is a way to do it, you know? I'm a big boy and you should just tell people your intentions when you want to do something, just be aboveboard. That's the best way to deal with it. That way you keep the door always open. And Gene, he respects my opinion about it. "But you know something, the relationship I have now with Gene and Paul and the band is the best it's ever been for me," the drummer said. "They get along really good now, and they've had their ups and downs. ... How can you not have a relationship and expect it to not be peaks and valleys? But once I came back, I remember saying if I'm going to come back, then it's got to be under the right kind of situation. I don't want to keep playing, literally, musical chairs. But I think when Paul called me up and said come back, he basically said, 'This is what I want to do. I want you to play drums.' And that was it." Playing drums with Kiss is exactly what Singer is doing as the "Kiss Alive/35 World Tour" continues, stopping Nov. 27 at the San Diego Sports Arena. The stage show continues to be as spectacular as ever. In fact, Singer noted, the band has an entirely new stage with high-tech video screens and the usual array of visual effects. Of course, some traditions continue. "There are certain things that have become synonymous with Kiss, Gene breathing fire or Gene flying and spitting blood," Singer said. "Those kinds of things you have to do. ... it would be a cardinal sin to not have those certain Kiss staples, just like certain songs that have to be in the set. It wouldn't be right without them." On the early part of the tour, the band played almost the entire 1975 "Alive" album. But Singer said the set is evolving to include "Sonic Boom" material. "As we get into fall, we're going to start gradually working in more new songs off of 'Sonic Boom' and morphing the set list, tweaking it as we go along," he said. "But it's a work in progress. We kind of (always) figured it was going to be 'Kiss Alive 35' eventually morphing into the 'Sonic Boom' tour."
Well, as it turns out, KISS has delivered a slam dunk of an album. Strong enough to make both fans and detractors want to rock and roll over, the Paul Stanley-produced disc is just what the doctor ordered. What makes Sonic Boom particularly unique is the sense that the band really got back in touch with early influences like Slade and Humble Pie to create an album in the classic KISS tradition. There are no ballads, no keyboards, no co-writers, and no attempts at a big radio hit. What we do have is the sense that the band really did play together and play off of each other, giving the music a big-time shot of energy and fun. Letting us know we've landed squarely in KISSville USA, Stanley shouts "Yeah, yeah!" as a killer central riff kicks off "Modern Day Delilah." Simmons is next up to bat, with the tempo-shifting "Russian Roulette". Yes, the innuendos are there as only Doctor Love can deliver them. As it turns out though, Simmons is one of the album's really pleasant surprises. There is a grit and a wink present here in both his voice and his growling and melodic bass playing that has been missing for quite some time. When he sings "I'm an animal" a few tracks later, I have to tell you - you pretty much believe that he is. Not content to sit in the back seat while Stanley and Simmons drive the KISS Chevy van, the 21st century Spaceman and Catman pony up and knock out some great vocals themselves. Drummer Eric Singer absolutely smokes a raspy-voiced performance on "All For The Glory" and lead guitarist Tommy Thayer sends "When Lightning Strikes" into the stratosphere. Their solid work helps lend verve and punch to the arena fist-pumper "Stand" and the pop-the-top summer anthem "Say Yeah." The band have succeeded in taking what worked best from nearly all of their eras to make what is unquestionably their most consistent album since the ?70s. No small feat for a band that's been around the block as many times as these guys have. The $12.00 set is available at Wal-Mart, and comes packed with a disc of re-recorded hits, and a DVD of a show in Buenos Aires earlier this year. The hits will be of interest to long-time fans, as it gives a nice sonic-overhaul to the band's earlier tracks. In 2009, KISS proves their once and future relevance by showing that there's no time like the present, to rocket back to the past.
Users can watch and interact by visiting the official KISS Facebook page at facebook.com/KISS or on Ustream at www.ustream.tv/channel/kiss-live to connect with other KISS fans for a personal chat and live video experience in real-time during the show.
After a falling-out with original lead guitarist Ace Frehley and drummer Peter Criss, Simmons and Stanley are soldiering on, making millions more through concerts, a new album ("Sonic Boom") and the most extensive product licensing in the history of rock. (Newest item: Kiss Mr. Potato Head.) Simmons, who still wears full make-up and a costume onstage, called to talk about the band's Alive 35 tour (in Glendale on Tuesday, Dec. 1) and performing at 60. Question: What has made your farewell to fans last almost 10 years? Answer: You realize that just because a band is dysfunctional . . . (because of ) people who are self-destructive, that shouldn't determine how long a band lasts. It's hard enough getting onstage with 8-inch platform heels and armor, spitting fire and flying through the air . . . to have to deal with the crap from somebody . . . we said, "We should probably stop. We've done enough, there's nothing left to prove." Actually, there is something left to prove to yourself and to the fans . . . which is that no one member is bigger than the band. No one is irreplaceable, and that includes me. Q: Why did you wait 11 years to put out your latest studio album? A: Without a retail partner, it's not worth doing. You bust your hump . . . and then people steal it (online). Not interested. Last time I checked, Kiss wasn't a charity. Walmart, which is the largest retailer in the world, is the reason we got to do "Sonic Boom." Q: You've licensed more than 2,500 products. Are there a few that Kiss has turned down? A: Cigarettes, hard booze. Kiss crack, although it sounds good, is probably not a good idea. But other than that, why shouldn't the entire world be branded with Kiss? "Planet Kiss." By the way, we own that trademark. Q: How is your relationship with Paul after 35 years? A: Better than ever, although, even though we're the same coin, we're two different sides. We are not Jagger-Richards, not Lennon-McCartney . . . and yet when you look at who those guys were, they really were opposites. Q: Is it ever a challenge to get up for a show? A: It's always a challenge. The challenge is to (be) as good as you can be and live up to the legend. Because there is a legend - it's 35 years on. The critics who had a problem with us have long since been buried in our back yard. Mulch is good. Here we are, with brand new generations of fans. Q: Do you ever wish you could go onstage in just a T-shirt and jeans? A: No. I don't want to be ordinary. Ask a girl at night, "Don't you ever get tired of doing your hair, makeup and the little black dress and high heels?" She'll say, "Yeah, but it's power and it's glory." Q: What is the key to not falling down while running around in platform boots? A: You have to be in great physical shape. You have to know how to walk on them, and in Paul's case, jump off the ground. You could easily break your neck, if not your leg. I'm carrying around 40 pounds of additional weight: The guitar weighs 12 pounds, each boot is over 10 pounds. Then add studs, leather, armor. And oh, yes, you're onstage for two or 2 1/2 hours - spit fire, hold your breath, don't swallow the kerosene - and you're flown up to the top of the light truss. Aside from that, it's just like being in the Stones or U2. Q: Kiss always has employed an over-the-top stage show. Any new bells or whistles? A: Technology has really allowed us to kick this up. I don't want to be too specific, but let's just say you're going to exhausted at the end of the night. Q: Do you ever fear an accident involving the massive pyrotechnics that Kiss is known for? A: Of course. It's not like being in Coldplay. They're a great band, but it's safe. You can't be one of those guys and be in Kiss - you'll die. Q: Will we see a Kiss Alive 45 tour? A: I never imagined a 35th-anniversary tour. I'm 60. I feel stronger, better than ever. But the physicality of being in Kiss has its limitations. But Kiss can and will probably continue without us. Kiss will go where no band has gone before. There are no rules.
OMG! KISS Rules! I now know exactly what Cliff was talking about in 'Singles' after last Sunday's Kiss show at Key Arena. 35 years of face paint, platform shoes, chest hair, fake blood, and spark-shooting guitars is quite an impressive feat. I can't say I ever wanted to see Kiss live in concert before, but for some reason this was the year I decided to cross them off my personal bucket list, and I'm so glad I did. From the beginning of the show it became perfectly clear that I had been missing out on one of the most entertaining rock bands ever to set foot on a stage. I was absolutely flabbergasted by what an unbelievable live show and overall rock experience it was, and can tell you without a doubt it was one of the best rock and roll concerts I have ever seen. I'm sure if you are a Kiss fan, and have seen the band before, the knowledge that their live show is uncontested in the spectacle department is a complete and utter no-brainer. I apologize ahead of time for being a Kiss concert virgin. You may be happy to hear that my world was tipped upside down right after the announcer said those famous words to start the show. The first notes of "Deuce" and the explosion that followed detached my jaw, and I realized immediately that Kiss was much more than meets the eye. "Strutter" was next and the crowd went ballistic, showing major love for the band. After "Let Me Go, Rock n Roll" and "Hotter Than Hell", it became clear why Kiss has maintained the ravenous fan base throughout the years. Throughout their history they have been and continue to be a fans' band. The Kiss Army Fan Club, providing second-to-none entertainment, and surely the constant crowd interaction during their shows are all factors. Paul frequently tousled his hair and talked to the crowd, and it definitely helped shrink Key Arena down and give the show a much more intimate feeling. The set list was 88% greatest hits, and 12% new tunes as both "Shock Me" and "Modern Day Delilah" sandwiched "Calling Dr. Love". Again this is a newbie talking, but not having paid much attention to anything regarding the musicians who have taken the spots of Ace Frehley and Peter Criss over the years, I was certainly impressed by both Tommy Thayer as The Spaceman on lead guitar and Eric Singer as The Catman on drums. Both showed big-time chops on their respective instruments. Tommy channeled Ace's stage moves but was in a league all of his own talent-wise. He owned the stage on each and every solo, especially the blazer he riffed as part of "Cold Gin". The big debate, that isn't even a debate at all according to metal enthusiasts, has always been whether Kiss is actually a heavy metal band or not. Kiss surely showcased their metal roots on "100,000 Years" off their 1974 self-titled debut. This song was pretty heavy live, and brought to mind a very metal band from the same era, Judas Priest. Kiss does have some recurring themes in their stage show as well; Gene's demon outfit, the fire blowing, and the spitting of fake blood are all possible influences on black metal imagery. Kiss' music may be hard rock at best, but they certainly started out heavily influenced by the new wave of black metal that was flooding the US at the time. The epic drum solo in "100,000 Years" was handled flawlessly by Eric Singer, who was lifted and rotated on a robotic drum riser. A ferocious and massive presence in his full Kiss regalia, Gene Simmons showed off that marvelous tongue all night long. When it came time for the ultimate in concert theatrics, the Demon was surrounded by fog and an eerie green. By far my favorite part of the whole show was seeing the classic blood-spewing display that is Gene's trademark. He banged on his axe-shaped bass, shook his head like a possessed animal, and unleashed fury in the form of some sort of bloodlike liquid. It was breathtaking, especially since it was broadcast on three giant JumboTrons. Then, without warning, Gene flew up into the sky and stood perched in the rafters. I had to wipe my eyes, because I had just seen old Gene Simmons fly to the ceiling to play bass 75 feet above the crowd. Holy Crap! Then they played the song I so wanted to hear all night, "Black Diamond". Gene came back down just in time for the party to boil over as everyone's favorite Kiss song; "Rock and Roll All Night" was the choice to end the main set. The crowd went bananas while the huge stage was set ablaze with pyrotechnics. Each member took their places on platforms which elevated them to the top of the huge screen and four huge guns shot bazillion scraps of confetti into the arena sky. It was glorious, and an impressive display of rock and roll concert excess. I wish all encores were just like what Kiss had up their hairy sleeves. "Shout It Out Loud" lead off. An obvious crowd pleaser which was indeed shouted out very loud by yours truly. Song two put an ear-to-ear grin on this rock guy's face. "Lick It Up"! Ever since I first saw the video for this hard rocker, I have always loved it. The four Kiss guys of the time, Paul, Gene, Vinnie, and Eric walking down the street in very tight paints sans face paint. It ended up that Gene wasn't the only trapeze artist of the night, after a little stage was uncovered right in front of where I was sitting. Paul asked if we wanted him to come out in the crowd, and he did, by swinging out from the stage to the very back of the floor seating onto that rotating stage. "Love Gun" ensued with a solo Paul shaking his money maker for everyone in the back of the Key. The night ended with that all too-familiar bass and guitar gallop of "Detroit Rock City". The encore was more stripped down, but still packed the punch of some final explosions to send us on our way. The Kiss experience was something else. I had full sensory overload of fire, video, confetti, and rock by one of America's most famous and entertaining rock and roll circuses. After seeing Kiss for the first time, I've joined the fan club, decorated my entire music room with Kiss gear, and later I'm going to paint my face like Gene, and take a bubble bath with my new Kiss rubber duckies.
As the band rolls into Southern California nearing the end of what it considers its most successful concert tour in decades, Kiss is seeing a real resurgence in fan support and critical acclaim. "Sonic Boom," the band's first studio album in 11 years, topped Billboard's Rock Albums chart shortly after its October release, according the band's Web site. Many reviewers are calling it the best Kiss record since 1977's "Love Gun." Kiss performs Tuesday night at Honda Center in Anaheim, Wednesday night at Staples Center in Los Angeles, and Friday night at the San Diego Sports Arena. The "Kiss Alive 35" concert tour has been wildly successful, said lead guitarist Tommy Thayer in a phone interview on Friday. "You know, just the whole world of Kiss the last year has been phenomenal," he said. "We started the tour a year ago in Europe and South America. That was kind of the cornerstone of really getting the ball rolling leading up to this whole new resurgence of Kiss. We started noticing in Europe that a lot of young kids, along with the longtime Kiss fans, were coming out. And it was really exciting. We hadn't seen much of that in recent years." Because the band members - Simmons, Thayer, guitarist/singer Paul Stanley and drummer Eric Singer - live in the LA area, the band considers this stretch of the tour its "home games." "This is always an exciting part of the tour for us," Thayer said. "Southern California is going to see the very best of Kiss." Of course, all the traditions that made Kiss' live shows spectacular - Simmons breathing fire, spitting blood and flying, the pyrotechnics, the costumes 0 are back. Kiss has ramped it up even more with a bigger stage presence and a giant video screen for this tour. "The Kiss show is bigger than ever right now in terms of staging," Thayer said. "A lot of the basic elements of the show are here that have been around for a long time. That's what makes Kiss Kiss. If you didn't do a lot of that stuff, people would wonder why not. So that stuff will continue to be there. "The video production is the latest and the greatest thing," he said. "For a band that kind of invented the theatrics, the pyrotechnics, we've taken the video to another level. We're making us appear huge on the screens. We're a visual band, so people want to see those characters up close. It's quite awe-inspiring, even for me." In making "Sonic Boom," Kiss returned to the basics, despite the fact that Thayer and Singer were in and original members guitarist Ace Frehley and drummer Peter Criss were out. Thayer said the new foursome approached the album like a brand new band would. They decided to write their own songs and do everything their way, with no outside influences. The result was something the band was proud of, and the loyal fans and critics applauded. "Paul said recently that when he goes home, he goes to a house that was built on bad reviews," Thayer said. "All the complementary reviews this time around have gotten him scared. It'll probably sound biased for me to say, but the band is more for real now than it ever has been." As big as 2009 has been for Kiss, next year may be even bigger. Kiss plans to launch its "Sonic Boom" tour in Europe next summer, and 2010 may also be the year Kiss is inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. The band was nominated for the first time earlier this year. "The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame nomination is amazing," Thayer said. "That's a real nod to the original members of the band. They should have been in a long time ago, if you ask me. No band has been bigger longer. It's a travesty that they're not in there already." Thayer, who originally joined Kiss in 2003, is more in awe of its marketing machine than embarrassed by it. He was a longtime Kiss fan, even before touring with them as a member of the '80s metal band Black 'N Blue. Seeing Kiss' image on everything from M&Ms to lampshades -- thanks to a new deal with Walmart -- is all part of the band's success. "Believe it or not, for Gene and Paul, this is a rock band first," he said. "The music and the live show is the core of what Kiss is, along with the image and the look and the characters. We take it to the next level with the merchandising and promotion. One thing drives the other. Kiss really was innovative. They've been doing this longer than anybody. In the '70s, a lot of bands thought it was a sellout. But now everybody has to do it. It's almost the biggest part of the business." And nobody in the industry has done it quite like Kiss for the past 35 years. "Not only are they very good musicians and very creative, they've been able to create this great band and be able to market it as well," he said. "Most musicians aren't able to do this the way they've done it. It's unique. You don't create a band and continue for 35 years without being exceptional at what you're doing."
Plus: Global live performance via Facebook on November 25, 2009 Rock legends KISS are set to bring their new "Sonic Boom Over Europe: From the Beginning To the Boom" tour to Europe in Summer 2010. With multiple dates across Europe, the "Sonic Boom Over Europe: From The Beginning To The Boom" is set to be THE rock event of 2010, building on the incredible success of the 2009 "Sonic Boom" album. "Sonic Boom Over Europe: From The Beginning To The Boom" will see dates in Ireland, Switzerland, Italy, Austria, Czech Republic, Germany, Norway, Finland, Sweden, Demark, Holland, France, Spain, Belgium and, not only will the tour feature KISS's first UK arena shows in 11 years, but it will see the band breaking new ground completely with their first-ever shows in Slovakia. Acclaim for KISS on their current spectacular, sell-out, "KISS Alive 35" North American tour has been universal. METAL HAMMER hailed the "Return Of The Kings!" MOJO declared: "A KISS show is as thrilling and bombastic now as it was in 1975." Whilst utilizing elements of "KISS Alive 35", "Sonic Boom Over Europe: From The Beginning To The Boom" will be a fresh, new show tailored to the bands European fans and showcasing the brand new "Sonic Boom" album. Widely acclaimed as another KISS classic, "Sonic Boom" rocked Planet Earth when it debuted worldwide and burned up the charts - the album is also the highest charting album of KISS' career in the USA. Paul Stanley says, "The 'KISS Alive 35 Tour' was just the start. 'Sonic Boom Over Europe' leaves that show in the dust. New stage, new setlist, new outfits, new album! We're covering the whole musical history of the band on a stage that takes KISS one giant step further in our eight inch heels. We're stoked. You wanted the best? You GOT the best!" Gene Simmons says, "Now. More than ever. KISS is a four wheel drive monster truck. Our mission? To rock Planet Earth. To spread the gospel of Sonic Boom." On November 25, 2009, KISS will perform to a global audience when their show at the Staples Center in Los Angeles is streamed live on Facebook. This one-off event will be unique chance for European fans to see the "KISS Alive 35" show before it changes for the European run - the perfect warm up to the must-see tour of 2010. "Sonic Boom Over Europe: From The Beginning To The Boom" tour dates are as follows: DATE CITY COUNTRY VENUE The founding members - fire-breathing bassist Gene Simmons and flamboyant frontman Paul Stanley - have steered this ship since 1972, and after much success, much turmoil and a bit of tragedy, they have finally formed a union with two like-minded musicians in drummer Eric Singer and lead guitarist Tommy Thayer (a longtime behind-the-scenes guy with the group). Their new album, Sonic Boom, has cracked the #2 spot on the album charts, a feat not accomplished by any of their previous albums, including Destroyer, Love Gun or Dynasty. Who could believe that a band that topped the charts in 1978 is now, believe it or not, even bigger 31 years later? ENVY had the chance to speak with newest member and Spaceman, Tommy Thayer, about living the dream. ENVY: The new album, Sonic Boom, was initially hyped as being a return to the sound that KISS captured in the '70s. In your view, did the band find that sound again? Tommy Thayer: To me, I think the album delves into everything from the early albums to Revenge. It wasn't the intention to just sound like one era of the band, but a cross-section of what has been done before but giving it an updated sound. Well, for long-time fans, the jacket will immediately remind them of Rock And Roll Over, and some tracks like "Nobody's Perfect" could have been from Love Gun, so it does hit the mark. For your playing, was there a certain sound you wanted to retain? Well, I wanted to bring my own interpretation of what people have come to expect, but also with the new album, it freed me up to create a signature sound for myself and the band since it's a new KISS record. Obviously, with this being a new KISS record, it must be refreshing to put your stamp on it. For sure. I have been copying guitar sounds and solos for some time now, and that is out of respect for the songs and the fans, but it is nice to be able to bring my own ideas to the classic KISS structure. A lot of people don't realize your role before the new full-time one you have as a band member was quite extensive with the band. Well, I've been behind the scenes for years working on video editing, working on songs with Paul and Gene and back when they reunited in 1996. I helped Ace relearn some of his solos that he hadn't played in years. So when the time came for the band to continue forth and make some changes, I was put into this role I have now. Sonic Boom helped me be fully realized in KISS. For the new tour, "Alive 35," from the looks of concert footage available, it looks more video-oriented than past tours. Is it necessary to stay up with technology for a live setting, or could this band bring out the "Alive II" set minus video and still blow minds? What people don't realize is that the "Alive II" set is really not that big - it was at the time because most bands weren't doing that kind of show in the 1970s. But today, the stage we use is huge, so we needed to be able to fill it up and give fans an opportunity to see us from anywhere in the arena. With the video, it means that something is always visually going on. For you, personally, is there a part of the new show that is your favorite aspect? Well, my solo is something I've been working on, and I've been utilizing the ability to launch rockets and flares from my guitar. It's just a great effect and the crowds have been really enjoying it. Other than the bombast, fire and blood, what else can audiences expect or is that pulling back the curtain too far? Great rock 'n' roll, the classics and what people want to hear, plus some new stuff from Sonic Boom that will let them know that we are still creating some great music. Otherwise, it's two hours of non-stop spectacle. It's what you expect from KISS, and we continue to deliver.
Kiss have done that with Sonic Boom, and we at LTD are celebrating anyway, because this is the band's best album since, at least, 1982's Creatures of the Night and, possibly, 1977's Love Gun. Frankly, we don't care that this could have been the New Yorkers in the mid 70s. We don't care that the album does not sit in the same contemporary, fashionably introspective milieu as Paul Stanley's recent solo album Live to Win. It doesn't matter that there are two new blokes dressed up as Peter and Ace (especially as guitarist Tommy Thayer sounds exactly like Frehley in his pomp.) We don't even care that, if anything, Gene Simmons's knuckle-dragging, antediluvian, single entendre lyrics have become even worse over the decades. What we do like is that here are 11 pop metal stompers, utterly devoid of pretension, with at least three songs, 'Say Yeah', 'All For The Glory' and 'Stand' destined to become big, lighters-out stadium staples. Glorious.
KISS was gracious enough to sign a Paul Stanley Washburn Preacher guitar for Johnny Damon's charity to benefit the Wounded Warriors. Bids on the KISS guitar topped all others, surpassing the likes of ZZ Top, Sevendust, The Dave Mathews Band, and 3 Doors Down. The winning bidders were Marc and Darlene Mero, who bought the guitar for a great cause! Much to his surprise, KISS also signed a guitar for Johnny, who recently won the World Series as a member of the NY Yankees.
To celebrate the 35th anniversary of its February '74 self-titled debut, the ever-popular concert attraction, founded by frontmen Paul Stanley and Gene Simmons, has been out on its worldwide KISS Alive/35 Tour, which stops Tuesday at Honda Center in Anaheim and Wednesday at Staples Center in L.A. It's turning out to be a busy year in Kiss' history. For starters, the current tour coincides with the release of Sonic Boom, the band's well-received first studio effort in 11 years, following 1998's lackluster Psycho Circus, the first album to feature the original Kiss lineup since 1977's Love Gun and Alive II. Meanwhile, after a decade of eligibility, the quartet has finally been nominated for induction into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. Its competition for next year's five coveted spots are Swedish pop superstars ABBA, reggae legend Jimmy Cliff, punk and metal godfathers the Stooges, prog-rock forebear Genesis and two acts whose rise began in the '80s, Red Hot Chili Peppers and LL Cool J. Still, none of these reasons to return were needed to get the band back on the road. "It's always a good time for Kiss," Stanley said during a phone interview last week, in the same breath noting that he was only wearing a robe. He, Simmons, guitarist Tommy Thayer and drummer Eric Singer were enjoying a rare day off during this latest leg of their lengthy tour, between gigs in Canada. After months of performing in ginormous arenas throughout Europe, Australia and South America, Stanley says the band is excited to bring its newest spectacle to North America. "These have been the biggest and best shows we've ever done," he boasts, noting that "besides getting raves from fans, we've been suspiciously getting good reviews from the critics. I have a feeling that either they just got pummeled into realizing that we're the right way to go, or the critics who gave us bad reviews have all been fired." Of course, original members Peter Criss and Ace Frehley have once again acrimoniously parted ways with Stanley and Simmons, splitting over financial and creative matters shortly after Kiss' career-reviving reunion tours of the late '90s. Filling in are longtime Criss replacement Singer, who has served behind the kit for the better part of 20 years, and seven-year Kiss veteran Thayer. "It isn't our first tour with this lineup," Stanley points out. "Quite honestly, once again the philosophy has turned out to be true that the band is not about any particular individual. The band is a way of thinking. It's a frame of mind, it's a mantra -- it's living up to everything that Kiss is supposed to be. "Kiss should be timeless. It shouldn't depend upon specific people being in the band." Sonic Boom, released on Oct. 6, took just four months to create, from songwriting to completed recording -- remarkably fast for a band that had to squeeze in sessions while touring South America throughout spring. By June, the guys had hunkered down inside L.A.'s Conway Studios to cut the disc quickly. Stanley says he "wanted to make a Kiss album that was really steeped in our heritage but is also a statement of today and for tomorrow. I thought it would be great to go into the studio, provided I could produce the album, because (Psycho Circus) was such an unpleasant experience. It sort of soured it for us." The trouble with the previous collection was a case of too many leaders, not enough followers. "I mean, even in a car someone has to drive -- if everyone just has their hands on the steering wheel it crashes. Democracy in the studio is vastly overrated. Everyone should have an opinion, but at the end of the day someone has to make the decisions. "We're about making a great Kiss album, instead of being about what kind of music each person likes, or the idea that everyone is entitled to a quota of songs on an album, or entitled to sing because they're in the band." (That said, for Sonic Boom Thayer takes the lead vocally on "When Lightening Strikes" while Singer steps up with "All for the Glory.") Having one chief overseer, Stanley says, is the healthiest way for Kiss to work in the studio -- and as such, the recording process was effortless this time. "We wrote on our days off from the tour, and when we were recording, nothing got past a first or second take." Times certainly have changed since '74 -- and so have Kiss' luxuries. Like other touring giants, the band now flies around the world on a private jet. "It allows us to stay based in a city longer and fly out every day and do more shows," Stanley explains. "Those early times are great, though, because they toughen you up and make you appreciate the rewards. If you're just getting everything from the beginning, then what's there to work toward?" Stanley, soon to be 58, insists that when he and Simmons, now 60, formed what would become one of the most successful (and often reviled) bands of the '70s, one that served as a dividing line between baby boomers and their offspring, he never could have foreseen all the spoils that have come their way. He still doesn't take any of it for granted. "At that point (in the '70s) there was no precedent for this sort of thing. There weren't bands that had lasted more than five to seven years, so the idea of a band lasting 35 years... no, no, no. There was a time when rock 'n' roll was so disposable. "Mind you, there's still an element of it now, where you have almost a product-manufactured artist or band that would have an appeal for only a certain period of time, and then they're replaced. If we weren't Kiss, and we weren't doing these great shows and constantly building on what we've done, we wouldn't still be here. "There's a lot of commitment to what we do. We live in our own shadows. We've made a career out of not competing with anything but ourselves." And, at last, they're on the verge of receiving one of rock's highest honors. Not that Kiss entirely cares. "It's a double-edged sword," Stanley says, "because the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame is like a private club. It's a group of people, mainly critics and a couple of record executives, who got together and came up with a terrific name that sounds very official and very impressive, even to me. But it's not a reflection of the public's taste. You only have to look at some of the people who have been inducted, and you go, 'Who? But what about this band... or this one?' "Yet there have been people fighting so hard to get us in. So should they want to induct us, I'll be there, absolutely. It would be an insult to the people who have fought for us to get in to not show up." All the same, he adds, "I'm also very proud of the people who have been fighting to keep us out of there, too. That's part of what makes us so great."
THIRTY-FIVE years later and Kiss is still at it! Admiring the crowded stadium it would not be far-fetched if Gene Simmons or Paul Stanley hid out among their fellow Kiss Army troops. Immaculate imitations surrounded me -- big hair, makeup down to the T, tongues flicking in the air. The anticipatory moments leading up to the show had a camera following Kiss backstage until they appeared before us all. "You wanted the best, you get the best! The hottest band in the world, Kiss!" And so it began . . . One might call it musical masturbation, a celebratory evening full of bends, bubble ups, explosions, and crowd-pleasing theatrics. Moon boots, bedazzled leather, makeup thicker than a credit card, and oh yeah, chest hair covered the bodies of Demon on bass (Gene Simmons), Starchild on rhythm guitar (Paul Stanley), Spaceman on lead guitar (Tommy Thayer), and finally, Catman on drums (Eric Singer). Kiss just released their first album in 10 years, Sonic Boom -- a blatant throwback to classic '70s KISS. But, as Starchild put it, "We are playing a lot of classic songs, but classic doesn't mean old! So, if you don't have Sonic Boom, you get your butts on over to Wal-Mart and buy it." How very tongue and cheek of an intro to album single, "Modern Day Delilah." The single exhibited over-the-top, cheesy musicianship from all parts, more notably so in Starchild's signature luring and sexy vocals and Spaceman's slick guitar licks. Meanwhile, I couldn't help but feel bad for Demon, whose face was already dripping sweat, an obvious victim of the pyrotechnics that kept even the nosebleed seats warm and cozy. Yes, and they were only getting started. The show alternated between new songs off Sonic Boom, like "Say Yeah", and true classics, "Hotter Than Hell," "Black Diamond," and "I Wanna Rock'n'Roll All Night." We saw everything from Tommy soloing behind his back, Gene hovering about the crowd like a freak show marionette, blood dripping from his mouth, and Eric's epic drum solo that recalls the kitsch appeal of Rush percussion. It was Paul, however, who stole the show -- flying from the main stage over the audience with a flying V guitar in hand and six-inch platforms. Smashing his guitar while perfectly synchronized with erupting flames on either side of him. And finally, well, Paul's chest exposed, hairy -- he's been at this for 35 years now and is still doin' alright. Entertainment cred and hard work duly noted gents. Kiss insisted on, "The longest encore you've ever heard," which included much of the same spectacles -- Gene licking his guitar and his bandmates faces, one more smash hit, "Detroit Rock City," and an ending full of firework explosions and manic fans screaming. As I sat waiting for the bus to take me home and reflected on the long night, an older woman wearing pajamas said to me in a British accent, "Patience is a virtue . . . for a while, then, it's like 'whoa!'" Well put.
This year, the band launched a first-ever fan-routed tour (which drew both praise and complaints) and released "Sonic Boom," its first album in 11 years (which entered the pop charts at No. 2, a career high for KISS). If you ask Paul Stanley, KISS' co-leader, the band that booms into Save Mart Center on Saturday night is KISS at its best -- with co-leader Gene Simmons at his side, as well as recent additions Tommy Thayer (guitar) and Eric Singer (drums). We talked to Stanley about the fan-routed tour, its new album and why critics and multigenerations seem to love KISS these days. Question: I know you guys are a little more than halfway done with the tour, how do you feel it's gone so far? Answer: In terms of worldwide, it's the biggest and most successful tour we've ever done. It's been not only a great show in terms of turnout and response from the audience, but I've never seen so many great reviews. You have to remember that we're a band that's always been loved by the public and hated by most critics. All of the sudden, either those critics are out a job, or they've had a change of heart, because it's suspicious to see so many over-the-top reviews. Along those lines, I've seen pictures on your Web site of little kids and families at your concerts. Thirty years ago, that wasn't the image people had of KISS. KISS has always been about writing our own book as to who we are and what we are. It usually doesn't follow what other bands are doing. At this point, we are so multigenerational and proud of it. We do have new fans, meaning teens and 20s, but we also have older fans with their kids. For many people, KISS has always been the soundtrack to their lives, so it's passing something along to their kids. I couldn't be more proud of the band and what we mean to so many different people. Where does that dedication come from? What is it about the band that inspires that in people? I think it's the idea of being the underdog who always manages to win. We've had a career of doing things our way in the face of every known obstacle and we do more than survive, we thrive. I think it's an inspiration to other people, that if you believe in what you're doing and if you believe in your self, nothing can stop you. Let's talk about your fan-routed tour idea. It got a good response and got a lot of attention. But afterward, I heard some moaning and groaning from different cities. Do you think overall it was successful? You're always under a magnifying glass when you do something different. It seemed to make a lot of people happy and, of course, there's going to be some disgruntled fans. Our goal is not to do that, but it's almost unavoidable. Is it something you would do again? I think we'd think twice about it. It's always interesting -- we tend to lead the way and perhaps sometimes get the sticks and stones thrown at us and plow the way for other bands to do it with a little less bad publicity. When we started putting out merchandise, oh my God it was sacrilege, "Rock 'n' roll bands don't do that." Well, all those rock 'n' roll bands who wouldn't do it, once they saw the checks they were missing found their way into fan clubs. At this point, when you guys are about to release an album or about to go on tour, are there still certain numbers you're trying to reach? Or does that stuff even matter anymore? No. Doesn't matter. I'm in a very fortunate position where this truly is no longer about money. It's about goals. In the case of "Sonic Boom," it's about making the album that we deserve to make for us. By making the album that we deserved, it was the album that the fans deserved. If you were going to create "the perfect KISS," which past or present members would be in the lineup? They're in. This is the best KISS ever. Because this is a KISS where you've got four unique personalities, but you've got four people who are all dedicated to the idea of trying to make the band more famous, rather than trying to figure out how to have the band make them more famous. You only have to come see the band to know that this is as good as it gets.
The CD was billed as the return of the original Kiss, since it came in the midst of the reunion of guitarist/singer Paul Stanley and bassist/singer Gene Simmons with the two other original members, guitarist Ace Frehley and drummer Peter Criss. "Psycho Circus," though, ended up being a lackluster effort on a musical level, and far less than advertised when it came to being called a triumphant return of the classic Kiss lineup. So Kiss had something to prove when the band decided it wanted to make a new studio CD last year. For one thing, this was a new lineup for Kiss, with guitarist Tommy Thayer making his full-fledged debut and drummer Eric Singer, who since 1996 has been the band's drummer whenever Criss wasn't in the lineup, back on board. Interestingly, the band decided that if Kiss was going to fail on this album -- the newly released "Sonic Boom" -- there would be no one to blame but the band members themselves, as Stanley took the reins on the project. "I think the most important thing that I noticed about this record was it was really done, well done, there was no outside producer," Singer said, commenting in a recent phone interview about Stanley's role in the CD. "Ultimately at this point, nobody knows how to make a Kiss record better than Kiss. I think that was kind of the mind-set," Singer said. But it wasn't just Stanley who went into "Sonic Boom" ready to step up to the plate. "Everybody went in with the attitude of hey, we know what we want to do," Singer said. "We want to make a rock 'n' and roll record. We want to do it organically, which means us recording the record live, everybody playing on the record, no outside writers, no outside musicians. Do it the right way, the real deal, like the way records were originally made." The decision to keep "Sonic Boom" an in-house project has paid off. The new CD has been greeted by many reviewers as the best Kiss album since such classic releases as "Dressed To Kill," "Destroyer" and "Love Gun" -- and a CD that actually sounds much more like the work of the original Kiss than "Psycho Circus." The success of "Sonic Boom" represents a welcome turn of fortunes for Kiss, whose future looked cloudy only a few years ago. The reunion tour of 1996-97 with the four original members was a major success as a live venture, but by the end of the decade, it appeared the band's days were numbered. In early 2000, the band announced it would do a farewell tour. Before the tour was over, Criss split with the group, and Singer, who had joined the group following the 1991 death from cancer of drummer Eric Carr, rejoined Kiss to finish the farewell tour -- which, of course, turned out to be far from a final jaunt. By 2002, Frehley had also played his final gig, with Thayer filling that slot. When the band returned to the road in 2003 to co-headline a tour with Aerosmith, Criss had been brought back, prompting Singer to say he would never play with Kiss again. This time, Criss lasted only for about a year, and as shows became sporadic over the next four years, it truly looked as if Kiss might fade from scene. But in 2008, with the 35th anniversary of the band's formation in New York City looming, Kiss announced it would begin is "Kiss Alive/35 World Tour," with Singer and Thayer joining Stanley and Simmons. Singer admits he was angry at the band after it brought back Criss in 2003. Before rejoining Kiss, Singer said he cleared the air with Simmons and Stanley, saying he wouldn't be part of another round of musical chairs in the drummer slot. The stage show continues to be as spectacular as ever. The band has a new stage with high-tech video screens and the usual array of visual effects, Singer said. Of course, some traditions continue. "There are certain things that have become synonymous with Kiss, Gene breathing fire or Gene flying and spitting blood," Singer said. "Those kinds of things you have to do. If we didn't do it, it would be a cardinal sin to not have those certain Kiss staples, just like certain songs that have to be in the set. It wouldn't be right without them."
"Bruce was to KISS what Ronnie Wood is to the STONES," says Rocket Science GM & Fanboy Enterprises A&R executive Ken Gullic. "The new guy to one generation, and the long-standing stable horse to another." After getting his solo feet wet with 2001's "Audio Dog" and 2003's "Transformer", Kulick — the often unheralded driving force on 12 years of classic KISS records, from 1984's "Animalize" to 1992's "Revenge" — assembled his own rock 'n' roll dream team. The roster: KISS icon Gene Simmons and up-and-coming son Nick (each vocally appearing separately), longtime friend John Corabi (MÖTLEY CRÜE, Kulick's own UNION), KNACK mainman Doug Fieger, TOTO axe authoritarian Steve Lukather, EDGUY power metal stalwart Tobias Sammet and even current KISS drummer Eric Singer. "Many albums lack cohesion with different vocalists, but I know that my guitar playing is the glue on 'BK3'," Kulick says. "There was the clear goal of making absolutely the best record that I could put together. I feel like this is my 'Revenge'." "BK3" will be released on February 16 on Twenty 4 Records/Rocket Science Ventures. "BK3" track listing: 01. Fate The limited-edition EP that was created especially for Kulick's last Australian guitar clinic tour can be heard on Kulick.net. The three tracks are also available for purchase via iTunes.
A Winnipeg cobbler was called to action early this week to perform an emergency repair on one of the world's most famous pairs of boots. Brian Layte, owner of The Shoe Doctor shop in Winnipeg's Wolseley neighbourhood, was given just hours on Monday to fix the heel of one of Tommy Thayer's boots. The guitarist's flamboyant, pyrotechnic-loving rock band, KISS, was in town to play a concert at the MTS Centre that night. A member of the band's entourage approached Layte at his store on the day of the concert with one of Tommy Thayer's trademark thigh-high boots in hand. Layte said he dropped everything and set to work on repairing the heel, which was lifting, putting other customer's orders on the back burner. He said the boot's design was unlike anything he's seen before, and was a pleasure to work on. "It's a six-inch platform. There's lightning bolts all the way down the sides, several thousand stones set into it, and probably half a cow of leather," Layte said on Wednesday. "You don't see that every day." The boot was delivered to Thayer in time for the concert. "I presume it held well because I didn't get a visit from the KISS Army after," Layte chuckled. It's the second time in less than two years Layte has been called upon to deal with a performer's footwear needs. He said when singer Beyonce Knowles came to Winnipeg in early 2008, he was approached to add some grip to the pop star's Prada stilettos.
"This is Planet Kiss; we just live on it. The stage is holy ground, and what we do is electric church." Holy hyperbole! The kabuki kibitzers of big-top rock are back in greasepaint and spandex, armed with a new album and a fresh stage spectacle to solidify a legacy built on thundering riffs, pyrotechnics, superheroic role-playing and hucksterism. That new stage spectacle comes Saturday to the Save Mart Center on the campus of California State University, Fresno. The singer/bassist, 60, and guitarist Paul Stanley, 57, are meeting in the Sunset Strip office of manager Doc McGhee to chat up "Sonic Boom," Kiss' 19th studio album and first since 1998's "Psycho Circus." The album is a three-disc set with a CD of re-recorded hits and a DVD of a Buenos Aires concert packaged with 11 new songs. It's $12, "the price of a sandwich," Simmons crows. The band comes Saturday to the Save Mart Center in support of the new album. Crafting "Boom" was one of the easiest and most joyous projects in the band's 36-year run, Stanley says. But he would not have stepped in the studio without the title and authority of producer. "In the creative process, democracy is vastly overrated," he says. "The whole idea of everybody having a say is terrific, but in the end someone has to make a decision." "We've had some failed attempts in the last decade or two at trying to make a great Kiss album. I have to chalk that up to having band members who perhaps had the wrong priorities or no priorities." "I didn't want any outside writers. What you wind up with is somebody's interpretation of what Kiss is. Who knows better what Kiss is than Kiss? I wanted to capture the spirit, the hunger of the band at its best." Guitarist Tommy Thayer and drummer Eric Singer flesh out the Kiss lineup, replacing originals Ace Frehley and Peter Criss, who have had a rocky history with the band and made their most recent exits in 2003 and 2004, respectively. To those who suggest their absence diminishes Kiss, Stanley snaps: "Put Willie Mays in a baseball uniform and see how well he hits. The magic you remember isn't there." "Quite honestly, the whole idea that there were four people putting in the same amount of effort is nonsense. Never happened. This is the band in its ideal form. No other lineup could have made 'Sonic Boom.'" Kiss, long a popular target of the music press, has never kissed up to critics and vice versa, though the same revisionism that upgraded Led Zeppelin over time seems to be casting a kinder light on the Kiss saga. "Art to me is the name of a nice guy," Simmons says dismissively. "Critics never understood. Put them on a roller coaster: Everyone else has the time of their lives, and critics say, 'What does it mean?' They missed the ride." "Anytime we meet a new band, they say, 'We cut our teeth on your records.' When you see fireworks at Paul McCartney's show, where do you think that came from? 'N Sync? Why should I care about critics when we have 3,000 licensed products, 35 years of touring and every band in the book pointing to Kiss as the pivotal reason they wanted to do something big on stage?" Besides, touring and merchandise are crucial lifelines to offset losses incurred by piracy. "You grab an album and leave a store, they put you in handcuffs," Stanley says. "And yet someone on the Internet can decide whether or not I get paid. File-sharing, that's like me stealing your car and telling you I'm sharing your transportation." Illicit downloading is one reason the band resisted recording new material for a decade, says Simmons, sneering: "These freckle-faced college kids have destroyed an entire industry by stealing. I don't believe in socialism and, the last time I checked, what we do isn't charity." It's drug-free, fun-driven capitalism with zero tolerance for rock-star cliches that glamorize self-destructive behavior. "When we first became very successful, everyone fell prey to their own vices," Stanley says. "Drugs, alcohol, women, sycophantic friends. There are piranhas just waiting to put one arm around your shoulder and the other in your pocket. That rock 'n' roll lifestyle is a cartoon, and it's pathetic. You're either a laughingstock or you die. Being a musician who lasts 40 years is nothing short of hard work." For all their swagger and ego, Simmons and Stanley say they're humbled by the band's longevity and express enormous respect for the Kiss Army. "We're privileged," Simmons says. "There but for the grace of God, anyone of us would be asking the next person in line, 'Would you like fries with that?' What have I got to complain about? I'm filthy rich. I've been there, done that and owned the T-shirt with my own face on it."
Users can watch and interact by visiting the official KISS Facebook page at facebook.com/KISS or on Ustream at www.ustream.tv/channel/kiss-live to connect with other KISS fans for a personal chat and live video experience in real-time during the show. Users who own an Xbox 360 video game and entertainment system from Microsoft can click the Guitar Hero banner at the bottom of the screen and go directly to Xbox LIVE Marketplace on Xbox.com to purchase the KISS three-song track pack and queue it up for download to their Xbox 360 console. PlayStation3 computer entertainment system and Wii owners can purchase the track pack through the in-game music store in either Guitar Hero 5 or Band Hero. KISS chose Ustream, the leading live video platform on the web, because of its powerful platform and scalability in reaching a global audience of unlimited size. The band wanted to connect with their legion of fans that might not have had the chance to catch them during the North American leg of their 35th-anniversary KISS/Alive 35 tour, a 44-city tour that continues through December 15. "For 35 years, KISS has rocked all over the world to sold-out crowds and set the standard for what a rock show should be. This tour will solidify our place in history for having the loudest, most entertaining and hardest rockin' show in all of music," said Gene Simmons. The iconic band recently made KISStory when Sonic Boom, their first album in 11 years, debuted in the No. 2 spot on the Billboard Top 200. This was the highest-ever album debut for the legendary band. Frontman Paul Stanley produced the new album that marks a return to their signature 70s sound. In creating Sonic Boom, the band also wanted to give back by putting together a value-added release that offers three CDs for the price of one. The release includes Sonic Boom, their centerpiece of new material including their single Modern Day Delilah, a second disk of re-mastered KISS classics such as Rock and Roll All Nite and Detroit Rock City, and a third, live disk from their show in Argentina earlier this year. Get the latest news from KISS at www.kissonline.com and for more information about the KISS three-track Guitar Hero pack, visit http://hub.guitarhero.com. Anheuser-Busch's newest beer brand, Bud Light Golden Wheat, is the exclusive sponsor of the online concert. The sponsorship is part of the overall launch campaign for Bud Light Golden Wheat that hit store shelves nationwide on October 5.
Kicking off with "Modern Day Delilah," the familiar "yeah, yeah" from Paul Stanley takes us into familiar KISS territory. There is a hard edge to the guitar work, and instantly I noticed Tommy Thayer's guitar solo is right out of the Ace Frehley guitar solo book. It's nice to hear Gene and Paul's vocals up front singing together on the chorus as they used to in the early days. A thundering start to "Russian Roulette" has Gene's gut-bucket bass high in the mix, and a very AC/DC type of riff introduces the song. Again, the song is at a mid-pace, and it's more of a lazy early '90s feel to Gene's voice with a big vocal gathering round the mic for the chorus. It's a good song. Taking us back to the kind of stuff the band were releasing in the late '80s and early '90s, "Never Enough" is a traditional Paul Stanley fanfare and reminded me of "I Just Wanna" from Revenge. There's some nice work from Gene in the bass department for anyone missing some of his more traditional work from the early days. Taking us back to something that might have been on Dressed To Kill, Gene introduces us to the simplistic charms of "Yes I Know" as Tommy Thayer all but replicates an Ace solo and Gene sings about his favourite subject... yes, girls! It's kind of KISS doing KISS, if you get my meaning. Then we get to "Stand" and really get something to get your teeth into, and it's KISS anthems at their best! The song has all the trademarks with Stanley vocal raps, and there is some nice punchy guitar work before we get a nice mid section vocal piece from the band as the song just gets bigger and bigger. The band are not trying too hard to take the sound back to the glory days of Destroyer, and the song benefits from this. Eric Singer emulates Peter Criss' cowbell drum pattern and Gene's vocals take us right back to Rock And Roll Over for "Hot And Cold." It's the sort of song Gene writes in his sleep and has a very retro feel to it. Surprisingly, Eric Singer's vocals on the almost Ramones-like "All For The Glory" steals the limelight, and we have a strong chorus in which the guitars are up front. It's instantly a great song that is just waiting to find its place on stage. The vocals from all of the band work to an excellent effect as the song builds in strength from the word go, and I would not have minded a few more from Eric after this display. Cutting edge guitar work introduces us to Paul Stanley's "Danger Us," with a clever play on words as we delve back into classic Paul Stanley material which he did so well in the '80s. It's got the cocksure swagger and the hooks we all love him for, and it's one of a number of stand-out tracks for me on this release. These are the songs we hoped to hear when it was announced that the band were to return to the studio and make it worth the wait,. It's been some time since Gene has written with the persona of the Demon in mind. With "I'm An Animal" the Demon is back with one of his more menacing vocals and a chunky Black Sabbath style riff. This song has it all, plus an exceptionally blistering solo from Tommy Thayer and some thunderous drums from Mr. Singer. KISS fans, check out the end of the song for the "Fits Like A Glove" scream from the past. Tommy Thayer's first vocal has a similar feel to Frehley's for "When Lightning Strikes," though obviously Tommy is a superior singer. Paul brings "Sonic Boom" to a close with a typical KISS party-style riff for the simply titled "Say Yeah," and we are off into "Uh All Night" territory in style and feel for this song. It's the sort of song that you would have found on the likes of "Asylum" or "Crazy Nights," and to be honest, it's just nice to hear Paul singing in this style, as he is truly an underrated singer in the rock scene. Certainly a good release that sits closely with the likes of "Revenge." For bands like KISS, we should also just enjoy the fact that the band are still releasing music some 30 plus years later.
The man, who in my opinion has kept the true spirit of rock n' roll alive through all the band's ups and downs is Paul Stanley. Not only has he now taken the reins by producing "Sonic Boom," but he also had very clear ideas on what he wanted this album to be as opposed to their last release "Psycho Circus" and the shortcomings he felt that album had. I had a chance to catch up with the legendary Starchild prior to the 2nd night of the band's much publicised shows at Cobo Hall Detroit and talk about the new CD, and of all things KISS past and present. Well, it's big news in Europe with the imminent release of "Sonic Boom!" Now, I've gotta ask you, was it hard to persuade Gene to do this album as he has had some strong views on internet piracy? Paul: You know, to put it all into perspective, I think that Gene at any given time will say anything to get a rise out of people, and it's certainly not much more than that, really! The reason that we didn't make an album wasn't because of piracy - the reason that we hadn't made an album was really because we didn't feel, for a long time, that it was necessary, and our last attempt was not very successful from our point of view for a lot of reasons. It really took the fans' response and the huge success of our last tour. The tour that we did through Europe and Australia, South America and Canada was the largest and most successful tour that we've done, and we, as a band, have never been better. So the idea of capturing the band today, doing what it does which is really classic, I mean, the band has never been more classic than now, and this was something that under the right guidelines was very appealing, certainly to me. The real deal breaker for me was producing the album. If I couldn't produce the album, then I didn't want to do the album! So, what made you decide that you had to produce it as opposed to somebody else? Well, because I had a very clear idea on what we should do and how we should do it. I think that we needed some ground rules set, and I also think that there were times where we've had producers and they tend to dilute the band if anything, and I knew that with me in control, I had a very clear vision of what this album should be and how we should do it. So, very quickly everyone signed on and said "yeah," and then my second rule was no outside writers, all material had to come from within the band. It's very easy for people to either have other people to write their songs and put their name on it or basically collaborate with somebody who interprets what you're doing instead of you stating what you're doing, so for me it was very much that this was going to be a band album and nobody was going to phone in their parts or be involved in anything that took them away from it. It was very successful in the sense that everything was written from within the band. Now, the CD comes in a very good value package with a DVD and re-recorded greatest hits. I've heard this as it was originally released in Japan. What was the reason behind re-recording some of your biggest songs? Partly, it was two-fold because we get a lot of requests to use some of our songs for either films or commercial use, and rather than go through a record company or anything like that, there was no reason why we couldn't virtually re-create them in a way that really is identical. I mean, you could play them side by side. We took the time to study them and make sure it wasn't us interpreting the songs as so much as us being faithful to them. But in that way, we have control over the songs, and if they are to be used for any use outside of the band, then it goes through us, so it's just about more control. So, that was the initial reason that we started doing it, but with "Sonic Boom," the idea of being able to put together a package which is kind of like a more overdone version of what we did on the classic albums, making it more than an album, making it an event whether you're giving a poster or some sort of prize inside. With Sonic Boom, you get the 15 re-records, and you get a DVD of excerpts from one of our most recent stadium shows in Buenos Aires, so hey, it's also the price of a normal CD, so you can't lose! Talking about re-recordings, I was wondering if you've ever been tempted to go back to some songs; for example "Nowhere to Run" or "Tomorrow," and re-record them? They were great songs but they never got the chance in their time. No, but you know, instead of trying to resurrect the past in that sense, I'd rather write the future, so "Sonic Boom" was really about using everything we'd done up until now as the foundation and taking it to the next step, and the response to "Sonic Boom" has been nothing less than stellar! I mean it's a classic album of ours in every sense. By that I don't mean it's a retro album - the last thing we needed was to make an album that would be confused with one that came out around 30 years ago. It's classic in the sense that it has the vitality, the commitment and the excitement that's within the band. The beauty of the band is that you have four people with distinct personalities who are working to make a great band, as opposed to four people who are working to make themselves great. Now, you've been happy to let Tommy and Eric take some vocals, and there is one song that really stands out for me, which is "All For The Glory," and I think Eric does the vocal on that. That's a classic, isn't it? Yeah, I think so! Eric's got that great whisky voice and we wanted a great song for him, and we literally wrote it for him in rehearsal. Everything on this album was written, rehearsed and recorded very, very quickly. We wrote the songs in hotels, on the sofa and in their rooms at hotels or back home and rehearsed them and quickly recorded them. The actual recording process of the album literally took us six weeks, which in this day and age is like six minutes. It certainly is. Now a couple more songs that really stand out for me are, off the top of my head, "Danger Us" and Gene's "I'm an Animal." Some people have said these have got a kind of feel of "Rock and Roll Over" but at the same time have a freshness that brings KISS very much up to date. Would you agree with that? Yes, it's much more multi-levelled in terms of reaching down to the depths that will rattle the floor and also the highs that will shred your curtains, so sonically it's far, far more advanced than earlier albums. In terms of the songwriting, I certainly thought that it was important for Gene to get back to classic Gene in the sense of the personality and the songwriting that really made him the character he really is, and I think in years gone by he's gone away from that. I wanted to steer him back to that vocal quality and that lyric perspective and the music that people have always loved about him. I think that all his songs on the album have really captured him and reintroduced him to himself! Absolutely. I mean, I have been a KISS fan for 30 years, and Gene is definitely back big time. Now I've got to ask you, as a songwriter Paul, apart from your solo album, it's been a long time since you've been able to get your music out to people. Has that been difficult for you? No, I mean I'm a songwriter, and perhaps the trouble is to over-think things again and again. With "Sonic Boom," what I wanted us to do was write more instinctively and without overanalysing what we were doing, in the same way that when we went into the studio to record, there was no reason to do ten takes of a song because what are you going to do better on the tenth than on the first or second? Whatever you gain in terms of perfection, you lose in terms of feel. It's important for everybody to remember to be reminded that all the music that we love and grew up loving was not made on a computer; it was made by people who were flesh and blood and trying to purge emotion, whether it was the Motown stuff or the Stacks Vault music, James Brown, The Beatles, Led Zeppelin... all that music was made from the heart, and it wasn't perfect, but it is interesting that when people have tried to re-record these songs, the closer you get to making them perfect, the further away you get from the spirit and the sound that made them so exciting; so that was another thing we had to capture on this album ... the raw urgency of the songs as opposed to spending so much time that we get them glossy but lose everything that makes them classics. To mention Led Zeppelin and The Who, I'm lead to believe that you're a fan of both. Do you ever take the time, Paul, to sit down some days and think these bands that I loved so many moons ago nowadays have KISS mentioned in the same breath? Well, I'm humbled and honoured by it. Whether or not I necessarily agree with it is perhaps one of the things that makes me who I am! The fact is that the bands and the people that I've always looked up to, I continue to look up to, and anybody who chooses to mention us in the same sentence makes me feel deeply humbled and honoured by it. Now, going back to "Sonic Boom," how many songs from the album can we hope to included in the KISS set now? We're going to continue to add them. This really right now is the final leg of the Alive 35 tour, so that's been celebrating the KISS Alive album, celebrating the 35 years since it came out, but it is starting to morph into the "Sonic Boom" tour. Right now we're doing "Modern Day Delilah," and as time goes by we'll be doing more. We have to be really careful about adding too much because every song that we add, we have to leave one out, and we've got a setlist now where it would be crazy to leave out "Love Gun" or crazy to leave out "Shout It Out Loud" or "Detroit Rock City," "C'mon And Love Me," "Deuce," "Strutter..." so you know as time goes on and it's warranted, we'll be adding more. Okay, now on your solo tour, I know that you played "Magic Touch" and "A Million To One," which are very, very special and I don't believe they've ever been played live. Are there any surprises from the past that you would like to add to the set, possibly? You know, it's anybody's guess! The only thing that I don't want to get into is the idea of playing obscure tracks just for the sake of doing something different. I'm a big believer that most obscure tracks are obscure for a reason, you know. The cream rises to the top, and the songs that people love are the songs that, for whatever reason, are the best! I remember going to see a very, very famous long-running band, and the night that they were playing the theatre was a night of them playing obscure material, and I've got to say, being there, I understood why it was all obscure... ha ha! Now, obviously Tommy and Eric have been in the band for a long time, and as much as all KISS fans love Ace and Peter, is life easier in the band for you and Gene with these guys? Well, life is easier for KISS because KISS really is the four of us, and it's always interesting that some people wrongfully think of Tommy and Eric as two extra guys, you know, fillers or something, and the truth is that most of the time when I need feedback on a question, I ask Tommy; and Eric has been in the band off and on for near on eighteen years, so is it easier for Gene and me? Well, it's easier for the band, because it is a band! It takes four people to make a band, which is why "Psycho Circus" was such a debacle, because it was us valiantly trying to make an album where there was no band. You can't make an album with lawyers, you know! When band members aren't showing up... and you can't make an album with people making demands to have songs included that may not be good enough. Again, it really comes down to you're either seeing the band as a vehicle to make you more famous, or you're seeing yourself as a vehicle to make the band more famous. The situation in the band now, thankfully, is that everyone works to make the band better, and it shows on stage, and it shows on "Sonic Boom." You've just played Cobo Hall, am I right in saying that? Yeah, we played last night and we play tonight. Wow, that must be something. It's magical. Yeah, that's just a little bit of history for KISS, isn't it? Am I right in thinking that the hall is going to be knocked down after this? We heard it's not being knocked down, but it's as good as being knocked down, as it's being turned into some sort of convention hall for trade shows or something. So the last music they will hear is our "Sonic Boom!" The last walls to be cracked will be done by us! Well, that's appropriate! Now, I've got to ask you, will you guys be coming to Europe? Yes, absolutely! We're just signing everything up now, and there is no way that we wouldn't be on your side of the pond sooner or later. That's fantastic. I would just like to finish off with one final question, Paul. You have had, and you still continue to have, an incredible career. Is there one moment that stands out for you in KISStory? Gosh, you know, it's hard to think of doing something as long as I have and only have one moment. However, I certainly remember being backstage at a show in Ohio and looking out from behind the curtain at a packed house, and it had happened the night before, and the night before that, and I suddenly realised that I went from telling people that we were going to be the biggest band to the fact that we were on the precipice of becoming the biggest band. It was a humbling and very exciting but also intimidating moment.
Paul Stanley takes KISS back to its roots to unleash a ferocious bombardment of rock and roll thrills Defensiveness is in the air. Paul Stanley jokes with his crew about how Guitar Player readers have always hated KISS. Gene Simmons dismisses me with "Oh boy, the media is here," and walks into the main studio at Conway Studios in Los Angeles without further comment. I look at Tommy Thayer - who is projecting nothing but good vibes - and still can't help myself from wondering if he thinks I'm going to roast him for daring to be the impostor Spaceman in Ace Frehley's makeup. I'm further thrown off my game when drummer Eric Singer appears to be the KISS member most excited to talk to Guitar Player. (He doesn't play guitar, but he collects them, and he possesses a truly impressive knowledge of vintage instruments and guitar gear.) All I'm trying to do is listen to the band's first new studio album in more than a decade, and put the guys on the cover of the magazine. Sheesh. Everyone relaxes a bit (including me) when co-producer Greg Collins spins the first few tracks of Sonic Boom in Conway's control room. Produced by Stanley - who was extremely earnest and focused in his mission to create a monumental, no-B.S. KISS album - the songs rage out of the studio monitors with a rawness and vitality that rivals the energy of any of the 20-something acts on the Warped Tour can deliver. As an added plus, the guitar tones are huge, the riffs striking, and the solos explosive. It's a KISS klassic! It's also a rather bountiful set of goodies for the KISS faithful. Distributed exclusively by Wal-Mart, Sonic Boom is a three-disc package that also includes a re-recorded selection of classic KISS songs and a live DVD containing six performances from the South American leg of the KISS Alive 35 tour. Happily, by the time the band decamps to a studio lounge to discuss the album, everyone is far more interested in talking music than makeup, preconceptions, misperceptions, or marketing razzle-dazzle. I was knocked out at how energized and ballsy the tracks sounded. It's like a raw, brazen record from a band that has something to prove, rather than an act that has been famous for decades. Simmons: Well, we were truly jazzed. The band has always been big, but it may be bigger now than it has ever been before. We're playing to stadiums full of people, and a lot of young people - a whole new audience - and they kick you in the ass. You have preconceived notions about what KISS means and who we are and if we're playing something from when the band started in 1901. But 15 year olds have never heard that material, and they don't have any preconceptions. So it's a whole new ballgame for us, and we have to deliver. Stanley: This band is terrific in concert. It deserves to play new material, to record a new KISS album. As the producer, were you also visualizing how each song would sound on the album? Stanley: No. The classic rock writers didn't approach things like that. You didn't write a song and say "Wait until you hear the production it's going to have." Where I come from is, if it doesn't sound good on one guitar or one piano, it sucks. Don't tell me how you're going to embellish it - you have to have a great song to begin with. Thayer: None of us have home studios. We literally record our songs on little tape recorders... Stanley: That cost $39. Thayer: And that's how we document the foundation of our songs. Stanley: Like idiots. And that's what we refer back to when we're deciding whether a song makes it - the music coming out of a tiny, crappy speaker on a cheap cassette deck. Gene, what informed your bass lines on the record? Simmons: My style is less of a Motown groove approach - it tends to have its own melodic thing. Players such as Jack Bruce always appealed to me because they approached their parts more the way string quartets do, where the bass isn't necessarily tied to the rhythm. I like to play a melodic riff that works with, or works off of the guitar. Stanley: That's a signature part of KISS that was gone for a while. When we listened back to our old records, I said "Hey, whatever happened to those great walking bass lines?" Those lines are part of the underpinning that touches an emotional nerve in people who don't even know much about muysic and compels them to say "That's KISS." Whether you can articulate it or not, those elements are part of who you are as a band, and if you veer too far away from them, you only end up confusing yourself and your audience. Singer: Many times in the past, if someone had an idea for the bass, Gene would go, "Okay, you play it." This time, Paul would say, "No. You're going to play bass because your feel and tone is critically important to the KISS sound." And Gene does possess a lot of the elements that people are used to hearing in classic KISS albums.
Well, if you've ever seen the episode of Family Guy where Peter Griffin dresses up in full Gene Simmons regalia, you're not far from getting the picture. Fun-loving dudes willing to go out swilling with their fave KISS character's face painted on, many in improvised costumes of the Starchild, the Demon, the Spaceman and the Catman. The same ones who did it in their teens. And some really-into-it wives, girlfriends and dancers in the front row, centre stage. I'd love to hear back how many hangovers are out there tomorrow. Because this crowd came to party hearty! For those inside, it was KISS' Alive! album unfolding in full pyrotechnical splendour. From the opening chords of "Deuce," it was a trip through nostalgia until after "Calling Dr. Love." Then Stanley went into carnival-hawker mode and pushed the band's new Sonic Boom album and the single "Modern Day Delilah." The new tune is certainly classically KISS. Fans wanted the best, they were getting the best. At least as KISS has always delivered it. Following it up with "Do You Love Me?" from Destroyer was genius. This is one of those sing-along arena anthems that this group excels at. And they always had enough of them to rub wienies with every other crotch-rocking crew from back in the day. It's the secret to the enduring nature of the band's brand and, as long as it can keep penning crowd chorus-ready rockers such as "Say Yeah" its fans will keep coming back for another KISS-off. It's the "Keep it simple, stupid" formula that has made the members millions in the last four decades. If it ain't broke, don't fix it. In olden days, Simmons' blood-spewing routine didn't include him flying to the lighting rig. Now it does. After his starring role as the demon with a tummyache came another one of the group's finest moments. "Black Diamond" is the only KISS tune to ever fete indie rock cred via the Replacements cover of the tune. It had the house freaking right out. The closer was the megahit "Rock 'n' Roll All Night" and the guys did everything possible to knock it out of the park -- I'd be surprised if there is that much confetti at an Olympics ceremony. Plus the cannons, fire, sparks and super-tall pneumatic platforms that elevated Simmons and Thayer far above the crowd. A moment to catch its breath and the band was back for what Stanley promised would be "the longest encore ever." A personal fave, "Shout It Out Loud" came next and it was awesome. I suppose the 1983 hit "Lick It Up" was good too, if for no other reason that it proved the band could hold its own with any of the Sunset Strip's hair farmers in that grim musical era. The snippet of The Who's "Won't Get Fooled Again" in the song was, what, hopeful? Stanley hopped a ride across the arena on a wire to perform "Love Gun." At this point the show was past the two-hour mark. What else were they going to give us? Duh, "Detroit Rock City." And goodnight.
With a majority of classic songs in the set, the band tore through such notable tunes as Deuce, Strutter, Let Me Go Rock N' Roll and Hotter Than Hell - and that was only the opening of the show. Each member of the band had a chance to sing at least one song as drummer Eric Singer took on the Peter Criss vocal for Black Diamond, while Tommy Thayer sang the Ace Frehley classic Shock Me. The addition of Singer on drums and Thayer on guitar has given KISS a new sound and a newly found energy - both of them are great musicians and showmen and they make Simmons and Stanley sound all that much better. This was the best and tightest sounding the band has been since the Revenge era. To me, nothing has ever sounded as good as the club tour the band did to prepare for the Revenge tour - like the one I saw in Toronto in May 1992 - but this was close. With only two songs played from the new Sonic Boom CD there was plenty of room for some KISS standards, although Modern Day Delilah is a great new song that fits in well. The other new track, Say Yeah, came across like a true concert favourite and was welcomed by the fans as much as Do You Love Me? - which was performed for the first time on the Alice 35 tour tonight. The event was a slick visual assault with vibrant colors of lights constantly flashing and even some green and orange flames rising from the ground on occasion. There was one faux pas. During Thayer's guitar solo, one of the special effects accidentally blew a set of lights from an overhead rig and sent them crashing to the stage. Luckily Thayer was at the other end of the stage when that happened. This is the second overhead lighting problem in a week . In Winnipeg, one of the overhead lights caught fire, delaying the show and forcing the band to break out in an impromptu jam of Firehouse. It would be really hard to say KISS has come up with anything incredibly new or unseen on this tour because, quite frankly, they invented everything that you'd already see in a modern rock show anyway. There was lots of pyro and fire, the drums and band members rose to the rafters on hydraulic platforms, Gene Simmons was lifted in the air to the lighting rig to sing I Love It Loud, and Paul Stanley rode a swing-like device from the stage across the audience to sing Love Gun at the other end of the arena. There really wasn't much more anyone could ask for. If this was any other band on that stage, we would have been shocked and the news headlines the next day would have read that this new band was the next big thing. But for KISS we expect and demand this level of entertainment. And you know what, they delivered. Just ask the fans who were excited from the get-go. Many dressed up as their favourite KISS superhero, while others pounded their fists in the air or sang along for the entire two hours. There was one family on the floor who had all four of their children dressed up in full costumes. Some fans even scrambled to get a photo or autograph from Gene Simmons' companion Shannon Tweed, who was on hand at the show. With the exception of not hearing I Was Made For Lovin' You and God Gave Rock And Roll To You II, which have been missing from the whole tour, it was an incredible show and an unforgettable night. Vancouver wanted the best and Vancouver got it.
While each of the earlier acts on Saturday impressed throughout the day, the night belonged to KISS. These Rock and Roll Hall of Fame members may have not originated the 'rock star,' but they sure as hell refined it with the grungiest of fashions. Their swaggered distortion was cool in the most uncool of ways. Whether you have been a lifelong KISS fan, or a first time listener, after seeing Saturday night's performance, you have to admit one thing-this band is the master of their domain. And the crowd was that diverse, combined with onlookers ranging from middle-aged adults donning their black, worn-in band-shirts, all the way to little children atop their parent's shoulders, watching the visual display in a youthful awe. But to the band, it did not matter who was there, because they came to Voodoo with the intention to tear down Voodoo by any means possible, as they pulled out all the cards, or rather every rock star cliche that has formed partially due to their footsteps over the years. From their signature face paint, to the tight black leather suits dashed in rhinestones, platform heels, and armor plating-KISS represents hard rock glam at its finest. But the grand show was bigger than their outfits-from Gene Simmon's batwings, to his trademark tongue, to Tommy Thayer's playing guitar behind his head, to a flaming sword/torch that used as a prop-the list goes on, but you get the point. The magnitude of the heavy metal forerunners carried into their actual music performance-but really, who can actually talk about the music when that kind of spectacle is at hand? I'll leave the dissection of their classic rock set to someone else, and just say that this show was unlike any concert I have or ever will see. The larger-than-life exhibition concluded with a firework-filled ending as KISS played their two most popular songs-"Rock and Roll All Nite" and "Detroit Rock City." As the last of the confetti bits fell and pyrotechnic flames died down, the message was clearly sent that KISS's appearance at Voodoo was not just an entertaining concert - this was a visual display of epic proportions. This was a nostalgic moment rekindling long-time fans with the soundtrack of their youth. This was an opportunity to connect with a younger generation who were not influence by KISS. On Halloween night, KISS reigned supreme in the most epic of proportions.
That should be a hard one, given that I've seen thousands of shows and hundreds of really good ones. Yet it's not that tough; if I'm being honest and not trying to impress some hipster, I'll just answer: "My first Kiss concert." The date was Nov. 25, 1979 - the greatest night of my rock 'n' roll life. The setting was the Cow Palace, the best venue for arena-rock in the Bay Area. And Kiss - playing in the Bay Area this weekend - was the most important group ever. Or at least, that's how it seemed at the time to a wide-eyed sixth-grade student seeing his second concert. The show affected me in the way that only those initial live-music experiences can. The term "larger-than-life" is way overused, but that's exactly how these four superhero rockers-vocalist-guitarist Paul Stanley, bassist Gene Simmons, drummer Peter Criss and lead guitarist Ace Frehley-came across to me. I can still conjure up the awesome sights from that night in my head: the fake blood dripping out of Simmons' mouth; Frehley's glow-in-the-dark guitar shooting some type of rockets; Criss performing on a rotating drum set; and Stanley coming across like the coolest guy on the planet (even cooler than Fonzie, another idol at the time). Actually, I'm not 100 percent sure any of that actually happened. It was a heck of a long time ago, and I've been known to exaggerate when it comes to my own personal history. The point is: That's the show that exists in my head and, as such, it's the best I've ever seen. Fast-forward 30 years - almost to the day - and I'm excited about yet another date with Kiss. I plan to go see the band Sunday at the Oracle Arena, 7000 Coliseum Way, Oakland. Show time is 7:30 p.m. Tickets are $17.50 to $125. Buckcherry opens the show. Call 800-745-3000 or visit www.ticketmaster.com.
It's hard to imagine that Kiss will not make it to the United Arab Emirates. They've played everywhere else in their storied career. Right now, they are in the middle of their biggest superstar schlep around the world. The Kiss 35 tour, to support Sonic Boom, their first original album for 11 years, started in March 2008 and will play 101 venues before it closes on December 15, having taken in Bulgaria, Greece, Latvia, Russia, Luxembourg, Colombia, Peru and Venezuela for the first time in the band's career. According to Stanley, 57, who's never afraid of a little self-promotion, it's all going swimmingly. "It's Kiss business as usual," he says. "It couldn't be much better. Bigger, better, more is how I would describe this tour. We've got 20 songs in the set list right now and I consider every one of them a classic." Famed for pyrotechnics and theatrical make-up, Kiss are pulling out all the stops. There are flash bombs and fire, says Stanley, and during the show's climax, he flies out over the arena to sing. The drums rotate, too. "We believe in a show," he says. "We're proud of it. If you go see a socially conscious band in ripped jeans sitting on a stool, you're getting gypped." Kiss were among the first rock bands to pioneer the $1,000 VIP ticket. Are they offering the same deal on this tour? "Oh gosh, yes," says Stanley, "and they're all sold out." On an average night, Stanley says, he greets 50 to 100 fans, each paying $1,000, backstage for 45 minutes before the show. "We tend to meet them in groups so they don't get too overwhelmed," he says. "But you ask them when they leave what they think of it and I tell you they are all smiling. Everyone gets what they came for." Kiss have been giving fans what they came for for 35 years. It's the reason Stanley started the band in January 1973. "We wanted to be the band we never saw," he says. "Every band we went to see - and we saw a lot - were lacking something. We wanted to be the ultimate band for the fans." Starting life as Wicked Lester in the naff suburbs of New York at the height of glitter rock, Kiss were driven, lower-middle-class Jewish boys hooked on Alice Cooper, The New York Dolls, comic books and PT Barnum. Their flamboyant stage shows, outlandish costumes and garish make-up soon got them noticed. Each member took on the comic-book identity of a superhero: the guitarist Ace Frehley was Spaceman, the drummer Peter Criss Catman, the bass player Gene Simmons was the Demon and Stanley was Starchild. They were larger than life. During performances, Simmons liked to breathe fire and spit blood on the audience. It was all perfect fodder for adolescent boys who congregated in US car parks before a show, dressed as their favourite band member. Playing blues-metal as glitter-ghoul kabuki, Kiss built themselves into the world's greatest rock 'n' roll brand. In their 1970s heyday, such hits as Rock & Roll All Nite and Detroit Rock City rejoiced in their status as perfectly uncomplicated teen anthems bursting with fantasy-world bravado. Kiss were also the first band to market their brand to the limit, with action figures, board games, pinball machines, comics, coffins (the famous Kiss Kasket), and never-ending tours. In the 1980s, they dumped their make-up and then, in the 1990s put it back on. Along the way they lost two members - Criss and Frehley. Kiss's opportunism and dogged work ethic has paid off. The band have been awarded 24 gold albums and sold more than 19 million albums in the US and more than 80 million worldwide. As recently as 1996, their reunion tour, the Kiss Alive/Worldwide/Lost Cities/Reunion Tour was America's top-grossing act. So, after years of denying they'd ever set foot in a studio again, why go back into the studio one more time? Stanley says their last album, 1998's Psycho Circus, should not be their last. It was marred by Criss and Frehley's complaints about their involvement in Kiss. "There was no band!" says Stanley today. "How can you make an album with people who can't come to the studio, with people who send their lawyers to make demands about 'participation'? Having songs on a Kiss album is not a birthright, it's something you earn." Their most recent replacements, Eric Singer on drums and the guitarist Tommy Thayer, have been with the band for years and Stanley says it is their commitment that has sent him back into the studio. "In 20 years, the band has never been better, more focused or got a better reception. I thought it was time to go into the studio and take a step forward, to plot a course for the future," he says. But this time, says Stanley, he had rules. He insisted on producing Sonic Boom himself and would not allow any outside writer to pen songs for the band. That would be like someone else taking control of the brand, he says. He also refused to use digital recording techniques. "The greatest albums were not made on a computer," he says. "The Beatles, James Brown, Led Zeppellin, those albums are about passion, not perfection. Most of our songs were done in one or two takes." Sonic Boom marks a return to Kiss's 1970s glory years, says Stanley, and for once, critics have agreed with him. Entertainment Weekly noted "Kiss haven't gotten any subtler in the 11 years since their last studio album," but admitted to liking the track Hot and Cold. "I'm always curious with what people have to say," says Stanley, "but I have survived healthily on many bad reviews. Most of the critics who hated us are working in gas stations now, while we've done quite well. Who needs to be told what is good? Nobody. There you go." With their usual canny marketing, Kiss arranged for Sonic Boom to be sold exclusively through the discount department store giant Walmart. The reason? Money. "The record industry, in terms of a delivery system, is obsolete, it's a shambles," says Stanley. "By going to Walmart we were able to add an extra CD [which features rerecorded versions of their biggest hits] and a DVD of us live in Argentina at no extra cost." Sonic Boom reached Number 2 on the Billboard chart when it was released early last month. Stanley is pleased with the album's reception but success has not tempered his attitude to his former bandmates. He says he never misses them but does admit to being shocked to hear the news this month that Criss had breast cancer last year, though he is now cancer-free. "It's horrific when anyone gets cancer," says Stanley, "but especially when its someone close, someone who is part of this family. My prayers are with anyone suffering that disease." When he is not being a rock 'n' roller, Stanley enjoys painting. He currently arranges one exhibition a month and sells high-resolution scans of his work for knock-down prices, because he says "whether you are living in a villa or a van, art would be a good thing for you". He says he has made "multiple seven figures" from his art, which can be found at at Paulstanley.com. Stanley is not what you'd call the reflective type. But does he ever wonder why Kiss have endured while so many of their peers have fallen by the wayside? "Becoming successful is nowhere near as hard as sustaining success," he says. "The vast majority of rock 'n' rollers are boobs. They are clueless how they got there and clueless how to stay there. "You don't survive unless you work hard."
"This guitar is, by some accounts a piece of art - my instrument of choice on stage in Kiss: The Bass that slays them all." Simmons said in a press release. "I've used the Axe on stage and literally thousands of people have contacted me to ask, 'Where can I get one?'" The Axe Bass comes at a price of $5,000 and includes a personal meeting with Simmons at a Kiss concert of their choice during the 2009 Kiss Tour, which marks the release of the band's newest album, "Sonic Boom," the first new studio album in more than a decade. "Sonic Boom" was released October 6. Simmons said the release of the Axe Bass is his way of giving back to Kiss fans. "When I was growing up, I was never able to get a piece of the Beatles," he said. "They weren't available, but they were still Mt. Olympus to me. I owe the fans everything because they made my life possible. My fans are not just buying any guitar, but a moment they'll never forget." Aside from touring with Kiss, a nominee for induction into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, Simmons also stars in VH1's rock reality show "Gene Simmons Family Jewels." The tour for "Sonic Boom" is scheduled to be incorporated into the show's fifth season.
With a catalog spanning 35 years, they remain a greatest hits band and deliver a majority of early hits from the original make-up era. Since Ace Frehley no longer sports the spaceman outfit, Tommy Thayer does an admirable job singing "Shock Me." KISS does have a new CD, Sonic Boom, from which they played the radio friendly, "Modern Day Delilah" to a warm reception. "Black Diamond," with Singer in the catman outfit on vocals, and "Rock and Roll All Night" finished out the set with an encore consisting of "Shout It Out Loud," "Lick It Up," "Love Gun" that saw Stanley fly to a stage in the back of the crowd, and the seminal classic "Detroit Rock City." Singer and Thayer really add a new dimension to the group with their own distinct musical offerings. Thayer's soloing and power chords are like tinsel on a Christmas tree and Singer's drumming style and background vocals really set a solid rhythm that is the glue holding it all together. The flamboyant Paul Stanley, who has never sounded better vocally, and Gene Simmons is the ring leader with his fire breathing and blood spewing antics. Going to a KISS concert has become a right of passage from the looks of the ages in the audience. A family outing seemed to be more accurate than the teenage rebellion from which they originated. The same kids who were listening to KISS back in the '70s and '80s are now able to bring their kids to see what their parents did at their age much like a father taking his son to a baseball game to cheer for his favorite team. After 35 years KISS shows no signs of slowing down. As long as they keep putting on the seven inch heels and legendary stage show with a musical onslaught of hits, fans of all ages will come to rock and roll all night.
Check out this fan-filmed video of Gene spitting blood and flying in Calgary.
Bare-chested "Starchild" Paul Stanley, who's way too ripped to be 57, still struts like a rock star and his overblown blues rock howl still throws a kick, as it did on the appropriately titled rock anthem Strutter. Hardcore Kiss fans, male and female, young and old, still masquerade as their idols. The bomb blasts, fireworks and bright lights, all the big budget popcorn-movie frills that hard rock legends Kiss are worshiped for, were on proud display Thursday at the Saddledome. Oh, and the "Spaceman" Tommy Thayer on lead guitar? He fired up one garage-dirty, arena ready riff after another, from Cold Gin to Parasite to the point where he used his six string as a canon. Literally. As for the opening cut Deuce? The "Catman" Eric Singer hammers the drums with acrobatic flair on that one. Ditto for Hotter Than Hell and 100,000 Years. Thursday night's 'Dome gig felt very much like a classic Kiss concert, which is a beautiful thing. Painted faces and comic book personas really have given Kiss an edge over other classic rock bands when it comes to carrying the torch 35 years and running. Given the iconic stature of those four grease-painted faces in pop culture, it really is possible to dress up different musicians as classic Kiss and still have it feel like classic Kiss. Much like various actors have pulled off Batman over the years, so too is it possible to recapture the mystique of a classic Kiss concert. The over-the-top show is not the only key to Kiss's lasting appeal, despite what their detractors say. The band really has crafted a considerable catalogue of awesome, mindlessly fun rock songs over the years and Thursday's gig offered much proof of that. As blasts of confetti showered the 'Dome during Rock and Roll All Night, just before the encore - it had to said that the show was a blast.
More than 14,000 willing victims happily submitted themselves to the legendary New York quartet's two-hour sonic assault at the Saddledome as part of their KISS Alive/35 Tour. KISS is now more than a band. They are a brand. Fans can buy anything from dolls, snowboards, wine, glassware and even coffins, all of which are emblazoned with the KISS logo. But you have to give them credit, that brand loyalty is almost unparalleled. Calgary KISS fans were excited last night, so excited that many fans may have lost their voices -- or passed out due to overimbibing -- even before the show began. There were hundreds of faces painted black and white in the style of their favourite member. If the number of black stars around people's eyes was any indication, Paul Stanley's got bragging rights as the most popular. There were a few fans who really went all out and could have probably stood in for the two frontmen had they decided not to rock and roll all night. The crowd's good mood and excited energy erupted as the lights went down, the curtain fell and the theatrics began. And what a start. "You wanted the best," howled the voice from the speaker, eliciting a roar from the audience, who finished the rest of the sentence. "You got the best. The hottest band in the world." And with that familiar introduction, the band appeared amid billowing stage fog and blinding pyrotechnics. They kicked off with one of their early hits, Deuce, which sounded raw and tight and whetted the crowd's appetite for more of KISS' straight-ahead glam rock. Strutter was up next with his chugging guitars and fist-pumping chorus. Surprisingly, some of the best tunes came from the group's latest album, Sonic Boom. It's a spectacle, but not as ridiculous a show as I might have expected. There were huge fireballs and other random explosions, but the stage was actually relatively tasteful for a band with a reputation for excess. A huge screen rose just above drummer Eric Singer, who was on a riser, and below it were three rows of stacked TV-sized screens. This relatively subdued set perfectly enhanced the band's outlandish costumes. It really is something seeing Simmons' spectacular dragon boots up close, not to mention Stanley's chest hair. As of press time, KISS had yet to return for an encore, but in previous concerts, the band has brought out the big hits, including Lick It Up and Detroit Rock City.
Come rock out with your favorite artists at the world famous Whisky A Go-Go as they perform with our graduating campers for 2009. Rock 'N' Roll Fantasy Camp will showcase their campers in a Battle Of The Bands night after each camp session ends. The first camp is a three-day camp running November 12-15 and a five-day camp running November 17-22. The camper bands will each perform (doors at 6 p.m., show starting at 7 p.m.) followed by an all-star jam with: Sunday, November 15: Sunday, November 22: To get your tickets for this gala event and for more information on Rock 'N' Roll Fantasy Camp, call 888.762.2263 or visit www.rockcamp.com.
Yes, destroyed, and yes, it was a very good thing. From the opening notes of "Deuce" to the closing explosions that punctuated "Detroit Rock City" two hours later, the four masked bandits who are KISS stole Saskatoon's love. The sold-out crowd - literally jammed to the rafters in the Credit Union Centre - sang, danced and licked up every single moment in the 18-song set. At one point, lead singer Paul Stanley opined: "We're pretty great up here, but you guys out there are... awesome!" And the crowd really was. I was lucky enough to see KISS a few weeks ago in New Orleans, on Halloween, at the Voodoo Experience music festival. More than twice as many people in the audience, outdoors, in a creepy historic park in the middle of the Big Easy. Pretty cool. Guess what? A Tuesday night in November in Saskatoon's bland and sterile hockey rink was even better thanks to the audience. Tuesday's crowd was bursting with hardcore KISS fanatics. Many wore KISS makeup. Several sported KISS costumes. A few were marked for life, revealing their KISS tattoos. They stood, they sang and they shouted out loud. The boys in the band clearly heard them and genuinely appreciated the hardcore fanaticism. Strutting, dancing and jamming - "100,000 Thousand Years" clocked in at just over 10 minutes - Stanley, 57, bassist Gene Simmons, 60, and lead guitarist Tommy Thayer, 49, worked the stage like men 30 years their junior. Simmons spit blood, drooled and leered at women, Stanley flew above the crowd (a great gag) and Thayer and drummer Eric Singer, 51, provided the musicianship to carry the circus that is KISS live. Yes, there is still lots of pyrotechnics, smoke, exploding guitars, and now dozens of video screens. KISS is still, well, KISS. Although Simmons is a huge TV star now thanks to his reality show on A&E, Family Jewels, he takes a back seat to Stanley on stage, as he always has. It's still Stanley's show. He does most of the talking and he leads the band through the setlist, which on Tuesday night, was pretty eclectic. Ripping through 1970s-era classics like "Strutter," "Cold Gin," and "Love Gun," Stanley and the boys also mixed in some 80s hits, "Lick It Up" and "I Love It Loud" and played two new songs from their latest CD, Sonic Boom: "Modern Day Delilah" and "Say Yeah." The latter was very warmly received. The band also dug deep, playing "Let Me Go Rock 'N' Roll" and "Parasite" from their second album, 1974's Hotter Than Hell, still one of the heaviest KISS recordings ever made. Although original members Ace Frehley and Peter Criss are no longer in the band, KISS didn't shy away from playing some of the former members' signature songs. Thayer did a nice turn, singing Frehley's "Shock Me" from 1977's Love Gun album. And Singer was even better singing the Criss parts in "Black Diamond," a classic from KISS's 1974 self-tltled debut and still a highlight when played live 35 years later. Both Thayer and Singer appear comfortable in their Spaceman and Catman makeup, meaning KISS could be around for a few more years yet. Before the show began, I had a few minutes to chat with Thayer backstage. He thanked me for bringing my 12-year-old daughter and her friend to the show, young KISS fans he had just met. "It's great to see the kids. That's gotta be pretty cool for you to have them here," said Thayer, who once played in a KISS tribute band before Simmons and Stanley discovered him. "We're all fans. I was a member of the KISS Army (fan club) in the 1970s, and now I'm doing this. How weird, how great, is that?" Pretty great, even on a Tuesday night, in November, in Saskatoon. SETLIST: KISS has the market cornered on big, glam rock 'n' roll excess and the sold-out Saskatoon crowd licked up every minute. KISS is a band that knows how to deliver what fans want - and expect - after 35 years. The concert included Stanley's requisite singing banter with the crowd and exposed chest and, of course, Gene Simmons' famous tongue acrobatics, fire breathing and blood-spitting. The makeup, platform shoes and synchronized guitar playing were all necessary elements, too. The show opened with 1974 classics Deuce and Strutter. In fact the bulk of the night's songs came from KISS's first self-titled album. Founding members Simmons and Stanley were joined by newer members Tommy Thayer (in Spaceman makeup) and Eric Singer (assuming the Catman face). The concert stuck mostly to material from the 1970s KISS heyday, but Modern Day Delilah and Say Yeah from Sonic Boom also made it into the mix. KISS also performed Hotter Than Hell, Calling Dr. Love and I Love It Loud. The concert - on a giant, Transformer-like stage - was full of lots of sensory touches like multi-coloured flames, confetti canons, on-stage fireworks and exploding guitars. KISS shows are probably the only rock concert that also comes with a face painting booth. Plenty of fans donned the face paint of their favourite KISS member but demon-faced Simmons was probably the most popular look. In addition to fans, the crowd also featured Saskatoon native and Simmons' lady friend Shannon Tweed, who sat behind the sound board and danced along through much of the show. KISS finished off the pre-encore performance with a confetti-spewing rendition of Rock and Roll All Nite then returned for what Stanley called "the longest encore you've ever heard." The lineup of Shout It Out Loud, Lick It Up, Love Gun and Detroit Rock City was the most memorable - and fireworks-filled - part of the night. It's hard to believe Simmons is 60 and Stanley is 57, especially during moments that had each member flying through the arena on wires. At that age it wouldn't be surprising if they were startled by their own pyrotechnics. But there must be something in that makeup that is age defying.
KISS is sharing with fans an exclusive view into their Alive/35 tour, which is currently underway. The first leg of KISS's Alive/35 North American tour will hit nearly 50 cities and comes hot off the heels of the October 6 release of the new KISS album Sonic Boom. Fans can download the free KISS iPhone application to view multimedia updates, interact with other fans, find venue information, purchase tickets, and listen to and purchase KISS music from 28 of their best albums directly from iTunes. Exclusive tour video, pictures, updates and other content is available in the KISS VIP Pass application for a one-time download of $1.99. The KISS and KISS VIP Pass applications are available in Apple?s App Store on iPhone or iPod touch or at www.itunes.com/appstore. For those fans without an iPhone or iPod Touch device, free multimedia updates can be accessed by texting KISS to 58888. To access the exclusive multimedia content, fans can subscribe for $0.99/month to multimedia text alerts by texting the keyword KISSVIP to 58888. "Zannel continues its association with the biggest stars in music, comedy, film, and television, enabling major artists to communicate directly with their millions of fans on a mass scale," says Adam Zbar, CEO of Zannel.com. "We are excited to work with KISS, who are true rock legends, and to offer KISS fans the ability to stay connected anywhere, anytime. We look forward to this exciting tour, and stay tuned for additional Zannel talent deals in the near future."
In her final year of a three-year residency at Loyola University Medical Center in Maywood, Amanda Baldwin is concentrating on anatomic pathology. She spends most of her time looking into microscopes and assisting in autopsies. But on special occasions, Baldwin likes to load on the makeup and step into a skin-tight black costume similar to the one made famous by former Kiss guitar player Ace Frehley. You see, Baldwin is a mega Kiss fan. "I get a lot of people who are surprised -- both ways," said the 30-year-old Central Illinois native who now lives in Wheaton. "People I work with are very surprised when they first find out about me being such a huge fan of Kiss and Ace, and that I put on the makeup. "And when I meet other big fans, they are quite surprised if they ask me what I do and I tell them I'm a doctor." Baldwin's not the only doctor who enjoys rock music or seeing her favorite bands perform in concert. She probably even has colleagues who are Kiss fans. However, it's unlikely that they will take to the road to see a Kiss concert or dress in full Kiss wear for fandom conventions. "I'm very happy with my life," she said. "I love my job, and I'm having a great time being a fan of Kiss and of Ace." Baldwin's interest sparked from her older siblings -- brother, Jim, and sister, Lisa. "When I was very young, they had Kiss posters and (record albums)," Baldwin said. "Both of them were into music when I was growing up. I would look at the posters, and I called them the Kiss monsters." Baldwin remembers the day when the "Kiss monsters" started becoming very important to her. "My brother had the 1978 Ace (Frehley) solo album on the floor, and I was mesmerized by the makeup," she said. "I took the record -- I was probably 4 or 5 at the time -- and played it on my little record player while I danced around. I loved it." Baldwin later got a hold of some Kiss bubblegum cards, and her brother gave her his Ace Frehley solo album. In 1984, she saw for the first time the 1978 TV movie "Kiss Meets the Phantom of the Park." "I thought it was really cool," she said. However, for the rest of the 1980s, Baldwin's passion for Kiss was put on the back burner. Her favorite band had taken off the makeup, and Frehley left the band. "I was still very much into music, but I got into all the 'hair bands,' like Motley Crue and Poison," Baldwin said. When she entered high school in 1993, Baldwin devoted more time to academics. "School really was my focus throughout high school," she said. "It pretty much stayed that way until I got into (medical school)." After graduating in 1997 from Illini Central High School in Mason City, Ill., Baldwin enrolled as a pre-med student at Southern Illinois University-Edwardsville. She earned a master's degree from Loyola after moving to the Chicago area in 2001 and attended medical school at Midwestern University in Downers Grove. She graduated in 2007, officially earning the right to be called "doctor." Baldwin's interest in Kiss and Frehley picked up again when she began medical school. "Music was back for me when I got into medical school," she said. "I thought, 'I'm getting older and have spent so much time studying. I was losing my youth.'" So, in 2002, Baldwin again began following Kiss and Frehley. In 2009, she traveled to four Kiss concerts and attend the band's Nov. 6 show at the United Center. She headed to Milwaukee the next day for a performance by Frehley. She has met all of the band members. And on Sept. 19 she finally met Frehley when he made an appearance at a Detroit store to autograph copies of his new album. "I was so nervous about meeting him that I couldn't speak," she said. "He's the reason I'm into Kiss." Baldwin had Frehley sign the 1978 solo album given to her by her brother. She also asked Frehley to autograph her ankle. She had that signature turned into a tattoo the next da Baldwin has no plan to give up her devotion to Frehley or Kiss. But she's also focused on her career. In the home stretch of her residency at Loyola, Baldwin is slated to work a pathology fellowship in 2010. "It's really fascinating to me," she said. "You learn so much when you do an autopsy, and you can sometimes help to answer the questions that families have after someone dies." "After (the fellowship), I'd love to work in a medical examiner's office for a while," she said. "Eventually, I'd like to maybe do private work as a medical examiner; testify in court." And, of course, continue following Kiss and Frehley.
Sure, it's cliched slogan, one used primarily to sell tickets to monster truck events. But the description fits. KISS concerts, after all, are unlike anything the world has ever seen. "We want to entertain you, and when you pay for a high-priced ticket it should get you more than a guy on stool," said Paul Stanley, the group's singer-guitarist. "When you get a ticket from us, we'll pummel you, deafen you, blind you, cover you in confetti, and you'll leave very satisfied." KISS fans wouldn't have it any other way. For decades, devout followers of the group have been resigned to the fact they are paying for an experience that rarely changes. Not that anyone should be concerned with getting shafted: KISS concerts are like musical comfort food, with blood, pyro, and songs about love guns and gods of thunder on the menu at every stop. Stanley, the group's frontman since its inception more than 35 years ago, says there's a reason the band has opened nearly every one of its concerts with the refrain, "You wanted the best? You got the best! The hottest band in the world! KISS!" In short, because it's true. "We do what we're here to do," Stanley said from a New York hotel, the day after KISS thrilled television audiences with what was easily the most explosive performance in Late Night with David Letterman history. "And that's basically blow the place up and have a great time." Stanley, 57, and bassist Gene Simmons, 60, are the lone holdovers from the original lineup, which burst out of New York with the legendary double-album, Alive!, in 1975. But while much has been made of the absence of guitarist Ace Frehley and drummer Peter Criss on the band's current North American trek, which is billed the KISS Alive/35 tour, Stanley says the group is sounding and playing better than ever. "It's just a healthier, better situation for everybody. It's better for the fans, it's better for the band. And hopefully it's better for the guys who are no longer in the band." Frehley and Criss, who have both struggled with either drugs or alcohol in the past, have not been with the band since the early part of the decade, and have been permanently replaced by guitarist Tommy Thayer and drummer Eric Singer. Neither is new to the KISS universe (Singer has been in and out of the lineup for 18 years, while Thayer has been on board for seven) and Stanley says they have both earned their place in the band. He was eager to showcase their unique talents on the new KISS recording, Sonic Boom, which debuted at No. 2 on the U.S. sales charts upon its release on Oct. 6, the group's highest entry to date. Stanley produced the album, which, by definition, made him the decision maker. But he's quick to stress that the process was a group effort -- one of their first albums in years to operate on such a democratic plane. "I wanted 100 per cent commitment and focus from everybody in the band, to really highlight how great the band is and how focused the band is," he said. "This album never could have been done by any other KISS lineup. When you have a band where everybody is saying 'How can I make the band more famous?' rather than 'How can the band make me more famous?' it gives you the potential to make a terrific album. And that's what we did. We just harnessed everything we are." The album's first single, Modern Day Delilah, is a jet-fuelled blast of arena rock, with all the archetypal features of some of the most famous Stanley-Simmons compositions. Even though the song is credited to Stanley alone, the presence of Simmons at each session had an huge impact, Stanley said. "It was essential that Gene and I write together. It was absolutely essential. Gene was a little skeptical initially, or ambivalent. We've certainly both reached a point where we like to do things our own way, but that doesn't necessarily mean it's best for the band. We sat down, and immediately the chemistry was there." Kiss performs at GM Place in Vancouver on Saturday.
At ages two and four, my boys are well aware of their mother's passion for KISS. They've never known a world in which KISS did not exist. And, for our children, KISS is everywhere -- KISS songs rock our car when I'm driving to them to play group each week. KISS magnets hold their artwork up on our refrigerator. KISS's makeup faces are floating on rubber ducks when they take their baths. KISS is emblazoned on their clothes, posted on their bedroom walls, and carried in their hearts. Ever since the beginning of the tour, as Mom and Dad have jaunted off to various cities throughout the Alive 35 tour, our boys have asked when they could attend their first KISS concert. With two back-to-back Midwest KISS shows over the past weekend, it seemed the perfect time to fully initiate them into KISS World. Preparing to take two preschoolers to a KISS show isn't as difficult as you might think, though I gained a little experience along the way too. Here are a few tips: * Prepare them visually: Watch a concert or two with the kids at home in the weeks leading up to the show. While some might argue that this spoils the surprise, it doesn't -- there's an enormous difference in experiencing a live show firsthand versus seeing it on television. (And if that were truly the case, no one would attend a live show, right?) If you're a KISS parent, your kids are likely already familiar with many of the songs anyway, so they won't be bored watching the concert with you. Kids also tend to view KISS as larger-than-life superheroes. Helping kids understand that Paul and Gene are going to fly during the show, and that Gene is going to spit fire and blood, but neither of these things will actually hurt him, goes a long way toward ensuring that they won't be scared by these things later. *Protect their ears: Yes, the show is loud. Don't be so much of a purist that you insist on having pure, 120-decibel KISS blasting into your child's head. There are many audio-reducing headsets that will protect their ears and still allow them to fully enjoy the show. Note that very young children will likely protest at wearing earplugs -- headsets are a better bet. *Don't be disappointed if they don't like it: As parents, of course we want our children to share our passion for the things we love, and even if your children are completely gung-ho to go to the show, they may break down if it's not quite what they envisioned it to be. It's okay. This night is about them, not you. Make them as comfortable as they'd like to be. Going into the show, I fully expected my 4-year-old to love the show start to finish, and my 2-year-old to get scared at times. Instead, my little guy was pumping his fists during "Deuce" while my 4-year-old buried his head in my shoulder. He came around a couple of songs later, and loved it from that point forward, but their reactions were completely opposite from what I had expected. * Be prepared to hold them. All night.: They're going to want to see it all, and it's worth a pair of sore shoulders the next day to make that happen. * This night is about them: Above everything else, this is the most important. If this is your first KISS show, or even the only show you're going to see on the current tour, it might not be the best night to take the kids along. If your children are especially young, chances are good that they might not want to remain in one place for an over-2-hour-long show. You'll have bathroom breaks and diaper changes to deal with. Kids may want to walk around or check out the merchandise stands. They might even want to dance in the aisle instead of sitting in their seats. Go with it. You might even be seated too close for your kids' comfort! We had fabulous seats just a few rows from the stage on Tommy's side, but during the show we walked up to the mezzanine level and watched from one of the entryways for a while -- my boys liked looking down on the stage and seeing it from that perspective. * Reactions from others may not be what you think: I fully expected to hear negative comments from others about bringing two preschoolers to a KISS show, but every single comment I received from other fans was positive. Many people said that they thought it was great that our little guys got to experience KISS at such a young age -- one fan said "My mom wouldn't let me go see KISS until I was 17!" * The show is very kid-safe: While KISS has long been associated with wild women, cheeky lyrics and hedonism, there's nothing in this show that your kids can't see. The language onstage rarely, if ever, contains cursing -- and while some female fans in the audience may dress provocatively, your kids will likely see much more skin at the beach or public pool in the summertime than at a KISS show. * Lastly, expect sensory overload: KISS shows are sensory experiences, and young children may reach a point where they zone out at the show. (Heck, a KISS concert overloads the senses for most adults.) The lights, sounds, pyro and show can really be a lot for kids to see, and incredibly, some children may react by falling asleep. While we as adults wouldn't dream of sleeping through a concert, many kids really can and do take naps at the show. All in all, it was a fantastic, memorable night for everyone, and my KISS kids will never forget their big weekend. They've been talking about "the KISS concert" for the past two days now, and it's hilarious to watch two preschoolers debate who flew over the crowd better or which song had "more big fireworks." And just this morning, my 2-year-old notified me, very matter-of-factly, that he's the Doctor of Love. As a KISS parent, what more could I ask for? I dug out the boys' baby books today and made a few notes in each. And now, right next to the dates for the entries for "First Tooth" and "First Words?" The dates of their first KISS concerts.
For Kiss, it’s their introduction. The New York rock band who helped invent the arena concert spectacle in the 1970s know exactly what their fans want. Say what you will about them — still on the road nine years after their farewell tour — there’s no denying they know how to put on a big, dumb, flashy rock show. "There’s something about Canada that just brings out the best in Kiss. You’re going to hear all the stuff you came for tonight," frontman Paul Stanley told the sold out crowd of 12,750 at the MTS Centre early last night. He wasn’t lying. The band is touring in support of their first album in 11 years, Sonic Boom, but despite the fact it’s a return to their classic sound, the band only played two new songs, Modern Day Delilah and Say Yeah, preferring to stick to hits from their 1970s heyday. Much like the Alive! album they’re celebrating with the title of the tour (Kiss Alive 35) the band opened with Deuce and Strutter off their 1974 self-titled debut. During the opening number founders Stanley and demonic bassist Gene Simmons gathered at centre stage with lead guitarist Tommy Thayer, dressed in Ace Frehley’s spaceman makeup and nailing every solo effortlessly, for some synchronized moves. Behind them Eric Singer, taking the place of original drummer Peter Criss, was seated on a riser above the famous lighted Kiss logo, which was surrounded by a line of speakers and three rows of video monitors flashing everything from abstract patterns to fire (of course). Three other video screens showed close-ups of the band, who don’t look a day older than they did all those years ago thanks to their makeup. Stanley played the role of hype man throughout the night with his well-known between song banter, getting the Kiss Army riled up, especially when challenging them to be louder than other Canadian cities. "It’s up to you to show us that you are number one," he said before the blues-based Let Me Go Rock ‘N’ Roll. From the first notes to the last, it was as flashy and over-the-top as ever. Multi-coloured flames shot out often, the drum riser rotated during Singer’s solo, Thayer shot fireworks from his guitar, Simmons breathed fire at the conclusion of Hotter than Hell, spit blood during his solo spotlight, and both he and Stanley took wire assisted flights: Simmons to the top of the lighting rig and Stanley to a stage at the back of the arena. With the exception of the two new Sonic Boom tracks and Lick it Up and I Love it Out, both from the early 1980s, the set was filled with melodic hard rock favourites from the 1970s with Cold Gin, Parasite, Black Diamond, Rock and Roll All Nite and Detroit Rock City making the set list. Over the past two decades Kiss has become more known for their marketing than music, but if you’re a Kiss fan the merch booth was filled with everything you could want including panties ($15), a Thayer autographed guitar strap ($30), a Singer autographed drum head ($40) and a USB leather wristband, or CD, with last night’s show for $35 along with the regular shirts and posters. It’s easy to be cynical, but last night it was about the music, and Kiss fans who wanted to hear the best got it. Los Angeles quintet Buckcherry opened the night with a 45-minute set of sleazy hard rock perfectly suited for an arena, highlighted by the ode to cocaine Lit Up, the pop-edged Everything and the funk-infused Crazy Bitch.
Indeed they do. Saturday's show, which clocked in at two hours on the nose, was everything Kiss fans could expect, and you can take that however you will. The set began comfortably--a black curtain shrouded the stage, emblazoned with a silver Kiss logo. And at precisely 9 o'clock: "You wanted the best? You got the best! The hottest band in the world!" Drop the curtain and commence. The stage set up was a delight--aside from some next-generation television monitors, which served as a backdrop to the drum riser and the light bulb Kiss logo, this was the Kiss stage fondly captured in photographs from their late-'70s prime. Through the set, which was heavy with hits like "Hotter Than Hell," "Cold Gin," and "Black Diamond," the show managed to express a majesty and a hair-raising sense of spectacle that was surely nostalgic even for generations of fans for whom the band's prime years are just paragraphs in a biography. But the set's final 45 minutes, which included their colossal hits "Rock and Roll All Night," "I Love It Loud," and a half hour encore which ended with "Detroit Rock City," was pure guilty pleasure. When Simmons breathes fire, a bellow fights its way from your mouth. When Stanley soars over the crowd to a back-of-the-house stage to perform "Love Gun," marvel is involuntary. When the flashpots detonate and the flame jets combust, you don't decide to blink from the light and the heat. Your body makes that call for you. Never in modern music history has a band wielded greater cultural influence. Behind their facepaint and body armor, Gene Simmons and Paul Stanley cease to be themselves, and become precisely what we can only guess they meant to be all along--deathless icons, immune to senescence, who will be drooling blood and wowing audiences until they can exeunt to a millionaire's Valhalla.
One quick glance around the Target Center at 9:00pm revealed that the concert was sold out for all intents and purposes, and that full "sold-out sound" arrived when the lights dimmed and guitar tuning could be heard from behind the curtain bearing the band's logo. The chords of "Deuce" hit the crowd like a wrecking ball as Gene Simmons, Paul Stanley, and Tommy Thayer emerged behind the dropped banner in full rock star glory. The lights shined as bright as the sun, while the sound convinced every fan that they were rocking out at the loudest concert that ever came to be. Those first moments of a KISS gig are almost beyond belief as every story, myth, and legend of the band's shows comes to fruition before the eyes of thousands. The well-known hard rock hits from the group's early history kicked the show into motion, and when he wasn't jumping high into the air, Paul Stanley was singing as if there was truly no tomorrow. The microphone stands on stage don't get much use during the first two songs as the band prefers to deliver the music much closer to the fans. Gene Simmons stood triumphantly near the edge of the stage and allowed his tongue to shorten the crowd-to-band distance even further. When all three guitar players gathered center stage to jam in unison, a flurry of flashes from the crowd erupted in an attempt to capture the moment. It was flames that erupted from the floor for the signature "Hotter Than Hell", and Tommy Thayer got his turn at the microphone during "Shock Me". "Nothing cures the swine flu quite like Dr. Love," proclaimed Paul Stanley as the band ripped into the instantly familiar chords of a mid-seventies rock anthem. The band may be celebrating their 35th anniversary, but there's no denying that time has only seen KISS grow bigger and better. Although the songs granted millions of radio plays over time emerged as the real crowd pleasers and took the prize in the audience sing-a-long category, the crowd gathered in Minneapolis was truly ready for anything. Stanley introduced new track "Modern Day Delilah" as a prime example of the theory that being old isn't a prerequisite in a song's journey to becoming a classic. Fans sang along to the vocally demanding number and screamed with excitement when Stanley delivered a handful of glass-shattering high notes. Not to be outdone, it wasn't long before Gene Simmons took the performance to new heights - literally. After engaging in a blood spitting rage (the fire-breathing earlier just didn't do the trick), Simmons was lifted to a new location - atop the arena's lighting equipment. Stanley earned the spotlight later as he flew high above the floor to deliver his famous struts and riffs from the other side of the venue. Becoming lost in the spectacle was a natural reaction to the kind of youth-driven rock and roll that KISS delivers. When all was said and done, the band left a speechless crowd. Although the make-up surely hides a wrinkle or two, the realization that men near the age of 60 just finished stomping and jumping around in six inch platform shoes is nothing to sneeze at. When it comes to staying ageless, KISS just might be onto something.
As the huge black flag with the name KISS stitched on it came crashing down to the front area of the gargantuan stage at Verizon Arena, I glanced over at my son Alec and realized this was a snapshot in time I had dreamed about for literally years and years, even predating his arrival in my life some 18 years ago. The infamous words that have introduced the legendary rockers to their fans since the early 1970s came through loud and clear - "All right, Little Rock! You Wanted the Best! You Got the Best! The Hottest Band in the World - KISS!" And that was it. Starting from the first chords of the group's classis tune "Deuce" through a 2-hour-plus set list that meandered through KISS' discology and included well-known anthems like "Rock and Roll All Nite" and "Shout It Out Loud," the night of Oct. 29 was truly magical and brought two things I cherish together under one roof: time with my son and a concert by the band whose influence has been a major part of my life since 1976. The flashy new costumes and over-the-top stage show were enough to bring plenty of smiles to Alec's face (and mine, of course), along with the seemingly endless supply of pyrotechnics and beams of stage lights flashing all over the place. Oh, the also loved the staple features of a KISS concert, ranging from lead singer-rhythm guitarist Paul Stanley's jumping about and searing vocals on all those classic songs to bass guitarist-singer Gene Simmons' breathing fire and spitting (fake) blood all over the stage before flying up to a platform to belt out "I Love It Loud," which took this writer back to his days as a clumsy, bumbling type at Nettleton High School. My son marveled at drummer Eric Singer's abilities in mastering his massive drum kit that wound up levitating over the stage and spinning in a circle while he played an ambitious solo, as well as lead guitarist Tommy Thayer's own solo that included firing mini-shots into the air, creating yet another visual spectacle for the adoring crowd. What impressed him most, though, was the music. Spanning nearly 40 years, KISS played 18 songs that night and could have easily added triple the total and still left the faithful wanting and demanding more. Much like his old man, Alec has an appreciation for the simplicity and yet undeniable appeal of the band's straightforward, hard rock tunes. I call these songs the soundtrack of my life, a sentiment millions of others in their 40s and in other age brackets can certainly agree with. From the first time I saw KISS in the late 1990s when they went on a reunion tour with original members Ace Frehley and Peter Criss, I have clung to the belief that events like concerts bring one closer to their youth and rekindle that sense of abandon and optimism that life tends to temper somewhat over the years. Other people who made the trek from Jonesboro and other corners of Northeast Arkansas bring a similar, if not exact, experience with them. We are the KISS Army, the group's fan base, and we stand very strong in legions that stretch across the planet and count decades of fighting on the musical battlefield for our war paint-wearing heroes. Patriots rock on A quick glance around the arena at the concert revealed something about KISS and its ability to continually draw loyal fans from years gone by to new ones, many donning that famous face paint that largely defined the band's image in its early years and sustains a presence even today. It was not unusual to see entire families on hand, with parents and kids alike wearing full KISS costumes in honor of their favorite member. Linda Watson and brother Mark Lawson drove to the show from Jonesboro, toting their children along. It was a family affair, and Watson said she was thrilled to take in the show with her three sons. "Seeing KISS live again was wonderful," Watson said. "I've been promising my three boys a KISS show for a very long time, and it was great to be able to finally keep that promise. We?re already looking forward to the next time." Jonesboro police officer Kevin Foust and son Jordan rocked on for the sixth time together, snapping pictures and reveling in the charged atmosphere that defines these gatherings of the musical troops, so to speak. "I'm not sure why you buy a seat for a KISS concert because you never sit down!" Kevin Foust posted on his Facebook profile page, rounding out the feelings of the 11,000 or so other fans who stood and sang (yes, and some of us played a blistering session of air guitar!). University Heights Elementary School Principal Dale Case went with his daughters and plans to go again, hopefully, if and when the band makes a stop in Memphis on the next leg of the tour. What it means After Alec and I found our seats (we didn't sit any once KISS cranked up), it occurred to me just how much of an event, a rite of passage it was. I saw countless fathers around my age strolling along with their sons, both wearing concert shirts and smiling. When I was a boy, I used to fantasize about this very experience and undoubtedly many other folks did, too. To join the KISS Army fan club officially, you have to fork out a few bucks, and it's well worth the expense because of the access you gain to ticket pre-sales, merchandise discounts, and other things. To be a soldier in this army, however, all you must do is pop a KISS compact disc in, listen to a song or two and commit yourself to years of rock and roll service... as of about a week ago, my son enlisted and is now ready for his tour of duty, which, incidentally, could be a stop across the Mississippi River for the next concert.
At least that's the case with costumed rockers Kiss, who are celebrating their 35th anniversary with a world tour that's earned them uncharacteristically warm reviews, even from previously hostile corners. Perhaps more surprising is that the band finally has been nominated for inclusion in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, more than a decade after they were first eligible. Even cool cat Brian Setzer likes Kiss! (Well, I assume he does anyway - he was standing behind me in the will-call line.) Lest anyone worry, the foursome's Saturday night performance at the Target Center proved founders Paul Stanley and Gene Simmons aren't about to let all that newfound esteem go to their heads. If anything, Kiss has survived 35 years - technically speaking, they're actually a few months shy of turning 37 - by refusing to grow up at all. In front of a near-capacity crowd of about 13,000, the band delivered everything the Kiss Army demands from them. Simmons breathed fire and spit blood, while Stanley bared his hairy chest and smashed his guitar. Drummer Eric Singer pounded his way through a solo while a hydraulic lift spun the entire platform beneath him. Guitarist Tommy Thayer shot rockets from his six-string, knocking down some pre-rigged-to-fall lights in the process. Oh, and they played some music, too. Using their 1975 breakthrough "Alive" as the foundation of the set, they added a few more post-'75 classics ("Shout It Out Loud," "I Love It Loud") and just one song from the past 25 years ("Modern Day Delilah," from their new album "Sonic Boom"). But when you've got a catalog deep with dumb-but-fun tracks from "Rock and Roll All Nite" to "Cold Gin" to "Strutter" who needs progress? What was most impressive, though, is just how little these guys have aged. Simmons rocks a pair of platforms and bat wings with more flair than any other 60-year-old out there. And while the greasepaint may fill in some of his wrinkles, Stanley's very physical performance showed little wear and tear. These guys make immaturity look positively stunning.
"It's the makeup and theatrics, and I love their music," says Antymis, a math and science teacher at Elmwood High School. "I love that fun, heavy kind of feeling." As a card-carrying member of the KISS Army, the group's international fan club, Antymis nabbed four tickets in Row 11 on the MTS Centre floor for Monday night's concert. He'll be there with three friends, and he expects they'll all be in costume. "I got my first Gene Simmons costume when I was in Grade 6," he says. "It was a mask and some paper tied with a string. But I built my own for my friends' Halloween wedding social in the mid '90s." In the spring of 2008, he was driving to work, listening to CITI FM, when he heard that a local theatre troupe was auditioning actors for a KISS musical to be staged at the Winnipeg Fringe Festival. "I had taken drama in high school," he said. "I parked on the side of the road and wrote down the number." He went to the audition in full Simmons regalia and got the part. The musical, Lester Gets KISSed, made best of the fringe that year. Its producer and co-writer, Kevin Doherty, is remounting the 13-actor show this weekend at the Ellice Theatre to get fans in the mood for the concert. Tickets, $12 each, can be had at the door both tonight and Sunday. Show time is 8 p.m. The Ellice Theatre is at 585 Ellice Ave. "We sent an email to the band's management offering them comps, but we haven't heard back, Doherty says. "They've got the night off, so you never know." Winnipeg musician Kelly Fairchild of the local tribute band the Paul Stanleys caught up with the current 35 Alive tour in California earlier this year. "It's an awesome show," Fairchild says. "It's great for KISS fans because they do the whole Alive album (from '75) front to back. And they've brought back the fog, which they hadn't used in a while."
May The Rock Be With You: Your new album, "BK3", is due out very soon and for those of us here in Australia we will be able to pick it up from [Kulick's upcoming] shows [in Australia in December]. How would you describe the range of songs on the new album? Kulick: I'm working on it! It's really stressful, because I'm trying to do a worldwide release, and what's interesting about this record,...with the first two solo records, I actually only wanted to sell them myself and not have any real distribution, and this record I really want it to be distributed because I have such amazing guest performers on there and I'm trying to work with it. I'm almost going backwards; instead of doing it myself, I want the help of a label and I guess you can imagine that the record industry is not any easier these days. But the record is finished and all the artwork's done. You can [see] a lot of the photos on my website and everything, but I'm just trying to figure out the positioning for the whole worldwide release right now. It's a little stressful right now but this is the record that's worth being careful with. Not only do I feel responsible for Gene [Simmons] to be on there and his son, Nick, who did such great performances, but that's real important to me that it's the best of me and I have some great players on there and I just want to get the best exposure I can. May The Rock Be With You: From a songwriting point of view, does "BK3" feature songs you have written just recently, or are they from the archives over a number of years? Kulick: You know, one of the song's called "I'll Survive", which had to do with me getting shot back in 2003 on Sunset Blvd. [in West Hollywood], which made CNN and everything. Fortunately, of course, nothing really horrible happened, but still it inspired me writing this song, I probably wrote that in November/December of 2003. So the songwriting process started as far back as then. There are a couple of things that are a little bit more recent, like the first song, "Fate" — it was actually finished early summer when I recorded a couple of tracks for the record, but it did really span over the course of a number of years from 2003 to now. It's pretty remarkable, but it all makes sense in the big picture. May The Rock Be With You: And the instrumental stuff, do you ever go in and just play and whatever you play is what you record or do you have something in mind? Kulick: There is one instrumental on my [new solo] record. The other two had at least threee or four on each one of the first two solo records. It was kind of unusual. Jeremy Rubolino is the guy that produced the record for me. When we discussed the recipe of the record, shall I say, at one point it came up that there was no instrumental on the record and I did think that was a little odd. And I was like, "Wow, we never even thought about it." I remember at one point we tried writing something that could be an instrumental and I kind of just thought it was a little dark and weird, and after that discussion, that weekend I remember just sitting down and jamming on something and turning it into the instrumental. When it comes to the melodies on the instrumental, that is almost something that is slightly planned out and slightly improvised. By the time we got [Steve] Lukather there to jam along, I left out a lot of what wasn't completely formulated. I wanted to see, "Well, alright, what would you play over these verses? Let's jam!" It was its own animal in the way it was created and I'm real proud of that track because it's really unique in the way that we trade off and it's not always obvious. It's obvious to me when he's playing and I'm not playing, but I think a lot of the fans just get off on the energy of it, the ones that have heard the song. Read the entire interview from May The Rock Be With You.
On Friday at the United Center, not a whole lot had changed. Rock's answer to the Ringling Brothers - Kiss cofounders Gene Simmons and Paul Stanley - brought the circus to a near-capacity audience. Fans were blinged out in vintage Kiss tour T-shirts and face paint. A few adolescents have enlisted, but the Kiss Army consisted mostly of folks who came of age in the mid-'70s, back when 10-year-olds were toting Kiss lunch boxes to school and rocking "Kiss Alive" on the stereo loud enough to annoy Cat Stevens fans everywhere. Still selling loads of tickets, Simmons and Stanley run the greatest self-marketing machine in rock history, perhaps the first pair of businessmen-rockers to put the "r" in band, as in "brand." They keep finding new ways to sell themselves: In the '70s it was everyday-is-Halloween masks; at Friday's show, $30 got you a USB leather wristband containing digital files of the night's performance. The garish black-and-white makeup was intact, as it was when the band brought a shot of glam to New York City grime in 1973. Simmons wore his 60 pounds of demon regalia, while Stanley was the bare-chested star man. Guitarist Tommy Thayer became Frehley's futuristic space man and drummer Eric Singer yanked Criss' cat whiskers. Not that the fans seemed to mind. If anything, Thayer and Singer brought more punch and technical prowess. The music makes no pretense beyond turn-off-your-brain appeal: big chords and gang choruses about love guns and love doctors. As Stanley said, "If you came here tonight to hear some band tell ya how to end world hunger" you were out luck. A minute later, Kiss delivered its mission statement: "I want to rock 'n' roll all night, and party every day." The music itself was gimmick-free. As a bass player, Simmons created a thick, mulch-like bottom end for Thayer to deliver solos, and Singer kept the arrangements interesting with showy fills. On "Black Diamond," the quartet sounded downright musical, with sharp harmonies and Stanley quoting another warhorse, Led Zeppelin's "Stairway to Heaven," on guitar. Most of the set list was drawn from the Kiss golden era, 35 years ago, and so was the stage show. For a band once celebrated for arena-rock spectacle, surprisingly little has changed. Fake blood, flaming geysers, Simmons and Stanley going airborne with the aid of ropes and a trapeze, Thayer's guitar turning into a cannon - it wasn't all that different from a Kiss show circa 1977. They're in the business called show, and business is still good. Kiss set list Friday at the United Center: 1. Deuce Encore: For B.B. King, Buddy Guy, Bob Dylan, Bruce Springsteen, Roger Daltrey and so many other active icons of rock and blues circuits, those are words to live by. And 35 years after influential NYC quartet Kiss came on the scene with its self-titled debut and immediate follow-up Hotter Than Hell, they too are back touring the world and releasing new music. Released last month exclusively to Walmart as a three-disc set, Sonic Boom is Kiss's 19th studio album and first since its 1998 album Psycho Circus. Disc one has 11 new tracks, disc two has 15 re-recorded Kiss Klassics, and disc three is a six-song excerpt from a Kiss show this past spring. Age is of no concern to this band - half of whose members are pushing 60 years of age. Nor does it show on record or in concert for these make-up-wearing mega rock stars. Founding member and rhythm guitarist/singer Paul Stanley still has his dynamic vocal range and knack for writing instant hard rockin' classics, like album opener "Modern Day Delilah." Co-founder and bass machine Gene Simmons still effortlessly spouts out groove-laden licks (not to mention fire, in concert) and gruff vocals. Guitarist Tommy Thayer, who plays a similar style of lead guitar as the "space man" he replaced, Ace Frehley, does a more than admirable job throughout the album of playing exciting leads and fills, as on "Delilah," the excellent '80s-ish "Danger Us," and the Simmons-sung "I'm An Animal." Disc two's Kiss Klassics compilation was, before this release, exclusively sold in Japan in 2008, along with a live 11-track DVD of a Kiss show in Budokan in 1977. Most of these re-recorded Kiss Klassics don't veer much from the originals. But, the new version of fan favorite "Black Diamond" (with drummer Eric Singer replacing Peter Criss on drums and lead vocals) is an improvement over the original. Disc three, the six-song DVD, is a short excerpt of a Kiss show from Buenos Aires, Argentina in April of this year during its KISS Alive/35 World Tour. And the selections from it are all aces, from "Deuce" and "Hotter Than Hell" to "Watching You" - one of Kiss's most underrated hard rockers - and closer "Rock And Roll All Nite," the band's signature party rock song. Also included is a stretched out version of "100,000," which on record and on stage still has a vintage Black Sabbath-type rhythm to carry it along. The only disappointing aspect of the DVD portion of this release is that it is only six songs long. Ones guesses that the band had to resort to the short DVD in order to keep this three-disc set at a reasonable price. Kiss fans can certainly live with and appreciate that. And besides, any fan looking for a full Kiss show has decades of live albums and bootlegs to choose from. Ones does hope that eventually Kiss will release this full Buenos Aires show, as the rowdy, enthusiastic fans down in Argentina always seem to bring out the best in bands who play there, especially metal bands. In short, Sonic Boom is a fun, sleazy hard rock and roll record mostly in the vein of its '70s material. In other words, it's the album Kiss fans have been wanting the band to make for over 20 years (and likely wondered would it ever be made). With 33 tracks for a recession-friendly price of $12 at your local Walmart, it's one hell of a bargain. Nonetheless, if you're a new or longtime fan, you'd be a fool to not pick it up. And with the holiday season fast approaching, Sonic Boom will make a great stocking stuffer as well.
"The Best of Voodoo Experience" will air on November 6th at 10:00pm (9:00 Central) on the Fuse network. Fuse is found on DirectTV channel 339 and Dish Network channel 158, or check your local cable listings.
Rock Star gallery in Scottsdale Arizona, which specializes in music collectibles and celebrity fine art, will host a meet-and-greet on November 30 from 6 p.m. to 8 p.m. for fans who purchase Gene's Axe Bass. It will be private and refreshment will be served. Created by a true music visionary, Simmons has invented the ultimate memorabilia in a one-of-a-kind collector's edition instrument that is personally hand numbered and signed by Gene Simmons himself. And every purchase of the Gene Simmons Axe Bass will also include a meet-and-greet with Simmons, at Rock Star gallery 15220 N. Scottsdale Road suite 160 Scottsdale, Az. 85254 in Kierland Commons. "The Gene Simmons Axe Bass is, by some accounts a piece of art — numbered and signed by myself... but in other ways, is simply my instrument of choice in KISS. The bass that slays them all..." says Simmons. Fans can reserve and submit an order of the Axe Bass by calling Rock Star gallery, 480-275-4501 or email info@rockstargallery.net. The fans will then be able to attend the private meet-and-greet the evening before the concert on November 30. This meet-and-greet with Simmons will include him personally handing the Axe Bass to the buyer and autographing it for them. There will also be photo opportunities. The KISS concert in Phoenix on December 1 is part of the 2009 KISS tour, a legendary trek across to America to deliver songs off the critically acclaimed, much-awaited new "Sonic Boom" CD, the first new KISS studio album release in over a decade. The official Gene Simmons Axe tour bus will shadow the KISS tour covering more than 45 dates across the U.S. and Canada. Gene will arrive at Rock Star gallery in the Axe Tour Bus for the meet-and-greet and it may be featured in the upcoming season of Simmons' hit A&E reality show, "Gene Simmons Family Jewels". "You could also play this bass on any stage in the world because it's better than anything out there," he says. The rocker has only this Axe to grind when it comes to this special bass guitar with its unique design and unique, loud sound. The limited edition and numbered silver metallic with a black burst was personally created by Simmons who approved the electronics, the body type, design and even handpicked the wood. The fingerboard is made from Indian Rosewood and each Axe Bass comes with a case that is also designed and hand painted by Simmons. Simmons owns the trademark to the word "Axe" and has for over 25 years. He also owns the trademark to the distinctive Axe shape of the bass. "I've used the Axe on stage and literally thousands of people have contacted me to ask, 'Where can I get one? Gene, I need one right now. Can I buy your bass?' "So, I've made a limited number of the basses, and since this has been announced, the results have been on the tsunami level," Simmons says. Fans are encouraged to call as soon as possible as there are only a limited number and over 60% are already sold. Rock Star gallery, located in Scottsdale Arizona, is the perfect venue for this event. Michael Dunn, owner of the gallery, is honored to host Gene Simmons and his fans. "Growing up KISS was THE BAND. The uniqueness of this group is unparallel to any other. Gene Simmons cares about his fans and we will make this a night to remember," Dunn says. The Rock Star gallery features custom-framed, hand-signed collectibles from KISS, LED ZEPPELIN, THE EAGLES and many more. Celebrity artwork is also featured from Ronnie Wood, Grace Slick, Stephen Holland, Sebastian Kruger and more. "We help people experience probably the best time in their life with their favorite music and art. Purchasing the Simmons Axe Bass is a rare opportunity for the ultimate guitar and KISS fan," Dunn says. As KISS fans have known for years, Simmons doesn't just do things in a quiet way. Forget the concept of plunking down a credit card and receiving your Axe Bass from the UPS man. Fans will have a unique experience with the rock icon at the meet-and-greet. Gene will be doing local radio interviews prior to the meet-and-greet. Simmons says that the Axe Bass is a gift to his loyal fans. "I owe the fans everything because they made my life possible," Simmons says. "When I was growing up, I was never able to get a piece of THE BEATLES. They weren't available, but they were still Mt. Olympus to me. "This Axe Bass is just as special for me and the fans," Simmons says. "You may not be able to be Gene Simmons," he says. "But you can feel like me, with my Gene Simmons Axe Bass slung over your shoulder." For more information, visit www.genesimmonsaxebass.com.
Just so we're all clear on this: A review with the lines "truly great anthem," "in fine voice," and "looked fabulous" is not a negative review. I'm talkin' to you, KISS fans, especially those who reacted badly to the review I posted on Nola.com over the weekend. When I wrote "I would have been disappointed if KISS hadn't..." and then enumerated how they in fact did all those things I expected... that's a compliment. Are some KISS songs better than others? It would defy logic to argue otherwise -- even if only debating degrees of greatness.
Kiss sweeps into the United Center on Friday on a cloud of hairspray and stage smoke, proving to fans that even in middle-age, its members still know how to rock--and sell some merch. The make-up masked quartet have had its faces and band logo painted, plastered, screen-printed, engraved, and stenciled onto any number of products over the years, but what's out there for the band's more practical fans? (Not everyone's gonna be ready to drop $250 on a "KISS Creatures box set" tableaux.) The A.V. Club sifted through T-shirts, lithographs, and Gene Simmons busts to find seven unexpectedly practical items with Kiss branding. Kiss pencils: Sure, you could get an ordinary yellow No. 2 pencil with a pink eraser, but why would you ever do that when you could erase while staring at Ace Frehley (he might not be in the band anymore, but his legacy lives on in pencil form)? While not exciting, a Kiss pencil is certainly much more practical than a Kiss pen--because even Kiss know that mistakes happen. Kiss retro-style Thermos five-pack: Never let it be said that Kiss doesn't keep the working man in mind. The band's job might involve endless nights of bouncing around with guitars while wearing tights, but the guys know that the rest of us have to punch a time-card five days a week. Thank the lord (or the dark master) for this set of hot and cold thermoses. Each one bears a different image so your co-workers can't mock you for bringing in the same Kiss Thermos every day. Not only will they keep your soup hot, they'll also keep your beer cold so you can surreptitiously drink at your desk. Kiss "Rock And Roll Over Cocktail Table": One of the challenges of throwing a cocktail party is having enough surface area for placing stuff down. Fortunately, the Kiss brand knows your struggles. Perhaps nothing says "well-prepared host or hostess" like a cocktail table, and perhaps nothing says "hard-rocking host or hostess who happens to be well prepared" like a cocktail table graced with the images of your four favorite face-painted rockers. Kiss Toothbrush: The people at Hasbro, with consent from Kiss, have come up with a way to make polishing those pearly whites totally rock; gone are the days of feeling like you just wasted two minutes of your life on routine, boring daily hygiene. This magical, musical toothbrush is not only tricked out with Kiss' image, it also plays "Rock N' Roll All Night" while you brush. From the website: Sound vibrations stream from the bristles through your teeth so you can actually hear the music inside your head. To increase the volume, simply increase your brushing pressure. The better you brush, the better the sound! If you brush well, you'll actually hear two full minutes of music by your favorite artists. This toothbrush just proved that stereo systems are for pussies. Kiss Condom: Kiss understands the necessity of preventing unwanted pregnancies; it also understands that, even if you aren't sleeping with dozens of groupies on a nightly basis, you've still gotta keep those irritating STDs at bay. The Kiss condom's wrapper declares that it's "tongue lubricated," which doesn't seem completely sanitary. But hey, that's sex, Kiss-style, baby. Kiss coffeehouse franchise: Once you get past building some giant boots and a sparkly belt as part of the "signature Kiss Coffeehouse storefront," you can start selling "coffee with attitude" as fast as your minions can brew it. And hey, maybe Gene Simmons will show up for a photo op at your grand opening! Kiss Kasket: It doesn't get more practical than this: The sensible far-thinking Kiss fan has to start preparing for the end, now. After you rock out for the final time, won't it be a little bit easier on your friends and family if they aren't burdened with tasks like choosing an appropriate casket for you? Your folks will be able to grieve just a little less knowing that you'll be going six feet deep in a water-tight vessel that the worms won't be able to crawl in or out of, and with Kiss Forever boldly emblazoned across the coffin's side, your priorities in life will remain plain in death. Oh, and while you patiently wait for the time when you and the Kiss logo can rest together for eternity, the Kasket (remember, it's watertight!) doubles as an "edgy" cooler to hold beers at those cocktail parties you'll be having now that you have the Kiss cocktail table.
The most well-known tongue of the world! Even I met my tongue recently. I was in Mexico for the MTV Latin Awards. Do you know what the award looked like? Like my tongue. At the entrance to the awards stood a giant tongue too, about four feet high. People were taking their pictures with it. It was the craziest thing I had ever seen. Your makeup is as famous as your tongue. Do you make yourself up or does someone do it for you? Never! We do it. It takes two hours to do properly. I could probably do it in one, but then the danger exists that it may run. In the beginning when we played in clubs, we could not afford a makeup artist so we'd do it ourselves. Now, I couldn't trust the makeup task to someone else. Do you ever hate your makeup? No! Does Superman hate his costume? I am proud of our trademark. Our makeup is us. Nobody is as successful as we are. The makeup never goes out of style. Fashions change. Kiss is timeless. There is a society which examines popular culture, and the largest Pop icon of all time? Kiss. Not even Elvis. For several years now, you've presented yourselves and your family in a reality show. Why? I am proud of my children and my girlfriend, with whom I have happily not been married for 26 years. We have two great children, who do not smoke, do not swear, do not drink - because we forbid them to. If you're proud of your life, let people in and show them. See how happy I am, how blessed! I do protect my mother, but everyone can see everything else. Everything. People can insult me if they want. They can call names, but I am paid well for it. That is a good deal. You have hardly changed in music for 35 years. With women, you are liberal. Are you a conservative in music? Interesting consideration. But conservatively? We defy the fashions. We mark our territory like animals. That is the most honest thing we can do. If we depended on current trends, we would be like a dog chasing its tail. If you do that, you do not progress. What distinguishes us from the rest of the world? We do what we do best.
Perhaps the most appropriate band to ever close Halloween night, the Detroit rock heroes didn't disappoint in New Orleans, with their stage production highlighted by the word "KISS" blazing behind them in big white lights and a generous pyrotechnics display. The band looked great in their classic face paint and leather. The fist pumping ensued as KISS played the hits and played into just about every possible rock cliche with their stage banter. But, I would expect, and hope for, nothing less from my first KISS concert.
The musicians then returned in full KISS costumes and makeup for covers for the glam-rock band's "Detroit Rock City" and "Rock and Roll All Nite!" (Clip) Meanwhile, over in New Orleans at the Voodoo Music Festival, the Drive-By Truckers Patterson Hood offered his own nod to KISS by performing in the signature makeup of the Spaceman.
The 60-year-old rock-star club is boosting its ranks -- joining this year are Bruce Springsteen, Billy Joel and, maybe most shockingly, Kiss co-founder Gene Simmons. "It means as much as you want to make it seem," Simmons says of age. Along with the three other members of Kiss -- all in full Kiss regalia -- Simmons is waiting this night to go on stage for a sold-out show at Mohegan Sun casino in Connecticut. The dressing rooms are marked off for each member of Kiss, as well as one for "Pyro" -- fire being a classic part of any Kiss show. Not much happens pre-show -- besides the road crew and some hangers-on, the guys of opening act Buckcherry wander about, as does veteran rock manager Doc McGhee. The members of Kiss are nowhere to be seen until they show up in McGhee's room for an interview. "I will tell you that we are playing longer than we have ever played. As you can see, this is not kid stuff. You have to be pretty strong to be able to physically do 2 1/2 hours of rocking the house." While Springsteen's music and persona have allowed for the onset of maturity with songs about the complexities of relationships, Kiss continues to spit blood, breathe fire and shoot rockets out of guitars. The tradition continues with this fall's release of "Sonic Boom," the band's first album of new material in 11 years. So while it may be a jolt when the Boss appears on the cover of AARP magazine, it's even more disconcerting to imagine "the Demon" gracing the same cover. But Simmons -- whose family-life cable TV reality series, "Gene Simmons Family Jewels," has found fans -- is proceeding boldly into his years. He did indeed appear at an AARP event last year, where he told an audience that "60 is the new 20." Theirs is a physically taxing show. "Just try walking around for 2 1/2 hours in these," Simmons says, placing his platform boots onto the coffee table. Even sitting down in them appears to take considerable work. The years of bounding around onstage have taken a toll, in part leading to a couple of hip replacements for the group's other remaining original member, guitarist Paul Stanley, 57. But you won't hear them complaining. "It's not unusual for one of us to be sick, but the last thing we're going to do is go on stage and tell people," Stanley says. "When we go up on the stage, we're Supermen." The guys in Kiss work hard, no doubt. They're also proud self-marketers (items for sale at its Web site: Kiss wine, Kiss bingo games, Kiss Mr. Potato Heads -- for a while, you could purchase a $4,500 Kiss Kasket). But even they couldn't have calculated how their costumes would serve them in the long run. The Rolling Stones are a spry bunch onstage, but camera close-ups reveal the years. Kiss members in makeup look, more or less, like Kiss always has. The outlandish get-ups lend themselves to what could prove to be the most innovative business model in music -- the rock band in which age isn't a factor. Stanley says that's the long-term goal. "I don't delude myself into believing that I'm not replaceable," he says. "Should I leave or should Gene leave, hopefully the band would continue." In the 1970s, fans circulated wild tales about the band ("'Kiss' stands for 'Knights In Satan's Service!' "Gene had a cow tongue surgically grafted onto his own!") that fueled their mystery, as well as parents' fears about letting their kids go to the shows. Judging by the crowd at Mohegan Sun, going to a Kiss show now is an event for the whole family. At the merchandise counter, wearing a Kiss T-shirt shirt ("If it's too loud, you're too old" emblazoned on the back), Bridget Walker of Woodstock, Conn., was helping her 10-year-old son, Christopher, pick out his own concert shirt. Walker, 36, has seen the band "seven or eight times," beginning in the 1980s. She saw the band most recently in Detroit with her 14-year-old daughter. Has the experience changed much over the years? "Not really," she said. "They're older, but aren't we all?" Kiss Everyone parked in Lot B, which was half the media, had to suddenly move their cars halfway through the day to make way for Kiss's pyrotechnic setup. Said lot is a full quarter-mile away from the Voodoo stage, where Gene and the boys were playing Halloween night. My car was now a long, long muddy walk away from their two-hour closing show, and by time they came on and asked me - yes, I very much wanted the best, the hottest band in the world. The set didn't disappoint - green jets of flame, stacks of video screens, platform boots taller than me, Gene's tongue and lots and lots of fog. Paul Stanley took us through the whole set, all the way through recent Sonic Boom stuff into the explosive combination closing punches of "Rock N' Roll All Nite," "Love Gun," "Shout It Out Loud" and "Detroit Rock City." In a feat never before seen at Voodoo, he rode an aerial rig out over the crowd to a platform above the soundboard. As the band walked offstage behind a screen that sweetly read "Kiss Loves You New Orleans!" rumbling was audible; soon, an Independence Day-worthy fireworks display spurted across the sky, originating about where I had parked ten hours ago. The entire festival grounds, underneath the spidery explosions of color, was part of the Kiss show.
The outdoor three-day, five-stage art and music festival, known as Voodoo Fest, kicked off Friday with an open-air dance party. Torrential rains drenched spectators. But several thousand shouldered the cold, wet weather. Halloween Saturday drew thousands of costumed spectators, eager to watch headliner KISS. Fans wandered the fairgrounds dressed as pirates, goblins, Smurfs, saints, devils, giant beer cans, oversized chickens - and zombies. Lots and lots of zombies. Festival organizers called on spectators to try to break the Guinness Book of World Records mark for Largest Gathering of Zombies. The number to beat: 4,026, set in England. "It doesn't get any better than this," said Angie Beall, 29, of Bay St. Louis, Miss., who was dressed as a 19th-century, blood-spattered zombie. "Halloween weekend and KISS." KISS, their face covered in signature grease paint and dressed in full costume, down to 10-inch-high platform boots, thrilled the crowd with plumes of onstage fire, a massive fireworks display and rock anthems Rock and Roll All Nite and Detroit Rock City. Check out these fan-filmed clips from KISS's performance at Voodoo Festival in New Orleans on Halloween night to an enormous outdoor crowd! Clip 1, Clip 2, Clip 3.
In guitarist Tommy Thayer and drummer Eric Singer, co-founders Gene Simmons and Paul Stanley have found sidemen who not only wear the make-up well, but are arguably more proficient technically than the guys they replaced. More importantly, KISS looked fabulous. The silver and black costumes sparkled. Stanley can still prance and preen like his rock 'n roll prima donna character demands, and his voice is in good shape. Simmons, despite revealing his very human flaws - and his facelift - on a reality show, still hams it up as the demon God of Thunder. Flames and fireworks erupted, sparks -- the literal kind -- flew. Saints tight end Jeremy Shockey, right down front, pumped his fists skyward during "Shock Me." Our heroes trotted out the same tricks they've deployed for decades. But quite frankly, I'd be disappointed by a KISS show in which Simmons didn't spew fake blood down his chin, cross his arms like a petulant child, wag his tongue ridiculously, "fly" to a platform in the lighting rig or beat on his battle axe bass during his solo. The band played "Rock and Roll All Nite," one of KISS's truly great anthems. From there on in, it was a hit parade: "Shout It Out Loud," with its sweet twin-guitar opening riff; the latter-day classic "Lick It Up"; "Love Gun," during which Stanley rode a zip line over the crowd to a platform at the sound booth; and a final, can't-miss "Detroit Rock City." Cue massive fireworks display, which was audible at least as far as the intersection of Claiborne and Broadway. You wanted the best, the hottest band in the world. On a cool, damp Halloween night at Voodoo Fest, you got KISS.
"The Best of Voodoo Experience" will air on November 6th at 10:00pm (9:00 Central) on the Fuse network. Fuse is found on DirectTV channel 339 and Dish Network channel 158, or check your local cable listings. Watch a commercial for the special here!
Best treatment after a victory: Shortly after Saturday's 25-21 victory over the University of Central Arkansas, Southeastern Louisiana coach Mike Lucas headed to nearby New Orleans to hear the Halloween "Voodoo Fest" featuring the rock group KISS. The coach said he has attended 24 concerts by the classic rock group, which appeared in Little Rock last week. "Just try to keep living my teen-age days," he said.
KISS has built a masterpiece: Simmons and Stanley demonstrate a return to form KISS have always been grand masters of entertainment in the world of rock. Everyone was saddened the year Gene Simmons told the media in a press conference that there was not going to be another new new KISS album. Luckily, the good state of Paul Stanley, producer of Sonic Boom (whose recent solo disc was also brilliant) influenced the band to return to the studio, and in three months' time created an LP filled with vitality, happiness, cacophony and glamour. Beginning with the almighty "Modern Day Delilah," segueing into the guitar riffs of "Russian Roulette" and the staples "Never Enough" and "Yes I Know (Nobody's Perfect)" the album certainly proves that this quartet's intention was to recapture the sound that they had in their earliest beginnings. Then, by the time we're almost halfway through the LP, we're flying. It's such an unloading of energy that literally pulls you in. The disc is filled with memorable melodies, big backing vocals (Eric also takes the lead vocals,) great guitar riffs in the style of "Deuce," and Tommy Thayer's solos are spectacular. Entering the second half of the album, we're rocked and rolled again by "Hot and Cold," (pure American sound,) the upbeat guitars and memorable refrain of "All for the Glory" (certainly you'll like what you hear here; it's highly memorable) or the personality of the rocker "Say Yeah," which closes this body of work. Without a doubt, this is one of the very best albums in KISS's entire career. It's as hot as an inferno, yet the disc is fresh with attitude and power, without a single filler song present. This is a moment to savor. We consider this disc to be immortal.
As it celebrates its 35th anniversary, Stanley's band is hotter than an arena full of flamethrowers. The Kiss Alive 35 tour has filled stadiums in Europe and South America (it comes to Target Center Saturday). "Sonic Boom," Kiss' first album of new material in 11 years, debuted at No. 2 despite being available only at Wal-Mart. And after being shunted aside for 10 years, the band is finally on the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame ballot. To top it all, "not only are we getting incredible response from the audience on tour, but it's odd to also get good reviews," Stanley said from Atlanta, with mock surprise. Kiss' mouthpiece, who turns 58 in January, talked about "Sonic Boom," the status of former members Ace Frehley and Peter Criss, and the newest Kiss products -- M&Ms and a Mr. Potato Head. Q: Why did you decide to go with a Wal-Mart exclusive for "Sonic Boom"? A: The reality is that the music retail store has pretty much dried up. The music industry is in a tumble, to say the least. And Wal-Mart offered us the opportunity to put out a package that kind of followed our philosophy of giving more than just an album. There was a time when we would include a Love Gun or a poster or a tattoo -- something to just take it over the top. We were able to put together a package that [also] has a CD of re-records of 15 songs and a DVD of excerpts from our most recent stadium show in Buenos Aires. To be able to do that for 12 bucks, it's a no-brainer. Plus, there are a lot more Wal-Marts at this point than there are record stores. Q: There had to be pent-up demand after not releasing an album since "Psycho Circus," your 1998 reunion project. A: There's pent-up curiosity, but there's also room for people to be weary or leery of a new album. There was a lot of anticipation for the last one, and it turned out to fizzle instead of sizzle. It's virtually impossible to make a band album when you're dealing more with members' attorneys than with members. The last time I checked, the attorneys don't play instruments too well. The days of entitlement and demanding songs on an album and how to be featured, those days are over, at least in this camp. The premise of this album was vastly different; you had four people very committed to making a statement, taking what we do live into the studio. Q: For the first time on tour, Tommy Thayer and Eric Singer are wearing the same makeup designs Ace Frehley and Peter Criss did. Why? A: It's very simple. To do anything else would be to cheat the public. The four characters have grown into iconic status. To dilute that because somebody has left the band or was asked to leave the band is to compromise the band. Q: How do you feel about finally being nominated for the Rock Hall of Fame? A: It means much more to the fans than it means to me. That being said, I would embrace the opportunity for them. I've always been ambivalent about it. The problem with the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame is there is no criteria for getting in. You don't have to sell X amount of albums, you don't have to play X amount of concerts. It's a vague concept based on some people's partisan feelings toward certain artists or certain kinds of music. But I am as proud to have the people fighting against us as I am of the people fighting for us. It's all part of Kiss. The fact that we can annoy or irritate people so much is kind of funny. I bask in it sometimes. But it's only music. Q: If Kiss gets elected, will Ace and Peter participate in the induction ceremony? A: They would have to. The monument may have needed some renovation and redefining, but that's the foundation, the four of us. Absolutely. It would be as absurd as us not being in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. Q: What do you think is Kiss' contribution to music and culture? A: You'd have to ask all the people influenced by us, and that doesn't necessarily mean rock bands. Country artists, doctors, policemen... I think people aspire to greater things and perhaps look to us for support when they're going on a lonely road where everyone else thought they would fail, and they succeed. As a rock band, we became a wakeup call to fans of what they shouldn't take less than and what they should expect from bands. And the respect that fans should get. And the fact that the audience does the band a favor by showing up, not vice versa. Our obligation when we hit the stage is to give everyone their money's worth and to live up to everything they expect. If we raise the bar in that way, great. Q: You also redefined entertainment aspects of rock. A: We're proud to be entertainers. Q: You also defined rock merchandising. A: When we first came on the scene, "fan club" were two forbidden words. It wasn't cool, it wasn't acceptable. Nobody joins a fan club that doesn't want to. Nobody buys a piece of merchandise that doesn't want to. This idea that we're brilliant because we've made this marketing empire, you can't do that unless people want what you're giving them. Q: Who came up with the idea of Kiss M&Ms this year? A: M&Ms. They came up with it. You don't see Kiss cigarettes. You decide what's morally and ethically responsible. Q: And who came up with the Kiss Mr. Potato Head? A: Mr. Potato Head approached us. Look, he was good enough for me to play with when I was a kid. The fact that we are multigenerational shouldn't exclude anybody. It doesn't make it any less cool; it makes it cool.
It was here at the iconic, 11,000 capacity Cobo Hall (officially now known as Cobo Arena) that KISS recorded the show in March 1975 immortalised on their iconic double-live album Alive! This was the album that turned KISS into superstars, and, 34 years on, the band's return to the Motor City has an added emotional resonance. The venue that gave birth to the KISS legend is closing for redevelopment, so who better than the Hottest Band In The World to give the Cobo Hall its last hurrah? As frontman Paul Stanley says to the crowd: "Let me tell ya, for us, this is the holy land. This is where it all started. Detroit, you opened your arms and you opened your legs. God bless ya!" Every KISS show is an event, this one especially so. Fans have travelled vast distances to be here, including Dan from Wales and his mates, proudly displaying a KISS Army UK branch banner. Local hero Kid Rock is here too, with a couple of hot chicks, of course, and so is original KISS manager Bill Aucoin. As is customary on this tour, the main set is essentially KISS Alive! Gene Simmons' fire-breathing act is switched from Firehouse to Hotter Than Hell; the opening one-two punch of Deuce and Strutter is as thrilling today as it was before many in this crowd were even born; Nothin' To Lose and Black Diamond have Eric Singer proving he can sing and play drums better than original member Peter Criss; likewise, Tommy Thayer's guitar solo reprises Ace Frehley's rocket-firing antics but minus the bum notes; and the closing Rock and Roll All Nite is still the greatest of all KISS anthems; played out in a blizzard of ticker-tape. What follows is a marathon encore, beginning with the exultant Shout it Out Loud, Lick It Up, and the Zeppelin-inspired Modern Day Delilah from the Hammer-approved new album Sonic Boom. I Love It Loud is Gene's star turn, prefaced with his still-spooky blood-dribbling routine and performed after a death-defying swoop from stage to the top of the lighting rig. And Love Gun has Paul whizzing out over the audience to prance about on a small stage in the centre of the arena. The climax is - what else? - Detroit Rock City, KISS's tribute to the place and the people that, as Gene Simmons says, "made our wildest dreams come true." Amid blinding, deafening fireworks, the band exits as they appeared, via a trap door beneath the flashing KISS logo. Whatever becomes of Cobo Hall, its legendary status, like that of KISS, is secured. How was it for you?: Paul Stanley (KISS) "I thought it was a terrific show. There's such a great chemistry between the fans and the band. We went out and gave it our all and everyone left sweaty and happy! It was a momentous night. It was the first night that we went on sale and sold out, so I would have to say that those people are the diehards of the diehards. "We have a history with Detroit, whether it was opening our reunion tour at Tiger Stadium or recording KISS Alive! at Cobo Hall. It wasn't emotional so much as exhilarating. I don't see the sad side of something -- I see the victorious side. To be the last band there, and to know that neither the fans nor KISS is going away, is a celebration of a victory. We had fans from not only every country but also of every age. The age range is pretty astounding, and it's something I'm very proud of. Young people that weren't around when the band started hear the legend of the band and come see it, and it's everything they've heard and more."
By night - on occasion - he throws on a wig, five inch heels, masses of make-up and a body-hugging suit and hits the stage. Bob Gordon, the editor of Xpress Magazine, fronts KISS tribute band KISStake. Hidden under the outfit made famous by Paul Stanley, Gordon has played in this fun band with various West Australian musicians from bands including End of Fashion for years. They let loose and put on a big show, all under the cover of costume. It allows Gordon to take on the persona of a mega rock star and let loose. "It's hard to be shy when you put all that on," he says. "You become a bit larger than life. "It's a bit like girls when they go out, there is some ritual - doing the hair, putting the heels on. You just adopt a character. You are bullet proof when you have got all that stuff on." No matter if he's playing solo KISS-style to a small pub crowd, it always feels like a mob of 20,000 fans are watching when he dons the get-up, Gordon admits. As editor of Xpress, interviewing countless musicians all year round and attending all manner of gigs, you'd assume that Gordon would have an amazing taste in music. His long-term loves KISS (of course), The Rolling Stones, The Police, The Doors and Led Zepplin are perennial favourites, a list to which he adds whichever bands take his weekly fancy. "They're my foundation," he says. "Ever since then my favourites are whatever I am listening to that week." On Thursday night KISStake will perform at the Mustang Bar in Northbridge to celebrate the real band's release of new album Sonic Boom. It's a somewhat rare outing for KISStake, who are aiming to put the X back into Sex. "You wanted the best, well, you have got the rest," Gordon will be sure to tell the audience as he and band members heat up the stage. "The nottest band in the world!"
On their 19th studio effort, the glam-rock war horses smear on the greasepaint and blast out odes to rocking all night and partying all day. KISS are a piece of Americana... this big catchy record passes that test. Key tracks: "Never Enough," "All For the Glory."
KISS Track Packs will be available on 11/19/09 via Xbox Live Marketplace for Xbox 360 for 440 Microsoft Points, on the PlayStation Store for the PS3 for $5.49 and for Wii for 550 Wii Points. In addition, all songs in the KISS Track Pack will be released as downloadable singles for Xbox 360 for 160 Microsoft Points each, PS3 for $1.99 each and Wii for 200 Wii Points each. While you wait, you can also rock out to KISS right now in GH5, which features "Shout It Out Loud!" For more information, visit www.guitarhero.com.
Ace's setlist was as follows: Fan-filmed video footage of the performance can be viewed below: Clip 1, Clip 2. Frehley's band features second guitarist Derrek Hawkins, drummer Scot Coogan (ex-BRIDES OF DESTRUCTION) and bassist Anthony Esposito (ex-LYNCH MOB).
Most impressive was the set list. Kiss played two songs from the new album, one from the no-make up days (the title track to 1983's "Lick It Up"), and only one other post-1977 tune ("I Love It Loud," one of the signature tracks off the highly underrated "Creatures of the Night" from 1982). Otherwise, the band mixed hits with excellent deep cuts. Among the most well-executed numbers were Tommy Thayer's handling of "Shock Me," as well as the triple assault of relics "She," "Parasite" and "100,000 Years," which included an explosively entertaining drum solo by Eric Singer. After closing the set with "Rock and Roll All Night," and a blizzard of confetti, Kiss delivered the four-song encore of "Shout It Out Loud," "Lick It Up," "Love Gun" (with Stanley being delivered Tarzan-style to a mini-stage at the back of the arena), and the signature anthem of any Kiss show, "Detroit Rock City." But the allure of a Kiss show is, at the end of the day, pure spectacle, plain and simple. With enough fireworks, pyro and lighting to pinpoint our exact location from Mars, state-of-the-art video and projection screens and trademark fire-breathing and blood-spitting antics from Gene Simmons, Kiss delivered the goods.
Every Halloween since 2001, Jondie and Rebecca Davis have decorated their house with a theme and invited friends to join them. West Main Street, with its large, historic and gothic-looking homes, has become a popular place for trick-or-treaters. Rebecca Davis said more than 1,800 kids came to their house for candy last year. She expects about 2,000 Saturday. "It's become kind of bigger than life," she said. "Kids come back every year and say they remember what we did the year before. It's become a lot of fun for us." Past themes have included Sleeping Beauty, vampires, pirates and the Addams Family. Jondie Davis said he's been a fan of KISS since 1977, when he was 9. He said his friend John Pavlovsky suggested last Halloween that they all dress as members of the rock band and put on a real show. Coincidentally, the real band put on a show in Nashville this week, making the theme extra-topical. "We thought it was a great idea," Jondie Davis said. "This has literally been a year in the making." Pavlovsky, a musician and music teacher, even got permission from Gene Simmons to use the KISS name and perform the band's songs. Pavlovsky has formed a tribute band made up of teens and preteens called Rock 'n' Roll Express: Little KISS. He said he met Simmons in New York, where he pitched the idea of getting his students on the television show Gene Simmons Family Jewels. "At the very least, he does know about our Halloween plans," Pavlovsky said. Little Kiss will take that stage for its debut performance at the Davis house, where Pavlovsky and a collection of musicians will also perform KISS tunes. In keeping with the KISS concert theme, all invited guests at the Davis house will be given backstage passes and a security guard will be posted at the front door. Four pumpkins were painted to look like the KISS band members, who wear white and black makeup, tight pants and plenty of glitter. Rebecca Davis said she's dressing up like the Demon, which is Simmons' alter ego, and will pass out candy to kids. Jondie is assuming the roll of Ace Frehley, while their 10-year-old daughter, Olivia, will be the star-eyed Paul Stanley and 4-year-old Audrey will be a cat. Olivia Davis said KISS used to scare her, but she says she's overcome that fear. "I'm really excited," she said. "It's the first Halloween in a while that I've actually invited some friends from school to come."
The former Bush frontman, who is married to singer/actress Gwen Stefani, will play a goth rocker who is suspected of murder in the 11 November (09) episode of the hit show. Rossdale covered a Joy Division song for the episode and he'll perform the song on the programme. The one-off special will be directed by Saturday Night Fever moviemaker John Badham.
Original members Paul Stanley and Gene Simmons, sporting brand new costumes and their classic seven inch leather heels, lead the bombardment, along with guitarist Tommy Thayer and drummer Eric Singer. One of KISS's mottos has always been, "If it's too loud, you're too old!" says Stanley, "At this point, with the legend of KISS, there really is a sense of a band that has always delivered 100% and tried to deliver more. And there's a young audience that has heard about us and wants to see if that's true. They find out - deafeningly and blindingly - that it is. I think it's timeless. The members of KISS, the iconic figures, are timeless. And that's intriguing." So don't hide your eyes when Simmons blows fire or dribbles fake blood from his mouth and then proceeds to fly to the top of the lighting truss, and don't duck when Thayer's guitar shoots off fireworks. The God of Thunder himself told RockRadio.com, "If you bring your eyes to a concert, we want a visual boom, a visual overload. And you should get that. New outfits, brand new stage, millions more put into it -that's the history of Kiss. Simply put, any band you go to see for the same ticket price, you know, Kiss is gonna give you tenfold more. That's just a statement of fact. And there's a new screen, state-of-the-art; I don't think people have seen this kind of thing before - that's literally as wide as the entire stage. So, there ain't a bad seat in the house." Thayer and Singer have replaced Ace Frehley and Peter Criss respectively and are decked out in stage makeup and updated versions of the Spaceman and Catman costumes. With regards to being the current cat, Singer told NorwichBulletin.com, "It's a lot of work and a lot of responsibility. People have this misconception that it?s all fun and games, and some bands do just get out there and play. But there are higher expectations for a KISS show. KISS is a spectacle. It's the circus meets rock 'n' roll. Gene and Paul have always said when they created KISS, they created the show they never got to see. We've got to turn them on visually as well as musically." And while some longtime KISS fans will always long for the day of the original members all together on stage again, Stanley seems very pleased with the chemistry of this current lineup. As he told Montreal radio station CHOM-FM, "You can't fake chemistry. You can't really make something that's real unless it's real. This band is deadly. It'll put a smile on your face but it will also knock you to the ground." And that they do. The U.S. leg of this Alive 35 Tour, celebrating the long history of the band, began with two nights in Detroit where the band unveiled its new stage set which Stanley told Billboard.com is "the widest, biggest stage we've had," featuring a massive HD screen above it, three levels of lighted cubes at the rear, and two video screens and huge KISS Army banners flanking it. Hydraulic lifts bring the band members up from below the stage level at the beginning of the show and set them above the crowd while confetti swirles and more pyrotechnics explode at the end of "Rock and Roll All Nite." Simmons told Billboard.com, "So many things in life are not real. Santa is not real. Superman is not real. KISS is real. And we're going to make sure that when you leave that show, your first KISS show or the 100th, you'll walk away, whether you love the band or not, and say, 'That is the best thing I've ever seen on planet Earth.' That's a vow we make to ourselves and anybody who's willing to come out there and see us." Much of the set list features songs from the 70s Alive! and Destroyer era, including "Deuce," "Strutter," "Detroit Rock City," and "Shout It Out Loud," and many others during the expected two and a half hour show. KISS is certainly no stranger to The Big Easy. Along with regular stops during their previous tours, they served as the Grand Marshalls of a Mardi Gras parade back in 1979 while more recently Simmons was a guest and rode on a special float in a 2005 parade. KISS has also performed at various venues over the years including shows during the 70s at The Warehouse and the Municipal Auditorium. Of course, they've seen the inside of the Super Dome as few times as well. "You wanted the best, you got the best. The hottest band in the world... KISS!"
The hard rock vets brought their trademark blend of costumed camp, ear-splitting riffs and explosions to the Sommet Center Wednesday night, and a full house howled in approval of every triumphant pose, double entendre and pyrotechnic burst. After 35 years, the band's stage presence ? much like their set pieces ? seems to run like clockwork. It wasn't long after the opening one-two punch of "Deuce" and "Strutter" that frontman Paul Stanley and bassist Gene Simmons were side-by-side at the foot of the stage, preening for the photographers below. Of course, that was one of the simpler spectacles of the evening. Soon, the band's famed theatrics and special effects took center stage. As Stanley had promised The Tennessean earlier this week, they'd brought all their iconic tricks along ? giving some a modern, super-sized twist. The band has long been known to perform in front of a gargantuan wall of guitar amplifiers, purely for cosmetic purposes. They've only gotten shallower with age. Wednesday's amps were actually speaker-shaped video screens that frequently projected images of the member's faces and classic Kiss album covers. Speaking of faces, there were a pair of them in the band's ranks that might have been a little less familiar to the audience, makeup and all. Guitarist Tommy Thayer and drummer Eric Singer are essentially playing the parts of original members Ace Frehley and Peter Criss, who both finished their most recent runs with Kiss in 2002. The two have adopted Frehely and Criss's makeup and costumes, and Thayer even went so far as performing "Shock Me," a song originally sung and written by Frehely. But neither the casual showgoers or diehards seemed to have any objections to the new guys playing dress-up. Both endeared themselves to the crowd through their solo turns (each band member got the stage to themselves at some point) ? particularly Singer, who stick-twirling flair was well matched with the spinning drum riser that propelled his drum solo. Still, Stanley and Simmons were held in another league of regard, and deservedly so. Stanley was a relentless milker of audience enthusiasm, addressing the fans between nearly every song and imploring them to get as noisy as possible. "I know this is Music City. I don't want to make it too loud for you," he taunted before launching into "Parasite". At 60, Simmons is the band's oldest member, but might also be the most well-aged ? on-stage, at least. There's something timelessly cool, menacing and plain fun about his "Demon" persona and getup. His solo turn, amidst a torrent of fog, was obviously the most anticipated moment of the evening. As his bass rumbled, he mugged for fans' flashbulbs before spitting up fake blood, ascending to the ceiling on wires and performing a song on top of the lighting rig. It's a good bet that it was a first for the Sommet. As the band's main set came to a end, Stanley explained to fans that if they expected the band to make any political stances on stage, they had come to the wrong show. Instead, the band closed by urging fans ? as they had done for the last three decades ? to "Rock and Roll All Nite." After the confetti cleared and the band had taken their bows, Stanley announced that the band wasn't through yet. They launched into a lengthy four-song encore that kicked off with "Shout It Out Loud" and "Lick It Up" (the latter of which included a surprising tease of the Who's "Won't Get Fooled Again".) Stanley swung over a thrilled crowd on a wired apparatus to a small, rotating stage at the other end of the room to take on the band's 1977 classic "Love Gun." Closing the evening with "Detroit Rock City" ? and a barrage of flames, fog and sparklers ? Stanley saluted the Nashville audience one last time. "Tonight, you're not just a city," he said. "You're a rock city."
KISS will headline Voodoo Fest on Halloween Day with makeup on and guitar amps cranked. And it seems there is no more fitting time to see KISS, either for the first time or the fiftieth. The crowd should be filled with everything from young fresh KISS fans to the old school loyal devotees. With the new album Sonic Boom already selling very well and the KISS "Alive 35 Tour" selling successfully, it seems as if KISS is just getting started. In a phone interview with KISS member Tommy Thayer, the guitarist talked about this sentiment. "We are excited about coming down to Voodoo Fest; New Orleans is quite the party time," said Thayer. "We know that Halloween is gonna be a crazy night. It's the perfect night for KISS. It can be more explosive when we have a more limited time scheduled for our set, but we still pack in all the heavy artillery, and this will be no exception and we'll blow the place up." "The main thing we want people to know is that the record hit the stores and its an amazing record," he added. "It's rock 'n' roll at the core, and it's doing real well so far. It's hitting sales records...Kids see KISS and are immediately captured by the appeal, the sound, and the new look, its kind of a perpetual thing. There has been a resurgence of KISS fans. We noticed it in Europe last summer; we looked out into the crowd and it was all young kids." At KISS's official Web site, listeners can click on a link that enables them to become a member of the KISS Army. Once a member, fans can sign in, post and upload videos, update their blogs, and find whatever KISS memorabilia they are looking for. On the new album, Thayer said, "It's a rock 'n' roll album in its purest form. We call it 'no filler all killer.' It's gutter rock 'n' roll. There's no ballads and it's all in your face, and that's something that appeals to everyone and that's why Zeppelin and the Beatles live on because it's a timeless sound. All four members are very integral [in the recording process]. We rehearse the songs and record them all together, which is rare these days. Everyone has contributed to this record." Three day passes to see KISS and all the other acts at Voodoo Fest are available at www.thevoodooexperience.com. For more information on KISS and their upcoming dates, visit kissonline.com. KISS will play the Voodoo Stage at Voodoo Fest on Saturday, Oct. 31 at 9 p.m.
As we waited for "the hottest band in the world" to take the stage, we milled around to observe the KISS Army in action. Par for the course, it really did seem like one out of every four or five people we saw had KISS make-up on. In fact, there were even booths where a make-up technician would airbrush a KISS character onto your face. Followers of the cult mixed and mingled with your garden-variety heavy metal parking lot crowd, creating a festive rock 'n' roll all night atmosphere. Not bad for a Wednesday. These people all lost it when the lights went down and--with a startling blast of pyro--the curtain dropped, revealing the band in all their iconic glory, as they went head first through a one-two punch of "Deuce" into "Strutter"--two of our favorite KISS gems. Right off the bat, the show spared no clich?, and we mean that in a good way. We didn't come to the KISS show to use our right brains, we came to let go of our inhibitions and be entertained--and entertained we were. Let's go down the list. Pyro in the chorus and big finish of nearly every song? Check. The platform shoes and black spandex? Check. Gene Simmons spitting fire? Check. Gene Simmons coughing up blood? Check. Spotlight guitar, drum, and bass solos where all other members leave the stage? Check. A spinning drum riser? Check. Bottle-blondes in the audience flashing the band? Check. We even got Gene Simmons singing "I Love It Loud" on a platform atop a lighting rig that he levitated to. Not to be outdone, Paul Stanley took flight over the audience to his own platform to sing "Love Gun." Between all these shenanigans we got all the classic KISS moments with which they defined the arena-rock experience. And, of course, there was the make-up. We'll just get it out of the way--founding members Peter Criss (drums) and Ace Frehley (lead guitar) are not in the current incarnation of KISS, but their trademark Catman and Spaceman make-up designs are now donned by their replacements. For many in the KISS Army this is a deal-breaker, but obviously not too many as, while not sold out, the arena appeared damn near close to it. Just as the stage production left little to be desired, so did the '70s-centric setlist, which featured nearly all of the band's most recognizable hits, from "Hotter Than Hell" to "Calling Dr. Love," "Black Diamond" to "Lick it Up" and the inevitable "Rock and Roll All Nite." They even played a bit of "Stairway to Heaven." KISS is easily the rock show equivalent of a Ringling Bros. three-ring circus. After a straight two hours of both ironic and un-ironic headbanging, we praised all might rock 'n' roll as the lights came up to reveal an arena smokier than a Southern California wildfire.
KISSONLINE will be attending the EXPO....please stop by our booth and say hello! - Every fan coming to the expo receives a free color KISS poster - A Paul Stanley Washburn PS 400 G4 guitar will be given away free at the end of the Expo to one lucky attendee - Bruce Kulick is doing a video message and 3 new tracks of his upcoming album will be played at the Expo - Dress up Halloween style and get in free for the evening KISStory concert and the afterparty! Further information can be found at www.kisstory.be.
The band, best known for its overtly theatrical hard rock shows, invited veterans and service members from the Augusta-based Wounded Warrior Projects CSRA program to its Atlanta concert Monday night, and followed up the show with a VA visit Wednesday before jetting to an evening gig in Nashville. Three members of the band, guitarist Tommy Thayer, drummer Eric Singer and lead singer/guitarist Paul Stanley made the trip. Bass player Gene Simmons was unable to attend due to a prior engagement. Mr. Stanley, a founding member of the nearly 40-year-old act, was clearly touched by the opportunity to share time with the hospital's staff and patients. "We're honored to be here with you people," he said, addressing the large crowd assembled in the rehabilitation room. "We're here for you. God bless you all." Mr. Stanley said it was important to KISS, as a band, that the service men and women who are injured in the line of duty receive the respect and attention they deserve. Success, for the highly successful band, means ensuring that happens. "People talk about the ultimate sacrifice," he said. "But isn't it a sacrifice to come back home and discover you no longer have your life? We want everyone home safely and to urge everyone to give these people the respect they deserve." Stephen Ogles attended the event with his face painted with Gene Simmon's distinctive design. Mr. Stanley joked that he could be in the band, but he's a little too young. The wheelchair-bound Mr. Ogles said staff at the VA helped him prepare to meet KISS. "I've been a fan of the boys for a lot of years," he said quietly. "I like that they came down." Leonel Orozco left the event sporting a Paul Stanley-signed eye patch. He admitted that he had not grown up listening to KISS, but now considers himself a member of the KISS army. "I really wasn't a fan at all," he said with a laugh. "I think I knew one song. But that concert made a fan out of me. They treat their fans really well and they are, I think, our biggest fans." After meeting fans, signing autographs and taking pictures, the band took a short tour of hospital units, including its innovative kayak rehab center. Mr. Stanley said that as well as bringing a little joy to the patients, he hopes the KISS visit might bring attention to the Charlie Norwood VA Medial Center as well. "You have this amazing facility here and it's almost a secret," he said. "It shouldn't be a secret. It should be a model, the template for facilities like this."
Les Paul, the innovator and inventor who passed away at 94 years of age this past August was known throughout the world as the man who created multi-track recording and the father of the electric guitar. Many musicians pay homage to Les Paul and credit their careers and musicianship directly to him. Gibson Guitar, along with some of music's most respected celebrities, will join together to celebrate the life of Les Paul during a night of music, special announcements, video tributes and testimonials and storytelling. The event marks the first tribute held by the guitar maker in honor of Les Paul. Many other programs and special events will continue to take place throughout the year and early 2010 to mark anniversary dates significant to Les Paul's life and in an effort to preserve the legacy of the man who made modern music what it is today. Les Paul's son, Russ Paul, along with Gibson Guitar Chairman and CEO, Henry Juszkiewicz and Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and Museum President Terry Stewart will emcee the 90-minute program which will begin at 8:00 p.m. at the Ryman (doors open at 7:00 p.m. CT). The Ryman Auditorium is located at 116 Fifth Avenue North, Nashville, Tennessee, 37219. For more information, visit Gibson.com.
On Wednesday, some of the band members stopped by the uptown Augusta V.A. Medical Center, on Wrightsboro Road. Paul Stanley, Eric Singer, and Tommy Thayer (Gene Simmons had a prior engagement) took photos, signed autographs, and just said "thank you" to veterans who were injured overseas. It was a big day for those veterans, but Stanley said it was also a big day for the band. Watch a video report at this location.
Saskatchewan Young Professionals and Entrepreneurs (SYPE) has landed Gene Simmons as a luncheon speaker the day after his band's concert in Saskatoon. "We're pretty pumped about it," SYPE's Saskatoon president Janea Bellay said Tuesday. "He knows business. He knows marketing. He's an entrepreneurial icon of our time." The organization had Simmons on the wish list for its Leadership Series, then learned of the Saskatoon concert on Nov. 10. "We thought, 'Now's our chance to do it,' " said Bellay. SYPE got the booking with the help of tinePublic Inc. of Calgary, the same company that brokered the recent visit of George W. Bush. It's also handled Bill Clinton, Lance Armstrong, Donald Trump and the Dalai Lama. "This is a real coup for them to have Gene Simmons at their event," said Andy McCreath, co-founder of tinePublic and a University of Saskatchewan alumnus. "He's become an extremely successful businessman. He kind of covers all realms," McCreath added. Simmons will speak on the power of creativity and branding. McCreath and partner Christian Darbyshire have developed a connection with the long-tongued bass player, to the point where they were guests at his home in Los Angeles. "It was pretty neat. We spent the day with him and it was lots of fun. He's a really down-to-earth, nice guy." Bellay couldn't get tickets to the sold-out concert but will be part of a VIP meet-and-greet with board members and sponsors before the luncheon. "It's going to be very exciting," she said. Local business sponsors pitched in to reduce the expenses for the organization, Bellay noted. "The Saskatoon business community is fantastic when we put on events of this calibre." In honour of Remembrance Day, the event will include a special tribute to Saskatoon's war veterans. Bellay expects to sell all 1,200 tickets. "We've had phone calls from people I didn't even know were involved with SYPE saying, 'I can't believe there's tickets available.' " The business luncheon runs from noon to 1:30 p.m. at TCU Place, with doors opening at 11:30 p.m. The event includes a question-and-answer session with Simmons. Tickets cost $75 plus GST. They can be purchased at www.sype.ca/Saskatoon/home.html.
Fans that got a kick out of the last three decades will likely be giddy over 2009. Not only did KISS get nominated for inclusion in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in September, but the band released Sonic Boom - KISS' first album of new material in about 11 years - and embarked on Alive 35, a tour singer Paul Stanley says dwarfs everything they've done previously. And for the first time in their careers, the band's efforts are earning critical plaudits, too. "Quite honestly I find myself shaking my head," Stanley says. "I've made a career out of not getting those reviews, and all of a sudden we are universally and consistently getting rave reviews. We've always had this massive fan following, and that has certainly been the lifeblood of what we do. Maybe the reason we're getting good reviews now is because all the KISS fans have now become critics." KISS fans can catch the Alive 35 tour at Nashville's Sommet Center on Wed., Oct. 28. This year marks the 35th anniversary of KISS' first tour, and Stanley says the show is packed with all the hit songs and over-the-top elements fans have come to expect. "If we could call this tour anything, we would call it 'bigger, better, more,' " the singer says. "Anything you like that we've done, there's more of it." 'Like a circus' Murfreesboro real estate agent Andrew Todd hopes that's the case. Todd is taking his fiancee Samantha Fewell to see KISS for the first time this week. The show will be Todd's sixth KISS concert and he wants to share the experience with Fewell. "She's quite frightened by them," Todd jokes of country music-loving Fewell. "I think she will enjoy it though. It's just about having a good time, cutting loose, singing along and enjoying the show. It's like a circus." Sonic Boom and this current jaunt were precipitated by the success of the band's last world tour, which Stanley says was KISS' most successful to date. "It showed us undeniably that the fans embraced the band more than we could ever imagine, and the band has embraced the band more than ever," he says. "KISS has never been better. The band sounds better than ever and gets along incredibly. When you have four people who are saying, 'How can I make the band more famous?' rather than, 'How can the band make me more famous,' that's a great place to start." After that tour, Stanley decided it was time to return to the recording studio for the first time in more than a decade. The decision wasn't easy, and he had a few ground rules before he would even attempt it: The project, Sonic Boom, could have no outside songs; he and bass player Gene Simmons would have to write together again; and Stanley insisted he produce the record. "If I couldn't produce the album, I didn't want to make another album," he says. "But I thought we had another classic rock album in us." He wanted the band members - Simmons, Tommy Thayer (vocals, lead guitar) and Eric Singer (drums) - to focus solely on writing for the record. That meant he and Simmons had to couch their egos long enough to write together again. It was the first time in "20 or 30 years," Stanley says. "The chemistry doesn't go away. We both have our own way of doing things ... but I thought it was important that we work together. Having songs on an album isn't a birth right because you're in a band. Your songs have to be good enough to be on an album." Stanley calls the result "combustible" and "very exciting." And sales figures seem to indicate that fans agree. Sonic Boom, released earlier this month, landed as KISS' highest-charting album yet, debuting at No. 2 on the Billboard 200 chart. "We went from cruise control to put the pedal to the metal," Stanley says. "We're kind of like cockroaches - we outlive everybody." Ruminations of a rock 'n' roll family man He may rock 'n' roll all night and party every day, but most mornings these days, KISS singer Paul Stanley is home being Dad. "When we're not touring, Dad is up with the kids in the morning. Dad is driving some of the kids to school and picks them up," Stanley says. "I'm a 24/7 dad at home. I'm blessed and very fortunate, and I know it. Anyone who doesn't appreciate what they have doesn't deserve it." Stanley's Dad duties broadened, too, with the addition of 8-month-old Sarah Brianna, who joined brothers Colin Michael, 3, and Evan Shane, 15. "What an incredible gift," Stanley says of his daughter. "There's a different chemistry between Dad and baby girl than Dad and baby boy. It's very welcomed and I'm over the moon over it." Stanley's chemistry with his boys, he says, is fittingly musical. "My little boy loves me to dance with him. (Colin Michael) has certain bands he likes and he picks it, and I have to dance with him," he says. "He also loves to go to his big brother's room and have (Evan) play guitar for him." Balancing the rock 'n' roll lifestyle and spending time with his young family is something Stanley says he puts a lot of effort into. "I think family is the center of everything," he says. "Family is the core of everything that goes on in life. If there is a time I can't be with them, I make sure they can be with me. ... My family will come out for two weeks at a time. We have a jet and we'll stay in one city and I fly in and out to shows. We make it work."
In celebration of Kiss Alive 35 and Halloween, join Kiss Minimates on stage for a live performance. On the way to the show, Gene Simmons took a wrong turn and headed for the Haunted House, see if he returns to the stage in this animated video from Penny Mix Films, made in England.
The details: Free KISS Pre-Show Block Party Comes to Lower Broadway What: Lick it Up on Lower Broad! When: Wednesday, October 28th from 5 to 7:30 PM Who: Country music fans and celebrities alike are invited to attend and "Lick It Up" on Broadway! Media Station: Outside Sommet Center Corner at 5th Ave and Broadway Moose from WCJK Jack-FM will be on site broadcasting! Legends Get a full feature with Paul Stanley on the past, present and future of Kiss in this month?s Metal Hammer magazine - on sale now! KISS ALIVE! DESTROYER LOVE GUN REVENGE Paul Stanley is a man in perpetual motion. At 57, he and his bandmates in KISS are days away from the next leg of the group's seemingly never-ending Alive 35 tour, and he's so consumed with last-minute details that he had to postpone our initial interview in Los Angeles to focus on rehearsals before catching a flight to Detroit, where the band will kick off the tour. Later, relaxing in the band's Motor City hotel, KISS's venerable guitarist and vocalist takes a moment to reflect on the group's recent record-breaking concert tallies. "In the last year," he says, "we played to about a million people. Our tour of Europe was our biggest and most successful ever. We did 30 shows in about three months and played probably to about three-quarters of a million people. And then after that, we did the stadiums of South America, playing to somewhere between 30,000 and 80,000 people a night. And then we went on to Canada and did 15,000 to 90,000 people a night. It's been a terrific year for us." Their terrific year will end with another milestone -- the release of Sonic Boom, the band's first studio effort since 1998's Psycho Circus, an album that neither their fans nor KISS themselves recall all that fondly. In the 11 years since, Paul and bassist/vocalist Gene Simmons have solidified their lineup with the welcome additions of guitarist Tommy Thayer and drummer Eric Singer. That band unity can be felt throughout the taut Sonic Boom, which features lead vocals from both newer band members. But perhaps more importantly, the album gets back to the down-and-dirty essence of quintessential KISS albums like Destroyer without labouring to achieve the effect. Still, the spectre of Psycho Circus haunts Paul - when asked if Sonic Boom was their last attempt to make one last great KISS album, he admits, "Really, I think it was more about not letting the last album be our last album." Paul may be intensely busy dealing with tour and album logistics, but his spirits are high as he looks to the future as well as to the group's past. Speaking with Metal Hammer, he discusses KISS's legacy the bands they've influenced and why he still keeps making music even though he's filthy rich. It's been 11 years since KISS's last record. Why did you decide that now was the right time for a new album? "Another question would be 'why not?' Psycho Circus was enough of a reason not to do another album for me - it was a really good and heartfelt attempt to try to make a KISS album when there wasn't a whole band. But when you're more in contact with attorneys for band members than the band members, it doesn't really make for a creative process that involves four people." So what changed? "The time since then has been a very, very strong one for the band. The lineup has been stable for a long time, and that's because the band really is at its best, which is four individuals coming together with one focused goal - KISS. I think what people saw in the tour of the last year is a band at its peak. You can't make an album without that. I didn't want to see the KISS name on something that I had to apologise for." What do you say to people who contend that Sonic Boom can't be a classic KISS album if it doesn't have the classic KISS lineup with Ace Frehley and Peter Criss? "A classic album would be made by four people with a classic point of view. We weren't trying to make an album that sounded like it was recorded 35 years ago. We weren't trying to make a retro album that somebody could confuse with one that came out before. What was important for me was to capture the spirit that the band has today. That's classic. It's not classic because it's mimicking something else -- it's classic because it's vibrant and it's got all the spit, piss and vinegar that a band should have." How did Tommy Thayer and Eric Singer contribute to Sonic Boom? "We couldn't have done this without Tommy and Eric. It's always funny to hear people have this idea that the band is [just] Gene and me. Sonic Boom is the four of us -- anybody who thinks we could have done this without them is out of their mind. They're as big a part of this album as any of us are. From writing to rehearsing to recording, this was a four-way project. What made it so much fun and so powerful was the fact that four people were all working toward a common goal. People weren't trying to showcase themselves but [rather] make a great album. When you make a great album, everybody gets showcased." You said last year you wouldn't make another KISS album unless you "could do it the way I wanted to do it." How did that play out with Sonic Boom? "It really came down to some guidelines of what we should and shouldn't do. And the first [rule] was 'No outside songwriters.' It's very easy to do less work and have somebody write the majority of the songs for you, but what you wind up with is somebody's interpretation of who you are. Also, 'No old material.' The songs had to be for the album. When you start with the premise that band members have entitlement, it kinda precludes songs that may be better from getting on the album." Gene was reluctant about making a new album too, complaining about illegal downloading. How did you deal with that issue? "Well, it's a reality and something that you try to prevent as much as possible, certainly before the album's out. In the grand scheme of things, though, it wasn't as important as [making] this album. We had a great album in us. For the KISS legacy and for the ongoing story of this band, we saw that as taking precedent." This album came together pretty quickly, right? "We literally got together and wrote. Gene initially was a little ambivalent about the idea of he and I writing together, because we've got a long history at this point of writing on our own and doing everything our own way. But it was essential to the album that we do that and that the chemistry be there. And as soon as we sat down and wrote, it was effortless - very cool and a lot of fun. It was uncharted territory for all of us. It was terrific. We did it on days off on tour, or we did it when we were home. But it was everybody sitting around on chairs or on the sofa, the easiest thing we've ever done." Because you've got a fanbase that spans generations, how do you decide who your audience is? Is Sonic Boom used to lure in new fans or a gift for people who've stuck with you? "For me, we thought of it as a gift for the band. That's where it all starts. It was a gift for us to reinforce and revitalise and redefine who we are. It starts with us - we did it for us. I was talking with Tommy, and we were both saying we've got no apologies, no qualms, no regrets about this album. It will sell what it will sell, and it will get the accolades that people decide [it should.] But it didn't take a year of toiling over it - it took the spirit of a rock n' roll band." So many bands have been influenced by KISS - like Marilyn Manson, Immortal, and Rammstein. What do you think of these bands that pay homage to you? "The whole Norwegian metal scene is pretty dark, and it certainly takes it to another place. As do Rammstein or any of these other people. But look, we didn't create this genre. We took our influences and created KISS, so it only stands to reason that others are going to take KISS and create their own [band.] Ultimately, it's going to be up to the public to decide whether or not they like it, and to what degree. So, sure, there's a lot of bands that are influenced by us, but interestingly, there's a lot of bands who don't sound anything like us that were influenced by us." Like who? "Like Garth Brooks. The first time I saw Garth in concert, I went back to see him afterward and told him what a great show it was. He got teary-eyed and said 'Anything you like out there, it's because of you guys.' You don't have to sound like us, look like us or put a show on like us to have been influenced by us. The influence doesn't have to be blatant - it's more about spirit." A lot of newer bands don't have the showmanship that you guys bring. Why do you think that is? "One of the problems nowadays is that a band can sell a few million albums and then go on tour, but that doesn't prepare them to know what it takes to entertain a large audience. We come from a school where, no matter how successful your albums were, you built a following and built your ability to perform by starting in a club. Then you were third on a bill, and second on a bill. You'd better believe that by the time you headlined, you knew what it was about. The reason classic rock bands sell tickets is because people know that they're going to get something worth going to. You don't learn that craft overnight." Y'know, a lot of people wouldn't want to be labelled "Classic Rock." "I'm proud to be in the category of classic rock bands - what's better than the word 'classic?' Are you kidding? If you want to call Led Zeppelin a classic rock band and then you want to call us a classic rock band, I'm not fighting. If I'm going to be lumped in with anybody, let me be lumped in with my heroes. That doesn't preclude you from being current. It means that you have a solid history and a foundation, which most bands will never achieve because they won't survive that long." What about younger bands? Do you go out on tour thinking that you want to school them on how it's done? "I don't think about that. What I think about is the audience that's coming to see us. Some of them are young enough that maybe they've only heard the legend of the band, or the idea of this band that goes out and gives 100 per cent and tries to give you an amazing show and really dazzle you. I only think about going out and being as good as they expect or better. But it's also about living up to our legacy for those who have seen the band - and to blow it away. Look, there's always going to be a certain amount of doubters who wonder if we can do it again. Whether it's the new stage or 'The band's older,' or 'Can Tommy do what Ace did?', everybody's got some preconceived idea. We try to go out there and smash those preconceived ideas to bits." So you don't feel you have to compete with other groups? "We compete against our legacy. The only shadow that we're in is the KISS shadow and the KISS legacy. It's like an Olympic athlete - every time you go out, you do your best to try to beat your best. You can't always, but our track record's pretty damn good." Other artists like Motley Crue and Ozzy Osbourne have headlined festival tours with bands that are clearly influenced by them. Does a KISS festival appeal? "Honestly, and whoever you speak to may deny it, but those [tours] are for financial considerations. It's the idea that you can get more people with more bands. You know, you pay some of them a lot less, but the audience is getting that much more in terms of bands. It's not just a benevolent and philanthropic move by anybody to do that. Ha ha ha! Sorry to burst the bubble for anybody, but it's because of economics. We're happy doing things our way. And that's the way we're gonna continue." Cynics will say "Why are KISS still touring or making new music? Aren't they rich enough already?" "Some people are never gonna understand that when you're wealthy, you don't have to do stuff for any other reason except that you find a personal challenge in it. I don't have to work - that's documented. But I would die if I didn't. This is what I do. But to continue doing it, it has to be vibrant, and it has to be new, and it has to be alive." KISS finally got nominated for induction into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. How did you feel when you heard the news? "My first thought was 'This is really great for the people who've been fighting to get us in there.' It shows that their voice is being heard. Look, I applaud all the people who are fighting to get us in. But I also applaud the people who have been fighting to keep us out. Ha ha ha! They're all part of what makes KISS what we are." You said that you're only competing with yourself. But isn't that daunting? That legacy is a lot to live up to. "Competing against myself means that I can't lose. I've won for 35 years. The terrific thing is to go out on stage every night and go 'We're better than ever.' Rarely a night goes by that I don't go over to the side of the stage and say to my guitar tech, 'Is this amazing or what?' Because it is." It sounds like you're a guy who really appreciates where the band is at this stage of their career. "The champ doesn't always win every fight. The guy who wins the most fights is the champ. People forget Muhammad Ali didn't win all his fights. But he's the champ."
Stanley says that returning to the hits in the studio was a surreal experience. "That was really a lot of fun," he says. "It was kind of like revisiting where you once lived. As much as we thought we were true to the original recordings when we played the songs live, they had developed and changed over the years. We actually studied those songs, sometimes a line at a time, in terms of singing. And they're virtually indistinguishable, except sonically, a little different."
When the four-member band performed in Birmingham Saturday night, words such as "visceral," "ritual" and "high decibel" came to mind. But is that such a bad thing? KISS, celebrating an anniversary with its "Alive 35" tour, sounded thunderously vital during its two-hour show. After more than three decades in the business, this hard-rock group is rather like a vinyl LP - enormously popular for a while, then back in vogue with a nostalgic vengeance. KISS' 8:50 p.m. show here drew a hyped-up audience of thousands, filling the the BJCC Arena. No one expected great literature or symphonic nuance from the evening; fans wanted loud, fast, tunes that would inspire them to bang their heads or pump their fists. Mission accomplished, with a set list that included "Strutter," "Lick it Up," "Detroit Rock City," "Calling Dr. Love," "Hotter Than Hell" and "Rock and Roll All Nite." KISS reached deep into its catalog for cuts such as "Parasite," "100,000 Years," "Black Diamond" and "Shock Me." The agenda also included a newly minted single, "Modern Day Delilah," from the just-released "Sonic Boom." Each of the band members - bassist Gene Simmons, singer Paul Stanley, guitarist Tommy Thayer and drummer Eric Singer - had the opportunity for a flamboyant solo, and the overall presentation was loaded with special effects. (Think pyro, smoke and confetti.) As any fan will tell you, it's not a KISS concert unless Simmons spits blood, breathes a plume of fire and flies high into the air. On Saturday, he did all three with gusto. Thayer's guitar shot out sparks and downed a piece of the overhead lights. Singer's drum kit raised on a scisssor lift and revolved. Stanley rode a pulley over the audience's heads and landed on a remote stage. KISS' trademark costumes and makeup has turned them into ageless characters with a glam Halloween flair. Simmons, 60, and Stanley, 57, have been constants from the start and it's hard to imagine KISS without them. Purists might complain that Thayer, 48, and Singer, 51, aren't original members, but the two played with energy and consistency -- qualities that founders Ace Frehley and Peter Criss lacked in their latter years with the band.
The bride will wear the Starchild face paint used onstage by Paul Stanley, another founding member of the iconic rock band. And the minister, a dyed-in-the-skin fan with band tattoos inked into his arms, will come as Catman, former KISS drummer Peter Criss' stage character, when he steps up to pronounce Anthony Yates and Lisa Harlen of Chandler, Ind., man and wife in a Halloween ceremony. The couple also are inviting the entire Tri-State KISS army to attend. "All KISS fans are welcome to the wedding," Harlen said. They can come as band members, in other Halloween costumes "or however they want," she said. If the weather cooperates, the open-air ceremony will start about 2 p.m. Saturday at the Newburgh Lock and Dam overlook. In case of rain, the wedding will move into the pavilion at Newburgh's Old Lock and Dam Park, where the reception will be held rain or shine. Yates, 45, and Harlen, 46, were KISS fans for decades before their shared passion brought them together outside a Huck's convenience store in Chandler. Harlen spotted Yates well before they met; He drove a car with a KISS plate on the front bumper. "We didn't get together then, but I knew he liked KISS, and I was attracted to him," she said. When she saw him going into the Huck's on May 17, 2007, she decided to wait in the parking lot for him. When he came out she called through her window to ask if he was going to see Ace Frehley, a former KISS member, at an appearance in Nashville, Tenn. "I didn't even know his name," she said, "but he came over to my car and we exchanged numbers, and we ended up going together to see Ace Frehley." Once they decided to marry, they barely needed to discuss the wedding's theme. The bride will make her entrance to a recording of "I Was Made For Lovin' You," walking on a carpet of confetti that Yates gathered at KISS concerts. Harlen will wear the same wig and face paint she's used for other KISS events, but with a strikingly different costume, she said. "I will have Mr. Stanley's face on, but I will wear a white wedding dress."
Thus spoke Gene Simmons at KISS's Download 2008 press conference. The assembled hacks wept into their KISS Kleenex, gnawed their KISS Biros and squirmed in their KISS deckchairs as the bassist/vocalist continued his rant. Clearly agitated, Simmons explained that his band were refusing to record new material until illegal downloading ceases, calling the act "uncivilized." Well, it's now a little over a year later... and guess what's due to hit the stores on October 6? A brand spanking new KISS studio album, that's what. Eleven freshly recorded songs for you - and Gene, no doubt - to drool over. Illegal downloading certainly hasn't ceased, in fact it's as rife as it ever was. So what in tarnation happened? "Well, I may have a lot of talents but I'm certainly not a ventriloquist," chuckles Paul Stanley. "Gene wasn't speaking for me, or us. Sometimes he dives in headfirst. For me, it was only ever a matter of: if we are ever going to do another KISS album, I want to be in charge. That was always the prerequisite for me, whether there was a market for it or not. I simply wasn't interested in doing a half-assed KISS album." Stanley is in Las Vegas, vacationing with his family before, he says, "all hell breaks loose," unwittingly name-checking a track from KISS's Lick It Up album. His phone busses constantly during our chat, its ringtone alternating between Led Zeppelin's Good Times Bad Times and Black Dog. ("How cool is that? That says everything when your phone rings Black Dog, huh?") The view from the Starchild's penthouse hotel suite is spectacular: serried rows of skyscrapers with their bolt-on casinos basking in the haze of the early-morning Nevada sunshine. Stripped of its night-time neon blanket, many people reckon Vegas is tawdry by daylight. We suppose the same could be said of KISS without makeup. But Stanley, for one, looks in fine fettle to us. Tousled black hair, crisp white shirt, distressed denim trousers, lounging on a white leather sofa as big as a battleship. "It wasn't difficult to talk Gene around," the rhythm guitarist/vocalist insists. "It was interesting that everyone was very, very positive about the idea [of making a new album]. The ground-rules were laid down and I have to say that Gene was selfless - which is not characteristic of him. He was a team player and dedicated to putting his all into it. I expected everyone to commit 100 percent. And they did." The result is Sonic Boom, KISS's first studio offering since 1998's Psycho Circus. Stanley is calling it "bar none our best album in 30 years, if not our best album period." A newly enthused Gene Simmons reckons "it may be our best album since Destroyer - it's Rock And Roll Over meets Love Gun." Classics all, indubitably, but these are highly ambitious claims. Aren't KISS setting themselves up for a fall? "Well," Stanley considers, "I've listened to Sonic Boom from beginning to end many times - as you can imagine, because I produced it - and I can't remember an album we've done that's as consistent. The batteries are fully recharged. "The problem in bands sometimes is that you have to compromise based on issues other than quality of music. You end up trying to satisfy band members' demands for equality. You wind up with hurt feelings. And all that does is weaken an album. Sonic Boom doesn't have that; Sonic Boom has 11 great tracks. If it wasn't great, it didn't get recorded. It literally didn't get past the rehearsal point." Lapsing into his on-stage role as the platform-booted rock 'n' roll preacher, Stanley proclaims: "This wasn't an exercise in pandering, or stroking somebody's insecurities or neuroses, this was about making a great album that is unequivocally KISS." Of course, the passage of time will determine Sonic Boom's eventual resting place in the KISS kanon. But having heard the new album, the first flush of listening frenzy doesn't give us cause to dispute Stanley's claims. The band promised us a balls-to-the-wall, back-to-their-roots album and that, it appears, is exactly what we've got." "If I find fault with any of KISS's early records, it's the sonic quality of them," Stanley reflects. "I was never a fan of the range of fidelity of those first few albums, so there's certainly more bombast, if you like, to Sonic Boom. I didn't want to make a retro album. I don't want to be nostalgic. I just want to be great. I just want to be KISS. "We recorded Sonic Boom in the old-fashioned, analogue way," he continues. "I have nothing against ProTools; it's a technological marvel. However, the great albums that you and I love were not made under a microscope. They were made by living, breathing people who were excited by what they were doing. Looking at a graph on a computer screen while you're recording a song is absurd. Great music is decided by your ears, not your eyes." The on-sale date of Sonic Boom more or less coincides with release of Anomaly, the new solo album by ex-KISS guitarist Ace Frehley. Does Stanley regard that as unfortunate timing? "For who? Look, it's a hard question for me to answer. Sonic Boom took us months to do. Ace's album, from what I understand, took him 15 or 20 years. I can't say anything about the timing or the release schedule. All I can say is, I hope Ace is happy and I think it's terrific that he's alive. Anything else is a bonus. I wish him well." The names might change but the faces stay the same. Tommy Thayer took over Ace's Spaceman role in 2002 and Eric Singer, who had enjoyed two previous stints in KISS, reclaimed the Kitty Kat drum-stool from Peter Criss in 2004. Sonic Boom sees the pair stepping boldly out of their sideman shadows, Singer contributing lead vocals on All for the Glory, Thayer writing and singing lead on When Lightning Strikes. Stanley says plainly: "Well, Tommy and Eric have a lot to offer, y'know? Anybody who saw our recent shows through Europe, South America and Canada knows that the band as it stands today is vital and pretty lethal." The cover to Sonic Boom echoes the artwork of KISS's Rock And Roll Over album, released in 1977. The same artist did both: Michael Doret. Why him and not the guy many reckon to be the KISS album cover maestro, Ken (Destroyer, Love Gun) Kelly? "Ken did great covers but it wasn't the way to go this time. I thought we needed something more graphic. I wanted a cover that, as soon as you saw it, would emotionally or viscerally make you know what was on the inside of the album. I wanted somebody who connected us to what some people think are our finest times. So I sat with Michael and just thought this would be the way to go. "Also," Stanley qualifies, "Ken Kelly has connections with... I can't remember the name, the band with the loincloths and all that stuff [Manowar]. All that barbarian nonsense." Most of KISS's key albums contain a killer ballad, something that's missing on Sonic Boom. "Yes, purposely," Stanley reveals. "It was too predictable: the obligatory ballad. We did have a great song - and Eric was very keen on singing it. But it wasn't necessary. What was important was to capture the vitality and the focus of some of the earlier KISS albums - and I think that's what we did." Classic Rock had its first listen of Sonic Boom in the company of Doc McGhee, KISS's manager. Reflecting on his charges' longevity, McGhee compared them to James Bond - and also Mickey Mouse. Is Stanley comfortable with the latter analogy? "Um, it wouldn't be the one that first comes to mind. Do I think we're like Mickey Mouse? I would rather find a better comparison. But we're certainly iconic - whatever that means, however you define that." KISS made headlines earlier this year when they put their fans in charge of routing their US and Canadian tours. Rumour has it the same tactic will be employed next year when they return to play the UK. Isn't this rather dangerous? They could end up with gigs in Grimsby and Darlington. "I can remember when we literally played every block in England - I think it might have been the Animalize tour," Stanley laughs. "No decisions have been made on us doing a fan-routed British trek. But who knows, if it does happen we might end up playing Stafford Bingley Hall again [scene of triumphant KISS shows in the early 1980s]. What a magical place that was. That was spectacular." Right on cue, a huge chunk of Vegas neon sparks into life just beyond the penthouse window. "That was spectacular," Stanley repeats. Well, he should know. After all, 'spectacular' has been KISS's mantra for 35 years or more... THIS GOES UP TO 11 Paul Stanley's track-by-track run-down of KISS's new album, Sonic Boom. * Modern Day Delilah It's a great way to start. We wanted to kick our way into the door with something that said: "We're alive and deadly." It has all the hallmarks of us at our best. * Russian Roulette It's one of those great personality songs for Gene. It was important on the album that Gene reclaimed Gene, if you know what I mean. I love it when he sings: 'Some ladies love me, some ladies don't, but I know what you're gonna do, even when you say you won't.' *Never Enough That's your full-charge anthem. It's classic KISS. I can't say enough about Tommy and Eric. They're so much a part of this team, and so much a part of why this album is what it is. Tommy's playing is perfect in that it's familiar and yet it's not an impersonation [of Ace Frehley]. Let's face it; the guy can play his ass off. Eric the same. Kudos to those guys. They are a big part of the reason why we could do this album. * Yes, I know (Nobody's Perfect) It's kind of Ladies Room. It's got that vibe to it. It's that classic up-tempo Gene kind of song. It was fun to record and it's just one of those tracks that make you smile. * Stand Everyone in KISS is a real big Anglophile, and this is like a cross between God Gave Rock and Roll to You and Mott The Hoople's All the Young Dudes. It's a flag-waver. * Hot and Cold In some ways it reminds me of Calling Dr. Love. Again, it's one of those defining Gene songs. There's a great guitar solo in there - I love Tommy's solo. * All for the Glory Eric sings this one. He's got a very classic voice. It's a full-on track, as opposed to the 'let's do the sentimental track for the drummer' type of song. * Danger Us A flat-out, relentless rocker. It's one of Gene's favorites. Great playing, great lyric: 'Two parts trouble, double-down tough, danger you, danger me, danger us.' * I'm an Animal Great riff, great delivery from Gene. I believe you described it as 'Zeppelinesque' in your preview on the Classic Rock website. Well, I say thank you very much. * When Lightning Strikes Everybody will be pretty surprised to hear Tommy's lead vocal on this. He really delivers the goods. * Say Yeah It's got a big hook and a major amount of attitude. It's a great track to end on.
CLICK HERE to visit Universal Music's KISS Page. Rock superstars KISS released their new album Sonic Boom today. Featuring 11 brand new KISS anthems, Sonic Boom is an emphatic statement from one of rock's most iconic bands. Says guitarist/vocalist Paul Stanley: "Sonic Boom is the perfect title for what we're creating. It's earth-shaking and deafening!"
One thing you notice approaching midtown Manhattan's Madison Square Garden are the children made up like KISS, holding hands with their parents. In America, KISS are a band who cross and bring together generations, and tonight's filled arena is full of families."This is KISS in KISS country," yells Paul, the star of the show. Bassist/vocalist Gene Simmons, the public face of KISS, is certainly a riot tonight. His blood-spattered tongue waggling, fire-breathing, demonic strutting is straight out of a comic book. And he even flies up to the roof! But it's Paul's tireless preening, theatrical rabble-rousing and all-around outrageous hilarity that make the night. KISS have so many hits they can't possibly make everyone happy. Nonetheless, high points include Love Gun, during which Paul sails on a trapeze to a stage in the middle of the crowd. And let's not forget the fireworks, flames, rising platforms shooting smoke, and guitar smashing. "Are you getting what you cam for?" he yells. Yes, sir, we certainly are.
And I'll tell you right now: there is absolutely nothing wrong with that at all. In fact, I'd argue that it's a damn good thing indeed. And if more folks would let loose their inner child every once in awhile, this wild world would be a much better place. Of course that would entail Kiss never coming off the road. But hey, if the recently-anointed Rock and Roll Hall of Famers can make it to "Alive 35" who's to say they can't keep it up in perpetuity? And so long as Kiss keeps knocking 'em outta the arena as they did at BankAtlantic last night, everybody's inner child will be running freely for some time to come. From the get go it was evident we were all in for a night of neo-vintage Kiss. The pile-driving "Deuce" opened the show, just as it did lo those many years ago when the Kiss Alive LP first broke the band in all the lands. And with its lights and its loud and the bombs bursting in mid-air, the song slammed home as if it were 1975 all over again. Hell, they even prefaced the show with the trademark intro: "You wanted the best and you got it. The hottest band in the land. Kiss!" If I'm not mistaken -- and I was jumping around like such a tyke it's a good possibility that I am -- Kiss next hit with Alive's "Strutter," "Got to Choose" and "Hotter Than Hell," again, just as they did way back when. But instead of saving "Let Me Go, Rock 'n' Roll" for the end, they put it up front amid the initial onslaught. Unfortunately, to me anyway (and this was the only unfortunate thing about last night), "Rock 'n' Roll" set up a series of extended solos and chants that seemed almost superfluous considering the kickass songs Kiss has to rely upon. But since it all led up to Gene Simmons's blood-soaked rising high into the rafters for "I Love it Loud," I suppose it was well worth the wait. If you think Simmons is scary up close, imagine him lording over the arena from 100 feet in the air. It was enough to make you go out and kill all your idols. As hoped (and pretty much expected), the powerhouse set rocked shut with a confetti-saturated version of the classic sing-along "Rock and Roll All Nite," which is just as beautifully stupid and dumbly fun as it's always been. For the band it was also a perfect excuse to render the whole Center into a blizzard of white; for me it was a reason to jump up and down like an idiot one more time. But of course Kiss is much more than a bunch of one-hit tricksters, and after a brief and obligatory adjourning they returned to unleash a four-song encore that began with the anthem "Shout it Out Loud" and concluded with the killer cool "Detroit Rock City," easily the band's best song ever. In between there was a flame-framed "Lick it Up" and a spiraling rendition of "Love Gun," which saw Paul Stanley fly over the crowd and back by the sound booth so he could sing from a small spinning stage near the rear of the arena. All in all it was everything anyone could ask for in a full-scale rock spectacle. And whether you're a Kiss Army member in good standing or you'd let your membership lapse back when you still believed in super heroes, Alive 35 undoubtedly brought out the wild child inside of you. If that's not the mark of a damn good concert, then nothing is. Critic's Notebook: Personal Bias: I was of a certain age back when Alive was a world-wide sensation. It was great to be able to act a certain age all over again.
Much like one of those temprary tattoos; this make-up decal goes on only once. The advantage to this is speed of application as well as accuracy. You get razor-sharp details every time! To apply, just clean your face, peel off the clear backing, place over your face and then hold a damp cloth on top. In 30 seconds, peel off the backing and there you go - ready to rock! Washes off with soap and water. Visit KISSCOSTUMES.com for the only officially licensed KISS costumes and accessories.
Once inside the arena, you can begin to see the complete magnetism of KISS: people from all walks of life and three generations of members from the KISS-ARMY. From the babies with ear plugs, to the kids who'd clearly be missing school the next day, all the way to the gray haired fans like me who have been with the band since the 1970's, there was a common bond shared that only becomes more fortified when exposed to the heat of the pyrotechnics and the violent shaking of sound waves from the monstrous black sound system staring down at us like the God of Thunder himself. Not a single person is sitting down as the house lights begin to flicker on and off and we all stare at the black curtain emblazoned with simply "KISS." To either side of this curtain are gigantic video screens that light up with Doc McGhee, Gene Simmons, Tommy Thayer, Eric Singer, and finally Paul Stanley running towards stage from back. The arena goes dark, the sound system begins to drone the infamous low hum, and the announcer screams "Alright Tampa. You wanted the Best? You got the Best. The Hottest Band in the World, KISS!" Before the curtain can even hit the ground, Paul Stanley is wailing out the beginning riff to Deuce on his 1975 era flying V guitar, and the explosions are leaving us all temporarily blind. The sound system is deafening - as it should be. As the rest of the band joins Paul, you are finally able to take in the sheer magnitude of the stage. This isn't just KISS - this is wide screen KISS. What were once empty vertical stacks of Marshall amplifier cabinets in 1974 are now guitar amps stretching all the way from one side of the arena to the other... and they're doubling as video screens. I had never seen anything like it before. Eric Singer was drumming on top of the very large trademark KISS marquee, and above the wall-to-wall stacks of amplifiers was the biggest video screen I've ever seen. After Deuce came Strutter, Let Me Go Rock 'n' Roll, and Calling Dr. Love. At this point, we were treated to the new single from the chart topping album Sonic Boom, Modern Day Delilah. It's a fantastic song with a menacing guitar riff held together by the monstrous power chords we all expect and love. And speaking of menacing, Gene is the complete embodiment of testosterone. He doesn't move. He lurks. He doesn't sing, he growls. He was completely on top of his game, and his underrated, hypnotic bass lines rattled my ribs and teeth for two complete hours. Paul showed us all why he is the greatest front man in rock and roll. He taunted us with how loud and how great Pensacola had been two nights before, but this crowd surely gave him a night he won't soon forget - the capacity crowd was every bit as deafening as the band. He took us up and down the track list from Alive I, with a handful of work from the Alive II era. In fact, Tommy Thayer unleashed his powerful voice for the first time by singing the 1977 classic "Shock Me" and literally tore down the light set with his guitar solo. His work on the fret board of his Gibson Les Pauls was superb from start to finish. Eric Singer beat the skins of his drums so hard I am not sure his techs weren't replacing them between songs; he put out a wall of sound my ears won't soon forget. As the show began to draw to a close, a Nor'easter formed during Rock and Roll All Nite and buried the entire arena in white confetti - it may as well have been a blizzard. The effect it gave the lights was mind blowing. The encore reached outside of the Alive I and II eras and took us to the 1983 classic, Lick It Up. Besides the new single and Lick It Up, the only other song from outside the original six studio albums was when Gene sang I Love It Loud from the rafters. The show ended with a trip to Detroit Rock City, and the road was paved with so much pyro and flash pots that it left the local fire marshal in tears. In addition to the sledge hammer of light and sound, now our skin was being roasted like in a rotisserie - it was fantastic. Full sensory assault. And with that, the house lights came up, and we began the walk back to our car with our hair singed, ears ringing, and KISS burned into our retinas. There's no other show on Earth like it!
What were you doing when we interupted you to do this? I was eating in the other room actually some... chicken quesadilla, with my shoes off, relaxing. Date of Birth? May 12th Where did you go to high school? I grew up in Cleveland, Ohio and I went to High School on the east side of Cleveland. At that time it was in the Seventies and I was lucky to grow up in a cool time of music and culturally, at least in America. It was a typical mid western town but Cleveland's a real rock n roll city its where the rock n roll fame is at. It was a great place, very open minded - I mean as regards to music (not so much culturally with people), but when it comes to music people just really loved rock n roll there, always have and what we looked forward to was buying records every week or going to a show. I saw so many great concerts in my formative years as a kid so I'm glad I grew up there. It was a great place to grow up, no doubt about it. What was the first instrument you ever played? I think I tried playing piano in like the second grade or something for a short time but I gravitated towards drums, even though I love guitar and always have been influenced by mostly guitar based music. I guess I liked hitting things! My mom told me that typical drummer story - that I liked to the hit pots and pans you know when I was a little kid?! She'd pull them out of the cupboard and with the wooden spoons and all that. Once I discovered bands like Led Zeppelin and that in like 1969, that was it, I was hooked! What was the first band you guys ever played in and what did you guys sound like? I had a band in sixth grade - I can remember everybody in the band and we called ourselves 'The Axe' I have no idea why. We actually had two drummers because another friend of mine also played drums so we ended up taking turns playing. And I do remember playing for the school classroom and in sixth grade - we played Hey Jude by the Beatles and I remember being scared to death! Favourite food? Anything Thai Beverage of choice? Sparkling water What's your biggest peeve on the road? Just not being able to sleep sometimes - imsomnia Track of the moment? Beatles - I've been listening to those remastered, reissued Beatles records... Movie of the moment? The last one I saw that I really liked was 'The Watchmen'. That was killer I thought When you look back on your career thus far, what's the most prominent moment? Well in some ways it's still making them. I still look at it this way- the fact that I've been able to make a living as a musician; that in itself to me is the most prominent thing, rather than singling out any particular moment or any band or any person I worked with (because I've gotten to play with some great musicians and some cool situations and great people). I just remember I started off as a kid, not unlike a lot of other kids that had posters on the walls of bands saying, "I wanna do that. Some day I wish I could do that" and the fact that I've got to do that and still do that- that to me, that's big for me. So to me the story's kinda been written every day, in a way.
The band tore through only one new song at Wednesday night's concert at the St. Pete Times Forum, including "Modern Day Delilah" from the "Sonic Boom" album, but saved much of the night for the oldies like "Strutter" and "Rock & Roll All Night". KISS is nominated for induction into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. And before the show, FOX 13's Mark Wilson had the opportunity to interview Gene Simmons and Paul Stanley, the remaining founding members of the band. Mark: "Tell me first about Halloween. Do you guys get a little extra hip in your step when Halloween comes around?" Gene: "When Halloween comes around we dress up like you. That's our Halloween costume." Mark: "Gene, congratulations you guys on the hall of fame." Gene: "Congratulations on the fountain of youth. Look at it. This guy is 70-years-old. Look how cute he is. You're going to be very popular in jail. Did you know that?" Mark: "Will you bail me out? (Gene Simmons sticks out his tongue) Whoa!" Mark: "What about the hall of fame next year?" Gene: "We are thrilled and honored that the hall of fame would deem us worthy for nomination." Mark: "What if Kanye shows up?" Gene: "I don't know who that is." Paul: "If Kanye shows up, he's welcome to induct us." Simmons and Stanley also told Mark the key to their longevity is no partying, at least no booze and drugs. Now the ladies - that's a different story.
Does anyone use as much dry ice as these guys? Certainly nobody bothers to shoot sparks from a guitar neck anymore. And the blood-spitting and fire-breathing, well, that went out with the Ford administration. Their two-hour concert, part of the "Alive 35" tour, was like a trip through the wayback machine as the band busted out hits fans hadn't heard in decades. Sure, they started with the swaggering "Deuce," using pyrotechnics like musical punctuation. And, yes, there were the chestnuts of "Strutter," "Dr. Love," "Shout It Out Loud" and the venerable "Rock & Roll All Night." But who thought we would hear "Let Me Go, Rock 'n' Roll" after spinning it on vinyl on "Kiss Alive" in 1975? Even their rendition of "Hotter than Hell," with requisite flames and sirens, seemed fresh again 32 years after its release. Stanley and Simmons, the two remaining members of the original band (guitarist Ace Frehley and drummer Peter Criss left about a decade ago) appear invigorated by playing the old music. And lead guitarist Tommy Thayer and drummer Eric Singer played their traditional roles like seasoned pros. Thayer expertly sang and played his way through Frehley's trademark "Shock Me." And Singer performed an extended drum solo on top of a swiveling drum kit that was, gasp, entertaining. The group performed "Modern Day Delilah" off their new hit "Sonic Boom" album. The good news: It matched the texture, energy and ballsy grit of their first albums. Amid all the confetti and flames and campy theatrics, there was more than a hint that the band might have enough juice to make it into another decade.
Oh, and pyro. Lots and lots of pyro. Thirty-five years after Gene Simmons first unfurled his Loch Nessian tongue for the ecstatic masses, the quartet is still utterly unique. And when the band fireballed into the St. Pete Times Forum Wednesday for two-plus hours, the Kiss Army - which has always seen the artistry through the gimmick - was there to greet it, a solid crowd dotted with myriad fans in homemade getups. Kiss is all about delirious style over substance. No one was waiting to hear the guys give a delicate reading of Deuce; instead, they wanted that opener and everything that followed to singe their eyebrows with volume and panache. Lead guitarist Tommy Thayer, playing the role of former member Ace Frehley's Spaceman, shredded almighty, especially during a solo punctuated by rockets launching from his guitar. The Kiss Army craves 'splosions and innuendo and bright, blinking lights. That's why Kiss has the best smoke machines in the business. It's also why singer Paul Stanley is still a master at crowd management than at singing. At one point, the hairy-chested Starchild pitted Pensacola Kiss fans against Tampa Kiss fans - a tactic for sure. But darn if I wasn't booing those no-good Pensacolans, too. The 17-song set list was built mainly from '70s goodies (Strutter, She, Parasite - all from '75's Alive! album). They did only one new song, Modern Day Delilah from latest disc Sonic Boom. And the quartet eventually dusted off a couple of '80s cuts, including Lick It Up, which I really shouldn't know all the words to. The night's biggest applause was saved for the rituals, the traditions. At the end of Hotter Than Hell, Simmons brought forth a torch and exhaled his patented fire-breathing belch. Drummer Eric Singer uncorked an epic solo straight out of ye olden rock days. And as the night's most mesmerizing moment, Simmons, a.k.a. the God of Thunder, spit blood and was hoisted to the rafters to sing I Love It Loud. The night ended with a flurry of big hits, bigger bangs and Stanley flying over the crowd. Confetti rained down for Rock and Roll All Nite. After smashing a guitar and blowing more stuff up, the boys returned for a dizzy encore including Shout It Out Loud and Detroit Rock City. It all ended with a nerve-rattling fireworks show befitting some theme park in Hades. Say what you will about the Demon & Co., but there's no one else like 'em.
Due to overwhelming demand, dates have also been added in Adelaide and Perth. Also planned is an expanded setlist, including some rarities, for Ace's fan base. The Spaceman promises the shows will be worth the wait. "I made [my new solo album] 'Anomaly' for my fans, and the response has been incredible," Frehley says. "I've never toured Australia as a solo artist, and I want to pull out all the stops." Frehley is currently considering adding his biggest Australian KISS hit "Talk To Me", as well as the never-performed "Dark Light" (from KISS' "Music From The Elder") to his set. Ace also plans to reschedule his Japan dates after "Anomaly" has been released there (December 9 via Universal Music). Fans who had tickets for the October shows and are unable to make the new dates can obtain a refund from ticketing agency. New dates are as follows: Feb. 01 - Perth, Australia - Metropolis Fremantle Tickets for Perth and Adelaide go on sale on Monday, November 2 at 9:00 a.m. from www.redanttouring.com, www.heatseeker.com.au, www.ticketek.com.au or Ticketek 132 849. Tickets for Sydney, Melbourne and Brisbane are on sale now. VIP meet-and-greet packages are available in all states. Ace Frehley's new album, "Anomaly", is out now in Australia via Riot! Entertainment. Frehley will guest on "Uncensored Net Noise" on Friday, October 23 beginning at around 9:30 p.m. EST. You can listen to the program live via the Internet at this location.
At age 52, he is unlikely to rock and roll all night, or party every day. Yet inside this Indianapolis elementary-school teacher, there's a man who feels a deep and abiding kinship with KISS. He's been a fan of the hard-rock band for 35 years, ever since Starkey heard the first blasts of "Deuce" coming from four glam-slam newcomers at Roberts Stadium in Evansville, Ind. Starkey, then 18, was blown away by the sound and fury of this unknown group - for the record, it was Dec. 8, 1974, and KISS was the opening act for ZZ Top - and he vowed to spread the word to all his friends. Little did Starkey know he'd go down in KISStory for fulfilling that promise. He became the founder of the KISS Army, a fan club that's been essential to the group's success and embraced thousands of metal-heads. "If that's the only thing I'm noted for when I die, it's OK with me," Starkey says in a phone interview. Being recognized as the KISS Army's creator is an enduring badge of honor, just like the plaque Starkey received from the group in 1975, proclaiming him as an honorary member. Today, Starkey is a respected elder statesman among the KISS crowd, asked to sign autographs, appear at expos and speak at seminars. His recollections take up several pages of a new book, "KISS Army Worldwide: The Ultimate Fanzine Phenomenon" ($22.95, Phoenix). Starkey has a real life and an ordinary job, so he doesn't travel with the band or play a role on its tours. (He won't be in Birmingham, for example, when KISS performs on Saturday, Oct. 24, at the BJCC Arena.) In 1976, he turned over leadership of the KISS Army to the band's professional team, and it's been out of his hands ever since. But those old memories linger, and Starkey cherishes them. He's kept in touch with KISS over the years - the current guitarist, Tommy Thayer, is an e-mail buddy - and the band's prime movers, bassist Gene Simmons and singer Paul Stanley, never have forgotten Starkey's contributions. "We didn't start (the KISS Army)," Simmons said in an interview with Guitar Player magazine. "It started in Terre Haute, Ind., when a radio station didn't want to play KISS. A guy named Bill Starkey kept calling to request our songs, and the DJ said, 'We don?t do that.'" "That was it; the war was on," Starkey recalls. "I heard that the band's program director was throwing KISS' records away, saying they were a mediocre Bachman-Turner Overdrive." To combat that attitude, the young Starkey and his friend, Jay Evans, launched an aggressive letter-writing campaign to convince the radio station in their hometown, WVTS-FM, that KISS deserved some airtime. "Today if we did that, it would be tantamount to terrorism," Starkey says. "We'd cut out the photos we could find of KISS from magazines, like Circus or Creem, and send them with letters saying, 'Play KISS or we'll burn down the radio station.'" According to Starkey, Evans was into a "macho military thing" at the time, and they laughingly decided to dub themselves an army of two. Starkey was the commander-in-chief; Evans was the field commander. Eventually, WVTS succumbed to the pressure, and fulfilled the KISS Army's demands. Part of the reason, Starkey admits, was that a rival radio station had begun to spin KISS tunes and the band was finding its niche. When KISS scheduled a tour date that year at the new arena in Terre Haute, the Hulman Center, WVTS' program director asked for more letters from the KISS Army. His bright idea: to read them on the air as a promotional tool. "The band sold out the arena, and the only other act that had sold out was Elvis," Starkey says. When KISS' management asked what the station had done to nudge along the sales, credit was given to an unlikely grassroots campaign. "Yeah, some idiot kid, calls himself the KISS Army," Starkey says. "That's what they probably said." But KISS' management took notice. Stanley and Simmons got interested in the KISS Army, and saw its potential as an official fan club. On the night of the concert, the band pulled Starkey on stage to say thank you. "Can you imagine the feeling?" he says. "Here I'm standing in front of my hometown, holding a plaque, and they're saying that I helped KISS to sell out the arena." No moment with KISS will ever top it, Starkey says, and he's had a few interesting ones since then. "Thirty-five years later, the KISS Army is worldwide," Starkey says. "I never imagined it would be like this. It's gone beyond rock 'n' roll, and turned into a cultural thing. Basically, we were just two teenagers, having fun in the basement."
Criss, who was the New York rock band's drummer on and off from its founding in 1972 until 2004 and the voice on some of their most beloved classics, including the 1976 Top Ten hit "Beth" and "Hard Luck Woman", said too many men don't seek treatment and think breast discomfort will go away on its own. But Criss, who discovered a lump in his left nipple in December 2007, said men need to get over their perception that breast cancer is a woman's disease. "It can happen to you, and when it does, if you don't deal with it right away, with your 'dude' and your metal and your tattoos, you'll go in the box and we'll see you," Criss told Reuters during National Breast Cancer Awareness Month. Criss, 63, underwent a lumpectomy in February 2008 and a mastectomy the following month under the care of Dr. Alex Swistel, the director of the Weill Cornell Breast Center in New York, and he often felt odd as the only man in the waiting room. While breast cancer among men is one hundred times less common than among women, it can be deadly. The American Cancer Society estimated there will be 1,910 new cases of male breast cancer in 2009, and about 440 U.S. men will die this year from the disease. Criss, who is now cancer free, acknowledged that the treatment was unpleasant. "Whoever invented (mammogram machines) had to do it in the medieval days," he said, adding that it was nearly impossible to fit a small male breast into the machine. He called the pain "excruciating" but a worthwhile price to pay to be healthy. Criss, who is currently working on an autobiography as well as a new rock album, said his bout with cancer had affected his song writing. "My lyrics are not so deep and dismal," he said. One of the tracks on the album, expected next spring, is called "Hard Rock Knockers." Criss said he is sanguine about the fact that his old KISS bandmates, Paul Stanley and Gene Simmons, are currently on a North American tour of arenas with two new band members, one in the make-up of Criss' "Catman" character and the other as ex-guitarist Ace Frehley's "Spaceman." "You want to put two clones up there in our makeup, that's great," he said. "Must I keep putting spandex and makeup on at 70 -- I don't think I really want to do that." Still, Criss said he hopes his heavy metal credentials will help mitigate the stigma around breast cancer for men. "You are no more manly a guy than me -- I grew up in Brooklyn," Criss said.
Even if you weren't around during their heyday, one quick listen to songs such as "Strutter," "Hotter than Hell," and "Black Diamond" show the band still kicks the ass of any competition from any era. Add the party anthem "Rock and Roll All Nite" and you have a set list tailor-made for the arena. Since post-Alive! mainstays such as "Shout It Out Loud," "Love Gun," and "Detroit Rock City" have taken their rightful place as encores, the Alive/35 tour promises to be all that you paid for - and then some. "Then some," refers to Kiss itself, in all its super-rock-hero glory. No band has ever put as much energy and invention into its stage shows. And it's unlikely anyone else would attempt to, either. If you're into watching a bunch of twee lads earnestly diddling their instruments, this show is decidedly not for you. But if you believe that rock should come from a hard place and that it must entertain you to no end, this is a night not to be missed. Makeup is optional.
The veteran rockers' "Alive 35" world tour is an homage to KISS Alive, the double album that rocketed the guys to global fame in the mid-'70s. At Thursday night's BankAtlantic Center concert, the always kinetic foursome -- with founding members Paul Stanley and Gene Simmons still at the helm -- will play fan favorites, plus a song or two from Sonic Boom, their first studio album since 1998's Psycho Circus. We spoke to Stanley, 57, about how they keep it going after 35 years: How many songs from the new album are you doing? "We didn't want to do songs people didn't know, but here you are the No. 2 album in the country and obviously people are getting to know these songs. They had to sound great live because we recorded them live. Music isn't supposed to be made under a microscope. Everything we did was on the first or second take. If it's perfect, it's not rock 'n' roll." How has your songwriting changed? "To write great music you almost have to debrief yourself. Technical ability can sometimes get in the way. All the great early songs were written really quickly, without overanalyzing every verb and adverb." Were you pleased with the outcome? "What I wanted to get on this album was that same vitality and that same energy that I think had been lacking. From the get-go, the first rule was no outside writers. The idea of bringing someone in to do the work for you, to interpret who you are, is a problem." What sets 'Sonic Boom' apart? "This time it was more important to make a great album. You can't make a great album with people in the band saying, How can the band make me more famous? Instead of: How can I make the band more famous? This album is about people who believe in the band." How different would it be today to accomplish what you did in the '70s? "MTV and the Web made the world a much smaller place. Now a band in Boise can see what a band in Prague is doing and copy it." What is different about this show? "It's huge: bigger, better, more. We have incredible video screens built into speaker cabinets, bombs, flash pots, smoke. What you've come to expect. It is, by far, the best show we've ever done."
In the end the songwriting on Sonic Boom is so strong, and the melodies so memorable, that it would be a crime not to admit that it fits the bill as a classic KISS album. When the addictive guitar riffs of "Modern Day Delilah" hit, there is no time to waste - the volume dial must be turned up to 11. The rest of the songs are so solid that you'll forget to turn it back down. From beginning to end, it's guitar oriented rock and roll done in the style that KISS has so publicly perfected. Paul Stanley is to be thanked for the brilliant overall mix of sound, and Gene Simmons has outdone himself by writing songs that stand out as some of the best of his career. His mastery on "Yes I Know (Nobody's Perfect)" will grow on listeners fast - its got a chorus that can't be forgotten, and rousing lyrics that only Gene could write. Another thing to like about Sonic Boom is that it's a true family affair all the way. In between the vocal trade-offs of Simmons and Stanley, drummer Eric Singer and guitarist Tommy Thayer both take turns handling lead duties (on "All for the Glory" and "When Lightning Strikes", respectively. During "Glory", Singer shows off his unique set of pipes, while Thayer lays down a blistering guitar solo. The cowbell makes it hard not to immediately enjoy "Lightning", and Thayer's voice shines in a much different sound initially, but by the song's end it's clear that he was born to sing KISS songs. Together, the four vocalists in this band are able to make a song like "Stand" into the bombastic masterpiece that it is. Upon listening to the first single "Delilah" at KISSonline.com, and reading the news that the album would be produced by Paul Stanley, my initial reaction was that the album was going to be dominated by Stanley, and was to become his shining moment. That perception changed when the album was finally released - and it wasn't because of any shortcomings on Stanley's part. Instead, it's because the album is a shining moment for KISS - a band that has transcended the odds and made it through 35 years to produce a work that stands up as a career highlight. We may never know whether it was the decade taken to clear thoughts and renew senses, or just a spontaneous surge of inspiration that led to this tremendous album. But whatever it was, KISS fans can take solace in the reality that their band is back - and better than ever.
You can listen to the program live via the Internet at this location. Last week, Frehley postponed his Australian tour — which was scheduled to take place later this month — until 2010. Due to overwhelming demand, Frehley has decided to reward the response with additional dates and an expanded setlist, including some rarities, for his fan base. The Spaceman promises the shows will be worth the wait. "I made [my new solo album] 'Anomaly' for my fans, and the response has been incredible," Frehley says. "I've never toured Australia as a solo artist, and I want to pull out all the stops." Frehley is currently considering adding his biggest Australian KISS hit "Talk To Me", as well as the never-performed "Dark Light" (from KISS' "Music From The Elder") to his set. Ace also plans to reschedule his Japan dates after "Anomaly" has been released there (December 9 via Universal Music).
Rock Music Menu caught up with drummer Eric Singer after the grease-painted foursome played an explosive, career spanning set at the Wachovia Center Monday night and talked about what it is that makes the new album so appealing. “Everyone knew what the task at hand was,” Singer said. “We all got on board in the same vehicle heading down the same road and we knew what are destination was.” Singer joined Kiss in 1991 initially as temporary substitute for drummer Eric Carr, who was battling heart cancer and subsequently passed away later that year. He played on the 1992 record “Revenge,” which, like “Sonic Boom,” is seen as a touchstone in the band’s catalog and a return to form after many had left them for dead. “A friend of mine said, “It’s kind of ironic how two of my favorite Kiss albums are two that you played on,’” Singer said. “I’m not gonna take the credit for it, but I do believe that sometimes a certain chemistry with people at a given time contributes a lot to a band’s sound and a vibe and an energy and a direction that you may have.” “It’s like baking a cake; you can make the same cake over and over, but sometimes it just tastes a little better, especially when people make things from scratch rather than follow exact directions.” To start from scratch, Singer, guitarist Tommy Thayer and Kiss co-founders Paul Stanley and Gene Simmons went back to their roots, not to find the sound, but to look for inspiration. “We weren’t trying to make a ’70s record,” Singer said. “We we’re trying to make a record in the spirit of the ’70s where a band went in, worked on riffs, and recorded them live. Paul said, “I want to make this record like we did when we started out.’” “We really created more of a unified sound where everybody contributed, it wasn’t like one guy was the main writer and he does everything; we wanted to do everything organically like the way we do live.” “Sonic Boom” definitely has that classic Kiss feel. The big, arena ready riffs, the steady pop choruses and the cheesiest lyrics this side of AC/DC. Simply put, this is the record Kiss fans have been waiting for, and eleven years since the disappointment of “Psycho Circus,” it’s been a long time coming. The past decade has seen the lineup of the stumble and fracture, with original members Peter Criss and Ace Frehley using the revolving door as both were substituted by Singer and Thayer respectively, right down to donning the ”Catman” and “Spaceman” make-up, which many fans consider sacrilegious. “I can understand how they can really appreciate the original Kiss,” Singer said. “Hey, I like the original Kiss too, I loved it all, but original Kiss doesn’t exist anymore … it can’t exist in that incarnation.” Singer went on to add that he has no personal attachment to the issue, and when he says he doesn’t care what fans think, it’s not meant to be disrespectful because he understands how people can be married to the past. “People should get on board or move on. I think that a lot of people have obviously chosen to stay with it because certainly they love the band, they love the music and they realize that is bigger than any one individual member.” That’s a fact proven time and again in Kiss, and one that Singer knows all too well. Despite the success of the “Revenge” album, Stanley and Simmons shelved the lineup featuring Singer and guitarist Bruce Kulick in favor of a highly successful reunion 1996 tour with Criss and Frehley. The drummer was welcomed back into the fold in early 2001 when Criss left the band. “I do remember when I first started wearing the make-up in 2001 and Ace was still in the band and they called me up and asked me about coming back and playing,” Singer said. “I was on the road at the time and someone who was handling my business called and said, “Hey, Kiss wants you to come play in the band,” and I said, “OK, are they going to want me to wear make-up?” And I was out of the country at the time and he said it would all be worked out by the time I got home.” “I think they paused for literally a second and said, ‘What do we do here?’ but this is what everybody knows, they know these characters, so that was it.” Criss returned once again for a short stint, but was replaced, ostensibly for good, by Singer in 2004. At that point, Frehley had already left and Thayer had filled his spot underneath the make-up. Rather than create new characters like the band did in the early ’80s for Carr (the Fox) and guitarist Vinnie Vincent, whose face featured a ridiculous looking ankh, Singer said staying true to the original war paint keeps in tact the legacy of the group. “People know these four characters; these are the icons for what Kiss is known for, and to keep trying to change with different members … I mean, people say, “Well, they did it for Vinnie,” but when you look back, it kind of diluted things.” Adding to the resurgence of Kiss on a musical level is this year’s nomination for induction into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame as part of the Class of 2010. The group has been eligible for a decade, and Singer agrees with the opinion of many that it’s about time. “Everybody has their own personal opinion as to what they think about that whole Hall of Fame stuff,” he said. “I’m a big sports fan, so when I think of ‘hall of fame,’ I think of it from a sports point of view where they honor you and recognize you and it’s not just for longevity, it’s for achievements whether it’s passed for a lot of touchdowns or broken a lot of records, and to me that’s what it’s about.” “To me, the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame is a popularity contest based on some select individuals and what their personal tastes are rather than the achievements that an individual band has accomplished.” Kiss has been one of the glaring rock and roll omissions from the ballot each year, much to the consternation of hardcore fans, who have even led marches in protest at the Rock Hall museum in Cleveland, while more undeserving artists, in Singer’s opinion, have been inducted because of the nominating committee’s politics. “With all due respect to certain artists, but how does Patti Smith end up in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame when Alice Cooper or especially a band like Kiss is not in there now?” Singer said. “No offense, but all the time I grew up, she was someone that only critics ever liked.” “I don’t remember any of my friends or anybody I know being huge fans of hers or really liking what she did, but somehow people go, ‘Oh she’s legit, she’s credible.’ And I’m thinking, ‘But in the Hall of Fame? In rock and roll?’ Come on, it should be what a band accomplished, and nobody has ever accomplished what Kiss has done.” But the question on everyone’s mind is that if Kiss does indeed end up getting into the Hall at the ceremony in March, who will show up to accept the award? Will the original lineup be reunited again — or is it going to be the current edition of the group? “I’d be there whether I’m one of the people inducted or whether I’m there supporting the band being inducted,“ Singer said. “I’ve been a part of Kisstory and there’s a lot of people who’ve helped the band keep going and had success with the band that may not be original guys and they are all a part of that too.” “To me, everybody that’s been a part of Kiss deserves to be recognized.” “If the band does get inducted, how they’ll deal with that, at the time — I don’t know,” he said. “Let’s hope we have to cross that bridge.”
KISSCostumes.com is the exclusive retailer of officially licensed KISS costumes and they are ready to bring the world of KISS to your living room. Their collection of authentic KISS costumes, including all of the band members, The Demon, Starchild, Spaceman, and Catman, is sure exceed the expectations of even the biggest KISS fans. The online retailer features all four band member's, the Demon, Starchild, Catman and Spaceman, costumes in a variety of sizes for toddlers, children and adults. These costumes and the matching accessories have also been approved by the band. KISS Costumes offers shoppers and fans a complete package. Matching boots, wigs, masks and makeup kits complete each individual look. Both half and full masks with hair are available and the makeup kits include step-by-step application instructions. The kits also feature cover art of the designated member in a letter of the band's name. Fans can collect all four to spell out KISS. Other exclusive accessories such as belts, armbands and a buckle can also be purchased from KISS Costumes. The online store also sells fire hats that feature a replica of Paul Stanley's signature and the KISS logo. They resemble the hats Stanley gave away after the band's performance of 'Firehouse'.
But Kiss, he says, is first and foremost a live experience. Long-time Atlanta fans and a new generation of Kiss lovers can see the pyrotechnic pageantry of the band Monday at Philips Arena. You say “Sonic Boom” is classic Kiss. This time around it sort of happened naturally. There is such a thing as the right time, right place, right thing. We were literally in the middle of playing the stadiums of South America in April, and we found ourselves getting together in [guitarist Tommy Thayer’s] room with two guitars and trading riffs and writing on the spot. It happened so fast that the material was written in about a month and a half. Then we got into the studio and did the record in six weeks. One of the fastest records we’ve done. What sort of modern technology are you using in concert these days? We’ve poured millions back into the show to make sure there ain’t a bad seat in the house. When you get the cheaper seats way up in the peanut gallery, sometimes the sound isn’t good, you can’t see much. No such thing at our shows. ... And the technology has enabled us to put Kiss on steroids, if you will. ... Our stage show is also like a Transformers kit. You can take this show and it actually balloons up to stadium size. We can physically move it into itself, so that’s why it’s flexible with any size hall that we do. It only takes money. And you’re definitely a marketing genius. Kiss products are everywhere. Anything you’ve every shied away from endorsing? Kiss crack. That’s not a good one. It has a nice ring to it, but it’s not a good idea. Otherwise why shouldn’t everything in the world be branded Kiss? Why not? I would change the name of the planet to planet Kiss. Now tell me that doesn’t sound better than planet Earth. And everybody on the planet would wear make-up. You have four choices. You’d break your ankles walking around on the high heels, but you’d look cool. Some folks in my neighborhood have a pair of giant cat props from an old Kiss tour. They set them out at Halloween, and it’s the hottest trick-or-treat spot in the area. I’m sure it is. I will tell you to you can go [online] and buy full Kiss outfits and Kiss make-up gear. And it’s been going like this for 35 years. I remember the first time I had the sense that we became big was around 1975. We were in New York City. ...And I saw a guy dressed like me in a parade. And I said, “That’s it.” We’d entered the iconic lexicon. KISS - 7:30 p.m. October 26. $19.50-$130. Philips Arena, One Philips Drive, Atlanta. 404-249-6400, www.ticketmaster.com .
The proclamation is prompted by the fact that the classic rock group Kiss will bring its "Kiss Alive 35" tour to the Pensacola Civic Center this evening. Tickets for the 7:30 p.m. show range from $19.50 to $129 and are available through Ticketmaster. Kiss' 35th year isn't the only anniversary being celebrated at the show. According to information provided by the Pensacola Civic Center, Kiss played the very first concert at the arena after its opening in 1985; this will be its fifth appearance there. For more information, visit www.pensacolaciviccenter.com.
After 35 years, not much has changed. Kiss performed for a sold-out audience Friday night at the Hampton Coliseum in Virginia. The crowd was a somewhat strange mixture of very young and very old, and more than a few wearing Kiss makeup and full regalia. My son is now 18, but I was excited to be able to share this experience with him while reliving a great moment from my childhood. Kiss took the smoke-filled stage to Deuce, from their 1974 self-titled debut album Kiss. Maybe it was the make-up or the explosions, but the band looked exactly as I remembered them. I had to remind myself that the original members of this band are old enough to be grandfathers. Only two founding members of Kiss remain: Paul Stanley and Gene Simmons. Drummer Eric Singer joined the band in 1984, and guitarist Tommy Thayer took over in 2002. 35 years and over 80 million records later the newest incarnation of Kiss sounded like a well-oiled machine. At an age when retirement and relaxation should be a staple in ones life, I fully expected a low-key, geriatric show, unlike I witnessed in my childhood. Boy was I wrong! My son was treated to a theatrical concert unlike anything he had ever seen. Nearly identical to what I had witnessed in 1978. Gene Simmons spit blood, breathed fire, and even flew up to the top of the stage lights to play God Of Thunder. A shirtless Paul Stanley blew kisses to the crowd, broke a guitar, and even rode on a cable to the middle of the arena to perform the song Love Gun. For over two hours the band played such hits as; Deuce, Strutter, Hotter Than Hell, Got To Choose, Modern Day Delilah, Come On And Love Me, She, Parasite, 100,000 years, I love It Loud, Black Diamond, and ended the set with the classic Rock And Roll All Nite. Next came as what Paul Stanley described as "the longest encore ever" with, Shout It Out Loud, Lick It Up, Cold Gin, Love Gun, and, finally, Detroit Rock City. After collecting our breath, we were able reflect on what we had seen, and it was gratifying for me to have shared a small piece of my childhood with my son. In fact, as timeless as Kiss looked on this night I wouldn't be at all surprised if my son one day got to share a similar experience with his kids... and you can bet that I'll be there with them!
And on Monday, she's going to see the men who influenced her son to pour lighter fluid in his mouth and spit flames. DeStafney, 57, is going to see Kiss today at the Pensacola Civic Center. She only knows of one song - the one about "rock and roll all night" - but she just has to see what the fuss is all about. "I have to see what's so exciting about these people," she said. "Because they have mesmerized my son for all these years." Kiss - a troupe of fire-breathing, blood-spewing, costumed comic book rock legends - has mesmerized millions since forming in December 1972 and has sold more than 80 million albums worldwide. Though perceived early on by some critics and parents as dark and sinister, most of the world has come to see Kiss as a sort of harmless escapist fantasy - a live-action cartoon with a hard rock soundtrack. Yet their fans, even the grown-ups with mortgages and children of their own, still are devoted to the Kiss Army - the band's long-running, fan-organized fan club - who have no intention of leaving the band's service. Which is why Jan's 35-year-old son, James DeStafney - a father of two young children - was in front of a mirror last week putting on white and black makeup to compete in a Kiss costume contest at Chan's. DeStafney won the contest, earning two front-row tickets. "When he was 5, he drew pictures of the Kiss characters," Jan DeStafney said. "He said even then 'They're my favorite band.' And he's been saying that for the last 30 years." Secret obsession On the surface, James DeStafney's home seems like Normalsville, USA. He lives in a nice, well-kept middle-class home near Creighton Road with his wife and two children, ages 4 and 7. A U.S. flag hangs near the door. Inside, his 7-year-old daughter is practicing jumpy beginner's tunes on piano. Pictures of smiling children line the walls. Then, you see the black gear sitting on the couple's sleigh bed - platform boots, vests and jackets with oddly shaped horns jutting out. On the nightstand is a foam mannequin head topped by a black wig - the wig DeStafney dons whenever he dresses as Kiss' outlandish bass player, Gene Simmons. DeStafney's 4-year-old son is at his side while the makeup - first the white, then the black - goes on. "He's going to be the real, real Gene," the boy said. "And he's going to have a wig on his hair. My dad is going to look so cool." Apparently, it's a look the boy wants for himself. "I want to be Gene like you," he said. "And you can paint it on me." "Cool, bud," the soft-spoken father said back. Then, there's a change of mind. "I would be Paul," the 4-year-old said, as he eyed a copy of the Kiss album "Dynasty" that DeStafney props near the mirror to help guide him through the makeup ordeal. "And you can put the star on my eyes." Yes, the boy knows Gene from rhythm guitarist Paul Stanley, and he knows Gene wears the "scary" makeup while Paul sports the black star around his right eye. Dad knew that, too, at his son's age. Tribute artist "I was probably 3 or 4 when I first saw them (on television)," said DeStafney, who works in public relations for a health service organization. "There were these four masked guys blowing things up and spitting blood, breathing fire and smashing guitars. I thought it was the coolest thing I had ever seen." The cool factor hasn't cooled. DeStafney plays bass - and portrays Simmons - in the Kiss tribute band Love Gun, which still is in the rehearsal stage. His mother never thought it would come to this. "Really, I was never concerned when he was young, because I didn't think the band was going to make it because they were so very unusual," she said. "That was a really bad call on my part." Because induction in the Kiss Army is for life. Just ask Charles Henke, 38, a guitarist for the local band Category 5, who has seen Kiss 12 times - his first as a 13-year-old on Jan. 21, 1985, when Kiss became the first act to perform at the new Pensacola Civic Center. "It was life-changing," said Henke, a transport driver for disabled people and a father of a 7-year-old girl. "And since then, Kiss' music has been the soundtrack to my life." Henke's love for the band hasn't dimmed a bit over the years. These days, he sometimes dresses up as Stanley, as he did for Thursday's costume contest at Chan's. "People would always say 'You'll outgrow it,' " Henke said. "But you know, it's only gotten worse. It was 36 years before I ever did the costume. So I'm definitely not outgrowing it." 'About the music' Henke, even out of costume, is easily identifiable as a soldier in the Kiss Army. He's wearing a Kiss 2004 "Rock The Nation" T-shirt. He's got the Kiss dog tags hanging around his neck along with a gold cross - "I'm a Christian first," he said. He's got the Kiss belt buckle on his belt and camouflage pants to complete the look. But why? Why has Kiss, always shunned by critics and the music press, retained such a devoted fan base over the decades. What separates Kiss from the thousands of other bands out there? "I love the entertainment aspect of it," Henke said. "But honestly, it's about the music to me. It's not down, it's not negative. It's about partying and having a good time and about positive things. The songs mean so much to me." But so does the memorabilia, which no band has come close to matching. The band has more than 3,000 licensed products on the market, from towels and belt buckles to strange trinkets such as Kiss toy cars and Kiss Mr. Potato Head collectibles. Henke has plenty of the stuff, including a dozen Kiss guitar picks that have been thrown from the stage during concerts over the years. In fact, Henke keeps every pick preserved in its own sealed plastic bag and knows the history of each. "The first one I got during that first concert at the Civic Center," Henke said. "They fling the picks like Frisbees. I could see it in the light as it was flying toward me. It fell into the aisle, I stomped my foot on it and reached down and grabbed it."
"You wanted the best, you got the best!" Over the course of more than 35 years, KISS has established itself as one of rock's biggest bands. With its iconic makeup and costumes and timeless hits such as "Detroit Rock City," "Rock and Roll All Nite" and "Calling Dr. Love," the band has weathered personnel changes and changing fashions to stay on top. And this year may be the band's biggest yet. The new album, "Sonic Boom," was released last week through Walmart stores and online, and debuted at No. 2 on the Billboard album chart -- the group's highest position ever on the chart. And original members Gene Simmons, Paul Stanley, Ace Frehley and Peter Criss have been nominated this year for the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. Frehley and Criss are long gone from KISS, of course, replaced by Tommy Thayer on lead guitar and vocals and Eric Singer on drums and vocals. Thayer, a long-time KISS fan who worked behind the scenes with the band for more than a decade before taking on the lead guitarist role, spoke to the News Journal by phone ahead of Monday's concert at the Pensacola Civic Center. Q: KISS was an inspiration to you growing up. What did you think when your old band, Black N' Blue got the call to open for KISS back in 1985? A: Well, that was one of those life-changing experiences. I know that sounds kind of dramatic, but there are a few things that have happened in my life that are dreamlike experiences. When I found out we were going to tour with KISS, that was one of them. When we got to the first stop in Little Rock in November 1985, that's when I met the guys, and we were a little intimidated by Gene because he puts on such an aura. Q: That was the start of a long relationship with the band and with Gene in particular. Has he been something of a mentor to you? A: He has, and Paul has too, actually, but initially I got to know Gene more because he produced two of our records. Later, he asked me to write with him for KISS. When Black N' Blue ran its course, they hired me to come and work for them, and that was kind of a dream job. I worked on the "KISStory" book and the KISS conventions, and that led into the whole reunion with the original members. Everything came full circle and I was thrust into the band officially. It's interesting how life takes you sometimes. Q: Talk about your role in the band during those years. A: I was doing all kinds of things -- editing video, actually even producing and directing some of the DVDs. I just started taking on things. The thing I had going for me is that I knew KISS inside and out because I'd loved the band since they started. Plus, I'm a hard working guy. Whatever I do, I put 110 percent effort into it, and when you do that, things start happening for you. So that's how it went. As the reunion tour started and through that era of the band, I was working behind the scenes, and I was actually focusing more on a career in the music business. I had done guitar playing, and you only get so many chances. But ironically, things came full circle. It's been a great ride. Q: Talk about the first time you took the stage as a member of the band. What did that feel like? A: Taking the stage for the first time as an official member came very naturally, because up to that time, I had played and recorded and soundchecked with the band many, many times. When other guitar players didn't show up, I was very much in the works already. When it came time for me to step on stage for the first time, it was a great feeling but a very seamless transition. It was different than a lot of situations that you might imagine -- there wasn't an audition, it was just "Tommy, this is your time, we want you to do this, so here you go." But when you step into one of the biggest rock 'n' roll bands in the world, there is a certain degree of pressure involved, and with that in mind, there's a certain degree of competence and you have to step up and really take care of business. Q: Did you ever doubt that you could step up? A: No, I never doubted that I couldn't do an amazing job in KISS. But they are big shoes to fill -- TALL shoes to fill (laughs). I never doubted that I could do it well, but there are certain high expectations to fill, and you have to do it. But I've always been real confident that I could do it well. Q: You've been the lead guitarist in KISS for about 7 years. Is it odd to you that people might still think of you as the new guy? A: I'll always be the Ronnie Wood of KISS (laughs). I've been in the band a lot longer than some other members were over the years, but I'll always be the new guy. When you have a band that's been going on 40 years, you'll always have that. Q: Tell us about the new album. A: "Sonic Boom" is the first studio album released by KISS in 11 years, so it's a real milestone for us. As we recorded this thing, we began to realize how good it really was. The key to the success and the way the whole thing came together is that we did it with no outside influence at all. It didn't dawn on me until we were halfway through it that we didn't play it for anyone else -- not the label, not management, nobody. That's why it's a pure KISS record to the core, because we just did it ourselves, almost like a new band starting. Nobody heard it until it was finished, mixed and in the can. I think that's why it turned out so terrifically, because it's pure and we didn't overthink it to try to satisfy anyone else. We just did it from the gut. So it's a great pure rock 'n' roll album and the pure essence of KISS. I think it covers all eras of the band pretty well, and that's what's cool about it. We couldn't be happier, and so far, everybody's ecstatic. The reviews and impressions couldn't better -- which is right in line with what we think. Q: Do you have any favorite tracks? Obviously, you're singing lead on "When Lightning Strikes," so that must be a highlight... A: I sing lead on "When Lightning Strikes," and I co-wrote a few songs, too. I think they're all really exceptional songs, and I think its one of those albums that you want to listen to start to finish. I love them all. Q: "Sonic Boom" is being distributed exclusively through Walmart stores. Talk about that. A: As you know, the music industry has changed a lot, and you don't really have conventional record stores anymore on a retail level. This deal with Walmart was put together, which is mutually beneficial. They are the biggest retailer of music now, so it's a real coup and its been a great partnership so far. It's a good deal, and they are setting up KISS Korners, kind of kiosks in the store where you can pick up the album and other merchandise. The other thing is that there are two bonus discs in the package -- a DVD of a live show in Buenos Aries and a disc of re-records of KISS classics. So there's a lot of big value in this, and the package is just $12. It's something anybody should be able to pick up. Lot of depth in that. Q: There's a lot of buzz about release, including talk that it could be KISS' first No. 1 album... A: It looks like it'll be either No. 1 or No. 2, and we hope it'll be No. 1. It'll be the highest chart position for any KISS record ever, either way. We're all very pleased and proud. KISS is in the hearts and minds of everyone right now, it seems. It's an exciting time in the world of KISS. Q: And the band's been nominated for the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame for the first time, which is a subject of some controversy, with the band having been eligible for nearly a decade. Talk about that. A: KISS probably should have been nominated sooner, because it's one of the biggest rock 'n' roll bands ever. KISS is nominated this year, and I'd love to see that happen. As far as I'm concerned, KISS probably should have already been in there. The band is really excited, particularly for the four original members, it's well deserved. In my mind -- and I know in millions of fans minds -- KISS is one of the most important rock 'n' roll bands of all time. Q: The tour is all new, too. Tell us about the set-up. A: It's the biggest stage we've ever taken out, it's about 30 feet wider than the stage last year. We've got a huge video production like never before. The lighting, the sound, the pyro is all over the top. It's really a stadium stage packed into arenas. Lot of bang for the buck, that's for sure. When you go see KISS, it's not four guys in jeans staring at their shoes. There's a lot going on and you never go home feeling like you didn't get enough bang for your buck. Seeing a KISS show is one of those things that everybody needs to do once in their life. Now's the chance, and Oct. 19 we want to see that Civic Center packed to the gills, like it always is for a good KISS show.
It has been 11 years since their last album, and despite their age -- singer and bassist Gene Simmons is 60 years old, while singer/guitarist Paul Stanley is 57 -- they are strapping on platform heels, smearing on the makeup and hitting big arenas nationwide for a 47-city tour. "If the audience really wants you, they keep calling you back," says band co-founder Simmons. "I mean, look at us. I couldn't be in any other band, I'm a misfit. I'm an outsider. I can't be in the [Rolling] Stones or U2. Those little people would get in my way." Outspoken singer Simmons may capture the spotlight as the fire-breathing face of Kiss, but "Sonic Boom" was the brainchild of Stanley. The two original members are joined by guitarist Tommy Thayer and drummer Eric Singer, replacing Ace Frehley and Peter Criss. "I could never imagine that we would be doing this this long, 35 to 40 years later and to be selling out," says Stanley. "I mean I could certainly see some of the guys in the band being in a padded cell thinking they were playing for a big crowd still. But here we are doing this, and it's amazing!" Legions of fans, also known as the "Kiss Army," are still attending the shows, but this time many of them are towing along what might be called the "little" Kiss Army: their kids. Many face-painted children of the original fans are flocking to arenas with mom and dad, proving what Stanley refers to as a family-friendly show. "You see parents bringing their children and holding them up, you know, to be, to be blessed, just like the Lion King. You know, it's like 'hakuna matata,' it's like the circle of life," says Stanley, referring to the catchphrase from the Disney movie meaning "no worries." Despite the loyal fans and a couple of timeless Kiss anthems such "Rock-n-Roll All Night" and "Detroit Rock City," critics have long cast a shadow over Kiss with famously bad reviews. About Critics Kiss Says: 'We Need Them as Mulch' Dave Marsh, longtime writer for Rolling Stone magazine and a nominating committee member for the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, once said, "Kiss is not a great band. Kiss was never a great band. Kiss never will be a great band, and I have done my share to keep them off the ballot." "Critics are good. We bury them in the backyard. We need them as mulch," says Simmons. "They couldn't walk in my shoes if they tried. We listen to our fans. Those are our critics." And according to the band's Web site, those fans have purchased 100 million records worldwide. This hasn't stopped the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame from repeatedly snubbing the band from consideration even though it has been eligible since 1999. Now, for the first time, they have been nominated for the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, and they're currently among the potential inductees for the 2010 ceremony. Whatever critics may say, there is no disputing the merchandising machine that fuels Kiss. Since its inception, the band has placed top priority in selling logo-covered loot. Some say the mantra is "sex, dough, and rock and roll." Now, the band is taking it to a new level, cutting an exclusive deal with Walmart, which includes "Kiss Korners," stocked with everything from M&Ms and lampshades, to Mr. Potato Heads and fleece blankets. The long-tongued Simmons has never been shy about being an opportunistic champion of marketing the band to the fullest extent. "There's so much in the works," he says. "This is the beginning. You ain't seen nuthin' yet. We're gonna take over this planet and call it Planet Kiss." And according to Stanley, as long as the fans keep asking for it, there's no telling when Kiss will stop making music and touring. "Kiss has become iconic," says Stanley. "What we stand for is timeless. What we are singing about is freedom, believing in yourself, achieving against the odds, hooking up. There is a tradition about Kiss and we believe in what we stand for." Click here to see behind-the-scenes pictures from the Kiss shoot.
All these neuroses fired in my head as I interviewed - on television, no less - the glam-rock kings in Kiss, who appeared in full makeup for a recent televised press junket. The glam-rockers play the St. Pete Times Forum on Wednesday. They are also promoting a new album, Sonic Boom, their first full-length in 11 years. In a just-for-fun twist, I pulled on my fancy pants, hopped in an anchor's chair and chatted up bassist Simmons, singer Stanley, guitarist Tommy Thayer and drummer Eric Singer via satellite for ABC Action News. Here's an excerpt from the interview: So Tampa Bay gets U2 and Kiss in the same month. Let's throw down: Which band has the hotter live show? Stanley (not even close to taking the bait): I think this is a very lucky time for Tampa. You'll want to be there for us. We're on the tail end of our Kiss Alive 35 World Tour, our biggest, most successful tour ever. It's a helluva show: great pyro, bigger video, bigger stage. We have to live up to our own expectations and we've done it in a big way. Your new album, Sonic Boom, captures that vintage '70s sound, that unmistakable Kiss dynamic. The songs, especially first single Modern Day Delilah, are loose, off the cuff. How'd you pull that off? Simmons: On our off days during this tour, we'd get together in Tommy's hotel room, whip out some guitars and start writing the songs right there and then. Within a month and a half, we were in L.A., rehearsing, recording. Stanley: It's not a retro album. Gosh knows, the last thing we need is an album that sounds like it was recorded 35 years ago. But we wanted to say unequivocally that this is Kiss. It's got the commitment. It's got the energy. After 35 years, you're older and wiser - Simmons: Actually, we're stronger and more experienced. And more handsome. Simmons: You're absolutely correct about that, my dear. Now that you're older, stronger, wiser, how is touring different? Is there less partying every night, more working out every day? Thayer: The band is in better shape and has more vitality than in a long time. The spirit is there. We're feeling united. Stanley: In those early days, a headlining band like us was playing for 90 minutes. But the era for us playing just 90 minutes is long gone. We're onstage now for sometimes as long as 2 1/2 hours. So we have to be in far better shape. Gene, I gotta get this off my chest: My mother has a huge crush on you. I find that both cool and disturbing. Simmons: What's her name? Mary Daly. Simmons (dropping his voice low and lascivious): Ah yesss, I remember Mary ...
KISS concert. T-minus several hours and anxiously counting. KISS T-shirt. Check. KISS belt buckle. Check. KISS body spray. Seriously. "It actually smells good." Make that a big check. KISS face paint. Ready to be applied. Estimated time: 45 minutes - minimum. "I'm that fanatical," says Hamm, 18, of Virginia Beach. And he's not alone. For a legion of KISS fans, painting their faces for a concert is like an American Express card: You don't leave home without it. "Just throwing it on is not an option. If you're a diehard fan, you want to do it just like them. Attention to detail is important." Because the makeup of KISS singer Paul Stanley, for instance, consists of only a white face and a black star over one eye, it's an easy 20 minutes for Hamm. Guitarist Tommy Thayer? That's 45 minutes. Frontman Gene Simmons? Also 45. "Unless you're doing his hair," Hamm says. To get drummer Eric Singer right for Friday's show, Hamm will use a combination of white, black, silver and green creams, lipstick and something that doesn't come with a bar code: patience. "It is," he admits, "a pain... to put on."
My Mom would yell at me to come to the table and sit with the family, but I couldn't. Not until the explosions were finished going off at the end of KISS Alive II would I appear at the dinner table. I had the makeup kit and the trading cards. I remember applying the small rose tattoo that was included in the Alive II album sleeve to my shoulder, and pretending I was Paul Stanley. KISS was magical to kids back in the 70s. On Friday night, I was reminded of that magic. The "Hottest Band In The World" made a stop at Hampton Coliseum on Friday night, as KISS returned to Hampton Roads. The amazingly well-marketed masked men were in town in support of their KISS Alive 35 World Tour, celebrating 35 years since the release of their breakthrough album, KISS Alive as well as their most recent release Sonic Boom. The band rose to an incredible level of fame in the late 70s, propelled by their in-concert experience which included massive stage shows, pyrotechnics, and of course, the bands' trademark black and white Kabuki-style make up. With over 100 million records sold and 24 gold-certified records, KISS showed Hampton why they are considered one of the most influential bands in rock and roll. Opening with "Deuce," the band kicked off their show in classic KISS style with explosions and giant flames. Gene Simmons prowled the stage as the 'demon,' as if he was hunting certain audience members. In the good old days, of course, Simmons was on the prowl for groupies, but today, he's a tamed family-man, as witnessed in his A&E reality show Gene Simmons' Family Jewels. However, once the makeup is on, Simmons transforms to his dark lascivious alter ego as punctuated by the blood oozing from his mouth during his bass solo leading into "I Love It Loud". Lead singer and starchild, Paul Stanley is KISS's cheerleader, pumping up the crowd with all of the cliche one-liners, yet somehow (maybe 35 years of brewing charisma) Stanley makes you believe he's talking directly to you. Members of the KISS Army (the band's massive and loyal fanbase) know that original guitarist and drummer, Ace Frehley and Peter Criss are no longer with the band, and haven't been for quite some time. Drummer Eric Singer is going on his 18th year with the band; and guitarist Tommy Thayer, has been playing the part of "Spaceman" since 2003. The setlist included primarily classic KISS songs as "Strutter," "Hotter Than Hell" (featuring a fire-breathing Gene Simmons), "Black Diamond," and "Let's Go Rock & Roll." The band's most popular song and party anthem "Rock And Roll All Night" closed out the set with confetti showering down on the audience. However, the band wasn't quite done. The multi-song encore included some of the best of the night. "Shout It Out Loud," "Lick It Up," "Love Gun," and the infamous "Detroit Rock City" ended the night. KISS forged the way in live concert experiences. They were one of the first to use fire, explosions, lasers, and other features during their performances. With KISS, it's about the experience. It's the blood, fire, explosions, makeup, smoking guitars, and costumes that make KISS special. And, it's the sum of the parts that makes us love the music and creates the memories. On Friday night, my memory took me back to my childhood when KISS was magic.
Now imagine how honkin' huge the Kiss bassist's already generously-sized red fleshy muscle would appear on a giant video screen. Sault Ste. Marie residents who can't get tickets to the veteran band's Dec. 15 date at Essar Centre just might get to find out. The arena's marketing and events manager, Trevor Zachary, wants to set up a big video screen in the rink's parking lot to broadcast the Kiss concert. He's talking with the show's promoter to see if similar events are being done on the Kiss Alive 35 tour — especially in other small communities. "We're going to try to exhaust all angles to try and get everyone to take advantage of this show," said Zachary in an interview Friday. If the outdoor simulcast is a go, he doesn't know yet if admission would be free or if bundled-up fans would have to pay for a slightly different concert experience. "It's so in the preliminary stages that I can't even go there at this point," said Zachary. The screen idea is part of an effort to create "a pretty major party atmosphere" at the arena in the days leading up to the concert. A 30-by-50 foot outdoor screen was installed outside the Air Canada Centre in September. It will broadcast Toronto Maple Leafs and Toronto Raptors games. An estimated 4,800 to 5,000 tickets go on sale Saturday at 10 a.m. Zachary expects demand to be heavy with a sellout anticipated in 10 to 30 minutes.
The seminal Kiss Alive! album catapulted the then-fledgling group from marginal success to multi-platinum status. The original album cover was taken at Michigan Palace, but the back cover, where the majority of the live album was recorded, displayed an anticipatory crowd at the sold-out Cobo Arena. One might say that it was the mid-'70s all over again. There was a nostalgic glint in people's eyes and a palpable buzz and energy in the air. And the seemingly ageless and unstoppable rock n' roll machine known as Kiss delivered a timeless two-hour-plus extravaganza that seemed destined for the history books. They kicked things off with "Deuce" followed closely by a faithful and grooving "Strutter." Ever the consummate MC, guitarist/vocalist Paul Stanley riled up the crowd leading into the mid-tempo "Got to Choose." "Hotter Than Hell" kept the hysteria in high gear as lead guitarist Tommy Thayer, flanked by a barrage of flames and fog, dove into a succinct, well-crafted solo. The band essentially was counting down the lion's share of the original double album as "Nothin' to Lose" continued the love affair with the Detroit audience. At this juncture Stanley shared memories of playing Cobo early in their career. The main set featured 15 Kiss standards. Additional highlights included cool drum and guitar interplay from long-time associate Eric Singer and Thayer, respectively, on "Parasite." "She" was another standout with strong group backing vocals and a spotlight for Thayer's chops and pyrotechnic theatrics. Gene Simmons got the venue rumbling with the bass intro to "100,000 Years" that laid the groundwork for Singer's revolving drum-riser showmanship and some call-and-response interplay with the crowd from Stanley. Rock-steady versions of "Cold Gin," "Let Me Go Rock And Roll" and an abbreviated "Black Diamond" also did not disappoint. After a sincere-sounding message from Stanley to Detroit fans about overcoming economic adversity, they broke into the anthemic "Rock And Roll All Night," complete with cannons shooting streamers of confetti into the air. Kiss was not stingy on encores, with a string of crowd-pleasers including "Shout It Out Loud," "Lick It Up," "I Love It Loud," "Modern Day Delilah" (off the upcoming disc Sonic Boom), "Love Gun" and, naturally, "Detroit Rock City." Yes, indeed, bombs, fireworks, flames, blood and sweat were supplied by the band in copious amounts. Just as plentiful was the enthusiasm of the fans happy to see their costumed heroes within the hallowed halls of Cobo once again!
The date was Dec. 20, 1977, and I was 10. That was the night I saw the self-professed hottest band in the land for the very first time, at the old Capital Centre in Landover. What I experienced that night was much deeper than a school-boy infatuation. It was the start of a lifelong relationship, and even though there have been peaks and valleys over the past 32 years, the passion is still there ... I've lost count of how many times I have seen Kiss in concert, but it's more than 20. I added two more shows to the list earlier this week when I saw the makeup-adorned rockers at Wachovia Center in Philadelphia Monday night and Verizon Center in Washington the next night as part of the Alive 35 Tour, which celebrates Kiss' 35th anniversary. The members of Kiss may be long in the tooth 'their ages range from 48 to 60' but they?re not short on energy, as the band performed for two hours each night and kept the crowd on its feet the entire time. Kiss dug into its extensive catalog of catchy, three-chord rock songs and pulled out 18 classics, two-thirds of which came from its first three albums ? "Kiss," "Hotter than Hell" and "Dressed to Kill," all of which were released between 1974 and 1975. I can't find much fault with the song selection. All the staples of a Kiss concert were on display, from the pyro explosions, to tongue-wagging bassist Gene Simmons spitting up fake blood and breathing fire, to the blizzard of confetti that filled the arena during "Rock and Roll All Nite." As usual, front man and rhythm guitarist Paul Stanley commanded the stage. During the latter part of the show, he summed up the band's lack of pretense in regard to its live performances: "If you're here to hear about saving the whales, or ending world hunger, or who to vote for, you're in the wrong place! You came here to forget about all that stuff." While Kiss has always been more about flashy stage shows and larger-than-life characters than musical virtuosity, the band sounded tighter on these shows than it did during its glory years in the '70s. That?s due in large part to the presence of lead guitarist Tommy Thayer and drummer Eric Singer. It's clear that Kiss is a better band with them playing alongside founding members Simmons and Stanley. Kiss got the show off to a rousing start with the vintage one-two punch of "Deuce" and "Strutter," the first two tracks on Kiss' landmark 1975 live album, "Alive!" Eleven of the first 13 songs Kiss played were included on "Alive!" Surprisingly, the band only performed one song ? "Modern Day Delilah" ? off its latest album, "Sonic Boom," which was released last week. Kiss played a five-song encore, including "Lick It Up," the only song in the set from the era when Kiss performed without makeup. While watching Kiss close Tuesday night's show with "Detroit, Rock City," I really tried to savor the moment because I knew it could very well be the last time I see the band live. Then again, I have felt that way at every Kiss concert I've attended since the band put the makeup back on in 1996. Something tells me this was not a Kiss goodbye.
Rock Music Menu caught up with drummer Eric Singer after the grease-painted foursome played an explosive, career spanning set at the Wachovia Center Monday night and talked about what it is that makes the new album so appealing. "Everyone knew what the task at hand was," Singer said. "We all got on board in the same vehicle heading down the same road and we knew what are destination was." Singer joined Kiss in 1991 initially as temporary substitute for drummer Eric Carr, who was battling heart cancer and subsequently passed away later that year. He played on the 1992 record "Revenge," which, like "Sonic Boom," is seen as a touchstone in the band's catalog and a return to form after many had left them for dead. "A friend of mine said, "It's kind of ironic how two of my favorite Kiss albums are two that you played on,'" Singer said. "I'm not gonna take the credit for it, but I do believe that sometimes a certain chemistry with people at a given time contributes a lot to a band's sound and a vibe and an energy and a direction that you may have." "It's like baking a cake; you can make the same cake over and over, but sometimes it just tastes a little better, especially when people make things from scratch rather than follow exact directions." To start from scratch, Singer, guitarist Tommy Thayer and Kiss co-founders Paul Stanley and Gene Simmons went back to their roots, not to find the sound, but to look for inspiration. "We weren't trying to make a '70s record," Singer said. "We we're trying to make a record in the spirit of the '70s where a band went in, worked on riffs, and recorded them live. Paul said, "I want to make this record like we did when we started out.'" "We really created more of a unified sound where everybody contributed, it wasn't like one guy was the main writer and he does everything; we wanted to do everything organically like the way we do live." "Sonic Boom" definitely has that classic Kiss feel. The big, arena ready riffs, the steady pop choruses and the cheesiest lyrics this side of AC/DC. Simply put, this is the record Kiss fans have been waiting for, and eleven years since the disappointment of "Psycho Circus," it's been a long time coming. The past decade has seen the lineup of the stumble and fracture, with original members Peter Criss and Ace Frehley using the revolving door as both were substituted by Singer and Thayer respectively, right down to donning the "Catman" and "Spaceman" make-up, which many fans consider sacrilegious. "I can understand how they can really appreciate the original Kiss," Singer said. "Hey, I like the original Kiss too, I loved it all, but original Kiss doesn't exist anymore... it can't exist in that incarnation." Singer went on to add that he has no personal attachment to the issue, and when he says he doesn't care what fans think, it's not meant to be disrespectful because he understands how people can be married to the past. "People should get on board or move on. I think that a lot of people have obviously chosen to stay with it because certainly they love the band, they love the music and they realize that is bigger than any one individual member." That's a fact proven time and again in Kiss, and one that Singer knows all too well. Despite the success of the "Revenge" album, Stanley and Simmons shelved the lineup featuring Singer and guitarist Bruce Kulick in favor of a highly successful reunion 1996 tour with Criss and Frehley. The drummer was welcomed back into the fold in early 2001 when Criss left the band. "I do remember when I first started wearing the make-up in 2001 and Ace was still in the band and they called me up and asked me about coming back and playing," Singer said. "I was on the road at the time and someone who was handling my business called and said, "Hey, Kiss wants you to come play in the band," and I said, "OK, are they going to want me to wear make-up?? And I was out of the country at the time and he said it would all be worked out by the time I got home." "I think they paused for literally a second and said, 'What do we do here?' but this is what everybody knows, they know these characters, so that was it." Criss returned once again for a short stint, but was replaced, ostensibly for good, by Singer in 2004. At that point, Frehley had already left and Thayer had filled his spot underneath the make-up. Rather than create new characters like the band did in the early '80s for Carr (the Fox) and guitarist Vinnie Vincent, whose face featured a ridiculous looking ankh, Singer said staying true to the original war paint keeps in tact the legacy of the group. "People know these four characters; these are the icons for what Kiss is known for, and to keep trying to change with different members... I mean, people say, "Well, they did it for Vinnie," but when you look back, it kind of diluted things." Adding to the resurgence of Kiss on a musical level is this year's nomination for induction into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame as part of the Class of 2010. The group has been eligible for a decade, and Singer agrees with the opinion of many that it?s about time. "Everybody has their own personal opinion as to what they think about that whole Hall of Fame stuff,? he said. "I'm a big sports fan, so when I think of 'hall of fame,' I think of it from a sports point of view where they honor you and recognize you and it's not just for longevity, it's for achievements whether it's passed for a lot of touchdowns or broken a lot of records, and to me that?s what it's about." "To me, the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame is a popularity contest based on some select individuals and what their personal tastes are rather than the achievements that an individual band has accomplished." Kiss has been one of the glaring rock and roll omissions from the ballot each year, much to the consternation of hardcore fans, who have even led marches in protest at the Rock Hall museum in Cleveland, while more undeserving artists, in Singer's opinion, have been inducted because of the nominating committee's politics. "With all due respect to certain artists, but how does Patti Smith end up in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame when Alice Cooper or especially a band like Kiss is not in there now?? Singer said. "No offense, but all the time I grew up, she was someone that only critics ever liked." "I don't remember any of my friends or anybody I know being huge fans of hers or really liking what she did, but somehow people go, 'Oh she's legit, she's credible.' And I'm thinking, 'But in the Hall of Fame? In rock and roll?' Come on, it should be what a band accomplished, and nobody has ever accomplished what Kiss has done." But the question on everyone's mind is that if Kiss does indeed end up getting into the Hall at the ceremony in March, who will show up to accept the award? Will the original lineup be reunited again - or is it going to be the current edition of the group? "I'd be there whether I'm one of the people inducted or whether I'm there supporting the band being inducted," Singer said. "I've been a part of Kisstory and there's a lot of people who've helped the band keep going and had success with the band that may not be original guys and they are all a part of that too." "To me, everybody that's been a part of Kiss deserves to be recognized." "If the band does get inducted, how they'll deal with that, at the time - I don't know," he said. "Let's hope we have to cross that bridge."
In the week-and-a-half since it hit the shelves as a Wal-Mart exclusive, "Sonic Boom" has earned KISS something it has lacked throughout much of its 35-year career --critical respect. While dedicated fans have always shown absolute adoration for the band, music industry insiders have not been so kind, often ridiculing KISS as little more than a novelty act. Despite its huge influence on the contemporary music scene, KISS still remains a non-Rock and Hall of Fame member even though it has been eligible for an entire decade. But even the harshest KISS critics have toned down the negativity in their reviews of "Sonic Boom," with many hailing it as the best album the band has produced in more than 30 years. Recorded entirely in analog, "Sonic Boom" is a throwback to another era, often recapturing the unbridled energy and catchy, hook-laden sound of such legendary early KISS efforts as "Hotter Than Hell," "Dressed to Kill," "Destroyer" and "Love Gun." KISS has always been about giving its fans exactly what they want, and, in the case of "Sonic Boom," the makeup-sporting quartet -- headed by co-founders Gene Simmons and Paul Stanley -- has once again delivered the goods. In the 1970s, KISS was a larger-than-life phenomenon with an air of mystique surrounding its members' superhero-like identities. The instantly recognizable images of Simmons as "The Demon," Stanley as "The Starchild," Ace Frehley as "The Spaceman" and Peter Criss as the "The Catman" are now ingrained in the consciousness of rock fans worldwide and are displayed on merchandise ranging from lunchboxes to Mr. Potato Head figures. Guitarist Tommy Thayer has replaced Frehley in the band, and Eric Singer is now the drummer in place of Criss. On "Sonic Boom," each contributes in a major way. The release of "Sonic Boom" assures that KISS' current "Alive/35" tour -- which makes a stop Saturday at the Bi-Lo Center in Greenville -- will be more than a triumphant nostalgia ride. But, don't think for a moment that such staples as "Detroit Rock City," "Rock and Roll All Nite," "Deuce," "Love Gun," "Strutter" and "God of Thunder" won't echo from the rafters. After all, it's the classic KISS material that made the back-to-roots nature of "Sonic Boom" possible.
We want to thank all of you for giving us our highest US charting album ever! WOW! We also got all the messages about problems finding Sonic Boom or stores not having stock. All fixed and worth the trip back to Walmart! You Wanted The Best, You GOT The Best! Paul, Tommy, Eric and Gene
The details are as follows: **Friday, November 27 at 20.30 **Saturday, November 28 **Monday, November 30 at 20.00 **Tuesday, December 1 Kulick's third solo album, "BK3", which follows 2001's "Audio Dog" and 2003's "Transformer", was mastered on July 16 at Precision Mastering in Hollywood, California. An official release date has not yet been announced.
While some men feel embarrassed because of "this macho crap," Criss said surviving breast cancer -- yes, men get it, too -- was actually a blessing. He was treated before the tumor could spread and said he's speaking about male breast cancer now -- during National Breast Cancer Awareness month -- to raise the profile of this rare disease. Criss, who played drums for KISS and was known as "Catman," offered this advice to men who spot lumps in their breast: "Don't sit around playing Mr. Tough Guy. Don't say 'It's going to go away.' It might not and you might not see life anymore and how beautiful that is." The 63-year-old musician is now cancer free. Like many others, Criss wasn't aware men could get breast cancer. "Even though we don't think of men as having breasts, they have breast tissue and are susceptible to getting breast cancer," said Dr. Sharon Giordano, an associate professor of medicine in the department of breast medical oncology at the University of Texas M. D. Anderson Cancer Center in Houston. She is not involved in Criss' care. "All men have some residual degree of breast tissue behind the nipples. It may be very small, but just like any part of the body can get cancer, that part of the body can get cancer," she said. Male cases are rarer than female breast cancer, making up less than 1 percent of total cases. According to the National Cancer Institute, in 2009 an estimated 192,370 women in the United States are expected to receive a diagnosis of breast cancer and about 40,170 are expected to die of the disease. Among men, there will be an estimated 1,910 new cases and 440 deaths. "So many people must die from this," Criss said. "Somebody has to step up to the plate and say something to get them aware of how dangerous this is. Lots of men die: They wait, they don't go in, they put it off." Criss joins a small group of men who have spoken publicly about having breast cancer. Several years ago, Richard Roundtree, the actor who played the title role in the 1970s "Shaft" films, revealed he had breast cancer. Experts say men tend to get a diagnosis at a later stage than women, because they don't believe they can get breast cancer, and don't get routine mammograms or breast exams. Breast cancer is "actually easier to find in men for obvious reasons. They develop an asymmetrical lump in their breast," said Dr. Stanley Waintraub, co-chief of The John Theurer Cancer Center's division of breast oncology at Hackensack University Medical Center in New Jersey. Men may ignore symptoms, such as lumps, pain in the breast or discharge from the nipples. "A man has to know, if he has enlarged breasts, a lump, a discharge, just because he's a man, he is not immune to breast cancer," Waintraub said. When Criss spotted a painful lump in his left breast after a workout in 2007, he didn't wait. "I go to the gym; I've been drumming since I was a kid. So I'm very aware of my body," he said. "So when this happened I said, 'Jesus, what's this thing?' " After consulting with his wife, who was battling a different type of cancer at the time, he sought medical attention. Criss had surgery in February 2008 to remove what the doctors thought was a harmless nodule. Later, he learned the nodule was actually breast cancer. "I flipped out. I just couldn't believe it. It's a nightmare," he recalled. "I was angry at everything. I couldn't believe I had this. I was a really angry guy for a long time." Doctors removed the cancer in a March 2008 surgery. Because the cancer had been caught early, Criss did not need breast reconstruction or chemotherapy. The operation left no scars, so his doctor joked that Criss could still take his shirt off to play the drums. Criss responded with a laugh, "I'm in my 60s. Those days are over." Criss sang lead vocal and co-wrote one of KISS' most famous songs, "Beth." He left the band in 1980. He rejoined the band for a reunion tour in the mid-1990s and stayed on, eventually leaving again in 2004. He still plays the drums, and has started working on a record and an autobiography. For men, "because of the lack of awareness, it can be stigmatizing to feel like they have a female disease when they're a man," Giordano said. In the sea of pink ribbons, men who have breast cancer may feel isolated. To build a network among them, the John W. Nick Foundation started connecting male breast cancer survivors in 1996. "They talk with one another," said the founder, Nancy Nick, whose father died of the disease. "It's the greatest thing for healing. They learn they're not alone. Second, they learn about protocol and treatment. They can compare their treatments and the care their doctor is giving them." Criss credits his wife and his Catholic faith for pulling him through the difficult times. Every year, he gets a mammogram; he had his checkup two weeks ago. "I left smiling like a Cheshire cat. Now, I'm coming around, I'm just so grateful," he said. The causes of breast cancer remain unknown. But like women, men's risk of breast cancer increases if they inherit BRCA1 or BRCA2 gene mutations. Criss said he learned that breast cancer ran in his family, so he called his sisters, nieces, daughter and even his brother about possible risks. "It's just important -- just go get checked out," said Criss. "It's not like you're going to lose your manhood."
Norway: #2 To be fair, the crowd at Verizon Center on Tuesday, though filling only about half of the big arena, proved that there's still demand for what Kiss supplies. There were old-guard Kiss Army types like Jerry Frey, 47, who drove down from York, Pa., wearing a shirt that said "Kiss Farewell Tour." Frey said he bought the shirt in 2000, at one of the many Kiss shows he's seen since adolescence. "They won't quit, and I don't want them to quit," he said. And new recruits, too. On the concourse before the set began, Tuomas Talvitie, 16, of Springfield, posed for pictures with three buddies, all properly face-painted for their first Kiss show. Talvitie, colored up like Simmons, said he discovered Kiss a few years ago from an advertisement stuck to a drum kit his big sister bought, and got hooked. Asked to explain the appeal of a band that's been around so long -- Simmons has codpieces twice as old as Talvitie -- the teen said, "The songs aren't complicated. It's just great rock-and-roll." On this night, Kiss delivered just what its fans, young or old, should expect. The current tour is called "Kiss Alive/35," which is ostensibly a commemoration of the anniversary of the release of "Kiss Alive!," the band's breakthrough album. That LP, however, was really released in 1975, so expect the tour to go another year at least. Regardless, the set was heavy with classic tunes and, at least as important, the same ol' stunts. Simmons spit fire for "Hotter Than Hell," then spit blood during "I Love It Loud." Stanley sailed to the back of the arena on a trapezelike contraption for "Love Gun." Though Stanley probably yells pretty much the same things every night no matter the town, he did tailor his gab a tad. Introducing the early nugget "Let Me Go Rock and Roll," he reminded folks that before "Alive" broke, Kiss would play the Bayou, the smallish and long-dead Georgetown rock club. Guitarist Tommy Thayer, sitting in for original member Ace Frehley, who was fired by Simmons and Stanley some years back, went through Frehley's old flaming guitar trick. Drummer Eric Singer filled in for similarly deposed Peter Criss on vocals during "Black Diamond." Among the few non-classics in the two-hour set: "Modern Day Delilah," the single from Kiss's most recent release, "Sonic Boom." World War victories have been celebrated with less confetti than the amount thrown at the fans during "Rock and Roll All Nite." The crowd ate up all that was served, and when it was over they wanted more. "They're better than ever," said Frey, his old T-shirt wet with sweat. Talvitie and his buddies, who seemed to know every word and danced in and out of the aisles all night, said they plan to start a band soon. They've already agreed that they'll start out playing all Kiss songs.
Buble's "Crazy Love" scored sales of 132,000 copies, according to Nielsen SoundScan, giving the pop singer his second No. 1 album. Buble's last set, 2007's "Call Me Irresponsible," debuted with 212,000 at No. 2 before moving to No. 1 the following week. "Crazy" is the artist's third top 10 album. His second studio set, "It's Time," debuted and peaked at No. 7 in 2005. The release of "Crazy" was pushed up from its original date of October 13 to October 9 -- likely to capitalize on Buble's chat and performance on the "Oprah Winfrey Show" that day. "Sonic Boom," the new Walmart-exclusive studio album from KISS, sold 108,000 copies, the band's second-best weekly sales tally since SoundScan began tracking data in 1991. KISS' previous chart high arrived with 1998's "Psycho-Circus," which debuted and peaked at No. 3 with sales of 110,000. "Psycho's" opening frame is also the group's best SoundScan sales week. Country kingpin Toby Keith notched his 10th top 10 album on the Billboard 200 with "American Ride," which drove in at No. 3 on sales of 90,000. Backstreet Boys netted their seventh consecutive top 10 album on the Billboard 200 with "This Is Us," starting at No. 9 with 42,000. The quartet's last effort, 2007's "Unbreakable," entered and peaked at No. 7 with 81,000. The previous week's No. 1, Barbra Streisand's "Love Is the Answer," fell to No. 4 with 75,000 while Jay-Z's "The Blueprint 3" moved up one notch, to No. 5, with 65,000. Mariah Carey's "Memoirs of an Imperfect Angel" slipped four spots to No. 7 with 54,000, and Miley Cyrus' "The Time of Our Lives" climbed three spots to No. 8 with 47,000. Rounding out the top 10 is Breaking Benjamin's "Dear Agony," which moved down six places in its second week (41,000). Overall album sales in the week ended October 11 totaled 6.27 million units, down 9 percent from the previous week and down 2 percent from the year-earlier period. Year-to-date album sales stand at 269.7 million, down 13 percent, compared with the total at this point in 2008.
Paul Stanley, 57, and fellow bandleader Gene Simmons, 60, are both sons of Jewish refugees who instilled them with vigorous work ethics, have formed one of the more enduring - and lucrative - bonds in rock 'n' roll. They even live about two minutes' drive from each other, although Stanley says he's been to Simmons' house perhaps four times in the past decade. "We're very close as family," he said. "You can love your brother and not want to see him all the time." As the rock-star manse speeds toward completion, KISS also seems to be on a roll. A new studio album, "Sonic Boom," debuted at No. 2 on the U.S. pop chart last Wednesday, the band's highest ranking ever. Stanley produced the new album himself for the first time, and wrote or co-wrote nine of the tracks. Many of the songs - celebrations of what Stanley calls "freedom, love of life, the value of friendship" - are fist-pumping anthems that would seem natural contenders for big stadium or arena shows. He tantalizingly acknowledges as much. "We played those songs during sound checks. They sound every bit as good as anything else. They have the soul," he said. The new song "Stand," which Simmons and Stanley wrote together, is a tribute to their friendship, sure to bring tears to the eyes of emotional fans. "The idea that we shouldn't revel in the idea of camaraderie or teamwork or what people can accomplish together is silly," Stanley said. "What we hope for in life is companionship, people we care about. It's timeless." Another of their odes to teamwork, "All For The Glory," is sung by 51-year-old drummer Eric Singer. "It's so great to have a band of guys who all love the band, and all want to do what's best for the band, as opposed to further themselves at the band's expense," Stanley said. "Anybody who would kid themselves into believing that 'Sonic Boom' could have been made by any four other members is out of their mind."
"Sonic Boom," the first Kiss studio album in 11 years, is one of the best hard rock albums of 2009. But what keeps it from being truly great is the massive musical identify theft by guitarist Tommy Thayer. Since being promoted from traveling assistant to Ace Frehley's replacement in 2003, Thayer has worn Frehley's makeup and costume, copied his solos note for note — including his extended concert solo — and even briefly sang Frehley's signature tune, "Shock Me," to the dismay of longtime Kiss fans. So surely on his first studio session, Thayer would put his stamp on the band, recording his own solos in his own style. Right? Wrong. On song after song, Thayer lifts key parts of classic Frehley solos rather than creating his own, and the theft is immediately recognizable. On "Russian Roulette," he steals from Frehley's solo on "Rock and Roll All Nite." On "Yes I Know (Nobody's Perfect)," he takes from "Rock and Roll All Nite" and "See You in Your Dreams." On "Hot and Cold," Thayer lifts a Frehley solo bend from "Trouble Walkin'," and on "All for the Glory," he cops the heart of Frehley's "Parasite" solo. "I'm an Animal" sees Thayer lifting licks from "Makin' Love" and "Love Gun." Paul Stanley, who produced the album, shines on "Modern Day Delilah," the epic "Stand" and the anthem-in-waiting "Say Yeah," with its shout-it-outloud chorus. Gene Simmons has his moment of modesty on "Nobody's Perfect," with the follow-up line, "but baby I come awfully close." Drummer Eric Singer wears predecessor Peter Criss' catman costume and makeup. But Singer earned his whiskers through his 1992-96 tenure in Kiss during the unmasked era. More important, he brings his own style to classic Kiss songs, and his album vocal debut on "All for the Glory" is a decent one. "Sonic Boom" also includes a second disc of Kiss classics re-recorded with the current lineup, and tracks like "Calling Dr. Love" and "Heaven's on Fire" have never sounded as fresh and raw. There's even a bonus DVD of an April 2009 concert in Argentina. CHECK OUT THIS TRACK: Thayer makes his vocal debut on "When Lightning Strikes," one of the best tracks on the album and his lone moment of true creation. Yet even here, on what should be his signature statement song, Thayer can't help himself, copping the heart of Frehley's memorable solo on "Love 'em and Leave 'em."
And new recruits, too. On the concourse before the set began, Tuomas Talvitie, 16, of Springfield, Va., posed for pictures with three buddies, all properly facepainted for their first Kiss show. Talvitie, colored up like Simmons, said he discovered Kiss a few years ago from an advertisement stuck to a drum kit his big sister bought, and got hooked. Asked to explain the appeal of a band that's been around so long -- Simmons has codpieces twice as old as Talvitie -- the teen said, "The songs aren't complicated. It's just great rock and roll." On this night, Kiss delivered just what its fans, young or old, should expect. The current tour is called "Kiss Alive/35," which is ostensibly a commemoration of the anniversary of the release of "Kiss Alive," the band's breakthrough album. That LP, however, was really released in 1975, so expect the tour to go another year at least. Regardless, the set was heavy with classic tunes and, at least as importantly, the same ol' stunts. Simmons spit fire for "Hotter Than Hell," then spit blood during "I Love It Loud." Stanley sailed to the back of the arena on a trapeze-like contraption for "Love Gun." Though one gets the feeling Stanley yells pretty much the same things every night no matter the town, he did tailor his gab a tad before the early nugget "Let Me Go Rock and Roll" by reminding folks that before "Alive" broke Kiss would play the Bayou, the smallish and long-dead Georgetown rock club. Guitarist Tommy Thayer went through a flaming guitar trick. Drummer Eric Singer took the vocals during "Black Diamond." Among the few non-classics in the two-hour set: "Modern Day Delilah," the single from Kiss' most recent release, "Sonic Boom." World War wins have been celebrated with less confetti than the amount thrown at the fans during "Rock and Roll All Nite." The crowd ate up all that was served, and when it was over they wanted more. "They're better than ever," said Frey, his old t-shirt wet with sweat. Talvitie and his buddies, who seemed to know every word and danced in and out of the aisles all night, said they plan to start a band soon. They've already agreed that they'll start out playing all Kiss songs.
Famous for onstage blood-spitting and tongue-waggling, the Kiss bassist and singer also appears in a hit reality show, now in its fifth season, with actress and former Playboy Playmate Shannon Tweed and their two children. Born Chaim Witz, he immigrated to New York from Israel with his mother, a concentration camp survivor, when he was eight. Today, his far-flung business empire includes comic books and a marketing company with international interests. Q: Your public image is over the top, but judging by your reality show, Gene Simmons Family Jewels, your kids, Sophie and Nick, are normal and well-adjusted. What’s your parenting philosophy? A: Never negotiate with kids. They don’t have life experience, and they don’t have repercussions for bad decisions, they still get fed and housed. And most importantly: I’m bigger! Don’t hit, but don’t pander or give power to kids. They have to know where the power lies. Otherwise, why would they respect it? Q: You’ve never done drugs or gotten drunk. How did you teach your kids to resist peer pressure, growing up in Hollywood? A: If Sophie came home high or drunk, she’d find her Beverly Hills butt in the middle of the Arizona desert in a work camp. I’m deadly serious. The only jobs kids have are to do well in school, to be charming and polite, and be thankful. That’s it. I’ll house you, protect you, I’ll even give my life for you, and in return, you will behave. Q: They’re both straight-A students. What if they brought home a bad report card? A: The world would shake. Everything would stop. And they would have a short time to change that, or there would be repercussions. Q: Doesn’t the family dynamic change when there are cameras filming you all the time? A: Not at all. If cameras change what the family is, there is no family. Q: Do you worry about the long-term effects of this sort of exposure for your children? A: No. It’s their choice whether to participate or not. Sophie said she didn’t want to be a in few episodes, so she wasn’t. And they’re both grown up now. Sophie is 17 and she’s the captain of her volleyball team, arranging her own college applications. Nick is 20 and six foot seven, and his graphic novel, Incarnate, is in its third printing. They are their own people, though they certainly have their mother’s genes—they’re both beautiful—and hopefully they have some of their dad’s balls, where you grab life by the scruff of the neck and demand that it acknowledges that you’re here. Sitting on your butt and waiting for opportunity to knock is nonsense. You’ve got to do what a gorilla does: put your foot firmly on whatever is yours, beat your chest and yell out, “I’m here.” Q: Humility isn’t one of your de?ning characteristics. A: If you’re the greatest, it’s okay to say you’re the greatest. My suggestion to everybody is to be their own greatest fan. Weaker personas and personalities define that as egotistical or arrogant, but what it means is their self-esteem isn’t that strong. Q: Why did you call your last solo album Asshole? A: It’s a way to take away the power of somebody else using the word. If a fat comedian steps up on stage and says, “A big hello to all my fat friends,” it’s a way to immediately empower himself by saying, “Right, I am fat.” I’ve been called an asshole by all kinds of people in all walks of life. I used to feel the same, by the way, about Cassius Clay, which is what his name was when I first saw him, before he was anybody, yelling into the camera, “Floats like a butterfly, stings like a bee. I am the greatest.” I’m thinking to myself, “Who the f–k does he think he is?” But see, that’s profoundly, exactly, what it’s all about: who do you think you are? Q: So you think you’re an asshole? A: To people who don’t have a very good sense of themselves, yes. Or to people who don’t understand me—I think they’d like me if they got to know me—or who just can’t deal with what they call “the big ego” and what I call “a self-confident man.” But to people who understand? Oh no. Q: Why do so many journalists have this idea that you lack a sense of humour about yourself and your image? A: Because I enunciate and speak four languages. When I’m talking to a journalist—not you, necessarily—they’re not on my level. Q: So they’re wrong. A: Oh sure. I know I don’t look like Brad Pitt. Nor do I want to, because I don’t want to become popular in jail. That was a joke. Q: Yeah, I got it. A: But I’m also aware I can walk into a party and walk out with his girlfriend. Q: Why? What’s your magical appeal? A: Power. By which I mean charisma, inner strength. It’s nothing to do with genes. You can be really good-looking but then you’re just admired for having the right genes. Q: You’ve lived with Shannon Tweed for 26 years, and you’ve slept with a lot of women—4,600 was the figure in one of your books, but that was a few years back. A: It’s no secret. When we first got together, I showed Shannon photos. She was not a big fan of it, but so what? Welcome to earth. Q: Why do you think she stays with you? A: Well, that’s a good question. But I’ve only had three relationships in my life. Q: The other two were Cher and Diana Ross. A: And we remain friends and stay connected. I think it’s pathetic that women and men treat each other worse than we treat our pets. It’s love or hate. When you’re in love and lust with each other, everything’s okay. If love or lust disappears, everybody sues each other, hates each other, it’s Jon and Kate [Gosselin]. If you were once lovers, why can’t you at least be friends? Q: You’re currently touring with Kiss. Do girls line up at the stage door every night? A: Oh yeah. Q: Aren’t groupies boring after a while? A: Well, you’re a woman, so you don’t understand the psyche. It’s like a vegetarian asking a carnivore, “What’s the big deal with meat?” Look, you only drop two eggs a month, and in your middle years you stop dropping them completely. We manufacture hundreds of millions of sperm every day. We even make sperm after we’re dead. Q: If you’re saying it’s a biological imperative to sleep with groupies— A: A biological urge. The urge to merge. Q: Then why stay with Shannon? A: This is the hottest woman on earth. And she’s an alpha female. She doesn’t talk about whether the vacuum cleaner works or not. Doesn’t sweat the small stuff. Has a strong moral centre, no drugs, no booze. No whining. No bad hair days. Q: Is it okay if she sleeps with other men? A: People will do whatever they want to do. So it’s best to just relax and hope for the best. Get a hobby. Q: It’s clear on the show that your kids love their mother very much. Does it bother them that you’re not monogamous? A: Who said I’m not? Q: Well, you do. Don’t you? A: No, not necessarily. And I’m not sure Bill Clinton or anyone else should be talking about those areas to strangers. Aren’t you ever going to ask me about Kiss? Q: Why are you stalling? A: Look, it’s the 21st century, and the thing women have been clamouring for is finally upon us: you’re free. You’re no longer indentured slaves. You no longer have to be in the kitchen, or leave the smoking room so the men can talk. And the greatest asset Shannon has is that she’s a modern woman. Besides being stunning, six feet tall and, of course, a Newfie, I worship the ground she walks on. But part of the relationship is that it’s no-nonsense. We don’t call each other “honey” and “sweetheart” and all those clichés. That’s television talk, just a paint-by-numbers relationship. When I talk to her, it’s straight ahead, like an equal partner, and she to me. Q: A tape surfaced on the Internet last year, of you having sex with another woman. Were your kids upset? A: We talked about it a little bit, but they understand. It was made a long time ago, and not with my consent. But?.?.?.?move on. Why do people care? Q: How do you talk to your daughter about all this? A: Hopefully, the one thing I gave Sophie was the clear information that she should never define herself by men. Women’s magazines are ego-destroying, the worst piece of trash you can read. Here’s why: they feed the insecurities and weaknesses of women. There are always lists: “10 things he likes about you,” “10 things to look younger”—this endless self-torture. Men’s magazines never, ever talk about what women want. Men don’t care. Q: So would it bother you if she said, “I’m going to be like you, Dad, and have thousands of sexual partners”? A: Once Sophie becomes a mature woman, it doesn’t matter what we think or say, these will be decisions she has to make and live with. But of course there’s a double standard. Q: Okay, Kiss: you have a new album out this week, a massive tour, and your own reality show is a hit. How many thousands of Kiss licences are there now? A: More than 3,000. After Sonic Boom comes out, every Wal-Mart in North America, and soon the world, will have four Kiss corners, where you can buy T-shirts, Kiss Mr. Potato Heads, and of course Kiss M&Ms, with our faces on each M&M. Q: How is it that 35 years after your first album, you’re bigger than ever? A: I kiss the ground of the country I landed in, the United States of America. In totalitarian states, or religious states, or even in Europe, there are limitations, culturally and in other ways. The same guy, me, with the same talent and ambition, in Iran or Africa—it wouldn’t work. So it’s the right thing at the right time in the right place, and the rest of it is luck and hard work. I approach everything I do as if it’s the only chance I will ever be given and the alternative is complete destitution. Q: Your Wikipedia entry says, “When Simmons was young, his mother’s long absences while working two jobs in order to make ends meet left emotional scars that gave him a strong desire for wealth.” Is that accurate? A: I would urge all kids to see a single parent who not only provides but is thankful for the opportunity to provide. Emotional scars? That’s a point of view, not a fact. The person who wrote that is going to be wrapping fish next week. It’s a crime that Wikipedia lets anyone go in and alter information. Q: Does being 60 feel the way you thought it would? A: I don’t mean this to sound cornball, but I don’t really celebrate birthdays. I mean, yes, I eat cake—God help me, do I eat cake—but I celebrate every day above ground as the best holiday there is. I don’t wait for the calendar to tell me to celebrate. But I will tell you that it’s surprising how fantastic 60 is. Q: What’s so fantastic about it? A: I’m the king of the world. Are you kidding?
Kiss. The self-proclaimed "hottest band in the world" and uncontested rulers over concert halls and my bedroom wall. Yep, my dream. Imagine the pure torment to hear my desperate plea denied. "I'm sorry, but someone your age has no business at a concert," my mom lectured. The same woman who dutifully bought me that coveted Destroyer album. Who patiently stood quiet while I sang along loudly to Love Gun (in my prepubescent incomprehension of the meaning of the song). Who lovingly hand-painted me a Kiss pillow cover featuring all four of my makeup-strutting rock god heroes. How could she fail to allow me to complete my journey to manhood?!? It's not too often in life one gets a chance to right a historic wrong. But 30 years later, on Oct. 21 at the St. Pete Times Forum, the cosmic clickers should finally align and the 12-year-old deep inside me can stop his wailing: I have a pair of floor seats to Kiss in concert at last. So join me, if you can, to sing along again to those simple rock ditties that fascinated us all so long ago. Detroit Rock City, Hotter Than Hell, Rock and Roll All Nite, Shout It Out Loud. Don't even pretend you don't remember the words. Squeal with delight when Simmons flicks his tongue, spits fire, drools fake blood. Enjoy all of Stanley's song intros. And raise a beverage of choice to the spacey and feline personas embodied by Tommy Thayer and Eric Singer. Because a Kiss concert isn't merely a night on the town. It's the night of every 12-year-old's life.
The band, who formed in New York in 1973, have sold more than 80 million albums worldwide. "Kiss started as a dream of ours," explains Gene Simmons, the band's bassist. "All the bands we ever saw on stage played the hits we wanted to hear, but were devastatingly poor in their visual live performance." That is definitely an indictment from a man wearing full armour and the trademark black- and-white warpaint, which has given Kiss their unique identity. At 60 years old, Simmons's stage persona is still The Demon. To some TV viewers, he is known as the reality star of Rock School and Gene Simmons Family Jewels. To others, he is best known as "the man with the longest tongue in music". New line-up "We made Kiss, with our look, all the pyrotechnics of our live show, the epitome of everything we wanted from a band," Simmons adds. "And now here we are 35 years later and I think we've released one of the best records of our career." During the past three and a half decades, the band has survived numerous line-up changes from the original foursome of Simmons, Paul Stanley, Ace Frehley and Peter Criss. Currently, Simmons and Stanley have drummer Eric Singer and guitarist Tommy Thayer on board - but they have adopted Frehley and Criss's stage personas (and make-up) of Spaceman and Catman. They also survived their career nose-diving at the end of the glam rock era of the 70s, and a make-up free period during the 80s - which actually coincided with their biggest ever UK hit, 1988's Crazy Crazy Nights. A wave of Kiss nostalgia in the 1990s saw the band return to the face paint, and their 1996 Alive! Tour was the highest-grossing in the world that year. They are now on tour again in the US, and according to Tommy Thayer, it was the presence of younger fans swelling the so-called Kiss Army which finally got the band back to the recording studio. 'Pure rock and roll' "Gene and Paul were a little ambivalent about doing a record," he says, "but the live shows were going great, and we thought it would be cool to do something to acknowledge our growing resurgence of fans." "We've got so many teenagers coming to our gigs now," adds Simmons, "as well as people in their 40s and 50s and we wanted to give them all some classic Kiss." That appears to have been accomplished - many critics have commented on Sonic Boom's "classic 70s feel", which may have something to do with it being produced by Paul Stanley and recorded originally on analogue tape. "This is about four guys playing and writing their own songs, and not worrying about fads or fashion or what's hip, " Simmons comments. " This is about pure rock and roll." 'We didn't listen' "There was no pressure of outside influences, "says Thayer. "We wrote songs we felt great about, we didn't listen to management or agents, and no one was trying to write a hit single or a ballad." It has paid off, with Sonic Boom becoming their most successful record for 20 years. It is currently doing battle with Michael Buble for number one in the Billboard album charts in the US, as well as going Top 20 in the UK. It was the same story with AC/DC's Black Ice a year ago - neither band receive mainstream airplay, but their legions of devoted fans propel a long-awaited studio album straight to the top of the charts. Kiss have now been around long enough to receive that ubiquitous "legend" status. 'The hunt and the kill' They have finally been nominated for the Rock n Roll Hall of Fame - but their make-up may give them an excuse to pretend they are younger than Simmons and Stanley actually are. The first single from Sonic Boom, Modern Day Delilah is, in the words of Simmons, all about the chase, the hunt and then finally the kill. We're still after you girls". The reviews for Sonic Boom are generally good - but it has not been always the case with Kiss albums. Simmons has some harsh words for the music critics. "We own some very big houses that critics have bought us with their bad reviews," he says. "Critics are an unnecessary life form. There's a large Kiss cemetery at the back of our houses where we bury them." He pauses. With his Demon warpaint on, you cannot be sure if he is joking or not. Sonic Boom by Kiss is on release in the UK now.
But the KISS frontman is a mere visitor, relegated with his young family to a rental down the hill while contractors complete a renovation that's miraculously on-budget and on-time. His own band has undergone quite a few make-overs since the costumed, face-painting quartet formed in New York 37 years ago, not all as smoothly executed. Stanley, 57, and fellow bandleader Gene Simmons, 60, are the only two constants in KISS, touring relentlessly with a revolving cast of guitarists and drummers. Their last studio album, 1998's "Psycho Circus," was cobbled together with the help of outside songwriters and session musicians. The duo, both sons of Jewish refugees who instilled them with vigorous work ethics, have formed one of the more enduring -- and lucrative -- bonds in rock 'n' roll. They even live about two minutes' drive from each other, although Stanley says he's been to Simmons' house perhaps four times in the past decade. "We're very close as family," he said. "You can love your brother and not want to see him all the time." 3-DISC PACKAGE FOR $12 As the rock-star manse speeds toward completion, KISS also seems to be on a roll. A new studio album, "Sonic Boom," debuted at No. 2 on the U.S. pop chart on Wednesday, the band's highest ranking ever. Some 108,000 copies were sold in the first week. Fans needed just $12 to buy the Walmart-only release, which consists of one disc with 11 new songs, another disc with re-recorded hits and a DVD. KISS is also on the road at a U.S. venue near you, and it is even being considered for entry in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame next year. Not bad for a band that launched a yearlong farewell tour in 2000 to cap a career that placed aggressive marketing of merchandise to its loyal fans in the "KISS Army" ahead of musical acumen. Its current tour is designed as an homage to its 1975 live breakthrough "Alive!" Only one new song is thrown in, the first single "Modern Day Delilah." "Nobody wants to hear new songs that they don't know," Stanley says. "It just doesn't make any sense." His dismissive attitude is surprising given that he produced the new album himself for the first time, and wrote or co-wrote nine of the tracks. Many of the songs -- celebrations of what Stanley calls "freedom, love of life, the value of friendship" -- are fist-pumping anthems that would seem natural contenders for big stadium or arena shows. He tantalizingly acknowledges as much. "We played those songs during sound checks. They sound every bit as good as anything else. They have the soul," he said. The new song "Stand," which Simmons and Stanley wrote together, is a tribute to their friendship, sure to bring tears to the eyes of emotional fans. "The idea that we shouldn't revel in the idea of camaraderie or teamwork or what people can accomplish together is silly," Stanley said. "What we hope for in life is companionship, people we care about. It's timeless." Another of their odes to teamwork, "All For The Glory," is sung by 51-year-old drummer Eric Singer, who adopts the stage persona originated by his ousted predecessor Peter Criss. Many fans long for the return of the original lineup, which featured Criss and guitarist Ace Frehley, who was replaced by long-time KISS sidekick Tommy Thayer, 48. Not going to happen, says Stanley, who says they were not team players. Frehley, 58, left the band for a second time in 2002, and just celebrated three years' sobriety. He released a solo album last month. Criss, 63, who had three stints in the band, was terminated in 2004. Stanley has not spoken to him since. "It's so great to have a band of guys who all love the band, and all want to do what's best for the band, as opposed to further themselves at the band's expense," Stanley said. "Anybody who would kid themselves into believing that 'Sonic Boom' could have been made by any four other members is out of their mind."
Encore: And perhaps that's exactly as it should be. Great songs? Check. Dazzling stage show? Check. Packed house? Check. Gene Simmons and Paul Stanley flying around the arena? Check. A good time? Most definitely a check. But KISS in 2009 is not your father's KISS, and even if you're only a 30- or 40-something, not the KISS you saw bump and grind its way through the '70s, '80s and '90s with a fixation on extremely loud amps, sex, sex and sex and a lock-up-your-daughters mentality. Perhaps it's because Simmons and Stanley are now family men themselves, or perhaps it's because they see all of those parents in the crowd hoisting their kids on their shoulders to get a better look at them. Whatever the reason, KISS gets it. The band knows its age, knows its audience, and knows what parts of it show to leave behind (lots of f-bombs, tales of sex-capades and onstage strippers) and what to keep (glitzy guitars that shoot rockets, plenty of pyro and a big, bright KISS logo.) And, of course, they still know how to rock and roll. The band opened its set with a fiery rendition of "Deuce" which featured the tried-and-tested choreographed moves of Simmons, Stanley and guitarist Tommy Thayer. The group has been swaying in unison to this song for 35 years, and it still works brilliantly. "Strutter" was next, followed by a jammy performance of "Let Me Go, Rock N' Roll," during which Thayer stepped up for notice with some particularly torrid riffs. Most of the set featured songs from the band's first three albums and tunes such as "Hotter Than Hell," "Parasite," "She," and the underrated nugget "Got To Choose" displayed the group?s ongoing gift to combine gritty grooves with hefty hooks. Proof that this ability remains intact? A churning performance of "Modern Day Delilah," from the band's new CD "Sonic Boom." The riff is so cool it's sick, and playing a song so vibrant and new seemed to energize the band, which released its first album 35 years ago. In addition to playing great, KISS still looks great. The band's new stage costumes combine elements of its older classic designs with a nice touch of the new, and with everybody in the band still in lean and mean physical shape, KISS in 2009 doesn't look much different than it did in 1979. Considering the group's emphasis on the visual, this is a big plus, though not always easy to maintain as Father Time marches on. Props to the pride. Thayer's guitar solo combined a few bars of classical music with some distorted metal riffs, drummer Eric Singer offered a powerful solo during "100,000 Years" and Simmons breathed fire and later spit blood and flew to the rafters of the arena for a pounding performance of "I Love It Loud." Stanley got the crowd singing along with "Black Diamond" and - proving that no one in the band is afraid of heights - the group seemed to be within arm's length of the ceiling's lighting rigs when it rose on elevated platforms during "Rock and Roll All Nite." Confetti rained over the crowd, Stanley smashed his guitar, and all was perfect in the KISS nation. But "Rock and Roll All Nite" was not the show's closer. KISS returned with five more songs. First came a fun performance of "Shout It Out Loud" and then "Lick It Up," during which the band segued into a few bars of The Who's "Won't Get Fooled Again." Simmons then barked and howled through a fast-paced rendition of "Cold Gin," and Stanley flew over the audience - clear across the arena - and sang "Love Gun" on a small platform near the soundboard. The show ended with "Detroit Rock City." KISS isn't as raunchy these days, nor is it 120 decibels loud. Despite having an excellent new CD in stores packed with strong material, the group stuck mostly to the classics on Monday. It is a band apparently trying to give its audience what it wants, though blasting some AC/DC and Led Zeppelin before the show, offering a few more tunes from "Sonic Boom" during the set and projecting a little more sweaty decadence probably would have been OK with most. The abundance of attractive women in the crowd grooving along to the songs revealed that KISS' sex appeal remains, so they should still feel free to strut it if they choose. It's hard to imagine any KISS tour creating the amount of pure energy and excitement that surrounded the 1996/97 "Alive Worldwide" reunion tour, or one with as massive a stage show, but "Alive/35" sees KISS playing as well as ever and still packing them in. Stanley still sings better than most people that have ever stood on a stage, and he and Simmons are still grand rock stars. Monday in Philly? Great songs. Dazzling stage show. Packed house. Gene Simmons and Paul Stanley flying around the arena. Fathers and sons and women in tight blouses. A good time for all. Simply put: A very 2009 KISS concert.
Ace was due to perform at Melbourne's Palace October 19, Sydney's Enmore Theatre on October 20 and Brisbane's The Tivoli on October 21. Ticketholders can hold onto their tickets, which will be valid for the new dates — due to be announced shortly. Alternatively they can seek a refund from their ticketing agency. For more information, visit www.redanttouring.com.
Even before Gene Simmons had a televised reality show, there was Kiss. The band that Simmons co-founded with Paul Stanley 35 years ago has now recorded more than 36 albums, which have sold more than 100 million copies. That would be a dream come true for almost any musician, but seems especially so for Simmons. Almost from the start, the band members all but obliterated their faces with outlandish theatrical makeup and wore space age-style costumes. Hard to imagine now that Simmons' face and those of his band mates are regularly beamed into people's homes via television and the Web, but the mystery of how the rockers looked was a well-kept secret until 1983, when they finally removed the theatrical grease paint. Such theatrical looks and antics didn't go over with critics who mocked the band, but a loyal fan base -- known as The Kiss Army -- arose. In 1975, the band really hit it big with its album "Alive!" and the song "Rock and Roll All Nite." Well, the army is still alive and well, as is the band that's just begun a tour dubbed "Alive 35." Simmons said that fans could expect "new outfits, a brand-new stage and millions more put into it" on the Kiss Alive Tour that promotes the band's first album in 11 years, "Sonic Boom." "That's just the history of Kiss," Simmons said. "Simply put, any band you go to see for the same ticket price, you know Kiss is going to give you tenfold more. That's just a statement of fact." In addition, fans will watch the show on a massive video screen so that even those in the nosebleed sections will have up-close and personal experiences.
Germany: #4 I am positive that the new recruits are just as enthralled with KISS after witnessing them deliver a knock-out punch on the world's greatest stage, and who knows -- they may just get the chance to introduce their kids to a KISS concert for their "KISS ALIVE 50" tour. I don't know if it is the addition of Tommy Thayer on guitar or Eric Singer on drums, but Paul Stanley and Gene Simmons appear revitalized. They seem to be breathing fresh air again, and you would have thought that it could have been 1979 instead of 2009 because the energy they brought to the table last night makes me wonder if the band is drinking out of some kind of fountain of youth. When I was 12 years old, KISS was not cool for my parents or their generation. My parents were not taking me to a KISS concert! But last night, I saw that my generation is now bringing their kids to see the hottest band in the world. Paul said hello to the crowd, blasting into "Let Me Go, Rock and Roll." Eric and Tommy shared the spotlight as their playing was super solid. After the song, Paul told the crowd that he used to drive a cab in New York, and when he was driving people to see Elvis, he was determined to one day play Madison Square Garden with his band. He continued to pay homage to the NY crowd by letting them know that no matter where they might play, New York will always be their home, and "this is 'KISS in KISS Country.'" I was hoping to hear more than a few songs from "Sonic Boom," but the only one they squeezed in between two classics was the new single, the scorching "Modern Day Delilah." I have to tell you there were a lot of fans who knew all the words to this song already. When the band launched into "Rock and Roll All Nite..." I'm telling you folks, I don't care how many times you hear it, and how many times they play it - there is something about this song that just does it for everyone. "Machine guns" sprayed confetti throughout the Garden. The screens showed rabid fans singing along, cheering and just plain smiling. The band exited the stage as the crowd was chanting "We Want Kiss! We Want Kiss!" After about 5 minutes, the band came out together and bowed to the audience. Paul let the crowd know that they will have the "longest encore in the history of music." As they head back to get their instruments, Paul playfully jumped on Gene's back and Gene carried him across the stage. The night ended with the incomparable "Detroit Rock City," and I know the crowd wanted more but they were definitely satisfied with the passion, dedication and effort put into the show by Paul, Gene, Tommy and Eric. KISS came home last night and proved to everyone why they have lasted for 35 years - and I know that the same audience (as well as future recruits) will be there when they come back for their 40th, 45th and 50th. Thank you, gentlemen, for a rocking evening.
Fans of all ages packed all levels of Nassau Coliseum, with both parents and their children sporting the world famous Kiss make up. Starchilds, Spacemen, Catmen, and Space Demons of all ages walked the corridors and waited in line. Kiss is touring behind their first new album in a decade, but the band has never really left the public eye. Gene Simmons' TV show, and merchandising deals almost beyond imagination have kept the Kiss brand a relevant, even household name for years, and new album Sonic Boom has received a warm welcome. On top of that, the aging Kiss Army have recruited many of their kids into the most fanatical fanbase in rock and roll as well. Last night's show kicked off at 9pm with King of the Night Time World, and explosions all over the stage. Giant letters lit up the word K-I-S-S, and the alleged greatest band in the world rocked out amid a pyro-filled stage. Singer Paul Stanley engaged the crowd in between each song, tousling his hair and calling for cheers, as the Friday night crowd sang along to classic Kiss fare such as Hotter Than Hell and C'mon And Love Me. Each member of the band got a chance to solo as well. Smoke filled the stage as bassist Simmons rumbled through a low-end bass solo, and then spit out blood. He then spread his arms, and flew straight up onto the top of the rigging on a wire, where he stayed as the band played the classic sing-along song I Love It Loud. The group wrapped with their most famous song, Rock And Roll All Night, with confetti streaming all over the audience, but the show was far from over. Despite a 16 song setlist, Kiss came back for a staggering five song encore encompassing their remaining hits, such as Shout It Out Loud and Love Gun. Paul flew by high wire out to a platform in the middle of floor to engage the audience one last time, and the group finally finished their show with the anthemic Detroit Rock City. At their heart, Kiss is still a straight forward rock and roll band that easily filled a 21 song setlist with nothing but hits. That Kiss is still alive and touring 35 years after their inception proves the durability of both the music and the band members, and the sold out shows around the country are a testament to the dedication of the Kiss fans as well. Because the truth is, all we really want to do is rock and roll all night and party every day.
Gene Simmons: "First, I have to take you back about 25 years ago. I noticed that musicians kept calling their guitars their 'axes.' They would say, 'I want to play my axe.' I decided that because of my persona, I'd actually build a guitar that looks like an ax. You just need to take one glance to know that this guitar looks so cool. Who doesn't want to have the coolest looking guitar around? Seek and you shall find; ask and you shall receive. I personally created this guitar, approved the electronics, the body type, the design and even the wood. I even went to the trademark office of the U.S. Government and now own the body type of the guitar and the word AxeBass because my guitar looks like an ax." Q: CD "Sonic Boom" is your 45th release. It also marks your first Kiss CD in over a decade. Does that blow your mind that Kiss is still the biggest rock band in the world with old and new fans creating sell-out shows? Your presence is a true phenomenon because you can't get out of Wal-Mart without seeing Kiss now either. Simmons: "It's our 45th release during our 35th year of playing together and releasing albums. We've been touring the world for the last year and now we've come back to the United States. As for our presence, I have 3,000 licensed Kiss products - everything from the upcoming Kiss scooter to Kiss M&Ms and a Kiss Mr. Potato Head. We have corners in Wal-Mart where you can buy T-shirts and everything Kiss. Q: Did you ever think you would see your face on Mr. Potato Head? Simmons: "It makes perfect sense to have a Kiss Mr. Potato Head. Anything that's iconic is us." Q: How does it feel to be on stage now? Simmons: "It's bigger and better because it's great being the champion of the world. I treat music and the stage with the respect it demands. The stage is holy ground. I realize that very few people who walk the planet ever walk a stage. Very few people up there on that stage last or get to come back again. For me, the stage is an electric church." Q: Your fans span the ages from a 14-year-old boy using rock music to cope with life to a 60-year-old woman who just wants to rock out for an evening. How do you explain a Kiss fan? Simmons: "It actually defies all logic because the fans span every age in every country. In fact, there will be a new coffee table book focusing on 30 years of Kiss fans."
The 60-year-old rock-star club is boosting its ranks -- joining this year are Bruce Springsteen, Billy Joel and, maybe most shockingly, Kiss co-founder Gene Simmons. "It means as much as you want to make it seem," Simmons says of age. Along with the three other members of Kiss -- all in full Kiss regalia -- Simmons is waiting this night to go on stage for a sold-out show at Mohegan Sun casino in Connecticut. The dressing rooms are marked off for each member of Kiss, as well as one for "Pyro" -- fire being a classic part of any Kiss show. Not much happens pre-show -- besides the road crew and some hangers-on, the guys of opening act Buckcherry wander about, as does veteran rock manager Doc McGhee. The members of Kiss are nowhere to be seen until they show up in McGhee's room for an interview. "I will tell you that we are playing longer than we have ever played. As you can see, this is not kid stuff. You have to be pretty strong to be able to physically do 2 1/2 hours of rocking the house." While Springsteen's music and persona have allowed for the onset of maturity with songs about the complexities of relationships, Kiss continues to spit blood, breathe fire and shoot rockets out of guitars. The tradition continues with this fall's release of "Sonic Boom," the band's first album of new material in 11 years. So while it may be a jolt when the Boss appears on the cover of AARP magazine, it's even more disconcerting to imagine "the Demon" gracing the same cover. But Simmons -- whose family-life cable TV reality series, "Gene Simmons Family Jewels," has found fans -- is proceeding boldly into his advancing years. He did indeed appear at an AARP event last year, where he told an audience that "60 is the new 20." Theirs is a physically taxing show. "Just try walking around for 2 1/2 hours in these," Simmons says, placing his platform boots onto the coffee table. Even sitting down in them appears to take considerable work. The years of bounding around onstage have taken a toll, in part leading to a couple of hip replacements for the group's other remaining original member, guitarist Paul Stanley, 57. But you won't hear them complaining. "It's not unusual for one of us to be sick, but the last thing we're going to do is go on stage and tell people," Stanley says. "When we go up on the stage, we're supermen." The guys in Kiss work hard, no doubt. They're also proud self-marketers (items for sale at its Web site: Kiss wine, Kiss bingo games, Kiss Mr. Potato Heads -- for a while, you could purchase a $4,500 Kiss Kasket). But even they couldn't have calculated how their costumes would serve them in the long run. The Rolling Stones are a spry bunch onstage, but camera close-ups reveal the years. Kiss members in pancake makeup look, more or less, like Kiss always has. The outlandish get-ups lend themselves to what could prove to be the most innovative business model in music -- the rock band in which age isn't a factor. Stanley says that's the long-term goal. "I don't delude myself into believing that I'm not replaceable," he says. "Should I leave or should Gene leave, hopefully the band would continue." In the 1970s, fans circulated wild tales about the band (" 'Kiss' stands for 'Knights In Satan's Service!' "Gene had a cow tongue surgically grafted onto his own!") that fueled their mystery, as well as parents' fears about letting their kids go to the shows. Judging by the crowd at Mohegan Sun, going to a Kiss show now is an event for the whole family. At the merchandise counter, wearing a Kiss T-shirt shirt ("If it's too loud, you're too old" emblazoned on the back), Bridget Walker of Woodstock, Conn., was helping her 10-year-old son, Christopher, pick out his own concert shirt. Walker, 36, has seen the band "seven or eight times," beginning in the 1980s. She saw the band most recently in Detroit with her 14-year-old daughter. Has the experience changed much over the years? "Not really," she said. "They're older, but aren't we all?"
If you buy all 42 two-CD sets for $1,145, you will get the limited-edition Kiss Alive 35 Kollector's Box and four USB wristbands for free! The box also features original autographs by all members of KISS and certificate of authenticity. The original leather KISS USB wristband contains the audio recording of the show of your choice in highest MP3 quality (320 kBit/s) and KISS bonus multimedia material. Just plug in your wristband to a USB port on your computer and start the embedded KISS multimedia player to listen to your MP3s and enjoy the bonus features. Of course you can copy your MP3s to your computer, your MP3 player, etc. to listen to KISS Alive 35 wherever you want! The wristband can also be used as a standard 1GB USB flash drive. The KISS Alive 35 digipak contains two discs with the complete recording of one concert of your choice in CD quality. USB wristband and two-CD set are available on location at every KISS Alive 35 North American Tour show or online at Concert Online.
DID YOU RUSH OUT THIS MORNING AND BUY THE NEW BEATLES REMASTERS? What did I do this morning? I rushed out and took my son to school, that's what I did. I got my 3-year-old, put him in the car with my 15-year-old and drove my 15-year-old to school. So that was dad's morning, and then doing press for the album for Europe. FOR YEARS AND YEARS, YOU WERE ADAMANT ABOUT NOT DOING A FOLLOW-UP TO "PSYCHO CIRCUS." WHAT CHANGED? I think the band has become so, so strong live, with the lineup that's been stable for quite a while. I thought we had a great album in us. The only road block was my producing it. I wasn't interested in making another KISS album that was going to be confused, diffused or unfocused. It's very hard to be in the studio with 4 guys who have their own sense of what we should be doing and oftentimes unfortunately in the past we've had situations where people were more concerned with having their songs on the album rather than having the best songs on the album. Or dealing with lawyers when we should have been dealing with band members. It was not productive. There have been times in the past where outside songwriters have been involved, which allows some people to do less work, and perhaps for the band to lose part of its own identity and take on someone else's interpretation of who you are. First and foremost, I had to produce the album and that was agreed to pretty much immediately. Everyone was very gung-ho for that. It was very smooth sailing from there. I started thinking during the big run we did through Europe -- I think we did 30 shows in 7 weeks and played to about 400,000 people -- I began thinking we have a great album in us but somebody has to harness it. ARE THERE DIPLOMATIC SKILLS INVOLVED IN TELLING GENE TO MOVE OVER SO THAT YOU CAN TAKE CONTROL? No. Gene and I have a terrific relationship and have for 40 years. The length of time speaks for itself. Whenever we've disagreed it's always been with the best interest of the band usually at the center. He certainly went along with it because he saw that I felt strongly about it. As time moved on quite quickly, I think he was a bit surprised at how productive a decision it was. I don't think we've ever had more fun, according to everybody in the band, working together making an album. Everybody was focused on making a great album, and somebody just had to be there to, every once in a while, remind everybody who we are and what we are, and not stray from that. I think in the studio democracy is very over-rated. I THINK IN A BAND SITUATION DEMOCRACY IS OVER-RATED It's certainly over-rated when you're dealing with people who are delusional in terms of what their contributions or abilities are. Thankfully we have a band where everybody is very focused on what's best for the band. But somebody needs to have final say, somebody needs to corral everything. It worked terrifically. That's why there's 11 songs on the album and there's no filler. Filler usually means somebody twisted your arm into putting something on the album that didn't belong there. There were no quotas on this album for songwriting, and it worked terrifically. So far, universally, the critics' take on the album is pretty spectacular. THAT THROWS OFF THE WHOLE KISS PARADIGM OF THE BAND VS. THE CRITICS! Yeah, it's great to believe in what you're doing because then no matter what happens you have at least one fan. But it's terrific when you do something just because you believe in it and then other people agree. It's like Christmas twice. It's very, very rewarding. We knew we were doing something very special and great, and it's great to have the same sentiment echoed by critics. The last thing I wanted to do was make a retro album. I didn't want to make an album that somebody would mistake for an album from 35 years ago. But we wanted to capture the excitement, the vitality, the commitment to the music that once was there and certainly is there now. It would be insane for anybody to think we could have made this album with any other lineup. This is the band at its best. WHAT DID YOU LEARN FROM WORKING OVER THE YEARS WITH PRODUCERS LIKE BRUCE FAIRBAIRN AND BOB EZRIN AND EDDIE KRAMER? I think in the best scenario the pupil becomes the teacher. Certainly every producer we worked with, they weren't all on equal footing. But I don't believe you can do this as long as I have and not come away with some concept of what's right and wrong, or good and bad. WHICH BEGS THE QUESTION WHY DIDN'T YOU DO THIS A LONG TIME AGO? I always believe that things happen when the time is right. Again, you can't underemphasize the lineup. The four of us made this album, and no one else could have made this album. We certainly couldn't have made it years ago. And Psycho Circus honestly was a valiant attempt to make an album where there was pretty much no band. There was Gene and myself and attorneys phoning in, and people making demands with what they wanted, to come to the studio. It was like going into the ring with one arm tied behind your back. We did the best we could, but that was probably part of what soured us all on the idea of doing it again. But with this lineup, it was just a matter of direction and ground rules. It was effortless. All of us would agree it was the most fun and easiest time we've either had. We were either writing, rehearsing or recording. The whole recording process took us I think 6 weeks. DID YOU KEEP OFFICE HOURS IN THE STUDIO? It's a good way to work. This idea of waiting for inspiration is highly overrated. I learned the discipline of being creative on demand about 25 years ago when our business manager at the time said, 'You need to do a new KISS album.' And I said, 'But I'm not feeling inspired.' And he said, 'I'll show you your bills. You'll get inspired.' It was a good lesson. If you're not inspired every day, you probably are not living the right life, or you should go back to sleep. THIS IS THE FIRST RECORD WITH 5 SIMMONS-STANLEY CO-WRITES (INCLUDING 2 WITH THE OTHER GUYS) PLUS NO OUTSIDE SONGWRITERS? It was terrific. I was very adamant that for this album to be what it needed to be, Gene and I had to write together. He was hesitant, and I think it's because we both have had such a long time of basically doing things our way, which means doing things apart, and that doesn't necessarily yield the best results. What it yields is what the individual may want, but it's not necessarily for the better of the band. As soon as we started writing together that magic is there. But again it was about making a great album, not about furthering your ambition as an individual. WHEN YOU SAY WRITING TOGETHER, YOU MEAN SITTING ACROSS FROM EACH OTHER LIKE WE ARE NOW, HOLDING GUITARS? Totally, totally, absolutely. Sitting like this. And it seemed like yesterday we had done it. It was either Gene and myself, Gene, Tommy and me, me and Tommy, Tommy and Gene. It was done like this, sitting with guitars. That's also why the music itself has such honesty because it's not a studio creation. Once we wrote it and rehearsed it we went in and recorded it, virtually live, all of us just like this looking at each other playing. That's been lacking and lacks with a lot of bands for a long time. AS A PRODUCER, WERE YOU TOO DEFERENTIAL TO GENE? That's funny, because Eric became worried when on a few tracks we had to do a third take. Almost the whole album was two takes, between first and second take. And the few songs that worried Eric were because we had to do a third and it was just kind of like as a safety. One has to remember that music we grew up loving was not made under a microscope. The music we grew up loving was made by people sweating and facing each other and playing. And not always perfectly. What made some of that Stax/Volt or Motown or James Brown or Led Zeppelin or Beatles music so brilliant is the vitality and the fact that it's not perfect. The idea of creating music that you look at on a computer screen to see if it's good is insane. That's what we avoided on the album. The tenth take wouldn't be better than the second. If anything, it might be worse. Technically could it be better? Possibly. Would it be what we captured? No, we would have lost it. AS A PAUL STANLEY PRODUCTION IS THIS ALBUM YOUR BABY? Umm, that doesn't do justice to everyone else. This is a KISS album in the best sense of the word and the classic sense of the word. I certainly produced it, picked the songs, had final say. But I'm far from a one-man-band. I want credit where credit's due, but I don't want credit that should be someone else's. WHAT HAD YOU BEEN LISTENING TO ON YOUR IPOD WHEN YOU STARTED THE WRITING AND RECORDING PROCESS? I've never gotten far from the things I love, which is the early KISS stuff and the early KISS stuff was, I guess, spurred by the Beatles, the Who, Led Zeppelin -- the staples. My writing and Gene's writing, when we focus in a certain direction, we're more Brill Building than anything else. When I was 15 I was knocking on the doors of the Brill Building playing songs. If it's not good on one guitar, one piano it's not good. You can arrange it all you want, but it will only get better if it starts off great. It's like, Don't bore us, get to the chorus. There is a format to writing and there is a formula. My influences are classic, whether it's Lennon-McCartney, Goffin-King, Mann-Weil, Ellie Greenwich and Jeff Barry. Can you top that? You can't. So that's where I come from. I THOUGHT I HEARD A PEARL JAM/"EVEN FLOW" INFLUENCE ON "MODERN DAY DELILAH" Delilah's actually close, at least for me, when I came up with the riff, the spirit was more "I Want You" -- early KISS. There are only so many notes in a scale. THAT'S WHAT ANGUS YOUNG SAYS TO ME! And what else should he say? "Thank you." Angus knows when you do something well, why stray? I'm always thrilled when I hear a great AC/DC song. I know it immediately. Whether it sounds like another one, that's great. That was a great song too. SPEAKING OF CAROLE KING, IT SEEMS LIKE THE LYRICS OF "STAND" ARE REMINISCENT OF "YOU'VE GOT A FRIEND" That's interesting. Somebody asked today if it was kind of a tribute to Gene's and my friendship. You can read anything into it. Some people who knock some of the KISS philosophy as corny tend to be people who I see as bitter. The idea that we shouldn't revel in the idea of camaraderie or teamwork or what people can accomplish together is silly. It's the team that wins. What we hope for in life is companionship, people we care about. It's timeless. YOU SHOULD CELEBRATE YOUR FRIENDSHIP. HOW MANY GUYS OF YOUR AGE ARE FRIENDS WITH GUYS THEY'VE KNOWN FOR 40 YEARS? Yeah. As I said at his 60th birthday last week: Shannon and I are very similar. We both have these long relationships with you, neither one of us are married to you, and thankfully I don't have to see you naked! But things we sing about -- freedom, love of life, the value of friendship -- if that's corny, then I stand by it. HOW HAS YOUR RELATIONSHIP EVOLVED OVER THE YEARS? HAVE THERE BEEN TIMES WHERE YOU HAVEN'T SPOKEN FOR LONG PERIODS? Sure. And always knowing that neither one of us was going to go away. We get pissed off at each for all kinds of reasons, and nobody ever had the thought of not staying together. But I think the key to a good friendship is knowing the limitations and knowing what you can expect and not. Gene and I trust each other. I think we always know that anything we believe or any point of view is heartfelt. It's sincere and comes from the right place, even if it's misguided -- like his sometimes his! IF YOU LOOK AT PEOPLE IN OTHER BANDS, LIKE THE WHO, DALTREY AND TOWNSHEND ARE NOT FRIENDS. THEY DON'T HANG OUT One of the things we have in common is a sense of work ethic. Hard work. And honesty with each other. We want very different things from life, I think that's fairly apparent. Gene literally lives 2 minutes from here. I've probably been to Gene's house 4 times in the last 10 years. Just because, just because. DO YOU WATCH HIS TV SHOW? I've seen it a few times. It's good entertainment. If you're asking me if it's "reality" -- it's fun to watch, and people enjoy it. More importantly, he enjoys it. He's blessed, as both of us are, that we can do what we love doing. The fact that outside of KISS it's completely different what we both pursue, is fine. HE IS IN THE LIMELIGHT MORE THAN YOU ARE. DID YOU EVER FEEL AT POINTS THAT HE'S GETTING TOO MUCH AND YOU SHOULD BE GETTING SOME MORE? Oh yeah. And at some point I just said, That's more draining than anything else. It's a drain on me to wrestle for a spotlight. Find your own spotlight. Maybe because he's an only child he's much more apt to use "I" or "me" than "we." I tend not to be that way. As I said, I threw his birthday party last week. We're very close as family, You can love your brother and not want to see him all the time. YOU HAVE DIFFERENT BACKGROUNDS TOO. YOU HAVE A LIBERAL MIDDLE-CLASS BACKGROUND, WHILE HE WAS RAISED IN POVERTY SHARING THE BED WITH HIS MOTHER It sounds good. When I met him he certainly wasn't sharing his bed with his mother. He was living in a nicer place than I did. Was it George Orwell who said "the autobiography is the most outrageous form of fiction"? When I met Gene he was living in quite a nice place. HIS PARENTS WERE REFUGEES- My mom was born in Berlin and fled with her family and left everything behind and fled to Amsterdam and came to the States, and my dad's family came from Poland. In that way, we actually have more similarities. It's a Jewish immigrant-based family. Who had more income? I believe he did. I think what was instilled in both of us was a work ethic, that you work hard and hard work pays off. ARE YOU A NEO-CON? Umm, I think that there's a certain amount of idealism you have as a youngster that perhaps you grow out of. Idealism tends to lead to realism. What you might believe in an idyllic situation as you grow older you realize doesn't hold weight in the real world. It's almost like those bumper stickers I see people have that say "War is not the answer." And I go, Yeah tell it to the guy who's shooting at me! OK, war is not the answer, I'll go along with it. There's a certain practical aspect to life that only hits you as you get older. As a kid, as a teenager, I was a big believer in socialism, the idea that we should all share equally. Then I realized the person who wants to share the most is the one who has the least. WHY HAS KISS NEVER REALLY TOUCHED ON SOCIO-ECONOMIC OR POLITICAL ISSUES? There's nothing more embarrassing than seeing a celebrity who thinks that they got an IQ transplant with their fame. There's nothing more embarrassing than somebody standing on a soap box talking about things they know very little about. I don't want any part of that, and I don't want the band to have any part of that. BUT YOU'RE NOT STUPID. YOU COULD WRITE SOMETHING FAIRLY ELOQUENT Yeah, I think I've shown myself to be not stupid. But I'm smart enough to know where to draw the line. There's an old Chinese saying, "It's better to keep one's mouth closed and be thought a fool than to open it and remove all doubt." I don't want to speak about things that I don't really think I'm qualified to. I don't want to be the guy that I see on TV who makes me uncomfortable. The actor or the musician, there are very, very few of them who really are qualified or know enough to be talking about the things they do. I've always shied away from that, and don't want the band to do things like that. Everybody needs to find their own way. SO "NEVER ENOUGH" SEEMS A FAIRLY ACCURATE REPRESENTATION OF YOUR VIEW ON LIFE Give me everything, I define myself by the challenges I take on. Throw 'em my way. Life's for living, so whether I do Phantom of the Opera, or I paint, or I do music, or I do a duet with Sarah Brightman, that's what makes life terrific. My children, my wife, my friends, life can be spectacular. It's never enough, just more. HAVE THERE BEEN TIMES WHEN YOU'VE NEVER FOLLOWED YOUR INSTINCTS AND REGRETTED IT? Sure. I think when you follow your instincts, even if you fail, you will always feel better than if you don't. I think that oftentimes if you try to second-guess somebody else and you fail you kick yourself. If I do what I love, I've got one fan. WITH THE GENE SONGS ON THIS RECORD, LIKE "RUSSIAN ROULETTE," DO YOU COMPETE WITH EACH OTHER TO UP THE ANTE, MAKE THEM MORE LASCIVIOUS? No! That's more his thing -- no pun intended -- his tongue-in-cheek, lascivious point of view. That's in his blood. Maybe my job was to make sure it came out, was to make sure it was there, and classic. ON THE SIMMONS-STANLEY COMPOSITIONS, WAS THERE A DIVIDE BETWEEN THE MUSIC AND THE LYRICS? Oh gosh no. There never has been. It's whatever we throw into the mix that works. HOW MANY DID NOT MAKE THE CUT? I think one. There was no reason to write as an exercise. If you start writing and something doesn't sound good, stop. BUT IF YOU SPENT ANOTHER 5 MINUTES ON IT, IT MIGHT TURN INTO THE NEXT NUMBER ONE HIT Egh. So far so good. WAS "ALL FOR THE GLORY" SUNG BY EVERYONE AND YOU WENT WITH ERIC'S VERSION? No, that song was written for Eric. We didn't want an obligatory throwaway song for the drummer to sing, or a rehash of something else we had done. "All For The Glory" was a great song to showcase Eric's voice, and another song about the team: We're all for one. We truly are. This is the band in every classic sense. It's 4 members and 4 distinct personalities all working for the betterment of the band. WHERE DOES KISS FIT IN, IN THE MUSICAL LANDSCAPE? I don't know. It's not a question for me to answer. It's a question for others to answer. BUT YOU MUST LISTEN TO THE RADIO? I don't know how relevant. There's certainly stations that specialize in different kinds of music, so wherever it falls or doesn't fall is OK. We made a career of rarely having hit songs. If that's the criteria for radio, then we're not designing anything to meet that. FOR MANY HERITAGE ACTS, THE TOURING IS CLEARLY WHERE THE FOCUS IS AND THE ALBUM IS OFTEN AN AFTER-THOUGHT. This tour is beginning as the continuation of the Alive 35 tour, which played Europe, South America, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, celebrating KISS Alive. But at this point it will, I guess, segue or morph into a KISS Alive/Sonic Boom tour. But initially we have to wait for the album to be out. When people talk about classic rock or classic bands, the reason those bands do so well is because they're great at what they do. You don't learn to become a great live act by having one multiplatinum album. The reason people buy tickets to see bands that have been around a while is because they know they're gonna get their money's worth. That's not a sure thing, that's a pretty big gamble when you're going to see some new band. At this point it's become a positive to be a ... classic rock band. IS IT A TRAP, THOUGH? A BAND THAT CONSIDERS ITSELF VITAL MIGHT WANT TO PLAY MORE SONGS OFF THE NEW ALBUM, BUT FANS JUST WANT TO HEAR THE HITS There'd be no reason to play more than 3 or 4 new songs unless it was warranted. When you've been around as long as we have the biggest challenge in putting together a set list is what to leave out. We've got too many songs that are well known, and it really comes down to: We only have so long to play and what can we give up. BUT AS ARTISTS WOULDN'T YOU RATHER TEST YOURSELVES AND PLAY THE NEW MATERIAL? Nobody wants to hear new songs that they don't know. When, say, "Love Gun" was out they were coming to hear "Love Gun" because it was a hit album. Our philosophy has never changed. Even in those days, we never played unknown songs. It just doesn't make any sense. Nor would we rearrange a song to do it in a version that nobody would recognize. If I had ever gone to see Led Zeppelin and they came out and played "Whole Lotta Love" as a reggae tune, it would have pissed me off. When a band gets bored with what they're doing then the audience suffers. I love every song we play and they deserve to be played properly. I SAW YOU AT A PRINCE SHOW AT THE STAPLES CENTER. HE DOES MIX THE OLD AND THE NEW AND REARRANGE HIS SONGS QUITE A LOT But for the most part the reason everybody came to see Prince that time, because I had seen him in the past at the Kodak, and that was not a time when he could have been filling Staples. The reason everybody was going to see him was because it was basically a hits tour. He went out there to reclaim all those great songs that people knew him for. WOULD YOU PLAY STUFF OFF ANIMALIZE OR ASYLUM? We do. We do. Even on the Alive 35 tour, "KISS Alive" made up the body of the show and then the encores were "Detroit Rock City," "Lick It Up," "I Love It Loud" ... It was all the tunes that weren't from the "KISS Alive" period. There's some great tunes there. "I Was Made For Lovin You" ... EVERYONE KNOWS THOSE. BUT WOULD YOU GO DEEP, DEEP INTO THE CATALOG AND PLAY OBSCURE STUFF? I'm a big believer that the reason certain songs are obscure is because they deserve to be. That's why they're obscure. They're obscure because the general public didn't embrace them. I remember going to see the Stones one night where the big draw was that they were playing the more obscure stuff. You sat there and went, I kinda know why this stuff's obscure. Let me hear "Honky Tonk Women," let me hear "Jumpin' Jack Flash." Let me hear "Start Me Up." Let me hear the stuff I wanna hear. This is the stuff that I skipped over on the album, why would I wanna pay to hear it now? BECAUSE EVERY BAND HAS THEIR HARDCORE FANS WHO LIVE AND BREATHE THEIR HEROES NIGHT AND DAY AND THEY MIGHT HAVE HAPPEN TO WORSHIP "CRAZY NIGHTS" OR SOMETHING That's terrific, but the general public -- the mass -- is who we have to try to satisfy. Very funny, I saw Brian May last year, we were doing a show. And his first question was, "Are you gonna play Crazy Nights? That's my favorite song." Everybody has their own take on things. Interestingly enough, "Crazy Nights" was a top-five single in England. If there is a die-hard following that would love to hear the obscure songs, that's terrific but the overall masses don't. We'll have people say, Play something from "The Elder." And I'll go, So you're the one who bought it. A LOT OF THESE SONGS SHOULD BE PLAYED LIVE. WHEN I HEAR "STAND," I KNOW EVERYONE'S GOING TO GO CRAZY We played those songs during soundchecks. They sound every bit as good as anything else. They have the soul. HOW MANY OF THE NEW SONGS WILL YOU PLAY ON THE TOUR? ... We'll play "Modern Day Delilah" because that's on the radio. AND THAT'S IT? That's it. Again, what do we take out? C'mon and Love Me? Love Gun? Shout It Out Loud? God of Thunder? Firehouse? Deuce? Strutter? What do we take out? IT MUST BE TOUGH TO BE IN YOUR POSITION! As long as I can smile about it. IS THERE A THEMATIC OR LYRICAL THREAD TO THIS ALBUM? The only concept that binds the album is a point of view. Back to that KISS philosophy, and also a reasserting or restating the personalities within the band. HAVE YOU HEARD ANY FEEDBACK FROM ACE OR PETER? I haven't called to ask ... I spoke to Ace about 2 years ago, a year and a half ago. Peter, I haven't spoken to since I told him that he wouldn't be rejoining us (in 2004). That's quite a while ago. HAVE EITHER OF THOSE GUYS EXPRESSED ANY REGRETS? The problem has always been that if you don't learn from your mistakes, you repeat them. It's interesting to have someone come back into the band and say. "I'm so thankful for a second chance. I'll never do that again." And then do it again. I guess that's human nature, You can tell that person, you can remind them of what they said, and it falls on deaf ears. In Ace's case, I'm just glad he's alive. He's celebrating sobriety. That's way more important than music. He's alive, and supposedly healthy and happy. DO YOU RESENT THAT THEY WERE MILLSTONES AROUND KISS' NECK? The band never could have been what it was without them. BUT THEY OUTLIVED THEIR USEFULNESS? I don't think they outlived their usefulness as much as I think people became delusional about what their contribution was or should be. Or what it entitled them to. This band couldn't be here today had it not been for the 4 original guys. That was the template and the foundation for everything that came after it. The problem was a cancer that just continued to grow from the very beginning. WILL TOMMY AND ERIC BE THERE UNTIL THE BITTER END? I sure hope so. It's so great to have a band of guys who all love the band, and all want to do what's best for the band, as opposed to further themselves at the band's expense. The bigger the band is the bigger you are. And the better you are the bigger the band is. I want those guys to get as much spotlight, as much attention, as possible. It makes the band bigger and they deserve it. There's a real healthy relationship in the band, refreshingly so, and anybody who would kid themselves into believing that "Sonic Boom" could have been made by any 4 other members is out of their mind. WHAT IS THE LONG-TERM PLAN FOR KISS? We'll do the States through December, then decide whether we want to do any more shows, how long we want to do the States. Again, we're in that enviable position: It's a matter of where we want to go. We'll do Europe. South America is always open, as is Australia and New Zealand. The world is a big place but it's all reachable by jet. ARE THERE ANY PLACES YOU HAVEN'T PLAYED THAT YOU'D LIKE TO? We were in Eastern bloc countries which we've never been in before. I'd love to get to Singapore, I'd love to get to China. We've done Russia, which was interesting. All good, all fun. HAVE YOU DONE ISRAEL? No we haven't. I could see us going over there and being inducted into the army! They'll take my guitar and give me a gun. DO YOU GET THE SAME EXCITEMENT FROM THIS ALBUM AS YOU DO FROM, SAY, DESTROYER? My perspective is different and my life is different. The band is a piece of a terrific puzzle of my life. What satisfies me and excites me now is different than then. I get much more self-satisfaction out of what I do, and everything else is a bonus. I think back then certainly the idea was how many will we sell? How big a success will it be? The bigger your life becomes in terms of content, the less important those externals become. I'm thrilled with the album, anything else is a bonus. Back then, I think, I would sit in anticipation of what the album would sell. I already won: We made the album. ABOUT YOUR ARTWORK, YOU PAINT ON COMMISSION. HOW DOES THAT WORK? I do portraits for commissions .... through the gallery chain Wentworth Gallery, which shows my work. I tend to do a show a month. If any of the patrons or people who come there are interested in a portrait -- whether it's a portrait of me and them or their wives and their kids -- I'll do thos THEY'LL SEND IN A PHOTO? Yeah. Or we'll get a photo taken. Basically the same way Warhol did it. Basically that was a Polaroid and that was projected onto an acetate, and that would be projected onto a canvas he would paint, and then silk-screen on top of it. That was the process that he used and Peter Max uses. Most of the portraits are done using that technique. All the other pieces are more or less stream-of-consciousness. I go in and purge. So it's stream of consciousness using color and texture as opposed to words. I have to say the the success of it's staggering. There are large and small pieces, and there are also giclees, which is a high-res scan on canvas, and then brushstrokes are added. You can basically put that next to any original and it will hold its own. DOES YOUR DAD GET A DISCOUNT? (Paul motions to an unclaimed portrait of his father.) He wouldn't take that for free! What am I gonna do? My philosophy has been whether you live in a van or a villa, art's a good thing. The great thing about giclees as opposed to what people used to buy, looked like they were torn out of a magazine. A print looked like a print on paper, and now they're virtually indistinguishable from the original. Look, nobody's gonna deny that the success is helped by my notoriety or my standing but again your fame will get your foot in a door, but people are free to slam the door on your foot. It will only get you so far. People aren't going to spend hard-earned money, more than likely, on something that they don't love. Serious collectors buy some of the works, but there are people coming to galleries who've never been in a gallery, because they've been intimidated. And that's usually the work of critics, because a critic wants you to believe that your opinion is only valid if it's educated. That's a brilliant point of view for a critic because it keeps them on salary ... The more people who have your work, the more popular you are. Why is that a sin? ... I found early on that I was never gonna be the starving artist. If validity comes from starving, I guess I have to forsake it. WHEN YOUR PURGE YOUR SOUL ON THE CANVAS, DOES THAT TRIGGER ANOTHER PART OF YOUR BRAIN WHERE YOU ARE THINKING LYRICALLY? No. The beauty of art, for me, is that there really are no rules. The boundary is the edge of the canvas. Songwriting has much more structure. Painting is purely emotional.
In talking with Stanley, it becomes clear that the passage of time has brought a wealth of subjects to consider. There's the new KISS CD, for example, titled Sonic Boom. But before discussing that, Stanley dwells on the approaching close of elder super-arenas such as the Spectrum, where KISS set many a night aflame. "When I was a kid, those arenas are what I dreamed of playing," he says. Stanley also jokes about not caring that KISS - never a critics' darling - is finally being considered for entry into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. "KISS' hall was the 80 million people buying our albums," he says. "That said, we've had hard-core fans that fought long and hard to get us in, and if we do get in, we're gratified for them." Stanley produced Sonic Boom alone ("Democracy is overrated. Besides, someone has to lead the charge") and cowrote this, the band's first new album in 11 years, with longtime partner Simmons. Both things stem from having sworn off making new music after the band's first reunion album, 1998's Psycho Circus, turned out to be what Stanley deems disastrous. He ascribes much of that failure to personality issues. "There are missteps to making albums when people see the band as ways of furthering themselves rather than the band," he says, obliquely referring to former band members Ace Frehley and Peter Criss. With newer members Eric Singer and Tommy Thayer firmly entrenched and fully versed in the KISS glam-metal ethos, the band set about to make Sonic Boom sound like classics from the 1970s heyday. " 'Love Gun' was certainly one we looked toward," Stanley says of a KISS-centric reference point. "We don't really care about what's trendy now. Just because you can write different music doesn't mean it belongs on a KISS album. Sonic Boom sounds like what KISS should sound like." KISS and Buckcherry play at 8 p.m. Monday at the Wachovia Center, 3601 S. Broad St. Tickets: $25-$128. Contact: 1-800-298-4200, www.aeglive.com, and www.comcastTIX.com.
Tommy Thayer plays guitar like an ace, or like an Ace, rather. When Ace Frehley quit Kiss for the second time in 2002, Thayer, who had been hired as an assistant to the band, was the obvious choice for a replacement. Thayer had even re-taught Frehley how to play his own parts when the original lineup of the band first reunited in the mid '90s. "It was actually kind of a fun thing," says Thayer, who sports the spaceman look that Frehley popularized in the 70s. "Through the course of these guys' solo careers in the '80s they maybe meandered off into different directions. You know, they didn't play certain things the way they used to... So it was just about reconnecting with the exact way they were doing it before. So I was able to help." Lately Thayer has been able to do a lot more than just help. The newest member of Kiss has multiple writing credits on "Sonic Boom," the band's latest release, which came out Tuesday, and he even sings lead on the song "When Lightning Strikes." "I'm amazed that we've actually went and did a record," says Thayer. "Paul and Gene were so ambivalent about it for years, understandably so... when you're a band like Kiss that's an important historic act, you've got to be careful if you're going to do a studio record. ... By the time we finished recording the record we all looked at each other and thought, 'This is pretty good, this doesn't suck.' You can never tell until you finish it." First Kiss "I was a 13-year-old kid up in Oregon and I used to go to the magazine stand and buy this magazine called Circus magazine. They'd have all these great articles and color pictures of hard rock bands. I saw this band called Kiss and I was just blown away when I saw the pictures because they looked awesome, you know. They had a great image. You know, tons of great hair, big platform boots with leather cool outfits and this makeup and cool guitars and this big stage with all of this pyro going off with Marshall stacks. I was like, 'Wow, that's my kind of band!' It's the ultimate band. That's how I kind of initially got hooked. And then for Christmas I asked for the first Kiss album and my parents got me the first Kiss album for Christmas. And I was forever hooked." Best Kiss "That's a tough one. There's so many great songs. Maybe 'Deuce.' That's the old show-starter from way back when. But you know the new album, I'm really, really proud of that, and I love all those songs. 'Modern Day Delilah' is a lot of fun."
We were all shocked to learn of your recent bout with breast cancer, but so relieved to hear that you are now cancer free. Thank you for sharing this personal matter by posting this important message and alerting everyone to breast cancer awareness and the need for early detection. We're in your corner and wish you continued good health. Paul, Tommy, Eric and Gene (http://www.nationalbreastcancer.org)
As a child, he dressed up as original KISS lead guitarist Ace Frehley for Halloween. A quarter-century later, he replaced Frehley as the band's main ax man. "I've been a fan of KISS since I was 13 years old," Thayer said in a phone interview. "I discovered KISS when their first record came out in 1974. I hadn't even started playing guitar yet. I saw a feature in a magazine called Circus. I saw some live photos of KISS doing a performance, and I thought, 'These guys look menacing!' They had cool guitars and platform heels. I got my first KISS album for Christmas in 1974, and I was on my way. "I dressed up a couple of times, like all kids do," Thayer said. "I actually put on Ace Frehley back then. It's kind of ironic, actually. I used to come home from junior high school and play air guitar to KISS Alive!" Thayer eventually formed a band, Black 'N Blue, and moved to Southern California to hit the Hollywood club scene. In 1985, Black 'N Blue toured with KISS as an opening act. Thayer formed a friendship with Gene Simmons and asked the KISS co-founder to produce Black 'N Blue's next record. But it was during that studio work that Thayer became more involved with KISS itself. He wrote songs, recorded demos, managed tours and produced and edited film and video. When Frehley rejoined the band for the 1996 reunion tour, Thayer re-taught him the licks from the old KISS songs. In 2002, when Frehley left the band again, Thayer was on standby, ready to permanently take over the lead guitar role. Back to the future The new live act is loosely a tribute to the '70s KISS hits, Thayer said. "It's really a combination of all the eras of KISS - the '70s era, which was originally when the band started out, but also bits and pieces from early '80s and late '80s and even stuff from the early '90s," he said. "We've got a whole new stage, new outfits, a lot of new bells and whistles. Another exciting thing about it - the reviews critically, across the board, have been spectacular. In times past, critics haven't been good to KISS, but even the critics are giving it a thumbs up." KISS' stage personas have made it possible for the band to live on, even as membership changes. "It's pretty multigenerational; when the kids see KISS, it's the characters, the music," Thayer said. "Everything is kind of timeless about it, and it seems to keep working." There have even been recent reports that charter KISS members Simmons and Paul Stanley might pick their own stage replacements - perhaps on a reality show - while maintaining creative control of the act. Theoretically, KISS could continue with a hand-picked lineage for generations to come. "Part of what KISS is all about is thinking outside the box," Thayer said. "I suppose it's possible. Someday, that could happen. It would have to be somebody really good, though." Would Thayer recommend that older KISS fans take their children to a KISS show? "Sure. When people first came out in the early '70s, they were wondering, 'What is this?' It was very cutting edge, underground almost. There were all these rumors, and Gene was kind of demonic. But like anything, KISS became more mainstream. It's still very rock 'n' roll and rootsy, in that respect. "But we have all kinds of age groups, from kids to people in their 30s, 40s and 50s. It's good for everybody, good for family and a great show. There's nothing to be afraid of."
Industry sources suggest that Kiss' new Wal-Mart exclusive album, "Sonic Boom," may shift somewhere between 160,000 and 180,000 copies in its first week. If the set sells that much, it will also mark the group's best sales week since Nielsen SoundScan began tracking data in 1991. Up against Kiss is Buble, who is releasing his new album on Oct. 9 to capitalize on his appearance that day on the "Oprah Winfrey Show." Buble's last set -- 2007's "Call Me Irresponsible" -- debuted at No. 2 (with 212,000 copies) before moving to No. 1 the following week. It's hard to believe that Kiss has never reached the top in its long career. All told, the act has notched seven top 10 albums. Its highest charting set is 1998's "Psycho-Circus," which debuted and peaked at No. 3 with 110,000 copies in its first week, according to Nielsen SoundScan. The group's other high-charting sets include 1975's "Alive!" (No. 9), 1977's "Love Gun" (No. 4) and 1992's "Revenge" (No. 6). This week's No. 1 album, Barbra Streisand's "Love Is the Answer," looks like it will slide to either No. 5 or No. 6, depending on how the week shakes out. Other new albums that are on course to debut high on the Billboard 200 next week include Toby Keith's "American Ride," which may sell between 65,000 and 75,000 copies. That should be enough to engineer a No. 3 debut. Right behind Keith is the Backstreet Boys' new studio set, "This Is Us," which could shift between 50,000 and 60,000 copies. Nielsen SoundScan's sales tracking week, as reflected in Billboard's sales charts, runs from Monday through Sunday of each week. Next week's album charts will be revealed on Oct. 14 and will reflect data through the week ending Oct. 11.
Dressed as a mashup of Transformers meets Josie and The Pussycats, KISS transformed the ice shed of the General Motors Centre into a full-on rock 'n' roll bonanza Wednesday night. The concert that was, then wasn't, then was, is now done. Mel Lastman once called in the army to help his city. Our civic fathers and mothers went one further, calling in the KISS Army to help what Macleans magazine called a sad and desperate city. Well, we know better. Oshawa is not down. It's not out. It's merely resting its eyes, waiting for the right reason to get up and get its party on. KISS provided the reason. Gene Simmons, Paul Stanley and the two new guys are custom-made for this town, SHWA Rock City Baby. Get up out of your rocking chair grandma, KISS is in the house. Downtown was filled with men dressed as ladies dressed as men dressed as animals for the glittering glam-rock spectacle. The lineup to get in stretched around the back of the Bell building. If you like the silver codpiece of a 60-year-old man dressed as a Samurai from the 7th circle of Hell, dangling in your face (and clearly you do Oshawa) then this was the ear-bursting, eye-burning rock extravaganza for you. A wall of screens, and a jumbotron stretched across the full width of the Centre and then some. Fireworks, confetti cannons, flames and interplanetary juggernaut rock riffage, a drum solo of strobe light intensity from Eric Singer, a guitar solo that shot explosions from its head by Tommy Thayer, plus a hit list of '70s classic rock was what you got for your ticket, was what you got for winning the contest, for being No. 1, Oshawa. KISS is a band of individuals and each one got his spotlight. Apart from the new kids on the rock solos, we got Demon Gene Simmons in the rafters, like a manic cross between a pterodactyl and Marcel Marceau, and the pursed lips and butt-clenching strut of Starchild Paul Stanley, who rode a half unicyle/half weed-whacker high above the audience to a waiting platform at the back of the ice. Now that, baby, is what you call rock 'n' roll. That's debauchery, that's excess, that's not giving a rodent's rear end about anything. This was Theatre of The Crotch, this was everything your mother warned you about and secretly yearned for. I saw no KISS Army recruiters, but if I had I'd have signed up on the spot and marched away from it all with them. That was SHWA-some!
"KISS has always been and will continue to be all about the fans," said Paul Stanley of KISS. "We couldn't resist the chance to be the first band to grace the iconic M&M'S candies and continue to spread the KISS empire!" The MY M&M'S KISS Blend features four customized packages that includes the iconic faces of band members Gene Simmons, Paul Stanley, Tommy Thayer and Eric Singer. The limited edition KISS Blend will be available starting October 6th exclusively at Walmart locations nationwide, coinciding with the launch of KISS' new album, Sonic Boom, also exclusively available at Walmart. "KISS has some of the most recognizable faces in the world of rock and roll, so it's only natural to put their faces on MY M&M'S," said Jim Cass, vice president and general manager, Mars Direct.
OSHAWA -- Let's just say they have KISSed and made up. And the love affair is stronger than it ever has been. Nothing like a little rock 'n' roll meditation to heal some hard feelings. It's not often the noise is actually louder even weeks before an actual KISS concert. But one lesson in all of this is never mess with "Shwa Rock City." It's not the first time this rock 'n' roll all night and party every day town has made rock history. When the Rolling Stones played this town 30 years ago it was court-ordered. When KISS rocked "the Shwa" last night it was fan-ordered. "I like that," says KISS lead guitarist Tommy Thayer. "That's a pretty good lead-in." And it's true. "Wow, I didn't know that about the Stones," says Thayer. "That's cool." While a judge sentenced Keith Richards of the Stones to play a concert for the blind here for his drug troubles, Oshawa fans scored this massive show by insisting Gene Simmons, Paul Stanley, Eric Singer and Thayer play here as part of their new tour. Twice. First was through having the most votes on a KISS website contest. But when Oshawa was not mentioned on KISS's 2009/10 tour, all hell broke loose. Accusations of being snubbed started to fly and then an irritated Simmons scolded the media for spoiling a surprise. It was all a great storyline, says Thayer: "But we were always going to play Oshawa. That's where our fans are. They are KISS-crazy in Oshawa. Of course we were going to play there." It's in the books now and Mayor John Gray says while Oshawa has forgotten all about the controversy, it will never forget the special night of Oct. 7, 2009. "It's amazing to have a show like this here," says a beaming mayor who met the band before the show. "And the fans of Oshawa got a nice, intimate setting to see them." It was the same kind of buzz on the street as when the Generals won the Memorial Cup. "Oshawa needed some good news," says Jillian Steen, who with pal Tim Crust were painted up in KISS army colours. "I think it has been fantastic." Thayer tells me that on the way up in the plane the band was talking about the importance of the show and there were no ill effects of what they feel was a misunderstanding. He says Gene was in a great mood and excited about the show. When he arrived at General Motors Place at 6:30 p.m., he had a big smile on his face as he pointed at fans. "It's all about the fans," says Thayer. And they are great fans. Loyal and dedicated. Jock Hockley drove in from London, Ont., for his 53rd KISS concert. And he has a tattoo of the band on his arm -- with the signatures of the band members etched in from where they actually signed. Chris Bernst flew in from Vancouver. Thayer gets it because he was a fan himself. He worked in a band called Black and Blue, which opened for KISS, a KISS tribute band and worked for the band on a series of projects offstage. "So for me to be up on the stage is pretty incredible," he says, adding he pinches himself every day. The rowdy and excited crowd of 5,500 chanted: "We want KISS." And they didn't disappoint hitting the stage like demons with King Of The Night Time World followed by Deuce. The Oshawa crowd showed KISS the meaning of appreciation. "This is awesome," said Jeff McRae who waited nine hours for tickets for his better half, Debbie Harris, and sister, Kathleen Demareski, who was celebrating her 50th birthday, For Oshawa that was definitely a memorable evening. But Thayer says for KISS it was, too.
Now 11 years since their last album, the much maligned Psycho Circus, the band returns in full force with Sonic Boom, an album title that is going to make more than a few people think of Spinal Tap. This time around, we find guitarist Tommy Thayer and drummer Eric Singer stepping in for Frehley and Criss. In an attempt to recapture their classic 1970s sound, analogue recording techniques and the use of vintage instruments were employed. Surprisingly, it is bassist Simmons, who hasn't been known to be a powerful songwriter in the band since their glory days, who most successfully captures the classic vibe. In "Yes I Know (Nobody's Perfect)," a track that sounds straight out of 1977, he growls "No no nobody's perfect/but my baby, I come awful close/No no nobody's perfect/But baby it's time to take off your clothes." His other tracks, such as "Hot and Cold" and "I'm An Animal," also combine overtly sexual lyrics with his brand of cartoonish Satanism. On the flip side, many of Stanley's songs sound as if he mistakenly thought the band wanted to recreate the style of music that they released in the early 1980s. Anthemic tunes like "Say Yeah" and the Poison-eque "Never Enough" contain more arena rock hooks and cheesy choruses than any album in the past decade. "Modern Day Delilah," the first single off the album, blends together elements of both decades flawlessly, creating the strongest and hardest rocking track on the album. The replacement of Frehley and Criss has never been a popular move with diehard fans, but Thayer and Singer do a serviceable job in their roles, playing with more strength and agility than the two former members could these days. Thayer, a former guitar tech for Frehley, clearly grew up listening and playing along to Kiss records. He has integrated his former boss' guitar stylings with his own, a factor that clearly aides the mission of creating a vintage sound. He receives writing credits on three tracks and even sings lead vocals on "When the Lightning Strikes." The album, for the most part, is successful. Though the lyrics are highly cliched and the song structures don't reinvent the wheel, listeners still get a hard rocking trek into a world where guitar solos are still important and the cowbell is not a rarity. At this stage in a band's career, it would be unrealistic to expect a stronger effort. It is likely that this will be the last studio recording released by Kiss. Given the band's lethargic pace of recording and the fact that Simmons is now 60, fans might want to consider this the last hurrah, but with Kiss you can never quite tell. This is a band that ended its Farewell Tour back at the turn of the century. Though Sonic Boom is not the strongest effort the band has ever released, it goes above and beyond the expectations of many. B+
Even playing to 6,134 fans within the relatively cozy confines of Oshawa's General Motors Centre, the classic rockers seemed to manage to pull off every extravagant stunt of their reliably over-the-top show. And they didn't miss an opportunity to pay respect to Oshawa, the town that won the right to the concert by pouring votes into an online contest hosted by Kiss. "We've been to Moncton, we've been to Sudbury, we've been to Saskatoon - we've never been to 'Shwa," singer-guitarist Paul Stanley bellowed from the stage, using a popular local nickname for the town that he would repeat again and again. "Tonight, we change all that." With a nearly two-hour performance, the Detroit rockers captivated a grateful crowd with a set drawn mostly from their 1970s output, with a specific focus on their 1974 double-LP breakthrough, "Alive!" While the venue was significantly smaller than the arenas Kiss typically visits, the band showed no signs of having downscaled their show. There were the rising, rotating stages, the confetti streaming from the sky and the relentless pyrotechnics, more plentiful here than the jet-black hair strewn across Stanley's chest. Tongue-wagging bassist Gene Simmons dribbled blood from his mouth and performed menacingly from a platform high above the heads of the audience, while Stanley used pulleys to zip over to a round platform located in the middle of the crowd during "Love Gun." The crowd roared appreciatively with each increasingly flamboyant stunt. "Did you really believe we weren't going to come to see you?" Stanley asked the audience. Oshawa has been a rare destination for major touring acts because it's only a 45-minute drive from Toronto, and because General Motors Centre is the city's largest venue. Longtime fan Jan Pettersson said he could scarcely believe Kiss visited his hometown. "I never thought I'd see a big act like that in Oshawa, so I was very impressed with that," said Pettersson, 40, who previously saw Kiss perform in Stockholm, Sweden in 1984. "It's unbelievable, I'm incredibly happy they came here and that I got the chance to see them. It's definitely history having a band like that here. It'll stick out in my mind for a long time." Stanley told The Canadian Press before the show that the band wasn't planning anything extra for the show - but only because they always give everything they have. "We don't know the word 'extra,"' said the 57-year-old Stanley, who looked remarkably spry as he strutted across the stage (the habitually bare-chested rocker says he keeps in shape with aerobics, hiking and by doing 70 situps before every show). "You know, how much extra can we give? We're Kiss!" Yet, he did seem to make a special effort to pay respect to the fans and certainly relished every opportunity he had to say "'Shwa." "We love all the big cities - we love Toronto, we love Montreal, we love Vancouver," Stanley said. "But it's cities like you that make it all happen." In fact, the show did seem a particular treat for a blue-collar auto town that has been hit hard by the global economic slump. "When the fan contest was first announced, I mobilized the Kiss army in Oshawa and everyone came out, the spirit was unbelievable," said city councillor Robert Lutczyk, who spearheaded the campaign to bring Kiss to town. "A lot of times, it wasn't so much about Kiss. It was about Oshawa winning a contest. So everybody came out." Stanley made reference to economic hard times once during the show, lamenting the "bad news" that was ruling TV, radio and newspapers. But he didn't linger long on the topic. "We are here tonight to escape the world," he said to a roar from the crowd. "We came here tonight to have a good time."
Thousands of music fans and regular folks revelling in the positive vibes turned out to welcome one of the biggest rock bands in the world to a city hungry for good news. "There's bad news all over the country but this is terrific," beamed Joe Bosco, 76, outside the General Motors Centre where the concert took place Wednesday night. As the show started, a giant Google map appeared on the screen and zoomed in on Oshawa. After the second song, guitarist and singer Paul Stanley asked the crowd: "How ya doin', good people of 'shwa? So lemme ask you a question - did you really believe that we weren't coming to see you? No way!" The audience cheered wildly - because it was the concert that almost didn't happen. Ubit McCoff, a 40-year-old engineer from Oshawa, said "Being born and raised in Oshawa, I never thought anything would happen to me and going to the KISS concert was a dream come true." The chilly winds didn't stop fans from arriving hours before show time. "I am going to be the favourite mom in Oshawa tonight!" shrieked Debbie Craig as she scored three last-minute released tickets at the box office. All 5,600 seats had sold out within minutes weeks ago but a block of 20 suddenly opened up as the stage was being set up. "They're huge fans," Craig said of her sons, aged 13 and 15. "Woo hoo!" "For KISS to come here - it's huge," a thrilled Janis Mullins said as her son Liam, 9, had his face painted in trademark black and white KISS makeup under a Dr. Pepper tent across from the GM Centre. Councillor Robert Lutczyk, who spearheaded efforts months ago to get residents voting for a concert, showed up in the morning to bask all day in the glory. "This will put our GM Centre on the map and on the radar screen of every concert promoter," he said. "It's the biggest thing in entertainment since the Rolling Stones played Oshawa 30 years ago." For Jenn Lynch, 13, the thrill factor hit "90 on a scale of 10." Introduced to KISS by her parents at age 6, she celebrated her first concert with a Gene Simmons' makeup job. The occasion prompted Dan Smith, "46 going on 17," to take the day off work as a labourer with Ontario Hydro so he could go shopping at Value Village for a black three-piece suit and pointy-toed boots.The show was Smith's third and 14-year-old son Ozzy's second. Mayor John Gray walked over from city hall in the blustery weather for a sneak preview of the preparations. "This puts us on a par with the big city venues."
Officers arrested and charged the suspect with open and gross lewdness and disorderly person. This is not the first time someone has been accused of urinating on another person during a hard rock/heavy metal concert at TD Banknorth Garden. A former Brewster, Massachusetts police officer pleaded guilty on April 8 in Boston Municipal Court to several charges associated with his actions at a METALLICA concert in January. During the January 18 show at the Garden, Joseph Houston allegedly exposed himself and urinated on a young couple from Connecticut, according to the Suffolk County district attorney's office. He was ejected from the concert, and then refused to leave North Station despite repeated orders to do so by Transit Police, the DA's office said in a statement. Houston was escorted out, only to return, the DA said. He was arrested and charged with trespassing.
TULSA, OK - BOK ARENA - Tue, Dec. 08, 2009 As was demonstrated last year in his keynote at Billboard's Touring Conference, when Simmons deigns to impart his worldview it's a wild ride, and his Billboard Q&A is definitely no exception. Spiced with a series of nearly unprintable (but admittedly funny) jokes, Simmons offers his unique take on merchandising, branding, professionalism and owning our children. What is the biggest myth about Kiss? That there's some grand master plan. That we're brilliant beyond belief, that we're masters of merchandise and all that stuff. That's giving us a lot more credit than we deserve. It's a simple idea. When you love something, and people use the word "passion," you tend to look at every rug and pick it up and see what's under it. For argument's sake, if you're a stamp collector worth your salt, you'll know every minutia about it, you'll spend all the free time you have, above and beyond your job, because you love it. And you'll know every obscure stamp, which date it came from, what condition it's in, what's the marketplace. You'll know about it because you care about it. So everything begins with a tug of the heart. People see this cold business savvy and it starts the other way around. It starts with, "Wow, I'm in Kiss"; everything else is the what-if, could-it-be, what could it be? You start with a dream without limitations. It's only when we wake up that we say, "It's not going to happen, it probably won't." Never listen to people, and believe in your own dreams. My point of view is "Earth," that's not such a cool name for the planet. "Planet Kiss," now you've got something. If every inch of ground is Kiss ground, and the air you breath is Kiss air and the food you eat is Kiss food, then we've got something. Brand everything. And you should pay us for every step along the way. Was there any sort of creative objective when you started? Well, before Kiss there was no template. There was Disney off on the left-hand side, with their cartoons and lifestyle branding. If you were a little kid, your life was filled with Disney, you covered yourself in Disney clothing and wrapped yourself in Disney sheets, and the Disney movies had some kind of Good Housekeeping seal of approval. And over on the right side you have the world of rockers, which is inhabited by morons. There but for the grace of God we'd all be asking the next door neighbor, "Would you like some fries with that?" We never went to school, we never learned to read or write music. We still can't, none of us. [Paul] McCartney to this day cannot write a single shred of music. Nor can [Mick] Jagger or [Jimi] Hendrix if he were alive, and so on. We all do what we do by the seat of our pants, except some of ours are made out of leather and are tighter. Musically was there an objective for Kiss? The template was the Beatles. Kiss always fashioned themselves as the Beatles on steroids, with lots more makeup and higher shoes. The idea was everybody sang, everybody was a star, instead of the Stones kind of model or the Temptations or those kinds of bands where there's one singer and everybody else is in the background. The thing that I loved about the Beatles is they all looked like they came from the same Beatle mother. It was like the perfect band in terms of look, merchandisable, eternal. Except they never trademarked their haircuts or anything much about their faces. Kiss was the first band of any kind to ever trademark their faces. It's in the Library of Congress. Which is why 35 years later there are literally thousands and thousands of things with our faces on them, anything from Kiss M&Ms to Kiss Mr. Potato Heads and Kiss Visa cards. We have Kiss Kondoms and Kiss Kaskets. We'll get you coming, we'll get you goi Why aren't we talking today about merchandise from Wicked Lester, the band that first brought together Kiss' original members? Because Wicked Lester never had the legs, it just didn't have the right spin. Wicked Lester was kind of like the United Nations-you had one of everything in it. You had a Norwegian, an Italian, two Jews and a partridge in a pear tree. It was a Doobie Brothers kind of band, where if you take a look at it there's one of everything, but you can't quite put your finger on what it is. The perfect bands for me were bands that had a sound you could instantly recognize, and you could not take a member of the band and put them in another band. I love U2 and the Stones, but I could take the Edge and stick him in the Kings of Leon and nobody would know. You could take Charlie Watts and stick him in Dave Matthews Band and nobody would know. There's a kind of facelessness to most bands. We wanted an audiovisual band, because as kids we went to see all of our favorite bands because we loved the music. And then we went to see them live and they turned their backs on us and stared at their shoes. It was such a big visual disappointment. So the idea with Kiss was, "Let's put together the band we never saw onstage." Because there was plenty of good music. Every band was making good music. There was lots of great music going on and there still is. And with most of these bands there's either one guy you care about or they're just boring. So the visual elements, including the big productions and the makeup, were always part of the presentation? Everything. A concerted effort was made to explode like a cluster bomb, not just one explosion but every piece of the explosion explodes again. In point of fact, we promoted our own shows, we paid for it, we advertised ourselves, put up our own posters, before anybody did. We had a logo and trademarked it before anybody knew what that was. When we played the Diplomat Hotel [in New York on July 13, 1973] and took over the ballroom, we were second on the bill and we rented out the whole place, paid the headliners the Brats and some other local bands to play. But when we invited people, we just positioned ourselves as "Kiss, 9:30, Masters of Metal," before there was such a thing as "heavy metal." I used the offices of the Puerto Rican Inter-Agency Council, where I was the assistant to the director, and after they left I mailed out a photo and a one-pager and an invitation for everybody in the music business to come down and see us-managers, agents, producers-at the Diplomat Hotel, and they did. Windfall Records, Mountain's label, came down, a few other people, and this guy named Bill Aucoin, who became our manager. When they got there the entire front row was filled with girls wearing black T-shirts with "Kiss" in glitter. [Co-founder/guitarist] Paul [Stanley] and [drummer] Peter [Criss] had stayed up all night the night before and literally glued the shirts and hand-poured glitter on them, and gave the T-shirts out to girls and put them in the front row. You only get the respect you demand. We created our own buzz. So when people came to see us at the Diplomat Hotel, they saw the place was completely sold out-although they weren't there to see us, they were there to see the headliner-but the people we invited didn't know who was the headliner. They came there to see the 9:30 show; the headliner went on at 11. So they saw us and the entire front row was Kiss girls; it was our show. It cost $5 to get in, you saw three bands, we had about 350 people there, it cost $1,000 to rent the place. We probably made two grand. It seems very early on you placed a lot of importance on touring hard. There was no choice, because we weren't the Starland Vocal Band. We didn't do singles. We wrote songs like "Strutter" and "Deuce" and "Black Diamond," and that wasn't a radio staple. "Torn Between Two Lovers" was not Kiss. But your first album recorded on the road, "Alive!" in 1975, got you a lot of traction. The history is pretty well-known. The whole live record thing was started by Kiss. Before Kiss, nobody did live records as a career choice. Then after "Alive!" came "Frampton Comes Alive"; everybody used the "alive" thing, they even used our engineer. And they all did double-albums because we were out of our minds. The first three records kind of floated, though we were huge live. By the third record we were playing Anaheim [Calif.] Stadium and Atlanta Braves Stadium, but we still hadn't sold records because we didn't have singles. This was 1976, and by '77-'79 we were the No. 1 Gallup Poll group in all of North America. No. 2 was the Beatles, No. 3 was the Bee Gees or Led Zeppelin, depending on which year you're talking about. "Kiss mania" is not even a description of it. We owned your children. We owned them. They looked like us, they painted their faces like us, they walked like us, they knew our songs, and they tattooed their bodies. And eventually they had children and they named them after our songs. When did it start to become the Kiss Army? That started in 1975 in Terre Haute, Ind. A guy named Ray Sharkey, I think, was a fan who wanted his local radio station to play Kiss in Terre Haute, but they wouldn't do it because it wasn't the Bee Gees or Pablo Cruz. And he threatened them; he said, "Me and my friends, we call ourselves the Kiss Army. We're going to come down there and surround the station," so the radio station gets nervous and calls the cops. The radio station refuses to play Kiss, the newspapers send over a photographer, the next day a big photo of thousands of fans surrounding this little station, which looks like an outhouse in the middle of a cornfield outside of Terre Haute. [The] headline [was] "Kiss Army Invades Terre Haute," something like that, and there and then the Kiss Army was born. Did you trademark it? Immediately. And 35 years later, the Kiss Army still exists, but it's certainly a volunteer army. Everybody proudly belongs and marches. Jagger or [Jimmy] Page or anybody out there would give their left nut to have Kiss fans. Are you kidding me? What are you going to do, tattoo Michael Jackson on your ass? The army has been amazingly loyal to Kiss, even through lineup changes. We had to [make lineup changes]. We had to, because there's an ethical and moral commitment that we made to ourselves and our fans: We treat the stage as holy ground. This is electric church. And when we get on that stage, our call to arms starts off with "you," our fans, not "our" or "we." "You wanted the best, you got the best, the hottest band in the world, Kiss!" We say our name last, you come first. And the vow we made to ourselves was, "Dear God, if you ever give us the chance, we will never take it for granted, ever, not one single show, at any time. And if any one of us doesn't deserve to be out there, we will kick his ass off that stage." And if you use drugs or alcohol in Kiss, you're out. If you can't respect yourself and your body, how the hell can you respect the band, and especially the fans who put you there in the first place? [Guitarist] Ace [Frehley] and Peter, in the beginning, belonged in the band, and later on they did not. They belonged home so they can save their lives and try to turn their lives around, not onstage. This is not a babysitting service, this is the Olympics and if anybody catches anything in your bloodstream, you should be thrown out on your ass. Your medals should be stripped, you're gone. And [current drummer] Eric Singer and [guitarist] Tommy Thayer are professional, they love it. What did you like about the exclusive Wal-Mart deal with your new "Sonic Boom" album, and why did the band decide to go that way? The world's a different place. I'm not a fan of downloading for free. I don't believe in anything for free. The kids next door that we think are sweet and have freckled faces were never punished for stealing everything. You can literally point to a million people out of work-the truckers that truck the records to the stores, the stores themselves that used to hire people, the gasoline they used, the warehouses-an entire industry is wiped out because some college kid didn't want to pay for songs. And who's to blame? The record industry, for never having a repercussion. If you try to break into my house, I'll shoot your head off. Are you out of your fucking mind? But fans were allowed to break into stuff that people created and simply take it without paying for it, and that is nobody's fault but the record industry. It was lax. Wal-Mart is a real company. We met the Walton people-they're fine upstanding people, we're big fans of them, and they give millions of people jobs and we're all for it. And they're willing to charge for the product. Last time I checked, Kiss is not a charity. I will let you know when I want to give my stuff away for free. I don't want you to determine that. Does it bother you when people say you're just in this for the money? Anybody who simply wants to do it for free should give me any dollar they don't want. They're all full of shit. Everybody lies, but we don't. Of course we want to get paid for what we do, but there's also a tug of the heart, of pride. We created this thing-this ain't the Monkees, baby. We're the mother and we gave birth to Kiss and I'll be damned if anybody's going to tell me what it is, how it walks and how it talks. And do I want to get paid for that? You bet your ass I do. But you still have fun when you get onstage, right? Beyond that. Of course. It's a thrill, an honor and a privilege, but who says you have to enjoy it? That's not a prerequisite. How about treating it like craftsmanship? Whatever you can do, do it well. Most of the people on planet Earth, if they're lucky enough to have a job, they go to a job they probably hate. They go to work and all they want is to get paid at the end of the week. We consider that the salt of the earth. Why is that any less valid than what I do? Forget the thrill of it, you like getting paid. And the better job you do, the more money you make. Even God passes the fucking hat around. You made a memorable point at Billboard's Touring Conference last year about professionalism and being on time for shows. Pride. It's self-respect. For fuck's sake, just do it for yourself. Say what you mean, mean what you say. Shit out the Axl Rose disease in your system, get rid of that. Excuses are for the next guy that winds up in jail and becomes very popular there, becomes somebody's girlfriend. Do you care what critics say? Of course. But that will still never get them laid. They were ugly bastards before who never got laid, and no matter what, they still look like Bob Lefsetz. They shine my shoes. I bury them in my backyard. You guys are just jealous that we get seas of pussy and you get nothing. I go to see movies or a band when somebody that I know says, "I just saw this." I trust his word. Not somebody who gets free tickets who's a failed human being. When it comes to building a career, what do a lot of bands get wrong? They don't listen to Gene Simmons. When you're dishonest with yourself and your fans and sugarcoat everything you say, you're full of shit-you can smell that a mile a way. Be who you are. It's difficult for me to accept someone who's worth $100 million-and I am-who gets up and starts talking about rain forests and whales and acid rain. Shut the fuck up. Play your songs, and if I want information, I'll go to people who are qualified to talk about it. I don't want rock stars talking about the environment in the same way I don't want environmentalists talking about rock. What's your take on the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame? I think it was a good idea, but it's clearly political. It's Boss Tweed, it's the old New York rotten system, where you get 10 guys in the back room who decide who's going to be in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. I want nothing to do with that. It's a sham and those guys mean nothing. You should take a look at the photo of the guys that vote on it. Fucking scary. What would you still like to accomplish with Kiss? There's nothing we can't do. We're developing a Kiss animated show, like a superhero, X-Men kind of show. We have a Las Vegas Kiss show that's being planned. I just came back from Singapore. There's nowhere we can't go and nothing we can't do. This is the weird thing. There's something going on here that even we and I don't pretend to understand. All I know is we are not going to take it for granted. We take it deadly seriously. And we intend to live up to our own legend. We intend not to let the fans down, the fans that have been there for 35 years and are probably in their 50s, some in their 60s, and the new 15-year-old fan who's heard about the legend of Kiss. So many things in life are not real. Santa is not real. Superman is not real. Kiss is real. And we're going to make sure that when you leave that show, your first Kiss show or the 100th, you'll walk away, whether you love the band or not, and say, "That is the best fucking thing I've ever seen on planet Earth." That's a vow we make to ourselves and anybody who's willing to come out there and see us. Billboard video: Backstage at the 2008 Billboard Touring Conference With Gene Simmons
Q. Do you ever get tired of wearing your stage costumes? SIMMONS: No, it's our war paint. Q. Gene, what do your kids [Nick, 20, and Sophie, 17] think of you? SIMMONS: That their dad's cool! He spits fire and throws up blood. Q. Taylor Swift dressed up like you guys on stage recently. Thoughts? STANLEY: She's a phenomenon. It's terrific. We influence so many. Q. Worst idea for merchandise? STANLEY: Unfortunately, the KISS ice cream. It all melted!
With orchestrated rock music featuring incredible guitar work, soaring vocals, and unparalleled musicianship, NLO succeeds in bringing back classic rock for the baby boomers as well as modernizing a beloved genre of rock music. "The Spirit Of Christmas" combines the talents of executive producer and longtime record executive Russ Regan (NEIL DIAMOND, ELTON JOHN and BARRY WHITE) as well as the incredible instrumental abilities of a number of renowned rock musicians. The press has been especially drawn to the emotionally moving NLO experience filmed at Phoenix's Orpheum Theatre. Most recently, the orchestra performed in a laser-light, High-Definition, one-hour live concert featuring many of the performers from "The Spirit of Christmas" recording. This one-hour Christmas special will air on broadcast and satellite television including JCTV, Cornerstone TV, Daystar Network, TCT and NRB networks with potential airings on PBS affiliates as well. Also, in 2009 alone, 500,000 "teaser" sampler discs are being sent out and will be distributed free of charge at gas/convenience stores. Free autographed guitars, t-shirts and drum heads will also be awarded by many mainstream syndicated rock shows. In July 2009, over 25,000 sampler discs were distributed free of charge at Rocklahoma and 15,000 at NASCAR in Louisville, Kentucky. For more information, visit www.myspace.com/northernlightorchestra.
One of the problems with "Psycho Circus" was that the band were trying hard to recreate the past glories of the original line-up, and it kind of fell a little flat. On this album they're under no such pressure, so of course they've nailed it. Opener "Modern Day Delilah" is a good indicator of the sound of the album. It's a great KISS track with a cool vocal from Paul, but it's far from being the best track on the album. Offerings like "Never Enough" and "Yes I Know (Nobody's Perfect)" really evoke the sound of KISS' early years. Gene has described the sound as being "Rock 'N Roll Over" meets "Love Gun," and I have to say he's pretty close on songs like these. "Stand" has a big sing-along chorus that should go down well live, kind of like "God Gave Rock 'N Roll To You" but with more muscle. This one also gives Gene and Paul a chance to sing together. I have to admit that I had some doubts as to whether or not KISS could pull this off. With no new material since 1998, things weren't looking good. But this album is a tremendous return to form. Vocally, Paul gives one hell of a performance, as does everyone else. An unexpected but very welcome triumph.
I have to admit that I was a little unsure whether or not KISS would be able to return to their former glories. Their last album was a decade ago and whilst it had its moments, it certainly didn't recall their glory years. Then after a "farewell" tour that saw the end of the original line-up, two new guys were drafted in to wear the costumes and make-up. But a few years on the road and the new line-up was settled enough to hit the studio. The resulting "Sonic Boom" will hit an unsuspecting public shortly, and truth be told, it's a bit of a monster, a real return to the glory days of the late 70s. Paul Stanley, not surprisingly, agrees wholeheartedly. "This was something we felt we had to do; we were on a mission to state who this band is and remove any doubts about what we're capable of. We didn't want to make a retro album, something that would be confused with the 70s albums, but we wanted to capture the essence, the piss 'n' vinegar at the core of KISS. Over the last few years we've toured America, Europe, we've just come back from South America, and we've shown a lot of people what this band is capable of; we're like a finely sharpened knife. "Initially I wasn't interested in making a new album, not unless I could do it on my own terms. I wanted to produce it, and there were to be no outside writers. In the past we've used people outside of the band and you end up with their interpretation of what KISS is, not your own. Also this needed to be everyone's priority, if not their sole work. And I have to say that being in the studio has never been more fun; we had a great time, we were clear and focused on what we were doing, and there were no egos. In fact there was a real sense of selflessness. "Even Gene, I mean, if you see something about Gene being selfless, it's probably in Ripley's Believe it or Not. But we all pulled together and when we wrote together, the magic was there. In the past Gene and myself have written songs on our own or with outside writers, and really that was just ego, so this time we collaborated with each other, so some were written by Gene and me, or Gene, Tommy and me. It was a lot of fun, the healthiest time I've ever spent in a studio. And it all seemed so effortless; in fact Eric [Singer - drums and cat costume] got worried on one or two songs because we needed as many as 3 takes!" It sounds like the band had a great time. Given the advances in technology over the last few years, I asked Paul if KISS had changed the way they recorded. "No, we were more worried about capturing a feel. We recorded as a band, looking at each other, vintage amps, great guitars and no click track, but then who needs a click track when you have Eric?" The lead track from the album, "Modern Day Delilah," has been out on the Web for some time. I asked Paul what the reaction had been so far. "The reviews have been overwhelmingly good; everyone has been blown away. When we put the album together, we had a six-track teaser for it and we played it to people and they all thought that we'd cherry picked the best tracks, but they were just the first six. The others are just as good; there is no filler on this album." One of my personal favourites is "Never Enough," an upbeat rocker about seizing the day and basically enjoying life. I wondered if this was a personal philosophy. "Absolutely. I love life; I want to live everyday to the full. It's also kind of a statement against all the naysayers; here we are still kicking ass and loving it." While we were on the subject of personal favourites, I had to mention "Stand." "That's about camaraderie, the idea that unity and working together can get through anything. Some people might think that's corny, but I think that there might be a certain bitterness there. We're very proud of what we've done with this record; there was an opportunity to be seized and we did it, but it needed all four members to do it. On 'Psycho Circus' and some other records, they were gallant attempts to keep the band going, but not everyone in the band was on the same page." As usual with a KISS album, the vocals are shared by Gene and Paul, but one song, "All For the Glory," features a vocal by Eric. "Eric is someone I've known for a long time. When I did a solo tour back in 1988, he played drums for me, and then he joined KISS in 1992 and all that time I had no idea he could sing. We were doing the 'Revenge' album and he said to us 'what part do you want me to sing' and we all thought he was joking. But he has a great voice and 'All For the Glory" was written for him to sing. We didn't want to do the 'obligatory drummer' song you know? That's a great song and he sings it well."
No, seriously, they're REALLY back. 35 years young, the band have miraculously recaptured the spirit, heart, and sound of classic KISS. Guitarist Tommy Thayer sounds more like predecessor Ace Frehley in his heyday than, well, Ace Frehley does. Demon Gene Simmons, as well as trademark sleazy vocals, produces his best bass work in years while Starchild Paul Stanley still has the voice and the pen for a massive chorus. Sonic Boom is the classic sound of a legendary band rocking out and loving it. Who expected that from KISS 2009?
Astonishingly, Sonic Boom finds our preposterous, yet ever-entertaining rockers remembering they were a band before they were a brand. Dispensing with outside songwriters, linchpins Paul Stanley and Gene Simmons have knuckled down alongside Eric Singer and Tommy Thayer to make a rock n' roll record with mid-70s KISS albums as their vindicated yardstick. Danger Us, an unlikely tale of TNT-like sexual chemistry betwixt rocker and unnamed rock chick, is about as subtle as things get, but on the early-Zep-like I'm An Animal and short, poppy Never Enough, KISS re-harnesses the appealing swagger that originally lay beneath the greasepaint. All that said, in the U.S., Sonic Boom is going to maximum impact retailer Walmart alongside "other KISS products."
Earlier this year, the face-painted classic rockers asked fans to go to their website and vote for their hometown to be included in the band's next big tour. Oshawa finished first among all cities, but when the dates for the "Kiss Alive 35" tour were announced, the city was left off the list, without explanation. After an outcry from fans in the town, and Oshawa Mayor John Gray, Kiss added an Oshawa date to the tour. Guitarist Paul Stanley tells The Canadian Press that the issue was "blown out of proportion," and that the band always planned on playing Oshawa but just hadn't finalized when the concert would happen. He also said that the band wouldn't be giving Oshawa fans anything extra - only because, he says, the over-the-top rock group is always giving its all.
Nostalgia that is, until now. Few believed KISS would ever follow-up 1998's questionable Psycho Circus. What would be the point, given that they could tour on the fruits of their legacy into their dotage? The only way it could be anything other than a disaster would be to forget the excesses of the 80s, forget modern production paraphernalia and simply get back to the beating heart of what made KISS one of the greatest bands in the history of rock. Enter Sonic Boom. Produced entirely "in house" by Paul Stanley himself, Sonic Boom is almost phenomenal, an achievement few would expect from a band so long withdrawn from studio activity and one that is, without question a piece of work that can be stacked alongside their best. It's not just the uncluttered production that brings everything into your face and eliminates any trace of flab, but also the style and tone and execution. It might sound trite to praise a KISS album for sounding like KISS, but having deviated from their intended path for so long in the 80s and 90s, this might make a few fans weep with joy. There isn't a genuinely weak track here. The nearest they come is the lighters-in-the-air arena pomp of Stand, but even here Paul and Gene's vocal interplay - and their surprisingly tender tributes to each other - almost compensate. You can't fault Gene's superb rockers Russian Roulette, Hot and Cold, and I'm An Animal, nor Paul's high wire vocals and punchy hooks on Danger Us, Say Yeah! and Modern Day Delilah. The unsung hero, though, is probably Tommy Thayer, whose incendiary but unselfish guitar work recalls that of Ace Frehley beautifully. Classic KISS in 2009? You better believe it!
Today, I would get the chance to speak to the idol of all idols, the hero of all heroes - I wanted the best and I got it! Today, I was getting a chance to speak to Gene Simmons, the marketing genius, bass-playing reality show TV star Demon of KISS! Gene Simmons, Paul Stanley, Eric Singer, and Tommy Thayer, collectively known to the rest of us as the legendary KISS, recently released their first studio recording since Psycho Circus 11 years ago. Sonic Boom, a three-disc set performed by the current line-up contains studio recordings on the first, featuring the new single "Modern Day Delilah," while the other two discs include recordings from earlier this year. Sonic Boom is actually a Wal-Mart exclusive, which is something that AC/DC successfully accomplished back in June. KISS also recently kicked off a North American tour to celebrate the 35th Anniversary of their innovative album, KISS: Alive. The tour started with two sold out nights at Detroit's Cobo Hall Arena, the very same place KISS: Alive was recorded. Right before KISS went on the road, they received news that they were finally being nominated for the Rock 'n Roll Hall of Fame along with Genesis, The Stooges, and the Red Hot Chili Peppers. Unfortunately, they'll have to wait until January to see if they are among the inductees. While they wait, KISS will be bringing their Alive/35 tour home to New York City's Madison Square Garden on Oct. 10. Gene Simmons was able to call me between cities to talk about his favorite topics - KISS and Gene Simmons! KISSmas came early for me this year! Here's what the Demon had to say: Hey, Gene! I have to start this off with congratulations on your Rock 'n Roll Hall of Fame nomination! KISS is finally nominated! How does this feel? G: It's appreciated, but we don't take it too seriously. Our fans are everything to us. The KISS Army is legendary and has become iconic. It's become its own thing. Every other band in the world knows about the KISS Army, and they'd give their left nut to have it. So, nice to be nominated, but it'd be nice to win. It's not the end all or be all. We do our talking onstage! I think you guys will get it. KISS is the main influence for many bands out there today. You're the pioneers to what we see today in live performances. G: Well, we don't spend a lot of time thinking about it. All we know is that when we go to see wrestling and we see fireworks or we go and see McCartney or any other band live and you see spectacle and fireworks and all that, where'd that come from? The stampeders? If the only thing we've done is raise the bar substantially for live performances, that's good! Then we've left our mark! It's no longer enough to just get onstage with a tie-dyed t-shirt and sneakers and look at your shoes and think that your giving people a show. Sonic Boom is your first studio album in 11 years. Can you tell me a little bit more about it? G: Eleven brand new songs; it's a three-disc special package. The second disc has 15 songs by this lineup re-recorded. The third disc is of us in South America at Buenos Aires Stadium in April, just a few months back. And what Sonic Boom is, is this is who we are now. No keyboard players, no children's choirs, no synthesizers, none of that. Meat and potatoes straight down the line, and it all goes back to a spirit of innocence that we had when we first started, when we first strapped guitars on our shoulders. Eric Singer and Tommy Thayer sing their own songs.The band is back to being full octane. Now, how are the KISS fans receiving Eric Singer as Peter Criss and Tommy Thayer as Ace Frehley? G: It's not "as" anything. In football teams there's a number. If one of the players gets kicked out of the band three times for not being a team player and for using drugs and alcohol, "your ass is grass," as they say in New York! You may have been worthy of the team once. Why the hell would you continue to keep somebody on the team if they're not carrying their load? The reason why I ask is because the first time you replaced Peter Criss and Ace Frehley with the late Eric Carr and Vinnie Vincent, Eric Carr wore the face paint of a fox and Vinnie Vincent wore an ankh on his face... G: We tried different personas and it was okay, but we said why do we have to? This is iconic. When I go to see Batman at the movies, there have been different people as Batman, but it's still Batman. Why would we change it? KISS recently kicked off this 35th Anniversary of KISS: Alive over at Cobo Hall Arena in Detroit. How did it feel to go back there after 35 years? G: It felt really amazing! On one hand, it's sad because Cobo is being torn down, but we also met on the back cover of the double live album. You have to remember in those days, it was lunacy to release a live record, much less a double live record. KISS has always been like that - nuts! So, the back cover shows two fans in the middle of a sold out hall, three nights I might add, and they're holding a KISS banner that they made. Well, those two guys showed up all these many years later with the same banner. One's a successful real estate agent and the other is a doctor. The KISS Army, that's right! So, you're coming back to New York City to play Madison Square Garden once again. How does it feel to come home and play The Garden? G: I will tell you a story that is near and dear to my heart. The band was put together at 10 East 23rd Street. It was a loft, and The Garden was 10 blocks away. I would walk up there and see basketball or The Stones or whomever else was playing. We all have dreams! And when KISS played there for the first time, I walked in through the front door because in those days people didn't know what we looked like without the makeup. They were just aware of KISS. They thought that we looked like that 24 hours a day. So, I walked in through the front door, walked through the crowd, went backstage, put on makeup, got up onstage and rocked the house! The rock 'n roll rites of passage, if you will. It was like climbing Mount Olympus, when you get to the top, the view is amazing! G: I will tell you this, I mean you couldn't see under the makeup or anything, but when I was onstage the first time at The Garden, they didn't see it, but the Demon cried. Oh yeah! It says something about the American Dream; that it is alive, it is well, and I'm living proof of it. I wasn't born here. The first thing that I ever heard was, "What are you, stupid? Can't you speak English?" If you work your tail off, and to have the doors open, anything is possible! With the music industry constantly changing partly due to the economy and partly due to technology, what advice can you give struggling musicians who can't seem to attract label attention? G: Well, it's really tough. I have a label, Simmons Records, through Universal, but it's really tough because the industry is in disarray. It's not dead! Sonic Boom we put out ourselves through Wal-Mart, but we come with our own fan base so we can do that. It's really tough out there because of the downloading thing. Pandora's box has been opened and the record industry has suffered because of it. It's almost dead, but it's not. I suggest that new bands go out there and make your own CDs and distribute them as best you can. The days of big advances and record companies - that's over! I see that you're also in Mike Judge's new movie, Extract? G: Yes! I play an asshole L.A. lawyer, of course! I have a good time with anything that I do. I do my best, have a great time and don't take it seriously and let the cards fall where they may. It seems anything that I try to do turns out okay. It's no secret that Gene Simmons, the businessman, is a marketing genius, too! G: Well, the word genius is highly overused. It's interesting. I have a different philosophy about stuff. Most people want a job. I just like working. There's a difference. I've never taken a vacation, but that's not because there's anything wrong with that. It's just that I don't want to go away from doing stuff every day - working. Gene, is there any truth to the rumor that you're creating this reality show based on developing a new version of KISS? Mark Burnett and I have been talking about it, and of course, Paul. It's a conversation. I mean everything is a conversation until it's real.
These days, Kiss is as much a brand as a band, and still a lucrative one at that. This particular jaunt around the world is billed as the "Alive 35 Tour," in honor of the foursome's landmark 1975 live album, "Alive!" But to its credit, the band has a new product to sell. "Sonic Boom," which dropped yesterday, is Kiss's first album in over a decade. It's a return to the rock-and-roll-all-night-and-party-every-day formula of its heyday. "Modern Day Delilah," a surprisingly limber rocker from the new album, came early in the band's two-hour set. It held up well, alongside the band's "classics" that flanked it - "Got to Choose" and "Hotter Than Hell." Of course, when "Hotter" happened, there was a lot of pyro shooting from the stage, and when there wasn't actual pyro, there was video of pyro. But the element that truly blazed was lead guitarist Tommy Thayer's scorching fretwork. Thayer, who seemed to quote liberally from the Jimmy Page solo playbook all night, proved a consistent highlight. Likewise, Eric Singer did a solid job of keeping things suitably booming from behind his double bass drum. But the real surprise was Singer's powerful lead vocal on a hard-hitting "Black Diamond." His voice was a welcome breath of fresh air, and it gave singer-guitarist Paul Stanley a respite from his duties showing off his well-preserved falsetto (and plentiful chest hair), flying over the crowd on a pully to sing "Love Gun," and promising "the longest encore you have ever heard." With a 30-minute stomp through "Shout It Out Loud," "Detroit Rock City," and a handful of other headbangers, they made good on their boast. Love 'em or hate 'em, Kiss usually does.
"In '08, I was diagnosed with breast cancer, but with (early detection) my great doctor Alex Swistel and staff and the Lord above, who always looks over me, I am cancer-free today!!! "I wanted to let you know men get it like women do. Don't be afraid to let someone know if you have a lump. Do the right thing for you and your loved ones and get it checked. Man or woman, there is no discrimination with breast cancer ... we all don't have nine lives." For more information, visit www.nationalbreastcancer.org.
The hits were the backbone of the show. "Deuce," "Hotter Than Hell" and "Black Diamond" - with its hook that could snag Moby Dick - were wicked nice. "Cmon and Love Me" and a sleazy, slutty "She" were brilliant. Even spotlight solos by Thayer and Singer were pretty damn cool (sorry Ace and Peter). But KISS is still a band of 70's shtick, and the old gimmicks were in full effect. Gene breathed fire and barfed blood. Paul fired the right and left sides of the stage up into shout-offs. There was plenty of strutting and swaying in unison to go with guitars that bazooka-ed sparks and a drum riser on a rotating, fog-spewing hydraulic lift. As the epic encore - "Shout It Out Loud" into "Lick It Up" into "Let Me Go" into "Love Gun" (where Paul Stanley flew through the audience on a wire) into "Detroit Rock City" - blasted on and the canon booms and flame bursts continued, it seemed clear Gene was right. Not only that this was the largest KISS tour ever, but that - as he also told the Herald - KISS will live on long past Ace and Peter. They've done it before and did it again last night with a legendary show.
After more than three decades of performing around the world, KISS returns to the location where their 1975 album, "Kiss Alive," was recorded for one last performance before the venue is torn down to expand Cobo Center. "Jimmy Kimmel Live" will broadcast two songs from this intimate performance. In addition to this musical event, Jimmy will welcome guests Joel McHale and Richard Belzer. Jimmy Kimmel and Jill Leiderman serve as executive producers and Jason Schrift and Douglas DeLuca serve as co-executive producers. Emmy Award-winning "Jimmy Kimmel Live" is shot live in front of a studio audience and produced by Jackhole Industries in association with ABC Studios.
Sure, it would be great for the Wal-Mart exclusive Sonic Boom to sell a couple hundred thousand copies and go No. 1 on the Billboard charts, but at this point in the band's career, touring is all KISS needs to fuel the Gene machine's quest for money. The last album KISS put out was 1998's Psycho Circus, which was mostly ghostwritten by former members and other musicians and only had about two or three memorable tracks. This time around, the music is all KISS-written and -produced, which gives it more of an old-school feel. Sonic Boom isn't exactly a direct throwback to the '70s heyday of the band, but rather a combination of sounds ranging from 1976's Rock 'n' Roll Over to 1992's Revenge. The album has enough solid moments to make die-hard fans happy, while showing the rest of the world that the band can still rock 'n' roll all night long. The original KISS sound is hinted at throughout the album - most impressively on the raw opening track "Modern Day Delilah." The song has a warm production that is a testament to the greatness of analog sound that the popular performance-enhancing Pro Tools recording software cannot touch. Surprisingly enough, Simmons steals the show on Sonic Boom. The blood-spewing demon has always been an underrated bass player, with awesome stage presence and a killer tone. "Russian Roulette" and "Hot and Cold" both feature Simmon's rumbling bass and trademark sexual innuendo-laden vocals. "I'm an Animal" is one of the finest moments on the album. On the track Simmons boasts, "I'm alive / in the street / made of fire, made of heat / I'm an animal, and I'm free." Frontman Paul Stanley's voice may have gotten a bit raspier over the years, but his singing still oozes with charisma. Tracks such as "Never Enough" and "Danger Us" contain powerful arena-rock anthem choruses, which prove why Stanley is one of the greatest vocalists of all time. Even the so-called "new guys" - guitarist Tommy Thayer and drummer Eric Singer, who have actually been in the band for years - get a chance to prove themselves on the recording. On "All For the Glory," Singer takes over on lead vocals, singing "We're all for one and we?re all for the glory / When it's all said and done / they're gonna know the story / because we're all for one and we're all for the glory now." The song's chorus may be cheesy, but it works excellently for KISS, and it's catchy as hell. Thayer definitely proves his worth in his lead guitar work throughout Sonic Boom. The man can play some smokin' licks and also has a powerful set of pipes. On "When Lightning Strikes," he sings, "It's my move the ground shaking / this time I'm gonna knock you down / I'm coming through, no more waiting / I'm on the move at the speed of sound." The song features prominent use of cowbell and competes with the best of the '80s KISS material. "Sonic Boom" is everything that rock 'n' roll should be - over-the-top lyrics filled with sexual innuendoes, loud guitars, and catchy hooks. Whether you like it, KISS is here to stay. Eric's Picks: "Modern Day Delilah," "Never Enough," "I'm an Animal"
How do you enter to win? It's simple: 1) Take a photo of just you, with your friends, family, whatever... but it must be with the new KISS album, Sonic Boom to qualify. 2) Once you have taken your photo, host it on a public album website - flickr, shutterfly, wherever - as long as we can view it, it doesn't matter where! 3) Finally, copy and paste the URL in the field to the right, along with the rest of your info. But make sure to double check the URL, because you can only enter once. http://guitargiveaway.kissonline.com Three winners will be selected at random to receive a Washburn guitar autographed by KISS, but make it a good shot because we'll feature some of the best photos on KISSOnline.com. Pick up the new KISS album, grab your camera, and enter The Great KISS Guitar Giveaway today! Enter by October 23, 2009 - Good luck!
And to complement this highly-anticipated music release, over 2800 Walmart stores will feature "KISS Korners" in their Electronics departments and Halloween aisles. The "KISS Korners" will offer KISS T-shirts, wigs, makeup, blankets, limited edition KISS M&M candies, KISS Mr. Potato Head spuds, and of course the SONIC BOOM CD set! The following is a list of the Walmart stores nationwide featuring "Kiss Korners:" Check for your local store here or Buy online!
"This is Planet Kiss; we just live on it. The stage is holy ground, and what we do is electric church." Holy hyperbole! The kabuki kibitzers of big-top rock are back in greasepaint and spandex, armed with a new album and a fresh stage spectacle to solidify a legacy built on thundering riffs, pyrotechnics, superheroic role-playing and hucksterism. The singer/bassist, 60, and guitarist Paul Stanley, 57, are meeting in the Sunset Strip office of manager Doc McGhee to chat up Sonic Boom, Kiss' 19th studio album and first since 1998's Psycho Circus. The album, out today exclusively at Walmart, is a three-disc set with a CD of re-recorded hits and a DVD of a Buenos Aires concert packaged with 11 new songs. It's $12, "the price of a sandwich," Simmons crows. The band began writing last spring, rehearsed tunes in May and recorded in June, wrapping up Boom by mid-July. Reviews have lauded the album's return to the crunch and muscle of '70s classics Destroyer and Love Gun. "To describe the process: Stop trying to show off and get in touch with what happens naturally," Simmons says. "Through the years, we've wandered and had other agendas, one of which was to make critics happy — with The Elder (a 1981 concept album), and to follow the dance thing — with I Was Made for Lovin' You (a disco track on 1979's Dynasty). We've played around with symphony orchestras and boys' choirs. The thing that changed the game was touring this last year and getting a tsunami of e-mails and letters asking 'Where's the new record?' " Crafting Boom was one of the easiest and most joyous projects in the band's 36-year run, Stanley says. But he would not have stepped in the studio without the title and authority of producer. "In the creative process, democracy is vastly overrated," he says. "The whole idea of everybody having a say is terrific, but in the end someone has to make a decision. We've had some failed attempts in the last decade or two at trying to make a great Kiss album. I have to chalk that up to having band members who perhaps had the wrong priorities or no priorities. "I didn't want any outside writers. What you wind up with is somebody's interpretation of what Kiss is. Who knows better what Kiss is than Kiss? I wanted to capture the spirit, the hunger of the band at its best." Guitarist Tommy Thayer and drummer Eric Singer flesh out the Kiss lineup, replacing originals Ace Frehley and Peter Criss, who have had a rocky history with the band and made their most recent exits in 2003 and 2004, respectively. To those who suggest their absence diminishes Kiss, Stanley snaps: "Put Willie Mays in a baseball uniform and see how well he hits. The magic you remember isn't there. "Quite honestly, the whole idea that there were four people putting in the same amount of effort is nonsense. Never happened. This is the band in its ideal form. No other lineup could have made Sonic Boom." Kiss Army still a force Fans certainly seem satisfied with the overhaul. "Kiss remains an international phenomenon, (and) the Kiss Army remains strong," says Ray Waddell, Billboard's editor of touring, noting that the current U.S. leg of the band's Kiss Alive 35 tour, a global trek launched in 2008, is ahead of projections. "With Kiss, I believe reputation has more to do with selling tickets than any new album. Like a lot of other heritage rock acts, Kiss' audience is multi-generational. The difference with Kiss is the band has always had huge appeal to young male teens, and the visual aspects of their shows are particularly engaging to the YouTube generation." The Kiss fan base is steadily replenished by youngsters, says Detroit-based music journalist Gary Graff, who caught the band's Sept. 25-26 launch at Cobo Arena, where 1975's Alive! album was recorded. "I was struck at the Detroit shows by all the little Genes and Pauls and even Aces who were running around, 8- and 10-year-olds who had their faces made up," Graff says, describing the band's appeal as "four guys strutting around in makeup and giant boots, blowing fire, spitting blood, blowing things up. Kiss is a comic book come to life with no pretense of being anything other than entertaining. It's the ultimate Guitar Hero experience, and both the songs and the themes — sex and rock 'n' roll — are so elemental and base that they have a timeless and cross-generational appeal, the kind of thing people never get tired of. "As for Sonic Boom, I don't think we're looking at another Destroyer here, but at least it sends a message that the group is, if you will, alive and trying to add to its legacy." Will the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame add to that legacy? Eligible since 1999, Kiss is among nominees for the 2010 induction. Hall of infamy is more like it, Simmons says. "It's a nice organization, but it's like the Boss Tweed days in New York, back-room politics where 10 guys from Rolling Stone decide who gets in," he says. "Tutti Frutti, I get it. The Eagles, I get it. But Madonna? Show me one iota of rock in that. You've got a little headset and the track playing in your ear and dancers on stage. Come on! If you're not playing guitars and drums, it ain't rock." Stanley's conflicted, as are Kiss fans, he says. "There are days I'm not sure I'd consider it being inducted or indicted," he says. "We're already a member of a very exclusive rock 'n' roll hall of fame. We've lasted this long. We've influenced people in every form of music, from Garth Brooks to Lenny Kravitz. There are doctors, politicians and street sweepers who cite us as influences. We've made our mark. If somebody wants to invite us into their club, that's fine." Giving critics the kiss-off Kiss, long a popular target of the music press, has never kissed up to critics and vice versa, though the same revisionism that upgraded Led Zeppelin over time seems to be casting a kinder light on the Kiss saga. "Art to me is the name of a nice guy," Simmons says dismissively. "Critics never understood. Put them on a roller coaster: Everyone else has the time of their lives, and critics say, 'What does it mean?' They missed the ride. "Anytime we meet a new band, they say, 'We cut our teeth on your records.' When you see fireworks at Paul McCartney's show, where do you think that came from? 'N Sync? Why should I care about critics when we have 3,000 licensed products, 35 years of touring and every band in the book pointing to Kiss as the pivotal reason they wanted to do something big on stage?" Ah yes, the Kiss mantra: sex, dough and rock 'n' roll. The Wal-mart pact includes Kiss Korners stocked with branded goods from fleece blankets to wigs to M&Ms. Could it be that some detractors are simply appalled by a mercenary band's pipeline of 3,000 trinkets? "I'm appalled it's not 6,000," Simmons cracks. He props his foot on the coffee table, pulls his wallet out of his silver-tipped cowboy boot and flashes a Kiss-logo Visa card. At the other end of the spectrum: the Demon, Starchild, Spaceman and Catman faces on new cheesy Mr. Potato Head collectibles. "Couldn't wait to do it!" he says. "Dorks rule, baby." Stanley is puzzled by knocks against the Kiss assembly line. "We'd be idiots to put out things fans don't want," he says. "The idea that we're genius businessmen is ridiculous. If someone says, 'Gee, I'd like a belt buckle,' we give it to them. And anybody who says, 'I'm only in it for the music' will find himself washing cars and wondering where the money went. Gene and I believe in working hard and making no apologies for what we get for the hard work." Besides, touring and merchandise are crucial lifelines to offset losses incurred by piracy. "You grab an album and leave a store, they put you in handcuffs," Stanley says. "And yet someone on the Internet can decide whether or not I get paid. File-sharing, that's like me stealing your car and telling you I'm sharing your transportation." 'What we do isn't charity' Illicit downloading is one reason the band resisted recording new material for a decade, says Simmons, sneering: "These freckle-faced college kids have destroyed an entire industry by stealing. I don't believe in socialism and, the last time I checked, what we do isn't charity." It's drug-free, fun-driven capitalism with zero tolerance for rock-star clichés that glamorize self-destructive behavior. "When we first became very successful, everyone fell prey to their own vices," Stanley says. "Drugs, alcohol, women, sycophantic friends. There are piranhas just waiting to put one arm around your shoulder and the other in your pocket. That rock 'n' roll lifestyle is a cartoon, and it's pathetic. You're either a laughingstock or you die. Being a musician who lasts 40 years is nothing short of hard work." For all their swagger and ego, Simmons and Stanley say they're humbled by the band's longevity and express enormous respect for the Kiss Army. "We're privileged," Simmons says. "There but for the grace of God, anyone of us would be asking the next person in line, 'Would you like fries with that?' What have I got to complain about? I'm filthy rich. I've been there, done that and owned the T-shirt with my own face on it."
Stanley explained, "That there are people who take issue with it is all well and good. To say the vast majority don't agree would be an understatement. The fact is, there are four iconic figures that are what KISS is. To change that because someone is no longer in the band cheats me, because I busted my butt for 35 years making this what it is. So why would I let somebody deny me and the majority of the fans what they expect? That's what we owe to people; the representation and embodiment of what KISS has been since the beginning." Stanley added that if he left the group, he wouldn't be upset if someone took on his persona. He explained, "I would hope it would happen. It would only affirm that the band is bigger than any of us. That the band is about an ideal, about a point of view, about a way to deliver a show, about a philosophy that puts the fans first. I'm not delusional enough to think I couldn't be replaced."
KISS left the stage, back to the bat cave. The band that wished to rock and roll all night had failed to complete even one song. The delay was short. The attention span of the urbane crowd, many of whose members had dressed themselves up, Halloween-like in KISS makeup and dress, would not be taxed. The band returned with ruggedly rocking Deuce and a superb spectacle-show to follow, but not before the strutting Stanley explained to his faithful "KISS Army" audience that there was a problem with the electricity at the arena, but that it was fixed, and "we are here to kick your ass." Kick our ass. Some apology, right? After its raucous interruptus shouldn't KISS - comprised of Stanley, guitarist Tommy Thayer, drummer Eric Singer and the unavoidable, tongue-gesturing bassist Gene Simmons - have been a touch remorseful? One supposes not. The cartoon-garbed troupe, audaciously and with no irony involved, sees itself as highly virile and bad-assed. Kick our asses then gentlemen, do your best. They did fine. The well-attended concert was manly riff-rock, roaring fire blasts, flash guitar licks and feats of derring-do. Modern Day Delilah, from the forthcoming Sonic Boom album, was fairly lost in the shuffle of mementoes from the past. In particular, the dog-collared and self-assured Stanley, 57, was in enviable form physically and vocally, sounding on classics Hotter Than Hell and C'mon and Love Me just like he did when the band first roared their way onto school lunch boxes in the mid-seventies. (Marking the career longevity, the tour is called KISS Alive/35.) At one point, Stanley, his unnaturally dark and lustrous hair flowing, clung to a circus apparatus as he flew over the heads of his fans to a small, circular stage at the other end of the arena for Love Gun, one of six encore numbers. Earlier, the 60-year-old Simmons, all platform boots and silver armour, did his blood-spewing thing and was yanked high above the stage to the lighting rigging to belt out the self-apparent I Love it Loud. He's starting to look a bit like Grandpa Munster. The show had begun to the taped sound of Led Zeppelin's Rock and Roll, but what KISS does is something different than rock music. It is outlandish theatre, with the roles of the Catman and the Spaceman (originally created by drummer Peter Criss and guitarist Ace Frehley, respectively) now played by musicians whose names really don't matter. Stanley, as the Starchild persona, and Simmons, as the Demon, still fill their leading roles strongly. The main set ended, amidst a flurry of confetti and pyrotechnics, with the forthright Rock and Roll All Nite. "You drive us wild," promised Simmons, "we'll drive you crazy." The intergenerational audience held up its end of the bargain, as did its heroes KISS. And with costumes and makeup to cover up missing original members and the signs of advancing age, "all nite" may have a long way to go yet. KISS plays Oshawa Wednesday; Winnipeg, Nov. 9; Saskatoon, Nov. 10; Calgary, Nov. 12; Vancouver, Nov. 14.
Simmons had Family Jewels, his hit A&E reality television series, and Stanley had his artwork, which had become more profitable than his latest musical endeavors. Stanley and Simmons seemed content to take Kiss on the road less frequently. The crowds still came, and classics like "Detroit Rock City," "Shout It Out Loud," and "Rock and Roll All Nite" still brought them to their feet. Ironically, with drummer Eric Singer and lead guitarist Tommy Thayer back and the group, Kiss was playing better, tighter, and with more energy than it had in years. Still the question remained. Why would Kiss bother making a new album? To hear Kiss tell it, it was a combination of two things - the fans clamoring for new music, and the band members themselves realizing that they were musically in top form and how much they enjoyed playing together. When the quartet went into the studio to re-record 15 Kiss classics for a Japan-only CD, (Jigoku Retsuden) the band found that the process was not only painless, it was fun. Paul Stanley agreed to make a new Kiss album, but only on the condition that he would produce it, and that it would be recorded on his terms. Those terms included no outside writers or no guest musicians - it would be a Kiss album in the purest sense of the term. The album was hyped as a return to the classic Kiss sound of '70s albums like Rock and Roll Over and Love Gun. It was being recorded using analog not digital equipment. The band was using vintage instruments, and recording live in the studio as much as possible. To Kiss fans that all sounded well and good but the question remained - could their aging heroes dig deep and make a great rock 'n' roll album? The answer is yes. Sonic Boom, which arrives Tuesday, October 6 exclusively at Walmart and Sam's Club, is a great rock 'n' roll album. It's filled with the best elements of Kiss's past ? memorable melodies, sing-along choruses, pump your fist anthems, and enough air-guitar opportunities to fill a season of "Wayne's World." It manages to sound classic without sounding dated. And there is not a ballad, string quartet, or synthesizer to be found on any of the album's 11 tracks. First single "Modern Day Delilah" kicks off Sonic Boom in style - with Stanley's voice sounding in fine shape as he sings over a driving guitar riff in a song that thematically revisits the Kiss classic "Strutter." The track, like everything on Sonic Boom, has a "recorded live" vibe. You can hear Simmons' distinctive voice leading the chorus, not a homogenized blend of overdubs. Singer plays with his usual energy and precision, and Thayer serves up the first of many scalding guitar solos. Simmons takes lead vocal duties on "Russian Roulette," a track that changes tempo from a slow grind to a fast chorus and back again. Along the way Simmons gets to show off both his underrated bass playing skills and his lascivious sense of humor. See if you don't find yourself bobbing your head to the "ahh ahh ahh" of the chorus after a few listens. "Never Enough" sounds like late-80s Kiss ? something that might have been at home on an album like Asylum or Crazy Nights. With a catchy chorus and strong, upbeat melody, it should be given future single consideration. "Yes I Know (Nobody's Perfect)" is a fun Simmons song in the style of "Ladies Room" or "Plaster Caster." Set to a classical rock 'n roll beat anchored by Singer's spot-on drumming, "Yes I Know (Nobody's Perfect)" features Simmons' best vocal on the album. His phrasing is perfect as he wraps his tongue around double-entendres like "Flip a coin/ Is it heads or tails tonight?" What would a Kiss album be without an anthem? "Stand," a song about friendship, love, and solidarity is that anthem. Stanley and Simmons trade off versus leading to a chorus that will have lighters raised in the air and arenas of fans singing along. A nice acoustic vocal harmony bridge lifted from Kiss's version of "God Gave Rock and Roll To You" leads to a majestic finish. "Hot and Cold" is a high-energy, four-on-the-floor Simmons track, again anchored by Singer's drumming (love that cowbell!) and highlighted by Thayer's guitar work. Simmons howls, yelps, and references some of his old lines ("You're gonna be in misery" a la "Calling Dr. Love") all the while sounding like he's having a blast. "All For the Glory" features Singer on lead vocals on a rousing "one for all, all for one"-themed track that would make a great soundtrack to a sports montage - in fact ESPN used it for just that over the weekend. On one of his best solos on the record, Thayer weaves bits and pieces from Kiss's past into something cohesive and new. Stanley revisits the harder rock style of his first solo album on "Danger Us." Stanley's voice has developed a gritty edge over the years, and the vocalist uses it to his advantage on this track. Tight instrumental work all around. Some fans like playful Gene Simmons, some like "Mean Gene." For the latter there's "I'm An Animal" a cross between the menace of "God of Thunder" and the "sing-along and pump your fist" quality of "I Love It Loud." Simmons is in full Demon mode throughout. Thayer gets a turn at lead vocals on "When Lightning Strikes." Power chords, drums, and yes, cowbell drive this track, another catchy tune that will have you bopping and singing along. Sonic Boom ends on a high note with "Say Yeah," an anthemic track that recalls the style of "Do You Love Me" with a chorus that is catchier than swine flu. Stanley and Simmons pay tribute to their Beatles' influence with the best use of the line, "Yeah, yeah, yeah" in a song since "She Loves You." If you're looking for deep, insightful lyrics, or rock music that calls itself progressive because it can't call itself jazz, you probably won't like Sonic Boom. But if you're looking for a FUN rock 'n' roll album that will get your feet taping, your head bopping, and will have you turning up the volume every time it's played, Sonic Boom delivers. GRADE: A- Sonic Boom is available exclusively at Walmart and Sam's Club. It is packaged as a three-disc set featuring the Sonic Boom CD, a CD of 15 re-recorded Kiss classics, and a DVD featuring six songs performed live in Argentina on Kiss's recent tour of South America.
Kiss, which took the stage Saturday night at the Mohegan Sun Arena for the Kiss Alive/35 North American Tour named after the 35th anniversary of their big-selling Top 10 live album, has pretty much always been more than a rock band, with their makeup and costumes and concert extravagance. As bassist/vocalist Gene Simmons, whose family is in the A&E TV reality show "Family Jewels," says, Kiss is a brand, with countless merchandise and an image that has transcended decades and generations. Many of the group's fans, in fact, brought their kids to the show, and of course, a few were decked out in the Kiss look. "Sonic Boom," the band's first album of new material in 11 years, is scheduled to go on the shelves exclusively at Wal-Mart/Sam's Club stores Tuesday along with a new greatest hits CD and DVD. The new album returns the solos Kiss has been known for, and some of the songs such as the anthem "Say Yeah" and "Modern Day Delilah" - the album's first song on the radio, retain the vintage Kiss sound. That despite the group being down to two original members, Simmons, 60, and guitarist/singer Paul Stanley, 57, since drummer Peter Criss left in 2004 and lead guitarist Ace Frehley - who has a new CD out, departed in 2002. The album is a surprise given Stanley and Simmons for years indicated they were not going to release another album. Despite never being a critic darling, Kiss became one of the biggest acts in the 70s with its shows, and pyrotechnics, shooting flames and fog continue to be a big part of their act. During "Hotter than Hell," from 1974, the blood-spitting and tongue-wagging Simmons displayed a flaming sword. After "C'mon and Love Me," "Parasite," and "She," lead guitarist Tommy Thayer soloed and had fireworks shoot out of his guitar. Simmons sang lead on "Watching U," and the audience clapped along to "100,000 Years" while Eric Singer drummed on an elevated platform that rotated. Simmons was later lifted by cables to a platform far above the stage. Singer sang "Black Diamond," and the party atmosphere really hit home with the classic 1975 rock anthem "Rock and Roll All Nite" and confetti shooting around the arena. An extended encore featured many of the group's top hits, including "Shout it Out Loud" and "Detroit Rock City," both from the 1976 "Destroyer" album, considered the band's best and most diverse. Stanley cruised over the crowd on a unicycle-like contraption during "Love Gun" before landing on a platform at the other end of the arena. Also capping the show was "Lick It Up" from 1983 when members removed their makeup for the first time. Kiss has released 28 albums in which 26 have gone gold, platinum or multi-platinum, trailing only The Beatles in this category. The band has sold over 80 million records. Stanley is a painter and actor. Simmons, born in Israel and a former teacher in New York City, is also an actor.
Star child Paul Stanley may be 57, and Gene Simmons may be an AARP-ready 60, but they are not making any concessions to age. They have again slapped on the signature face paint, the glam-goth outfits and the towering platform shoes for a tour that hit Mohegan Sun Arena Saturday. The band has always threatened to turn from KISS to kitsch, and they still fully embrace their camp elements. They busted out of every rock cliche Saturday - the eyebrow-singeing flashpots, the thundering fireworks, the smoke machine that almost made guitarist Tommy Thayer disappear at one point. Simmons, Stanley and Thayer stood together in guitar-god formation and did their synchronized guitar sway. And the confetti machines created possibly the biggest Arctic blizzard ever in a concert. It kept pumping out white confetti through almost all of "Rock and Roll All Nite." But the gang had new shtick they've added since their last trip to Mohegan Sun in 2000. Stanley Peter-Panned it across the arena on a zipline, ending up on a mini-stage at the back of the room to belt out "Love Gun." Simmons, natch, wagged his tongue and spewed fake blood, but he, like Stanley, flew. He ascended via cables into the rafters above the stage lights, where there was a microphone waiting so he could explain in lyrical terms why "I Love It Loud." As for the tunes, well, you'd better have been a fan of "KISS Alive!," because the bulk of the numbers were from that album, released nearly 35 years ago - hence the name of the tour, "Alive 35." The band kept its most anthemic, signature songs for the encore. KISS still brings out the adolescent in everyone, and the exuberant sold-out crowd jumped with adults who probably became KISS fans back when they were in junior high - and with kids who proudly sported KISS face paint. And so another generation of the KISS Army was indoctrinated.
Vikings football coach Jim Webb confirmed Friday that an ESPN crew asked permission to film the homecoming game Friday night. The crew also filmed part of the homecoming parade. Webb said the players were "pumped" to hear the news that ESPN would be on the sidelines for the game. "I told the players, in case they needed a little more motivation than homecoming, that some of them might be on national TV," Webb said. ESPN crews will return to the area in coming weeks to conduct interviews with select individuals who had a part in the event. ESPN Producer Dan Arruda said ESPN learned about Cadillac's role in "KISStory" after the recent Cadillac News article was posted on sportsbybrooks.com. "I can't believe we hadn't heard about this story before," Arruda said. No date has been set yet for the airing. The segment is likely to be five to eight minutes long, or possibly longer depending on where the story goes, and may air on Sportscenter or possibly Outside the Lines. "We're coming at this from a sports perspective," Arruda said. ESPN is looking for film, old photographs, home movies, and other memorabilia to help flesh out the video, especially film or photos of the 1974-75 team. Local folks who have these items, or perhaps have a ticket stub or a really good story to share about the KISS visit, may contact Arruda at danny.f.arruda@espn.com. "I'l try to get back to as many people as I can," Arruda said.
Who was this image created for? The illustration was created for BBDO Worldwide?s Inner M&M campaign, which runs in magazines worldwide. In the past, Splashlight created M&M characters of sportscasters Howie Long and Jimmy Johnson for a Super Bowl-themed advertisement. They also created M&M characters of country music stars Brooks and Dunn. How long did it take to create the artwork? It took about a week to model the characters and their props, and another week for lighting and surfacing. The details in the boots and guitars took the longest to model, as it was important to capture every detail. As usual, we used subdivision modeling to keep the polygon count as low as possible, both for rendering speed and maximum flexibility. We used another month for revisions involving both LightWave and Photoshop. How long was the approval process? There were probably two dozen rounds of revisions, which is fairly common for assignments like this one. We worked from a sketch provided by the agency that showed each character?s general pose and position, but many elements changed along the way. There were differing opinions about whether a vertical or horizontal orientation would work best, so we created both. There was uncertainty about which band members should be represented, as two of the original band members had been replaced over the years. After several rounds of modifications, there was the last-minute addition of a stage, to make the image more vertical. The art directors at BBDO scrutinized every detail, magnified well beyond the intended print size before the image was shown to the band for final approval. Did the band see the image? They certainly did. Paul Stanley, in particular, was quite involved, going as far as to provide art direction faxed from his hotel room in South America. To explain further, he was displeased with the way that his hair was originally created, and sent along his own sketch showing a fluffier hairstyle. It turns out that he draws very well, and his input helped us considerably. Did you use FiberFX for the hair? The specificity of the client?s demands required a level of control that worked best using Photoshop. We photographed a dark-haired coworker with a very high-resolution camera to capture baseline images that we heavily manipulated in Photoshop. Because the work was print-oriented, we were able to combine Photoshop and LightWave to make changes on the fly. Are the guitars accurate to what they use? Everything is accurate, based on Web research, Ed Gabel?s lifelong fascination with KISS and a close review by the band members and their management. We knew the KISS Army would be watching closely, and we were very careful not to cut any corners. Who was responsible for this image? It was a team effort, like everything we do at Splashlight. In particular, I led the character modeling, including the [fantastic] boots, Chris O?Riley did a lot of the lighting and surfacing and Ed Gabel added the Photoshop work that brought the image over the top. Joe Zeff supervised every aspect of the project. On the agency side, we worked with creative director Tim Bayne, art director Bryan Wilson and art buyer Betsy Jablow. We?re looking forward to working with them on future installments of the M&M campaign.
A booming voice says the familiar words that have signalled the beginning of every KISS concert. Words that many fans heard for the first time when they purchased the band's landmark 1975 live album Alive: "You wanted the best, and you got the best. The hottest band in the world -KISS" KISS co-founders Gene Simmons and Paul Stanley, and lead guitarist Tommy Thayer, rise through the stage floor as white smoke spews over the stage. Drummer Eric Singer is in place behind a massive kit perched atop an eight-foot tall KISS logo. Stanley and Simmons show no signs of slowing down as they approach their 60s. Stanley struts and leaps impossibly high in seven-inch platform boots, and Simmons's gyrations, lizard-like tongue-wagging, and Chesire cat grin make it obvious he's still having a lot of fun. "Are you getting what you came for?" asks Stanley. A deafening cheer is the response from just under 9,000 fans, ranging from salt-and-pepper haired veteran fans in the 50s to children, who appear to be as young as five or six. It's a trip back in time for longtime fans, and, for the youngsters, it's quite an indoctrination to the pinnacle of rock 'n' roll showmanship. Four camera operators feed video to a screen the full width of the stage, so there's truly not a bad seat in the house. The heat from eight columns of flame erupting throughout the evening can be felt at the back of the arena. Lead guitarist Thayer's blistering solo features him shooting down sections of the lighting rig overhead with a thunderous boom and a streak of sparks from the neck of his guitar. Eric Singer delivers a masterful eight-minute drum solo that appears effortless, while his drum kit rises and rotates completely around. Six huge confetti cannons shower enough paper streamers to rival a New York City ticker-tape parade, as KISS caps the evening of classics with their popular anthem Rock and Roll All Night, Party Every Day. The crowd chants, claps and stomps until the veteran rockers return to the stage for what Stanley calls "the longest encore you have ever seen." Familiar hits Shout It Out Loud and Lick It Up have the heavy-set, 40-something man in the row behind me singing and shouting, causing more distress to my ears than the banks of amplifiers. Simmons gets an eerie green spotlight for the primal, haunting grunts of his bass solo. Looking more demonic than ever, he spews theatrical blood and rises high atop the lighting rig to sing I Love It Loud, as the army chants "Gene, Gene, Gene!" Stanley announces he's "coming out there to see you" and then skims over the floor seats via zip line to a small, rotating platform near the back of the arena to perform Love Gun, before ending the two-hour show with Detroit Rock City. Musically, the band is tight, faithfully playing their classic hits from decades ago, and offering up a taste of what's to come this Tuesday with the release of Sonic Boom, the band's first new studio album in 11 years. The three-disk set will include the new recordings, a new generation greatest hits CD, and a live DVD shot in Argentina. Interestingly, Sonic Boom will be available exclusively at Walmart and Sam's Club, with a KISS Korner in each store also featuring new merchandise, including KISS Mr. Potato Heads. Stanley tells the audience the band "feels an astounding warmth from the KISS Army in Ontario," and no doubt a new tour will pass this way next year in support of the new album. The spectacle that is a KISS concert should experienced at least once.
Yes, the guys are older now, but they're still wearing spandex, painting their faces and putting on quite a show. "The thing about KISS is, there's a real timeless appeal to it," lead guitarist Tommy Thayer said in a recent phone interview, before donning his "Spaceman" garb and playing a concert in Montreal. "The same thing that caught people's hearts and passions in the early 1970s is the same thing I see happening with kids today. Obviously, you have to bring kids into the fold for bands like KISS to keep reinventing themselves." The four-man rock band will unveil its first new music in 11 years as part of a three-disc set titled Sonic Boom that drops at Walmarts nationwide Tuesday. The $12 set, which includes a CD of new songs, a CD of classic hits and a DVD of live performances this year in Argentina, won't be the only value-priced memorabilia on display. Each Walmart will sport a KISS Korner in its electronics department, with KISS T-shirts, fleece blankets, M&Ms and even Mr. Potato Head figures. A fall tour of North America is just under way, with a stop Dec. 6 at the American Airlines Center in Dallas. KISS has changed personnel more than a few times over 36-plus years, with two original members, Gene Simmons and Paul Stanley, staying in the fold. The guys have performed with and without makeup. They've gone through a disco phase and a melancholic-medieval phase, and they?ve pursued solo careers. But they keep coming back to a formula that has appealed to multiple generations of fans. It's partly about the music -- KISS has never enjoyed much critical appeal or benefited from radio play, yet the band's Web site says it has sold more than 100 million albums worldwide -- but its calling card is the live performance. And that means lots of blood-spitting, fire-breathing, pelvis-thrusting, laser-shooting and fireworks-blasting action, plus, most importantly, audience involvement. Which brings us back to Walmart. The nation's largest retailer, which also has inked exclusive deals with AC/DC, the Eagles and Miley Cyrus, is relying on transcendent acts such as KISS to boost sagging CD sales, at a time when young consumers prefer to buy digital songs online -- one track at a time -- and then share them. "They're just an iconic symbol of rock 'n' roll music," said Melissa O'Brien, a Walmart spokeswoman. "They have a following. Everyone knows the KISS logo." Over the years, KISS has learned that its fans want the characters to keep the mystical makeup. After all, who wants their heroes to show their age? (The oldest band member, bassist Gene Simmons, celebrated his 60th birthday in August.) In addition to the goodies for sale in electronics, Walmart will offer KISS makeup and wigs in the seasonal aisles. "This Halloween is kind of an adult Halloween, because it's occurring on a Saturday night," O'Brien said. Halloween, huh? I must admit I've trick-or-treated as a KISS character -- twice. Maybe it's time to go again.
After an explosive fire display, the veteran rockers were about half way through their opening song, King Of The Night Time World, when they appeared to lose power causing the audience to boo loudly. Without an active microphone, singer-guitarist Paul Stanley held up his hands and mouthed that the group, rounded out by bassist Gene Simmons, drummer Eric Singer and lead guitarist Tommy Thayer, would be back "in about five to ten minutes" and they walked off stage. Shortly thereafter, and with little in the way of further reaction from the KISS army, the quartet returned and Stanley explained what was going on: "There is a problem with the electricity and the power at the ACC, but we have fixed it and we are here to kick your ass," he said. After checking their gear, the group then launched into Deuce and the show, as they say, went on for another two-and-a-half hours. "It started to look like we might have to reschedule," said Stanley, 57, afterwards, prompting more boos. "Last night (on Thursday), Montreal said they'd kick your ass. Tonight, Toronto, you have to prove them wrong." Some 37 years after forming in New York City, with original lead guitarist Ace Frehley and drummer Peter Criss, the black leather and studs, platform boots and black and white Kabuki makeup were back along with the loud sound, pyrotechnics, dry ice and stunts galore. Simmons, 60, pulled out his fire-eating routine during Hotter Than Hell and later spewed blood, showing off his famous long tongue, and flew up to the lighting stand to sing lead vocals on I Love It Loud in the best bit of the night. Stanley also sailed over the heads of the audiences on a pulley and wound up on a smaller rotating stage on the floor for Love Gun. Their streamlined stage, meanwhile, was dominated by the word KISS in large white lights and rows and rows of small video screens resembling TV sets. Thayer put on a major guitar solo display, with yet even more fire and explosions, and Singer did the drum solo on a rotating stage but nothing really matched the white confetti, steam and fire, and the three mini stages that elevated Simmons, Stanley and Thayer, during the set-ending Rock And Roll All Nite. Still, the encore songs, Shout It Out Loud, Lick It Up and Detroit Rock City, came awfully close. SET LIST: King Of The Night Time World / Deuce / Got To Choose / Modern Day Delilah / Hotter Than Hell / I Stole Your Love / C?mon And Love Me / Parasite / She / Watchin' You / 100,000 Years / I Love It Loud / Black Diamond / Rock And Roll All Nite Encore: Shout It Out Loud / Lick It Up / Let Me Go, Rock And Roll / Cold Gin / Love Gun / Detroit Rock City
But founding members Ace Frehley and Peter Criss won’t be there. Both have once again been bounced from the iconic band, replaced by longtime subs Tommy Thayer (guitar) and Eric Singer (drums). And the two fill-ins, who have both played with KISS in the past, are donning the "spaceman" and "cat" makeup made famous by Frehley and Criss. KISS blasphemy? Don’t tell that to ringleader Gene Simmons. “It’s not Ace and Peter’s makeup,” he told the Herald matter-of-factly. “It’s our makeup. It’s like with the Yankees - the Yankees own number 7, not Mickey Mantle.” It’s clear talking to Simmons, the merchandising mastermind of the rock ’n’ roll freight train, that he’s the boss. KISS, he explained from Detroit as the band prepared to launch its latest tour, is a business and the business is rocking. And the well-publicized booze and drug woes of Frehley and Criss were getting in the way of business. “It doesn’t mean Ace and Peter weren’t important in the formation of KISS,” he said. “They certainly were. But if you can no longer give your ‘A’ game, you step aside. Or you get kicked out.” Simmons said Criss continues to have substance-abuse issues. Frehley’s latest rock-bottom moment came at a KISS tribute show put on by Slash and Motley Crue’s Tommy Lee. Frehley, Simmons said, disappeared. He wasn’t found until 3 a.m., passed out backstage. Frehley, in recent interviews, says he is once again sober. “Certainly the real lesson in rock is it’s a marathon,” Simmons said. “Not everybody is equipped to be able to deal with the pressures of being in one of the biggest bands in the world. Some succumb to the cliches of drugs and alcohol, and you have to kick their sorry asses out of the band.” Despite issues with Frehley and Criss, Simmons and frontman Paul Stanley have pressed on, unleashing a new record, “Sonic Boom” - available Tuesday only at Wal-Mart - and launching what Simmons calls “the largest tour we’ve ever done.” “There’s more technology and effects than we’ve ever crammed in,” Simmons said. “It’s difficult to believe.” While the band has consistently sold out arenas and stadiums for the past four decades, there’s still one brass ring KISS has not been able to reach: induction into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. Nominated again this year, Simmons isn’t holding his breath. “They’ll come around sooner or later,” he said. “There are critics’ bands who gain their strength from what a few guys with glasses have to say. Respectfully, we do our talking on stage.” As for making “Sonic Boom” a Wal-Mart exclusive, Simmons - ever the modern-day P.T. Barnum - boasts that 4,000 of the big-box stores nationwide will have “KISS corners” selling the album and exclusive merchandise. “It feels great,” he said. “Better than ever. Thirty-five years and thousands of concerts and thousands of licensed products later, we are clearly the juggernaut of rock licensing. No one touches us, Elvis and the Beatles combined. No other band can do what we do.” Agreed. KISS with Buckcherry, Monday at TD Garden. Tickets: $25-127.50; 800-745-3000.
We aren't sure exactly how many fans turned out tonight, but for the record, there were barely any empty seats anywhere. KISS's crowd is a family; devoted and noisy: we swear that this audience would be the envy of many rockers. After the surprising opening of "King Of The Night Time World" (Strutter was expected, as they performed last July), Paul Stanley said: "'Je ne parle pas beaucoup francais' (I do not speak much French,) but tonight, my heart is French Canadian." The quartet then delivered a well-received "Got To Choose" before launching into the new "Modern Day Delilah" from their highly anticipated 'Sonic Boom.' "It will be released October 6, and can you believe that Walmart will sell it for only $12?" said Stanley. Does this make us happy? Yes, you can believe it, Paul. Everything that makes a good KISS show (while I am among their faithful, I must say that I am a bit too young to remember the summer of 1977) was on the menu this evening. Gene Simmons' fire-spitting (Hotter Than Hell) and blood (I Love It Loud), Eric Singer's drum lift, the big screens, fireworks exploding everywhere. You must see this show at least once in your life. Kiss pleased the fans in Montreal by performing "I Stole Your Love" for the first time in this city midway through the set. Among the essential KISS songs included: 100,000 Years, Rock And Roll All Nite, Shout it out Loud, and Detroit Rock City (finale.)
Sessions for the band's 1998 reunion album with original guitarist Ace Frehley and drummer Peter Criss went so badly that the star-sporting frontman had no desire to return to the studio. "What soured me was Psycho Circus," admits a subdued Stanley. "It was a heartfelt attempt to make a band album where there was no band. It culminated with a lot of delusional people who were talking through attorneys instead of being in the studio, and this weird sense of entitlement from people that they had some sort of birthright to have songs on an album whether or not they're good. When you have bandmembers who see the band as a way to further themselves rather than seeing themselves as a way to further the band, you're in trouble. "Besides that, it had also reached a point where there were a lot of co-writers outside the band, which means you're not doing your job. Basically, it means you're allowing somebody else to interpret who you are instead of just being who you are. "So there were a lot of reasons that I didn't want to do another KISS album. I didn't want to make an album that we had to apologize for or had to qualify." But the 57-year-old singer-guitarist says he and long-tongued bassist Gene Simmons gradually decided it was time to rock 'n' roll over once they reconnected with drummer Eric Singer and lead guitarist Tommy Thayer (formerly the band's road manager). "It wasn't until this lineup had been together as long as it has -- Eric has been in and out of the band 18 years, while Tommy has been in the band for seven years and has been around as long as I can remember -- that it changed. I think everybody, pretty much to a man, can say the band's never been better. So it was a great opportunity to make a great album as long as everybody had their priorities right. From the git-go, I knew how to do it. And so far, judging by the reviews, mission accomplished." Fair enough -- the Stanley-produced Sonic Boom, the band's first album in 11 years, is a return to their classic '70s and '80s form, dispensing with ballads, keyboards and studio musicians in favour of guitar-driven rock. And it has garnered some of their best reviews in decades. KISS's current Alive! 35 Tour continues that old-school approach with a set list drawn from their career-making 1975 Alive! album. En route to tonight's Air Canada Centre gig in Toronto (KISS also play the MTS Centre on Nov. 9), Stanley took a few minutes to discuss Sonic Boom, the band's legacy and more. How is Canada treating you this time? Terrific. It's always been terrific -- from the days of playing Sudbury and Moncton forward to today. Not only has Canada seen KISS grow, KISS has seen Canada grow. Yet you forgot to include Oshawa on this leg of the tour after that online vote. You know, WE didn't forget Oshawa. The truth is we always planned on playing; whether it was going to be on this leg or another leg was up for grabs. But as I said before, to announce Oshawa as the big winner in that contest and not play it would be insane. So we pushed it up and we will, of course, be there. Will you give them a little something extra? We don't know anything about giving extra. We only know about giving KISS. And that is about as much as you can give. You're the guy who decided you wanted to produce the new album and have no outside writers or players. Did you meet with any resistance? What's refreshing is that everybody said yes. And that's so indicative of the difference in the band. As for Gene and I writing together, I think he was a little ... I don't know if ambivalent was the word, but I don't know how he felt about it. But I thought it was vital. And once we started, the chemistry was there, the magic was there. Between that and rehearsing and recording, we've never had more fun doing a KISS album. The band enjoys each other's company. And you know, some people see Eric and Tommy as replacements. But when I'm on the fence about something, the first person I go to is Tommy. So it's funny that for some people, they're substitutes. But I guess Ron Wood will always be the new Stone. Part of the problem might be that they're wearing Ace and Peter's costumes and makeup. With no disrespect to Tommy and Eric, a lot of fans see that as a slap in the face. That there are people who take issue with it is all well and good. To say the vast majority don't agree would be an understatement. The fact is, there are four iconic figures that are what KISS is. To change that because someone is no longer in the band cheats me, because I busted my butt for 35 years making this what it is. So why would I let somebody deny me and the majority of the fans what they expect? That's what we owe to people; the representation and embodiment of what KISS has been since the beginning. So if you left, you wouldn't mind someone else putting on the star? I would hope it would happen. It would only affirm that the band is bigger than any of us. That the band is about an ideal, about a point of view, about a way to deliver a show, about a philosophy that puts the fans first. I'm not delusional enough to think I couldn't be replaced. You guys aren't kidding with the Alive! 35 tour -- the set list is almost identical to the old album except for Firehouse and Rock Bottom. Why did you drop those? We had to make sure we could include songs other than Alive! songs. We're doing a marathon encore, and at some point, something's gotta give. And while those songs may be considered classics to some, they're more obscure to others. Certainly Rock Bottom. We were faced with a choice between Rock Bottom and Hotter Than Hell, and we chose the one the audience sings along with. Speaking of something's gotta give, you've had a couple of hip replacements. How does that affect your performance? Other than setting off metal detectors, my only concern onstage is that I don't jump too high because I'll hit the lighting truss (laughs). I'm more athletic, more agile -- everything is there that ever was, plus. How do you feel about the possibility of a Rock and Roll Hall of Fame induction after all these years? Is it too little too late now? It's terrific. I think my feelings about the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame have been fairly clear. My feeling is that the hall of fame we're a member of is the one that's put 80 million albums under our belt. But if we are inducted, we'll absolutely accept. I'm proud of the people who fought for us. But I'm equally proud of the people who fight against us. They're all a part of who we are. Do you have a crazy workout regimen? You go shirtless, so you've got to keep the belly toned. Sometimes I wish for a suit of armor (laughs). Before I go onstage, I usually do about 75 crunches. Here's the tough question: That chest hair of your still looks totally black. Do you dye or pluck? If you saw me up close, you'd realize I'm human, as much as I would like to think otherwise. You can't possibly be my age and be as black as stallion.
The band changed its setlist slightly by opening with "King Of The Night Time World" and adding "I Stole Your Love". The complete setlist was as follows: 01. King Of The Night Time World The Christmas Movie is the story of pregnant young Mary, who’s had all the trappings of an upscale life, but it’s only when she finds herself in a small New Mexico town, in a downtrodden trailer park, that she learns the real meaning of love, sacrifice and family. From the trailer, which we see Gene at the beginning of, it looks as if he has been cast as a Jewish truck driver and the father of the pregnant young girl.
For a man who has spent the past 37 years wearing demonic black-and-white makeup and singing "Love Gun" wearing leather pants and no shirt, Stanley, 57, is pointedly serious on the phone. Asked about Casablanca Records, the '70s disco label that broke KISS and was known for its executives' copious cocaine use and excessive behavior, Stanley says he spent little time there. Asked about Ace Frehley, the fellow band founder who spends much of his newfound solo career bashing KISS as sellouts in the press, Stanley says he's just glad the guitarist is clean and sober. Asked what he wants for Christmas, Stanley delivers a mini-lecture about supporting the American troops in Afghanistan and Iraq. Stanley is especially serious about the band's first album in 11 years, "Sonic Boom," which he produced. Leaked tracks such as "Modern Day Delilah" don't have quite the same winking debauchery of such KISS classics as "Rock and Roll All Nite," "Black Diamond" or "Strutter," but the guitars are loud, the vocals are operatic and the backbeat is booming. "This couldn't be more KISS. It catches the fire, the urgency, the adrenaline and the firepower," Stanley says, from Detroit (Rock City), where he and Simmons just began a tour with guitarist Tommy Thayer and drummer Eric Singer in lieu of founders Frehley and Peter Criss. "The idea that perhaps 'Sonic Boom' could have been made by any other lineup is somebody's personal insanity, but it's not true. The first person I usually go to for feedback is Tommy, and Eric has been in and out of the band for 14 years." Beginning in the early '80s, KISS tried to move beyond its trademark showmanship and toured for more than a decade without makeup or tall black space boots. They returned to the shtick in 1996, and have been making the big reunion-tour money with costumes and pyrotechnics ever since. Even the worldwide economic crisis hasn't dented the band's stage production, which hits Nassau Coliseum Friday and Madison Square Garden Saturday. "The last thing we've done is cut back," Stanley says. "You know, in a time of recession and a time where money is so tight, it's all the more reason for us to pack more in. People need to get more bang for the buck. Who better than us to do it?" KISS goes from studs to spuds Why would KISS sell its latest album exclusively through Wal-Mart? Four words: KISS Mr. Potato Heads. "They came to us with the idea of Mr. Potato Head," insists Paul Stanley, who, with the band, also authorized KISS M&Ms, as well as Halloween makeup and wigs. With CD sales plunging for more than a decade, it makes sense for KISS to follow The Eagles and AC/DC, who sold millions of their comeback discs using Wal-Mart's marketing power in recent years. KISS' three-disc set includes the new "Sonic Boom," a CD of re-recorded classics and a DVD. "The world is always changing. If you don't adapt, you perish," Stanley says. "Some people will scratch their head and say, 'What does that have to do with rock and roll?' And I would say, 'KISS lives outside the rules and laws that are defined for rock and roll.' " It should be noted, however, that Wal-Mart will sell neither KISS Kondoms nor KISS Kaskets. 'BLACK DIAMOND' AND 9 OTHER GEMS FROM KISS In the '70s, KISS bewildered critics with its one-dimensional, sludgy hard rock and ridiculously sexual lyrics like this one, from "Christine Sixteen": "I don't usually say things like this to girls your age, but when I saw you coming out of the school that day - that day I knew." But the hits have held up surprisingly well, and the sludge has influenced bands from the Replacements to Mötley Crüe to Nirvana. Here's KISS' top 10: 1. Rock and Roll All Nite - KISS might play this one at the Coliseum. If you ask real nice. 2. Black Diamond - Starts with pretty acoustic guitars, then plunges directly into the headbanging - something Nirvana and a generation of grunge and emo bands have made a career out of. 3. Christine Sixteen - Kind of reprehensible and pervy, until you consider it's in the tradition of such lascivious blues classics as "Good Morning Little Schoolgirl." 4. Goin' Blind - Another in the continuing theme of older men desiring teenage girls: "I'm 93, you're 16 / Can't you see I'm goin' blind?" Rocks especially hard. 5. Shout It Out Loud - One of KISS' best-ever sing-along melodies, from 1976's "Destroyer." (Follow the instructions: "You got to have a party! Shout it out loud!") 6. Strutter - KISS' music grew directly from early glam-rock punks like the New York Dolls, who favored big guitar chords and elaborate costuming. "Strutter," from the band's 1974 eponymous debut, is of a piece with the Sweet's "The Ballroom Blitz." 7. Rocket Ride - Guitarist Ace Frehley's signature song, even though he no longer tours with the band. Simple, sexual. Not rocket science. 8. God Gave Rock 'N' Roll to You II - This swaying, 1992 rewrite of an Argent song is one of the few classic live sing-alongs from the makeup-less portion of KISS' career. 9. Two Timer - Written by Gene Simmons in 1975, this harmony-heavy rocker blames the woman, but at least Simmons doesn't spare himself - a "three-time loser." 10. Beth - After all that guitar bluster - a tender ballad. Contains one of the band's best lines: "Me and the boys are playin' / And we just can't find the sound." WHEN | WHERE KISS plays Nassau Coliseum Friday at 7:30 p.m. Tickets, $21.50-$125, available through Ticketmaster, 631-888-9000, ticketmaster.com. The band plays Madison Square Garden on Saturday; tickets, $25-$150, at Ticketmaster. "Sonic Boom" comes out Tuesday.
Bands like Rush fed our cerebral interests; we would not have heard of Ayn Rand if not for drummer Neil Peart. Queen fed our operatic yearnings, Aerosmith was our roots-rock, Ted Nugent fed our machismo. For sophisticated music, we pulled out the Yes and Emerson, Lake and Palmer albums. But for many of us disaffected youth, it was Kiss that was the standard bearer. We wanted to rock and roll all night and party every day, and Kiss had the rock anthems for us. We were recruited into the Kiss Army, drawing Kiss logos on our notebooks, jackets and whatever we could get our hands on (this was before rap and the graffiti tagging craze). Kiss knew we were loyal and they took rock merchandise to a whole new level to feed our ever growing needs. Every album had a poster available for order, plus tons of other merch such as belt buckles, t-shirts, photos and more. Inside each album would be something collectible, something to be prized, whether it was a photo album or even a paper "love gun" that snapped out a "pow" flag when you flicked it. Sure I had posters of other bands such as Aerosmith, Queen, Rush, Yes, Jethro Tull and Led Zeppelin on my wall, but the Kiss posters outnumbered the others put together. And to this day, nobody can quite compete with Kiss in the merchandise category. I read the magazines about Kiss to learn my Kisstory and today, I still know there real names, their vices and motivators. On the Dynasty tour, I was able to sneak in a 110 instamatic camera (there was no such thing as a camera phone or even an affordable cellphone back then). It the start of a passion for photographing concerts (all I really wanted to do was document the show I attended) that moved to 35mm film, digital photography and now I am a respected senior music photographer with photos published in many outlets. Maybe I really owe it all to the visual spectacle that was Kiss. They definitely got my attention and refuse to let go. Someday I hope to photograph an entire Kiss show. So it was with great zeal that I recently flew to Detroit to see and photograph Kiss opening their US tour with a 2-night stand at Cobo Hall, the arena that helped propel them to arena tours when they recorded the first Alive album there in the 70's. After Alive became a hit, the band recorded "Detroit Rock City" in homage to their fans in Detroit, one of the first cities's to fall under the Kiss spell. Now one of the older arenas in the country, Cobo Hall is about to be retired and the band felt it best to pay their last respects to the venue and city that was so much a part of the Kiss success story. The band also invited some fans to Cobo Hall the night before the big concerts (sadly, I flew into Detroit too late for that) for a meet and greet and brief dress rehearsal, and to record a few songs for Jimmy Kimmel's TV show and to film some scenes for "Modern Day Delilah," the first video from their new album Sonic Boom that will be release on October 6. The current tour from the hottest band in the land celebrates 35 years of Kisstory with a return to the original Alive album. The Alive 35 tour will be coming soon to a city near you. The first part of the tour opening show was the Alive album, almost in its entirety and pretty close to the same running order. For some reason, they dropped "Firehouse" and "Rock Bottom." "Rock and Roll All Nite," the ultimate Kiss anthem, was moved to the end to close the show in style. Tommy Thayer and Eric Singer have replaced Ace Frehley and Peter Criss respectively, although they carry the same make-up and similar personas, but it was still the Kiss spectacle. Hearing classics like "She," "Deuce," "Strutter," "Got to Choose," and "Parasite" was a real treat. Gene Simmons breathed fire during "Hotter Than Hell" and there was some nice pyro throughout, especially during "100,000 Years" and "Rock and Roll All Nite." Tommy Thayer's guitar solo featured sparks shooting from his guitar, just like Ace used to do. Eric Singer's drum kit elevated and revolved during his drum solo. There was no "Beth" but that's understandable as it was a Kiss power ballad that graced the album after Alive. The show ended with a long encore that brought the Kisstory to the present, featuring "Shout It Out Loud," "Lick It Up," "I Love It Loud" (during which Gene spit blood and flew up to the lighting rig), and the new song "Modern Day Delilah." At one point they even threw in some riffage from the Who's "Won't Get Fooled Again," in homage to the band that pioneered anthemic rock. Then Paul Stanley stepped onto a winch that carried him over the audience to a revolving second stage at the back of the hall for "Love Gun." The final song of the night, which everybody knew they had to play, was "Detroit Rock City," with lots of pyro, as a final thank you to Detroit. The stage and costumes were a little different but it was still the pyro spectacle I know and love from Kiss, and enough confetti was thrown into the air to make the arena floor look like it had been hit by a blizzard. The staging was new, with a giant video screen behind the band and video cubes lining the length of the stage on three levels. There were also hydraulic platforms at either end of the stage that elevated Gene, and Tommy far above the stage, almost to the lighting rig, while another hydraulic platform elevated Paul at the same time about half as high as he smashed a guitar. Kiss is still Alive 35 years after they started. And that makes this fan, and the legion of fans that make up the Kiss Army, very happy. Kiss is also a possible induction into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, a country club for elite artists with the right connections much like the Grammy award. Considering they wrote "Rock and Roll All Nite" (one of the all-time great rock anthems), pioneered the pyro that now sustains bands like Nickleback and Creed as well as the WWE, took merch to a new level, and sold more albums than most inductees, isn't it about time?
Stop Smiling: The original members of KISS reunited in 1996 after 17 years. Gene Simmons, Paul Stanley, Peter Criss and yourself. What are memories of the reunion tour? Ace Frehley: It started off great. It was really strange because we wearing our old costumes, and it wasn't that different from tours from the past. I remember a couple of times doing shows feeling like I'd really gone back in time. It was bizarre. But as the tour progressed, things got weird, people started saying the same old things, pushing people's buttons, and it wasn't fun anymore. It was like the early '80s all over again. Stop Smiling: What, specifically, were people saying? Ace Frehley: I don't want to get into specifics. People started doing a lot of the same things that they were doing around my first departure [in 1982]. Making decisions without me. Originally it was put together in the spirit of we were all gonna kind of do this together, and the next thing I know, I'm feeling like a hired gun and I don't have any say in anything. And that's not fun. The four of us invented KISS and brought it to the world. It just wasn't fun anymore. Stop Smiling: After 17 years you were reunited. Was it all business or did you ever have moments were you hung out with the other guys in the band just as friends? Ace Frehley: It wasn't like the old days. Pretty much everyone went their own way. Stop Smiling: You and Peter didn't share your old bond? Ace Frehley: Not like we used to. I wasn't really allowed to drink on that tour. It was a business. It was a machine. After we got into the day-to-day business of it, it made me remember why I quit the group in the first place [Laughs]. Stop Smiling: On one of the "Kissology" DVDs that came out a few years ago, they talk about a Southern California concert that you almost pulled a no show. What happened? Ace Frehley: That was crazy. I was in New York and I had to fly in for the show and I'd missed a flight and I was having some family problems and my daughter ended up flying out with me. I think we had missed the second flight even. We were gonna land about an hour before the show. I know Tommy [Thayer, KISS's road manager at the time and current KISS guitarist] was already in make-up. They had a chopper waiting for me when I landed that took me to Irvine Meadows. I put the make-up on in a half-hour and did the show. [Laughs]. I feel bad because I gave a lot of people some tense moments. And that wasn't the only time. I feel bad about it, but I wasn't all there. Stop Smiling: When did KISS go from being this glitter-punk New York street band to a business? Ace Frehley: It wasn't one day, it's just the way things started getting more about merchandising and became more about marketing than the music. I got involved in rock and roll because I loved it. And it was fun. And for a time, I said, "I'm the luckiest fuckin' guy in the world. I'm doin' something I love to do and I'm getting paid a lot of money for it." And I was gettin' to see the whole world and it was great. And then all of a sudden when you start reading contracts and fine print and you realize that people are deceiving you about this and that and your lawyer tells you it's a lot more money than you thought, and it starts not being fun anymore. You think that everyone is doing it in the spirit that you think they are doing it, and then you find out there are ulterior motives. Stop Smiling: Who are you speaking about? Ace Frehley: I don't want to mention names. It was people who were handling us. We had to sue our record company. We had to sue our business managers. And then the IRS takes a crack at you. It wasn't fun anymore and it's all because of being mismanagement and people trying to take this and that they shouldn't be taking. Read the entire interview from Stop Smiling magazine.
Downtown London time-warped back to the 1970s last night when KISS headlined at a sold-out John Labatt Centre. With 8,682 fans, many of them wearing the facepaint of their heroes jamming the downtown London arena, there was a whole lot of rock and roll all night. KISS veterans Gene Simmons and Paul Stanley are still around from the band that rocked London again and again -- 1974 being the first time when the band was young and visited twice. The band and the fans knew what to do when it was time for Rock and Roll All Nite, as the spectacular finale to the main set. Spectacular as in Simmons and lead guitarist Tommy Thayer being lofted on huge platforms with stage smoke billowing from them like jet exhaust. Spectacular as in the fans singing and shouting along because they love the band, the song and what KISS means to them after all these years. KISSIN' hot it was "last nite" with a multi-song encore still to come. Stanley smacked around his guitar to prompt the pyro blasts. He then allowed the crowd to egg him into smashing the guitar. Earlier, Thayer had managed to shoot some of the lights out with a long, long, long guitar extravaganza that saw fireworks from his instrument apparently bringing some of the lights crashing to the stage. Does anyone know if he does that every night -- or was it a downtown London special light show? KISS had promised a lot of action on its KISS Alive 35 tour. Last night, it delivered to fans of all ages, some of them no doubt the little KISS fan grandkids of the original worshippers. "If you want us to remember you, you better get a little louder," Stanley teased mid-set, mentioning KISS still had to play Toronto and Montreal. Loud? Louder? Loudest? No Free Press review of KISS in the Forest City has ever failed to mention the volume. Let this review be no exception. Let it be recorded that the cheering which greeted such main set items as Deuce (the opener), Nothin' to Lose, C'mon and Love Me, Watchin' You and 100,000 Years was truly a joyful noise. Touring in full makeup and KISS regalia alongside the fire-breathing Simmons and the talkative Stanley are Thayer, the lead guitarist, and Eric Singer, the drummer. Thayer has stepped in for guitarist Ace Frehley, while Singer has the drum role played -- and sung -- by Peter Criss. Singer was allowed to take the title of 100,000 Years literally with one of those interminable drum solos that should have died in the 1970s, but will live forever because the fans love them. In a typical KISS touch, Singer's platform pivoted so fans could see his brawny back as he thundered on into the night. From well back in the arena the band looked like cartoon figures. One of the band's most famous props, that lizard-length tongue Simmons loves to flick, would be an eraser-sized nubbin were if not for huge screen projections. Unfortunately it was not enough for one KISS Army berserker who was ejected during the second song. Tsk. What a KISS off. "London," yelled Stanley during the opener, Deuce, which is one of the 35-year-old gems KISS can still count on. KISS can always count on London even if the band's first visit in years showed the wear and tear on Stanley's vocals and his stage talk. "Here's one those gems, one of those obscure KISS songs people love," he announced at one point. "This one is a classic among classics," he mused at another. Stanley also seemed astonished one of the main set tunes had been on Dressed to Kill and Kiss Alive. Even when he was kidding around, Stanley knew how to keep rocking. "I get the message," he said after boos -- booing! -- greeted a nod to a Led Zep classic before he found his way to Black Diamond. That led to Rock and Roll All Nite and all was KISS-worthy once more. The band had arrived almost 90 minutes earlier after icy smoke covered the stage with the front line -- bassist Simmons and guitarists Stanley and Thayer -- lifted up by stage machinery and accompanied by the first of many pyro blasts around the band's logo, prominent at centre stage. It must be said the 1970s were much better in at least one respect -- opening acts. Back in the 1970s, Rush and Cheap Trick were among the openers in London for KISS. Last night, it was L.A. creepoids Buckcherry. Kids of all ages know the KISS act takes talent. Buckcherry, begone.
Nov. 29 - Drammen, Norway With some luck, Kiss will return to the city in a few months: Last week, after a decade of eligibility, the popular favorite received a nomination to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, which is headquartered blocks away from Q. The arena was dotted with convention-worthy costumes and fans in pedestrian fatigues and face-paint. Couples wore black-and-white Gene-and-Paul designs, dads and sons sported matching makeup, and an elementary schoolgirl looked so comfortable painted as Starchild you'd think she was at a Dora the Explorer Live! show. As frontman Paul Stanley proclaimed early in the set, "Tonight is all about celebrating the history of the band and the relationship with the Kiss Army." In the years that followed Alive!, detractors have had a lot to say about Kiss, through its concept albums, solo indulgences, collectible dolls, unmasking, remasking, and forays into reality TV. But few have ever accused the band of putting on a bad show. And they still can't, regardless of what you think about their hard-chugging music and lyrics about rock, gin, loose women, liberated women, unwilling women and coerced women. Some historical maritime skirmishes on nearby Lake Erie didn't use as much pyro and explosives as the group brought. Flame, fog, and fireworks surrounded rotating high-rise platforms. And the band looked like they have since bringing back the makeup in 1996. This stage set featured a trademark lit-up KISS logo under a tall large drum riser, and a video screen as wide as the stage was flanked by two smaller displays. With under-arm wings and a wagging tongue you can see from the cheap seats, Gene Simmons is still a convincing, deep-voiced demon. He spat blood and flew to the top of the lighting rig, where he sang "I Love It Loud." As the band launched into "Love Gun," Stanley the Starchild zipped on a wire from the stage to a platform in the back of the arena. Over the set, he ran through his repertoire of reliable moves - disco strut, head-scratch, butt-shake, and stripper-style hip-wiggle. His voice was a hit - his pipes, after all, were strong enough to score him a starring role in a production of Phantom of the Opera. Guitarist Tommy Thayer and drummer Eric Singer were also on point. Wearing Spaceman and Catman makeup designs, the two recent additions expertly improved upon their predecessors. During a spotlight solo, Thayer wielded a guitar that spewed sparks, and gunned down a chunk of the lighting rig. The set was an expanded staging of Alive!, with extra - in the words of Stanley - "classic classics" from the 1976's Destroyer, plus "Modern Day Delilah," the promising new single from the imminent throwback-style LP, Sonic Boom. The group made just two brief nods to its unmasked, no-makeup period of the '80s and '90s: "Lick It Up" and, as the crowd exited, "God Gave Rock N Roll To You II" played over the P.A. system like rolling-credits music from a big-budget movie. The Kiss Army left the arena and spilled the street, chanting the "hey-yeah" refrain from "I Love It Loud." Fan Greg Krol grew up with the classic records and first saw the band on 1984's Animalize tour. He gave it a thumbs-up: "Best Kiss set ever." Set List: Encore: The U.S. rock legends' KISS Alive 35 tour reaches the John Labatt Centre on Tuesday night, as they return to the city where they have action-painted dressing rooms with mayo and mustard, fished in Fanshawe Lake ... and had fans ready to sign up with the KISS Army since 1974. When KISS first rocked London in the summer of 1974, the New York band was one of many glam rock pretenders. Even then, KISS had figured out how to shout it out loud in a colourful array, which included David Bowie and the New York Dolls. "It was this big secretive thing about not seeing them without their makeup," says Ingersoll-area music promoter and media relations businessperson Nick Panaseiko. "They were the first one to incorporate dry ice in huge barrels ... they had Peter Criss's drum kit raised up by a fork lift." KISS bassist Gene Simmons told Billboard.com that fans can expect to see "new outfits, a brand new stage and millions more (dollars) put into it" on the tour to promote Sonic Boom, the band's first new album in 11 years. "That's just the history of KISS," Simmons told Billboard.com. "Simply put, any band you go to see for the same ticket price, you know KISS is going to give you tenfold more." Celebrating 35 years of rocking the world in makeup and crazed costumes, KISS is expected to visit its megamillion-selling classics including Rock and Roll All Nite, I Was Made for Lovin' You and Detroit Rock City plus new ones from Sonic Boom on Tuesday. In 2009, long-gone former lead guitarist Ace Frehley and drummer Criss have been replaced in the Sonic Boom studio by touring KISS members Tommy Thayer and Eric Singer. Simmons and longtime partner Paul (Starchild) Stanley are in place as always. KISS cost Panaseiko, who had seen the band in Detroit, about $1,000 and pulled 900 fans to Centennial Hall for the band's first London gig on July 25, 1974. Future Canadian superstars Rush were on that bill and would soon become fixtures with the costumed headliners as KISS liked what the Toronto rockers brought to the show. A Windsor FM radio station where Panaseiko worked had begun pushing KISS, helping bring the band to London. One of its personnel acted as MC that summer night in London. "KISS was another outrageous band (like the New York Dolls) and we chose to have KISS on the air," Panaseiko says. KISS was back before Christmas for another gig. This one was at the old London Arena on Bathurst St. Panaseiko came up with a "Merry KISS-mas" concept to promote that Dec. 22, 1974 show. He also sent out some KISS impostors in faux Cat, Starchild, etc. makeup to build buzz. The faux KISS visited record stores in a limo. It worked. KISS fans braved a huge snowstorm to see their heroes on a Sunday. A real KISS-off was the way the storm delayed tour trucks for hours. KISS arrived late and demanded the arena be cleared for a sound check, Panaseiko recalls. That request was rejected and the show went on. With their parents arriving to give them a ride home, many fans left before KISS started to rock. A Free Press reviewer was on hand. It appears the July show had been overlooked by The Free Press in favour of a choir from the Netherlands and a mystic called something like Dijon. "Their style, though somewhat outdated, is unique," a reviewer wrote of KISS in time for Christmas, calling that style "thunder rock." KISS kept coming back, jamming the old London Gardens again and again in the 1970s. Once, when KISS came back that decade, they had an extra day here. Panaseiko says Simmons went down to play ball at Thames Park. KISS members also fished at Fanshawe Lake. They created a stir. Without their stage makeup but still wearing huge red leather boots, the KISS guys waded right into the water. KISS stirred things up again at a much later London show. That time, KISS decorated the dressing room at the old Gardens ... with mustard and mayo. Legendary London concert promoter Don Jones discussed the paint-in with "one or two of the boys." A new paint job was required. "I'm sure they've grown up since then," Jones says. On Tuesday, we'll see how much KISS has matured over the 35 years the band has been playing London. The Free Press didn't think KISS would last, you know. "KISS has something to offer musically but the glitter and whiteface is on its way out and if the group is to remain alive, it must change and face the future that one of its members (apparently Stanley, the Starchild) is supposed to represent," the reviewer said of that December, 1974 show in the snow. It would seem the band has been able to KISS that off.
Q. Congratulations on the nomination. How are you feeling about it? A. There's a long way between a nomination and induction. That being said, this is really something that I think is exciting. There is a very vocal segment of Kiss fans and rock fans who have wanted us in. And so for them I'm very, very pleased. Q. What was the impetus for the new album, since you probably could've carried on successfully as you have until you retired? A. I think this lineup [with drummer Eric Singer and lead guitarist Tommy Thayer] is so terrific and being in the midst of our most successful, biggest tour ever . . . it was so obvious, not only to me, but to the fans, how great the band is and how quintessentially we are Kiss. For me it was just a matter of one stumbling block, and that would be me producing the album. It really was about, at this point, making sure that I didn't have to make apologies for something that came out. Q. Why have Eric and Tommy wear Ace and Peter's makeup? Were the characters they came up with just really lame, like sunflower man or something? A. We've built those characters over 35 years and the idea that anybody owns those is ridiculous. We were there when they were created and we've worked our butts off for 35 years, so the idea that we should have "snail man" in the band is ridiculous. We did that at one point and realized that it really was a disservice to the fans because the fans know those four iconic figures. That's Kiss to everybody, and whether someday somebody wears my makeup, I'd consider it an honor quite honestly. It would mean that the band is continuing with the same philosophy and thriving without me. Q. Say you're an aging Kiss fan who now only wants to rock 'n' roll part of the night and party every other day. Could you still be considered fit for duty in the Kiss army? A. It's all about your attitude, right? It's not about quantity, it's about quality. So if it's every other day, it's allowed. Just make sure it's something worth remembering.
As its done throughout the year, the group dedicated its main set on Friday to 1975's gold "Alive!," playing all but two of the set's 16 songs ("Firehouse" and "Rock Bottom" were excerpted) and altering the running order slightly to close with "Rock and Roll All Nite." "Deuce" started the two-hour and 20-minute show amidst booming pyrotechnics, and the set list treated members of the Kiss Army, who packed Cobo to the roof for opening night, to deep cuts such as "Got to Choose," "Nothin' to Lose," "Parasite" and "Watchin' You," as well as drum and guitar solos by Eric Singer and Tommy Thayer, respectively, and an extended version of "100,000 Years" that culminated in a call-and-response between Paul Stanley and the crowd. Sans "Firehouse," meanwhile, Gene Simmons did his usual fire-breathing act during "Hotter Than Hell." The Detroit show also unveiled Kiss' new stage -- which Stanley told Billboard.com is "the widest, biggest stage we've had," featuring a massive HD screen above it, three levels of lighted cubes at the rear and two video screens and huge Kiss Army banners flanking it. Hydraulic lifts brought the band members up from below the stage level at the beginning of the show and lofted them above the crowd while confetti swirled and more pyrotechnics exploded at the end of "Rock and Roll All Nite." The encore dipped into post-"Alive!" Kiss favorites such as "Shout It Out Loud," a rendition of "Lick it Up" that included a bit of the Who's "Won't Get Fooled Again" and "I Love it Loud" with a blood-spewing Simmons hoisted above the lighting rig. Kiss delivered the first public performance of "Modern Day Delilah," the first single from the new "Sonic Boom" album that comes out Oct. 6 (the group shot a video for the song on Thursday at Cobo) before Stanley "flew" over the crowd to sing "Love Gun" on a satellite stage by the sound board and came back to finish with, appropriately, "Detroit Rock City," with Kid Rock looking on and acknowledged by Stanley. A full camera crew documented the opening night concert as well as a second Cobo show on Saturday for what Simmons said would be an eventual concert DVD. The Kiss Alive 35 show has stayed largely the same throughout the year, but Stanley said some changes may occur once "Sonic Boom" -- a Wal-Mart exclusive that includes a second disc of re-recorded Kiss hits and a DVD -- is available. "It's been basically a celebration of the 35th anniversary of (Kiss' first album), but it's going to morph into 'Sonic Boom' quite quickly as the album comes out," he explained. Kiss, with opening act Buckcherry, will be on the road through Dec. 6, including more dates in Canada, where the group also toured during the summer, and a Halloween night show at the Voodoo Experience festival in New Orleans. The A&E network will begin airing "Kissteria," a documentary from the group's Australia and New Zealand leg of the tour, later this fall.
"The hottest band in the land" recorded their breakthrough album Alive! behind the Cobo Center's walls 35 years ago, and not much has changed since then. It still has the feel of an oversized high school gym from the '70s and that's part of its charm; its manila stucco, cinder block walls, and fold out chairs keep things scrappy, locking the smaller than average arena in a perpetual junky time capsule (complete with water damage, too), the perfect setting for the band, who played Alive! in its (almost) entirety last night. Gene Simmons and Paul Stanley, the group's only two original members--still perform with a ferocity and penchant for spectacle unseen from many of their peers. Stanley's whimsical rock 'n' roll preacher stage banter was still a hoot, whether it was promoting their upcoming album or reminding Detroit that we were all "one big family." Simmons, on the other hand, still knows how to keep things charismatically creepy (e.g. strings of sweat and fake blood that oozed from him throughout the show. And who could forget about the good old fashioned pyrotechnics and marquee lighting? All part of a true nostalgia trip that reminded everyone how some florescent fire and thunderclaps could elevate a rock show from a performance to an event. Expected, of course, but then again, KISS knows exactly what they are, and they perform their hard rock pop, which oozes of good times, goofy evil, and even goofier sex puns, with unabashed strut and glam rock melodrama. Leave the musicianship to Tommy Thayer and Eric Singer though. While no one can ever really take the place of Ace Frehley and Peter Criss, they're explosive in their playing, adding their own thundering flair to Space Ace and The Catman's already established drum and guitar solos. The most thrilling moment of the night came with Thayer's solo at the end of "She" as his guitar launched rockets above the audience with each biting lick. Other staple moments of showmanship were the blinding snowstorm of confetti during "Rock And Roll All Nite" and Simmons' obligatory fire-spitting during "Hotter Than Hell". The show ended with the one two punch of "Love Gun" and finally, "Detroit Rock City", sadly for the last time on that fabled stage. As the lights rose, throngs of grease-painted fans left the hall with black smiles on their faces, knowing that while Cobo Hall may be done, KISS is far from finished.
The iconic grease-painted and platform-shoed 1970s glam rockers were in Motown this weekend to celebrate a very special anniversary, and couldn't think of better followers to invite to the festivities than some of the folks who made the band's storied career possible way back in 1975 when the Demon, Starchild, Cat and Spaceman recorded their landmark multi-platinum best-seller "Alive!" Using as a backdrop the Motor City's Cobo Hall -- the hallowed venue that started it all, now facing an uncertain future -- the band kicked off its 2009 "Alive!/35" tour in typical bombastic fashion. Kiss had history going for them in shaking loose Cobo's dust and cobwebs. And it certainly didn't hurt that this truly felt like an event for the ages, possibly the beginning of what could be one of the band's final treks. Tom Ingalls of Commerce Township, a 52 year old who got his mitts on a set of tickets Friday, was part of the throng who bore witness at Cobo when "Alive!" was chronicled for all time. "Coming here I knew it would take me back a long way, just for the entertainment of it all," he said. "I always say, if you don't see these bands right now, who knows if you'll ever see 'em again?" Detroit's beaten and battered economy didn't hold back turnout, as Friday's show was sold out and Saturday's stretched the arena's capacity just as efficiently. And the band embraced its mantra of being entertainers first and worrying about serious musical chops at some date yet to be determined. The show was fun. And to a Kiss fan, that's all that matters. There was no question who concert-goers came out to see. Faces on the floor and in the multiple tiers -- some smeared with the mug of their favorite Kiss character -- ranged in age, some parents brought their awestruck and innocent young to their very first rock show. Enormous Kiss Army banners draped the hall's walls stage left and right, and were complimented by giant closed-circuit monitors that put the group's thick, trademark makeup and black, Spandex-and-chrome-studded costumes smack-dab in front of fans' Cheshire grins. The lights blanked out just before 9 p.m. and the big screens provided a glimpse of the classic rockers as they progressed from the bowels of the arena to the backstage curtains. The familiar booming bass rumble of the group's intro -- which caused the floor and walls to vibrate as if an airliner had touched down on Cobo's roof -- heralded the band's arrival onstage. "You wanted the best, you got the best! The hottest band in the world, Kiss!" came the rallying bellow, and fans collectively sprung to their feet and the rock 'n' roll pawty exploded to life -- literally, courtesy of copious amounts of face-melting pyro, thunderclap flash pots and pops of fireworks and confetti. The front line of Simmons, Stanley and lead guitarist and former road manager Tommy Thayer emerged from billowy clouds of dry ice while drummer Eric Singer -- donning the familiar feline face and costume-- rode his drum kit as it hydraulically climbed out of its nest deep within an LED Kiss logo center stage, which dwarfed the Army's first officers. A JumboTron-style screen expansive enough to make the band appear as if it was performing for a city populated by Lilliputians hovered directly over Singer and captured every larger-than-life gesture and pose, and a stack of smaller screens were piled on one another, prominently displaying pictures of clown white-adorned fans and computer-generated flames and graphics. The group roared through the first three tunes on "Alive!" in order of appearance on vinyl more than three decades ago: "Deuce," "Strutter" and "Got to Choose." "This is night No. 2 in the Holy Land," ringleader and onstage spokesman Stanley quipped. "Tonight may be night No. 2, but it's up to you to make it No. 1. Tonight we're celebrating everything we've done." But then the band dropped one of several promised surprises, launching into new song and single "Modern Day Delilah," from the upcoming Oct. 6 release of the group's first new album in 11 years, "Sonic Boom." (Of note: A full camera crew was on hand shooting, so expect a new live DVD to come out of this, boys and girls.) Sturdy rocker "Delilah" fit fairly seamlessly into the revered Kiss catalogue this night, and though Stanley declared the song and album "classic Kiss," the track shares more common ground with Kiss' '80s output than the tunes from the group's '70s heyday. From there, the event returned to old-school form for much of the rest of the evening. The band, as foretold, toured the "Alive!" record in its entirety save for two cuts, "Firehouse" and "Rock Bottom," and did so convincingly. The night proved most joyous when Simmons and Stanley cut loose on cuts like "Hotter than Hell, "C'mon and Love Me" and "Nothin' to Lose," but the energy was kicked up several notches when truly classic tunes like "100,000 Years," "Cold Gin" and "Black Diamond" got their airtime. "Diamond," as always, was punctuated by Simmons and Thayer being perched on mechanized lifts that drove them high into the lighting rigs while smoke was belched out of hoses underneath. Stanley stood tall on a platform between them, not ascending to his bandmates' dizzying heights, which allowed him to smash and splinter his guitar in half more thoroughly. Singer pounded the skins for the band in the '90s and Thayer's been a member of the family for decades. Some fans may bemoan Singer and Thayer's involvement, but Kiss is a tighter unit minus Frehley and Criss. And let's face it, people: Kiss knows where its bread is buttered. Stanley kept things lively, preening and prancing about rooster-like during the group's national anthem, "Rock 'n' Roll All Nite," while canons situated at every corner of the main floor shot a virtual snowstorm of confetti into the atmosphere and onto a sea of people. Swatting away at his colorful collection of guitars all night long, the Starchild took great delight in playing his six-string weapons behind his head, through his legs and upside down, and was positively giddy when he sailed over the crowd during "Love Gun." A trapeze-style harness dropped the singer off on another mechanized platform at the back of the hall, which spun full circle when Stanley belted out the song's chorus, punishing his distinctive voice in reaching for ear-piercing registers. In a change of pace, "Love Gun" was served up as part of a packaged six-song encore, which allowed the band to dump the traditional applause-meter pattern of walking offstage and reappearing when cheers reach fever pitch. On "Lick It Up," Stanley and Thayer cleverly morphed the Who staple "Won't Get Fooled Again" into the tune's bridge. Stanley's battle cry when the power chords took their stranglehold would have made Who frontman Roger Daltrey proud. Kiss Army recruits ate up every trick in the band's considerable collection of show-stopping gags, including Simmons' fire breathing act in "Hotter that Hell" and his blood-spewing schtick in "I Love It Loud." The show was upbeat and breezy until things got a little more serious in the latter half when Stanley took a moment to acknowledge Detroit's beleaguered image and staggering unemployment status. "We know that in Detroit, unemployment is higher than anywhere in the nation," the singer shouted. "That is a damned sin. But we'll make it through this. We'll see you again. We'll never forget this night. We love you." The raucous night finally came to its coda with -- what else? -- "Detroit Rock City." The fiery finale was like the Fourth of July in the middle of September, and bombs blew up one after the other. The crowd raised their arms, lighters and cell phones in tribute, and Kiss took its final bows. And then Cobo fell silent as witnesses to its final concert lined their way out onto the concrete of the concourse, still singing their favorite songs. It marked the end of an era in Motown, and the gravity wasn't wasted on a few fans who snapped pictures before heading back to the parking garages. Kiss' relationship with Detroit has come full circle. Simmons and Stanley returned to the venue that rocketed them to stardom, making sure that the hall was paid its proper respects before the lights went out for good. Kisstory made. "Just like I remembered," Ingalls said, brushing away a tear. "Awesome." Kiss "Alive!/35" set list: Encore: Mission accomplished. Thousands of fans sported tour t-shirts from the many KISS concerts Cobo has hosted over the past three decades, and dozens stood tall on silver platform shoes, their black wigs adding another three inches of glam power. The KISS army was congregated in the Motor City's most dated arena -- a cold concrete slab used to showcase military vehicles at the North American International Auto Show -- for one of the last concerts ever to be held there before it's demolished, a touching point for the band members themselves, who recorded much of their classic Alive album there in 1975. After the quartet stormed the stage, jumping into "Deuce" and "Strutter," guitarist/singer Paul Stanley made sure everyone was aware of the momentous occasion. "This is the holy land, the place where it all started, Detroit!" he yelled, showing no signs of his two hip-replacement surgeries. "You've always opened your arms and opened your legs for us!" KISS, or course, helped put the cult in pop-culture. The band is a B-movie come to life, a gang of sonic super heroes, and if Stanley and Gene Simmons (the two remaining founders) don't take themselves seriously, the fans always have -- especially Detroit's. There's even a movie (Detroit Rock City) about it. "We know what you're here for -- you want that cool, classic old stuff and we're going to cover it all tonight," Stanley promised a roaring crowd of more than 12,000. And they did -- flawlessly. The initial question buzzing around the arena was whether Stanley, 57, and Simmons, 60 -- with the help of recent additions Tommy Thayer and Alice Cooper drummer Eric Singer -- could still pull it off. Even the band members -- who, after 11 years of eligibility, were finally nominated for Rock and Roll Hall of Fame just days before the show -- weren't sure. Before jumping into "Hotter Than Hell," a hesitant Stanley asked the crowd, "Is it good?" "YYYYEEEEEAAAAHHHHHHH," the audience replied. And then came two hours of metal-glam anthems, featuring songs from the Alive, Destroyer, and Lick It Up records. It was a testament to the divine powers of rock. You have to give 'em credit. Just shy of a 40-year career, KISS are shaking their spandexed butts, humping and licking their guitars, blowing kisses to groupies, spitting blood, shooting fireworks from their instruments, and indulging in all of the Regan-era rock'n'roll excess we've come to expect from them. Simmons and Stanley competed to outdo each other: Simmons was hoisted more than a hundred feet to the top of the stadium, then spat movie blood on the security guards below; while Stanley locked his bedazzled thigh-high leather platform boots into a zip-line and cruised over to a revolving stage above the sound both, where he put on a show for the back rows! The band wasn't originally planning to kick off their tour in Detroit, but when they heard Cobo was set to close, they wanted to make sure they got one last shot at it, that they owed that much to Detroit. The people of the Motor City, looking for any good reason to celebrate these days, were more than appreciative. KISS replied in kind, taking time to tip their wigs to the struggling auto industry and to the music of Motown, the Stooges, Bob Seger, Grand Funk Rail Road, and Alice Cooper. "There's just something in the blood of this city," said Simmons. With that there was just one last song to play. "This one's called 'Long live Detroit Rock City!'" And Stanley, with the support of more than 21,000 Detroit rock fans, sang, "I feel so good, I'm so aliveeeeeeeeeee!!!!!!!!" Setlist: Encore: Fan-filmed video footage of the performance can be viewed here: Deuce, Cold Gin, Modern Day Delilah, Detroit Rock City.
It was there where the legendary costumed rockers recorded "Alive!" the 1975 live album that put them on the musical map. And on Friday, in front of a fervent sold-out crowd of around 12,000, the band reprised the majority of "Alive!" during the 20-song, 2-hour and 10-minute show that acted as a mutual love fest between Kiss and Detroit. The band performs again at Cobo on Saturday. "Cobo Hall!" frontman Paul Stanley shouted early in the set Friday. "For us, this is the holy land. This is where it all started." Fans, many of whom came dressed like their favorite Kiss members in outrageous costumes and greasy face paint, certainly treated the venue like it was sacred ground, some coming from as far away as Wisconsin and West Virginia for the concert. Cobo's future remains uncertain, but Kiss said it wanted to perform there one last time before it becomes rubble -- like Tiger Stadium, where the group kicked off its 1996 reunion tour. "When we heard they were gonna close (Cobo) down, we said, not without us coming back," said Stanley, before launching into "C'mon and Love Me." Later he joked, "Next time we see ya, I guess it will be at what, The Palace?" to a chorus of boos from the audience. On stage, the band was up to its old tricks: Gene Simmons spit blood, breathed fire and flew to the top of the arena to perform "I Love It Loud" atop a lighting rig, while Stanley rode out over the crowd to play "Love Gun" on a rotating satellite stage at the back of the arena. Meanwhile, guitarist Tommy Thayer -- who replaced Ace Frehley earlier this decade -- was technically up to Ace's old tricks, shooting fireballs out of the neck of his guitar during an extended solo, while drummer Eric Singer -- who replaced Peter Criss, also earlier this decade -- played atop a drum riser connected to a hydraulic lift that rose high into the air and rotated to face all sides of the arena. The production was typical Kiss: loud, in your face, and proud of it. The band was backed by a video screen as wide as the stage, and four tiers of smaller, square-shaped video screens were stacked like boxes at the rear of the set. Meanwhile, flames and explosions burst throughout the show, and the confetti shower that rained down during the set-closing "Rock and Roll All Nite" was as thick and dense as a February snowstorm. Stanley's constant stage banter -- he truly is one of the chattiest frontmen in rock -- was lighthearted throughout the evening, though he did touch on Detroit's economic hardships at one point, saying the fact that a city like Detroit has such a high unemployment rate "is a sin." Stanley said his sympathies go out to those in the city and said things would turn themselves around -- all as an intro to "Rock and Roll All Nite," almost to ensure the proceedings didn't get too heavy. In addition to celebrating the 35th anniversary of "Alive!" the band is also pushing its new album "Sonic Boom," which hits stores early next month. Late in the set they debuted "Modern Day Delilah," playing it live for the first time, and in sound and feel the song fit in with the band's classic material. The show closed the only way it could, with a rip-roaring "Detroit Rock City," and with Stanley praising his beloved "church of rock and roll." He proceeded to run down Detroit's musical history, touching on Motown, Bob Seger, Mitch Ryder, the Stooges, Alice Cooper and more, saying, "there's something about Michigan that just puts rock and roll in the blood." And by spitting that blood up all over stage, Kiss made its mark on the city one more time, and made sure that no matter what becomes of Kiss or Cobo, the memories of their shared history will last forever.
There was fire. There was an explosion or two, followed by flashing red sirens. And we’re not talking about a Detroit freeway. We’re talking about Kiss’ return to Cobo Arena on Friday night. Kiss renewed its love affair with Detroit Rock City by kicking off its North American tour with the first of two shows at the venue where most of its history-making “Alive!” album was recorded in 1975. The face-painting, tongue-wagging, fire-spewing hard rockers were led by founding members Gene Simmons and Paul Stanley, who gave a loving welcome to the crowd along with late-era additions Tommy Thayer on lead guitar and Eric Singer on drums. As the skies darkened, fans crammed inside Cobo, screaming, high-fiving and spilling beer. They tried to guess the first song. The lights went out at 8:50 p.m. Large video screens showed the band walking down the hall and onto the stage. They opened with “Deuce” and went right into “Strutter.” “Cobo Hall!” Stanley said during a breather, paying homage to the venue that’s slated to be shuttered some time next year. “Man, let me tell you something. For us, this is the holy land. This is where it all started.” This was religion for a crowd of jovial rockers who wore Kiss makeup, spiky shoulder pads and shiny platform boots. Some dashed around in makeshift Kiss armor, tights and capes, emulating their icons from the ’70s. For Gary Mannone, 44, of Grosse Pointe Woods, the show would mark the 28th time he’d seen Kiss — each time in Michigan. “This is legendary,” Mannone said. “Cobo is legendary. This is history in the making.” Simmons was up to his fire-spitting tricks by the fourth song, “Hotter Than Hell.” The sold-out crowd stayed on their feet, bobbing their head through “Nothin’ to Lose.” Stanley asked: “Is it good?” “Yeaaaaah!” the throng answered.
KISS performed the following songs: * "Rock And Roll All Nite" KISS' appearance on ABC-TV's "Jimmy Kimmel Live!" will be broadcast on the Wednesday, October 7 episode (which will actually air the morning of Thursday, October 8).
He found his career path early. In 1984, Singer went on tour with hard-rock goddess Lita Ford, and a year later joined Black Sabbath. In 1989, he played drums on Kiss frontman Paul Stanley's solo tour, which led to an ongoing gig with Kiss. Singer simultaneously has been Alice Cooper's drummer since 2000, and has played on three Cooper albums to date. Singer has played with Kiss steadily since 2004, appears on the band?s forthcoming album, "Sonic Boom," and is on tour with the band. Singer, 51, was on his way to Detroit for tour rehearsals when he phoned to chat Tuesday afternoon. Q. Tell me about the preshow ritual of putting on your Kiss makeup. A. It's like the calm before the storm, if you will. The four of us get together and it's like a war room where we're preparing for battle. We're sitting there for a couple of hours and there's always great music. Gene will play deejay a lot of time. He likes to pull out old crazy blues stuff and doo-wop. It's very eclectic. Q. I imagine you have to be on top of your game with this band. A. It's a lot of work and a lot of responsibility. People have this misconception that it's all fun and games, and some bands do just get out there and play. But there are higher expectations for a Kiss show. Kiss is a spectacle. It's the circus meets rock 'n' roll. Gene and Paul have always said when they created Kiss, they created the show they never got to see. We?ve got to turn them on visually as well as musically. Q. Growing up in Cleveland, did you see Kiss in concert? A. I sure did. The first time was at the Allen Theatre; they opened for the New York Dolls. Then I saw them later that year at the Akron Civic Theatre, and Rush was their opening act. Q. And now you're in Kiss, playing some of those same songs onstage. A. There's a certain bag of tricks that Kiss is known for, and songs they've got to do. Gene and Paul have performed some of these songs for 30, 35 years. Q. From your position onstage, do you have a good view of the audience? A. It depends on the venue and the lighting. But I can always feel the intensity of the crowd. There's nothing like it. Kiss fans are crazy. Q. Do you have a big drum solo in the show? A. The song "100,000 Years" traditionally has the drum solo. I get my chance to shine and the band gets a chance to take a break. Q. There's a new Kiss album coming out, "Sonic Boom." Tell me about it. A. It's the first new Kiss music in 11 years. The band got really inspired playing in Europe last year. They wanted an old-school Kiss record with no outside songwriters. We'd go in the rehearsal room, work up ideas, then go in the studio and record. We played live, it's all analog. We think it's a great record. It's coming out Oct. 6, exclusively at Wal-Mart. Q. Why Wal-Mart? A. Because it's the biggest store in the world, Wal-Mart can sell stuff at a really inexpensive price, more bang for the buck. You get a CD of all-new Kiss music, a second CD of Kiss classics rerecorded by the current lineup and a live concert DVD from Buenos Aires earlier this year, and it's only 12 bucks. Q. Tell me about your involvement with Kiss. I know you've been in and out of the band. A. I first met Paul in '89, when I did his first solo tour. I first joined Kiss in '91, did the "Revenge" tour, went to Australia a couple of times, South America, Japan. Then they reunited with Ace and Peter for a few years. I've been back for good since 2004. Q. Is Ace Frehley still in the band? A. No, Tommy Thayer has been in Ace's spot since 2002. Ace didn't want to do it any more, had to tackle some of his demons. This lineup, with me and Tommy and Paul and Gene, has been the same since '04. Q. How did you start playing drums? A. Both my parents were musicians. My mother sings and my dad was a well-known bandleader around town. I first played in his band as a 14-year-old ? country clubs, dinners, weddings, that kind of thing. Q. Doesn't sound very rock 'n' roll, Eric. A. The whole rock thing happened when I met a bunch of kids who were all into music big time and played instruments and started jamming. One of my first bands was in the sixth grade. And I mean just growing up in Cleveland, it was such a great breeding ground for rock 'n' roll.
"I expect the reception of homecoming heroes, but the truth is, it's really us sharing ... an intimate moment with a city and the people who were pivotal in helping to make Kiss what it is," lead singer Paul Stanley said of the show and another on Saturday -- both at Cobo. Stanley, bassist Gene Simmons, guitarist Ace Frehley and drummer Peter Criss put out a few studio albums in the early 1970s without a great deal of success. It wasn't until 1975's "Alive!" hit record-store shelves that Kiss blew up. Stalwarts Stanley and Simmons are joined these days by Tommy Thayer on guitar and Eric Singer on drums. Stanley said the band will play the songs from "Alive!" as well as a few choice favorites during the Detroit gigs. "At a rock show, fans always come to hear what they know," he said. "Had I ever gone to see Led Zeppelin and they played 'Whole Lotta Love' as a reggae tune, I would have been outraged." Stanley said he also expects Kiss to perform "Modern Day Delilah," off of "Sonic Boom," the band's first studio album in 11 years. The record, which Stanley produced and says is "better than a lot that we've done and right up there with the best," will be released only at Wal-Mart and Sam's Club stores on Oct. 6. It's part of a three-disc package that also includes re-recorded versions of Kiss hits as well as a concert DVD that was recorded in Argentina during a show earlier this year. The North American tour takes the band to Cleveland and London, Ontario, early next week and eventually to cities such as Boston, New York, Philadelphia, Atlanta, New Orleans and Los Angeles and runs through Dec. 6 in Dallas. Around that same time, Kiss will find out if it's earned a spot in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. It was announced Wednesday that Kiss is one of 12 acts nominated for the 2010 class. Five will make it in. Before any of that is decided, though, Kiss is returning to its home away from home -- to a city known for years as Detroit, Motown or the Motor City. Kiss gave it a fourth name. "I've written a lot of songs, but I've only written one `Detroit Rock City,"' Stanley said.
Really loud and sentimental. With its Friday-Saturday stand at the old Detroit arena, the rock band Kiss will return to the scene of its most famous concerts: the 1975 shows recorded and photographed for the multiplatinum album "Alive!" Kiss booked the new dates as a farewell to the vaunted venue, which will be converted into exhibit space as part of Cobo Center's nearly $300-million expansion authorized by Gov. Jennifer Granholm in July. "We figured, before they take the rock 'n' roll soul out of the building, how about we go in there one more time and shake it up?" says guitarist Paul Stanley. For more than 20,000 fans this weekend, it will be a chance to revisit a spot that has spawned countless rock 'n' roll memories and boxes full of cherished ticket stubs. Still, for local music fans -- many of whom grew up with wild Cobo nights in the '70s and '80s -- this weekend is a heck of a way to start saying good-bye. Kiss bassist Gene Simmons figures he'll have a lump in his throat as he walks onstage. "For us it's an emotional event," he said. "Kiss never wrote a song called 'New York Rock City.' But we did write one about Detroit. That was an homage to the city that gave the world just a ton of music that survives over the ages. And Cobo in particular was the palace, the citadel of sound." The venue hasn't been an entertainment hub for many years, its role displaced by Joe Louis Arena in 1979 and then by the Palace of Auburn Hills in 1988. Just four dozen concerts have played Cobo this decade, according to Pollstar magazine data. But in the 1970s it was the go-to rock spot, a relatively cozy arena where the music was loud and security personnel often looked the other way. Along with Tokyo's Budokan and New York's Madison Square Garden, Cobo is among a handful of venues around the world with instant name recognition. That's largely thanks to the slew of live albums cut at Cobo over the years, by artists such as the J. Geils Band, Madonna and local hero Bob Seger. But most famous of all is "Alive," the double album that propelled Kiss to global fame in the mid-1970s. Recorded in Detroit and other Midwest locales in spring 1975, the LP included a Cobo crowd photo that became iconic. Kiss, like many emerging bands of the time, enjoyed an early embrace from Detroit's rock audience. "It's a historic and magical place for us. Kiss and Cobo are linked forever," said Stanley. "Going back is kind of 'Fantasy Island.' We're getting a chance to do something we never thought we could." Filmmaker Doug Akers, who grew up in Detroit, describes it as one of "music history's hallowed halls." Last year he began work on "Let's Go Cobo," a documentary about the arena. He'll film an interview with members of Kiss this weekend, and is aiming for a 2010 release. At 42, he's too young to have attended the legendary Kiss dates in the '70s. But he's got tickets for this weekend. "It's the show I always wanted to see," said Akers. "I'm just like millions of other kids around the world -- I grew up looking at the back of that Kiss 'Alive' album, dreaming of seeing them play there. I'm just going to revel in the moment, like I do every time I step into Cobo."
Let's cut straight to the chase; KISS have shoehorned everything you love about them into SONIC BOOM. Gene Simmons lets out a massive "Woah Yeah!" on the intro to "Hot and Cold", Paul Stanley whoops like a maniac throughout and, sad as it is to say, Ace Frehley and Peter Criss are not missed one bit. Tommy Thayer nails the lazy style that Ace brought to the fold perfectly and Eric Singer can actually drum. There's not a ballad in sight, no song has a one-word title that's a girl's name and every song sounds like it should have more explosions than a bad day in the middle east. "Never Enough" sees Paul Stanley at his flamboyant best. A stonewall KISS classic from the off, it's a neaon bomb of a track that's more uplifting than a truck full of happy pills. "Danger Us" nails the KISS strut and swagger perfectly and, unlike most of the band's albums in the last 30 years, SONIC BOOM weighs heavier on the killer than it does the filler. SONIC BOOM is an album that was made to be blasted right after the work bell on a Friday afternoon. It's the aural equivalent of celebrating a last-minute screamer for your football team. If you weren't a fan before, SONIC BOOM won't change your mind. But if you're one of the disciples of KISStianity, it's time for you to get moist right now. You wanted the best? You got the best. KISS have delivered.
''Space Ace'' wrestled with addiction long after he left the band in 1982 but a few years ago gave up alcohol for good and has used the renewed focus to come up with his first solo album in 20 years, Anomaly. "I got sidetracked for a while, y'know," he says in his slightly hazy-sounding New York drawl of the two decades. A few reunion-related Kiss tours took some time, then "I had some struggles with my own personal demons." He later "visited my other planet, Jandell, which is where I'm originally from", he says, laughing, "and I came back a new man". Wherever it happened, the sobriety worked. "I'm a lot more focused, more energy, more creative, so it helps me all round, y'know." Kiss were never the most respected band musically - it was more their blazing spectacle of cartoonish fantasy that made them one of the biggest draws in the '70s. But Frehley's spacious, tastefully melodic licks brought him a decent slice of credibility amid the circus. Anomaly is a strong return, everything considered. It is steeped in a '70s hard-rock sensibility and, while not averse to clunky cliches lyrically, delivers some likeable tracks, particularly at acoustic turns. There are plenty of driving riffs, big intentions and autobiographical reflections. His guitar can still shine, even if it's not allowed to smoke. As Kiss's spaceman persona, long interested in science fiction, Frehley was known for using guitars laden with special effects that shot rockets or glowed with light. But the old favourite that billowed smoke ran into trouble on tour in the United States last year. "I wasn't able to use the smoking guitar in many of the places because of the fire-marshal laws," he says. He is now working on a guitar with a permissible fog machine that "is gonna fix that - and, uh, hopefully a lot of other things", he says amiably. It is far from the over-the-top pyrotechnics of Kiss shows in their '70s heyday, recreated with Frehley in a hugely profitable 1996 reunion tour that later led to a "farewell" tour that proved to be but one in a series of seemingly endless road trips for a band whose album sales have passed 80 million. Frehley left in 2002 and thinks it is a shame that the band, under the driving forces Paul Stanley and Gene Simmons, never knew when to call it a day and now continues with two relative newcomers performing in the original members' make-up. (Their new album, Sonic Boom , is due out on October 6.) "It seems like they've just continued on and on and on, y'know. What started out to be a reunion tour turned out to be I don't know what," says Frehley, 58. "The thing that bothers me the most about it is that the fans seem really upset about it. I go on the internet and I read what the fans are writing." Frehley's excesses have led him to be publicly sledged by the band's core - especially Simmons - over the years, but he says he has "no hard feelings''. He is happy to leave them to it, though. The reunion tour ''was a lot of fun, y'know, but I also kind of felt like I was going back in time and, after several years of working with them again, I wasn't growing as a musician. I was wearing old costumes and I was playing old songs … I need to grow as a musician and a songwriter and move forward with my life.'' Ace Frehley plays at the Enmore Theatre on October 20. Anomaly is out now.
The group recorded the bulk of its "Alive" album here, kicked off its reunion tour at Tiger Stadium in 1996 and gave the city one of its most enduring anthems and monikers, "Detroit Rock City." Friday and Saturday, Kiss rekindles its relationship with the Motor City when it returns to Cobo Arena, the site of its landmark 1975 "Alive" LP. "It was clear from the beginning that Detroit just got us," says frontman Paul Stanley, on the phone earlier this month. "They understood us instinctively and intuitively. Before we were headlining anywhere, we were headlining in Detroit." The band decided to open its latest tour, dubbed "Kiss Alive 35," at Cobo when they heard the arena might be in trouble. Tour dates for the trek were already booked, but they tacked on two shows at the front of the tour to return to the city -- and the arena -- that helped make them famous. "We're saluting the place that gave us a shot," says Kiss bassist and figurehead Gene Simmons, who says the band will play "Alive" in its entirety during the Cobo shows. "Yes, it's a concert. But for us it means something more." Kiss formed in 1972 in New York, and in its early years struggled to find its footing. The group -- Stanley, Simmons, guitarist Ace Frehley and drummer Peter Criss -- released three albums in 1974 and '75, but failed to find much commercial success. At the same time, the band's live shows were gaining a reputation for over-the-top excesses, including fire, explosions, outrageous costumes and a little good old-fashioned blood-spitting, courtesy of Simmons. In order to help re-create the excitement of its live show, and salvage its fledging career, the band decided to record a double live album. "Alive" -- recorded mostly at Cobo Arena, with a cover photo that was shot during rehearsals at the now-defunct Michigan Palace -- was released in September 1975, and quickly became a hit. It became the band's first gold-selling album, cemented its reputation as a live powerhouse and gave the group a new lease on life. The next year, Kiss included "Detroit Rock City" on its "Destroyer" album. "I wanted to pay tribute to Detroit. There'd been a few songs written about different cities, and by far, I thought the city that should be at the front of that acclaim was Detroit," Stanley says. Of the title, which has become as synonymous with the city as the nicknames Motown and the Motor City, Stanley says it just came to him. "It's what it is. It's something that Detroit wears very easily and naturally," he says. "I spit it out, the same way I spit out, 'Rock and roll all night and party every day.' It's organic and it's natural. Detroit is the rock city." In addition to the tour, Kiss -- Frehley and Criss exited the band earlier this decade, and were replaced by Tommy Thayer and Eric Singer, respectively -- is also readying the release of "Sonic Boom," a three-disc package that will be released exclusively at Wal-Mart stores on Oct. 6. "Sonic Boom" marks the band's first studio effort since 1998's "Psycho Circus," and comes packaged with a greatest hits disc, re-recorded by the band's current lineup, and a DVD featuring a recent performance in Buenos Aires. When Cobo's future was up in the air, there was talk the Kiss performance could be the last ever housed in the venue. "Whatever they're going to do to it, we want to be the last people in there," says Stanley. Reminded that the famed Tiger Stadium -- where the band played to almost 40,000 fans in June 1996 -- is now a pile of rubble, he lets out a slight chuckle. "Well," he says, "I guess that's our lot in life: to seek and destroy." Kiss quips Gene Simmons is rarely at a loss for words. Here are a few thoughts from the God of Thunder: On the band's current lineup vs. the original lineup: "(People say) family is the most important thing. Actually, no, it's not. Love, respect and discipline is the most important thing; and if your father is a drunk and abuses the family and makes it dysfunctional, kick (him) out. Blood is thicker than water? No it's not. Self-respect, discipline and honesty is the most important thing. If your mother or father or brother or sister is a drug addict (kind of) loser, toss him out. It's called tough love. "Love yourself and respect yourself enough to have pride in what you do. Love and respect and have pride for the band you're in. When we get up on stage, that's holy ground. This is electric church, and no one on that stage -- me or anyone else -- wears the makeup and platform heels by some kind of birthright. This ain't Europe; just 'cause your dad was king doesn't make you the king. You've got to earn it. And when you defile Kiss, you should be thrown out." On the controversial Kiss casket: "They sold out, of course. You can't get another one anywhere. I don't even have one anymore. I sent the last one to the family of (deceased Pantera guitarist) Dimebag Darrell (Abbott). The last will and testament of his family is that he be buried in a Kiss casket. (I sent) the one I had right here in my museum." On Kiss merchandising: "How cool is it to walk in and see Kiss Mr. Potato heads, or Kiss M&Ms? Come on. We love the Stones and we love U2 and Radiohead, but I don't want to see Thom Yorke's face on an M&M." On Radiohead: "Love the songs. Live? I'm bored." On Kiss' live philosophy: "If you bring your eyes to a concert, we want a visual boom, a visual overload. And you should get that, for (heaven's) sake. You're paying as much for a concert ticket as some down payments on cars. It's nuts." On Kiss' tour with Aerosmith earlier this decade: "When we both decided to go out, (headliners were) going to be flip-flopped every other night, but we immediately stepped up and said, 'Don't worry about ego, we'll go on first every night, not a problem. And we promise you, people will forget you were there.' " On a favorite Detroit memory: "We were backstage getting ready (at Cobo) and we were doing photo sessions, and I was in full makeup, and I had to go to the bathroom before we went out (on stage). And a really pretty girl walked in there, and I said, 'Sorry, miss, you're in the wrong bathroom.' She said, 'No no no, I wanted to give you a present before you get up on stage.' And I'm going, 'I love Detroit.' " On being Gene Simmons: "It's good to be me. People say life is short and all that; still, you can live big, you can live a full life if you get off your (behind) and do something. I believe a lot of people go to their grave and on their headstones it might say, 'I woulda, I coulda, I shoulda.' On my tombstone it's going to say 'Thank you and good night.' I wanna go up in flames. That's Kiss."
They're the biggest Kiss shows in Detroit since the band opened its 1996 reunion tour at Tiger Stadium. This time, founders Paul Stanley and Gene Simmons are joined by guitarist Tommy Thayer and drummer Eric Singer as Kiss revs up for the Oct. 6 release of "Sonic Boom." It's the first Kiss album since 1998's "Psycho Circus," recorded as the reunited lineup was starting to disintegrate. (The band launched a farewell tour in 2000.) Stanley, who produced "Sonic Boom," recently spoke with the Free Press from his home in Los Angeles. QUESTION: You've said that Kiss continues to draw young fans into the fold. What's the allure? ANSWER: At this point, with the legend of Kiss, there really is a sense of a band that has always delivered 100% and tried to deliver more. And there's a young audience that has heard about us and wants to see if that's true. They find out -- deafeningly and blindingly -- that it is. I think it's timeless. The members of Kiss, the iconic figures, are timeless. And that's intriguing. Q: "Sonic Boom" is being billed as a return to a classic Kiss sound. What was the mind-set going in? A: I didn't want to make a retro album. What I wanted to capture was the spirit and fire that is Kiss today. On these last tours we've done, it's clear the band has never been better, never been more Kiss. The only way an album was of interest to me was if I produced it and steered it in a way to make the kind of album we were capable of making. Otherwise, there was no reason to do it. So yeah, it was a conscious decision to capture what the band is. Q: Did you take lessons -- good or bad -- from "Psycho Circus" in '98? A: What I learned is you can't make an album without a band. It was a valiant attempt at making an album where people are having lawyers phone in instead of being in the studio. You can't work when people have a distorted sense of their capabilities or ... I guess a view of where they are in the big picture. Or when you have people insisting on quotas about having a certain amount of songs on the album. You can't make an album when people are more concerned with furthering themselves than furthering the band. Q: Names and details? A: I think we had people who were delusional about their songwriting abilities and musical abilities. There was an unfortunate carryover of bad habits that people had sworn they would never do again. It's strange when people come back to a band nothing but grateful, with promises they've learned from their mistakes, and as soon as they have money in their pocket, quickly develop amnesia. Q: Are you still glad you did the reunion? A: Totally. Totally. It was magical at the beginning. But ultimately, the only magic I wanted was to make certain people disappear. And that was a shame. It had the potential to be much more than just a reunion tour. But it quickly became clear that it couldn't progress. It was an opportunity for people to hone their skills and take the band to another level. But I guess that was left to Tommy, Eric, Gene and me. I don't want to burst anybody's bubble, but the truth is, it became tough very quickly because people lost sight of the goal. And that's not the spirit the reunion tour started with. The reason we did a farewell tour is because it just wasn't possible to continue. Certainly, it wasn't fun. Nothing's worth doing if it's not fun. What I learned toward the end of the farewell was I didn't want to say farewell to Kiss. I wanted to say farewell to some of the members. (Laughs) And luckily, fans overwhelmingly didn't want the band to end.
Five of the 12 nominees will be chosen for induction from ballots cast by more than 500 music industry voters. An announcement of the inductees is expected in January, and the Hall's 25th Annual Induction Ceremony will take place March 15 at the Waldorf Astoria hotel in New York City. Broadcast plans have not yet been announced. This year's big story could turn out to be KISS, which has been eligible since 1999 but has famously been snubbed by the Hall's nominating committee and has made some harsh comments about the organization in the past. But the group's Paul Stanley recently noted that a Rock Hall induction would cause he and his longtime KISS partner Gene Simmons to consider which of the group's members they'd like to have enter with them. "There's been a lot of people who've been a part of this, some longer than others..and some who deserve recognition more than others," Stanley explained. "Even the non-makeup years produced some platinum and double-platinum albums, and we had some very healthy sales in terms of albums and concerts through the '80s and '90s. So if we should ever be asked to accept induction into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, it would be something to think about." The Foundation determines which members of a band are inducted into the Hall, and the ballot lists the four founding members of KISS, including Ace Frehley and Peter Criss.
Oct. 19 - Melbourne, Australia - Palace (formerly Metro) Tickets for all shows on sale 9 a.m. this Friday, September 25 from www.redanttouring.com or www.ticketek.com.au or phone Ticketek 132 849. A trailer for the tour can be viewed here. Frehley's new solo album, "Anomaly", sold around 17,000 copies in the United States in its first week of release to debut at position No. 27 on The Billboard 200 chart.
The interview will be recorded on Wednesday, September 23 at 6:00 p.m. EST. If you would like to hear the interview live, you can do so by going to MaximumThreshold.net prior to 6:00 p.m. on September 23 and logging in to the chatroom. You have to be a registered member to participate in the online chat and question-and-answer session. "Maximum Threshold" is an Internet radio show dedicated to presenting up-and-coming hard rock bands and successful bands as well as interviews, news and music reviews.
Argentinian comedian Peter Capusotto interprets 19th-century composer Jaime de las Mercedes Cardenas in a recent television special: Video
Tickets are required for admission to the event. For ticket information, please visit the Casey Cares Foundation.
The original leather KISS USB wristband contains the audio recording of the show of your choice in highest MP3 quality (320 kBit/s) and KISS bonus multimedia material. Just plug in your wristband to a USB port on your computer and start the embedded KISS multimedia player to listen to your MP3s and enjoy the bonus features. Of course you can copy your MP3s to your computer, your MP3 player, etc. to listen to KISS Alive 35 wherever you want! The wristband can also be used as a standard 1GB USB flash drive. The KISS Alive 35 digipak contains two discs with the complete recording of one concert of your choice in CD quality. USB wristband and two-CD set are available on location at every KISS Alive 35 North American Tour show or online at Concert Online.
Keep it locked on WRIF for your chance to win passes to attend an exclusive dress rehearsal with KISS! While at the rehearsal you will be a part of the filming of two individual song segments for ABC's "Jimmy Kimmel Live" and the filming of KISS's new music video from their first album in over 12 years. You can't buy these passes anywhere, you can only win them. Can't get through on the phone lines? Don't worry you can come out to one of our Bud Light Golden Wheat parties and win them. 101 WRIF and Bud Light Golden Wheat KISS Dress Rehearsal Parties Monday, September 21st, from 8pm - 10pm 3 Nicks Tap Room in Southgate Tuesday, September 22nd, from 8pm - 10pm Library Pub in W.Bloomfield Wednesday, September 23rd, from 8pm - 10pm Pepperbottoms in St. Clair Shores Tickets on sale now for Saturday's Cobo Arena performance at all Ticketmaster outlets or at Ticketmaster.com It's all from Bud Light Golden Wheat and your KISS station in the Motor City....101 WRIF, Everything that Rocks!!!
"They weren't used to losing. They were pretty down mentally," Brines said. His conclusion was, "The kids weren't having any fun." A coaching meeting to address the problem launched a series of events that, with Neff's help, would bring outrageously costumed, fire-breathing rock band KISS to Cadillac, Michigan for a visit that would be talked about and revisited for decades. During the coaching meeting, Neff suggested playing rock and roll music in the locker room as a way to loosen up the team and get them ready to play. The suggestion was a 180 degree turn from Brines' approach. "I wanted the locker room quiet. I wanted them to be serious and think about the game," Brines said. But Brines trusted Neff, and knew he had a good football mind, and he went along with the suggestion. While coming up with an idea of whose music to play, Neff thought of band he had seen open for the New York Dolls. Their name was KISS. Their elaborate stage show featured shooting flames and special effects, and their racous, high energy music was bound to get the team pumped up. In addition, their name, spelled out in all capital letters, was the same as their saying in football, "Keep It Simple, Stupid." KISS. "So I thought, this is the perfect band," Neff said. Also, Brines instituted a change in the line-up as a solution for returning the team to its winning ways. Brines pulled his son, Dave Brines, Jr. out as quarterback, and made him a tailback. He also put back-up quarterback Mike "Red" Johnson in as starter. "Now the rest of us coaches thought this was just crazy," Neff said. The entire coaching staff was Brines, Neff, and Kevin White, who, by the way, would go on to become athletic director at Duke University. The coaches harbored fears Brines would be crushed by the larger players, and Johnson had a tendency to look shaky in practice. Those fears were resolved, however, when Brines gained almost 1,000 yards in seven games and Johnson rose to the challenge with coolness likened to Joe Montana. The Vikings again began winning games. Neff recalled that even on road games they would lug along one of the school's record players and the locker room would reverberate with one of KISS?s first few albums. As the team went on to win game after game, Neff decided to let KISS know about the team's success. He flipped over one the albums, jotted down the address of the management company, and wrote a letter recounting how the band's music played a role in getting them back on track. The story of Cadillac's return to its winning ways struck a chord with the band. Neff recalls getting a phone call one evening from Gene Simmons and Paul Stanley, who were backstage before a show. "They were absolutely thrilled to hear what was going on," Neff said. After Neff gave them the whole story, the pair asked the coach to call in after each game and let them know how the team did. "This occurred from 1974 and into 1975," Neff said. Seeing the band would be playing at Cobo Hall in Detroit, Neff came up with the idea of taking few players down to see the show. The promoter provided a dozen tickets, and ten players, with Brines and Neff each driving a vehicle, drove down to the big city. Cadillac wasn't as connected to the outside world as it is now, so just the trip to the Motor City was a big deal for some of the players. Some had never seen an escalator. "In fact, we spent a lot of time before the concert with the kids riding up and down the moving stairs," Neff recalled. In 1975, the band gave them enough tickets for the entire team to see KISS in Saginaw, further cementing the relationship between the rock group and the football team. Then in the fall of 1975, Neff saw that KISS would be playing at Western Michigan University in Kalamazoo right around the same time as homecoming. An idea of having a couple of the band members come up to a pep assembly and sign autographs evolved into having them bring the entire concert to Cadillac. School Superintendent William Smith and Cadillac High School Principal John Laurent signed on to the plan, and the rest was history. Or as their fans call it, KISStory. KISS arrived by limousine on Friday, Oct. 9, 1975 and checked into the Cadillac Best Value Inn, then known as Hotel Caberfae Motor Lodge. That afternoon they were greeted at Cadillac High School by a reception line of the entire student body, including the band playing "Rock and Roll All Night, Party Every Day." KISS cut a ribbon at the school's door to mark their entrance, and followed a whirlwind schedule that included meeting with the football team, photos with the team and cheerleaders, and meeting students in the hallways. That evening Gene Simmons ignited the bonfire with his fire breathing trick, although a confederate offered some help behind the scenes. English teacher Penny Phelps recalled the whole visit as "a surreal experience." She took her daughters to the concert, who then were ages 8, 9 and 10. "I was just overwhelmed. Here was this whole wall of amplifiers, one just stacked upon another. I have never seen such a thing," Phelps recalled. The music was so loud she remembered feeling her body vibrating, and when she left early to go home they could still hear the sound from their home about a mile away on Chapin Street. Some elements of the show raised concerns, particularly when Gene Simmons would appear to spew "blood" from his mouth. Brines said he mentioned to Neff he wasn't sure if the quiet town of Cadillac could handle such a sight. Shortly, Simmons approached him. After Brines told him The next day, KISS was offered the Key to the City at a breakfast complete with city officials in KISS face paint. Neff sported KISS make-up along with City Manager Don Mason, Mayor Pete Wagner, his wife, Superintendent of Schools William Smith, Coach Brines, and Principal John Laurent. That afternoon the band had their own float in the homecoming parade, which wound its way to Memorial Stadium. A large helicopter landed in the middle of the football field, the band got on board, and as they flew away thousands of fliers were dropped reading, "Cadillac High, KISS Loves You!" Superintendent Smith said he can't recall any of the songs they played, but he did recently pick up a tape he occaisonally plays in his car. In spite of some of the fears of what would happen when the band came to town, Smith said he found them to be well spoken, and well behaved. "I find no fault with their attitude and their behavior," he said. Much of his enjoyment of the experience came from seeing the students talk excitedly about the experience and "clap and yell and scream" for the band. Junior Varsity Cheerleader Carol Lee recalled the visit buoyed the students' spirits for quite some time, giving them bragging rights over other high schools for quite some time. Lee said she was also happy to see "the adults get interactive with it" and paint their faces, because students at that age didn't view adults as really "cool." Phelps remembers the event as a very solidifying experience for the school, and the town. "I think we need to do it again," Phelps said. "There are so many people feeling tremendous pressures. I would be wonderful if we could have some sort of mobilizing experience that everybody could feel good about and come together and just enjoy the moment the way they did then," she added. (Watch)
Interest should be strong, considering Kiss's profile is higher than it's been in decades: a new album,Sonic Boom,has been generating laudatory reviews and an ongoing tour selling out the biggest stadiums, just like it was the '70s again. Not to mention that Kiss has snubbed Sault Ste. Marie, Ont., which had the third-highest number of votes to try to attract Kiss to their city, in a much ballyhooed "fan-directed tour" online vote earlier this year. At least fans can trek to the Michigan Sault to see an original member. Frehley was kicked out in 1982 for his drug and alcohol abuse. He'll play the Dream Makers Theatre Nov. 13. Tickets are US$28.50 and are on sale now, at the Dream Makers box office at Kewadin or online, at www.kewadin.com
Australian fans will be among the first to hear the album, which will be released ahead of its worldwide debut at the concerts. "BK3" features the soaring guitars and signature riffs that Kulick is known for, along with an array of special guests that include former KISS bandmates Gene Simmons and Eric Singer, KNACK lead vocalist Doug Fielder, and Nick Simmons (Gene's son and rising star in his own right) making his vocal recording debut. Bruce promises the shows will be worth the wait and will feature a plethora of KISS tunes from the eight albums he recorded with the band between 1984 and 1996. Hits like "God Gave Rock and Roll To You II", "Crazy Crazy Nights", "Forever" and "Tears Are Falling" will be nestled alongside many rarities never performed live by KISS themselves. Kulick has become a regular in Australia, first visiting these shores in 1978 as part of MEAT LOAF's "Bat Out Of Hell" band, with KISS in 1995, as part of ESP (a side project featuring members of Alice Cooper's band, KISS and MÖTLEY CRÜE), and several times as a solo artist. Most recently, he conducted a whirlwind guitar clinic tour, hitting four cities during a week in April 2009. Since departing KISS in 1996, Bruce has remained active in the music industry, forming the band UNION with former MÖTLEY CRÜE vocalist John Corabi, acting as a camp counselor at various Rock and Roll Fantasy Camp events, working with both Paul Stanley and Gene Simmons on their solo projects, recording commentaries for the multi platinum retrospective "Kissology" DVDs, and, since 2001, playing with the legendary American band GRAND FUNK RAILROAD as their lead guitarist. In between all of these activities, he recorded his first solo album, "Audio Dog", in 2001, followed up by 2003's "Transformer". "BK3" marks yet another milestone for the veteran guitarist, and he is very much looking forward to beginning the journey here in his "second home" of Australia. Tickets go on sale on September 21 at the venues and outlets below: Fox's Good Day LA, Los Angeles: video KTLA morning news, Los Angeles: video Fox and Friends morning news: video Chicago's WGN news this morning!: video
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"That's just the history of Kiss," Simmons tells Billboard.com. "Simply put, any band you go to see for the same ticket price, you know Kiss is going to give you tenfold more. That's just a statement of fact." Simmons says that besides the usual blood, fire and very tall boots, the focal point of the new production will be a video screen "that's literally as wide as the entire stage, so there ain't a bad seat in the house. We've got extra people on cameras and stuff like that, so there'll be multi-media in back to increase the visual impact as well as the sonic impact." Kiss, meanwhile, is planning a major marketplace impact for the start of the tour and the Oct. 6 release of the "Sonic Boom" package, which features one disc of new material, another of re-recorded hits and a live DVD filmed earlier this year in Argentina. Simmons says a portion of Kiss' opening night show will be broadcast live on network TV, though he won't offer specifics. "I don't want to spell it out," he explains. "The different evening shows have policies, and they're jealous of each other." The group will also be filming a video for "Sonic Boom's" first single, "Modern Day Delilah," in Detroit as well as footage for online exclusives and, according to Simmons, an eventual DVD release. Meanwhile, the A&E channel, which airs the weekly "Gene Simmons Family Jewels," will be broadcasting "Kissteria," a documentary shot earlier this year during the Kiss' tour of Australia and New Zealand, which runs through Dec. 6 in Dallas. The "Family Jewels" will also be on the road with Kiss. "We've already been filming season five," reports Simmons. "The crew is coming to Detroit and filming some of the outside stuff and the rehearsing and everything." And while the tour and album release are taking top priority, Simmons says Kiss is also continuing to develop plans for a Broadway musical and cartoon show. "The Kiss Broadway show has been in development for 15 years, and the cartoon show about as long," Simmons notes. "Like anything, you don't stop. Everything takes time...and Kiss just keeps getting bigger."
"Yeah, they have the rights to the make-up," Frehley confirmed. "I mean, I can use it too, but I have to pay them royalties. And they have to pay me royalties when they use it." He added, "You know, the thing that bothers me the most is when I go on the Internet and read the fans' comments, a lot of them seem upset and ask why they didn't design a new make-up (for Tommy Thayer), like they did with Eric Carr and Vinnie Vincent. That's a question you'll have to ask Paul [Stanley] and Gene [Simmons]." NRK: The new KISS album ["Sonic Boom"] leaked online today. Have you heard any of it? Ace: I've only heard one song, "Modern Day Delilah". NRK: What did you think about it? Ace: I thought it was a good song. Paul's always been a good songwriter, a good singer and a good frontman. The only thing I didn't get from the song, was that vintage sound from the '70s. I remember reading something earlier that both Paul and Gene said it was gonna be the best album in over 30 years. It sounded like something they could have done after I left the band in 1982. NRK: Going back to the '80s, you did a lot of demos in the years before the first COMET album, songs like "Audio/Video (Catch Me When I Fall)", "Back Into My Arms", "I Got The Touch". Will they ever see the light of day? Ace: Yeah, probably, somewhere down the road. I have a storage room filled with tapes of old demos that I've recorded over the years, even going as far back as the '70s. So maybe one day, when I have the time — which I haven't had in a long time — maybe I'll go in there and put out something. "The Unreleased Demos of Ace Frehley", who knows? (laughs) NRK: I've noticed in recent interviews that you've already been talking about the next album. Do you already have material ready for it? Ace: Yeah! We recorded 16 songs for this album, so I have four songs in the can that might make it onto the next CD. But I continue to write all the time. I've already written a couple of new songs since this album was mixed. So, yeah, the next album will be out a lot sooner than 20 years from now (laughs). Read the entire interview at www.nrk.no.
I have to admit, I was a bit skeptical when I first heard that. After all, Kiss is a band whose output has been, uh, "somewhat uneven" over the years, to put it diplomatically, and Kiss hasn't exactly been shy about over-selling its work in the past, whether it was deserving or not. Okay, okay, I admit it... I was wrong. It turns out Sonic Boom really is the album Kiss fans have been waiting for all these years. From its no-frills production (no apparent Pro Tools trickery here) to its uber-classic put-your-fist-in-the-air rock anthems, Sonic Boom is the most satisfying album by a "classic rock" artist I've heard since... honestly, since I don't know when. Sadly, it's kind of accepted that most bands that are 35 years into their career are going to release new work that is in no way comparable to the albums that made their legacy. Sonic Boom destroys that pre-conception by delivering an album as raw and vital as the best of Kiss' back catalog. The main thing that sets this record from some of Kiss' uneven later studio efforts is that it has a true band identity. There are no pop songs from slick outside writers, and there isn't a cast of thousands providing instrumental augmentation to the members of Kiss. This is a record that was written and performed by the members of Kiss, for better or worse. In this case it's very much for the better. Sonic Boom has all of the hallmarks of a classic Kiss record; heavy guitar riffs informed by the melodic and harmonic pop craftsmanship of Paul Stanley and Gene Simmons, powerful rock drumming, strong bass lines, and lyrical, well-crafted guitar solos. Gene Simmons' public persona and marketing savvy often overshadow the fact that he's a great bass player, and Sonic Boom is a return to the kind of melodic stylings that characterized the best of early Kiss. "Never Enough" and "Hot And Cold" contain some of Simmons' best work in decades. As for Tommy Thayer, every track contains the kind of deliberate Ace Frehley-isms that could only come from someone who loves Kiss music as a fan first. Thayer's take on these songs is such a tasteful amalgam of classic Kiss licks, stylings, tone and phrasing that it will have some fans wondering what year it is. It's an approach that isn't so much gimmicky as it is timeless. Paul Stanley and Eric Singer round out the album's classic performances with contributions that are perfectly suited to each track. I'm sure there are going to be those naysaying critics who carp that with Sonic Boom, Kiss is shamelessly pandering to a particular demographic base by deliberately tailor-making a record to fit its needs. In fact, maybe that's exactly what they did. If so, then more power to 'em. If more bands would bother to make great records that their fans will actually like, then maybe guys like me wouldn't have to dread getting sent new work by older bands so much. I've been a Kiss fan since the mid-Seventies, and I can't imagine any Kiss fan not liking Sonic Boom.
Simmons says that once again the band has spared no expense on the costumes, lights, screens and sound system for the upcoming trek: "New outfits, brand new stage, millions more put into it — that's the history of KISS. Simply put, any band you go to see for the same ticket price, y'know, KISS is gonna give you tenfold more. That's just a statement of fact. And there's a new screen, state-of-the-art; I don't think people have seen this kind of thing before — that's literally as wide as the entire stage. So, there ain't a bad seat in the house."
LILLIAN AXE The tribute will additionally include a bonus CD entitled "Horror Rock Vol. 1/2", featuring original bands whose sound could include any variety of industrial metal, death metal, goth metal, "Rocky Horror"-esque tribute band (with original music), black/progressive metal, rocktronica (i.e. Rob Zombie, etc), punk rock, post punk, or any other genre of hard rock or metal with a darker theme to the song/sound. Interested groups in the bonus sampler should e-mail a MySpace link to horrorrock09@yahoo.com.
Until now. The former Kiss guitarist took 20 years to finish "Anomaly," his fourth solo studio album and first since 1989's "Trouble Walkin' " And yes, it was worth the wait. In between a five-year Kiss reunion and recurring battles with the bottle, Frehley picked away at his new album, emerging with a disc that evokes the sprit and fire of his self-titled 1978 solo album. That disc was the most successful of the four Kiss solo albums that were simultaneously released, and the only one to spawn a hit single in "New York Groove." He kicks things off with "Foxy And Free," an in-your-face rocker that packs a powerful punch. The next track, "Outer Space," plays on his role as the Spaceman in Kiss, and adds a heavier bottom groove. Frehley serves up a smoking cover of Sweet's 1970s hit "Fox On The Run" that starts with his trademark guitar toggle-switch noodling. "Space Bear," an ode to the stuffed animal he sits atop his wall of Marshall amps in concert, is the best of three instrumentals on the disc. "Anomaly" shows why Frehley is one of the most influential guitarists in rock history — and why Kiss remains a pale imitation without him. CHECK OUT THIS TRACK: "Sister," an unreleased track Frehley played on his 1995 solo tour, finally surfaces on an album in all its thunderous, dissonant glory.
Councillor Robert Lutczyk is making calls "first thing" today following a weekend of watching residents line up for days for tickets only to leave empty-handed. "It's the first on my to-do list, making calls on my network that I've developed just to see. It might be difficult, but it's very possible," Lutczyk said. KISS, the heavy metal rock group, had left Oshawa off their initial list of stops on this fall's tour, despite the city winning an online contest to host the band. After media reported fans' outrage, the group announced an Oshawa stop. Tickets for the Oct. 7 show went on sale at 10 a.m. Saturday. All 5,600 sold out within minutes. "Anything is possible, but I don't think there have been any discussions with the promoter about a second show," said Cortney Ager of the General Motors Centre, the concert's venue. Lutczyk said he saw hundreds of people in line when he went jogging at 5 a.m. Saturday morning. When he called box office representatives before 10:15 a.m., the tickets were already sold out. "I don't think the 11th person in line even got a ticket and they were there for days," he said. Vendor New Era confirmed the show was sold out. Prices started at $84.50, with an eight-ticket limit for customers. KISS Meet and Greet Experience packages, priced at $1,100, were also sold out. The pricey option included one premium reserved seat within the first two rows of the stage, an exclusive meet and greet, an autograph and a $100 voucher to the online KISS store. Tickets are already on sale on Craigslist and eBay, some for hundreds of dollars – Lutczyk said he saw tickets listed for $475. "I never expected it to be this big," Lutczyk said. The Oshawa concert will be a special premiere of the band's new album, Sonic Boom. Residents flooded an online contest to put Oshawa on the list for the tour. Lutczyk said the additional concert would have to be held Oct. 6 because the General Motors Centre is booked on Oct. 8. The band is scheduled to perform in Boston on Oct. 5 and Uniondale, N.Y., on Oct. 9. KISS spokesman Erik Stein did not return the Star's call.
Ace's setlist was as follows: 01. Parasite Encore: Be among the first to hear Ace Frehley discuss his first new album in 20 years, "Anomaly", on September 14 — the day before its release. Before an intimate audience of 200 in the The Grammy Museum's Grammy Sound Stage in Downtown Los Angeles, hear Frehley in conversation with Museum executive director Robert Santelli about the craftsmanship, production, and brilliant guitar work that went into the long-awaited new album. After the interview, Frehley will take questions from the audience and sign copies of the album. Doors open at 7:30 p.m. Tickets are $10; $8 for Museum members. Tickets can be purchased in-person at the Museum box office, online at Ticketmaster.com, or by calling 1.800.745.3000. The Grammy Museum is located on the corner of Olympic Boulevard and Figueroa Street in downtown Los Angeles, on the campus of L.A. LIVE. The Museum entrance is located on Figueroa Street. "Anomaly" is available for streaming in its entirety on VH1.com. In addition to the standard CD release, unique "Anomaly" packages will be made available at Wal-Mart and Best Buy locations. The Wal-Mart version includes an Ace autographed tattoo while the Best Buy edition is printed on silver stock, like the KISS "Double Platinum" album. "Anomaly" was produced and recorded in Westchester County, New York between 2007 and 2009 and was mixed in Los Angeles. Videos: Shock Me, Outer Space, Cold Gin, Guitar Solo, Sister, Snow Blind
Paul's concert film "One Live KISS" was selected as a Telly Award winner earlier this summer, and during Paul's art VIP reception, director and producer Louis Antonelli personally presented Paul with his Telly Award statuette and certificate. "Several years ago... Paul and I embarked on making a motion picture together, and that picture has been considered a classic. We have been honored by being selected to win a 2009 Classic Gold Telly Award," said Antonelli. He added, "This is Paul's first time seeing [the awards,] and I think he's just an amazing artist and an amazing man. The opportunity to make this film with him and present him with these awards means the world to me, and to share it with him, of course, is an honor." "That's a great surprise!" Stanley said, admiring the dual statuettes, adding, "Awesome... we did it!" Producers Paul Stanley & Louis Antonelli both received the Classic Gold Telly Awards, which are presented to film & video productions that are considered to be the finest in the 30 year history of the Telly Awards. Founded in 1978, the Telly is the premier award honoring outstanding local, regional and cable TV programs, as well as the finest video and film productions. The 30th Annual Telly Awards received over 14,000 entries from all 50 states and five continents.
The GM Centre's box office phone line confirmed today that all the tickets for the Oct. 7 concert are gone. "Every single, solitary, last one is gone," Oshawa city councillor Robert Lutczyk told the Sun today. "Everything, not one is left." Tickets went on sale to the general public this morning at 10 a.m. The centre was expected to hold around 5,600 people for the concert. Members of the KISS ARMY and GM Centre's Backstage Pass were able to take advantage of pre-sales earlier this week but Lutczyk said he's heard every batch of tickets went like hot cakes. "They all went in minutes," he said. "There was a huge demand for these things." At least 100 fans spent two days lined up outside the GM Centre waiting for tickets. Early this morning, the line had grown to a few hundred. "I doubt that the 10th person in line got tickets," Lutczyk said. The Oshawa concert, a special premiere of the band's new album Sonic Boom, has been a long time in the making. Fans flooded an online contest to put Oshawa at the top of the list for a fan-routed tour. When the tour dates were announced in the summer, Canada's Motor City wasn't on the list. That led to a public outcry and a quick announcement by the band the next day that they would perform in Oshawa in October. KISS frontman Gene Simmons blamed the media for the perceived 'Shwa snub. "I'm really pissed off at the media for creating this nonsense," Simmons said in an interview with The Canadian Press in August. "Now the story's going to come out as a kind of, 'Gene is complaining about the media' (story) -- you're goddamn right I am."
Doors open at 7:30 p.m. Tickets are $10; $8 for Museum members. Tickets can be purchased in-person at the Museum box office, online at Ticketmaster.com, or by calling 1.800.745.3000. The Grammy Museum is located on the corner of Olympic Boulevard and Figueroa Street in downtown Los Angeles, on the campus of L.A. LIVE. The Museum entrance is located on Figueroa Street.
[Pre-Chorus] [Chorus] Listen [Verse] [Pre-Chorus] [Chorus] [Bridge] [Solo] [Pre-Chorus] [Chorus] "Prior to going into the studio, I listened to that first album, which everybody cites as their favorite Ace record," Frehley tells Billboard.com. "I dissected it and tried to get into the same mind set this time around. I think I recaptured some of the musical textures and attitude and vibe that I had on that first record." Frehley recorded "Anomaly" -- due out Sept. 15, on the third anniversary of his sobriety -- at Schoolhouse Studios in New York and at his home studio in Westchester, N.Y. He produced all but one of the album's 12 tracks -- Marti Frederiksen, who mixed the album with Anthony Fox, helmed a cover of Sweet's "Fox on the Run" that was suggested by Frehley's stylist (and also features Meat Loaf's daughter Pearl Aday on backing vocals). The album's first single, "Outer Space," is already out, and "Anomaly" also includes a track called "Fractured Quantum," which completes a "Fractured" trilogy that Frehley began with "Fractured Mirror" on "Ace Frehley" and continued with "Fractured Too" on 1987's "Frehley's Comet." "Anomaly" also marks the first time Frehley has recorded using ProTools, but he doesn't feel like it changed his sound. "I really believe if you use the same process that you always do, if you have the right engineers working with you, you can get that analog sound wtih digital recording," he says. Frehley intends to hit the road later this fall to support "Anomaly" and will have a new custom model Gibson Les Paul guitar issued before the end of the year. With four songs left over from the "Anomaly" sessions, he also intends to issue a follow-up in short order. "It'll probably in the next year and a half or so -- it's not gonna be another 20 years," he promises with a laugh. "I went away for awhile. I went to outer space...and came back. Now I'm stronger than ever, with a vengeance. I just hope everyone likes ('Anomaly'). I really put my heart and soul into it."
"Meat Loaf has been to baseball fantasy camps before," RRFC founder David Fishof tells Billboard.com, "so I wrote a letter to his manager to invite him to ours. He's a fun guy. You have to have a certain kind of personality, and Meat Loaf is that personality. He's a character. He is what Rock 'n' Roll Fantasy camp is about; he's the kind of guy you want to hang with and talk music with and talk career and jam with." The November camp staff will include Rami Jaffee (the Wallflowers, Foo Fighters), Elliot Easton (the Cars), Kenny Aronoff (John Fogerty, Melissa Etheridge, Joe Cocker), Danny Seraphine (Chicago), Bruce Kulick (Kiss), Rudy Sarzo (Quiet Riot, Ozzy Osbourne), Share Ross (Vixen), Teddy Andreadis (Guns 'n' Roses, Alice Cooper) and writer/producer Mark Hudson (Aerosmith, Ringo Starr). Producer and engineer Ron Nevison (the Rolling Stones, the Who, Lynyrd Skynyrd) will also be a guest, and Doors guitarist Robbie Krieger is expected to jam with the campers on the final night at the Whiskey-A-Go-Go. Another producer/engineer, Eddie Kramer, will oversee a special 40th anniversary tribute to Led Zeppelin, with a winning song broadcast on the syndicated "Get the Led Out" radio program. The spring RRFC drew sold out all 85 spots, according to Fishof. A variety of camp packages are available from $7,999 to $12,498, with a Rock 'n' Roll Golf Best Ball Tournament on Nov. 17 for an extra fee. Information is available at (888) 762-2263 or rockcamp.com. RRFC has also set its spring dates, Feb. 10-15 or 12-15 in Hollywood and March 25-31 at Abbey Road Studios in London, England.
'Say Yeah' is your classic arena rock sing-along with Paul Stanley delivering the upbeat vocals with enthusiasm. 'Yes, I Know (Nobody's Perfect)' finds Gene Simmons in his Rock 'N Roll Over glory days while 'All For The Glory' (a track that could fit comfortably on Dressed To Kill) is the album's big revelation. The song features Eric Singer on his very first lead vocal and shows that his talent goes beyond pounding skins. 'Never Enough' is another upbeat track with Paul Stanley leading us into '80s KISS pop territory while 'Russian Roulette' has that Simmons' snarl that brings us right back into Creatures Of The Night glory. The band tackles '90s KISS on 'Danger Us' with another great Stanley vocal. 'When Lightning Strikes' is a straight ahead rocker and is the track that most fans will be curious about since it features Tommy Thayer behind the mic. The guitarist doesn't disappoint and it underscores the fact that KISS has once again become a unique collection of four distinct personalities. If the band can continue down this path, fans will clamor for more new music and will demand that the songs be played live. Overall, KISS has done the unimaginable. They've delivered an album that can proudly carry the KISS moniker and should satisfy fans from all the band's various eras and incarnations.
Now, for the first time, the KISS Kompendium combines the most breathtaking KISS comic books into a lush oversized collector's compilation. Brought to life by graphic illustrations as riveting and hardcore as the band's real-life fire-breathing line-up, the Demon (Gene Simmons), Starchild (Paul Stanley), and the other band members' superhero alter egos defeat evil in over 1200 pages of stunning KISS comics! This is a book authorized by KISS. KISS founding members Gene Simmons and Paul Stanley have contributed the forewords to this. The book also includes exclusive never-before-seen backstage photos from KISS' newest tour along with commentary by the band-members. This is a must-have for every KISS fan eagerly awaiting the band's new album, their first in over 10 years, and a perfect holiday gift for comic-book lover to pour over time and time again. This title will be released on November 24, 2009. The KISS army is everywhere! For 35 years and counting, KISS has been one of the world's top touring bands. Here for the first time is a visual history of KISS through never-before-seen concert photos and unique fanzine tributes and memorablia, starting from this iconic band's very beginnings in the 1970s to today. Featuring new interviews with Gene Simmons and fans from all around the world, it is the ultimate tribute to the world's ultimate rock 'n' roll band. For many fans, the answer will be two of each -- one set for you and one for the kids to play with, and lose all the pieces. The Kiss Mr. Potato Head -- sure to be the most entertaining piece of merchandise the band has ever issued -- will take its place in the Kiss Korner at Walmart on Oct. 6 as part of a merchandise blitz that accompanies "Sonic Boom," the band's first album in 11 years. The pitch for merch has intensified, but Kiss is taking it to the next level. The Kiss Korner will include T-shirts ($5), a fleece blanket ($10), limited edition Kiss M&M candies, catalog CDs ($5-$9) and makeup kits, masks and wigs (at select Walmart stores, $5). "Sonic Boom" will be a three-CD package ($12) with the new 11-track CD, a re-recorded greatest hits CD with classics like "Rock and Roll All Nite," "Deuce" and "Black Diamond," and a live DVD shot in Argentina during the "KISS ALIVE 35" South American tour. One new track, a vintage-style rocker called "Modern Day Delilah," is already making the rounds of YouTube. In 2005, Garth Brooks signed the first exclusive distribution deal with a single retailer, Walmart, for "The Limited Series," a boxed set that quickly went platinum. Walmart delivered more platinum for The Eagles comeback "Long Road Out of Eden" in 2007 and AC/DC's "Black Ice," the second biggest-selling album of 2008. Like with Kiss, there was an AC/DC store-within-a-store with T-shirts, hoodies and other items. Industry people estimated AC/DC sales more than tripled because of the Walmart connection. "It was a game-changer for the music industry," says Ed Christman, retail editor at Billboard magazine. "And Kiss lends itself even more to this type of merchandising." The Beatles and Kiss are among those bands to be immortalized already with action figures, but Kiss, once feared to be "Knights in Satan's Service," is the first on the block with its own Mr. Potato Head and package of M&Ms. The only downer news for Pittsburghers in this whole Kiss "Boom" is that the KISS ALIVE 35 tour, supposedly determined by an online fan vote, is not coming here. The closest stop is Cleveland on Sept. 28. We'll hope for a second leg while we pull off Gene Simmons' Potato Head tongue.
Or perhaps delirious, but, no matter what, its latest entertainment initiative looks to be fun and productive. Wal-Mart revealed yesterday that it would be mounting what it refers to as KISS Korners in its electronics and Halloween aisles to support its exclusive distribution of the band?s new album Sonic Boom. Among the featured items involved are Mr. Potato Head versions of all four band members in full makeup. That's not all, of course, even if the Mr. Potato Heads are likely to be a couldn't-top-them-with-sour-cream marketing and sales success, particularly among hard-core KISS fans. The multifaceted KISS Korner merchandise initiative will be in place when Sonic Boom releases on Oct. 6 exclusively at Walmart stores, Sam's Clubs and Walmart.com. The release certainly counts as a value proposition, given that the eleven-track CD is part of a three-disc set that also features a new generation KISS greatest hits CD and a live DVD shot in Argentina during the band's South American tour, all for $12 bucks. Clearly, Wal-Mart is making a pricing statement with its recent entertainment products, one that may pressure other retailers. Kiss Korners will promote the album and provide fans with an additional opportunity to purchase value-priced merchandise ranging from $5 KISS t-shirts to $10 for the Mr. Potato Head "kollectables." While the electronics department displays may be more instrumental in driving music sales ? the band's catalog of earlier recordings will be available, too, with CDs ranging in price from $5 to $9 - the Halloween department KISS Korners could clean up on a particular item, full makeup kits, including character-appropriate wigs, that allow consumers to take on the look of their favorite band member for just five bucks. Wal-Mart will have a lot of help in promoting its KISS enterprise, as Gene Simmons, will put every effort into maximizing the financial opportunities that arise from the release of Sonic Boom. Besides a commitment to live performance support, he's already pitching Dr Pepper in a major ad campaign for the beverage?s new cherry flavor, one that will bring more attention to the band, the album and Wal-Mart. So expect a full-scale acoustic and commercial KISS assault, one that should make the retailer an even bigger presence on the entertainment and Halloween scenes than it has been.
"Prior to going into the studio, I listened to that first album, which everybody cites as their favorite Ace record," Frehley tells Billboard.com. "I dissected it and tried to get into the same mind-set this time around. I think I recaptured some of the musical textures and attitude and vibe that I had on that first record." Frehley recorded "Anomaly" -- due out September 15, on the third anniversary of his sobriety -- at Schoolhouse Studios in New York and at his home studio in Westchester, N.Y. He produced all but one of the album's 12 tracks. Marti Frederiksen, who mixed the album with Anthony Fox, helmed a cover of Sweet's "Fox on the Run" that features Meat Loaf's daughter Pearl Aday on backing vocals. The album's first single, "Outer Space," is already out, and "Anomaly" also includes a track called "Fractured Quantum," which completes a "Fractured" trilogy that Frehley began with "Fractured Mirror" on "Ace Frehley" and continued with "Fractured Too" on 1987's "Frehley's Comet." "Anomaly" also marks the first time Frehley has recorded using Pro Tools. He doesn't think the digital editing system changed his sound. "I really believe if you use the same process that you always do, if you have the right engineers working with you, you can get that analog sound with digital recording," he says. Frehley intends to hit the road later this fall to support "Anomaly" and will have a new custom model Gibson Les Paul guitar issued before the end of the year. With four songs left over from the "Anomaly" sessions, he also intends to issue a follow-up in short order. "It'll probably be in the next year and a half or so -- it's not gonna be another 20 years," he promises with a laugh. "I went away for a while. I went to outer space ... and came back. Now I'm stronger than ever, with a vengeance. I just hope everyone likes ('Anomaly'). I really put my heart and soul into it."
How did you get involved with "Extract"? "They called up and said, 'You play an a - - hole LA lawyer.' I said, 'I'm in.' They said, 'Do you want to see a script?' I said, 'No.' " What do you think of lawyers? "I'm pro- our lawyers, but I hate your lawyers. I don't like ambulance chasers very much. I tried to be as big of an a - - hole as I could be because this guy is an ambulance chaser." What's your philosophy of life? "My mother is actually the most sound existential philosopher I've ever met. Her point of view is more profound than Kierkegaard or Nietzsche. She says, 'Every day you're above ground is a good day.' " Are you a Mike Judge fan? "Of course. 'Beavis and Butthead' was a game changer. You actually saw a cartoon of people I've seen all my life. It's not the highest life form on planet Earth, but they are who they are. They're profoundly honest in their skin. They can be stupid and racist and all of that, but the animal resembles the skin he's in." Your next album is being released through Wal-Mart. "They're terrific. They give 21?2 million people jobs. It's like America. Not everybody loves America. Say, 'America,' and see what happens. Nobody loves it like immigrants, and I am one [from Israel]. You don't know what you've got till it's gone. My mother was in a concentration camp at age 14. That's a big perspective. That'll stop all the bulls - - t." What do you think of the current political leadership? "Means well, lacks experience. And that's dangerous. I voted for President Obama, but his healthcare plan is a complete disaster. When I was growing up, it was 'Make Love, Not War,' and that's great, but what if the other side wants to make war?" Speaking of war, you must have friends in Israel who are worried about Iran. "I'm not worried, and neither are they. If it ever came to it, they'd know what to do." What movie role would you most like to do? "God. Like in the George Burns movie. I should have been God. I don't mean the son of God. That tends to be too Jewish. It gets to be like, 'I'm dying, I'm coming back.' You can't make up your mind. Too Jewish." Seen anything good at the movies? "I absolutely loved that the critics hated 'G.I. Joe.' In every roller coaster there's always someone who says, 'Yes, but what is the meaning?' I'm here to eat popcorn." But you're an intellectual, aren't you? "Well, sure, but you have to let go sometime."
KISS' high-flying former lead guitarist Ace Frehley is about to celebrate two milestones on Sept. 15 -- the release of Anomaly, his first CD in two decades; and the third anniversary of his hard-won sobriety. "It's a real special day for me," admits the notorious 58-year-old guitar hero, whose last album was 1989's fittingly titled Trouble Walkin'. "They both mean a lot to me -- the first album in 20 years, and three years free from alcohol and drugs. Those are two great accomplishments for me. And the fact they're happening on the same day makes it all the more special. "But it wasn't something that we planned; it just turned out that way by accident. "At the final marketing meeting, when we were deciding on a release date, they said, 'How about the 15th?' and I just said to myself, 'Man, how ironic.' " Well, it may not be ironic. But it is an interesting coincidence -- as is the fact that Frehley's ex-partners in crime Paul Stanley and Gene Simmons also have a new KISS album titled Sonic Boom coming out this fall. And the fact that both CDs are self-produced guitar-rockers that aim to reconnect with the spirit and energy of the '70s and '80s. Just before heading out to meet an engineer about his newest smoking guitar, a mellow and thoughtful Frehley took time to chat about his new album, his old bandmates and life with both feet back on planet Earth. Congrats on being sober. Over the years, you must have had a million close calls and wakeup calls and interventions and ultimatums. What was different this time that it finally stuck? It's been a struggle my whole life. I don't like to preach to people or tell them 'Don't drink,' because I don't think there's anything wrong with alcohol. I just got to the point where I was allergic to it. It made me crazy and made my life unmanageable. For me, it just didn't work anymore. What impact has sobriety had on your music? Years ago, I always thought that I needed something extra to be more creative or to perform onstage. And that's really just your brain telling you something that isn't so. I actually do everything better now; I perform better, I play better, I write better songs. I'm more focused. This is the first album I've ever produced on my own. And achieving everything I've achieved in the last three years gives me the strength to stay on the right path and move forward. Were you nervous at first to be touring and recording sober? Of course. I was very nervous last year when I went on tour. But I got through it, and now it's not scary at all. Let's talk about Anomaly. Are all the songs new or have you had some sitting around for years? The oldest song on the record is a song called Sister. I wrote that in the early '90s. But the majority of them were written from 2004 on. And I think the last one I wrote was A Little Below the Angels. It's autobiographical. A lot of the lyrics on this one seem confessional. Were those hard to write? Not at all. One thing I learned in sobriety was that you're only as sick as your secrets. And when you get something out in the open, it's a very freeing, elating experience. Once you admit you've got a problem and do something about it, it's kind of like it's behind you. So I don't have a problem writing about my sobriety. It's actually therapy for me (laughs). Musically, the album has a very old-school feel. Was that something that you were consciously chasing, or is that just the way everything comes out with you? That was by design. Getting ready for this record, I read a lot of what the fans said. Invariably, most people still cite my first solo album when I was a member of KISS as their favourite Ace record. So I wanted to try to recapture some of the flavour on that record. Have you heard the new KISS album? e only heard one song. I think it was Modern Day Delilah. It's a good song. But I remember reading that Paul and Gene were saying this new album would kind of capture the feeling of the '70s. I didn't get that. To me it sounded more like they picked up where they left off with Crazy Nights and stuff like that in the '80s. But Paul's a great songwriter, and Tommy's a great guitarist. you ever get used to seeing Tommy Thayer onstage wearing your old outfit and makeup and basically impersonating you? l, I don't ever go there. I've never seen them in concert with Tommy. When it first happened, in a way I was relieved that somebody was taking over my part who I at least knew and liked. But by the same token, it was a little bittersweet. And then I started reading comments that the fans are writing, and it seems a lot of fans are really upset about it. And that upsets me because I want the fans to be happy. A lot of them think Paul and Gene should have got new makeup for Tommy instead of having him wear mine. It's not my decision to make, but I think maybe it wasn't the best decision. 're turning 60 in a couple of years. How's your health after all the abuse over the decades? healthier than I've been in a long while. I just had a complete checkup and knock on wood, everything seems to be OK. I'm really lucky; I have a lot of friends my age or even younger who abused their bodies over the years and got hepatitis and permanent damage. But my doctor told me my liver's intact -- I don't know about my brain (laughs). s just amazing you're alive at all, isn't it? h, it pretty much is a miracle. There were plenty of times I didn't think I was gonna make it. And not only because of overdoses. I've been in crazy car crashes and compromising positions; I've been in jail and had guns put to my head. It's been a crazy road. But it makes right now, this time, for me, much sweeter -- because I've seen both sides of the tracks.
The festival billing is shaping up as follows: Saturday, October 17: JUDAS PRIEST Sunday, October 18: SLAYER For more information, visit www.loudpark.com.
Listen to the chat in two parts below. "Hard Rock Nights" can be heard on a number of radio stations dedicated to rock and metal. Go to this location for a complete list of stations and airtimes. For Detroit City Rockers and beyond, the exclusive KISS CD/DVD package, "Sonic Boom", and KISS kollectibles will be available in all Wal-Mart stores nationwide. Select items, including the MP3 digital album, will be available at Walmart.com. Pre-orders for the new three-disc set are currently available at www.walmart.com/kiss for $12. Items will arrive upon the Oct. 6 release and include: * KISS "Sonic Boom" CD/DVD package - $12 "To complement this highly-anticipated music release, we are excited to bring a unique store experience with KISS merchandise at an unbeatable value for fans of all ages," said Greg Hall, vice president of Media Services, Wal-Mart U.S. "It has been both fun and an honor to work with the band and celebrate with fans the new music release and album tour."
What didn't go into KISS' new album Sonic Boom seems almost as important to Gene Simmons as what did. "There are no ballads," the demon bassist growls down the phone from L.A. when asked about the band's first studio disc since 1998's Psycho Circus. "There are no keyboards. There are no synths. There are no girl background singers." Of course, there's also no Ace Frehley and Peter Criss. The former lead guitarist and drummer have been replaced in the studio once again by touring members Tommy Thayer and Eric Singer. But a lack of original members didn't stop Gene and longtime partner Paul Stanley from taking an old-school, back-to-basics approach to their 19th album, eschewing outside songwriters, musicians and producers for a DYI MO. "We literally sat in the room together and wrote songs together and then rehearsed them," explains the 60-year-old bassist. "And then Paul produced. If you were to pinpoint the vibe, it's probably (1976's) Rock and Roll Over, in that era. And every song sounds like that. It's just meat and potatoes. And that was our mandate." Did they fulfil it? I'll be the judge of that. The disc -- to be sold exclusively in Walmarts packaged with a second CD of re-recorded KISS oldies and a live DVD -- isn't due for release until Oct. 6. But I've already heard it. And while I can't agree with Gene that it's the best KISS album in 30 years -- it's actually got more of an '80s vibe than a '70s one -- it's definitely their strongest work in two decades. Here's a song-by-song preview: Modern Day Delilah - 3:37 Russian Roulette - 4:32 Never Enough - 3:27 Yes I Know (Nobody's Perfect) - 3:03 Stand - 4:50 Hot and Cold - 3:37 All For the Glory - 3:49 Danger Us - 4:23 I'm an Animal - 3:47 When Lightning Strikes - 3:45 Say Yeah - 4:27 Not a bad birthday present for the legendary group's Gene Simmons, who turned 60 last week (Aug. 25). (Paul Stanley celebrates the same milestone Jan. 20). Kiss' Billboard chart history dates to April 20, 1974, when its self-titled set first appeared on the Billboard 200. The act will log its 33rd charting title following the Oct. 6 release of the Walmart exclusive "Sonic Boom," the band's first offering of new material this decade. Kiss' last album, 1998's "Psycho Circus," became its highest-charting on the Billboard 200 (No. 3) and produced its first airplay chart No. 1. The title cut led Heritage Rock for four weeks and Mainstream Rock for one frame. In a press release, Simmons sticks to the group's trademark understated and unassuming nature. "'Sonic Boom' may be the best new record we've done since (1976's) 'Destroyer'! It is 'Rock and Roll Over' meets 'Love Gun.' The world's biggest retailer had better get ready for the hottest band in the world and hire more cashiers before October 6th!"
Kiss and hyperbole go hand in hand. Always have done, always will. Gene Simmons is talking about this album like it's his second coming -which will doubtless please the insatiable ladies in the, er, Ladies Room. Paul Stanley has got in the act too, calling Sonic Boom the best record Kiss have made in 30 years - putting it on a par with 1979's illustrious Dynasty. Of course, you can trust us at Classic Rock to boldly cut through the bluster and reveal the brutal, honest truth. And our verdict is... we agree. Sonic Boom is bloody brilliant. Kiss's first new studio album in 11 years delivers the goods in spectacular fashion. It's like waiting for a Tesco van to turn up outside your home and instead a Chieftain tank arrives, packed full of fillet steaks. If you read our preview on the Classic Rock website, you'll doubtless remember the comment: 'Kiss seem to have combined the best of all their eras into a single winning package.' So you get echoes of Rock And Roll Over - where the Flash Four added a neat commercial sheen to their hard rockin' sensibilities - in the music as well as the album cover. Hints of the sprawling grandeur of Creatures Of The Night. Tinges of the chest-thumping teaze of Crazy Nights. So it goes on. Yet Sonic Boom is no determinedly retro package. It's purely the sound of Kiss playing to their strengths. Kicking off in scintillating style with "Modern Day Delilah," what's evident immediately is the level of commitment from rhythm guitarist/vocalist Stanley. Sonic Boom probably wouldn't have happened if the Starchild hadn't pulled the strings (leaving Gene dangling underneath the lighting rig) and on...Delilah Stanley sings his platform soles off. Simmons sounds refreshed too, carving out his personaility on "Russian Roulette" and "I'm An Animal" with the sensitivity of a tattooist wielding a rusty steak-knife. Put simply, the Demon is back to his lascivious best. There's no Ace or Peter, of course. We never thought we'd write the following, but... we don't miss 'em. Guitarist Tommy Thayer puts in a remarkable performance - akin to Eddie Van Halen replicating Frehley licks - and Thayer's showcase song, "When Lightning Strikes," isn't half bad either. Ditto drummer Eric Singer, whose playing is impeccable, and whose singing on the chundering "All For The Glory" is every bit as good as Criss's on "Black Diamond." Standouts? Well, Stand is a 21st century "God Gave Rock And Roll To You," no doubt about it; "Danger Us" is the sort of throwaway classic you thought Kiss had forgotten how to write; and "Say Yeah" is perhaps the most triumphal album closer of all time. In a world without heroes, thank God Kiss are alive and licking once again. 9/10
Tickets on Sale Saturday, September 12th at 10:00 AM Sure to be the band's most amazing tour ever, KISS has announced that their "KISS Alive 35" 2009 North American tour, will arrive at Oshawa, Ontario's General Motors Centre on Wednesday, October 7th, 2009. Celebrating 35 years of rocking the world like no other, An Evening with KISS will treat their legions of fans to a set of some of rock's greatest hits, including "Rock and Roll All Nite," "Shout it Out Loud" and "Detroit Rock City," as well as songs from the band's new album SONIC BOOM. Tickets will go on sale Saturday, September 12th at 10:00 AM, and can be purchased at General Motors Centre Box Office, by phone at 1-877-436-8811, or online at www.generalmotorscentre.com. Event time and date are subject to change.
I can hear you saying, "Yes, but what does SONIC BOOM sound like? Will it allow me to rock and roll all nite?" Assuming people are still into this crazy circus of a band - last season's American Idol finale indicated they might be -- will KISS find as much success as Sugarland and AC/DC, both of whom rode a Walmart deal to No. 1? Only time will tell. For now, you can preorder SONIC BOOM at Walmart.com. Or you can go on a total rant about how much you hate big box stores. But please, do it with your tongue hanging out, at least.
* Size: 9x12" For more information, visit VintageKissPhotos.com.
Recent solo albums by both Gene Simmons and Paul Stanley helped to ease the pain somewhat, but then also had some KISS fans wondering, 'Well, why not a new KISS album?' When KISS announced they were to begin working on a new album excitement spread like wildfire through the KISS Army, but there were those who skeptically held the stance that they'd believe it when they saw it - or, in this case, heard it. Well the wait, the wondering, and the disbelieving is about to come to an end on October 6. Produced by KISS' own Paul Stanley, Sonic Boom is on its way. The most recent musical products we've had from these guys were Paul Stanley's solo release Live To Win and Gene Simmons' solo album A**h*le. Stanley's was emotion, Simmons' was fun - and now with Sonic Boom those influences bond and yet include so much more. Sonic Boom is a sexy album packed with good quality songs that insight repeat listening. It's a great blend of old KISS, modern KISS, and even - - - dare it be said? - Some brand spanking new KISS sounds as well. KISS, in their 35 years, has gone on an amazing journey and has a rich, full history. And some KISS fans are devoted, almost cult-like followers, but then there are some who will vehemently dislike any new release simply because it's not a repeat of Destroyer or KISS (the 1974 self-titled debut release). No one can make everyone happy, but Sonic Boom delivers the goods that most KISS fans will receive quite warmly. "Modern Day Delilah" - the only song thus far available to the public - it can be heard on KISS' Official Website. Paul Stanley takes the vocal reigns on this one. "Modern Day Delilah is bold and brassy, a great rock tune with a heady groove and exciting guitar solo. This song is simply infectious, and was the perfect choice as the album's first release. "Russian Roulette" - features Gene Simmons on vocals and has got a bass line that is sexy and gritty. Simmons' vocals are clear and naughty and the chorus is catchy. With the driving rhythms in "Russian Roulette" it's a great song to strip to if you're so inclined. "Never Enough" - hands the lead vocals duties back over to Stanley. This is the quintessential rock anthem song. Total KISS, total Paul Stanley, total feel-good, and nothing but good feelings with an aggressive guitar solo. "Yes I know (Nobody's Perfect)" - a classic 70's KISS sound and classic Gene Simmons feel to it. Nice groove. "Stand" - a little unexpected. "Stand" is catchy but showcases a different style from the other songs on the album. "Hot And Cold" - is a whimsical and upbeat tune that is perfect for Gene Simmons. "All For The Glory" - features vocals by drummer Eric Singer and is one of the highlights of this album. Singer's slightly raspy and rocking vocals accentuate this song really well. "Danger Us" - a fun play on words for this Paul Stanley lead song. "Danger Us" has got a solid rhythm throughout and nice guitar work. "I'm An Animal" - a larger than life, big rock and roll sound. Perfect for 'the Demon.' If this song was a person no one would mess with it. "When Lightning Strikes" - is guitarist Tommy Thayer's vocal contribution and another highlight of the disc. "When Lightning Strikes" has got a sultry groove and Thayer is authoritative in his vocal style. And "Say Yeah" - with a big rock sound and great harmonies. This is one of those songs that will pleasantly haunt you after just the first listen. Sonic Boom will be available exclusively at Walmart (stores and online) and Sam's Club in the U.S. and Canada. The album package is a 3-disc set that will include - in addition to Sonic Boom's 11 new songs - Kiss Klassics - a 15-track, re-recorded greatest hits CD, a live concert DVD that was recorded in Buenos Aires, Argentina earlier this year, and a 20-page booklet. The countdown continues but we're almost ready for take-off.
A special KISS Expo room rate will be offered for the event, but rooms must be booked before September 28, 2009. Call 1-310-641-5700 and ask for the KISS Expo rate to reserve a room. Expo tickets are $20 at the door or $25 for a VIP pass which entitles the holder to special access. Children under 12 get in free. For more information about the first annual Los Angeles KISS Expo, go to this location.
In addition to the standard CD release, unique "Anomaly" packages will be made available at Wal-Mart and Best Buy locations. The Wal-Mart version includes an Ace autographed tattoo while the Best Buy edition is printed on silver stock, like the KISS "Double Platinum" album. Due on September 15 via Ace's own Bronx Born Records, with Rocket Science providing a full label service platform in the U.S., "Anomaly" was produced and recorded in Westchester County, New York between 2007 and 2009 and was mixed in Los Angeles.
Hundreds of fans lined up outside the John Labatt Centre - including some who stood in line for nearly 12 hours - to get tickets to the legendary rock group's long-awaited return to London next month. Tickets went on sale at 10 a.m. - and first in line was 44-year-old stock broker Cristina Parker, who arrived outside the JLC at 11:30 p.m. Friday. "Well, it's KISS," she said, when asked what motivates that kind of commitment. "I've seen them 20 or 30 times. "I've been part of the KISS army since I was 12 years old. (Singer/guitarist) Paul Stanley was my first crush - Starchild, I love him." Though the skies threatened the kind of weather that would wash the facepaint right off their rock heroes, Parker was among about a half-dozen people who spent the night in line. By the time the box office opened, there were nearly 100 fans waiting for tickets to what they figure is KISS's first London appearance in nearly 20 years. April Tuffin, 45, and her 18-year-old son, David, arrived at about 1 a.m. She wanted to make sure they got good seats to her boy's first KISS experience. For James Edwards, 49, it's easy to explain the dedication that brought him out in the dead of night, hours before tickets were available. His first ever concert, he says, was in August 1977, when KISS played London Gardens with Cheap Trick as the opening act. He's seen them several times since, but beyond the live show it's the respect the band shows its fans that keeps him coming back. He was blown away, he says, when he met the band years ago and Gene Simmons and Paul Stanley signed posters and a guitar for him. "I said 'thanks for your time' and they said 'no, thank you for your years of support.' How many bands would say that?" The Canadian tour that stops in London Sept. 29 did meet some controversy earlier this week when Oshawa, which won an online contest to get the band to play there, appeared to be left off the itinerary. Simmons later said Oshawa was always in their plans and the band hoped to surprise the city with a late announcement. They are slated to play the Toronto suburb Oct. 7.
Casablanca was formed in 1973 by Neil Bogart, but didn't release its first full-length album until Kiss's debut on February 18, 1974. Speaking exclusively to Classic Rock, rhythm guitarist/vocalist Paul Stanley reflected on the years Kiss spent as probably the most important band on Casablanca's roster. Classic Rock: It's Casablanca's 35th birthday this year. Do you mourn the demise of the iconic record company? Paul Stanley: "I mourn the demise of iconic record companies because they nurtured bands and nurtured artists. When record companies were run by people who loved music they stood behind the acts. It wasn't unusual for a record company to expect two or three albums to come out before artist would break. That was the dedication they had, because they loved the music. The days of that are over and long gone. "Casablanca, I must say, was a double-edged sword. Neil Bogart's philosophy was... well, let me put it this way, he didn't care if it ruined your career as long as you got a hit single as soon as possible - and I wasn't part of that school. Neil was P.T. Barnum, which worked to a certain extent, but it also tended to hurt whatever credibility you might have, because of the way your records were being sold. "But again, the great record companies stood behind their acts and nowadays you're just a number. If you don't sell enough of your first album, you're out of the door. That's a shame, and that coupled with music piracy makes it pretty difficult for anybody who wants to make a career in music these days." Kiss's new album, Sonic Boom, is coming out via Loud & Proud/Roadrunner in the UK and Europe. The release date is October 5. Stanley said: "Success comes from a winning team, and Roadrunner is the perfect partner for Kiss in terms of understanding what this album is and also having a great track record of success."
Ultimate-Guitar.com: [Your new solo] album ["Anomaly" has a] release date of September 15 [which] also coincides with the third anniversary of you being sober. It must certainly make a huge difference to how you now feel personally and professionally? Frehley: Yeah, the mornings are really nice now without the hangovers. When I was younger, I always thought I needed that junk in order to perform and to be creative, but now when I look back, I realize I am a lot more creative and more focus without it. That is one of the fallacies that a lot of musicians feel that they need something to depend on like a crutch. But once you get past that, and realize it mentally, you are much better off without it. Ultimate-Guitar.com: Did the drinking problem first come about as a result of the pressures you felt from being in such a successful rock group as KISS? Frehley: The touring schedule with KISS was really so hectic back then and so I needed something to help take the edge off the day. Well, at least I thought I did. When I toured last year I was completely sober, and it was a joy. When you start drinking young and you depend on it, your brain tells you, you need it to relax, you need it to do this or that, you need it to perform, yet it's really just your brain telling you this fallacy. But it is still your life. Ultimate-Guitar.com: How did the approach you used making this record compare to the way you made your previous recordings? Frehley: This is the first album that I made totally digitally. And I really had to get a crash course in Pro Tools in order to keep up with everybody who worked with me on it. So I took some lessons from some Pro Tools teachers and some good engineers and I also picked up a lot of stuff over the last two years. And I'm at the point now where I can do whatever I need to do with Pro Tools when I'm by myself in my studio. But I don't want to do that really because, like I said, I like having an objective ear and somebody to bounce ideas off. Ultimate-Guitar.com: Because Pro Tools gives you so much at your disposal, do you find it less satisfying than when you worked with analog technology? Frehley: The possibilities it gives you in editing is unbelievable. And it is really a godsend because I remember the days when we used to do guitar solos and we had to cut the tape to edit. While Marti [Frederiksen] and Anthony [Focx] were mixing the songs, I was in my hotel room cutting and pasting sound bites on "Outer Space" and "Genghis Khan". The flexibility of cut-and-paste and moving things around is so easy in Pro Tools, it is, like, effortless. Ultimate-Guitar.com: Gene [Simmons] has stated in numerous interviews over the years that you didn't actually play on some KISS tracks and that the band actually brought in studio players at times to play and record some of your guitar parts? Frehley: I'm sure it happened because I remember as early back as the "Destroyer" album, I had come in and done a solo for "Sweet Pain" but when I later listened back to the final mix of the album, there was somebody else [Dick Wagner] playing the solo on the song. It was stuff like that where they would switch my solos without telling me, which probably led me to eventually leave the group. Ultimate-Guitar.com: Another album that proved to be an unsatisfying affair for you was "Psycho Circus". Frehley: I had to really struggle just to get one song on that record. Even half way through that album, they had accepted the song but then it was rejected and I had to fight tooth and nail just to get that one song on there. And I had submitted three songs. But there was always a lot of competition between Gene and Paul [Stanley], him and myself and Peter [Criss]. Ultimate-Guitar.com: Are you still good friends with any of the KISS guys? Frehley: I'm friends with all of them. I don't have any animosity … personally. We had some great times together years ago and they decided to take a different path and I decided to take a different path, so let bygones be bygones. Read the entire interview from Ultimate-Guitar.com.
"You may hear a slightly different story from Gene, but so be it," Stanley said. "The media was carrying the dissent and upset feeling of the fans. They weren't creating anything, they were reporting it. Don't blame the messenger." Stanley said a "comedy of errors" led to Oshawa being left off the tour when an incomplete schedule was announced. "The size of the production turned out to require a larger venue," KISS spokesman Erik Stein told TheStar.com on Monday. "In this case, that turned out to be the Air Canada Centre." This, according to the band, was not really the case. Stanley said Oshawa was actually going to be on next leg of the tour, which hadn't been announced yet. The outcry from Oshawa's KISS fans compelled the band to make a change and play there sooner. "October 7 was not originally deemed the day we were playing Oshawa," Stanley said. But "to sooth everybody's hurt feelings and concerns" KISS decided to launch their new album in the KISS-loving city. "The fans were understandably upset, but no harm meant, and certainly no slight," Stanley said. "It was clearly announced that Oshawa was the number one city, so it would be insanity to not play it." Read more from TheStar.com.
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Earlier this year, Kiss asked fans around the world to go to their website and vote for their hometown to be included in the band's next big tour. Oshawa finished first among all cities. But when the dates for that upcoming tour were announced this week, Oshawa was left off the list and fans in the city went ballistic. A message on the band's official website suggests a concert in Oshawa had been planned for a future tour, but the backlash has made the band change its mind. Toronto, London, Ont., Montreal, Winnipeg, Saskatoon, Calgary and Vancouver have also been scheduled for tour dates. "After the outpouring of emotion we saw today, there was no way we could follow our original plan and make you wait until a later tour leg," the band said in a statement to Oshawa fans. "You'll now be getting a special record-release show. Oshawa, we promise a good time."
"I knew Gene (Simmons) would come through," Oshawa city Councillor Robert Lutczyk told the Sun last night after receiving confirmation the group will appear in concert at General Motors Centre, tentatively set for Oct. 7. Fans were livid when the city was left off the list of stops for the group's fall tour -- even after it won an online competition for KISS to play in the city. "We are working out the details for the concert now," Lutczyk said. "The problem is there is a significant divide between the band members and managers," he said. "The left hand doesn't know what the right hand was doing, but I knew Gene would come through on his word. "There was a disconnect, but everything is back on the rails. It doesn't matter what happened, they are being true to their word." Some Oshawa KISS fans even turned on the group. "If their set is too big, then they shouldn't have had this contest in the first place," said Kim Walker, who posted on the Bring KISS to Oshawa Facebook group. "Maybe they were expecting a big city with a big venue to win? It is not right. They promised to play the city that won." The band previously said it would even play a cornfield if it had to, but show organizers said Monday tour stops in neighbouring concert venues are "to make sure that all regional fans get a chance to see KISS with the band's full stage production." That meant Oshawa fans would have to travel to Air Canada Centre Oct. 2 for a chance to see their heroes. Many others, including Oshawa Mayor John Gray and Finance Minister Jim Flaherty, Whitby-Durham's MP, also expressed their disappointment. But all has been forgiven. "A lot of people are going to be happy and there will be a lot of excitement," Lutczyk said. Fans carry flag for KISS, Canada Fans in the GTA who salute the KISS Army are also very patriotic, it turns out. Some Sun readers were outraged by a photo showing a Canadian flag that had "Rock and Roll All Nite" written on it, along with several other notations. "It is disrespectful, offensive and, in my opinion, borders on treason," Mississauga resident Laura Henderson said in an e-mail. "I am both sickened and saddened that Oshawa, its city council, its council members would allow the flag desecration but also that the Toronto Sun would print such an offensive image." Oshawa Councillor Robert Lutczyk, who appeared in the photo, said the flag was given to his son, Mark, 8, as a gift from Shannon Tweed, girlfriend of KISS bassist/singer Gene Simmons in Ottawa last month. "Someone gave it to Shannon at the concert," he said. "She's pictured with it and she ended up giving it to Mark and we ended up bringing it home. It was a gift. We didn't make the flag." Said Henderson: "I am a proud Canadian ... An image like the one in your newspaper is neither welcome nor appreciated."
“I just got confirmation that KISS people have contacted General Motors Centre management to hold Oct. 6 and 7 for KISS,” Oshawa City Councillor Robert Lutczyk told the SUN tonight. “I knew Gene (Simmons) would come through.” Fans were livid that the KISS bassist/singer snubbed them after they won an online competition to have the band play in their city on its fall fan-routed tour. The Durham city claimed the number one spot in North America with 14,569 votes, but when the tour schedule was announced Monday, Oshawa wasn’t on the list. “We are working out the details for the concert now. The problem is there is a significant divide between the band members and managers. It’s like a government bureaucracy. The left hand doesn’t know what the right hand was doing, but I knew Gene would come through on his word,” Lutczyk said. “There was a disconnect, but everything is back on the rails. It doesn’t matter what happened, they are being true to their word.”
Guest list: From the film: Mike Judge, Jason Bateman, Mila Kunis, Clifton Collins Jr., Gene Simmons and Dustin Milligan. Jessica Stroup, Aziz Ansari and Cheech Marin also stopped by. Star power: Had co-star Ben Affleck and wife Jennifer Garner stopped by, they would have upped the celeb ante. Instead, it was a relatively low-key night for a Hollywood premiere, though Simmons and his family —Shannon Tweed, and their kids, Nick and Sophie — certainly got the cellphone cameras flashing. Scene stealer: Simmons and family walked the carpet as a family, and reality TV cameras for their show, Family Jewels, followed them, capturing their back-and-forth antics with journalists. So why did Simmons want to be in this film, playing a sleazy lawyer? "Mike Judge, who I've been a fan of since the Beavis and Butthead days ... is a great filmmaker and he wrote up my lines on cards. I couldn't memorize them. I have the attention span of a gnat. I don't have a lot of time with that," Simmons confesses. "I'm in this little band called, Kiss. Ever heard of it? Mike Judge was like, 'I'm going to get you in and get you out.'" Fashion fix: Both Bateman and Judge showed up wearing similar gear: dark blazers and navy blue shirts underneath. "Did we plan this?" Bateman asks Judge. "Our jackets? Did we coordinate this?" But really, it was Kunis, who sparkled in a shimmery Matthew Williamson dress. "I'm like a badass with a heart," she says of her role as factory vixen in Extract. "It was a very laid-back set. People just hung out and talked and it wasn't shticky. There were really no funny anecdotes. We saved all the funny for the film." And how does Kunis, who is dating actor Macaulay Culkin make their Hollywood romance work? "I isolate!" she chirped, before moving down the carpet. News you can use: Milligan, who portrayed playboy Ethan Ward on last season's 90210 series, says he won't be back. He plays a gigolo in Extract, which reminded him of his 90210 character. "Ethan got around," he says, laughing. "I only did the first season. I won't be coming back for the second season. But they're back in production. They have been shooting since the end of June. Ethan was bouncing around from every single girl, and I guess after nothing developed with any of those girls, they were like, 'We're going to move him to Montana!' So that's where he is." Still, it wasn't all bad. Milligan met his former co-star Stroup on the show, who is his current girlfriend. "Yeah," he adds sheepishly, "I'm glad I was able to do it for that year ..." (Stroup sped up behind him and rushed past the press line before ducking inside the theater.) Director's notes: Nearly every cast member says it was easy to make the film because of Judge's writing. "Some of my best stuff, I write really quickly," Judge says. "I try to make it easier than it looks. I think casting is like 80% of it. I usually have a pretty specific way that I see it in my head. I feel like I got it with this one. I drive the casting people crazy; I keep them looking and looking and looking. But I'm really happy with this cast. It's actors that are doing things that are different than you normally see them do. I mean, Gene Simmons? Come on." Fan Factor: The premiere took place in one of the more hidden theaters, making it not very accessible for tons of gawkers. Still, the fans came out to see the stars and a dozen or so lucky ones scored extra tickets from the Miramax staff to get inside.
Thousands of Oshawa KISS fans who voted online to win a contest to see the band play in their city got the short end of Gene Simmons', er, tongue yesterday. The car manufacturing capital of Canada was recently named the KISS capital after beating out every major city in North America in an online competition. But when the KISS fall tour schedule was released yesterday morning, Oshawa wasn't even on the list. "I'm devastated," Oshawa Councillor Robert Lutczyk said. "Gene told us personally that KISS would be in Oshawa. He said the top three in the contest are guaranteed a show." So what happened? The rock icon could not be reached for comment but a band spokesman said "a few situations" required placing shows in neighbouring market concert venues. "This was necessary to make sure that all regional fans get a chance to see KISS with the band's full stage production," said spokesman Erik Stein. 'SOMETHING SPECIAL' That means Oshawa fans will have to truck to Toronto on Oct. 2 for the band's Air Canada Centre show. But wasn't the whole point of the contest to have them play at the GM Centre? "No comment," Stein said. The band, however, is planning "something special" for the city of Oshawa, although Stein wouldn't provide details. For months, Oshawa pumped up KISS coming to town; Lutczyk even invited Simmons' partner, Shannon Tweed, and said the city would officially proclaim the occasion "Shannon Tweed Day." On the Sun comment board yesterday, fans were upset that "rock and roll all nite" may no longer be an option. "The whole thing was a giant marketing ploy/publicity stunt," said one poster. "They never had any intentions of playing Oshawa and the fact that they lied to those people shows you the true character of Gene and his cronies." But some fans on the Bring Kiss To Oshawa Facebook group are still keeping the faith. "Despite being left out of the lineup, and other than if KISS found it too expensive to rent the GM Centre (as per the terms of the contest), I am sure they will play here in Oshawa," said poster Bill Steele. "If Gene did say he will play here, I am sure his word is golden." Lutczyk said that as long as "something special" means a concert for Oshawa, he'll be happy. "Gene Simmons told me himself that KISS will play Oshawa and I have every reason to believe that he will keep his word." --- KISS OF DEATH In April, KISS began a contest to get the band to play in their city. Here are the top 10 places in the online vote. Of those, here are the cities KISS is actually playing this fall: Commented Loud & Proud president Tom Lipsky: "Great artists make great music and KISS has certainly accomplished that with 'Sonic Boom'." Wally van Middendorp, Senior VP International of Roadrunner Records, added, "We are excited to have the world's premier rock band join forces with the world's premier rock label. 'Sonic Boom' is a brilliant album that will surely be recognized as one of best musical works in the history of KISS." Stated KISS guitarist/vocalist Paul Stanley: "Success comes from a winning team, and Roadrunner is the perfect partner for KISS in terms of understanding what this album is and also having a great track record of success."
Vincent is suing the band, along with A&E Television Networks, for using his image without his permission. According to a lawsuit filed earlier this month, Vincent claims his image was used in a DVD boxed set called "Kissology: Volume 2 1978-1992". In addition, Vincent claims his image was used as part of the "roast" episode of A&E's show "Gene Simmons Family Jewels", the "reality"-TV program featuring KISS bassist/vocalist Gene Simmons and his family. Vincent also claims Simmons defamed him on an A&E show called "Private Sessions", though he doesn't specify what defamatory statements were made. Vincent is seeking unspecified damages. Vincent, whose real name is Vincent Cusano, played with KISS from 1982 to 1984, co-writing "I Love it Loud", "Lick it Up" and other songs. Back in October 2006, Vincent lost a Supreme Court appeal in a dispute over royalties with his former KISS bandmates. (See Vincent's petition in PDF format at this location.) Justices declined to consider lower court rulings dismissing Vincent's claim that he is owed royalties for his contributions to the band's 1983 album "Lick It Up". Video footage of Vinnie Vincent talking about leaving KISS can be viewed here.
Written and illustrated by Nick Simmons, "Incarnate" — a three-issue series from Radical Comics — centers around the adventures of apparent teenager Mot and his apprentice Connor, both actually members of a group of immortals called Revenants, who share some characteristics with horror genre staples but spin off in some important regards. According to ComicBookResources.com, Simmons has described "Incarnate" as "action-horror" with a bit of humor mixed in — which sounds a bit like the KISS sensibility itself. "Well, Dad definitely influenced my love of comics, he's been a geek since before the dawn of man (and a proud one at that)," Simmons said. "He's exposed me to all the classics and the great 'graphic novels' (although the insecure pretension of that name irks me). But yeah, there will be quite a bit of action and good bloody fun involved."
All tickets available through www.Ticketmaster.com except: ^ Paciolan -- Paciolan.com. # In-house (Bell Centre) -- Bell Centre + Texas Box Office -- Texas Box Office @ Veritix -- Vertix
KissFAQ: Many fans regard your 1978 solo album up as your finest work. How do you think "Anomaly" is similar to KISS Ace Frehley? Ace: I used to listen to that '78 record in my car and really felt I had accomplished something special. I never thought I'd still be hearing "New York Groove" to this day being played at all the New York stadiums and arenas! "Anomaly" gives me that same feeling. So far my record company has done four listening parties around America and they all have had nothing but positive reaction from the fans. I can't wait for everyone to hear this. KissFAQ: You oversaw the creative process for "Anomaly" and are releasing it on your own label, and you've partnered with Rocket Science to help promote it. How does it feel to have such creative freedom with this project? Ace: This is how I'm going to do records from now on. Again, it must be the fact that I'm sober now and more aware of what is going on in terms of production than I have been in the past. This is my baby...I didn't want to turn it over to somebody!! KissFAQ: Did you produce the album? And how important were Marti Frederiksen and Anthony Focx to this project? Ace: I produced the whole record, except the track "Fox On The Run", which Marti produced. I've never seen anyone work with ProTools faster than Marti Frederiksen. The guy's amazing, we had the basic track for "Fox On The Run" finished in four and a half hours! Both he and Anthony really took "Anomaly" to another level. KissFAQ: Where was "Anomaly" recorded and how many songs did you record compared to what ended up on the album? Ace: Most of the basic tracks were recorded in my home studio up in Westchester, N.Y. I think I might've had four leftover songs that may see the light of day on a follow-up record, including one or two cover songs. But I don't want to give anything away yet. KissFAQ: You've said that "Anomaly" was mostly recorded digitally and that you used ProTools. As someone who has used the analog medium primarily in the past, what was your digital "experience" like? Ace: I gotta say my ProTools experience was great. Once you get the hang of it, it's a piece of cake. It's so much faster to edit now on ProTools than it was in the old days. The new digital technology definitely helped in the structure of the songs. "Genghis Khan" and "A Little Below The Angels" — who knows? I might still be working on those songs if I was using tape (laughs)!! KissFAQ: When can we expect a tour to start and how long do you plan to be on the road? And what about a live Ace Frehley DVD? Ace: My agents are booking shows as we speak. I personally want to hit as many cities and countries as possible. I'm sure we'll be filming a lot of those shows, so who knows about an official DVD? KissFAQ: Gene Simmons and Paul Stanley had some interesting choices of words when talking about the reunion on "Kissology", with Gene even describing it as "torture." What do you think about these comments and, with it being 13 years in the rearview, how do you look at the reunion now? Ace: I have no regrets about the reunion tour. It was the right time and place. I guess it's like when a marriage breaks up, there's always gonna be some trash-talking. But in the end, the four of us will always be linked as KISS. Read the entire interview from KissFAQ.
Rock N Roll Experience: Have you heard the new KISS single, "Modern Day Delilah" (audio stream available below)? Ace Frehley: Actually, I did. I thought it was a good song. Paul's [Stanley, guitar, vocals] always been a really good writer and the only thing that I would say that the song didn't live up to was the fact that I believe they said that all the new songs were going to sound like stuff from the '70s, and I didn't get that. The new song sounded like it could be something off an album they did in the '80s. That's what I got, but I thought it was a good song. Rock N Roll Experience: What do you think of KISS selling their new CD exclusively through Wal-Mart? Ace Frehley: It seems that more and more groups are going with major chains, and I mean, I guess there's a plus to the fact that they'll give you a large advance, but the minus is the album is only available in that chain of stores. I guess there's pluses and minuses to everything. I mean, I entertained that idea, but, for me, I thought it was better that my album be available everywhere. Rock N Roll Experience: The horrible thing is though, there's not many record shops left these days outside of the major chains. Ace Frehley: Yeah, well, I guess the Internet has something to do with that (laughs); it's just the way of the future. I mean, I started off with albums, I saw cassettes come into play, from cassettes it went to CDs and now I see CDs disappearing. Rock N Roll Experience: Out of all the KISS merchandise from over the years, what was your favorite KISS merch? Ace Frehley: I guess the dolls were probably the silliest (laughs) and most favorite, I guess. I mean, most of that stuff was kinda silly, and after I left the group, it got even sillier, so... Rock N Roll Experience: How would you like people to remember Ace Frehley? Ace Frehley: I believe I have, from my peers, which makes me feel good, I've never compromised my music. I just wanna be remembered as somebody who had some integrity, a good singer and songwriter and performer and someone who really didn't have any bad things to say about anybody, ya know, I just wanted to get along with everybody, and try to give some people pleasure. Read the entire interview from Rock N Roll Experience.
*** August 21 - Viper Room in the Dirty Lounge - W. Hollywood, CA *** September 11 - Don Hill's - New York City, NY *** September 12 - Lupo's - Providence, RI "Kiss: Carnival of Souls" is the brainchild between Simmons and fellow KISS bandmate Paul Stanley, and is based on a song of the same title that Simmons wrote. Describing it as a "visual, aural extravaganza and a cross between Cirque De Soleil, a live KISS concert, combined with special effects," Simmons said the show will be based in Las Vegas, with plans to tour around the world. While it is a KISS-inspired show, the band will not be appearing in it. "What KISS, the band, usually does is put on big rock extravaganzas. But 'Kiss: Carnival of Souls' is actually going to have a storyline - although not a lot of talking. "You are going to be seeing a basic story premise that takes place in four chapters. It will be presented visually and it involves a journey through the imagination, that’s visually way over the top," explained Simmons when asked if the production was going to differ from what KISS usually does. The entire interview is available in text and video format at ChannelNewsAsia.com.
Russian Roulette: The first of Gene Simmons's vocal contributions and this isn't at all bad. In fact the years have been pretty kind to the 'god of thunder', and his voice has actually developed more than a semblance of melody. It's raw, punchy and lyrically the usual innuendo ridden stuff "this is Russian roulette?one pull of the trigger is all you're gonna get" etc, which we've heard often before but here's it's done with a freshness of attitude that's been absent for a long, long time. Never Enough: Classic Kiss and this could easily fit into their live set without being noticed as a brand new track. Paul Stanley seems to have done some kind of 'Benjamin Button' reverse ageing thing with his vocals because he sounds every bit as energetic as he did back in their 70's heyday. Tommy Thayer too has slotted in nicely as an Ace Frehley replacement but without all the 'space' and its associated discordant rambling solos. This is obvious single material, if such things exist anymore, and is Kiss at their best. They've remarkably managed to summon the best attributes of their past without sounding dated, while at the same time making it all sound relevant to now?brilliant. Yes I know (Nobody's Perfect): Simmons's rumbling bass drives this fairly standard Kiss number along in a way that it hasn't for years (apparently he was really motivated in the studio) Not just that, he sings too, and tunefully does it. Chunky and not overly overdriven guitar combined with that satisfying emphasis on bass give this a solid feel with some more good-time, tail chasing lyrics, as you'd expect... Stand: This one will completely divide opinions. Initially a straight-ahead rocker in the vein of the classic 'Strutter' which at no time threatens to dissolve into a 'Crazy Nights' or 'God gave Rock 'n' Roll To You' type anthem; until it does exactly that with the chorus, which no other band on the planet would get away with. Not content with that, it even dives into a multi-vocal layered mid section before returning to the huge stadium rock chorus which you could imagine appearing in some teen movie. Though it works, it's probably the closest relative to some of their late 80s and early 90s howlers. Hot And Cold: Cowbell-accented drums and more classroom innuendo punctuate this chunk of typical Kiss fodder (think 'Calling Dr Love'). It all sounds very live and not in any way over-produced (seemingly no Pro-Tools were used anywhere on the record). "Baby feel my tower of power" should give you some idea of what Gene's referring to and the song's easily good enough to forgive him such childishly dated folly. All For The Glory: Drummer Eric Singer, who has assuredly hammered out rock-solid backing thus far, lends a hand on vocal duties with fabulous result. This is absolutely solid gold stuff reminiscent of Destroyer era Kiss, but with the nastier edge of later incarnations like Creatures of the Night. Tommy's solo is absolutely killer too - what talent he's brought to the band. Danger Us: Starting with a quietly picked guitar intro before fading satisfyingly (why do bands not fade-in much these days?) Aerosmith like riff and Stanley's most effective vocal outing on the record. You get the impression that they're all really enjoying this stuff and again Simmons's sonorous bass rumble is very much in evidence, aidded by Stanley's own intentionally Spartan studio production. I'm An Animal: A huge, lumbering riff of Zeppelin-esque ('Dazed and Confused' springs to mind) proportions and another Simmons vocal characterise this beast of a track bristling with stalker menace. Similar in nature to let's say 'War Machine' off Creatures of the Night it stomps emphatically all over some of the tedious filler of recent albums. "I'm an animal, and I'm free" Gene divulges, and who the hell are we to argue. This is fast becoming Simmons's showpiece and surely his richest vein of contribution in their history. When Lightning Strikes: 'Musical singers' continues with guitarist Tommy Thayer wrestling control of the mic this time around. He in no way disappoints, dialling in a pretty effective vocal effort that many more established singers would die for. More cowbells and a riff that's been done before give way to a straight-forward bridge/chorus. Say Yeah: When we expect filler we get utter killer, and if you're not singing this in the car or the bath you've no business whatsoever reading this review. Again, Stanley's vocals are a revelation ? wielding an insanely addictive hook reminiscent of 'Tears are Falling' from the Asylum era but much, much better. Thayer's solo is brilliant too and resembles a lot of the stuff Bruce Kulick (surely their most underrated axe-man) came up with; fitting the song brilliantly and carrying no excess fret flab whatsoever. The Kiss of 2009 have left the building, and what a way to sign off...
I did have to redo all the art for the CD/DVD package, which has a slightly more horizontal proportion. That meant shifting and manipulating the proportions of many of the elements. Because the angle of the beams had changed in the new configuration, the most complicated part of this was redoing all the faces. It's a little difficult to tell what went into the face art, transforming them from normal color photographs, so check out the enlarged detail to the left. At first glance, it might look as though I accomplished this using some version of Photoshop's posterize filter?but I didn't. The photos needed to be manipulated quite extensively to gain the look I was trying to achieve. I used a similar process when I did the graphics for the Jewish Zodiac pieces. I'm hoping this art will elicit strong reactions from KISS fans and art enthusiasts alike. My intention was to stir nostalgia for the era of Rock and Roll Over, while inviting the same enthusiasm for new adventure that the Sonic Boom albums and DVD intend to do. The avid KISS fan will note that the KISS logo on Sonic Boom is not the "official" logo. As I did with RaRO, I redrew the KISS logo after discussing the idea with Paul Stanley. He knew that I had redrawn it for RaRO, and liked the result. In fact, he told me that I'm the only designer who he would ever allow to do that! Below I've posted an image with the official KISS logo (upper left) and just to it's right, my redrawn version. Below that are (on the left) the logo from Sonic Boom, and the one from RaRO. Tinkering with the KISS logo, ever so slightly, was an important step towards seamlessly blending the iconic logo with the (hopefully) iconic cover design. I'm very happy with end result, which you see on the cover of Sonic Boom. It truly has been a pleasure to return to my roots, in essence, by rejoining the creative process with KISS. As it was the first time, this experience was one to remember! I can't wait for the next adventure...
The collection will go on sale Oct. 6 exclusively at Walmart and Sam's Club stores in the U.S. and Canada, said Tom Welch, senior music buyer at Walmart, in an interview Aug. 13. The set includes "Sonic Boom," an 11-track compact disc with new material; a greatest-hits album with titles such as "Rock and Roll All Nite" and "I Was Made for Loving You;" and a DVD of a live concert in Buenos Aires. Exclusive deals with retailers typically give artists more money than a traditional record contract, while helping chains such as Walmart and Target Corp. get more customers to the stores. Kiss joins the Eagles, Guns N' Roses, AC/DC and Pearl Jam in striking deals with retailers to distribute music. "This is the world we live now where the artists get a much bigger percentage of sales," said Steve Gordon, a music industry attorney in New York. Kiss, which started in the early 1970s as a New York-based rock band called Wicked Lester, is still led by its co-founders Gene Simmons and Paul Stanley. Over 32 years, Kiss has recorded 36 albums and sold more than 75 million copies. The band drew attention for its costumes and face paint, smoking guitars and fireworks on stage. Its site sells items such as Kiss baby jumpers, wine, 11-inch rubber footballs, necklaces, shoes and mugs. In May, Kiss performed on News Corp.'s Fox television show American Idol, the most-watched primetime program in the U.S. The Kiss Brand "I've been impressed with the way the Kiss brand has been able to reinvent itself over the years," said Greg Hall, 38, Walmart's vice president of media and services. "I'd say the Walmart mom loves Kiss and looks fondly back on that as one of the first concerts she went to." Walmart plans to sell Kiss merchandise other than the new CD/DVD set, Hall said. The specifics of those products are still being worked out, he said. "As we talked to other merchants within Walmart, they're just as excited about this as the music team is whether it be toys or apparel or candy," said the music buyer Welch, 34. "They're saying this brand resonates with Walmart customers."
The band announced today that the 11-song Sonic Boom will be released October 6th in the U.S. and Canada exclusively in Walmart stores. The album will be part of a three-disc set that includes a CD of re-recorded greatest hits and a live DVD from a recent tour stop in Buenos Aires. "The world's biggest retailer," Simmons boasts in a statement, "had better get ready for the hottest band in the world and hire more cashiers." The band will celebrate the new LP at a September 25th gig at Detroit's Cobo Arena. Back at the studio, Simmons and lifetime musical partner Paul Stanley radiate supreme confidence as they reveal the new songs, which reflect the same charged in-your-face sensibility, if not the actual sound, of their classic '70s work. The album was produced by Stanley and is the first to feature the current lineup of guitarist Tommy Thayer and drummer Eric Singer (who replaced founding members Ace Frehley and Peter Criss early this decade). Kiss have remained active as a hugely successful touring act around the world, but the new album is a surprise from a band that hasn't released a studio album since the disappointing Psycho Circus in 1998. "We tried to do a Kiss album, and it was an ill-fated attempt because there was no real band," says Stanley, relaxing behind the control board at Conway, his shirt opened to a chest of medallions and chains. "For a band to make a great album, it has to share a common purpose, and we didn't have it." In the years since, the lucrative Kiss licensing juggernaut rolled on, both Simmons and Stanley released solo albums, and the Simmons family became reality TV stars. And Kiss played the old hits to massive audiences around the planet. "Things happen when they're ready," says Stanley. "We couldn't have made this album without Eric and Tommy. I've known Eric now for 20 years. He's been in and out of the band, and the best times are when he's in." The Kiss Merchandising Machine: Check out Kollectibles from M&M's to Mr. Potato Heads. Kiss started jamming and collecting song ideas in December, and by the spring began recording as a band live in the studio to analog tape. "Modern Day Delilah" is classic hard rock with thundering guitars and a wailing Stanley vocal. There's a '70s guitar grind to "Yes I Know (Nobody's Perfect)," and thundering pop hooks within "Russian Roulette," as Simmons sings, "You got me where you want me... take a bite," before unleashing a ripping Thayer solo. "The great thing about these tunes is that we can reproduce them live. Just four guys," says Simmons, standing in black leather and cowboy boots with silver tips. "We don't have to prove anything to anybody. All the nay-sayers who didn't understand it, we walk on their graves in our 8-inch platform heels. If you want to say rebirth or born again, you're goddamn right. There's a sense of pride here. When you get up onstage with these guys, you look over and you go, 'Wow, I'm in Kiss.' "
Classic Rock's Geoff Barton was invited to an exclusive preview of the new Kiss album this past Friday (August 14), in the convivial company of Doc McGhee, the band's manager. "Kiss promised to deliver a back-to-their-roots album and that's exactly what we've got," Barton reports. "Recorded in the old-fashioned, analogue way, it sounds spectacularly good - no ProTools nonsense in evidence here. "The interesting thing is, it's not simply a homage to the band's first few albums. There are even nods to records such as [1982's] Creatures Of The Night, which had Vinnie Vincent, Bob Kulick and others guesting on guitar. "Kiss seem to have cleverly combined the best of all their eras into a single winning package." McGhee confirmed that Sonic Boom will be available exclusively through Wal-Mart, Walmart.com and Sam's Club stores in the US and Canada, as part of a package including a completely re-recorded greatest hits CD (previously available in Japan) plus a live DVD shot in Argentina during the Kiss Alive 35 South American tour. Sonic Boom will be released in Europe on a soon-to-be-announced record label - Classic Rock knows the name of the label, but is sworn to secrecy. Suffice to say, its identity might surprise you! The CD set will retail for just $12 on the other side of the pond. "I actually wanted to make Sonic Boom available as a download for a dollar, but I was overruled," McGhee chuckled. "I still think it's a great idea. Millions of people would've downloaded it, I guarantee. At just a dollar a throw, it would've been the bargain of the century." McGhee is delighted that Kiss decided to play to their strengths on Sonic Boom. "It's exactly want people want: the classic Kiss sound played by the band looking like they've always done: Starchild, Demon, Spaceman and Kitty Kat. "Kiss are like James Bond or Mickey Mouse. They're not simply a band, they're a remarkable brand. They're timeless; they're part of the fabric of rock'n'roll and they'll likely go on forever. "When I took over management of Kiss in the mid-1990s, that was my major plan: to get the band back to basics. They needed to recognise - and capitalise on - their core strengths. "I mean," McGhee laughed, "when Kiss had a squirrel in their line-up - what was the hell was that all about?" McGhee also revealed that Kiss will celebrate the release of Sonic Bloom with a special concert on September 25 at Cobo Arena in Detroit. The full tracklisting of Sonic Boom is: 1. Modern Day Delilah Here's our quickfire reaction to the six songs we heard: Modern Day Delilah: Based around a lumbering, War Machine-style rhythm, Paul Stanley's high-pitched vocals sound top-notch and timeless, almost like they've been sampled from Kiss Alive! There's a further ear-popping blast from the past when Mr Eisen howls (in his inimitable style): 'Listen!' (Or, more accurately: 'LISSEN!') Meanwhile, Tommy Thayer's guitar work is straight out of the Ace Frehley riff book - page 37, paragraph five, to be precise. At a concise 3:35 in length, this is a perfect slam-bang beginning to the new album. Russian Roulette: Gene Simmons takes the vocals on this one; it's an archetypal lumbering, loping, pummelling offering, made all the better by the addition of a signature 'ah-ah-ah-ah' chant-line. Simmons's vocals sound a little bit more refined than you might expect (we prefer it when he's gruff and grumbling) but that's a minor gripe. The lyrics are simplistic but effective: 'This is Russian Roulette... one pull of the trigger is all you're gonna get... you feel the hunger and it's much too much... go on take a bite.' To a fan of classic Kiss, that's sheer poetry. Never Enough: You're know you're on to a winner immediately as this one begins with a time-honoured Stanley shout of... wait for it... 'Woah-yeah!' This is a much jauntier offering than the preceding two tracks, recalling the more commercial, 1980s side of Kiss. The song has a real reach-for-the-sky spirit, full of uplifting phrases such as 'rules just for breaking', 'life for the taking' and (you guessed it) 'love 'til I'm shaking'. Yes I Know (Nobody's Perfect): Another three minutes of perfection - and if you're worried about the brevity of some of the tracks, don't. Remember, the key to a great Kiss song - whether it's Strutter, Shock Me or Shout It Out Loud - is 'don't outstay your welcome'. This is a light-hearted, hyper-commercial ram-raid of a tune with Simmons at the mic-stand again, offering a growling 'YEAH' (capital letters, natch) followed by the inevitable invitation: 'C'mon baby, take off your clothes.' There's no word on whether Simmons kept his T-shirt on during the 'session', however. Stand: Our favourite so far; a proper, dyed-in-the-wool anthem recalling the crowd-rousing grandeur of God Gave Rock'N'Roll To You. Stanley delivers the words 'Stand by my side, I'll be next to you/Stand by my side, we'll make it through/Stand by my side, we'll get by, you and I' with consummate Starchild passion. This one just grows and grows... and then offers a neat false ending with some soft, CSN&Y-style harmonies (yes, really) before picking up the pace once more. I'm An Animal: Full of giant, stalking menace, this is based around a dense, Zeppelinesque riff. Thayer plays a marvellous slick-but-stumbling Frehley solo, and you can rest assured the lyrics - 'I'm an animal and I'm free... I'm an animal in the street' - don't refer to an old lady with her poodle off the leash. Late in the song, the band issue the urge: 'Stand up, raise your fists.' Little do they know, we've been doing that since track one... ?
Part One was released today and the rest will follow consecutively each day this week. "And Party Every Day: The Inside Story Of Casablanca Records", a 300-plus-page hardcover biography, will be released this fall through Backbeat/Hal Leonard Books. This is the first time a full-length book has been published on the legendary 1970s record label and its enigmatic founder Neil Bogart. Casablanca was home to iconic hard rock acts KISS and ANGEL, as well as several of the decade's most visual and influential artists like PARLIAMENT, THE VILLAGE PEOPLE and DONNA SUMMER. "And Party Every Day" was written by Larry Harris, former Casablanca Vice President, who co-owned and co-founded the infamous record label with Bogart. Harris shares credit with co-authors Curt Gooch and Jeff Suhs, whose critically-acclaimed 2002 publication "Kiss Alive Forever" is widely regarded as the most authoritative book ever written on the band. With Harris's unique perspective, the world will finally gain a first-hand glimpse inside Casablanca, the record label which discovered KISS and was the living embodiment of the 1970s and the hedonistic, sex- and drug-filled Bacchanal that defined the Me Decade. The story of Casablanca Records is a thrilling three-act drama that perfectly captures the American Dream. On nothing more than a whim and the momentum of Neil Bogart's unstoppable enthusiasm, Casablanca launched in 1973. A mere five years later, Casablanca was the hottest record label in the world. In the pages of "And Party Every Day", you'll walk the halls of Casablanca's Sunset Boulevard casbah, past mounds of cocaine and empty Quaalude bottles, and watch from the front row as Casablanca carefully orchestrated the record industry to its designs, successes, and ultimate demise. In keeping with the Casablanca philosophy of "always give the fans something more," "And Party Every Day" will contain over 30 never-before-seen images and a heavily annotated Casablanca discography/videography section. The book will also become one of the very first publications to be promoted online featuring unreleased vintage film and video clips. The owners of the Casablanca label, Universal Music Group, have even made available the classic Casablanca logo and artwork for the cover via a first-of-its-kind licensing deal. Several additional co-promotes with prospective major media vendors are being considered. Official "And Party Every Day" Twitter and web pages will be launched in the coming weeks, along with a YouTube channel.
Regarding how the new artwork came together, Doret writes on his blog, "When Paul Stanley [KISS guitarist/vocalist] came by my studio to discuss how to proceed on the art for the cover of their upcoming CD/DVD package, 'Sonic Boom', I had no idea what to expect. I hadn't met with him since working on 'Rock And Roll Over', and had very little memory of what that had been like. "Any anxiety I had melted away when we started talking. Paul is a 'gentlemen's gentleman' and I immediately felt at ease talking with him — as if all those years had not intervened since the last time we had spoken. "After some small talk, he explained what he was after with the new cover art. His vision for this album was to make it as vital and raw as it had been when they did 'Rock And Roll Over'. He felt that that had been some of the best work that they had ever done, and wanted the new album to recreate that energy both musically and visually. While he didn't want me to reprise what I had done with my art for the earlier cover, he did want me to try to capture some of the same spirit, attitude, energy, and look that I had instilled in that piece. Also, one of his stipulations was that unlike 'Rock And Roll Over' (where I had created abstract, graphic versions of the KISS personas), this time he wanted photographic representations of the four group members in full makeup. "When I did 'Rock And Roll Over', I had a 12" canvas to work on. Now with CD covers and digital booklets, that canvas had been reduced to less than 40% of its original size. Designing in a 4¾" space poses some very different problems from what I faced while working on covers for vinyl releases. In fact, the older cover design would not have worked at that size; its many elements would have felt crowded into a small space. So the elements of 'Sonic Boom' had to be bigger, bolder — and fewer. I made the decision to make the title the main focus of the graphics, moving the other elements (faces, KISS logo) into prominent — but subordinate—roles. "So I set about putting pencil to paper and trying to solve this the way I solve any other design problem. I did not want to get psyched-out by thinking too much about how the new design would compare with 'Rock And Roll Over'. That cover had taken on a life of its own and had become a pop culture icon. Creating an iconic cover could not have been one of my goals. All I was capable of doing was to try to create the most compelling graphics possible within the parameters and limitations that had been set out for me. So I started out at the core of this design by creating what I call a 'word constellation' out of the title. I tried to make it communicate its meaning visually by not only making it angular and 'explosive,' but also by creating a shape that was somewhat suggestive of flight — a 'flying wing,' if you will. Bearing in mind the symmetrical, mandala-like layout of 'Rock And Roll Over', I started designing the new piece as a field growing out of the center of the square, with the four members faces moving outwards from the center, and capped with my version of the ubiquitous KISS logo. "It took about a week for me to develop my sketch to the point where I felt confident in what I had come up with. As I had done with 'Rock And Roll Over', I felt so strongly about this cover design that I decided to not present any other options — I wanted this to be the ONE. "This is the rough pencil [see here] I first presented to Paul. I held my breath as he first took it in, and then was able to exhale when I saw a big smile appear on his face."
1. MODERN DAY DELILAH Produced by PAUL STANLEY Co-produced by Greg Collins The US & Canadian release of SONIC BOOM is a three-disc set that also features KISS KLASSICS, a 15-track completely re-recorded greatest hits CD, as well as a live DVD shot in Buenos Aires, Argentina during the band's 2009 South American tour. The discs are packaged in a DigiPak along with a 20-page booklet. SONIC BOOM will be available exclusively at Walmart, Walmart.com and Sam's Club retail locations beginning October 6. KISS KLASSICS CD Track Listing: 1. DEUCE 2. DETROIT ROCK CITY 3. SHOUT IT OUT LOUD 4. HOTTER THAN HELL 5. CALLING DR. LOVE 6. LOVE GUN 7. I WAS MADE FOR LOVIN' YOU 8. HEAVEN'S ON FIRE 9. LICK IT UP 10. I LOVE IT LOUD 11. FOREVER 12. CHRISTINE SIXTEEN 13. DO YOU LOVE ME 14. BLACK DIAMOND 15. ROCK AND ROLL ALL NITE KISS Bonus Live DVD Track Listing: 1. DEUCE 2. HOTTER THAN HELL 3. C'MON AND LOVE ME 4. WATCHIN' YOU 5. 100,000 YEARS 6. ROCK & ROLL ALL NITE
KISS' Gene Simmons says, "SONIC BOOM may be the best new record we've done since Destroyer! It is Rock And Roll Over meets Love Gun. The world's biggest retailer had better get ready for the hottest band in the world and hire more cashiers before October 6th!" Stanley continues, "Through all of the albums that are considered our classics, we tried to always find ways to give our fans extras that went beyond just the music. Besides our making the best KISS album in decades, Walmart has made it possible for us to include a bonus CD with 15 of our most famous songs and an additional live DVD, shot during our recent concert in Buenos Aires. So in every sense, SONIC BOOM is the ultimate return to classic KISS form. You wanted the best, you got the best!" Walmart, one of America's largest music retailers, is finalizing its exciting plans now for its in-store and online destinations for KISS fans surrounding the launch of the new album and tour, and will host various KISS products in addition to their music in its stores this fall. More details on Walmart KISS activity, announcements regarding album pre-sales, sweepstakes and KISS appearances will be shared shortly.
KISS returns with their brand new stage to where it all started, playing the album that started it all...KISS Alive! KISS will perform a special KISS ALIVE 35 show at Detroit Rock City's legendary concert venue, Cobo Arena, on September 25! This historic structure, which is slated for closure, has hosted KISS concerts on numerous occasions, not the least of which was the series of shows that were recorded to become the KISS ALIVE! album. Tracks made famous on KISS ALIVE! - including "Rock and Roll All Nite," "Deuce," "Black Diamond," and "Hotter Than Hell" - are well represented on the greatest hits disc included with SONIC BOOM. The Detroit show, which will live another 35 years in KISStory, goes on sale to the public at 5 pm EDT on August 21 at TICKETMASTER. A KISS ARMY Members-Only ticket presale will take place Wednesday from 10AM - 10PM EDT. KISS ARMY Members will have access to MEMBERS-Only tickets..these are among the best available seats in Cobo Arena. Meet & Greet upgrade packages will also be available. If your membership to the KISS ARMY has expired or you would like to become a premium member of the KISS ARMY to participate in the presale: CLICK HERE NOW.
PRE-ORDER SONIC BOOM ALBUM COVER TEE HERE PRE-ORDER SONIC BOOM LIVE SHOT TEE HERE PRE-ORDER SONIC BOOM ALBUM COVER BABYDOLL HERE.
The veteran heavy metal group, Kiss, is joining a growing list of classic acts putting out new music through the world's largest retailer. "Sonic Boom" is due to be released only at Wal-Mart and Sam's Club stores on Oct. 6. The three-disc package will include a CD of the band's first new music in 11 years, re-recorded versions of famous Kiss hits and a live DVD. Paul Stanley — one of the quartet's two original members, along with Gene Simmons — said the band chose to release the album at Wal-Mart because the store allowed them to make it memorable. "They offered us an opportunity to do something that's very much in line with what we used to do with our classic albums, and that's to give people more than just an album of music," Stanley said in an interview last week. "We've always believed in trying to make an album a special event." Large store chains have become a favorite venue for classic acts to reintroduce themselves with new material. Wal-Mart has sold millions with releases by the Eagles, AC/DC and other key acts. It also has a Foreigner three-disc package due out in September. Target released a three-disc set from Prince earlier this year. Best Buy had the exclusive release of Guns 'N Roses first album in years. Wal-Mart executives said Kiss, like other music acts they've worked with, has a special appeal to their customers. "We see Kiss as an iconic band ... that resonates with the Wal-Mart customer not just with their music but in a lot of different areas," said Tom Welch, Wal-Mart's music buyer. "Sonic Boom," which also features Kiss members Tommy Thayer and Eric Singer, was produced entirely by Stanley. The guitarist said he made that a condition before he would agree to do the album. "The recent past, or the last decade or two, has not produced the kind of albums that I would have hoped, and that's due to a lot of factors — lack of input or lack of focus by all the band members," he said. "(There's been a) lack of a lineup where people were working toward the goal of making a great Kiss album as opposed to trying to showcase themselves." But he called the new album "bar none our best album in 30 years, if not our best album period." "Everybody worked their tails off to contribute 100 percent of their effort and their ability to make this the great Kiss that not only do the fans deserve, but we deserve," Stanley said. The band is giving a special concert in Detroit on Sept. 25 to celebrate the album. When asked if Kiss was doing anything differently to appeal to a new audience, Stanley said: "We've never geared ourselves towards anybody. When we're at our best is when we gear ourselves toward us. "Classic Kiss isn't about an album this year or 10 albums ago. It's about a state of mind ... We are about entertainment with a capital 'E,' and we don't apologize for it."
Paul Stanley is the Starchild, the lust-oozing singer and guitarist of one of the biggest bands in the history of rock and roll. Onstage he’s a commanding presence, somewhat of a rock and roll preacher - if you will; a crooner, a lover, and a circus leader. And those jumps he makes in six-inch, knee-high boots are poetry in motion. Paul Stanley is ‘the one with the star painted on his face,’ but the canvas Stanley works with goes far beyond the realm of greasepaint and lipstick. Although coming to know Paul Stanley as an artist may seem to some as if it’s a new development in the man’s life but it’s far from it. Having majored in art, Stanley graduated from the acclaimed Fiorello H. LaGuardia High School of Music & Art and Performing Arts in New York City – the school that the movie and television show Fame were based on. As if Stanley doesn’t already have a lot on his plate with the recording of a new KISS album, touring with the band, and having an infant and toddler at home, he is also bringing his artwork back to the Chicago area for an exhibit of his work. Stanley is scheduled to appear at his exhibits on September 11 and 12 at Wentworth Galleries in Schaumberg at the Woodfield Shopping Center. Somehow, despite Stanley’s chaotic schedule, whilst wielding a guitar in one hand and a paintbrush in the other, the superhero himself had time to answer a few questions on art, rock and roll, and what he’s learned about life. “The great thing about doing art shows is you get to meet the people who are interested in your art, and I think that when you’re purchasing a piece of art it’s a tremendous bonus to get to meet the artist because you get a chance to pick their brain a bit and find out first hand what the piece is about for the artist,” explains Stanley, “But on the other hand, I think that ultimately – as I say to most of the people who are acquiring art – I can tell you my reality of a piece but ultimately what’s more important will be yours. I can tell you what a piece means to me but just as valid if not more is what it means to you.” And the same can be said of any of the arts – even any given song written by Stanley could have meant one thing to him as the composer and something completely different to the listener. “And both are completely valid; I think that’s what creating art is about. I think that as the person creating it from inception doesn’t necessarily mean that we have a monopoly on what that piece means – we can only tell you what it means to us.” With Stanley’s role in simply one of the biggest rock and roll bands in the world, he has indirectly acted as somewhat of a gateway to expose some people to art who might not have known much about it in the past other than maybe what their local art museum has to offer. “Many people have not availed themselves the possibility of going to either an art museum or gallery, or for that matter the theater, because it has been made into an elite club by a certain snob set of perhaps the critics who actually cut their own throats by doing it, by intimidating people into believing that an opinion is only valid if it’s educated – you cut off the masses from appreciating and supporting the arts. It’s absurd. Any opinion is valid because it comes from an individual, it doesn’t need an education. Plus, the opinion of the person next to you had no relevance to whether or not a piece, or a theatrical piece, emotes emotion from you. So the whole notion that only an educated opinion is valid is absurd. If somebody is a vegetarian and the person next to them loves steak, they’re opinion has no relevance. So perhaps by opening the door in a way to people who might not usually come to a gallery, in addition to quite a few people who obviously are collecting original pieces and quite expensive pieces, but by opening the door to the others I think that not only do they get a chance to see what art can do for them, they also get a chance to realize perhaps that they can create art.” Stanley continues: “I have to say that there are people who come to the galleries who have never, ever been to a KISS concert, and there are also people coming to the galleries who have never been to a gallery. So it’s a great cross section and I’m a big believer in knocking down any doors that keep people out. I’m not a fan of clubs of elitism or exclusivity.” Mindy Tiberi, the director of Wentworth Galleries in Schaumberg, had commented on the appeal of one of Stanley’s previous exhibits in the Chicago area: "Paul Stanley has a very strong fan base. His fans may start out wanting a piece of his art just because they are KISS fans but they quickly realize that his art offers them a whole other dimension of his creativity and they start collecting and are thrilled with the work he produces. We've also had non-KISS fans who have no idea who Paul Stanley is and they see the work hanging at Wentworth Gallery and love it and buy it." Although Stanley’s pieces have come from his private, emotional side, now that so many more people are standing up and taking notice does he feel any pressure at all to create works to please others? “Never. Never," states Stanley, "The basis of my art is always to be true to myself. I don’t feel any pressure because in my mind anybody who is experiencing or seeing my adventure is on it with me. If someone were to look at two or three pieces perhaps and say that they don’t appear to be done by the same artist, I would say well one common element in all of them is vivid color. But outside of that I’ve been very lucky to have had enormous success very quickly, but in saying that I’m still very much developing in front of people. I don’t want to have a style, because again that would be confining. That would be against everything that I try to do with art and with music. I think you can only run into problems when you try to second guess the public. You can never please everyone anyway, so at least make sure you have one fan – you.” Despite the fact that both Stanley’s music and art work come from that innovative place within him – is there anything that his art gives him that music does not? “Art is, for me, very primal. And it also has less boundaries or rules. I’m sure there are many rules that exist,” Stanley chuckles softly, “But I have no knowledge them, and that’s probably what makes it work for me, makes it enjoyable. I like to say that the only boundaries for me are the edges of the canvas. So opposed to music where there really are formats and rules that have to be followed for a piece to work, you have to have a musical chord foundation with a melody that relates to the chords in terms of the musicality. And then on top of that you have to have a lyric that works within the confines of the structure. So it’s terrific but there are set rules that if you don’t follow it just doesn’t work.” Likewise, is there anything that Stanley attains from music that he does not from art? “Tremendously. There’s a different aspect – singing gives me a chance to find out what I’m capable of in terms of range, in terms of style, but also in terms of octaves. I used to be much more concerned with trying to sing perfectly, at least in rock, and I have found that at this point I’m more concerned with finding the balance between immediacy and being in pitch. That, and again, painting a picture with music – the levels you have to work on, the melodies, the lyrics, it’s a very different process. I think that art is less planned for me. I got involved in art as a way of purging, as a way of using colors and textures in almost a stream of consciousness. So they’re very different but when they work the result is equally satisfying.” So does he enjoy the structure in music as much as he enjoys the lack thereof in art? “Totally. I’d hate to say it’s kind of like doing a crossword puzzle – you really have to fill in all the boxes with the right words or the total picture is not right.” With being consumed by the process of writing and recording a new album, is it difficult to change gears and have the time for painting? “No, because everything that I do is a reflection of who I am. So anything I put myself to the other things in my life are part of the soup. They’re part of what makes it what it is and makes me what I am. So my two little kids can only make my painting better, my music better, my performing better. It’s all interconnected. But yes, I’d have to say that most people would hang themselves with my schedule. I manage to compartmentalize and prioritize and I go from one to the other. I don’t do anything unless I know that I can give it 100 percent. So, that’s always my main concern. Just finishing up producing the new KISS album, having a vision of what we should be doing, and seeing it through from inception to completion, and having my name on nine of 11 songs on the album – and seeing that everybody is as pleased with the album as I am. I think it goes beyond anybody’s expectations within the band and anybody who’s heard it has been blown away. So, mission accomplished.” 2009 has already been a hectic year for the band KISS having already played throughout both South America and Canada – and with a few U.S. shows here and there as well; does Stanley bring his art practice on the road with him? “I don’t want to, I’m in another compartment. I’ve said to people I don’t bring my paint brushes on stage and I don’t bring my guitar in my art studio,” Stanley chortles, “I’d have a lot of people scratching their head at either.” One might say that any musician or artist is a ‘creative’ person but there is so much more to what that means than just the label or textbook definition of the word. Does Paul Stanley define himself as a creative person? “Very much so. I think that creativity is a big part of how anyone defines themselves – you either are or you aren’t. And the more creative you are the more you get to know yourself. I see being creative as a means for getting to know myself, anything I do puts me more in touch with who I am. So I define myself by what I do. It gives you the sense of eternal youth because you’re always discovering something about yourself and you’re always discovering more of what you’re capable of. So every creative outlet that I find gives me an incredible - I guess - a recharge. Doing The Phantom of the Opera was stunning for me. To go to this amazing theater and see my name on the marquee – inarguably the most successful show in history – and having to audition to do the roll, was defining for me. I know for a fact that when I went into Phantom there were a lot of people who very possessive of the show believed that I was going to desecrate their favorite musical. And I got standing ovations at every show from my first to my last, that’s eight shows a week. I remember a letter from one woman saying that when she heard I was in the show she cancelled her tickets and then at the last minute decided to go and said it was the best performance she ever saw. That’s gratifying, but for me it’s not about proving people wrong, it’s more about proving me right. And again, it brought people into the theater who’ve never been there, and maybe after going realized that great theater is better than a lot of film.” So after having been in the music industry for more than three and a half decades, having had an amazing career and visiting pretty much every corner of the Earth, what has that experience taught Stanley that maybe he might not have learned if he’d gone the route of being a doctor or lawyer? “That’s interesting,” Stanley muses. “I don’t know because I wasn’t cut out for that. What I do know is that belief in yourself coupled with a realistic assessment of what you’re capable of will get you anywhere you want to go. So, had I chosen to be a lawyer - if I passed the bar exam – I probably wouldn’t have been a very good lawyer. But I didn’t pursue that because I really think at some point people need to do an accounting and kind of access who they are and what they really want and what they’re capable of. It’s one thing to aspire to something; it’s another thing to be capable of it. If you’re actually capable of something then the only thing standing between you and success is hard work.” To wrap things up with Paul Stanley, has the band decided on a title for the new KISS album yet? “Yes. But I can’t tell you,” Stanley laughs, “But I will tell you it’s a defining moment for us, it’s as good as anything we’ve done and we’re very, very proud of it. And I think people are going to be blown away.” For more information on the September 11 and 12 exhibits of Paul Stanley’s art at Wentworth Galleries please call 800-732-6140.
Veteran rockers Kiss have announced plans to bring a big-budget, Cirque du Soleil-style stage show to Las Vegas with at least a $40 million to $50 million budget, according to those behind the planned production. The show, which will purportedly be titled "Kiss: Carnival of Souls," is being devised by Kiss' Gene Simmons and Paul Stanley, with L.A. comic book publisher Radical Publishing and its Singapore-based sister company Storm Lion also involved in putting it together. Details still are emerging about the show, but according to Barry Levine, co-founder of Radical, it will be an all-encompassing affair. "It involves every aspect of music, movement, lighting, stage design and special effects," Levine says via e-mail from Singapore. "Since Kiss is the epitome of theatrical rock, we need to make sure it represents the Kiss brand. The Kiss brand has endured and sustained itself like no other group for the past 35 years." No official opening date has been set or even a venue named. Levine says that it will debut in "approximately two years and yes, we do have an idea of where we want it to be, but that will only be revealed once certain requirements are met." Promoters who book The Pearl at the Palms, The Joint at the Hard Rock Hotel the Las Vegas Hilton and the 7,000-seat theater at Planet Hollywood all said Wednesday they either were not familiar with the proposed production or that they had not engaged in discussions with the producers. Levine says he first developed a working relationship with Simmons and Stanley as a photographer for Kiss more than 30 years ago. He says that a production like this has been in the works for some time. "There have been talks about Kiss creating a Vegas show for the past 20 years," Levine says, "but the collaboration between Kiss, Radical and Storm Lion seemed to help take it to another level." Levine also says Stanley and Simmons will have a strong hand in the development of the show. "Kiss will be hands-on as they have been from day one and they already have an initial concept," he says. Levine says he has enlisted the help of Michael Gill, who helms the Vegas-based Gill Theatrical Management. Gill's firm oversees daily operations of local titles including "Phantom -- The Las Vegas Spectacular" and he often has served as a go-between for producers seeking to place titles on the Strip. He could not be reached for comment as of press time. If the show does come to fruition, Levine says it will be a mix of the new and the old intended to reach an audience that reflects as much. "I feel that Kiss will be reaching its current demographic from 10- to 60-year-olds," Levine says. "Will it be tailored to a specific hard-rock audience? No, it will be tailored to a Kiss audience with new music along with classics that we all love."
Due on October 6, "Sonic Bloom" features the following track listing: 01. Modern Day Delilah Commented Classic Rock's Geoff Barton: "KISS promised to deliver a back-to-their-roots album and that's exactly what we've got. Recorded in the old-fashioned, analog way, it sounds spectacularly good — no ProTools nonsense in evidence here. "The interesting thing is, it's not simply a homage the band's first few albums. There are even nods to records such as [1982's] 'Creatures Of The Night', which had Vinnie Vincent on guitar. KISS seem to have cleverly combined the best of all their eras into a single winning package." Classic Rock has heard six of the album's tracks and has posted a full report at this location.
"Meat Loaf has been to baseball fantasy camps before," RRFC founder David Fishof tells Billboard.com, "so I wrote a letter to his manager to invite him to ours. He's a fun guy. You have to have a certain kind of personality, and Meat Loaf is that personality. He's a character." The spring RRFC, headlined by Aerosmith singer Steven Tyler, sold out all 85 spots, according to Fishof. A variety of camp packages are available from $7,999 to $12,498. RRFC has also set its spring dates, Feb. 10-15 or 12-15 in Hollywood and March 25-31 at Abbey Road Studios in London, England.
Modern Guitars: Your last solo album was released 20 years ago in 1989. Since then, you've been involved in a number of different projects but have put your solo career on hold for the most part. What inspired you to write and release your new solo CD at this point? Ace Frehley: I've been trying to get this album out for a long time. We actually started cutting some basic tracks back in the beginning of 2007. I had to put the CD on the backburner when we went out on tour last year, and, of course, producing it myself made it take a lot longer because I'm such a perfectionist. It was picking and choosing the right songs. If you don't come out with a studio album for 20 years, you want to make it special for the fans, and I think I've achieved that at this point. It was also getting it mixed right. In fact, I mixed this record with three separate guys. All the mixes were done fine, but the ones that Marti Frederiksen and Anthony Focx did really hit the mark. Modern Guitars: How did you approach the recording process for this album? Some of it was recorded in your home studio and some of it outside. How did the recording process develop as a whole? Ace: Some of the tracks we actually threw together in the studio. Others I'd recorded demos of and rehearsed with the trio, with bass and Anton Fig on drums. I don't have a set way of working on this stuff. People will sometimes ask me how I write a song. Sometimes I come up with a guitar riff, sometimes it's a lyrical idea — there's no set format for how Ace writes songs. A lot of them are different. Modern Guitars: Anton Fig has played with you on a number of albums going back to your self-titled debut album in 1978. What is it about Anton's playing that keeps you coming back to him as your first call drummer? Ace: I think he's just one of the best studio drummers I've ever heard. If you listen to songs like "Genghis Khan" and "Pain In The Neck" on "Anomaly", they have this swing to them. He has this unique way of playing where he never plays right on the beat. He's usually on the back of th
e beat and never on the front of the beat. He's just one of my favorite drummers, and he was available so I took advantage of it. Modern Guitars: When he's playing behind the beat like that, do you try and go with it, trying to connect with his time feel, or do you just do your thing over it and find that works best? Ace: When I track with Anton, it's kind of magical. When I'm thinking in my mind that I want him to do a fill at a certain point where there wasn't one, he'll just do it. He's a lot like John Bonham. You know, Bonham always played behind the beat that gave him that great groove he had. For a lot of drummers, this seems to elude them. If you're playing a little behind the beat, it just gives the song that swing, that groove that's hard to put into words, but I know it when I hear it. Modern Guitars: The album is being released on your own label Bronx Born Records. What led you to start your own record label? Ace: The reason I started my own record label is because a lot of the major labels are having hardships and financial difficulties and aren't giving the advances they used to give several years ago. The whole economics of the business has changed dramatically because of the digital downloads. I just thought it was smarter to hire a good marketing team and a good distributor under my own label. Of course, down the road I'd like to produce some new bands under my label. Modern Guitars: Having been on top of the rock guitar world for many years, how do you see the rock scene today comparing to the scene when you were first coming up? Ace: The first thing that comes to mind is that I haven't heard a lot of new bands that are unique. You have to remember when I was growing up there was JIMI HENDRIX, ERIC CLAPTON, LED ZEPPELIN, THE WHO and I believe that all those bands were innovators and had their own unique sounds that influenced generations of musicians. I don't seem to be getting that at this time. It may be because I'm ignorant or don't listen to that many new bands, but I'm not getting that sense that bands these days are coming out with something that different or that radical. I can remember when Hendrix came out and it was like, "What the hell was that?" I'm not getting that sense anymore. I don't know if you can't take the genre any further than it's gone or people just aren't thinking outside the box. I don't have an answer for that, but that's what I notice. Modern Guitars: After being in one of the most successful and iconic rock bands of all time, KISS, and then also having a solo career, do you find that your fans expect you to do a KISS record when you release a solo album? Have you been able to separate your two distinct musical personas in the minds of the fans? Ace: I think they are always going to overlap to a certain degree. I don't think that the sound I have on my solo records is that different from the sound I had on the early KISS records. A lot of people cite that in their critiques of early KISS records, that maybe I was a big part of the early KISS sound, which was probably true. There are definitely, especially on this new album, some new areas I've gone to with my music. Like the song "It's a Great Life" is the first time I've done a jazz guitar solo. That and my instrumentals, stuff like that, I wouldn't have been able to do as a member of KISS. That's why I had to do my own solo stuff because there were avenues musically that I wanted to explore that KISS wouldn't have allowed me to do. I had some great times with those guys. We made some great music, and it was a lot of fun and I'm glad I got to be a part of that. Read the entire interview from Modern Guitars.
That’s right, KISS legend Paul Stanley is working with Washburn Guitars and Boogie Street to bring you the Paul Stanley PS7000 Preacher Guitar Promotion! EXCLUSIVE to BSG! So - why is this Guitar Promo the market’s finest? Well, how about this. The Beautiful Paul Stanley designed Washburn PS7000 Preacher guitar finished in Honeyburst. A final inspection and set up by one of the industry’s finest guitar tech’s, Fred Kowalo. A Washburn USA hardshell Preacher case. A Washburn Paul Stanley thickly padded ‘gig bag’. A custom metal etched PS7000 truss rod cover. A large Washburn/BSG Paul Stanley vinyl dealer banner. A Boogie Street Guitars T-shirt. Free UPS Ground/Insured shipping anywhere in the cont. 48 states. Oh yeah…how about we throw in a Certificate of Authenticity…hand signed by Paul! And what may be the coolest part of this deal, for every guitar sold in this promotion, BSG is going to donate $25 to the Alaska Shriners in support of their work with children with mobility issues and children suffering from severe burns. All this for 750 US Dollars. Sound too good to be true? It’s not. It’s the REAL DEAL! Now think about it. Heck, shop around. You can’t beat this deal. Period. Epiphone Les Paul? Come on. Paul’s Preacher is sexier and Washburn’s imports are simply better made. Plus - add in the hard case, gig bag, custom truss rod cover, UPS…and Paul’s hand signed certificate… you just can’t touch this deal! Come on! Step up to the Washburn Preacher! Enjoy Paul’s vision for taking the single-cut guitar into the future. Own and play a better guitar and certainly step into the Boogie Street experience! BSG is Washburn’s finest dealer - for a reason! We have the guitars - in stock - ready to go! Let’s make this Promotion a win for everyone and at the same time, let’s help the Shriners of Alaska continue to do what they do so well, help children in need. I can be reached at 412-716-3150 or by email at eric@boogiestreet.com CLICK HERE to visit Boogie Street's Site
For more information and to listen to the program live via the Internet, go to this location.
Through that relationship, Trace found his way this past weekend on to the A&E reality series, "Gene Simmons’ Family Jewels," which is — much like its namesake — predictable in one way: It’s completely unpredictable. It’s part of what’s so appealing about Gene, from Trace’s vantage point. "I love Gene Simmons," Trace told the national radio show GAC Nights: Live From Nashville. "I do! Look, [I’m on] ‘Family Jewels,’ you know. But he won’t allow you to say that — he goes ‘‘Gene Simmons: Family Jewels,’ that just has a better ring. ‘Gene Simmons: Family Jewels.’’ Anyway, so ‘Gene Simmons: Family Jewels’ has exposed him as the softie he truly is. And I’m gonna tell you something about that man: When he speaks of his children, there’s a change that comes over his face. You can physically see it. When he speaks of his children, there is a pride and a love that comes out of the pores of his face. I swear to God, you can see it. He loves, he worships his children, and it’s just a beautiful thing to see. And then he’ll grab a woman and pin her against the wall, as soon as he’s finished talking about his kids!" Trace might have spent the weekend on TV with the founder of Kiss, but he’s spent most of the summer with another iconic figure: Toby Keith, who brought Trace along on the America’s Toughest Tour. The coming week finds them in the West as they play San Diego on Thursday, Phoenix on Friday, San Bernardino on Saturday and the San Francisco Bay Area on Sunday.
The band will combine new material with familiar classics under the direction of Simmons and KISS singer-guitarist Paul Stanley. The production is a collaboration between Singapore entertainment company Storm Lion and American publishing company Radical. Simmons said: "KISS is not just a brand and a band. It's the epitome of theatrical rock." Regarding his war of words with NINE INCH NAILS mainman Trent Reznor, who recently called Simmons an "old man who puts on make-up to entertain kids, like a clown going to work," Gene said, "If you're gonna talk the talk, then you're gonna have to walk the walk. If you're going to open your b**** mouth, do it (properly)." During his interview with AsiaOne.com, Simmons also purposely mispronounced Reznor's name, calling the 44-year-old singer "Trent Reiser." he then added, "I'm kidding. The band [NINE INCH NAILS] is actually terrific."
Letters Lost NEW - episode 2 This was announced on Tuesday by Storm Lion and its Los Angeles conference at The Arts House in Old Parliament Lane. Called Kiss: Carnival Of Souls, the live show is a brainchild of Stanley and Simmons. The latter was in town to meet potential business partners to stage the show in the region. Set against a dark carnival, the show, named after the group's last album embarks on a journey seeking true love. Kiss will also be recording an all-new repertoire for this production. Dressed in jeans and black jacket, Simmons, who is Kiss' singer and bassist, says the upcoming production will be a 'fantastic production of sounds, lights and fantasy'.
The band's setlist was as follows: Photos of Frehley's appearance with CAMP FREDDY can be found at this location.
(DN) I am perfectly aware that such definition is way beyond complete as You are among the best designers around and that your art can be seen everywhere, but...you know, we are so next to the D-Day to see the new KISS album title and cover revealed that... (Michael) I would like more than anything right now to share with you what I did for the new cover. I am very excited about it because I think it is among the very best of my work. But an agreement is an agreement: I gave my word to Paul that I would not reveal anything before the "official" release of information, and I am a man of my word. (DN) Together with the KISS project I saw you are working on The Jewish Zodiac where you created the images from photographs and then integrate them into twelve unique deli label designs. Did you follow the same process with the KISS album cover? (Michael) Actually I did. (How did you know?) In both cases I was provided with existing photography that I needed to incorporate into the finished design. In both cases I felt that the photography was lacking a certain "graphic" quality that it needed to have for me to include it in my finished art. For the "Jewish Zodiac" pieces I developed a process where I reduced a photo to its various graphic components-breaking it down-and then putting it back together, but with a "twist". So I was able to take some fairly low contrast, fairly soft focus photos of Paul, Gene, Tommy and Eric, and transform them through that process I had developed into much more dynamic "colorized" images that I was then able to incorporate into my design. (DN) We all know that this will be a Paul Stanley's creature as he is the only producer of the album; Gene Simmons said the album title came out from a Paul's idea/vision. Did he came to you with a clear indication or title to develop the cover or did you showed him some sketches to be worked out? (Michael) Paul came to me with the title of the album. We talked about the "look" he wanted this cover to have. We talked about how the other cover I had done for them, "Rock and Roll Over", really had become iconic and now represented KISS' music from that early period. He talked about how he'd like the new cover to be suggestive of that look, because they wanted the music in the new album to be more reflective of that time and, of their roots in hard rock. He also stipulated that I needed to use existing photography of the four members instead of creating graphic caricatures (which is what I did in RARO). So that was my challenge: create another iconic cover that would also be reflective in some way of the previous cover. When I did RARO I presented the group with one colored pencil drawing. With only a few minor comments, they approved it. After thinking about what I needed to do for this new cover, I spent a week or so creating sketches, then narrowed it down to one which I presented (very nervously) to Paul. Like the first time around, he immediately loved it. Then it was just a matter of refining the sketch, selecting the photos, working out a color palette, and presenting it all to Paul again. You will soon be able to see the result of this process.
Taylor Swift and her band play a hilarious prank on Keith Urban during their concert last night at the Sprint Center on Saturday (August 8) in Kansas City, Missouri. When Taylor was supposed to come out and sing during Keith's "Kiss a Girl," she and her band rocked out to the song wearing costumes à la rock band KISS. Taylor tweeted about the practical joke, saying, "Pranking is a must. How about rushing his stage during 'Kiss a Girl' dressed like this? It went down." (Watch A Clip)
"This soundtrack took years to put together as we wanted to represent every genre of metal, and also have the perfect music for every epic moment in the game," Tim Schafer, president of Double Fine Productions development studio, tells GameDaily.com. "It's designed to be loved by metal fans, and for those who are not, it will either convert them or make their heads explode ... or both." "What can I say?," Emily Ridgeway, Brütal Legend's music director, adds. "It's metal. It's the best. It'll kick your fucking teeth in." Brütal Legend is a third-person action game rich in combat, imagery and storytelling, delivering lighter-flicking fun sure to melt your face off. Brütal Legend tells the tale of Eddie Riggs, played by Jack Black. The ultimate roadie, Eddie is the first person anyone calls when they need guitars tuned or stages rigged, and has a love for hot rods and a photographic memory for every heavy metal album cover, and the lyrics those albums contained. One night, a stage accident knocks Eddie unconscious, and he awakens in a world that looks very strange yet oddly familiar, a world where every heavy metal album cover and lyric Eddie knows has come to life, and where the evil emperor Doviculus and his demon army, The Tainted Coil, have enslaved the last remaining humans. When an oppressed people request Eddie's knowledge of modern warfare, he pulls from his own experience in the only occupation he's ever had, a roadie for a heavy metal band, and under his command, this barbaric force of hot-rods, Marshall stacks, leather, and chrome will bring this ancient world into the age of metal.
Commented Tobias: "Eric has played on many tracks [for the upcoming AVANTASIA CD], but we have composed some more. Problem was that now he is busy with KISS, they do a new album and they are on tour, and I couldn't talk him into quitting KISS and getting his priorities straight. [Laughs]" He added, "Alex has been a longtime friend and he's a superb drummer, very different style. "Eric is your Cozy Powell kind of thunderous rock drummer, Alex's drum work is more nimble and as the remaining songs were quite fast, Alex is a great choice. Both drummers are awesome musicians and great guys. And both are members of my extended family. "Depending on the amount of coming material there may be a third drummer on the album; who knows? We got a lot of songs and as long as they are great, we will keep producing. People should expect a 10-disc collection in 2017. [Laughs]" Regarding the new AVANTASIA album's musical direction, Sammet recently stated, "We've got quite many songs, and it ranges from epic ballads to metal opera. From pop to hard rock to folk to speed metal. My best friend, who co-wrote the story of 'The Metal Opera' back then, just listened to some of the tracks and he said that it will blow people away and enchant AVANTASIA fans and it will surely piss people off . . . It's just enchanting music. And these days honest and good music is kind of offending to some, that's pretty sick, isn't it? But as long as I get goose bumps hearing majestic music, I do not really care if I am fashionable or not." The latest album from AVANTASIA, "The Scarecrow", was one of the 20 best-selling albums in whole Europe during the fourth week of January 2008, according to a press release. "The Scarecrow" was released on January 25, 2008 as a standard CD as well as rare picture (double) vinyl. "The Scarecrow", which features a long list of guest musicians (including Bob Catley, ex-MASTERPLAN frontman Jorn Lande, ex-HELLOWEEN singer Michael Kiske, Alice Cooper, KISS drummer Eric Singer, SCORPIONS guitarist Rudolf Schenker and GAMMA RAY's Kai Hansen), produced a Top 10 German hit single, "Lost In Space", and entered the national charts in 15 countries, with the CD landing in the Top 10 in four countries.
Chorus And Verse: You've been cited by an endless list of guitar heroes as a primary influence not only in getting people to pick up their first guitars, but also shaping their sounds. Are you comfortable with owning such legendary "guitar god" status and is it something that you feel an obligation to live up to? Frehley: The ironic thing is I've never taken a guitar lesson in my life! (Laughs.) What can I say? I'm blessed to have musicians, some very successful, some just starting out, say that my playing is the reason they picked up a guitar. I recently filmed an instructional DVD where I teach, or attempt to teach (laughs), my KISS songs "Cold Gin" and "Shock Me". It'll be out in stores around the same time as the CD ["Anomaly"]. Chorus And Verse: On September 15th, you're going to be releasing your fifth solo album, "Anomaly". How long have you been working on this material? After four other solo albums and your work with KISS, does it still excite you to release new material and seeing how fans react to it? Frehley: I feel the same way I felt when I was about to release my 1978 solo album. These are strong songs, man. Some songs I arranged a few months ago, some date back to 1994. What's great is, not one particular track sticks out as the obvious favorite. Everyone that's heard the entire record has his or her own favorite song. That's never happened to me before. "New York Groove" was the standout hit in '78. Who knows which song will be "The One" off of "Anomaly"? That's up to the fans. Chorus And Verse: You produced most of "Anomaly" and are releasing the album on your own Bronx Born Records. Did you enjoy the production and technical aspects of doing the album? As someone who is so well-known for your live shows, do you think about how songs will work on stage when you're in the studio, or do you go all-out in the studio and worry about recreating the tracks on stage later? Frehley: I know if I had had an outside producer, I would've finished this record years ago, but it wouldn't sound like it does today. It was hard work assembling the musicians and the song arrangements myself, but in the end I can say this is a true Ace Frehley album. Chorus And Verse: How do you hope fans will react to "Anomaly" and what are your plans to promote the music? Do you expect to tour with the new material and are there any other projects that you'd like fans to watch out for in the months ahead? Frehley: I've teamed up with Rocket Science in Los Angeles and their marketing team is doing a great job getting the word out about "Anomaly". Today, everything is Internet-driven. In the old days, a press release could take up to a week to circulate; now I've done video blogs that can be uploaded and seen around the world in a matter of minutes. It's crazy! I just did a web commercial for "Anomaly" and there's a guy wearing a "Trouble Walkin'" t-shirt who says he's been waiting 20 years for my new album. I think that speaks for a lot of my fans, but I'm sure "Anomaly" will be worth the wait. Read more from Chorus And Verse.
The eight-minute podcast can be downloaded at this location.
"No worries. Trent grew up on KISS and cut his teeth on our toons [sic]. When he was recording Downward Spiral, he had two action figures on his mix console - Jesus and Gene Simmons. Once you're a self-confessed heroin addict, who used the stuff for years, you don't look at life the way that the rest of us do... I'm told. We all wish him well." It's only a matter of time before we see what kind of catty comeback will emerge when Reznor pulls another rebellious rock star move, by talking shit via tweets.
The KISS Army is everywhere! For 35 years and counting, KISS has been one of the world’s top touring bands. Here for the first time is a visual history of KISS through never-before-seen concert photos and unique fanzine tributes and memorablia, starting from this iconic band's very beginnings in the 1970s to today. Featuring new interviews with Gene Simmons and fans from all around the world, it is the ultimate tribute to the world’s ultimate rock 'n' roll band. CLICK HERE to pre-order the new KISS Book.
In addition to airing the interview with Ace, JT will spin some of Frehley's best-known tracks, both from his solo career and his days with KISS, as well as Ace's brand new single, "Outer Space". "Hard Rock Nights" can be heard on a number of radio stations dedicated to rock and metal. Go to this location for a complete list of stations and airtimes.
Sex & Rock N' Roll -NEW 6:30/9:30- August 16 Magnet: Your last solo record, "Trouble Walkin'", came out 20 years ago. Why so long between albums? Frehley: A lot has happened! [Laughs] The main reason was I ended up doing the KISS reunion tour, which led to the "Psycho Circus" record and tour, which led to the KISS "Farewell Tour". Six years later, I needed a break! And the biggest reason was my sobriety. On September 15, the day "Anomaly" comes out, I'll be celebrating three years clean and sober. This new record would have never come out if it wasn't for that. Magnet: The record industry is virtually unrecognizable compared to what it was like in 1989. Is that a major factor in deciding to release "Anomaly" on your own Bronx Born label? Frehley: I wanted complete control of how "Anomaly" was going to be handled and marketed. I've handed my music to labels in the past, and it never turned out the way I envisioned it. "Anomaly" is going to be different. Magnet: Several songs on "Anomaly", specifically "Change The World", "A Little Below The Angles" and "It's A Great Life", show a more contemplative Ace Frehley than we've seen before. How has your songwriting process changed from when you were in your hard-partying 20s? Frehley: You know, writing comes to me real easy these days, but it always has been like that for me. I write about my experiences in life. Go back and listen to "Parasite" or "Shock Me". Some inspirations have been good, some bad, some life-threatening like "Shock Me". [Laughs] Magnet: You've been sober for several years now. Was there a specific incident that inspired you to give up the grape? Frehley: It's the old cliché about "tired of being tired." It was time. I've embraced sobriety, and I don't wanna go back. Life's too good now. Magnet: What was it like playing "Deuce" at that first audition with Gene, Paul and Peter in 1973? Was there a feeling of instant magic? Frehley: I knew there was a chemistry there. I truly believe that when the four of us were at our peak, in those mid-'70s tours, no one could stop us! Magnet: Did you ever curse yourself for coming up with the most difficult of the four makeup designs? Frehley: I never thought of it that way. Peter's makeup in the beginning seemed the toughest; I think he got a makeup artist to do his on the first KISS album cover. We all got used to putting on the makeup on a daily basis. It became second nature. Magnet: Speaking of the makeup, was it strange being in the most famous band in world yet also being able to go pretty much anywhere you wanted without being recognized? Frehley: That was part of the beauty about the makeup. I loved the anonymity of the whole thing. But I got news for ya: I sometimes still got recognized without the makeup back then, so go figure! Magnet: Your fifth album, "Destroyer", is the favorite of many KISS diehards. It's so different sonically and thematically from anything the band did before or since. What do you think made that album so special? Frehley: Simple: (producer) Bob Ezrin. There's a lot of stories about me and him not seeing eye to eye, but I got to give him credit. He's the one who structured that record. The arrangement on "Beth" and the sounds of "Detroit Rock City" and "God Of Thunder", he really made that record a classic. We had a lot of pressure coming off of the sales of "Alive!" and Bob really came through. Magnet: You were initially reluctant to record "New York Groove", a Russ Ballard song that would give you a top-20 single, for your first solo album in 1978. Why was that? And what does it feel like to hear the song played over the P.A. at these huge New York City sporting events? Frehley: Eddie Kramer talked me into recording that song … and he was right! [Laughs] I was the first musician to play on the grounds of the new Yankee Stadium earlier this year. You'd never guess what song I performed! Read the entire interview from Magnet magazine.
"You would've thought the band designed [the KISS Coffeehouse] - that's how good he did it," Singer said during a phone interview in talking about creator and owner Brian Galvin. "Some people understand the KISS mentality and how the band wants to be presented, and this guy was the original one who came up with the concept and had it built. And he did a super job." As for the coffee, the drummer attests that it's tried and true. "I am a big coffee drinker, and I will say that the KISS coffee is very good," Singer said. "I've had it before and I'm looking forward to restocking up on my KISS coffee supply." This is an exciting time for KISS and KISS fans as the band recently finished recording a new album, which will be its first new record of all-new material since 1998. The yet-to-be-titled album will feature 11 tracks and is scheduled to release Oct. 6. "It's been 11 years since a full new KISS album of original material came out," Singer said. "This was totally a band effort. I'm excited because I'm pleasantly surprised that the whole process of making this record really was really easy and enjoyable and fun and the way you hope to make a record. Everyone was very low-pressure and low-key, and we took our time to make sure we got the performances that we wanted. Because we did it really organically. We didn't do it where we put it in a computer - we played in a room as a band, and when you do it that way you have to take your time and be well-rehearsed and take your time." In addition to a new album, fans can anticipate an upcoming U.S. tour, new costume and new stage show. But no matter how busy the band is, Singer is always happy to meet his fans. "The KISS fans are unlike any other fans in the world," he said. "I've played around with bands in my career, and there are no fans like KISS fans."
On Friday, representatives of Hotel-Dieu Grace Hospital presented Kinghorn with a KISS-approved compensation package: four Kiss T-shirts, a hooded Kiss sweater and an official Kiss program autographed by Paul Stanley, Gene Simmons, Tommy Thayer and Eric Singer. "It makes me feel special," said Kinghorn, 13. "Because they don't usually do this for, like, anybody." More than a month ago, Kinghorn had his heart set on seeing Kiss in Sarnia. His father had the tickets, his friends were stoked. But on July 1, while riding his new bike on Drouillard Road, Kinghorn became involved in an accident with an automobile. According to Kinghorn, the vehicle went through a stop sign, ran him over and dragged him 15 feet. Kinghorn's injuries -- which included third-degree burns on his left leg and lacerated internal organs -- would keep him in hospital for 22 days. He would not join the estimated 20,000 fans who attended Kiss's blistering outdoor performance at Bayfest. Suzie Sulaiman, a social worker at the hospital, took pity on Kinghorn's situation. "I'm not a Kiss person," confessed Sulaiman. "He was in the intensive care unit. We don't often have pediatrics kids anymore in our ICU.... He came to us because he was in trauma." Asked why she decided to step in, Sulaiman replied: "Well, when you're 13, going to see a Kiss concert is a pretty big deal." On Sulaiman's initiative, Hotel-Dieu contacted Caesars Windsor and asked them to arrange something with Kiss when the band played The Colosseum. Now recovering from his injuries and the proud owner of new Kiss merchandise, Kinghorn is hoping the band makes good on its promise to return to Southwestern Ontario in October. Brad Kinghorn, Shawn's dad, added: "No tickets have been on sale yet, or anything like that, but as soon as I get any word of 'em, he'll definitely be going. I'll keep him indoors until then." Brad -- a diehard Kiss fan who has seen them live at least 30 times --said he got his son into Kiss early. "We got a picture of him from when he was, like, five, dressed up as Ace Frehley for Halloween.... I can look up the picture for you."
GENE SIMMONS, CYBILL SHEPARD, ELLIOT GOULD and others, make up the ensemble cast in the story of a pregnant teenager who runs away from her upscale life and ends up struggling in a trailer park in New Mexico. WonderStar's Kim Waltrip is producing, and Jim Casey is executive producing. The ICM-repped Gordon wrote or co-wrote the screenplays for "Murder in the First," "Wyatt Earp," "The Hurricane" and "Passenger 57." He has "Mafia Cop" in development at Universal. This is his directorial debut.
Friday – September 11, 2009 -7:00 PM – 9:00 PM Saturday – September 12, 2009 – 5:00 PM – 8:00 PM Wentworth Gallery For details on the VIP Reception with Paul Stanley or to RSVP please call 847-995-1190 or 800-732-6140
Video footage of Frehley and original GUNS N' ROSES drummer Steven Adler performing the KISS classic "Rock and Roll All Nite" with kid rockers from Paul Green's School Of Rock can be viewed here. Other musicians who were scheduled to take part in the event included Mike Starr (ALICE IN CHAINS), Kyle Gass (TENACIOUS D) and Seth "Shifty" Binzer (CRAZY TOWN).
Admission is 100% free to all who attend. The concert is a special charity event to benefit PAUL GREEN'S SCHOOL OF ROCK. Paul Green and his school are flying in with around 12 of their best kid rockers, who will be the house band for the entire event. The artists participating in the event are: ACE FREHLEY original guitarist of KISS, Mike Starr of ALICE IN CHAINS, STEVEN ADLER original drummer of GUNS 'N ROSES, KYLE GASS of TENACIOUS D, SHIFTY from CRAZY TOWN, BOB FORREST from THELONIOUS MONSTER, DR. DREW, and the kids from the SCHOOL OF ROCK. Address: The Music Box @ Fonda, 6126 Hollywood Blvd., Hollywood, CA 90028
So, when Gene Simmons and Shannon Tweed weren’t ringing in the Toronto Stock Exchange last week (the TSX made record gains, spectator-wise) or taking a personal tour of Parliament Hill in Ottawa (they oohed and aaahed about the library) or flying rock star-style to Halifax from Toronto (“Life on the road. Getting fat,” tweeted Shannon some time later), the guy who used to date Cher (remember that?) and the chick who used to play with Hugh Hefner (who could forget?) made an announcement to the country about their kids. Nick and Sophie, they said, are going to become Canadians! The Family Jewels couple, in other words, filed citizenship papers for their son and daughter, 20 and 17, respectively. “They’re getting in by the skin of their teeth,” chuckles one of my handy-dandy legal-eagle insiders. He explained that, under the old rules, it was possible for all Canadians to pass on the baton of citizenship to any number of generations, born in or outside of Canada. But under the new rules — enacted just this past spring — this is now restricted to the first generation born outside of Canada. In legalese, this means that “children born to Canadian parents in the first generation outside Canada will only be Canadian at birth if one parent was born in Canada, or one parent became a Canadian citizen by immigrating to Canada and was later granted citizenship [also called naturalization].” Since mommy Playmate — Shannon — does indeed hail from Newfoundland, Nick and Sophie qualify. Why were the rules changed? In government-ese, it was “to protect the value of Canadian citizenship for the future.”
"Met up with Ace Frehley last night [Tuesday, July 21] in New Jersey to hear his final version of his new CD, 'Anomaly'. I had been talking to Ace often over the last few months helping him where I could navigate the music business in 2009 and some thoughts on his upcoming release. "As he stated on my radio show this past Monday, I talked him out of releasing a cover of SWEET's 'Fox On The Run' as a first single, my thinking being that after twenty years he should no way lead with a cover as the first new music people will hear from him! After talking it over with his new management, they decided I was right so the first song will be an original titled 'Outer Space', which sums up Ace perfect! "[It] was fun to put my A&R hat on again as Ace was the first artist I ever worked with in that capacity back in my Megaforce label days. "Ace wanted me to hear the final product and told me he was going to a venue not far from me in New Jersey (PNC) to jam a song with NICKELBACK who were playing. Ace's new management also handles them, so that was the connection. "I arrived at PNC too late to see Ace play 'Highway To Hell' with NICKELBACK, but it was super-last-minute, with him literally getting out of his car backstage and walking out, but by all accounts, [it was] fun for all. "After the jam, Ace and I sat in my car in the backstage lot and listened to the whole CD together. "I had heard this album in various forms and mixes through the years but this was the first time mastered and done and with the final mix. "I'll say what I have said all along: KISS and Ace fans will love this. It is exactly the type of album you would want and expect from Ace. Straight-up, in-your-face hard rock. "Probably the most striking thing about the album is Ace's voice. He is past three years sober (there is a song about his battle with the bottle on the CD) and singing like the '78 album. A friend of mine who was in the car said the exact same thing. His voice sounds great due to the fact he is clean for sure. Guitar tones sound great, as does the playing. Ace sings the entire CD and there are two instrumentals; another in the 'Fractured' series ends the CD and then there is a ZEP-like heavy jam called 'Space Bear'. I know hardcore KISS fans will smile at that title! Other standout tracks for me were 'Change The World' (again, great vocal), 'A Little Below The Angels', 'Too Many Faces' and the super-kick-ass 'Sister', a track that has been around for a bit, but sounds great here. "The album has a great deal of edgy tracks but it's also dynamic with some BEATLES touches in some songs and a real nod to some early 70's stuff. The guitar work is classic Ace as well. Anton Fig handles most of the drums, and is a monster, as always. "Ace is giving his fans exactly what they would want with this album, and who knows, in this age of Guitar Hero and Rock Band, he will no doubt grab some new ones as well. After all, guitar hero = ACE FREHLEY! "Can't wait for everyone to hear it, and of course, we will do much with Ace and the album on the radio shows when we get closer to release. "I thank Ace for the early listen, and as a longtime close friend, I am extremely proud of him not only for making the album he wanted to, but for being a changed man the last few years."
This year we are helping a seven year old boy, Knute Tate, who realized that there were homeless people in the town. By stepping up and being a hero with a great heart, he started raising money to build a new, bigger homeless shelter. Since October, Knute and his classmates have raised almost $10,000. Fitting enough, our convention this year is focusing on "The Elder." I have written a play with two other guys and we are premiering the show in downtown Jonesboro, along with a small concert and memorabilia from around our area. If a seven year old boy can raise $10,000, with a lot left to go, we as adults and KISS Fans should be able to at least do the same or more. Our goal is to raise at least $5000. We are calling out to ALL KISS fans for help us as we unite as one. Support can be from ordering tickets for our event or by email contact at gaylontyner@yahoo.com. You can also help by sending a donation in care of the Salvation Army or Knute's Piggy Bank / PO Box 397,Jonesboro, Arkansas 72403.- Gaylon Tyner
CLICK HERE for more info. Lydia will be bringing along her fantastic coffee table book 'SEALED WITH A KISS'. Your chance if you don't have it already to purchase it at the expo. There will of course be a meet and greet moment and a Q and A round with LYDIA. Tickets can be purchased online and from halfway July at several ticket agencies in Belgium. Prices for the expo are 20 €. KISStory will be performing a special 'Dressed to kill/unplugged' set during the expo and will close the event with a MEGA BIG show. Anyone who's ever seen the band perform live know what to expect. An all over the top live show with all the kiss trimmings we all love. Fans who just want to see the evening show can get in from 19h30 for 10 Euro and when you dress up Halloween style you get in FOR FREE!!! After the show, there will be a DJ-set and a Halloween party......More extra surprises concerning this expo will be revealed on this site in the near future.
"I just got in from the NICKELBACK, HINDER, PAPA ROACH, and SAVING ABEL show [on July 21, 2009] at the PNC Bank Art Center in Holmdel, NJ. About halfway through NICKELBACK's set, lead singer Chad Kroeger announced that a very special jam session was coming up next and told the audience that it would blow the crowd's mind and if you weren't into the show yet, you were about to be sucked right into it. He told the audience that they were going to do an AC/DC song and introduced Austin Winkler, the lead singer from HINDER to take over vocal duties. As he came out, the band ripped into the AC/DC classic 'Highway to Hell'. Right before the second verse kicked in, Chad introduced PAPA ROACH lead singer Jacoby Shaddix and seconds into him singing the second verse Chad introduced Ace Frehley [KISS] and the crowd went absolutely insane as he started playing guitar which right after the second verse gave way to an amazing guitar solo. Ace finished out the song with the all-star lineup and shook hands with everyone on stage and waved to the audience before making his exit." Watch fan-filmed video footage of the performance here: Clip 1, Clip 2
Fresh Meat - Episode 2 - A&E And while the main core of bassist/singer Gene Simmons and guitarist/singer Paul Stanley are quite long in the tooth, the quartet brought all the explosions, fake gore, fireballs, fire-breathing, kabuki-esque makeup and customary costumes they’ve thrived on for 35 years. A near-capacity crowd for night one of the two-night stand at Casino Rama was treated to over two hours and 20 songs of spectacle as KISS rounded off a brief but successful Canadian trek celebrating the 35th anniversary of their live Alive! album. And it was a whole heap of oldies which had most on their feet beginning with the rather rollicking Deuce which saw the band – and even drummer Eric Singer’s kit – descend from the rafters to loud applause. Whether it was the eye candy or the whole bells and whistles, KISS succeeded in getting fans enthused, even if some of the songs came across not as crisp as the studio versions. This was especially true when Stanley’s voice never came close to hitting a few challenging high notes during the disco-era but musically strong I Was Made For Lovin’ You in the encore. Stating how they played to large crowds in Quebec City, Ottawa and Sarnia – although omitting the crowd size in Halifax – Stanley played the role of cheerleader early and often while guitarist Tommy Thayer did most of the axe work on the beefy Got To Choose and C’mon And Love Me. However, for every stage antic Stanley did such as breaking his guitar during the confetti-soaked Rock And Roll All Nite or spitting out guitar picks into the front rows, Simmons, nearing 60, seemed equal to the task. Often licking the neck of his bass guitar, spitting out flames during the end of Hotter Than Hell, spitting out fake blood and being raised to the rafters on I Love It Loud, Simmons was the consummate showman. And yes, that eleventh wonder of the world known as his tongue was always in constant flux. With Stanley having the between-song banter down to a science, KISS appeared to get a bit better the longer the show continued. The thick slab of metal-leaning rock known as Parasite shone, a tune which ended with Simmons and Stanley leaving the stage so Thayer could do a lengthy solo complete with fireworks coming out of his axe and more explosions. Perhaps the one thing that was missing was teasing the audience with a new song from their forthcoming (as-yet untitled) studio album which Stanley said comes out Oct. 6. But considering how precious the band are when it comes to their brand, the business and possible leaks cutting into sales, it was not to be. What was to be though was a lot of warhorses in the eye-candy encore, including a mediocre rendition of Lick It Up, Shout It Out Loud which included a snippet of The Who’s Won’t Get Fooled Again and Love Gun. KISS ended the night with Detroit Rock City and more pyromania as many of the fervent fans collectively known as the KISS Army celebrated another gig. At least they left the venue happy knowing they made one sure bet.
Without scaling down the menacing stage ensemble in lieu of the 5000 soft-seater arena, crews worked two full days bringing the event to the Colosseum inside Caesars Windsor Casino. With the venue filled to capacity, the city often overshadowed by the neighbouring Motor City, Detroit, Michigan came alive. Amid their historic appearance at Cobo Hall in '75 (KISS's first sell-out of a major arena) and later at Tiger Stadium in '96 (launch of their reunion tour), the event seemed to hold more significance for fans and possibly for the band as well. Now celebrating three and a half decades in the music business with their tour coined Alive 35, the band is sustained by only two of its original four members. Gene Simmons and Paul Stanley have always maintained their loyalty to the super group, though they have occasionally ventured off to fulfill their own individual interests. Stanley's passion for the arts has found himself immersed in musical theatre (Phantom of the Opera), branching off on a solo music project and more recently placing his emotions to canvas for a very lucrative abstract art endeavour. Returning to their passion for performing to live audiences, Simmons and Stanley, joined by Tommy Thayer (lead guitar) and Eric Singer (drums) continue the legacy of KISS. Though garnished in face paint and costume, they show no signs of weathering from living the rock & roll lifestyle. With a new studio album due out this October, the band is still at the top of their game. Their appearance at Caesars Windsor had not only sold out the Colosseum, but consequently a single room in the hotel was not to be had. It seems as though a lack-lustre economy has little effect on society wanting to escape from their everyday worries for an evening. This is without doubt the philosophy that KISS loves to promote. Songs such as "Lick It Up" and the epic "Rock & Roll All Night" scream the message of living for today. Amongst their rivalled stage antics of smoke bombs, fireworks, fire-breathing, rising platforms and smashing guitars, their music is fundamentally about celebrating life. Definitely non-political, KISS wanted all to be present in the moment that evening. With fists shaking and a relentless crowd demanding for more, Kiss were poised in rising to the occasion. Playing mainly hits from their double-platinum KISS Alive, fans were treated to a virtual re-enactment of that legendary concert recorded across the Detroit River. However, songs including "Black Diamond" and "100,000 Years" were not meant for the novice fan, but for those familiar with their history. From the opener "Deuce" to the sensational finale "Detroit Rock City" the two-hour set left no one oblivious to what had just taken place - the show of all shows. KISS sets the bar high and leaves every band in the dust when it comes to live performance. Their concerts have been and will always be compared to by fans who pay hard-earned dollars to see their favourite artist, yet never get the show they demand. With KISS now as relentless as ever, and foreseeing a return to Caesars in October, Windsor will have to prime itself for another night to "Shout It Out Loud"!!
Thousands of the KISS Army faithful stormed the Halifax Common to see their heroes, the Demon, Star Child, Cat Man and Spaceman, rock the East Coast for the first time since 1977. For over two hours on Saturday night, KISS played classic rock anthems and blew up everything in sight, leaving fans' ears ringing and their faces smiling. Flames shot from the stage, fireworks soared high above the crowd, Paul Stanley sailed over the audience to a small platform on the sound booth and Gene Simmons breathed fire and spit up blood. To steal from the band's 1998 album title, this was indeed a "psycho circus." And while KISS is arguably known more for its bombastic, over-the-top carnival of a stage show than it is for much of its music, the music can't be discounted. Fans sang, clapped and cheered along to classics like show opener Deuce, Cold Gin, Lick It Up and Rock And Roll All Night. Celebrating the 35th anniversary of its legendary live album Alive! (the anniversary actually takes place next year), the band dipped into material from its earliest days, including songs like Got To Choose, C'mon And Love Me and Nothin' To Lose. During the encore, they pulled a few tunes from the latter part of their '70s heyday, including Detroit Rock City and Shout It Out Loud. It was a dreary Halifax day, with fog, mist and the occasional downpour of rain that left the concert site wet and muddy, but when a giant black banner with the unmistakable "KISS" logo in silver dropped from the lighting rig to cover the stage around 9:30 p.m., a roar came from the crowd. The weather wasn't going to stop fans from rocking out. Soon after, a loud hum came from the stage, and the crowd roared once again before those famous words came blasting over the PA: "Halifax! You wanted the best, you got the best ... the hottest band in the world ... KISS!" And with that, there was a loud explosion, the giant KISS banner fell from the stage and KISS members Gene Simmons, Paul Stanley and Tommy Thayer descended from the lighting rig to the stage, launching into 1974 classic Deuce to open the show. Rock-steady drummer Eric Singer (dressed as Peter Criss' Cat Man character) was lowered to the stage on his own riser behind the rest of the band. The band played most of the tracks from 1975's Alive! during its main set. After Hotter Than Hell, Simmons breathed a ball of fire into the air, which was unfortunately obscured from the view of many due to the heavy fog that was mixed with KISS' smoke machines. After She, guitarist Tommy Thayer (dressed as the Space Man, made famous by founding KISS member Ace Frehley) shot rockets from the head of his Gibson Les Paul, and during 100,000 Years, Eric Singer played a drum solo, kit and all rising high above the stage on a riser that spewed smoke. "You want to see us blow (stuff) up, don't ya?" Stanley asked early in the show. The thousands in attendance roared their approval and KISS followed through, its stage exploding again with fireworks when the band kicked into Black Diamond. The spectacle was something to see, and feel, for when the band played Lick It Up in its encore, heat from the flames that shot from the stage could be felt hundreds of feet away. Simmons' solid bass playing still laid a heavy groove down on tunes like 100,000 Years and I Was Made For Lovin' You, and Stanley showed his voice can still soar when he puts his all into it like on the latter track. Tommy Thayer did an admirable job filling in for Frehley, who left the band a few years ago, and Eric Singer wowed many on drums, playing the songs with as much fire as they've ever had. Bone crunching guitar riffs, throbbing bass, pounding drums and the biggest batch of explosions and fire you may have ever seen -- it was a recipe for one fun night out, led by rock n' roll's legendary face-painted foursome. The band appeared to be having a lot of fun on stage, with each member practically demanding fans sing along. Fan of the band or not, you were going to have a good time, and everyone did. Leaving the Common after the show, one could still hear people singing lines to songs, chatting about that a great show it was or admitting how much the first explosion from the stage spooked them. During the show, Paul Stanley announced that KISS' next album, its first in 11 years, will be coming out on Oct. 6, which left many fans wondering -- when will the band be back to the East Coast?
The sea of thousands of fans dressed up in rain ponchos, slickers and heavy weather gear looked more like the Kiss navy than the Kiss army on Halifax's North Common on Saturday. Yet the fear of smeared face paint didn't deter the faithful from transforming themselves into the Starchild, the Demon, Space Ace and the Cat Man for the occasion. For all anybody knows, the real Gene Simmons, Paul Stanley, Tommy Thayer and Eric Singer could have been roaming the crowd and no one would have been the wiser. I didn't feel compelled to put on the greasepaint, but if I had a time machine and could go back to the mid-70s to ask my 11-year-old self what bands he'd most like to see, the top two choices would be the Beatles and Kiss. The Beatles had been broken up for years at that point, and there was no way in Hades that my parents would let me go near those so-called "Knights in Satan's Service" and their legendary shows at the Halifax Forum. Cut to three decades later and within the space of a week we've had ex-moptop Paul McCartney and those rock and roll action figures -whose acronym could more properly be Keep It Spectacular, Stupid - making for one giddily ecstatic inner 11-year-old by the time the legendary foursome took the stage on Saturday night to the primal pounding of Deuce. Of course they didn't just walk on stage; the foursome descended from the lighting rig on a platform while a giant banner bearing a band logo as distinctive a trademark as the Nike swoosh dropped to the floor. Immediately they went into character, with Simmons on the prowl like a widow-peaked vampire, Stanley a strutting Mick Jagger cartoon and Thayer approximating former guitarist Ace Frehley's spaced out stage stance, swaying on his massive silver platform boots. As with other shows on the tour, the early part of the set more or less mirrors the track list on Kiss's landmark live album Alive, which celebrates its 35th anniversary next year, and Stanley promised an evening of "vintage classics" - post-makeup tunes from the '80s like Lick It Up and I Love It Loud wouldn't show up until the encores - with Strutter and Got to Choose eliciting a wave of shouting along to the choruses and fists pumping in all their devil-horned glory. "Halifax! How we doin' so far?" implored Stanley with that crazed, evangelistic tone so familiar from Kiss live albums of yore. "I got a feeeeeeeelin'! Whoaaaaaaaaoooh! We're gonna make this place hotter than hell!" Sure enough, the stage was bathed in smoke as they tore into the title song from the 1974 album, complete with sirens and Simmons doing a bit of fire breathing with a flaming sword. These guys didn't rewrite the rock showmanship rule book for nothing all those years ago. "Okay Halifax! We played Montreal! We played Ottawa! We played Sarnia! We played Quebec City!" exclaimed Stanley, eliciting a low rumble of boos for each place name, except Sarnia which mostly just got shrugs. "All you Haligonians, tonight is your night to show us that Halifax is number one! We want to come back, can we come back?" A loud roar went up as he plugged a forthcoming album hitting stores on Oct. 6. "I promise you it will be as good as anything you will hear tonight! I swear on the Kiss Army!" That's a tough promise to live up to, considering classic Kiss is built on a foundation of glam guitar, tuneful pop smarts and an oil tankerful of testosterone, like the amped-up garage rock with Beatles harmonies of Nothin' to Lose, unsubtle come on of C'mon and Love Me. But given the band's dedication to its back catalogue on Saturday night, there's little doubt they know what fans both young and old want to hear. The junior members of the Kiss crew got their spotlight moments as well, with Thayer taking an extended solo in the middle of the mastodon tempo and brute eroticism of Simmons' She, playing behind his head and setting off explosions across the stage. Thayer's string-bending eventually morphed into whirring space sounds and a fragment of Beethoven's Fifth Symphony, before coming back down to earth. Singer got his chance to lay waste to the drum kit in 100,000 Years, and while he didn't offer up a flurry of polyrhythms or even a surfeit of cowbell, it cast a strobe lit spell on the crowd, which erupted in cheers as sheets of flame burst forth on the stage and the rest of the band returned with Stanley swinging the mic cord around his neck and Simmons spreading the bat wings of his battle armour. The best was yet to come, however, when Stanley asked the audience for suggestions for an anthem to bring the world together in these times of trouble, even crooning a bit of O Canada in the process. The answer he was looking for though was Rock and Roll All Night, whose party hearty lyrics were soon coming out of every mouth in sight, as cannons filled the air with smoke and confetti and fireworks exploded overhead in the greatest musical example of shock and awe since Tchaikovsky's 1812 Overture.
"They're four-inch heels and I'm normally six-foot-two," said the gentle giant who sported a skull and crossbones necklace to the Kiss concert. "It's so I can see the band. A lot of people want to have their picture taken with me, but I just want to see Kiss, man." Kummer, 39, wore the MacThomas clan tartan kilt because he's a proud Scot who plays bagpipes. "It's Kiss in Halifax, right? I would have brought the pipes but it's raining," he said. "It probably would have wrecked them." Like a lot of concert-goers, Kummer and his friends donned their Kiss face paint at a pre-concert party just as the sun was crossing over the yardarm. "We started partying and drinking at noon. We had a band together, we were playing some songs and we had a good time." Kummer bought his first Kiss Album, Love Gun, in 1977. "Back then it was either you liked the Village People or you liked Kiss, and I liked Kiss," he said. Dan Sanchez was walking two lovely women in low-cut shirts through the concert crowd on leashes. "We came for Kiss and to get them out of the house," said the 24-year-old Prince Edward Island man. "I can't let them off the leashes; there's laws against that," he said, tongue planted firmly in cheek. One of the women, Krista MacLeod, 26, said she's too young to remember the band's heyday. "It pre-dates me, but my mom got me into it, so I had to come and see it," said the mother of two young children. Mark McGrath saw Kiss recently in Montreal and flew to Halifax to catch them again. The St. John's native was sporting Starchild face makeup and a rain poncho to ward off the drenching downpours. "You don't want to be wet for the hottest band in the world," McGrath said. Three of his friends drove across Newfoundland and took the ferry to Nova Scotia to don their face paint and join him for last night's concert. "Kiss is a quarto, right? You've got to be four people." His buddy, Gerard Warfield, was wearing the Catman make-up made famous by the original Kiss drummer Peter Criss. "I'm not going to lie, I bought my ticket last, so I had to be Peter," Warfield said. "It's pouring rain right now, so hopefully it stays on." The 23-year-old engineer chuckled when asked how long he's been a Kiss fan. "I'm about six-foot-four. So since I've been a foot tall, probably. My old man was a big Kiss fan, too." Lots of people were sporting plastic bags over their bodies in an attempt to stay dry for the show. But Mark Hunter, 35, used them over his running shoes, too. "I looked out the window of the hotel room and saw all the rain. We're going to the casino after the concert and I was like, 'There's no way I'm going with wet feet.' So I pulled the garbage bags out of the trash cans and here we are," said Hunter, who drove from P.E.I. with four friends for the concert. He wanted to see Kiss before they vanish."I figured they'd be around for a while," said Hunter, who has been a fan since he was a kid. But I never, ever thought that I'd get a chance to see them live." The rain washed off Zarr Livingstone's Kiss makeup long before the band took to the stage. But that didn't seem to dampen his ardour for the hard-rocking band. "I want to hear Christine Sixteen," the 28-year-old Lower Sackville resident sang out several times, delivering his best impression of the Kiss song about an underage woman. What about the fake blood and pyrotechnics? "Yeah, that too," Livingstone said. His friend, Ian Brown, 23, laughed when buddies poured water over his head. "I'm really looking forward to the fireworks and the blood and the guts. And everything about Gene Simmons and his long tongue." For some, the Kiss concert was a family affair. Stephen Arnold, 36, brought his three children, Cody, 16; Colby, eight; and Chloe, six, to the Commons all dressed in full Kiss regalia. They built the flashy costumes out of old clothes and shiny insulation. "We did it for Halloween two years ago and it went over so well, and the kids got so into the Kiss music. .. As soon as we heard they were coming to town, it was a given we were going to do it again." Are the kids all Kiss fans? "They are now," Arnold said. And Halifax police reported the concert "was very successful from a policing perspective" as people appeared to be more into the music than getting into trouble.
Ace's new album, "Anomaly", drops September 15, and the longtime Gibson artist will launch his second Gibson Ace Frehley Signature Les Paul guitar with the musical instrument giant later in the year. His first signature Gibson guitar was one of the best-selling signature models of all time. To see and hear the jam session and interview, tune into MTV2's "Headbangers Ball" and TalkingMetal.com later this summer. Check out photos at link text this location.
"BK3" will feature guest appearances by legendary vocalist Doug Fieger (THE KNACK), Tobias Sammet (EDGUY, AVANTASIA), Nick Simmons (Gene Simmons' son), and former KISS cohorts Gene Simmons (singing lead vocals on a track co-written with Kulick called "Ain't Gonna Die") and Eric Singer (who contributed drums on the track vocalized by Sammet). It will also include the three songs that were featured on the limited-edition EP that was created especially for Kulick's recently completed Australian guitar clinic tour, which took him to four cities during his brief one-week visit. Included on the disc were "No Friend of Mine" featuring guest vocalist John Corabi (MÖTLEY CRÜE, UNION, RATT, ESP), "And I Know" (featuring Kulick on vocals), and the instrumental track "Between The Lines" featuring a musical "supergroup" comprised of drummer Kenny Aronoff, bassist Jimmy Haslip, and the dual guitar attack of Kulick and Steve Lukather.
For the last two years, the 45-year-old has even served as lead singer of a Halifax-based KISS tribute band Dressed 2 Kill. So it might come as a surprise to learn Stephens has never actually seen his favourite hard-rockers live in concert. Well, that will “finally” change Saturday as Gene Simmons, Paul Stanley, Tommy Thayer and Eric Singer bring KISS to town for what will unquestionably be an electrifying show on the Halifax Common. “I just can’t wait for the first note to ring, and the first vocal out of Paul Stanley’s voice is just going to drive me crazy,” the father of two said from his Lower Sackville home Thursday. “I’ll probably lose my voice too, screaming like a little girl.” He probably won’t be the only one. Promoters are expecting KISS to draw around the same number of fans Sir Paul McCartney did when the ex-Beatle performed before more than 50,000 people Saturday. Greg Cox, spokesman with Power Promotional Events, said the KISS crowd should be “comparable” to that of McCartney, adding he wouldn’t be surprised if it surpassed it. “When we started selling tickets for KISS, (in February) the concert landscape, there was no one out there,” Cox said. “We didn’t know we’d get Paul McCartney, and Moncton didn’t know they’d get Bon Jovi and AC/DC. So take that into account, plus the fact KISS has a monster following and it’s right in the middle of downtown Halifax. I expect a big crowd.” And that crowd should be a livelier one than McCartney's, energized by a KISS show that will include lights, pyrotechnics and a lot of noise. “This will be a much more rambunctious crowd, for sure,” Stephens said.
With KISS, as is always true, the show was never limited to the stage. At the beginning of the show, a platform descended from the ceiling on which the three guitarists arrived . The stage featured the classic KISS logo in white bulbs. And then there were the explosions, flames, smoke, fireworks, confetti ... And oh yes! How can we forget the music! "From old-school rock to KISS," says Paul Stanley, who offered a few words in French before apologizing that he could not do more and to continue in English. The guitarist did a great job in the role of master of ceremonies as well as rock star, shimmying in his black spandex, moving constantly, singing at full volume and jumping unrestrained in his platform boots! For his part, Gene Simmons was difficult to ignore in a costume more like an armored winged bat than lycra... Beyond the effects of some futuristic super heroes - a wriggling tongue, a guitar-bazooka, overpowering fire and blood - the band spent the first hour playing a majority of songs dating their first three albums and classics such as Rock and Roll All Nite, Shout It Out Loud, I Was Made For Lovin 'You and Detroit Rock City. The show was strewn with solos from each musician and delirious fun on stage and elsewhere. "Quebec, your city is our second home," agreed Paul Stanley.
KISS gave rockers an extended show, adding 45 minutes to the beginning of their concert where they rocked out to Rock and Roll All Night, I Was Made for Lovin' You and Shout it Out Loud. "My parents used to listen to KISS, and the music just goes from generation to generation," said concert goer Andrew Bunda. "It's a great environment to be in one of these concerts. My parents absolutely love it, so I hope to experience the same stuff my parents experienced," added another concert goer. KISS look-a-likes also made an appearance with painted faces and long tongues spotted at every corner of the Lebreton Flats grounds. For others, the concert was part of a family experience with children joining their parents to take in the festivities. "John just wanted to come out and see them," said one parent. Although the music was heard from as far away as the city's south end, the rockers -- who are known for their loud tunes -- avoided a single noise complaint.
In his first-ever photo book, "Richard Galbraith Photography Presents: KISS", the reader is offered a glimpse of almost every single major concert the masked quartet played in Oklahoma from 1976 through 1986. Comprised of nearly 100 never-before-seen pictures (in both color and black and white), the book also contains notes and memories of the shows from Richard, from interviews conducted by renowned rock writer Greg Prato. Additionally, many of the photographs in the book are available for individual sale through Richard (as well as more other photos not included in the book). The shows that are photographed and featured in the book include: 01. March 8, 1976 - Tulsa, Oklahoma [Tulsa Assembly Center] To view sample pages from the book and for ordering information, go to this location.
The September 15th release of Anomaly will be your three-year anniversary of sobriety. I’ve accepted the fact that I can never drink again as long as I live, and I’m ok with it. And it should be easy when you think about it - some people get allergic to shellfish. When they eat it, they break out or get sick. And you know what those people say to themselves? “I can’t eat shellfish anymore for the rest of my life.” And they’re ok with it. But for some reason, when it comes to alcohol, people get crazy. It’s getting past that. How does Anomaly compare to your previous work? Everybody keeps talking about my first solo album [1978’s Ace Frehley], and I keep thinking, “Right now, I feel exactly like I did after I finished mixing that record.” I kind of knew I had something hot, that everybody was going to like. Maybe history will repeat itself again — 31 years later. I understand you had to re-think one of your concert trademarks. The biggest problem with the smoking guitar thing now is the fire marshals. So right now, I’m working on a miniature fog machine that goes in the guitar [laughs]. Are you still in contact with Kiss? Yeah, I spoke to Paul, Peter — I haven’t spoke to Gene in a couple of years. The last time Gene left a message on my answering machine, it was to do his television show. He was doing a roast. I wanted to do it, so I called Paul and Peter, and both of them told me that they weren’t going to do it. So after hearing that, I felt like, “Well, if the whole band isn’t going to be there to roast Gene, maybe it would be better if I didn’t do it either.” Because initially, Gene told me it was going to be Steven Tyler and Cher, and they backed out. You don’t jump on a sinking ship [laughs]. Would you ever consider another Kiss reunion? I’m having so much fun with this new album. It’s not something I think about at all anymore. The reunion tour was supposed to be it — that’s what they told me when they asked me to do it. But then they go, “Now we want to do a farewell tour.” I said, “OK, I’ll do a farewell tour.” It ended in Australia, and then I get a phone call when I come back, “Now we want to do something else.” Then Gene is on my answering machine, “Ace, we’re going to go out. If you don’t want to do it, we’re going to use another guitar player.” What is that, a threat? I didn’t even answer the phone [laughs]. That was that.
They shouted at the first blast of flames shooting up from the stage. But the 30,000 rabid KISS fans last night -- by far the largest crowd at Bluesfest so far this year -- went delirious at the first sight of The Tongue. When the long, slippery, red thing uncoiled out of Gene Simmons' wide open, black-lipped mouth, they didn't just say ah, they screamed it. AHHHH! With all the kerfuffle about the failure to proclaim Shannon Tweed Day in Ottawa, anyone who forgot for a second why Gene's gal was here in the first place were reminded loud and clear -- more loud than clear -- when the rock legends, in their trademark silver and black armour, descended on to the stage on a metal platform hanging from the roof and launched into Deuce. "I think you all came for some rock 'n' roll," said lead singer Paul Stanley, in his hairy-chested glory. (Wax this!) "We played Montreal and we played Sarnia, but Ottawa is the capital of Canada," he shouted into the mic. "Let's make sure after tonight you are also the rock 'n' roll capital of Canada." KISS was game. They had 82 speakers stacked 20 feet high along the back row. In the middle was the KISS logo in lights, and above them was a giant screen that made it possible for everyone to see The Tongue. And out it came, early and often, hanging down in a point to the bottom of his chin, searching for something to lick. At one point, he licked the length of his guitar. He spit "blood" from it. He curled it like an index finger, beckoning fans. Many licked right back at him, like they were sharing an imaginary ice cream cone. Hundreds had their faces painted black and white like the band, and dozens were in the full get-up. It rained for about half an hour midway through the two-hour, 15-minute set, and Stanley tried to rouse the soggy crowd by announcing that "Sarnia kicked your ass." He changed his mind after Rock and Roll All Night, when everyone on LeBreton Flats pumped their fists and shouted the chorus to what Stanley said was the only song that could unite the world. They came to life again and started chanting "Shannon, Shannon," when Stanley announced that Tweed was somewhere in the audience. It was KISS' first concert in Ottawa since 2000, when they played at what is now called Scotiabank Place. Tommy Thayer replaced original member Ace Frehley on guitar, and Eric Singer was the new cat, replacing Peter Criss on drums. They played most of their classic hits last night, including Nothing to Lose, I Was Made for Lovin' You, Shout it Out Loud and the closer, Detroit Rock City. KISS has sold more than 85 million albums since forming in New York in 1972 -- and it has a new one coming out in October -- but it owes its success as much to its brand as its music. Part of the fun of KISS concert is just being a part of what they represent: Brash rock 'n' roll defiance. They make kids want to butt in line. They make men want to smoke in no-smoking zones. They make women want to pee in the grass. And they make reporters want to tell their editors to write their own damn review. (D'oh!)
Nothing could stop KISS in front of a record-setting crowd of 40,000 at Bluesfest last night. Not the rain, the decibel limit or even the snub to Shannon Tweed, who watched her man, bassist Gene Simmons, perform from a hastily installed VIP section on a raised platform near the sound tent. Up on the massive stage, the band steamrolled over any obstacle, be it weather-related or bureaucratic, and delivered a concert that lived up to all expectations in terms of lights, volume and special effects. The lights were blinding, the sound was blasting and the effects included pyro, aerial wires and their trademark monster-glam costumes. But what about the music? Well, you have to hand it to lead singer Paul Stanley for taking over the reins to the legendary ’70s hard-rockers. When he wasn’t shredding his voice at the microphone, he acted as host of the rock extravaganza, and did most of the talking. Word is he’s also the producer responsible for getting the band back to basics on its forthcoming album, the first in a decade, due for release in October. The back-to-basics approach is exactly what fans want, and last night, it meant making the most of the old hits. The band kicked things off with Deuce, hammering the song with multiple blasts of green pyro, and then moved into Stutter, Hotter Than Hell, Got To Choose, and Nothin’ To Lose, which featured vocals by drummer Eric Singer. At press time, guitarist Tommy Thayer proved himself worthy of replacing Ace Frehley with his deft soloing in She. Gene Simmons, meanwhile, spent his time pounding his instrument and stalking the stage, flicking his tongue to the cameras.
Fan-filmed clips from last night's record setting KISS show at Bluesfest in Ottawa: Love Gun, Shout It Out Loud, Nothin To Lose, Detroit Rock City
Between touring with KISS, producing the new album, your growing family, your artwork, you’ve got a lot going on. It’s been busy. Four months ago I had a little baby girl. Other than that we just finished a stadium tour of South America playing to anywhere from forty to sixty thousand people a night. Before that we did our biggest, most successful tour of Europe playing seven weeks, thirty shows to over four hundred thousand people. Then, I’ve got my art shows, which are normally once a month in different cities and I’m about a week from completing the first KISS album in eleven years which should be out in early October. Other than that, I’m taking it easy! With regards to your artwork, having begun to paint as a way to express emotions from the divorce ten years ago, with that now well behind you, has your approach changed with so many positive things going on in your life? Any creative outlet will come from whatever inspiration or desperation happens to be going on. Certainly as life evolves you hopefully draw from other experiences. My life, it couldn’t be a better story if I wrote it myself, so there’s no shortage of inspiration. I tell people; “If you’re not inspired every day when you wake up then you should either go back to sleep or change your life.” You titled some of your early paintings relevant to where you were emotionally at that time (Starting Over, Scream, Alone), but that has changed as time has moved along (Celebration, What Lies Ahead, The Angel). No doubt that there are bound to be some gloomy days, although I haven’t experienced them in quite a while. I seem to find myself painting from a different vantage point. There are paintings like What Lies Ahead, The Mirrors Image, things that are reflective of where I am today and where I see me headed. The great thing about it, I think the other pieces, is that other people relate to it. It’s not something that I have a monopoly on or something that is solely mine. I’ve always found that the beauty of abstract art in particular is that it really illicit its own unique response in each person and that’s what makes it valid. That’s why I tend to tell people, “I can tell you what a painting means to me but ultimately it’s much more important what it means to you.” I’ve always liked what you’ve said with regards to listening to other people’s opinions when it comes to art: “If you yourself like something, that’s all that matters. Other opinions are not necessary.” I think that’s all a part of snobbery and elitist propaganda, which is designed to intimidate you into needing someone else to tell you what’s good and bad. The problem with that is you’re basing your opinion on what somebody else decides is credible or not credible, worthwhile or not worthwhile. If you love steak and somebody else is a vegetarian, what good is either opinion to the other? You just respect them as individual and as separate. Some people have talked to me about the “Art World.” I don’t really want to be a part of the art world. Anything that cuts itself off and identifies itself as separate is the antithesis of what I want to be. When I did Phantom of the Opera, hopefully I brought people into the theater besides the regular theatergoers, who, up until that point, may have been intimidated into thinking that theater is a while glove affair for snooty people. Theater didn’t begin like that! Theater was done in public squares. So if my art or my theater is an introduction for somebody to how much great creativity there is in this world, then I’m doing a great service. Two of the more interesting pieces you’ve worked on were your updates to the Statue of Liberty and the Mona Lisa. Those were pretty cool. Yeah, I like those a lot. They mean a lot to me, particularly the Statue of Liberty, having grown up in New York and my mother having come here from Germany and my grandparents coming from Poland. The idea of people pulling into the harbor in New York with these great dreams of anything being possible and working towards a success they hadn’t known in their previous countries is something that makes America so unique. The Statue of Liberty is a symbol of it and my success is a symbol of it. I am a product of the American dream. This is a great country that makes it possible for anybody who works hard to succeed. It doesn’t mean it’s easy, it just means you can judge how much something means to you by how hard you’re willing to work to acquire it and America gives you that opportunity. The Mona Lisa, on the other hand, is something that we’ve all seen and it is iconic. I just remember seeing it when they brought it to the States when I was a little boy and I was surprised how small it was. It’s beautiful in its original form. I just thought, how about we give her an extreme makeover and pull her kicking and screaming into the 21st Century? You’ve also begun to work with sculpture a little. Tell me about your interest in that? I’ve always wanted to do large metal sculpture, and my introduction into it is the pieces that I’ve been doing, which are fairly organic. They’re over-spill from bronze casts of sculptures that I’ll find and then have welded together and buffed to a patina as I see fit. That will lead next to some other sculptures, but for me the door is wide open. I am a person who tries to define myself by the challenges that I take on and I’m constantly excited and inspired. The band is obviously going very strong. How cool was it for KISS to be a part of the recent finale on American Idol? American Idol was terrific. When you realize that the biggest shows on TV get a viewership of around nine million people a show and American Idol gets between twenty-four and thirty million, it’s a phenomenon, unlike regular television! Just being on that show is a wake-up call and an eye opener to a lot of people of what rock can be. We are a spectacle proudly, and when we hit the road again on our U.S. tour we’ll have a great new show, a terrific new album– easily the best new album we’ve done since the ‘70s– and we’re fired up. It never ends. Any chance you’ll be designing the cover of this forthcoming KISS album? I have overseen the cover from a sense that I had a direction that I wanted to see it going, and that’s what we followed, although I didn’t do it personally. I produced the album. This is an album where I had a very keen sense of what I thought it should be and shouldn’t be, and it’s turned out to be exactly what I had in mind. The band’s never been more “up” about something, and rightfully so. It’s a terrific album. KISS is scheduled to play shows in Canada before returning to tour the States. Having done the huge stadium shows in Europe and South America, are you looking forward to a U.S. tour? We will hit the Atates. There’s actually a fun little diversion going on right now where people get to vote for us to come to their city by going to www.kissonline.com. There’s a button you can press where you can vote for your city, and the cities with the highest vote per capita are sure to be on the itinerary.
The event will be filmed by A&E TV, who will also be filming around Radical booth #3735, and will air on the hit television show GENE SIMMONS FAMILY JEWELS. To win 2 free tickets to this event and be a part of the action, simply email contest@radicalcomics.com answering the simple question: “What is your favorite Radical Publishing character and why?” The contest winner will be featured in a special-edition post-event newsletter, and will receive a special Incarnate prize package at the event.
A whirlwind tour of both the House of Commons and Senate for the royal rock ’n’ roll couple was a big hit and erased any ill feelings from the fallout of the cancellation of Shannon Tweed Day by Ottawa’s acting mayor Doug Thompson. Tweed reiterated that she holds no bad feelings about a civic day in her honour being cancelled. “Honestly, I came here to have a friendly reunion with my friends and see his concert and nothing has changed,” she said. Simmons piped in with his own comments about the controversy. “It’s really OK, not everybody loved Jesus either,” he quipped, shocking some of the people who had surrounded the couple. Tweed quickly put her hand over his mouth to prevent the rock star from saying anything else outrageous. It was photographic gold: blonde Hollywood actress jokingly cuts off rock ’n’ roll bad boy from speaking — as if that would ever happen. Large crowds lined the corridors as Parliament Hill staffers, tourists and other onlookers angled for a spot to view the couple as they walked along constantly followed by a photographer and a film crew shooting new footage for their TV reality series Gene Simmons Family Jewels. “I’m speechless and that takes a lot,” said Tweed, moments after finishing the tour, led by MP Pierre Polievre with assistance from senators Hugh Segal and Marcel Prud’homme. “I never visited here when I lived in Ottawa and when I was trying to find my way in the world. This is the most beautiful building I’ve ever been in and the (Parliamentary) Library is the most stunning I’ve ever seen. I’m so impressed.” Simmons was also impressed by the surroundings, bestowing praise on the building and Canadians in general. “Look, I’ve been all around the world and it’s not a secret that Canadians are the nicest people on the earth,” said Simmons. He said their children Sophie and Nick “are on their way to become full Canadian citizens.” Tweed purchased a home in Whistler, B.C., and was relaxing at the resort town before coming to Ottawa to accompany Simmons who performs at Bluesfest tonight. The afternoon tour was part Canadian civics lesson conducted by tour guide Mark Palmer and part showbiz walkabout as the couple marvelled at the architecture and absorbed lots of Canadian history, including the fire in 1916 that destroyed part of the library. Tweed sat in the Senate chamber and they went inside the House of Commons. Tweed’s mother, Louise, accompanied her daughter on the tour. “No, this isn’t overwhelming, it’s really great fun. I have seven kids and they all do (different) things and I’m really proud of them,” she said. Debbie Jodoin is one of the couple’s biggest fans and an avid follower of the TV show. “It’s an awesome show, I love it,” said Jodoin, standing in the hallway of the Parliament Buildings with her friend, Elecia Elliott. “They’re a normal Hollywood family, if I can put it (like) that,” said Jodoin. She said Ottawa politicians were wrong to deny Tweed a special day in her honour. “Shame on them, get rid of them all. It’s another way the city councilor has embarrassed the city, said Elliott. “If Shannon was good enough to represent us as Miss Ottawa Valley, then she should be good enough to represent us today.” Tweed and Simmons also visited torn-up Bank Street and dropped into Babylon, site of a former bar that was named after her when she lived here in the late 70s. They also visited an Elgin Street restaurant, now The Standard, where she once worked while she did some modelling. Simmons startled a tenant when he walked unannounced into a Frank Street apartment Tweed thought she had lived in 30 years ago. “When he walked in I said ‘What is Gene Simmons doing in my house?’ ” said Melissa Wachter. “I never thought that would happen, it caught me off-guard. I was working out at the time,” said an embarrassed Wachter after a throng of media came to the front door.
The new KISS album is the bands first studio album since "Psycho Circus" back in 1998. Lead singer Paul Stanley is producing the new album and reports that "it is all written within the band and it rocks." Paul also says, "guitarist Tommy Thayer and drummer Eric Singer will both handle lead vocals at some points on the album." Bass guitarist Gene Simmons was quoted as saying, "The idea is to make the record quickly, like we did at the time of Destroyer, Rock And Roll Over and Love Gun. The idea is to work well, little by little, we can not spend too much time in the studio, and it has to be fast." Gene described the new record in an interview with Rock Daily as having a "classic '70s rock & roll vibe. Meat and Potatoes." "There's nothing to prove to anybody, "Simmons said. "We're not interested in musical trends or anything else. We're too long in the tooth for that." Gene says, "This is the best record we've done in 30 years." Whether you like KISS or not, they're a time tested true classic rock band that definitely gives everyone something to talk about. With the bands phenomenal stage antics you can't help but love the good show that these guys put on the stage and off.
Movin' Out - Episode 2 And these weren’t fly-by-night fans, either. This was the diehard contingent. Kiss T-shirts everywhere, old and new; face paint galore (let’s play count the Gene Simmons look-alikes). Many proud parents brought their kids, who were all too happy to get in on the action – a 10-year-old boy in the row in front of me eagerly asked to peek at my set list. Cheers erupted when a giant KISS banner was unfurled shortly before showtime, as songs by the Who blasted over the PA. The lights dimmed, and the arena went wild. “All right Montreal! You want the best? You got the best – the hottest band around: Kiss!” They descended from the ceiling, of course. A platform came down carrying original members Simmons and Paul Stanley, plus guitarist Tommy Thayer. Drummer Eric Singer was already at his post, sitting on a raised platform of his own, above a massive KISS sign lit in Vegas-style lights. All were in standard band attire, full makeup, outlandish outfits, knee-high boots with six-inch heels – you know the deal. The stage was open-concept, except for the wall of speakers as backdrop. And there was the music. Guitars were wailing from “go.” First song Deuce brought pyrotechnics, power chords and synchronized head-bobbing from the three men up front. This was rock ’n’ roll spectacle by the band that wrote the book. Big dumb hooks made for full-on fun. The crowd sang along to the second song, Strutter, with its classic rock groove. “Whoooooa! Montréal,” Stanley cooed. “How’s everyone feeling tonight? ... Tonight we’re celebrating Kiss Alive. We’ll be playing a lot of that vintage stuff.” The hits came in a steady stream: Got to Choose, the power-chord-fuelled Hotter Than Hell (complete with smoke, sirens and Simmons blowing fire), the bluesy C’mon and Love Me, and Parasite (one of a handful with Simmons on vocals). Almost every song in the main set was culled from the band’s first three albums – classic repertoire for true fans. Stanley’s voice rang out strong and clear, and his showmanship was second to none. He bantered with the crowd throughout the night, promising a return visit in October when the band’s new album drops. “Will you come to see us?” he asked. The crowd roared in response. Thayer shot rockets out of his guitar in an extended solo; Singer also got his chance in the spotlight. The pace waned late in the set as the displays of prowess grew a tad too numerous. But redemption came with the set-ending smash Rock and Roll All Nite, as confetti rained down on the crowd. Print deadline beckoned, but with Shout It Out Loud, Lick It Up, I Was Made for Lovin’ You and Detroit Rock City on the set list for the encore, 15,000 Kiss fans were in for a bang-up finish.
Reznor: That's a good point ... I may not be the same guy I was then but for five minutes of that song, and probably an hour afterwards, it takes over. It's not going through the motions nor acting, you kinda become — I'm still driven by the same things that drove me to write it in the first place ... I wrote it as a cathartic way to get it out of my system, almost like therapy, and then when we went on tour I turned to drugs and alcohol and the songs spilled over and became me ... Now when I'm offstage, I'm not same guy onstage but it's driven by the same place. I'd never want to be Gene Simmons, an old man who puts on makeup to entertain kids, like a clown going to work ... In my paranoia, I fear that if I don't stop this, it could become that. Because it's nice to get a paycheck, and now the only way to get a paycheck is to play live, so it's all those things swirling around in my head.
So began a night of big riffs, big explosions and total commitment when rock superheroes ruled the Colosseum stage on Saturday night. I’ll say that last bit again because it bears repeating: Total commitment. Behind the KISS spectacle (and it is indeed a spectacle beyond spectacles) is a mentality to put on the best damn show possible. It’s expensive, uninhibited, loud and entertaining. No irony involved. No shoe-gazing cynicism. They come to rock your butt, so your butt will be rocked. From the opening riffs of Deuce to the blazing finale of Detroit Rock City, there was never a moment in the two-hour extravaganza that any KISS member was not “on.” This is a band that understands they don't just play music; They perform. Frontman Paul Stanley was a revelation, moving with the energy and athleticism of a man half his age (unbelievably, he turned 57 this year). He shimmied. He gyrated. He jumped and landed with feline grace while shod in platform boots. He pouted and wiggled. He slapped his own butt like he was presenting a prize. No less of a spotlight was cast on the other members. Bassist Gene Simmons wagged his legendary tongue, breathed fire, belched blood and levitated onto scaffolding. Lead guitarist Tommy Thayer (who replaced Ace Frehley as “Spaceman” in 2002) capped an extended virtuoso solo with the opening notes to Beethoven’s 5th Symphony — then launched fireworks from his instrument’s headstock. Drummer Eric Singer (Peter Criss’s replacement as “Catman” since 2004) urged the crowd to clap along to his own sprawling drum solo, in which his massive kit rose on a platform 30 feet above the stage. The set list had something for KISS fans of every stripe: Hard-riffing vintage tracks from the era of KISS Alive filled the first portion of the show, while the encore portion (which lasted nearly as long) was packed full of well-known shout-along hits: Rock and Roll All Nite, Lick It Up, I Love It Loud, and I Was Made For Lovin’ You. At one point in the encore, there was a scripted moment where the band brought a camera man on stage to direct his lens into the audience. The screens that previously showed KISS in performance now showed their adoring public. Paul Stanley grinned in amazement, then asked the crowd to go crazy so that he and his bandmates could pose for a photograph in front of them. A souvenir of Windsor. “We’re coming back in October,” Stanley promised. The message was simple: You are a part of this. You make KISS great. KISS loves you.
The band's setlist was as follows: 01. Deuce (Clip) Tweed told the Sun yesterday that she will gladly accompany her rocker partner Gene Simmons, frontman of KISS, if the band confirms a fall concert date at the new General Motors Centre in the heart of downtown Oshawa. "I'll be there," said Tweed. "I'll be there." The car manufacturing capital of Canada was recently named the KISS capital of North America after it beat out every major city on the continent in an online competition. Tweed read a story in yesterday's Sun about Oshawa city councillor Robert Lutczyk, who invited Tweed to visit the city and said the city would officially proclaim the occasion "Shannon Tweed Day." Lutczyk criticized Ottawa city council for scrapping plans to proclaim July 15 Shannon Tweed Day in the capital. Lutczyk was thrilled to learn Tweed had accepted his invitation. Unlike Ottawa, Oshawa will greet Tweed with open arms, he said. "We are very welcoming here in Oshawa," he said. "We don't have any preconceived notions about anybody. We will have a proclamation ready for Shannon when she arrives with her husband." Lutczyk spearheaded the online contest earlier this spring, mobilizing the local KISS Army to vote to bring KISS to Oshawa. "This is KISS central," said Lutczyk. "We will give her the red carpet treatment in Oshawa." The Oshawa councillor will be in Ottawa to attend Wednesday's KISS concert at Bluesfest and wants to present Tweed with the official "KISS Week in Oshawa" proclamation.
“We’re proud to be here tonight,” said frontman, Paul Stanley to the energetic crowd. “Sarnia could teach big cities what rock ‘n’ roll is all about!” Audience anticipation began to build as a black cloth with KISS splashed on it was draped to hide the stage in preparation for the explosive show. As soon as a glimmer of sparkle off drummer Eric Singer’s outfit was seen behind the curtain - the crowd went wild. Eventually the rest of the band members, Gene Simmons, Tommy Thayer and Paul Stanley made their way onstage - clad in their iconic painted faces, platform boots and cosmic costumes. The rock legends had arrived in their signature style. Opening with “Deuce” and “Strutter” from their 1975 KISS Alive! album - the foursome powered through songs more well-known to long-time fans but still received a rousing reception from the entire audience. Between songs, the band took time to show their love for Canada. “We consider Canada not our neighbours but our second home,” Stanley said to cheering fans. “This is family tonight!” he yelled before launching into “She.” The song ended in a heart-pounding guitar solo by Tommy Thayer. Throughout the two-hour concert, KISS kept the energy up as the audience experienced their exhilarating rock amidst fireworks, searing pyrotechnics and Simmons’ infamous tongue. KISS ended their set with the classic rock and roll anthem “Rock and Roll All Nite” as the audience erupted into cheers and were showered by white paper confetti. But they didn’t keep the crowd waiting long after saying good-bye, coming out for a six-song encore of crowd favourites including “Lick It Up,” “I Was Made For Loving You,” and “I Love It Loud,” with Simmons, fake blood running down his mouth, being lifted onto a platform to play above the stage lights. Charismatic singer, Stanley, got up close and personal with audience members, flying over the crowd on a zipline and performing on a mini-stage set-up in the middle of fans’ outstretched arms. As the encore came to a close,the band played “Detroit Rock City.” In a finale of more fireworks and thank you’s to “the most loyal, most awesome fans in the world,” KISS left audience members a little harder of hearing and even more ready to rock.
“How you doin’ people?” yelled Paul Stanley to a screaming crowd, with cameras high in the air, at 10 p.m. sharp. “Did you come tonight to get some rock and roll? “Well you came to the right place.” Outrageous pyrotechnics exploded on the massive stage as frontman Gene Simmons belted out the opening hit, “Deuce,” amid a thundering roar from the 21,00 strong crowd, dominated by their famous fan following known affectionately as the KISS Army. Stanley followed up with “Strutter,” before embarking on a number of classic hits. This probably was the most prep we’ve ever done for a show,” said organizer Michele Stokley, citing a fleet of eight trucks, four buses, 900 pounds of dry ice and enough pyro to fire-bomb a city. “I’m going on probably an hour and a half’s worth of sleep, but when we see the show, its all going to be worth it,” she said hours before the headliners took the stage. Jan Moran was on cloud nine. “I just met Gene Simmons,” said the winner of The Observer’s Superfan contest, who earlier managed to swindle her way backstage to get up close and personal with the famous frontman — debunking rumours he wouldn’t make the trip to Sarnia. “He twirled me around and said, ‘Come here, sweetie,’ and we took a picture,” she added. “He said I looked pretty hot.” Moran and her galpals arrived at the much-anticipated KISS concert in signature rock-glam makeup and costume. The foursome snagged VIP tickets after submitted a contest video they’d dedicated to the band. But they weren’t the only ones dressed up. Devout fans donned the band’s infamous face paint – mimicking Simmons, the “demon” and Stanley, the “starchild” – clad in KISS costume and ready to rock and roll all night. Ron Dunlop and his sons, aged eight, six and three, were clad in full KISS regalia and makeup while waiting in line for much of the afternoon. The family made the trip from Chalk River, Ont. for the young trio’s first KISS concert. “It’s all the extra things they do to just make the show better than others,” said William, the eldest son. “I’ve been a fan since I was 14,” said Dunlop. “They treat their fans with so much respect, and they’ll do anything to please them. “They always put on a great show.” The group — Simmons, Paul Stanley, Eric Singer and Tommy Thayer –— is on a series of Canadian stops that include Orillia, Windsor, Ottawa, Quebec City, Montreal and Halifax.
We have been granted full access to COBO arena for filming interviews there with the artists about their experience there during its golden era. Time is running short for us to give artists one last opportunity to step into the hall that help make music history. Please pass this information along to anyone that can help us document the stories before COBO is gone. Contact us at www.liveatcobo.com.
Frehley, a longtime Gibson artist, will launch his second Gibson Ace Frehley Signature Les Paul guitar with the musical instrument giant later this year. His first signature Gibson guitar (in 1997) was one of the best-selling signature models of all time.
Puppy Love -NEW Episode 2 A&E The band behind "Love Gun" has no shortage of ammunition in store for its quick jaunt north of the border, which begins Friday, the reliably entertaining Simmons told The Canadian Press in a telephone call from his Los Angeles office. "Kiss always has the same firepower," Simmons said. "This is less of a tour and more of a warmup - you know, when you go to the gym and really push it hard and sweat it. " "No coasting. We're deadly serious about this." The Canadian trek will see the band playing festival stages and arenas in Sarnia, Ont., Orillia, Ont., Windsor, Ont., Ottawa, Quebec City, Montreal and Halifax. But Simmons said the band can adapt its elaborate show to whatever surroundings necessary. "We're like the Transformers - with much longer tongues," he said. "We can get bigger and smaller, so physically we're able to ... set up and do our shows in an arena or stadium." The fall will also mark the release of Kiss's first studio album since 1998's "Psycho Circus." Simmons refused to provide the title for the new record, but otherwise wasn't coy with details. He said the new disc will feature track titles including "Russian Roulette," "Modern Day Delilah," and "Stand." Lead guitarist Tommy Thayer will write and sing his first song on the album, while drummer Eric Singer will also get his first opportunity to sing a lead vocal on an original song. Simmons also promises there were no outside writers working on the Paul Stanley-produced disc. And as for the sound of the album? "No strings, no keyboards, no synths, no tambourines, no nothing - just meat and potatoes," Simmons said. In addition to the new record and tour, Simmons said he's still on the prowl for Canadian acts for his label, Simmons Records. In November, Simmons announced that in partnership with Universal Music Canada, he planned to develop and sign Canadian bands. Soon afterward, he began soliciting online demos from unsigned Canuck acts. On Sunday, he posted a notice on his website saying he was flying up to Vancouver to sign his first act, though he's since declined to elaborate. He will say that he has two more Canadian bands he'd like to sign after that. Meanwhile, the band is planning on taking some time off toward the end of the summer. "We have a lot going on, I mean there's Kiss M&Ms, there's Kiss Dr. Pepper, there's Kiss everything, soon it's gonna be Planet Kiss," Simmons notes. In late September, the band will head out on its North American tour, which Simmons promises will include a return trip north of the border. "We're gonna hit Canada again," Simmons said, "because you've been very bad and you need to be punished."
Friday – September 11, 2009 -7:00 PM – 9:00 PM Saturday – September 12, 2009 – 5:00 PM – 8:00 PM Wentworth Gallery For details on the VIP Reception with Paul Stanley or to RSVP please call 847-995-1190 or 800-732-6140
Simmons has been the mastermind behind many modern advancements in merchandising/licensing, including some of the larger licensing/merchandise deals for KISS (more than 2,500 licenses currently in effect around the globe), production of television shows and a series of KISS and Simmons-themed comic books sold around the world. "Gene Simmons is one of the most recognizable figures and groundbreaking businessmen in the world and we are pleased to have him be a big part of the 2009 Honda Indy Toronto," said Kevin Savoree, president of Andretti Green Toronto, promoters of the race. "We have had the pleasure of working with Gene and his team on several occasions and we know his unique, high-energy personality will be a great addition to the festivities at this year's event."
KISS fans around the world should have known God was on Oshawa's side when in May that Ontario town's Simcoe Street United Church showed its support for a KISS concert at their city's 6,400-seat arena with a sign on its lawn in big block letters that read, "CHURCH MEMBERS HAVE VOTED. BRING KISS TO OSHAWA." Oshawa was one of dozens of cities in the running for a KISS concert, and when voting closed on June 30, the Ontario town hard-hit by the collapse of the auto industry won with 14,573 votes, with Winnipeg next at 12,929. In fact, the entire top 10 was made up of Canadian cities, and when I suggest to KISS co-founder Gene Simmons that we should spell Canada with a K, he replies, "I like the idea!" Then Simmons muses aloud, "Maybe I should move to Canada. There's something to say about all the beautiful women in Canada. My wife Shannon [Tweed] is from Canada. When we're in Ottawa on July 15, it's going to be Shannon Tweed Day in Ottawa!" And on July 12 in Toronto, Simmons has been named grand marshal of the Honda Indy car race. In fact, on this last leg of their year-old Alive 35 World Tour, Gene Simmons and Paul Stanley, along with hired guns Tommy Thayer and Eric Singer (replacing Ace Frehley and Peter Criss in their original makeup) are bringing the KISS carnival to eight Canadian cities in 11 days. And Simmons saws Oshawa will get its own concert when KISS begins a new world tour in September (with 50 one-nighters in America alone) to promote their upcoming album out this October, their first of new material in 10 years and which Paul Stanley is producing. "There hasn't been an important rock band to emerge in the last 25 years that will still mean something in 100 years," Simmons says. "But from the end of the 1950s to 1980, there was Elvis, The Beatles, The Stones, Led Zep, ABBA - say what you will but they wrote great songs - KISS, there's a hundred bands from that period. All the music from Elvis to KISS was born before MTV, cellphones and the Internet. KISS still trains hard and every emo band at 19 can shine our boot heels! They're gonna get a lesson [from us]: You blow the goddamn place up!" What about unrepentant rock critics? "You know, I discovered a band [over 30 years ago] called Van Halen, I signed them [to my record label] and produced their demo. Critics hated them. When singer David Lee Roth was asked why the critics hated Van Halen and loved Elvis Costello, Roth said, 'Because they look like Costello.' It's still true." Still, this week all anyone can talk about is Michael Jackson. Simmons has refused all media requests to discuss Jackson on the record. Until now. "I knew Michael and met him. He was shy and charming and self-effacing and obviously very talented. [For me the real story is] sadly about the little boys - not a single girl - all of them little boys under 13 [who] sued him for child molestation. He was never convicted but we know he paid $20-million to settle a case. I think [Jackson] doth protest too much. The story is not complete. I want to hear what those little boys have to say." KISS has always been about the kids, from the millions who joined the KISS Army at the band's height in the late 1970s to fourth-generation fans filling arenas today. When Ace Frehley once trashed the band's fans because they were mostly kids, he was taken to task by both Simmons and Stanley, who know a good brand when they see one. "Ace is a sweetheart and has a heart of gold," Simmons says. "But he was a major drug addict and alcoholic which is why he and Peter [Criss] were thrown out of the band. You know, rock stars are morons. What Ace said about the kids was stupid and uncaring." Speaking of children, what does Simmons think about Chastity Bono, the daughter of his ex-girlfriend Cher, transitioning from female to male? "I love Chas," Simmons says. "I was living with Cher when Chas and [her brother] Elijah were kids and I was a substitute dad for a while. Life is short and we should all make up and be happy. And everybody else be damned if Chas isn't happy today, God bless. If Chas is happy, then she will have found the secret of life." KISS @ Bluesfest July 15
And he's about to rub shoulders with one of rock 'n' roll's most entrepreneurial stars: Gene Simmons. The 23-year-old Unionville man will be opening for KISS during some of the band's Canadian tour this summer. He was asked to drum for Frankie Whyte and the Dead Idols, a Toronto-based band, for the KISS gigs. "I didn't grow up being a hardcore KISS fan," Mr. Manara said. But he admires Gene Simmons' branding. KISS is regarded as an industry in terms of merchandising and branding and Mr. Simmons himself has many side projects, including a reality TV show, record label and clothing line. Mr. Manara said he's hoping to sit down with Mr. Simmons to talk. And he said the gig is a great opportunity - he'll be playing for KISS fans, some of the most dedicated out there. But ironically, though drumming started his career in music, it has been shelved as of late as Mr. Manara explored other opportunities. He started drumming in Grade 7 at Parkview Public School. His parents wouldn't buy him a drum set until he proved his dedication, he said. He stayed after school practicing until they got him one. Rock was his inspiration. Mr. Manara was a fan of bands like Guns N Roses, Metallica and Motley Crue. He played with many bands through his years at Unionville High School. Mr. Manara's first serious band was Vault. Their song "The Walls" was featured on the soundtrack of the film The Hills Have Eyes. But he left the band to pursue other career interests. "From there, I realized that song writing was the stable way of making money in this industry," he said, adding that if you're not a songwriter, you are easily replaceable in a band. For his new band, Broken Sons, Mr. Manara doesn't drum - instead he is the singer-songwriter. Though he still teaches in Unionville, Mr, Manara said he sold all his drums. So when Frankie Whyte and the Dead Idols asked him to drum for them, he had to practise intensely. Frankie Whyte and the Dead Idols were chosen by KISS for their sound: '80s glam rock. Mr. Manara said the drums are pretty intense on the band's songs. "I've been playing drums for six hours a day," he said, adding, "It's like a job. If you want to be a firefighter or a lawyer, you have to put the time in." He said the old sex, drugs and rock 'n' roll lifestyle isn't what the music industry is about today. "It's almost like investment banking. It's the risk versus return," he said. One of Mr. Manara's goals for this tour is promoting his clothing line, Rock Parlor. Its designs are based on classic tattoo images. The Ryerson business student said he's hoping to get some high-profile people in the music industry to wear his clothes. KISS's stops include big name festivals, where many other rock greats are on the bill. Mr. Manara will be drumming during stops at the Rogers Bayfest in Sarnia on July 10, the Bell Centre in Montreal on July 13, Cisco Bluesfest in Ottawa on July 15 and Commons Park in Halifax on July 18.
Yesterday, Acting Mayor Doug Thompson said the city was going to dedicate the day to Tweed when she arrives with her common-law husband who will take the stage with KISS that night as headliners to Bluesfest. However, the day Thompson officially takes over the duties of mayor he had to retract his statement after several councillors raised objections to the proclamation. One councillor was heard to say after today's meeting that the move was a case of "premature proclamation."
Parts of this episode were filmed during the SIA Ski and Snowboard Convention in Las Vegas where Gene Simmons and Jason Dussault introduced the new Gene Simmons MoneyBag Adrenaline Sports line. Also in this episode, Gene volunteers Carrot Top to crash a Vegas bachelorette party. Dussault comments, "From the episode title I'm not quite sure what to expect, but it was an amazing time at the SIA show with Gene, and I know a lot of great footage was shot there. I've now had several opportunities to be on 'Gene Simmons Family Jewels' in relation to designing the MoneyBag lines and every time has been an incredible experience!" A re-designed MoneyBag web site will feature the Adrenaline Sports products, retail locations and phone ordering. The Adrenaline Sports line will be available in retail outlets across North America for the fall of 2009. Visit www.genesimmonsmoneybag.com for current information. "Gene Simmons Family Jewels" is the award-winning hit reality TV series starring legendary rock star Gene Simmons and his unconventional family. Gene Simmons has owned the trademarked MoneyBag logo for over 25 years, and uses it on his magazines, book imprints, record company and other areas. Until he met Jason Dussault, he held off on going out into the marketplace with clothing lines. Simmons comments, "It has to do with finding a kindred spirit. And Jason is it. He and I share a passion for only doing things in life that mean something. Together we are creating cutting-edge, in-your-face extreme sports wear."
If you been reading KISSONLINE, it's no surprise to you now. We ARE done recording our new album. What might well be a surprise is that at the least, the album is right up there with our best. As much as we may have tried at some other times to achieve this, the chemistry, line-up or lack of total commitment from everyone might have been cause for it being impossible. Not now. Not this time. I know that when you hear it you will agree. Before we began the album, I said I was only interested in doing it if I produced and we followed set ground rules; Total commitment by everyone, pure guitar driven KISS, no outside writers, no outside players and my opinion and say would always be final. All said yes and I know we'd all say we've never had more fun together. All four of us made this our priority. Everyone was involved everyday. From the first day of writing to the last day of recording everyone was there giving 100% to making this the album we knew we had in us. I've never seen Gene more selfless (yes...Gene!), focused or harder working. His bass playing, songs and overall contribution help to make this the album you've wanted for so long. Without his spirit, this wouldn't have been possible. As far as Tommy's guitar playing, he took this chance at bat to consistently hit it out of the park. His playing is fiery and rooted firmly in our history, while making his own mark. Tommy's singing, writing contributions and total involvement made clear what's been missing for so long. In the twenty years I've known Eric, I've never seen him this relaxed or creative. His playing is the foundation of our next step forward. Relentless and full of spit and swagger. Many lead singers don't have Eric's chops or range. He's singing great on his track and all over the album. Wait till you hear what we've got for you. Do I sound proud of everyone and what we've done together? I am, and I should be. Eleven songs. Eleven winners. This IS KISS. Classic KISS. It's been a long time coming.- PAUL
Well the brand new KISS studio album is almost ready to go - actually more like ready to EXPLODE! We finished recording last week, with the exception of one tune that needs an hour or so more --- I have to tell you it KICKS! Paul has done a fantastic job keeping everyone in line and the direction clear. As you might have heard, all the tunes were written within the band and recorded analog -- which means hot, heavy and rockin' in the classic sense! We definitely didn't over-think it. From the beginning stages of writing, rehearsing and arranging the tunes, to putting the trax down on tape, we went with our GUT... kept it raw and real. We didn't go more than two or three takes when we recorded the basic tracks, which by-the-way, we recorded with all four of us together -- which is a rare (or non-existent) occurrence with bands in this modern digital age. We had a laugh when we were tracking the 11th and very last tune and Eric said, we have to get this in two or three takes like all the others or it ain't no good! The true test for how new tunes hold up is when you play them live. As everybody probably knows, we haven't played any of these brand-new songs in concert, but we did run a few of them at our sound check in Milwaukee last week. Yep, you guessed right... They SCORCHED! Our tour crew guys were like, HOLY S**T, what was that?!! It's been a gas doing this record with Paul, Eric and Gene -- truly a collaborative effort! I told the guys the other day that in my humble opinion, this is by far the most cohesive sounding record KISS has made in a long, long time -- meaning that ALL the tunes are great, the sound kicks my ass, and it all fits together perfectly as an album. IT DON'T GET ANY BETTER THAN THAT! Can't wait for you to hear it... You're gonna LOVE it! TOMMY
You Wanted The Best? Well the wait is almost over... I have been hearing KISS fans say for a longtime that "All's we want is NEW KISS music" ... Well, sometimes wishes do come true! Last December Paul called me up saying he wanted to make a new KISS record. He seemed very keen and was very specific about the approach to our latest endeavors. He basically said he wanted us to make a KISS record and music in the purest sense. Meaning No outside writers, the BAND plays on everything, and we use vintage equipment. Guess what? The end result is everything I could have hoped for. I have to say this has been the most fun and pleasure making a record I have ever been involved in. The chemistry and overall vibe really made for such a great atmosphere and the playing, sounds and songs just really capture what KISS is all about. Classic Rock & Roll. As we were working up song ideas everyone was very in tune and conscious of our goals at all times. Gene and Paul would retrace their steps from the past and focused on paying tribute to their roots of the early styles of Classic KISS by paying close attention to the way they sang and the sounds of the instruments. The camaraderie between everyone and especially Gene and Paul really made it easy for all to bring the best out of each other. Paul took the reigns and headed up the project like the leader that he has been for over 35 years but, this time with a renewed, inspired and very patient style (he is a great dad after all). He really knew what he wanted from each of us individually and collectively. We did the 11 new songs in small batches by getting into a rehearsal studio first to work up ideas. We then would move to the recording studio. The recordings would entail all of us playing "live" together in the room. As we captured each performance we would then add extra guitar parts and usually put a guide vocal on the track so we could live with it for a few days and make sure the tempos and vibe was right. By the way we used NO click tracks on this record I am proud to say. We really went for capturing the live feel and essence of each song. And, Paul, Gene, Tommy and myself are the only musicians playing these songs. A true band effort and performance! As for the songs? Well, no ballads, no slow songs, no filler... The band really has come full circle. Just pure straight ahead Rock and Roll that has all the elements that made you love KISS from day one. Everyone sings lead on a song (Tommy and myself) and even trade off vocal lines and parts throughout the record. Believe me the wait IS over and well worth it! I hope you all enjoy listening to it as much as we did making it... More as it happens! ERIC
Simmons and Tweed have lived in "unwedded bliss" since 1985 and raised two children. Tweed has a strong connection with the Ottawa area. She lived here in the early 1970s and was even crowned Miss Ottawa Valley in 1977. Simmons says the city plans to declare July 15 Shannon Tweed Day, although no one at City Hall yesterday would confirm that there would be a Shannon Tweed Day. "She's gonna fly in with me," said Simmons. "I think we're gonna tour Parliament. My guess is somebody's gonna throw a pie in my face." That seems unlikely, given the undying love Canadians seem to have for the makeup-sporting glam-rockers, who are releasing their first new studio album in a decade later this year and play a handful of shows in Ontario, Quebec and Nova Scotia this month. Earlier this year, KISS announced it would determine its upcoming tour stops based on fan voting. After the polls closed June 30, it was revealed the Top 3 cities on the list were all Canadian: Oshawa (14,569), Winnipeg (12,913) and Sault Ste. Marie (11,315). "Clearly, these cities are out of their minds," Simmons said. All three are "guaranteed" slots on the band's itinerary — though not necessarily in that order. Our home and native land's love for KISS goes both ways, he added. "More and more, I (think), 'Gee, I wish I was Canadian,' " he said. "There's just a purity of heart up there. I don't know how else to put it." Given his wife's heritage and the many ties he has to this country — he'll be the grand marshal at Honda Indy Toronto race on July 12, and his Simmons Record label (a partnership with businesswoman and former MP Belinda Stronach) is based in this country — he might as well apply for citizenship. "It's not a bad thought. I actually bought Shannon a house up there. I can't tell you where, but she goes up a lot."
Our new album (title of which you'll just have to wait a bit longer for) is just a few steps from being completely done. We're planning on re-visiting one of the eleven songs, to make sure it's gotten everything it deserves. Maybe re-arranging it one last time. Then, time to mix. The entire writing and recording process of the album harkened back to an earlier, more innocent time. A time that produced albums such as ROCK AND ROLL OVER and LOVE GUN. And, the new songs have that feeling, I have to say. It all started with a point of view Paul had. The view had to do with ignoring the times, ignoring the critics, not over thinking who and what we are...and that we had nothing to prove to anyone....nothing. We have been releasing albums and touring for 35 years and why wouldn't we want to do an "honest" record. Just do it!!! And, he wanted to produce the album himself!!! While it's true in the past we had produced KISS records together. And we had both produced other acts outside of KISS. But here was Paul saying he wanted to shoulder the responsibility and burden of steering the good ship KISS on his own. He was serious. And, I saw it was real. I saw the commitment he was going to make to the album and the band... and I agreed. We all trusted each other and saw the same vision of the band...and perhaps democracy is overrated...and sooner or later, someone had to decide. And I will tell you here and now, he's done a great job. The process of writing songs involved both writing separately, but often, in hotel rooms and rehearsal halls, literally starting from scratch and throwing riffs and chords at each other. Then working on melody and lyric...starting alone, then bringing it into the rehearsal halls and even during recording, we would often critique the lyrics all the way down to the last minute. Tommy really stepped up in the songwriting area....co-wrote some songs with us and actually sings his first song on a KISS album. Eric, likewise was always encouraging and of course, provided his always dependable bombastic drumming style. But unlike other drummers, Eric is also a great singer. Wait until you hear him tear it up on his lead vocal. What else, you ask? Well, Paul and I trade vocals on a few tunes and had a lot to say about each other's songs... Result? Maybe the best record we've done in 30 years. Bold statement? You bet. Wait till you hear it. GENE
For more than three decades, Paul Stanley has rocked in black-on-white makeup as lead singer and songwriter for the band KISS. Now, he's drawing audiences as a visual artist with his bright, multicolored paintings. His works will be on display at Wentworth Gallery at SouthPark mall this month, and he'll make two personal appearances. Stanley spoke exclusively to SouthPark in advance of his visit. Why did you decide to start painting? I had a background in art from when I was younger. I went to The High School of Music & Art in New York City. I managed to fail art. To me, creativity is something that has to be self-motivated, not punching a clock. It was more about rebelling against the idea of working to someone else's schedule. I understand it - it just doesn't work for me. No one works harder than I do, but I work hard at things that I want to do. So I obviously pursued the music, and haven't done too badly at that. At some point, given the opportunity and the time, I wanted to pursue other challenges. Painting is another means of expressing myself emotionally.
"It was awesome taking off and looking out the window at how high we were," he said. But that was nothing compared to what was waiting for him and his mom, Carol, after they landed in Milwaukee. They were flown there as guests of KISS, one of the world's most famous rock-n-roll bands, for a concert that night. Critter got to meet the band - Gene Simmons, Paul Stanley, Eric Singer and Tommy Thayer - before the show, take pictures during the show and returned home with a stash of memorabilia almost too big to carry. "When Tommy was on stage, he came down and gave me his pick," Critter said. "And Eric walked right up to me and gave me his drumsticks. It was pretty sweet." They also gave him a load of KISS merchandise, including notebooks, pencils, trading cards, action figures and... "Look, they gave me a KISS toothbrush that plays 'Rock and Roll All Nite' when you brush your teeth," Critter said with a big smile. The 11-year-old was diagnosed with acute lymphoblastic leukemia, a cancer of the white blood cells, in July 2007. For the next five months he underwent five rounds of chemotherapy and a round of radiation. On Nov. 9, 2007, he received a bone marrow transplant and spent six weeks in the hospital. He returned to Fourth Street Elementary School, and was in remission for 15 months, until this past January. He's been receiving chemotherapy all year and is back in remission. He'll continue treatments for three years, then must wait another five years before he can be declared cured. When a story about Critter that appeared on nky.com in March mentioned his love for KISS, word circulated among KISS fans and eventually reached Keith Leroux, who manages the band's Web site and merchandising. Leroux contacted the band, which was rehearsing in South America for its current tour. The next day, while in Cincinnati Children's Hospital Medical Center, Critter received two calls - one from Stanley and one from Singer. They gave him words of encouragement and invited him to a concert. "I knew they said they'd do something for him, but I never expected this," Carol Smith said about the all-expenses-paid trip. "I don't think I'd ever seen Critter so happy. He was on top of the world. Critter (whose real name is Christopher) said the band was in full makeup when he met them back stage before the show. "Paul walked in and was like 'Hey Gene, this is Chris,'" Critter said. "It was so cool that Paul knew who I was." Critter said Simmons was "a really big guy, and really nice guy." "He said to me - well, I can't remember what he said to me," Critter said. "I was just so stunned." Leroux said the band does things like this quite often, but is pretty humble about it. "They do a lot and donate a lot, but they don't like credit for it," Leroux said. "They're really good guys." Stan Smith, Critter's dad, said the band's generosity has lifted his son's spirits. "It's just so nice of them to do all of this for him," he said. Critter's next chemotherapy treatment will be Tuesday. He said he dreads having to go through it each time, but KISS makes it more bearable. "They really help me," Critter said. "KISS music really makes me happy"
Simmons, the bassist/vocalist for classic rock stalwarts Kiss, says he's less interested in Jackson's talent than he is in accusations that the singer molested young boys. "I want the kids who've accused him, to be blunt, of molestation, to have their say," Simmons told The Canadian Press in a telephone interview from Los Angeles on Thursday. "I want to hear what they have to say. Not celebrities. Let's celebrate the talent and everything later, let's just figure out if there are any victims here." Jackson, who died last week, was tried for child molestation in 2005 but was ultimately acquitted of all charges by a jury. He faced a similar accusation in 1993 but that case was settled out of court. For years, rumours swirled as Jackson hung around with child stars including Macaulay Culkin, and invited young boys for sleepovers at his Neverland ranch. Despite being acquitted, those close to him have said he never recovered from the charges. Since his death, glowing tributes have been rolling in from celebrities around the world, with few mentions of the allegations. Even U.S. President Barack Obama paused Thursday to say that Jackson "will go down in history as one of our greatest entertainers." Meanwhile, speculation raged Thursday about where the King of Pop will be buried, with some reports mentioning that there will be a public event in honour of the singer at the Staples Center in L.A. next week. Officials are also probing the circumstances around Jackson's death, and whether drug use was involved. Simmons, who's a popular - and reliably outspoken - reality TV star in addition to a rocker, said he initially declined to provide his opinion on Jackson, but that enough time had elapsed since the singer's death for him to break his silence. Simmons said he knew Jackson roughly 26 years ago. At the time, Simmons was living with Diana Ross and found Jackson to be "charming and shy and self-effacing, you know, very pleasant, obviously talented." Jackson paid millions of dollars to settle out of court with a 13-year-old who accused him of molestation in 1993, Simmons noted. "I want to know what that boy has to say," Simmons said. "So while it's sad that (Jackson) had this sad life and I understand, that's horrible - Michael's not the only victim. I want to know what these boys have to say."
The KISS lead guitarist will welcome another star-studded cast for an exciting two days of dinner, entertainment and golf in support of Pacific University’s 20-sport intercollegiate athletics program. Over its first two years, the Legends Golf Classic has raised over $250,000 for Pacific, benefiting both student-athletes and the general student population. Thayer will headline an exciting group of celebrities from the worlds of golf, music, entertainment and sports. For the third straight year, PGA veteran Shaun Micheel leads a top-flight list of professional golfers lending their name to the tournament. Joining Micheel, the 2003 PGA Championship winner, are local tour favorite Brian Henninger, up-and-coming pros John Mallinger and Jason Allred, and veteran players Tommy Masters and Esteban Toledo. Sean Fister, the reigning three-time world long drive champion, rounds out the field. Tapping into the world of music, the Legends Golf Classic welcomes back Warrant guitarists Joey Allen and Erik Turner, Iron Maiden drummer Nicko McBrain, Night Ranger frontman Jack Blades, Chicago founding drummer Danny Seraphine, legendary singer/songwriters Johnny Lee and Ray Kennedy, and Doc McGhee, the legendary manager of KISS and many other high profile rock groups. From the entertainment world, acclaimed actor Clint Howard returns for a second year at the Legends Golf Classic, as does actress and former Monday Night Football sideline reporter Lisa Guerrero. The world of professional sports will again be well represented at the Legends Golf Classic. NFL Hall of Fame running back Eric Dickerson and NASCAR legend Geoff Bodine return in 2009, as do former Major League Baseball standouts Chili Davis, Chuck Finley, Scott Erickson, Eric Karros and Jaret Wright. Bret Saberhagen, the former Kansas City Royals star pitcher, joins the Legends Golf Classic for the first time this year. Tournament spots are filling up quickly as the Legends Golf Classic is developing a reputation as one of the top golf events in the Northwest. The tourney opens on Sunday, Aug. 2, with a dinner and silent and live auctions featuring memorabilia from the music and sports world, trips and special concert opportunities. The evening concludes with a concert featuring Thayer and many of the other musicians playing in the tournament. The tournament continues on Monday, Aug. 3, with a putting contest, a professional clinic and 18 holes of golf on one of the premier courses in the Northwest. To reserve your place at the Pacific University Legends Golf Classic or for more information, including celebrity biographies and sponsorship details, please visit www.pacificlegendsgolf.com.
Voting in an online poll to determine KISS's route for a fall tour closed today, with Oshawa far in front with 14,573 votes, with Winnipeg next at 12,929. Organizers have said they'll weigh the results to take into account the size of cities in the running. Toronto is in eighth place with 5,304 votes. The result caps a two-month campaign by Oshawa to win the contest, with residents urged to vote early and often - by radio ads, a Facebook web page and a booth at Oshawa Centre mall. Robert Lutczyk, the city councillor who spearheaded the effort as a way to give Oshawa an economic boost, through everything from taxi rides to hotel rooms, was happy with the results - but now wants multiple KISS shows. "We don't just want to be another city on the tour - we want to be the double-double," said Lutczyk, who wants the band to play two gigs at the start of the tour and two at the end. Gene Simmons, flamboyant frontman for the makeup-wearing rockers, was yesterday named grand marshal for the July 12 Honda Indy Toronto. Lutczyk hopes he can lure Simmons to Oshawa to show him how much the city wants the band. He's even hoping to arrange a tour of the city's GM plant where the rocker could pick out a new Camaro. So far, KISS has not announced the dates for its fall tour, but Lutczyk said it would begin in September. Sean Shane, a KISS fan who in May put a decal on his GMC Envoy reading "Vote for KISS in Oshawa" along with a picture of Simmons's face, would love extra concerts. "We would hope that there's some sort of perk to being number one," in the online poll, he said, adding he'll put the tour dates on the side of his truck. "It's just fantastic to have them come as it is."
Who Dunnit? - NEW - A&E Episode 2 It’s a Fender, and senior master guitar builder and artist Yuriy Shishkov made this Telecaster just for Urban. Urban told me it was his love of KISS‘ Paul Stanley growing up and his Mirror Ball Iceman guitar that gave him the idea for his own decked-out guitar. “I was always mesmerized by his guitar. So we reached out to the guy who’d made one for Paul, so we could do a Telecaster with that same look. Like broken pieces of mirror all over it.” When I asked him how heavy it was, he said very. “I’ve had a ‘56 Les Paul and a Start that were real back breakers, so I should be fine,” he said. And when I asked him how it would sound, he laughed and told me, “You’ll be blinded into thinking it sounds good.” Urban didn’t get to see KISS play live until about five years ago. But growing up, he’d watched the band on television. “I saw that guitar, and it just stayed with me. I always want to add something to the show. Although I may only play it on one or two songs, because it’s pretty over the top.” Indeed, you can see the new guitar on his webisodes from his shows in the Carolinas. It is covered with hundreds of fragments of hand-cut mirrored glass. But because he’s Keith Urban — the man who’s occasionally listed in liner notes as playing the cardboard box — he makes the guitar look downright lightweight, and he makes it sound like he’s been playing it for years.
Gene Simmons, bassist/vocalist for classic rock stalwarts Kiss, has been named grand marshal for the July 12 race, organizers announced Monday. Simmons, who co-founded Kiss more than 35 years ago, was involved in the global marketing of the IndyCar Series for several years through his partnership in Simmons Abramson Marketing. "Gene Simmons is one of the most recognizable figures and groundbreaking businessmen in the world and we are pleased to have him be a big part of the 2009 Honda Indy Toronto," Kevin Savoree, president of race promoter Andretti Green Toronto, said in a statement. Simmons's business resume is almost as impressive as his rock catalogue. The tongue-wagging Simmons has been the mastermind behind many lucrative Kiss merchandising/licensing deals, the production of television shows (including "Gene Simmons Family Jewels," "Gene Simmons Rock School" and "My Dad the Rock Star") and a series of KISS-themed comic books. He also co-owns a Canadian-based record label, Simmons Records, along with Belinda Stronach. The Honda Indy Toronto takes place July 10-12 which coincides with the southern Ontario leg of an upcoming Kiss Canadian tour, including a two-night stand at Casino Rama's 5,000-seat Entertainment Centre on July 20-21.
The show gives fans and voyeurs a peek behind the makeup into the rock icon's family life with longtime girlfriend Shannon Tweed, son Nick, daughter Sophie and dog Snippy. Gene talked to AOL TV about his disdain for marriage, why he could take anyone's girl and how Adam Lambert may have already killed his post-'American Idol' career. Now that Nick's off at college, might he get his own reality show? I don't think he's interested, actually. He was just offered a motion picture, but it doesn't really appeal to him. He's got his graphic novel, called 'Incarnate,' so he's more about drawing and writing, and he's got music too. If the right movie comes along he'll do that. Likewise for Sophie. But the only job Sophie and Nick have is to do well in school and be charming young adults. That's it. That's their job. How has your notorious experience with women influenced the way you've raised Sophie? I hope the only lesson she ever learned from Dad, or the main one, is that women are trapped and you'll never get out of that unless you stop defining yourself by men. Women get married, they take the guy's last name. If you read all of those really stupid, idiotic women's magazines, all of them talk about how to stay eternally youthful. But the worst part of it is, "10 Ways to Keep Him Interested" or "10 Things He Likes to Eat." "What Is He Thinking?" "Where Is This Going?" All that stuff is the ruin of women, and Sophie understands that. Sophie has boyfriends, but she's nobody's girlfriend. Women are free. You are no longer indentured slaves. You can get married if you want to, and if you don't want to, that's OK too. Speaking of marriage, you're really never going to marry Shannon, are you? I'm never going to marry anybody. It's an archaic institution; it doesn't work. If you take a look at it strictly as a business, forget the emotions and the love, it's a failure. The statistics are horrifying. It's a financial model that doesn't work. You need a cohabitation agreement with individual counsel, so you two decide what the relationship should be, not the government. And if you don't do that, then when you get divorced, because statistics tell us you will, then somebody other than the mother who gave you life is going to take 50% of your gross pre-tax dollars plus the car, the jewelry, the clothing and the houses. Anybody I've lived with I've had a cohabitation agreement with, and I've lived with Cher and Diana Ross. And I would urge everybody to do that, especially since women find men with money to be appealing. Whereas we don't care if you have a dime. Do you mind if women are interested in you just because of your wealth and status? Well, you just have to understand where the minefield is. I'm aware that if I didn't earn a lot of money and have a certain stature then I'm less appealing to women. Period. Shannon included. Tell me if this is true: Two guys are talking, two girls are talking. The guy says to his friend, "I've got a blind date for you." The friend replies, "What does she look like?" Two girls are talking: "I've got a blind date for you." "Really? What does he do?" A guy pulls up in a Volkswagen from the 1960s and says, "Let's go on a date and eat beans and franks." Next day, same guy pulls up in a Rolls Royce and says, "I'm taking you to Paris" -- which one do you want? But men don't care if you have a job, a dime or a car. We just don't care as long as you look good. So would you find it intimidating if a woman was more successful than you? No. But a lot of men do. I'm delusional though. I think I'm God's gift. I'm the man all women dream of. I know I'm not the best looking guy in the world, or the worst looking guy. I have average looks. But I know I can walk into a party and take anybody's girl. Adam Lambert's performance with Kiss on 'American Idol' was amazing. But I'm a little bummed you've been talking smack about him ... I don't think I've been talking smack at all. In fact, if anything, I've been soft-peddling. He's enormously talented, best talent 'American Idol' has had, but I think he killed his career because now the conversation is not about his talent but about his sexual preference. He's done. You're forcing people to deal with issues they may not be interested in. Life is unfair, and the masses don't all live in L.A. They live in Wisconsin and Nebraska, and you're on crack if you think the same rules apply there. My advice is still the same, shut the f*** up, just sing and let people say whatever they want. But I do wish him the best because he's got all the talent in the world. If only the world was not homophobic, but it is. I would be the first one to vote for equal rights for gay women and men, and get the church and the state to stop telling everybody how to lead their lives, but do I think he's killed his career? Oh, in an instant. I hope I'm completely wrong. I hope he becomes the next Beatles and proves me wrong.
ONE LIVE KISS : Producers Paul Stanley & Louis Antonelli have received the Special CLASSIC GOLD TELLY AWARD, presented to Film & Video productions that are among the finest in the 30 year history of THE TELLY AWARDS. Founded in 1978, The Telly is the premier award honoring outstanding local, regional and cable TV programs, as well as the finest video and film productions. The 30th Annual TELLY AWARDS received over 14,000 entries from all 50 states and 5 continents. Among past winners of The TELLY AWARDS are industry leaders such as: Harpo Studios - Oprah Winfrey, Dreamworks, Pixar, Disney, Lightstorm Entertainment, TCM, Clear Channel Entertainment, CNN, A&E, Comcast, VH1, Time Warner, MTV, and Universal Studios.
Celebrating more than 35 years of painting their faces and blowing stuff up, Kiss, the undisputed monsters of arena rock, proved Saturday night at the Marcus Amphitheater that they've got plenty more rock left in their lycra-and-leather tanks. With a new album on the horizon, the rockers opted instead to dig deep into their catalog, tearing through a blistering set of tunes mostly plucked from their first three albums. Descending to the stage amid a series of fiery blasts on a metal platform spewing smoke - and with an image of bassist-turned-reality-TV-star Gene Simmons' serpentine tongue flicker splashed across towering video screens behind them - the band ripped right into the thunderous hit "Deuce" off their eponymous 1974 debut. With founding members Peter Criss and Ace Frehley absent from the tour, Simmons and guitarist-singer Paul Stanley soaked up most of the spotlight, strutting across the stage and interacting with fans throughout the set. A brief downpour and a few lightning strikes did little to dampen the spirits of the fans in the lawn seats who seemed more awed by the pyrotechnic mayhem onstage than Mother Nature's humble display. Dressed in a sparkling, rhinestone-encrusted spandex jumpsuit and wearing his trademark star-over-the-eye makeup, Stanley promised the crowd "something you will not forget" shortly before the band kicked into "Hotter Than Hell"- another early hit - as fiery explosions sent blasts of hot air over the crowd and Gene Simmons paced demonically across the stage. "Hey, Milwaukee - do you mind if we blow (expletive) up tonight?" Stanley asked, to the deafening applause of the crowd, many of whom themselves donned face paint. Simmons, who has experienced renewed celebrity thanks to his life-at-home reality show "Family Jewels," was never too far from the spotlight, whether he was blowing fire, stabbing a burning sword into the stage or wagging his oversized tongue like a demonic dog. The band stacked its set with songs from that 1974 debut album, including "Strutter," "Cold Gin," "100,000 Years" and "Nothin' to Lose," with Stanley telling the crowd the tour was about "celebrating how it all started." The rest of the show proved a dizzying spectacle, with countless fireworks, a drum riser nearly 50 feet above the stage and epic solos nearly as long as Simmons' tongue.
On Sunday, June 28, two new episodes of "Gene Simmons Family Jewels" will premiere on A&E. At 9:00 p.m., A&E will air "Economic Stimulus", where Gene will ring the bell at the New York Stock Exchange and spread the word about investing in America and longtime girlfriend Shannon Tweed does some spending of her own when she gets addicted to late night infomercials. In "Slumber Party", Shannon falls ill and it is up to Gene to keep an eye on Sophie and her five hyper friends, fend off a horde of horny boys trying to crash the party and track down one bad girl who sneaks out for a little rendezvous. Watch a preview clip of "Slumber Party" here.
DVD/FILM Of The Year “I think this concert will bring a lot of people to the city,” Ayotte said outside city hall yesterday. “I’m sure there are KISS fans from all over the region who will travel to Peterborough for the concert.” Superfan Darryl Andrews, 38, who has been a loyal KISS fan since he was seven, printed off “bring KISS to Peterborough” cards to collect people’s email addresses. “If they don’t want to vote online I’ll do it for them,” said. Andrews, who was dressed in a full Paul Stanley costume, complete with a black star painted over his right eye. “You don’t have to be a KISS fan to bring them to Peterborough.” The online petition can be found on KISS's website. The deadline for the contest is Tuesday at 2 p.m. Peterborough currently sits in sixth position, right behind Calgary. Oshawa, Winnipeg and Sault Ste Marie hold the top three spots. There’s nothing wrong with a little healthy competition with Oshawa, Ayotte said. “I think we always compete with Oshawa,” he said. “So it would be nice to beat them to the KISS concert.” If Peterborough is selected as one of the winning cities, KISS will bring their make-up and arena rock show spectacular for a one-night-only concert at some point in the fall.
Organizers have announced more than 150 acts who will play on eight stages in three separate areas -- named Le Ritual, Le Flambeau and Le Carnival -- around the city. Eminem's appearance is the only full-length concert he's announced in support of his chart-topping new album, "The Relapse," his first set of new material in five years. It will also be his first full show since the Anger Management Tour 3 tour in 2005. The Detroit MC is planning to release another album, "Relapse 2," this fall, but a release date has not been announced. Eminem's group, D12, will also perform at the festival. Other major acts on the Voodoo Experience bill include Justice, Gogol Bordello, Wolfmother, Eagles of Death Metal, the Black Keys, the Pogues, Ween, Silversun Pickups, Ledisi, Janelle Monae, the Cool Kids, Meat Puppets, Mutemath, Q-Tip, Fischerspooner, Brand New, Squirrel Nut Zippers, Black Lips, Mates of State, All Time Low, Robert Randolph & the Family Band, the Knux, George Clinton & Parliament-Funkadelic, JJ Grey & Mofro, Alejandro Escovedo, Shooter Jennings, Down, Drive-By Truckers, Eric Church, Earl Greyhound, American Bang and Generational. Among the Crescent City favorites taking part in the festival will be Cyril Neville's Blues Revue with Tab Benoit, the Rebirth Brass Band, New Orleans Bingo! Show, Beausoleil, John Mooney & Bluesiana, the Preservation Hall Stars, Lil Brian & the Zydeco Travelers, the New Orleans Klezmer All Stars, the New Orleans Jazz Vipers and Walter ''Wolfman'' Washington & the Roadmaster with the Dirty Dozen Horns. Fuse will provide on-air and online coverage of the Voodoo Experience and will broadcast a one-hour special on Nov. 7. Weekend tickets are available for $169, while LOA Lounge VIP passes are priced $475. Voodoo organizers are absorbing any surcharges this year. Information about the festival can be found at thevoodooexperience.com.
In a recent interview with LetterCult, artist Michael Doret discusses his iconic KISS "Rock And Roll Over" album cover and mentions he's working with KISS on their new album cover! Here's the KISS part of the interview: (Question) You said you drew your inspiration (for the KISS cover) from a job for a (Japanese) magazine cover, IDEA. Where did you get your inspiration for that cover? (Answer) The magazine was doing a feature on my work and they asked me to come up with a cover for that issue. I did the cover image to look like a shooting gallery. So the inspiration probably goes all the way back to Coney Island—but the direct inspiration was also vintage tin toys and tin litho target games. Anyway I did the IDEA cover first and the whole KISS / Rock and Roll Over thing came afterward. I loved the way the IDEA cover came out, the way I had them print it in Pantone colors—it almost felt like a silkscreen. I really wanted to go that route again. As the members of KISS were wearing Kabuki-style makeup, the Japanese-y approach I did on the IDEA cover seemed a perfect match. So I came up with that graphic and used a similar color scheme and look. We even did it in five flat colors—not in 4 color process. (Question) (The KISS cover) was like a shooting gallery then? (Answer) Not at all. It turned out to be more like a mandala, more Asian-influenced. I was just going for the look I had come up with on that other cover. The visual theme I chose came out of the album’s name, the “Rollover” thing. There was no “right side up” to that cover…An interesting side-note is that after all these years since I did that work for KISS, they’ve come back to me and asked me to design their next CD cover. It’s a big project, and at the moment, I’m totally immersed in it. www.lettercult.com/archives/529
We ARE just getting started!- Paul
Check out the video clip to hear Gene talking about KISS' arrangement with Wal-Mart while having a conversation with actress Denise Richards during a chance meeting at the Sirius Satellite Radio studios in New York City in early June. (Video shot and uploaded by Sirius' Jose Mangin.)
The KISS Coffeehouse's 3rd Anniversary Party will be held on Saturday, August 1st, 2009 in Myrtle Beach, SC. KISS Drummer Eric Singer will be the Special Guest! KISSONLINE will attend the event and a KISS Tribute band will perform. PACKAGE OPTIONS: Gold Package (FREE): • Meet & Greet w/Eric Singer!• Last In line For Meet & Greet (4 PM – 6 PM) Platinum Package ($25): • Meet & Greet w/Eric Singer! Double Platinum Package ($75): • Meet & Greet w/Eric Singer! Packages go on sale July 1 at www.kisscoffeehouse.com.
Psycho Circus was an album without a clear direction and vision. There’s songs on it…you start listening to and you go “what the hell is this??” It will be not the case this time. We are currently writing songs while staying in the hotel [during the South American Alive35 leg], Gene, Paul and myself sit down with the guitars in the hotel room and write down new tunes for the album. Yes, I’m going to sing on a new tune on the album and it is not titled “Shock Me”!! It's a great tune, there is something that people missed, and that I am a good singer, I am a good vocalist. I have much experience, but I've never been a solo singer. My voice works well on that and I think people will be surprised. For what concern new possible costumes for the fall tour a decision will be taken soon, I like so much the costumes from the Rock and Roll Over era, we will see.
This week, in "Godfather Gene", Gene and longtime girlfriend Shannon Tweed hit New Jersey to be the Godfather to a friend's newborn grandson and Shannon inadvertently starts a feminist uprising amongst the subservient wives when she refuses to fall into line with tradition. Watch a preview clip here.
Mixed, mastered...Done!!!!! It clocks in as one full hour of new music......... I'm waiting for my distribution company to get me solid release dates that we can decide on. I want "Anomaly" to be available to you in every store around the world that sells cds these days (and that number is shrinking). Digitally, "Anomaly" will be available on iTunes (with an exclusive bonus, album only track!!). Believe me, as soon as we decide on the release date..... you'll be the first to know. But for now, the "official" track listing for "Anomaly" is on the news page........ Talk to you soon...... Ace 1. Foxy & Free The tongue-wagging lead singer and guitarist for KISS, Simmons visited Graceland, Sun Studio, Beale Street and The Peabody, where he served as honorary duck master and signed autographs for fans in the hotel's famous lobby. Spokesmen for the Memphis attractions said they were sworn to secrecy about Simmons' visit and learned only this week the air date is set for 8 tonight. "They don't give you the air date until close to the time it's going to run," said Peabody public relations director Kelly Earnest. She said A&E network scouts arrived in the city prior to Simmons' visit in early October. On the day of the taping, he arrived an hour before the famous 5 p.m. duck march. "So he spent the time in the lobby talking to people and signing autographs. He seemed to especially like talking to the ladies," Earnest said. The rock star's partner is actress and former Playboy Playmate Shannon Tweed, who also is Simmons' reality show co-star, along with their children, Nick and Sophie. Graceland spokesman Kevin Kern said the Memphis trip was partly inspired by Nick Simmons' love of the blues and rock and roll, and his father's promise to expose him to the music's origins. A scene from Elvis Presley's Graceland is on a brief promotional video of the show on the A&E "Family Jewels" Web site, with Simmons and Nick getting an after-hours tour of Graceland. Allowed beyond ropes that block access to most visitors, Gene Simmons is repeatedly warned by Kern not to touch The King's things. While the video gives Simmons a bull-in-a-china-shop look, Kern said the warnings were partly "for effect." Simmons was actually "very reverent and respectful. He kept saying how he was honored to be there and how he paled in comparison to Elvis." At Sun Studio, Simmons arrived telling his son: "As a serious lover of the blues, Sun Studio is important. I mean it is the mecca of blues. This is where it all happened." Studio manager and recording engineer James Lott conducted the Sun tour, which he said began a little shakily. "He started out grumpy," but Lott said Nick Simmons told his father to relax, and they began to have fun. "It was surreal and fun at the same time," Lott said. "We started telling him a little bit about the history of the place. Then it developed into some mad, crazy thing where we played and jammed a little bit, with me playing the Dobro and (Gene Simmons) playing the electric guitar." Lott said Nick Simmons loved the sound of the Dobro and offered to buy it. "He paid me $700 for it," Lott said. "It was a great deal. I only paid $250 for it." Lott said he was surprised to learn that Simmons, originally an Israeli named Chaim Witz, had adopted the stage name Gene Simmons from rockabilly singer "Jumpin' Gene Simmons," a former Sun star who later had a top 20 single with the song "Haunted House." Show airs today: "Gene Simmons Family Jewels," an episode about a visit to Memphis, airs on A&E at 8 tonight.
Lambert performed with Kiss on the "American Idol" finale show and while Simmons is a fan of his voice, saying Adam has, "a future if he wants to sing in Queen or be on Broadway," in a recent TV interview with a Fox Philadelphia Fox - he said he thinks it's time to pipe down with the sex talk. "Mostly he should shut up about his sexual preferences. We, America, the rest of the world, really don’t care," Simmons said, adding, "I mean, if the story becomes ‘I prefer farm animals to,’ you know, who cares?" In the Rolling Stone story, Lambert also admitted to finding his roommate at the "Idol" mansion Kris Allen "hot." "I was like, 'Oh, s---, they put me with the cute guy ... Distracting!" Lambert told the magazine. "He's the one guy that I found attractive in the whole group on the show ... totally my type – except that he has a wife." How did Allen take that news? "I'm flattered," he told Peolple.com. "And I think it's hilarious.
Watch Stanley's appearance on "Fox News Rising": * Stanley of Flips off FOX Charlotte When asked about the future of KISS, Simmons talked of plans for a new album and tour. Then, out of nowhere, he took a swipe at Hard Rock headliner Santana. Video: Gene Simmons Slams Carlos Santana. “It’s time for us to go out and show the little boys how the big boys do it,” the 59-year-old said, “I’m sick and tired of these bands like Carlos Santana looking at his shoes and thinking that’s a rock concert.” “Get off the stage,” Simmons said. FOX5 did some research and found there has been an ongoing feud between the two rock stars since 2005, when Santana questioned Simmons’ musical ability and labeled him “Las Vegas Entertainment.” “A musician doesn't need the mask and the mascara so there's a difference between an entertainer and a musician,” Santana was quoted saying in an article posted on KNAC.com. Santana has obviously softened his stance on Las Vegas since signing a two-year deal to perform at the Hard Rock earlier this year.
1) WCCB / FOX TV / Fox News Rising @ 7:10 AM EST 2) WLNK-FM Radio / Bob & Sheri Show @ 9:10 AM EST 3) News 14 TV @ 10:30 AM EST 4) WCNC-TV NBC 6 @ 11:15 AM EST
This week, two new "Gene Simmons Family Jewels" episodes will air back-to-back, at 9:00 p.m. and 9:30 p.m. on Sunday, June 14. First up is "Memphis Blues", where Nick learns the blues first hand when an innocent business trip with Dad results in him taking the stage on the spot where the legendary Robert Johnson sold his soul to the devil 100 years before. That will be followed by "Fireman Gene", where Gene visits his mom on Long Island only to learn she has volunteered to him to host a fundraiser for the local fire department… and train with them. Watch preview clips below: "Memphis Blues", "Fireman Gene"
Casablanca was home to iconic hard rock acts KISS and ANGEL, as well as several of the decade's most visual and influential artists like PARLIAMENT, THE VILLAGE PEOPLE and DONNA SUMMER. "And Party Every Day" was written by Larry Harris, former Casablanca Vice President, who co-owned and co-founded the infamous record label with Bogart. Harris shares credit with co-authors Curt Gooch and Jeff Suhs, whose critically-acclaimed 2002 publication "Kiss Alive Forever" is widely regarded as the most authoritative book ever written on the band. With Harris's unique perspective, the world will finally gain a first-hand glimpse inside Casablanca, the record label which discovered KISS and was the living embodiment of the 1970s and the hedonistic, sex- and drug-filled Bacchanal that defined the Me Decade. The story of Casablanca Records is a thrilling three-act drama that perfectly captures the American Dream. On nothing more than a whim and the momentum of Neil Bogart's unstoppable enthusiasm, Casablanca launched in 1973. A mere five years later, Casablanca was the hottest record label in the world. In the pages of "And Party Every Day", you'll walk the halls of Casablanca's Sunset Boulevard casbah, past mounds of cocaine and empty Quaalude bottles, and watch from the front row as Casablanca carefully orchestrated the record industry to its designs, successes, and ultimate demise. In keeping with the Casablanca philosophy of "always give the fans something more," "And Party Every Day" will contain over 30 never-before-seen images and a heavily annotated Casablanca discography/videography section. The book will also become one of the very first publications to be promoted online featuring unreleased vintage film and video clips. The owners of the Casablanca label, Universal Music Group, have even made available the classic Casablanca logo and artwork for the cover via a first-of-its-kind licensing deal. Several additional co-promotes with prospective major media vendors are being considered. Official "And Party Every Day" Twitter and web pages will be launched in the coming weeks, along with a YouTube channel.
Charlotte’s #1 morning radio show broadcasts from WRFX and is syndicated in over 70 US Markets. CLICK HERE to vist the 'John Boy & Billy Big Show' Website.
Episode 2: Fireman Gene (30min) There has been no official confirmation of a KISS deal with Wal-Mart, although artists such as THE EAGLES and AC/DC have both issued recent albums exclusively through the giant retailer. In addition, AEROSMITH guitarist Joe Perry may have inadvertently let it slip that the band's next studio album will come out exclusively through Wal-Mart.
Economically besieged Oshawa has found something it can re-pin its dreams on: KISS As the auto industry continues its painful collapse, Oshawa, Ont., has become pretty desperate these days for a little good news. So in April, urged on by councillor Robert Lutczyk, the city endorsed a plan—peculiar even by municipal government standards—aimed at winning a contest hosted by KISS. The rock legends had called on fans to determine, via online voting, the route Gene Simmons and the boys would take on tour this fall. At the time, Oshawa was ranked 143rd as a potential stop. Suddenly, getting the city on the band’s map was a top priority. As part of the effort to get out the vote, Oshawa declared the week of April 27 “KISS in Oshawa Week.” This culminated in an event at a local mall where shoppers voted, pulled on KISS T-shirts, and had their faces painted like it was 1976 while, in many cases, their kids watched in horror. “No matter where you go, from the grocery store to the train station, [the contest] is the talk of the town,” says Lutczyk. “I’ve never seen so much excitement and energy around city hall in my life.” Even those tight with the big guy (that’s God, not Gene) are in on the action. For two weeks in May, Oshawa’s Simcoe Street United Church showed its support on its lawn sign in big block letters: CHURCH MEMBERS HAVE VOTED. BRING KISS TO OSHAWA. Several weeks and more than 12,000 votes later, Oshawa has vaulted into first place. In fact, at last check, Canadian cities, including Winnipeg, Sault Ste. Marie and Peterborough, make up the entire top 10 list. “KISS has always done well in the non-hipster centres,” says Alan Cross, host of The Ongoing History of New Music, a nationally syndicated radio show. “The smaller centres, the blue-collar concentrations, don’t have the choice,” he says. “So when an internationally renowned band comes through town it’s a huge deal.” For some of the smaller cities in contention for KISS, this is that once-in-a-lifetime opportunity. So with the possibility of seeing the famous tongue-wagging in person just a click or two away, it’s no surprise people are lunging at the chance. Still, nowhere in North America has the KISS army mobilized as strategically and with as much vigour as it has in Oshawa. “This is the headquarters,” laughs Lutczyk. “Oshawa Rock City.” Lutczyk, a regular on local TV and radio in the last couple of months, is a 41-year-old piano-playing former mayoral candidate turned army lieutenant turned city councillor who, admittedly, has never been to a KISS concert. He’s a fan of their music, but more importantly, Lutczyk figures that scoring the city a date with KISS will not only provide a “positive distraction” during these tough times and elevate Oshawa’s image but will generate about $1 million for the local economy. That argument, no doubt, carries a lot of weight with fellow councillors and the public. Since the city owns the General Motors Centre, a 6,400-seat arena in downtown Oshawa, taxpayers are essentially on the hook each night it sits empty. “Getting KISS here is going to open the eyes of promoters who will bring in more acts, more money,” says Lutczyk, who makes the comparison with the Rolling Stones’ appearance at SARS-stock. “Until the Stones played Toronto, tourism was like a lead balloon.” Though it’s possible KISS will build a tour around the contest’s top-ranked cities when voting closes on June 30, Cross suspects a typical big city tour that features the fan-route winners as “bonus” stops. Whatever the case, if Oshawa earns a spot “it would be the biggest thing since the Rolling Stones came here,” says Lutczyk, referring to a show at the Civic Auditorium on April 22, 1979. By that calculation alone, Oshawa is due. The same can be said for KISS’s return to Canada. Aside from a handful of upcoming dates in July, KISS hasn’t played in Canada since its “Farewell Tour” in 2000. “They’re guaranteed a sellout,” Cross says, “and a huge amount of swag sales.” And while Simcoe Street United’s Rev. David Moore took a little heat from a few of his older parishioners for the sign, most, he says, supported it and recognize that a KISS concert would provide a much-needed jolt to the besieged community. The most recent blow came in mid-May when the GM truck plant shut down after 44 years, taking 2,600 jobs with it. “[Oshawa is] kind of a sad place to be right now,” says Moore. And yet, says Lutczyk, the city’s ability to mobilize is proof of its resiliency: “It’s not all doom and gloom.”
Lifelong Claremont resident Tony Banks, 48, has almost fully recovered from a serious head injury that nearly ended his life 2 years ago. While attending his daughter Taylor's volleyball match on May 12, 2007, Mr. Banks fell off the bleachers while retrieving volleyballs. He dropped about 30 feet and hit his head on a nearby cement wall. He immediately fell unconscious and spent weeks in the Intensive Care Unit, where doctors performed multiple surgeries and removed a portion of his front temporal lobe. During a 3-week coma, Mr. Banks explained the sensation of being stuck in a crypt made of ice and screaming at doctors and family members above. In reality, he could not speak or move. While in the hospital, his wife Jacqueline played his favorite album and doctors said his blood pressure would improve while he was listening to the music. The album was Live to Win by Kiss guitarist Paul Stanley. "The power of music really amazes me," Mr. Banks said. After showing signs of improvement, Mr. Banks was transferred to Casa Colina in Pomona for rehabilitation and therapy. Mr. Stanley made a surprise visit to Mr. Banks after hearing the influence his music had in his recovery. Mr. Banks endured months of physical, occupational and speech therapy at Casa Colina and was able to relearn basic motor functions like walking and talking. "It was some of the hardest stuff I have gone through in my whole life," he explained. "It was so frustrating to not be able to button up your own shirt or tie your shoelaces. But I can't say enough about the staff at Casa Colina. They were just amazing." Today, Mr. Banks is back on his feet. He works for the Claremont Forum and is happy about the opportunity to walk to his job. He enjoys riding a bike and pursuing his passions of writing, listening to music and attending his daughter's volleyball matches. "Every time I'm on the bleachers, I hear the same joke over and over. Watch your step!" he said. Mr. Banks believes he is about 90 percent back to his old self, but still has a slight stutter and is not as quick on his toes as he used to be. "I feel like my mind is racing and my mouth is still trying to catch up," he said. He sees a neurologist regularly and takes daily seizure medication. The good news is he hasn't experienced a seizure for over one year. Mr. Banks grew up in Claremont and has been active in the community, especially as a coach and referee for AYSO & club soccer, Claremont youth girls’ softball & baseball and CHS volleyball. Formerly a production assistant for stage productions in Burbank and Hollywood, Mr. Banks hopes to get back into the entertainment business as soon as possible. For now though, he is enjoying the life that he nearly lost. "I've realized how all the small things in life are so important," Mr. Banks said. "I take one day at a time and stay in the moment. You really never know what tomorrow will bring."
The rock wildman reveals he recently suffered the ailment, but came up with a unique use for the solid formations of urinary minerals after passing it through his body. He says, "I passed a kidney stone and I put it on eBay for charity. (I got) $15,000."
On the topic of KISS' much-anticipated new CD, Gene said, "[It's the] first studio album in 11 years. And you can't force those things — either it's in your blood and it's happening or... This is, I have to say... this might be the best new record we've done since 'Destroyer'. In fact, it has a similar sound — 'Rock And Roll Over'-meets-'Love Gun' kind of a record. That's coming out in September/October, and then we're gonna be doing a 60-city American tour."
Friday – July 31, 2009 -6:00 PM – 9:00 PM For details on the VIP Reception with Paul Stanley or to RSVP please call 404-233-0903 or 800-732-6140 Saturday – August 1, 2009 – 5:00 PM – 8:00 PM For details on the VIP Reception with Paul Stanley or to RSVP please call 770-913-0641 or 800-732-6140
Through a deal brokered by Signatures Network, the KISS Virtual Concert Lighter is the first of several licensed tour lighters available at the App Store this summer. Other bands/artists soon to have their own Virtual Concert Lighters include THE WHO, POISON, and LIL WAYNE. Features of the KISS Virtual Concert Lighter include: The KISS Virtual Concert Lighter can be purchased in the App Store for only $.99. For more information about this and other Spark of Blue applications and games for iPhone and iPod touch, please visit .
Chico, CA - KTHU 100.7 FM The crew got the attention of Lowell Police Superintendent Ken Lavallee. After determining that they were not just a group of looting hoodlums, his vote was won and, being a good sport, he even had his picture taken with them. The band is holding an online contest to determine where they will play this summer. To demand that KISS play the Tsongas Arena, go to www.eventful.com/KISS and demand Lowell, MA 01852. Voting ends June 30.
Each box will include 24 packs of five cards with a suggested retail price of $1.99 a pack with autographed and memorabilia cards from the band’s four original members — Gene Simmons, Paul Stanley, Ace Frehley, and Peter Criss – included. (Odds still to be determined.) The 360 set follows on the heels of the popular KISS Ikons set that Press Pass released earlier this year. There will be a 90-card base set, made up of several subsets — nine Unmasked cards, nine The Demon Speaks cards where Simmons “reveals the secrets to his success,” nine 2009 cards with highlights from this year, 18 Behind the Curtain cards, 12 Road Stories cards, nine Behind Starry Eyes cards, six Welcome to the Show cards and 18 Albums cards focusing on, well, their albums. The insert card lineup will include Snapshots, a 12-card plastic insert (1:6 packs), and Transformation a six-card lenticular insert featuring mask on/mask off transformations that will be found one per hobby box. Also returning will be the Blood-spitting parallel cards as well as a few other surprises.
Voting will continue until June 30 and Buckcherry fans are expected to enter the fray. According to the Kiss camp, more than 8,000 cities and towns are already represented on the fan-submitted list. By voting, fans have the opportunity to purchase pre-sale tickets prior to the general on-sale and will also receive merch discounts and other perks. Fans are also encouraged to create their own viral videos online, motivating their fellow residents to participate in casting votes for a Kiss show in their city. City-specific "best-of" compilation reels of these videos will be shown on jumbo screens at venues before each concert. Interestingly, the top 10 markets in Eventful's Kiss demand, and 15 of the top 20, currently are Canadian cities. "Canada is a great environment for rock ‘n roll, they're rabid for it, they turn out, and they love their rock and roll, so the fact that it's going over well in Canada does not surprise me at all," Buckcherry guitarist Keith Nelson tells Billboard.com. Buckcherry has made great strides in establishing itself as a consistent headliner over the last few years. In 2008-09, the band grossed $9.4 million from 54 shows reported to Billboard Boxscore, many co-headlining with Avenged Sevenfold. That's an average gross of $174,226 per show, quite healthy indeed on conservative ticket price of $35-$40. So why veer off that headlining path to open for Kiss for 50 plus shows? "It's Kiss," Nelson says. "They're the biggest band in the world. They're legends." Nelson does believe that, to a degree, Kiss would like to tap into Buckcherry's younger demo. "I also think on some level they want to take a band out that doesn't suck," he adds. "They have a lot of choices of bands to take out, and we're truly one of the last rock ‘n roll bands out there. And I think they recognize that." In conjunction with joining the tour, Buckcherry will run a "Talk To Me" promotion to support their latest single. Fans can call the Buckcherry hotline at 213-784-4536 and enter by leaving the band a message and voting on the Eventful widget on the band's website Buckcherry.com. Fans all over North America can enter and Josh Todd or Keith Nelson from Buckcherry will call one winner in each of the chosen markets to advise that they are coming to their city with Kiss and that they have won the first pair of tickets to the show in their town. The contest ends May 30 at 11:59pm EST. The single impacts at active and mainstream rock radio on June 15. Kiss, which recently wrapped a sold-out tour of South America, is currently recording its first new studio album in 11 years. The band will release news about the album, which is being produced by Paul Stanley, at KISSonline.com.
Celebrating thirty-five years of rockin’ the globe, KISS founders Gene Simmons and Paul Stanley along with longtime band members, guitarist, Tommy Thayer and drummer, Eric Singer, vow to bring the KISS Army the time honored KISS spectacular that has made their performances legendary. The KISS Army is looking for a few good Humans to design art for the band's upcoming tour. Design Guidelines * For this contest we will accept two types of submissions: 1) Art based designs that do not contain any KISS logos or branding. AND 2) Designs that contain the KISS logo as well as other KISS design elements. (Please refer to the style guide for acceptable KISS design elements). Download KISS style guide. Note: Submissions containing KISS design elements that are not found in the provided style guide will be rejected. Prizes? Oh, we got prizes.... Band's Pick - Must Incorporate a KISS logo $1,000 Cash People's Pick - decided mostly by votes $1,000 Cash DBH's Pick - Original artwork $1,000 cash The awesome KISS Grab Bag will include cool stuff like games, collectibles, apparel, and much more! Will it be a set of KISS Guitar Hero skins? Maybe a sweet KISS dart board set.... An autographed poster? Maybe it's all of the above... Oh, one last thing....One of the three winners will receive a pair of tickets to a KISS concert with a meet and greet and photo opportunity with the band members! www.designbyhumans.com/special_contest/details/20.
David Coverdale: It's interesting. I first noticed this interesting fact several years ago in Scandinavia, actually it was in Sweden. I was looking at the audience, and going, "Wow, these people look like 14, 15, 16 years old. And it was easily a third of the audience. I had an opportunity to talk to some of these people, and they said that they don't get the kind of fullfilment from more recent or modern rock than they do from what people call classic rock. So they are very, very welcome to come to WHITESNAKE shows. I was having lunch the other day with Paul Stanley from KISS, and both of us agreed that this is an incredibly special time to be a classic rock musician. And neither of us would be thrilled at the idea of being a young band, trying to start out now in these unusual times. We're all very grateful that we still have this opportunity to perform to enthusiastic crowds.
The KISS / Adam Lambert American Idol Medley clip is currently #1 on iTunes Top Music Videos! CLICK HERE to purchase the clip.
Over at Amazon, "The Very Best Of Kiss" compilation is No. 1 in the Hard Rock & Metal > Pop Metal Bestsellers category. Other KISS albums charting as of this morning are "Alive!" (No. 23), "Destroyer" (No. 29), "Creatures Of The Night" (No. 41), "Gold" (No. 56), "Dressed To Kill" (No. 59), "Rock The Nation" DVD (No. 60), "Lick It Up" (No. 62), "Gene Simmons" (No. 67), "Ace Frehley" (No. 71), and "Greatest Kiss" (No. 82). As of 2008, iTunes is the No. 1 retailer of music in the United States, with Amazon at No. 4. KISS played to one of the biggest crowds of its career on the season finale of "American Idol". According to TV By The Numbers, the show was seen by 28.8 million viewers.
The singer performed with the rockers onstage during Wednesday night's final in Los Angeles and Simmons was so impressed, he's offered Lambert a guest spot on the Kiss tour. Simmons says, "Adam was fantastic. What a powerful and attractive man he is. He can come on tour whenever he'd like." And Lambert, who was the clear favourite to win the American Idol crown, insists he's considering the offer. He tells U.S. news show Extra, "That would be amazing... I would love that. That'd be such an honour."
The Kiss bassist took to the stage during the final of the US TV talent show on Wednesday (20.05.09) and reportedly struggled to contain himself when a pretty woman approached him backstage. FOX News reports "After his wild performance with Kiss, Gene Simmons was clearly feeling the buzz and wanting to do more than just kiss as he came backstage. "'Don't I look hot,' Simmons said as he stuck out his trademark tongue (which is also body-painted) before grabbing a random good-looking young girl and thrusting her as she hugged him." During the show, Gene performed with finalist Adam Lambert, who finished in second place behind Kris Allen. In 2005, Gene appeared as a guest judge on the show - alongside Simon Cowell, Randy Jackson and Paula Abdul - but has previously admitted he did not enjoy the experience. He said: "You have gone out for dinner with three friends every week and you're comfortable. Now a fourth person has joined you. It becomes that horrible, icy politeness when you are getting to know somebody. I hated it."
KISS and Adam Lambert Blow Up American Idol The two American Idol finalists counted down their last two hours Wednesday night with the rest of the Top 13, singing their way through an A-list of special guest appearances to find out who would be the Season 8 American Idol. And as he did in his performances on Tuesday evening, Adam Lambert proved again why he was in the final two. And who better to prove what a rocker he is than with arguably one of the greatest performing acts of all time -- KISS? Adam Lambert stood at center stage and began the acapello intro to "Beth," unquestionably KISS' slowest song. Dressed all in black, dressed like a glam rocker, Adam had mesh wire constructs on his shoulders that were vaguely reminiscent of wings, sort of like a KISS costume starter kit. But then Adam Lambert introduced KISS to the audience and the stage exploded. The opening chords of "Detroit Rock City" began as an hydraulic lift dropped the band onto the stage where Adam joined them. Rhythm guitarist and lead singer Paul Stanley and Adam Lambert traded off lyrics, then the song transitioned into "Rock and Roll All Nite." On that audience favorite, bassist and sometimes lead singer Gene Simmons and Adam Lambert traded lyrics. The song ended with Adam belting his trademark scream.
This quickly turned, of course, into KISS’ anthem song. Gene Simmons made the song hot, Adam set it off. It this wasn’t the YouTube moment of the season, then I don’t know what was. Lambert definitely got the best number, and I’m ready to call it the best finale in eight years. Carlos Santana had the unenviable task of following the act. He strummed out some of his famous licks, which felt very slow-paced after the unbelievable energy KISS brought to the theatre. I was actually screaming to see more KISS by this point.
Millions of Americans rocking to Detroit Rock City and Rock and Roll All Night as KISS was front-and-center on the American Idol finale show performing with eventual runner-up Adam Lambert. Even though he finished second to Kris Allen, Lambert was the real winner last night with the KISS Army. Not one, but three KISS hits. And better yet, KISS is coming out with a new album and will hit the road for a new tour. Do you think Adam Lambert might find his way on stage during the tour? It will be KISS' first album since 1998's "Psycho Circus," which went to #3 on the Billboard albums chart. Sure Gene Simmons and Paul Stanley are the only remaining originals in the band (they're joined now by Eric Singer and Tommy Thayer) . Ace Frehley is out on and his own now and 63-year-old Peter Criss got out of the business in 2004. Ace and Peter, you missed out on this one! I've been in the KISS Army since the 70s when the make-up wearing rockers first hit the scene. Small world. David Glickman was in my class in school growing up in Cleveland and his father Carl did management work for KISS. How cool was that. David kept us all supplied with plenty of KISS albums. David was one of the few people I ever knew in the 70s who actually saw Gene, Paul, Ace and Peter without make-up on. Word always spread quick when the band stopped by his house in Shaker Heights. Cleveland was a regular stop when KISS was on tour and to this day KISS concerts rank as some of the best I've ever attended. I saw them a couple of times with my friends at the now torn down Richfield Coliseum. What a show! It was a big thrill to see them play a few years ago on one of the network New Years Eve TV specials. My 12-year-old son even has KISS on his Ipod. Thanks to American Idol, he and his brother and mom and dad joined forces together in the KISS Army last night.
Regardless of whether or not he's crowned "American Idol" champ, he already stole the show with a jaw-dropping, fist-pumping, pyro-enhanced performance with legendary rockers Kiss. Lambert started things off solo, wearing a studded, sorta-angelic ensemble (leather epaulet, withwings and all), performing a somber, falsetto'ed version of "Beth." Then as the pyro hit, Kiss themselves descended from the heavens and launched into a big-time take on another staple (from the same year, 1976), "Detroit Rock City." Lambert strutted and belted it out, drawing "Wow ... Did he just hit that note?" looks from guitarist Paul Stanley — and wearing a pair of platform boots that made him right at home with the glammed-up dudes in Kiss. Then, with more pyro flaring, it was into "Rock and Roll All Nite," with bassist Gene Simmons and Lambert trading verses (then, in an inspired split-screen, Simmons, Lambert and Stanley all sang in unison). After even more pyro, a smashed guitar and one seriously long note from Lambert, it was all over ... Minus Simmons spitting up blood, it was everything you'd get from a Kiss show, mashed into roughly four minutes. A very fiery (and pretty amazing) coronation for the man who could be "Idol" king.
Displayed work includes original KISS sketches from the 1996 "Reunion" tour and the "Hostage Girl" piece, an Ajax original from the official 2004 NEW YORK DOLLS tribute album "Jet Boys Of Babylon". The "Hostage Girl" design was originally licensed for CD packaging and promotional materials by American imprint F.L.R. in 2004. The piece and designer quickly became the center of controversy after the artist (Ajax Garcia) was forced to alter his work by covering up partial nudity to fit the retail market place. A move the designer disagreed with stating, "I design under the First Amendment." The "Hostage Girl" design depicts a nude woman with her hands and arms tied behind her back with her mouth gagged. Show information: Visitors to Rock Stars’ Cars & Guitars 2 can get an up-close look at: - Star guitar, circa 1980: formerly owned by Paul Stanley and used on the Unmasked / European/Australian tours, 1980. - Axe bass guitar, circa 1983: formerly used by Gene Simmons on the Creatures of the Night tour. - Starchild costume worn by Paul Stanley on the KISS Alive Worldwide Reunion Tour in 1996. - Demon costume worn by Gene Simmons on the KISS Alive Worldwide Reunion Tour in 1996. - Spaceman costume worn by Ace Frehley on the KISS Alive Worldwide Reunion Tour in 1996. - Catman costume worn by Peter Criss on the KISS Alive Worldwide Reunion Tour in 1996. The exhibit is free to members or with Henry Ford Museum admission. CLICK HERE for more info on the Exhibit.
These clips are being released to promote a continuing series of KISS auctions from eBay seller EliteWorks. This week's 58 auctions feature several highly-sought after KISS items, including the 1977 Marvel comic book, a complete set of guitar picks from the "Revenge" tour, 1992 autographed letters, tons of vintage 1980s posters, as well as Gene Simmons' blood-and-makeup-stained microphone cover from Texas, during KISS' historic 1996 "Reunion" tour. The CD was produced and recorded in Westchester County, New York between 2007 and 2009 and is being mixed by Marti Frederiksen, who has previously worked with AEROSMITH and DEF LEPPARD, among many others. "Anomaly" track listing (not confirmed): KISS, one of the most influential rock bands of all time, will be performing in the Main Grandstand Arena at 7:30 p.m. Tickets go on sale Thursday, May 21 at 10:00 a.m. There will be a KISS ARMY presale..stay tuned for details. You can buy tickets at the California Mid-State Fair box office, online at www.midstatefair.com, any Vallitix outlet, or charge by phone at 1-800-909-FAIR. In addition, a special phone number has been added to better serve ticket buyers: 866-872-2007. Read the full press release from the California Mid-State Fair below. KISS Coming To The California Mid-State Fair The California Mid-State Fair is pleased to announce that legendary rock and roll band KISS has been signed to perform at the 2009 Fair on Tuesday, July 28th. KISS will be part of the California Mid-State Fair's 2009 Budweiser Concert Series and be performing in the Main Grandstand Arena at 7:30p. Tickets for the show will be $67, $52 and $42, and go on sale Thursday, May 21, 2009, at 10:00a. Tickets will be available at the California Mid-State Fair box office, on-line at www.midstatefair.com, any Vallitix outlet, or charge by phone at 1-800-909-FAIR. In addition, a special phone number has been added to better serve ticket buyers... that number is 866-872-2007. KISS is regarded as one of the most influential rock and roll bands of all-time and their career milestones are staggering. KISS holds honors as one of America's top gold record champions, recording 36 albums over 32 years selling over 75 million albums worldwide. Popular songs include "Rock and Roll All Night", "Detroit Rock City", "Love Gun", "Beth", "Calling Dr. Love" and "I Was Made For Loving You." Known for their stage costumes and make up, their live performance will feature full pyrotechnics, fire breathing, blood spitting and smoking guitars. The band is made up of Gene Simmons (vocals/bass), Paul Stanley (vocals and rhythm guitar), Tommy Thayer (lead guitar) and Eric Singer (drums). Gene Simmons is also the star of A&E's hit unscripted series "Gene Simmons Family Jewels", which will kick off its fourth season on Sunday, June 7th. KISS has never performed at the California Mid-State Fair. The California Mid-State Fair is known for booking top-level entertainment, with the likes of Aerosmith, Tom Petty, Journey and John Mellencamp having performed in the past. This year's theme is "Take A Ride On The Wild Side"... the 2009 California Mid-State Fair runs July 22, 2009, through August 2, 2009.
"We are looking forward to working with Gene Simmons and having him assist in furthering the Affliction brand," commented Eric Foss, Owner and Creative Director of Affliction. "We launched with a rock aesthetic and while we have branched out to include other lifestyles including action and pro sports such as surf, skate, motocross, football, baseball, boxing, and MMA, we have held fast to our rock 'n roll roots." Gene Simmons commented, "I'm Gene Simmons. And you're not. I only get involved with entities that share my passion for vision. And that means my way or the highway. That takes creativity, an arrogant, almost delusional belief in self and a take-no-prisoners attitude in business." Since Affliction's launch in August of 2005, the line catapulted to the forefront of men's fashion and is now found in the hottest boutiques and high end department stores, on the heaviest bands, and on A-list celebrities.
Press Release: The KISS Army and fans everywhere can now rock and roll all nite long and party everyday in the new and only officially licensed costumes and accessories from KISS Costumes.com. The online retailer features all four of the original band member's, the Demon, Starchild, Catman and Spaceman, costumes in a variety of sizes for toddlers, children and adults. These costumes and the matching accessories have also been approved by the band. The high-quality costumes were inspired by the Rock the Nation Tour. Each is stitched to perfection and feature silver embellishments that are unique to the individual members of the band. The elaborate Demon costume includes wings and gloves with attached spikes while the Starchild costume is decorated with rhinestone stars. The Spaceman costume features removable, foam arm circles and foam trim. Silver, metallic fabric lines the Catman costume which also laces up the front and has cutouts on the thighs. KISS Costumes offers shoppers and fans a complete package. Matching boots, wigs, masks and makeup kits complete each individual look. Both half and full masks with hair are available and the makeup kits include step-by-step application instructions. The kits also feature cover art of the designated member in a letter of the band's name. Fans can collect all four to spell out KISS. Other exclusive accessories such as belts, armbands and a buckle can also be purchased from KISS Costumes. The online store also sells fire hats that feature a replica of Paul Stanley's signature and the KISS logo. They resemble the hats Stanley gave away after the band's performance of "Firehouse". The Web site's friendly navigation makes it easy for consumers to search and find the items they want. Products are organized into size and band member categories and each feature a detailed description. A customer service team is also standing by to answer any questions.
While Stanley's work is enough to please any Kiss fan - think vibrant colors, fiery images and evocative themes sound familiar? - the artist aims for a wide-reaching audience, from the connoisseur to the neophyte. "You don't need a degree (to appreciate art) and you don't need a person to tell you what good art is," said Stanley, 57, during a phone interview with the Community News. "Art, like music, is about connecting emotionally." Painting isn't new to Stanley, who proved talented at visual art at a young age. Enrolled in the prestigious Fiorello H. LaGuardia High School of Music & Art and Performing Arts in his native New York City, Stanley pursued this path but considered the rigid boundaries of classrooms and deadlines stifling to his creativity. "I managed to fail art. I got myself more and more involved in music which really was my dual passion. Nobody took my musical pursuits seriously, which was perfect because I was left alone to do what I needed to do," said Stanley. Later, as Kiss exploded onto the rock and roll scene, Stanley's artistic flair came in handy for designing the band's elaborate stage sets and intricate album covers. About 10 years ago, he picked up the paint brush once more. This time, the dormant passion served as an emotional outlet, he said. Shows and exposure in general weren't part of the plan, but his work captured attention in the art world. Recalling his first gallery show in Hawaii, about three years ago, Stanley said he had no idea what to expect. He was pleasantly surprised. "It was successful beyond what I had conceived. To be surrounded by your own creations is pretty gratifying. When you create works that are reflection of who you are, it's kind of like being in a house that you built. The shows are terrific in that sense," said Stanley, whose artwork pieces sell for around $70,000. The Wentworth Gallery show bisects a busy year for Stanley, who recently finished the South American leg of the Alive/35 tour with Kiss and is currently working on the band's first album in a decade, set for release this fall. Not to mention fatherhood - Stanley and his wife, Erin Sutton, welcomed their second child, Sarah Brian-na, in January. (Stanley and Sutton, who reside in Beverly Hills, Calif., also have a toddler, Colin Michael, and Stanley has a teen-age son, Evan Shane, from a previous marriage.) As for his extended Kiss family, Stanley's fire-breathing band mate/reality star Gene Simmons happens to live right in the same neighborhood. ("I can see his ego from here!" joked Stanley.) It's his everyday life that Stanley credits as his artistic influence. Said Stanley, "I think that, basically, if you're waiting for inspiration, you're not living. Every day that I live is filled with inspiring moments. So I go into my art studio and pick up the brushes and just go." Wentworth Gallery is located in The Court, 690 W. Dekalb Pike, in King of Prussia, Pa. Hours are 10 a.m. to 9 p.m. Monday through Saturday and 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. Sunday. Stanley will make appearances from 7 to 9 p.m. May 15 and 5 to 8 p.m. May 16. For more information, call (610) 337-8988 or visit went-worthgallery.com.
IN CONCERT - North Carolina’s Tribute to the hottest band in the world--- KISS! LOVE GUN is a tribute to KISS that draws influence from the 1977-78 Love Gun tour, and will be performing THREE shows on Saturday, May 16 at 5, 7, and 9 PM at the Fort Bragg Fair to celebrate Armed Forces Day. Fort Bragg is known as the "Home of the Airborne and Special Operations Forces". Come prepared to Rock and Roll All Nite and Shout It Out Loud! Don’t forget the meet-and-greet with LOVE GUN after each show! The Fort Bragg Fair is OPEN TO THE PUBLIC! May 16 at Fort Bragg Fairgrounds Just in time for the upcoming rock band’s world tour, a new company called Spark of Blue Software has released the app on the AppStore for a mere 99 cents. When you go to a concert, you can run the app on your iPhone display like a screen saver and wave the flame around without any worry of burning your hand. This is just the first of a series of Virtual Concert Lighters coming from the Los Angeles startup for the iPhone and iPod Touch, based on licenses from famous bands in partnership with the live concert firm Live Nation, and artist representative firm Signatures Network. The KISS app comes with a choice of 24 official lighter cases, “concert mode” that emits a screaming rock guitar chord if you shake your hand, a user-programmable scrolling text marquee, and a realistic swaying flame. Concert lighters based on other bands are coming this summer. Spark of Blue Software has four employees and is self-funded. It’s the brainchild of Vincent Bitetti, a former video game executive and music label founder who has spent his whole career working with licensed products. In the early 1990s, Bitetti created a company called Sound Source Interactive, which made sound bytes, screen savers, and other fun stuff. It sub-licensed its business to Berkeley Systems, which made the famous Flying Toasters and Star Trek screen savers. Sound Source went on to create all sorts of desktop personalization software through the 1990s and it moved into children’s video games. The firm went public in 1996. In 2000, Japan’s TDK bought Sound Source and made it into TDK Mediactive, which made video games based on the Shrek film license and Pirates of the Carribbean. In 2003, Take-Two Interactive bought TDK Mediactive. Bitetti moved on to run game developer Crave Entertainment as president. He left to start a record label, Shelter From the Storm Records, but sold his interest in that to his partner last year. In December, he started Spark of Blue Software with Bob Bryant, a seasoned game development executive. Beyond the virtual concert lighters, the company also plans to build two other classes of iPhone apps: virtual worlds and games. The company works with Rhode Island’s Koinkydink Software to build the apps. Spark of Blue Software will evaluate making its apps for other smart phones beyond the iPhone. It will be interesting if the brands take off on the iPhone, where so far many home-grown apps have succeeded. Rivals include Zippo, which has a free lighter app, and Smule, which has its own virtual lighter. Bitetti thinks that the brands are going to gain traction as long as they’re part of a quality product. That’s the only way to stand out among 40,000 apps, Bitetti thinks. I’m sure there are more rivals, and there will be many more to pile into this market, since we all know that the number of iPhone app makers in a certain category is directly proportional to the lack of societal value of the app. Of course, if Bitetti comes out with a Bruce Springsteen concert lighter, I’m all over it.
Oshawa is only 350 votes from knocking Winnipeg out of the top spot for KISS's fan-routed North American tour. In a rocking and rolling campaign to bring the legendary band to Canada's Motor City, Durham politicos are again appealing for all residents to log on to eventful.com/kiss to cast a ballot for KISS to come to Oshawa. It's a battle being waged from the Internet to the council boardrooms -- Oshawa city council even proclaimed last week, "KISS in Oshawa Week." Councillor Robert Lutczyk guaranteed the 'Shwa will overtake the 'Peg by this weekend. "We are not just sitting around idle here in Oshawa," Lutczyk said yesterday. "We are implementing phase 37 of our plan. erations are underway to maximize our voting." n pressed about what exactly "Phase 37" included, Lutczyk said he couldn't reveal it because it would give the other cities an advantage. 're Oshawa Rock City, the number-one KISS centre in North America," he said. "This is like second nature to us ... It's an election campaign."
“My first introduction was when I saw them on the Paul Lynde Halloween Special,” said Dubé, who was six at the time, of the 1976 television special. “I remember seeing them and I thought they were amazing and I wanted to be like them.” Today, at 39, Dubé is as close to being a member of the band as one can — he is the drummer in the KISS tribute band Fried Alive. The group features four members performing classic KISS hits in full makeup. Wearing his makeup and sitting behind his drum kit, Dubé only sings one major KISS song — Beth — but will be singing the praise of his favourite band this Friday at his workplace. Dubé said he plans to go to Stream on Dundas Street West at this week’s end in full makeup and encourage his co-workers to visit kissonline.com where people can vote to bring KISS to their city. The city that gathers the most votes — Belleville is currently sitting at No. 93 — will be rewarded by having the band play there. For Dubé, bringing KISS to Belleville would be a major accomplishment. “I’m spreading the word to the KISS Army and trying to figure out how I can get as many people as possible to vote,” he said. “I’d love to see them here. They’re almost like superheroes the way they’re dressed up and the make-up and there’s lots of theatrics. You just don’t see bands today who are anything like them.” It’s not just Dubé who is spreading the word and trying to have more people cast their vote online. The Belleville and District Chamber of Commerce has also come on board as a promoter. Angela Genereaux, the chamber’s chief executive officer, said a notice had been sent out to all members encouraging them to cast their vote. “It’s exciting. Anything we can do to bring KISS to Belleville is great,” she said. “We have already witnessed the benefits of Big Music Fest and the Classic Rock Festival so just imagine the excitement we’d see in a city of 46,000 if we brought KISS here.” Votes can be cast at www.kissonline.com or visit www.intelligencer.ca and follow the link.
The clips were released to promote a continuing series of KISS auctions from eBay seller EliteWorks. Clip 1, Clip 2, Clip 3. You can see the auctions here.
Dussault commented, "This opportunity represents a major strategic shift for Dussault Apparel to focus on its core strength in design and merchandising development and work closely with Gene Simmons and Concept One in building a strong Extreme MoneyBag brand collection in apparel and accessories targeted initially at the adrenaline and action sports market." Michael Rosen of Livin' The Dream and Extreme MoneyBag sales agent remarked, "In my 20 years in the action sports industry I don't think I have ever seen a brand launch with this much excitement. The dealers we have met with have all been interested in bringing in the line and see the potential for brand expansion. The rep force all feel the same or they would not be here. We have the top reps in the industry giving us access to the top shops. We really have everything we need to make MoneyBag a huge success." Gene Simmons and Jason Dussault successfully introduced the Extreme MoneyBag brand collection to an enthusiastic audience of buyers and action sports retailers at the February SIA show in Las Vegas. The story of the introduction will be featured this summer on A&E in segments of "Gene Simmons Family Jewels" reality series. Jason Dussault added, "Concept One has built successful licensed apparel and accessories with such well-known brands as Sean John, X Games, Xbox, Levi's Red Tab, Disney and the United States Polo Association. In addition, they have built successful programs with key league sports properties including: the National Football League, Major League Baseball, the National Basketball Association and the National Hockey League. Concept One's entertainment product line has an impressive roster of current and legendary rock bands." Sam Hafif, president and founder of Concept One, stated, "We love the combination of Gene's in-your-face style, and Jason's edgy design. The board culture is bound to adopt MoneyBag as their new counterculture lifestyle brand. Concept One is excited to be part of the launch of this brand. We will be launching tee shirts, hoodies, and headwear for the fall/winter 2009 season, followed by small leather goods, bags and other apparel categories." Concept One is the premier resource for licensed fashion, sports, and entertainment accessories. Its integrated portfolio contains an unprecedented offering — creating the ultimate go-to resource for men's, women's and children's licensed accessory products.
Think you're the wildest, craziest fan of the hottest band in the world? Create a video showing why you're the ultimate KISS fan, and you could be a winner! Fan video finalists will be shown on the video screens in each city on KISS's tour roster, and five (5) Grand Prize winners will receive a pair of concert tickets for the city of their choice, plus a meet and greet experience with the band! Rules: CLICK HERE TO ENTER THE DEMAND-IT ULTIMATE KISS FAN CONTEST.
OSHAWA -- Do you love Kiss? Well, you can prove it on Sunday at the Oshawa Centre. There will be a kiosk set from noon to 5 p.m. to spread the word about Oshawa's efforts to have the legendary band play a concert here at the General Motors Centre. To show that Oshawa is behind an Internet voting contest, people can visit the booth where there will be face painting, Kiss memorabilia, free draws for a T-shirts and ballots to win a Gene Simmons Wii guitar skin. The possibility of 70's rock band Kiss playing a show in Oshawa is becoming more of a reality by the minute. The votes for Oshawa keep rockin' and rollin' into the social-networking site Eventful, pushing the city to second place in the standings with 9,796 votes shortly before noon on Saturday. Winnipeg is in No.1 spot with 10,466 votes and Sault Ste. Marie is third with 8,758 votes. Kiss is mapping out its upcoming North American tour by choosing cities to play in based on votes. Fans are able to vote for their hometown to be one of the band's tour stops by entering their e-mail address and city information on the website, and Oshawa is proving powerful. "We just need to get the votes," said GM centre marketing manager Cortney Ager. "In one day, we climbed from 40th to like eighth. We can get to No. 1." Fans can cast their votes at www.eventful.com/kiss.
The story centers on a flower extract factory owner (Jason Bateman) who's dealing with workplace problems and a streak of bad luck, including his wife's affair with a gigolo. Mila Kunis will play a factory worker, Kristin Wigg is Bateman's wife, and Ben Affleck is his lawyer. Clifton Collins Jr. is another factory worker who loses a body part in a freak accident and is now due for a huge settlement. "Extract" is set for release on September 4, in limited release, and nationwide on September 11, 2009.
Legendary Rock God multi-hyphenate Gene Simmons and his unconventional family are back and better than ever for an all-new season of A&E’s hit unscripted series “Gene Simmons Family Jewels” premiering with a special one-hour episode on Sunday, June 7th at 10:00 PM ET/PT. The 15-episode season kicks off with Sophie’s sweet sixteen party, giving viewers an all access pass to the milestone celebration. When a case of sibling rivalry spirals out of control, Nick pulls on dad's heartstrings and his sense of theatrics to escalate the low key party she wanted into the blowout of the century, all to the dismay of shy Sophie. In addition to Sophie’s sweet sixteen, the new season will give viewers a behind the scenes look at the entire family’s many adventures. From Gene’s appearance on “Are You Smarter Than a 5th Grader?,” to Gene filming a Japanese monster flick, to Shannon preparing for a role in a roller derby exploitation film, to Nick getting his own apartment, to Sophie fending off ill-intentioned teenaged boys, viewers will follow the Simmons-Tweed clan as they set out to prove, yet again, why they are the most non-traditional, traditional family in America. Leslie Greif, Adam Reed, Adam Freeman and Gene Simmons are the series executive producers. “Gene Simmons Family Jewels” is produced by The Greif Company and the Gene Simmons Company. Robert Sharenow and Neil A. Cohen are the A&E Executive Producers.
In Wishology, after being anointed The Chosen One who must save the universe, Timmy travels to the Middle-Aged Rock Festival (M.A.R.F.) in Las Vegas because he believes the rock band KISS may hold the key to battling The Darkness. Upon his arrival in Sin City, he is shocked to learn that the members of KISS (with cameos by Gene Simmons and Paul Stanley as their animated selves) are actually The Galactic Guardians of the White Wand. Unfortunately for Timmy, his fairy godparents have gone missing so he must continue his quest to the far side of the universe alone. With no one else to rely on, Timmy must look to three of his nemeses – Vicky (Grey Delisle), Mr. Crocker (Carlos Alazraqui) and Dark Laser (Kevin Michael Richardson) – to help him defeat The Darkness. Clip 1, Clip 2
The camp launches Wednesday night with a kick-off party and all-star jam at the Gibson Showroom in Beverly Hills, and concludes with the campers and their counselors performing live at the Whisky A-Go-Go on May 3. Counselor Bruce Kulick will maintain a daily blog from the camp beginning on Thursday (April 30). An auction of autographed memorabilia from all the participating rock stars will also be held at the closing show. Proceeds will benefit the MusiCares foundation, which provides assistance to musicians in need. Rock 'N' Roll Fantasy Camp has been held since 1997, with upcoming editions scheduled for New York, London and Milwaukee. Previous guest counselors have included VELVET REVOLVER's Slash, Roger Daltrey of THE WHO and Brian Wilson from the BEACH BOYS.
“Timmy was going to find this wand, and we needed a guardian for the wand,” Hartman said earlier this week. “And we were thinking, ‘Who could guard this wand — a metal dude? What if it was a rock band, like [the wand] was guitar? That would be kind of cool.’ Hartman and Fellows, both longtime Kiss fans, considered creating a Kiss-like band for this key moment in The Fairly OddParents: Wishology because they initially thought they’d never land the real thing. “The name of the band we were going to use was called Smooch, and they were going to have heart makeup on their faces,” Hartman said. Nevertheless, they decided to “put the feelers” out to the Kiss camp, just to see if there was any interest in being part of Wishology. “Not only did they say yes,” Hartman said, “but we got to use ‘Rock and Roll All Nite,’ and Gene Simmons gave us the rights to the makeup designs.” Simmons and fellow Kiss mate Paul Stanley lend their voices and appear as their animated selves in the first and third episodes of Wishology. In the trilogy, Turner is anointed The Chosen One, and he goes on a whirlwind search for a magic wand that will help save the universe. He crosses paths with Simmons and Stanley – the Galactic Guardians of the White Wand – at the Middle-Aged Rock Festival in Las Vegas. “We did our best to honor them and to make them look good,” Hartman said of Simmons and Stanley. “If you look at the designs, they look really super-awesome and muscular. When you think about Kiss, they’re kind of like cartoon characters or superheroes in the first place. Even though they’re people, they always wear the outfits.” Wishology contains a brief tribute to one of Simmons’ most famous attributes. “We have one bit where Timmy’s playing guitar and he uses his tongue to lick the guitar, and Gene says, ‘Dude, that’s a long tongue.’” The Fairly OddParents: Wishology will air at 8 p.m. Friday through Sunday on Nickelodeon.
KISS dealers, giveaways, door prices, a huge KISS museum (with stage cloths etc.), video screen, 2 KISS cover bands (KISSner & Alive III), the authors of the POSTER book and much more... Tickets and more info: www.kissarmysweden.com.
The clips were released to promote a continuing series of KISS auctions from eBay seller EliteWorks. 56 items are being auctioned this week, including one of the 1970s official KISS "lost toys," a blood-stained Gene Simmons pick from the reunion tour, a band-signed "Revenge" promo poster, a 1977 Madison Square Garden after-party invite as well as dozens of 1970s and '80s KISS posters including the official "Alive!" and "Alive II" stage posters. You can see the auctions here. Clip 1, Clip 2, Clip 3
For 365 days running, James painted everything from a juicy hamburger and a bunch of bananas to a weightlifter on his mug. James, 47, admits: “The worst bit is painting the inside of my nostrils because I end up spitting out the colour for hours.” Famous figures the American has painstakingly daubed on to his face includes rock legends KISS (pictured). James, from Three Oaks, Michigan, was inspired to be an artist by the work of Picasso. He says: “I have become obsessed with face painting. I think about what I can do next all the time.” To see all of James’s face paintings, go to http://www.flickr.com/photos/hawhawjames.
We’re talking about singers – no screamers, no screechers, no foghorn-voiced frontmen. Over 20 pages we look at the best rock singers ever to have drawn breath and then let it out to such stunning effect. PAUL STANLEY: "KISS' show was amazing, but I think the fact that their show was so spectacular often caused you to overlook how good Paul's voice was." - Billy Squier A consummate hard-rock vocalist, over four glorious decades Paul Stanley has carved out his rightful place among rock's Mount Rushmore of singers. Combining primal power and passion with the brimstone fury of an evangelical preacher, Stanley's multi-octave voice electrified such KISS classics as "Love Gun", "Detroit Rock City", and "Strutter". His remarkable vocal virtuosity is a hallmark of the KISS canon and his stylistic range is impressive: ballsy rock ("Got to Choose"), rock anthems ("Flaming Youth"), Zeppelin-style metal ("Makin' Love"), disco ("I Was Made for Lovin' You"), power pop ("Tomorrow"), R&B ("Easy As It Seems"), grunge ("It Never Goes Away"), operatic pop ("Just A Boy") and acoustic balladry ("Everytime I Look At You"). Greatest Vocal: "Anything For My Baby" from KISS' 'Dressed To Kill' (1975). A muscular song that illustrates Stanley's bruising vocal chops.
"I'll make for him my incomparable salmon souffle, which is light as a cloud, melts in your mouth, tastes like heaven," Rosen said. Rosen said he's not a member of the KISS Army, but he does like Gene Simmons. "I don't know them that well, but I have seen Gene Simmons' Family Jewels," he said. "I think he's a riot. I think we'd get along." Kingston is still in fourth place in an Internet contest where fans can "demand" the iconic 1970s rock band play in their city. Still holding onto the top spot is Winnipeg, followed by Oshawa and Sault Ste. Marie. A total of 8,134 "demands" have been cast so far. Rosen said he and Simmons have a lot in common that nobody knows about. "And no one will ever know about," Rosen joked. Rosen isn't the only Kingston official who is ready to entice KISS to come to the city. Kingston Police Chief Steve Tanner appeared on Kingston's K-Rock radio station Thursday to help spread some excitement about the contest. Tanner said he was asked by the station to get involved and jumped at the chance. "I kind of look at it as similar to that hockeytown sort of competition to put Kingston on the map," Tanner said. "They're certainly icons in the rock world," Tanner said. Tanner said a big part of policing is a sense of community and appearing on the radio station was a chance for community involvement. "Anything we can do to further the image of Kingston, the profile of Kingston, is a part of what the police department should look at doing," he said. "Beyond our regular formal investigations, crime work and community policing, I think there's a bigger picture for this city." Tanner said the show was light-hearted, but he wasn't kidding about enticing the band to the city. "We'll do anything in fun or with the group if they decide to come here. I'm sure there are opportunities for us to play a role in that," he said. "Of course it would be a policing event for us as well, so we keep that in the back of our mind," Tanner laughed. Tanner said another reason he is helping to entice the band to Kingston is their relationship with police. "Probably more behind the scenes than publicly, but they are very supportive of police," he said. "While they may portray the wild and crazy rock-and-roll side of things, they also have a social conscience."
All three songs are set for inclusion on "BK3", Kulick's third solo album following 2001's "Audio Dog" and 2003's "Transformer". Other guests scheduled to appear on the album include legendary vocalist Doug Fieger (THE KNACK), Tobias Sammet (EDGUY, AVANTASIA), Nick Simmons (Gene Simmons' son), and former KISS cohorts Gene Simmons (singing lead vocals on a track co-written with Kulick called "Ain't Gonna Die") and Eric Singer (who contributed drums on the track vocalized by Sammet). "BK3" is expected to be released in the fall of 2009.
Paul has been working with friend and fellow wine lover Andrew Roper on the creation of his own wine for the U.S. market, and as he was saddened by the recent Victorian bushfires, he suggested that the first wines out of the barrels (made exclusively for his own brand to be released in the USA in 2010) be donated to Red Cross, whose work includes helping people during emergencies. In addition to the wines, Paul has also donated the original artwork for the label to be auctioned with the wines. Andrew Roper of Wines To The Stars suggested this could be a unique way of helping people in need through Red Cross, and has co-ordinated the wine, bottling and labeling for the limited and specially handcrafted large format bottles. Roper said: "We have decided to offer something unique that will capture the imagination of bidders. We are in fact presenting the opportunity to bid for wines that are 'one-off bottles' and extremely rare and collectible. Also, the added opportunity to own a piece of art history, a real genuine showpiece to hang in their home, office or where ever they desire. It is Paul's and our wish that we can raise as much as possible for this very special charity and Paul has personally signed each of the labels as well as the original painting. These wines will be fantastic collectables for years to come. It is only fitting that we use the international and popular status of Paul Stanley as well as one of Australia's great boutique wine producers, to create interest to attract bidders to raise as much as we can." The Paul Stanley Collection wines will be only available in exclusive restaurants and casinos in the USA. Wine company Kaesler Wines of Barossa Valley, South Australia has for years impressed the American and international critics with high-rated boutique Barossa wines and has been selected to produce the wines for Paul's exclusive wine brand. Wine maker and owner Reid Bosward has combined with Wines To The Stars and Paul Stanley by way of donating the small batch limited wines and bottles. Bosward stated: "As we are producing the wines for Paul's future label, we are only too pleased to offer our winemaking expertise and assistance to help raise funds for people in need." The Paul Stanley Collection wines will be an exclusive production of only a hundred or so cases, and the wines will be some of the best ever produced from the Barossa Valley. These wines are made for the long term, and being bottled in the large format bottles, will keep for well over 20-30 years.
The event, which will benefit the Arlington-based recovery center for artists and entertainers, will be hosted by Lynn Hoffman of A&E's "Private Sessions" and comedian Chris Zito. For more information, go to this location.
"I figured there must be a way to get people to vote," said Berlingieri, who in real life is a 33-year-old elementary school teacher. In what is believed to be the first-ever "fan-directed tour," Kiss is literally asking their fans to tell them where to go, "whether they have to play a big city like Detroit or a corn field in Iowa," he said. That was two weeks ago. Berlingieri's ecstasy turned to something else in the following days as he logged on to kissonline.comand, despite his most diligent voting efforts, watched Sault Ste. Marie, Ont., linger around the bottom end of the top 200 cities. All that changed this week. He and a friend contacted Trevor Zachary, marketing and events manager for the Essar Centre, who spread the word. By mid-Monday, the Sault was closer to the top 100; by Tuesday morning, it had cracked the Top 10. An apparent frenzy of voting leapfrogged it to No. 3 by 3:30 p. m. The Sault is surrounded mostly by much larger centres, most Canadian. Winnipeg has topped the list from the beginning, followed Tuesday by Oshawa, Kingston. After the Sault, Calgary, Toronto, Dallas, Peterborough, Ottawa and Edmonton round out the list. Votes are weighted on a per-capita basis, so Belingieri is confident the Sault is on the map for a typical 20-to 25-city tour. But even he couldn't have predicted "we'd get up there that fast. I guess I didn't realize how many closet fans there are out there." Though the city boasts a "strong nucleus" of fans it's not a hotbed of Kiss Army members, he said. Rather, he thinks the typical resident is attracted to the idea of seeing the spectacle that Kiss has become known for in its 35-year career. "I think Kiss has been around so long that everybody knows about them and their fantastic stage show. It's a show you have to see at least once in your life."
The clips were released to promote a continuing series of KISS auctions from eBay seller EliteWorks. Among this week's 53 items: promotional-only releases such as the sampler LP for "Rock And Roll Over" and "Gimmie KISS", a 1990 greatest hits compilation; 1975 autographs from Ace Frehley and Peter Criss; loads of promo CDs and 8-tracks, a used Gene Simmons blood cup, and the mega-rare blue label seven-inch single for "C'mon And Love Me". Clip 1, Clip 2
Darryl Andrews is calling on members of the KISS Army to unite, lead the charge and vote for Peterborough in an online contest that could bring the rock band to the city. The KISS Army is the name of the group's fan club and a general term describing KISS fans. Andrews, the 38-year-old co-owner of Hair's the Thing on Dublin Street, has loved KISS for most of his life, describing the band as the perfect blend of rock stars and super heroes. "KISS has been part of my life since I was six years old," he said. Andrews has seen KISS in concert 24 times, attended fan conventions and watched the band through its different phases. Now he's watching the band's resurgence of popularity, he said. But he's always had to travel to other cities to see them, and the contest creates the possibility of taking his two daughters to the show. "And here's a chance to have them come play in your neck of the woods," he said. "When you see a KISS show, it's a whole other experience," he said. "They're larger than life." When he heard about the contest he immediately linked to the voting web-site from his Facebook account, Andrews said. That's gotten his friends and family voting, he said, but he wants to see a strong effort from everyone. Even those who don't like KISS should vote, he said, because the band's fame will shed positive light on concert venues such as the Memorial Centre. "We need to get more acts in there. We need to get more bands," he said. A KISS concert would also bring additional money and fun into the city, he said. And if Peterborough wins, Andrews promises his hair salon will step up and help fans prepare for the show. "We'll be having a big hair thing if KISS comes to town," Andrew said.
Gene is participating in this event, which will be taking place in Los Angeles on May 1st and 2nd, and will also be launched across North America throughout the year. To learn more about this wonderful charity and this particular event, please visit: RALLYFORKIDS.COM If you would like to sponsor Gene and support his participation in this cause, please visit: GENE SIMMONS DONATION PAGE
The band offered a full two-hour concert with lights, fire and explosions, in which fans listened to classics like Rock and Roll All Nite, Lick It Up and I Was Made For Lovin' You. In Thursday's press conference, Gene Simmons said: “This show will be an incredible spectacle that has never been seen here before.” This was what the people thought when they attended yesterday's KISS concert in the Rinconada. Gene Simmons (bass and voice) Paul Stanley (voice and guitar), Tommy Thayer (lead guitar) and Eric Singer (drums) waited behind an enormous curtain bearing the logo of the band near 9:30 p.m. as "Won't Get Fooled Again" boomed across a wide stage filled with amplifiers and bars of lights. Throughout the concert, Simmons showed his popular and notorious tongue, and Stanley danced on the stage. The four musicians, with their suits of leather and metal, platform shoes and faces covered with white and black greasepaint in the Japanese kabuki style, played classics from their 35 year-career, like Hotter Than Hell, Strutter and Got To Choose on a stage with four giant screens and multicolored fireworks. Stanley did not stop praising the country and Caracas, and in a mixture of English and Castilian, he stated that “I do not speak much Spanish, but I understand it and it is in my heart”, something that shocked the public, composed of various age groups and fans wearing makeup similar to the band. Then the band played Nothing To Lose. Parasite and She followed in the repertoire, which then gave way to Tommy Thayer's guitar solo, who also used his guitar to shoot fireworks. Thayer now wears the space suit that Ace Frehley donned for a long time. Eric Singer also had a solo - he inherited the post left by Peter Criss and the deceased Eric Carr -demonstrating his powers as drummer on a platform that rose in the air while he played. The band segued into more classics and later demonstrated their affection to the crowd in a mini cover of the chorus of Guantanamera, in perfect Spanish. Let Me Go, Rock and Roll and Black Diamond followed. It was 11:00 p.m. when the band launched into Rock and Roll All Night, one of its major hits, accompanied by an explosion by lights, flames and confetti. The four musicians retired for a brief moment, soon to return and offer, possibly, the most exciting moments of the night. Shout It Out Loud, Lick It Up, and Forever were the prelude to the spectacle of the “Demon” Simmons. Illuminated by a fluorescent green light, Simmons played his axe-shaped bass while red blood poured from his mouth and stained his armor. Continuing his non-conformist act, Simmons rose to the ceiling of the stage, where he played I Love it Loud, accompanied by the band. I Was Made For Lovin' You, their disco classic, followed with Simmons rejoining the band on the main stage. But the Starchild, Paul Stanley, did not lag behind Gene, and his interpretation of Love Gun saw him mounting a cable that took him above the public to the other side of the stage, where the sound consoles were mounted. With Stanley back at the front of the stage, they closed the night with Detroit Rock City, again accompanied by an enormous fireworks explosion and the ecstasy of the fans that spent two hours witnessing an event that showed exactly why the American band became so popular. Kiss demonstrated that after 35 years of history, they continue offering unforgettable concert spectacles that are difficult to equal.
Friday, May 1, at 8 PM EST Paul is pictured with Butch Hartman, creator of the Emmy- winning television series, 'The Fairly OddParents' .
A store full of fans that turned out to meet the iconic rock guitarist was stunned by the surprise airing, and responded with wild enthusiasm when the song was played. Immediately after the song ended, the store broke out in applause. "Very cool… heavy… reminds me of early KISS," said fan Curtis Feliszak of Burbank. An exact release date for "Anomaly" has not been set, but an announcement is expected in the next two weeks on AceFrehley.com. The CD was reportedly produced and recorded in Westchester County, New York between 2007 and 2009 and was mixed by Marti Frederiksen, who has previously worked with AEROSMITH and DEF LEPPARD, among many others. Ace is planning a world tour in support of the CD and promises many more promotional appearances as the album release gets closer.
Friday – June 12, 2009 -7:00 PM – 9:00 PM Wentworth Gallery For details on the VIP Reception with Paul Stanley or to RSVP please call 704-365-2733 or 800-732-6140
The classic rock band is asking North American fans to vote online for which cities they should hit for their next tour. The top four cities so far are Canadian, as are eight of the top 10. Winnipeg has the most votes, followed by Kingston, Ont., Oshawa, Ont., Calgary, Toronto, Ottawa, Edmonton and Saskatoon. Dallas and New York City are the only American cities in the top 10. Oshawa's Mayor John Gray is pushing hard for Kiss to visit his beleaguered manufacturing city, which has been beset by job cuts and the slumping economy.
KISS PRESS CONFERENCE AT HOTEL KISS kicked off its South American tour on April 3, 209 at the sold-out, 18,000-capacity Municipal De La Florida in Santiago. The group's setlist included the following songs (not in exact order): 01. Deuce The 20-year-old - who stars alongside his family in reality TV show Family Jewels - will unveil his creation Incarnate at the San Diego, California event. Simmons tells Brazilian newspaper Com?rcio do Jahu, "Nick is a cartoonist. He writes and draws Incarnate, which will be launched in Comic Con San Diego." The Kiss rocker is thrilled with his offspring's career choice - because he's a huge graphic novel fan himself. Comic book icon Stan Lee recently revealed how the star once harrassed him on a flight for insider gossip: "I once sat next to Gene on an airplane. (He's a) huge comic-book fan, apparently. He starts quizzing me: 'You know, Stan, that Iron Man issue you wrote, number 23, on page 10 in panel 3, where...' And I say, 'Slow down, mister. I can't even remember where this plane is going.'" Meanwhile, Simmons hasn't given up hope Nick and his daughter Sophie will one day join him onstage. He adds, "Nick and Sophie are studying piano and guitar. I told them that if they learned to read music, they'll be able to make music with confidence."
What we need from you... If you did a KISS fanzine, please send us the name of the fanzine, how many issues/years of service. Also, send us a page bio about yourself, how you became a KISS fan, why you decided to put together a KISS fanzine, and share a most memorable KISS experience. And please feel free to send us a photo of yourself that we can possibly use as well. Please email your KISS fanzine info and text submissions to: sharpk@aol.com. Photos: If you send a photo, please be sure to provide complete information on the back with your name, address, phone # and name of your KISS fanzine You can also send a disc with a scanned image; again, please provide your name, address, phone # and name of KISS fanzine. Also, be sure to follow the scan specs listed below: 300 DPI minimum size : 5" x 6" In addition, we're looking for KISS fanzines from the '70s. If you ran your own KISS fanzine during that time or have copies of '70s KISS fanzines, we need your help and would greatly appreciate being sent copies as we'd like to use in the book. Send materials (fanzines/photos) to: All submitted photographs and materials become the property of KISS Catalog Ltd. (“KISS”) and may be used for any purpose. KISS has the right to use, publish, modify, or alter the photographs or materials intact or in part, without restriction. By submitting the photographs and/or materials you relinquish any right to examine or approve the completed product or products. Photographs and/or materials will not be returned and you will not receive any compensation except for inclusion in a list of credits and statement of appreciation to contributors to the KISS Fanzine book project. You represent that you own the materials and/or photographs that you submit and have the right to transfer them to KISS.
While chatting recently with Terry Atkins, Washburn's Custom Shop Director, I mentioned that I was looking for more PS5 guitars as soon as he could deliver... as the response has been AMAZING! He suggested sending 2 from the 2nd run - NOW. The second run was commissioned by BSG with Seymour Duncan 'Custom Shop' GOLD Plain Covered humbuckers! So - yesterday, #1 of 8 and #5 of 8 arrived. #5 was on hold for my great Canadian friend and customer, Dave. And I have a feeling #1 won't make it past today. But we will see. Folks - these guitars are amazing! Some quick history on the PS5 guitars. In 2007 and 2008 I worked with Paul and Washburn Owner, Rudy Schlacher on two runs of very high quality PS8500 Preacher guitars. 2 runs of 50 guitars. One black and one white. Numbered, custom - the whole deal. They came out extremely well and have been gobbled up by BSG customer base and the KISS Army quickly. While we were considering putting together a 3rd run of PS8500 Preachers, I became very dismayed at how truly exceptional Korean construction prices have continued to spiral - UPWARD. Drastically. The more I kept thinking about it - the more it made sense to go back to the drawing board. Currently, I've commissioned many 'high-end' Paul Stanley USA Custom Shop Preachers - with amazing flame and quilt tops - high end appointments - just amazing, amazing guitars. These guitars fall under the PS9500BSG USA Custom Shop moniker and are not part of the Washburn Catalog. They are exclusive to BSG. However, the idea I had this round was to work hard with Terry Atkins and his crew to see if we could make a really top notch - organic - USA Custom Shop Preacher that would hit the street at around 2K USD. And I'm happy to say - the PS5 was born! The PS5 is an oil finished guitar. No high gloss - just a true, vintage and organic fit, feel - and TONE! Got a tube amp? You would LOVE this guitar! We spec'd them out with mahogany bodies, mahogany carved tops, maple set in neck, ebony fretboard, large mother of pearl block inlay and the beautiful slender Preacher headstock ordained with the 'art deco' headstock inlay. Both initial run of 8 peices each are done in black hardware. Chrome covered Seymour pickups on run 1 and gold on run 2. There is a custom 10" x 16" Certificate of Authenticity from Paul and myself. We also include a large vinyl Paul Stanley/Washburn/Boogie Street dealer banner as well as our BSG 'swag'. Ok - enough of the 'sales' stuff. Below are some pics of the 2nd run PS5 guitars with Gold Plain Covered Seymour Duncan Pearly Gates humbuckers. We can be reached at www.BoogieStreet..com or by email at eric@boogiestreet.com or by phone at 412-716-3150. CLICK her to visit the site and view additional photos.
"I want to share with you all my latest international trip, my long journey to Australia for four guitar clinics. "After two exciting three-day weekends in Vegas performing with 'Monster Circus', it was a stressful Sunday before my long flight. I had a late Saturday night performance at the Hilton, and said my goodbyes to the band and staff from 'Monster Circus'. With only an hour of sleep, it was off to Vegas airport to catch the first plane back to L.A. "Once I came home I grabbed three hours of sleep, and then it was time for final packing before heading to LAX for that 16-hour journey to Melbourne. Knowing how many smiling faces I would see Down Under made the trip easier, of course, in combination with the sleeping pill that worked wonders on my tired body! When I arrived in Melbourne on Tuesday morning (since you travel over the international date line it takes almost two days to get there), I was greeted by Vince Sanna, my tour manager from the Allans Music chain that booked me at four stores in different cities. Vince was happy to tell me that the clinics in both Melbourne and Brisbane were sold out with many people still calling for tickets and that the last two were already close to being sold out. That was quite a good welcoming for a tired Bruce Kulick. "After settling into my hotel in downtown Melbourne, I was taken to a famous Italian place Billy Joel likes to call home when he is in town. Pellegrinis on Bourke Street is totally old-school classic Italian food, and I stuffed myself well. Took a photo with the owner and then it was time to take a quick nap! After that rest, I met up with my friend Paul Drennan, who is my guitarist and tour manager that I work with when I do my band shows in Australia. We had a great time catching up on everything since my last trip with ESP back in 2006. "The next day would be my first clinic, but Vince had plans for a trip to a famous Australian radio show called 'Jono and Dano'. The interview was very funny and I even played some guitar on the show, with them singing along some songs. (You would have to hear that one!) 'I Was Made For Loving You' and 'God Gave Rock 'n' Roll To You' never sounded so crazy with them singing along the lyrics to the songs incorrectly. "The first clinic was close to the hotel, and after soundcheck, the crowd came in, and I was very pleased to see their reaction to the music and all the info I shared with them. After my six songs, there were questions about my guitar technique, song writing, and of course my work with KISS were some topics of discussion. I debuted a track from the forthcoming CD 'BK3', an instrumental called 'Between The Lines' featuring Steve Lukather from TOTO. "It was a relief for me to get the first clinic done and it was a huge success for the store. I brought my new limited-edition Australian EP that I prepared from my upcoming 'BK3' CD available for these clinics, and the crowd was happy to grab copies. "After another great meal (again at Pellegrinis), it was off to bed for a tired BK. The next day it was time for a flight to Brisbane. Upon arrival, Vince and I were sad to see all the rain. On and off the weather was extreme and wild. My pants were soaked and I learned a new trick with the hotel hair dryer. Place dryer on chair, lay wet pants over dryer = dry pants... in about 20 minutes! Vince knew a famous pancake restaurant and we made a point to eat there twice! "The music store was in a busy mall, but sadly as the shopping centre was closed during my clinic time, we had no A/C! But the crowd was very cool with me, and once again I had a great time playing my Gibson Les Paul and explaining all my tricks to the fans. I felt a bit more relaxed for this one and I loved the questions and support the fans in Brisbane showed me. "Next city was Adelaide. It was bright and sunny there and after some rest in the hotel, it was off to the store for soundcheck. This shop was in an older part of town, and the staff was great in making me feel welcome. Once again, it was standing-room only for the event. My sound guy was Sam, and I wound up calling him Worf from 'Star Trek'. Use your imagination, as this guy was tough looking, but very helpful with me especially during the meet-and-greet after the show. "After some late-night pizza with friends, it was off to the last clinic early in the morning. "Sydney is the largest city in Australia population wise, and you know you are in their New York as soon as you land. My hotel was great, and I remember staying there before. George from the Kiss Army Australia did Vince and I a favour by picking us up from the busy airport and he made us feel very welcome in his city. "Before heading to the store, I did an interview with Paul Southwell for Australian Guitarist, so that was fun talking about my career for the press. There were many questions about my last few years of work, and an overview regarding me as a guitarist in so many bands. "The Sydney store was a bit larger as they have an upstairs area that can accommodate a large crowd. I filled the place, and it was fun but sad for me to finish my last of the four clinics. Each one had its highlights, but they were equally enjoyable for me. My friends from Riot distributors took Vince and I out to some amazing Japanese food. Thank you, John and Mike! I got a chance to play them some of the other songs for 'BK3' that are finished on my iPod, and the smile on their faces made all hard recording work worthwhile. "By the way, all of the meet-and-greets after the clinics had some funny moments. Along with the guitars to sign, people with their girlfriends and ex-wives on line for autographs, and future tattoos to sign, I get the most fun from the families with kids as they are so excited to meet me. Also, my friend Marina V, a very talented singer-songwriter who I have seen many times in L.A., happened to be in Sydney visiting her mom and doing some solo shows and she came by my clinic. Thank you, Marina! "So no time to sightsee, so don't ask. I did do what I wanted to accomplish; meet my fans, play my guitar, get them up to speed with my new music and, in conclusion, know that I have their support. As long as my guitar and my music make a difference for my fans, it makes the long trip, and little sleep from the road all worthwhile. "I want to thank Allans Music for bringing me over, and special thanks to Vince for making a tough tour easy. The staff at all the stores were totally supportive of my requests, so thank you all. Thanks again to George for helping getting the word out and thank you, Paul Drennan, for all your help with this trip." Bruce Kulick made a "BK3" limited-edition EP available at his clinics for Allans Music in Australia. The CD features guest appearances by TOTO's Steve Lukather and John Corabi (MÖTLEY CRÜE, UNION, RATT, ESP).
You can find this, and other, t-shirts on sale on in Nick's eBay shop, "nicksmithworld." Born in the mid-1960s, Nick was raised in the West Midlands, U.K. A diet of influences ranging from Salvador Dali, Giger and ZZ TOP mixed with SLADE, KISS and Roden have ensured an eclectic mindset and an aesthetic sense that is second to none. He thrives on the quest for the new and unseen and is only satisfied when all of the cliches have been well and truly humiliated. Clip 1, Clip 2.
Today at the zero hour of exactly 3:00 p.m. EDT, an official video announcement by the band's Paul Stanley, Eric Singer, Tommy Thayer and Gene Simmons (see video at KISSonline.com) kicks off this first-ever promotion. Immediately following the video's debut run, fans across the U.S. and Canada can cast their votes at www.eventful.com/KISS to have their town included on the KISS 2009 North American tour. Fans will be able to vote, and check the tally of what cities are in the lead, 24/7 across the Web at the previous sites; as well as on KISS' MySpace and Facebook, Ticketmaster's KISS page, VH1Classic.com, and many more. Even after garnering more than 30 gold and platinum records and in excess of 90 million albums sold worldwide, KISS continues to prove the band makes the fans their #1 priority. "KISS has never followed the rules — we have always broken them. KISS has never listened to critics-we have always listened only to the fans," said Gene Simmons. "It's time to give back to the fans with bigger shows and longer set lists. And for the first time anywhere, we want our fans to tell us where they want us, and when." Said Paul Stanley, "No band has ever given their fans the power to decide what cities they play, and no fans deserve it more than ours. We're leaving the next U.S. and Canadian tour up to the Army. When they stand up, they will be counted!" Just for voting for their town, all KISS fans will have the opportunity to purchase pre-sale tickets prior to the general on-sale. In addition to joining in on the major campaigns launched by rock radio in each city, fans are also incentivized to create their own viral videos online, motivating their fellow residents to participate in casting votes for a KISS show in their city. City-specific "best-of" compilation reels of these videos will be shown on jumbo screens at venues before each concert. On this upcoming tour, fans will be treated to a set of some of rock's greatest hits, including "Rock and Roll All Nite", "I Was Made for Lovin' You", "Detroit Rock City", "God Gave Rock & Roll to You" and "Shout It Out Loud", among many others. The band is currently recording its first new studio album in 11 years (produced by Paul Stanley).
KISS' upcoming U.S. and Canadian tour will be the world's first to put fans in charge of where their favorite artist plays. By partnering with Eventful, the leading social media company for events, fans will "Demand" where KISS will perform on their latest trek across the top-voted North American markets beginning this September. No matter where the fans say — from stadiums to cornfields — if there are enough votes, KISS will be there! And in order to keep the competition fair for smaller cities, final site selection will weigh population size versus total votes. Today at the zero hour of exactly 3:00 p.m. EDT, an official video announcement by the band's Paul Stanley, Eric Singer, Tommy Thayer and Gene Simmons (see video at KISSonline.com) kicks off this first-ever promotion. Immediately following the video's debut run, fans across the U.S. and Canada can cast their votes at www.eventful.com/KISS to have their town included on the KISS 2009 North American tour. Fans will be able to vote, and check the tally of what cities are in the lead, 24/7 across the Web at the previous sites; as well as on KISS' MySpace and Facebook, Ticketmaster's KISS page, VH1Classic.com, and many more.
Also included: (1) Black, (1) White and (1) Translucent Blue KISS Alive 35 Tour Tommy Thayer guitar picks Cover personally autographed by Tommy Thayer The Custom String & Pick Pack will only be available for a limited time. Visit www.TommyThayer.com to order now.
* Deuce Fan-filmed video footage can be viewed here: Clip 1, Clip 2, Clip 3, Clip 4, Clip 5, Clip 6
At the famed High School of Music and Art in New York City, the rigid structure and required classes soured Stanley on becoming an artist. He joined KISS after graduation, turned into a rock icon, and didn’t pick up a paintbrush again for more than three decades. Around 2001, while Stanley was going through a divorce, he decided to pick up some canvases and paint. “It was very cathartic,” he says, “and a way to get in touch with myself.” He never planned to share his art with the world, but after hanging his painting Green Planet in his home, friends took notice and pushed him to contact a gallery. Stanley finally agreed. He held his first show just three years ago. Serious art collectors have responded to his abstract style and vivid use of color, and band mate Gene Simmons has even hung his painting Statue of Liberty in his house. But Stanley hasn’t turned into an art snob. “I’ve never, ever aspired to critical acclaim,” he says. “I’m the first person to say: If you don’t like my art, go home and do your own. I’m a cheerleader for the common man.” Despite his newfound talents, Stanley is also still a devoted member of KISS. The band is currently in the studio recording their first album in a decade. (Stanley is producing.) He says the album is a “throwback” and that fans can expect “straight up, classic KISS” when the album hits stores next fall. The band will also hit the road for their South American tour next month. And after years of backstage antics and partying, these days, they’re more likely to be found reading and listening to music on their tour jet. That’s not to say that Stanley doesn’t have fond memories of the wilder times. He remembers the day KISS left for their first tour. The band was so young that most of the guys still lived at home. “Our parents dropped us off at the airport,” he laughs. “They may as well have been dropping us off at a whorehouse.” Sure, the same on-the-road temptations are still around, but Stanley, who re-married in 2005 and is a father of three, just isn’t interested. “I liken it to a buffet,” he jokes. “Everything is all laid out in front of you. It’s just a question of whether you’re hungry.” Stanley also promises their new tour will even blow past KISS concerts out of the water. “The show has reached mammoth proportions,” he promises. “There’s nothing resembling subtlety. And if there was, we’d throw it out.”
Friday – June 12, 2009 -7:00 PM – 9:00 PM Saturday – June 13, 2009 – 5:00 PM – 8:00 PM Wentworth Gallery For details on the VIP Reception with Paul Stanley or to RSVP please call 704-365-2733 or 800-732-6140
Voodoo is an economic driver for New Orleans and is the flagship event for the city between Labor Day and Thanksgiving. WDSU first broke the story last week that City Park was booked for Voodoo's desired weekend. Organizers had moved the event — traditionally held in late October — to the last weekend of the month to coincide with Halloween, but prior bookings at the park made that impossible, park general manager Bob Becker said. Festival founder Steve Rehage said he had agreed on the new dates with City Park officials, but Becker said several weddings were already booked that weekend.
According to Amazon.com, Universal will release a new KISS live album called "Authorized Bootleg - Nashville Municipal Auditorium 1998" on May 26. No further details are currently available.
"Today, went through the entire set we intend on playing in the forthcoming South American swing of our KISS Alive 35 world tour. If you've seen some of the media coming out of South America, you'll notice we're mostly playing soccer stadiums... and we're told the tix are almost all gone. "Today was a special day — we all lined up to get yellow fever shots. Great. No one was anxious to get stung by a needle, but if that's what it takes for us to get together with 50,000 close friends, we'll role up our sleeves. "We've also been recording our first new studio album in 11 years! Produced by Paul Stanley. And having Paul simply decide things works better. Democracy is highly overrated. Paul is kickin' ass. The material sounds great and Tommy [Thayer] and Eric [Singer] are in great form. "We have four tunes recorded. If you're a fan of our stuff from about 1977, you'll feel right at home. All of us have taken up the songwriting call to arms in the same spirit we once did — without a care in the world and without outside writers. Nothing to prove to anyone. Just doing what comes naturally. Ignoring fashions, trends and with a personal vow from all of us: no rapping. There are plenty of people out there doing this and they don't need four pale-faced guys pretending they're from the hood. Besides, I'm not sure how to correctly pronounce 'wassup.' "Tommy is finishing his solo tune. Sounds great, I can tell you. And Eric is going to sing on the album. "Most importantly, we are having the time of our lives, and can't wait to see our friends south of the border. "We hop on our jet April 1, on the way to gig #1 — Santiago. "See you all there...Or maybe later!"
Dick Wagner first came to international attention with the success of LOU REED's 1974 live record "Rock & Roll Animal". Producer Bob Ezrin invited him in to work on sessions for AEROSMITH's "Get Your Wings" and the original ALICE COOPER band's "School's Out" and "Billion Dollar Babies" LPs. After the band's split, he became Alice Cooper's primary guitarist/bandleader/co-writer from "Welcome To My Nightmare" up until "Da Da". Kulick, a well-travelled New York session man and original KISS audition-finalist, got his big break joining Wagner on the "Welcome To My Nightmare" tour, and later co-piloting LOU REED's "Coney Island Baby". Bob has popped up in some interesting places since then, on stage with MEAT LOAF and '80s AOR cult faves BALANCE, behind the mixing desk for a slew of top-notch all-star tribute records, as well as producing LPs for DORO and MOTÖRHEAD, and in the studio on major releases from W.A.S.P., BLACKJACK (with Michael Bolton and brother/former KISS guitarist Bruce Kulick)…and even Spongebob! "Metal Lessons Radio" airtimes are as follows: * On CMSradio.net: Sunday, March 29 at 3:15 a.m. and 9:15 p.m. EST * On HardRockin80s.com: Thursday, April 2 at 1:00 a.m. and 8:00 p.m. EST (hosts O'Brien & Mahoney will be in the HardRockin80s.com chat for the 8:00 p.m. airing) * On PureRockRadio.net: Saturday, March 28 at 10:00 a.m. EST * On UncontrolledNoize.com: Friday, March 27 at 11:00 p.m. EST 1. What motivated you to launch a record label in Canada? How come Canadians are so suspicious of anyone who wants to come here and launch something? A Canadian might turn to another one and say, "We don't need him." Actually, you do. You need the best of the best of the best to compete on the world stage. The next band that comes out of Canada isn't going to be competing against the Barenaked Ladies. They're competing against U2, Led Zeppelin, Kiss and whoever else has made it on the world stage. Americans have no problem taking your brightest stars and evolving them and caring for them, and paying them more and better than you do. So why wouldn't you welcome anyone from the outside who wants to try something big? 2. Didn't you declare once that record labels were dead? They are dead. Everything has to evolve. Bands are trying to figure out how to do exclusive deals with Wal-Mart and Best Buy and make something available only there. But—and Kiss understood this 35 years ago—it's not just about records. You've got to have the complete package: the image, the positioning, the vibe, the media connection. It's not just your music—it's who's singing it. Because you can take the same song and have somebody else record it, not everybody's going to have a hit with it. That also means TV and movies, and getting your songs out there. The Who have had their biggest success ever by being on CSI. And Led Zeppelin got more bang for buck on one song by putting Rock n' Roll on an Escalade commercial. Now, the purist will have a problem with that. That's okay. Remember, they're still living in Mom's basement, and they are 35 years old. 3. What does Belinda Stronach bring to the venture? Access to the corporate world. We can call almost any corporate entity and Belinda's voice, and the Stronach name, and the Magna name, is going to go far and wide. She doesn't have to do very much. I'll be the horse that carries most of the weight. And between Universal Records and Stronach and Simmons, there's a lot of firepower. But we're not going to be passively involved. If you don't want anyone to have an opinion on what you do, you just want to say, "Take it or leave it"—don't even show it to us. 4. You're a pretty rich guy—what's your take on the American economy? It's in a whirl. This is a great opportunity for you to stop spending stupid money, stop smoking, stop drinking, stop ruining your health and paying for the privilege, take all that money, all the stupid money, and buy. But don't buy stupid stuff. Buy real estate. Buy important things. It's the best time—the price is low. 5. How would you fix things—what's the Gene Simmons stimulus package? I am the stimulus package, baby.
The songs included are: The EP will be available to the general public in mid-April after Kulick's Australia trip. Bruce Kulick's Australian Allans Music clinic schedule: For more information, visit www.allansmusic.com.au. Kulick's upcoming full-length solo CD will feature additional guest appearances by Gene Simmons (KISS) and Tobias Sammet (EDGUY, AVANTASIA). Other songtitles set to appear on the album include: Internet rumors had focused on KISS making an appearance in Sarnia, and organizer Michele Stokley said she can finally confirm it. "We've been trying for years and years to get them, she said, noting organizers came close last year but conflicting tour dates kept the legendary rockers away. "It feels really good; we're really excited." KISS will perform on Friday, July 10. "It's more than just a rock show. It's everything that goes with KISS. They're a great band to see live," said Stokley. Individual ticket prices run from $22.99 to $129.99, while a weekend rock pass ranges from $57.99 to $199.99. Tickets are available for individual shows, rock-weekend passes, country weekend passes, and all-show passes.
01. Outer Space The CD was produced and recorded in Westchester County, New York between 2007 and 2009 and was mixed by Marti Frederiksen, who has previously worked with AEROSMITH and DEF LEPPARD, among many others.
"We're excited to offer consumers a smooth new way to enjoy Dr Pepper with the availability of Dr Pepper Cherry," said Allison Methvin, director of marketing for Dr Pepper. "It's a whole new reason to try Dr Pepper." Dr Pepper has searched the rock legends to find its latest pop culture doc, KISS frontman Gene Simmons, to introduce new Dr Pepper Cherry. Simmons, who founded the legendary rock band KISS more than 35 years ago, will star in a new commercial, letting fans know that Dr Pepper Cherry has just a KISS of cherry flavor, making it amazingly smooth. Simmons' "Dr. Love" will be the third Dr in the "Trust Me, I'm a Dr" advertising campaign, joining the ranks of basketball legend Dr. J (Julius Erving) and Dr. Frasier Crane (award-winning actor Kelsey Grammer). The TV spot will feature Simmons in full KISS "Demon" regalia. Nick Simmons, Gene's son, will also star in the commercial. "When initially describing Dr Pepper Cherry's taste, we felt it had just a kiss of cherry and was so smooth, we knew who our third doctor had to be — Dr. Love," said Methvin. "Gene will get some help from Nick to introduce the amazingly smooth infusion of cherry flavor that makes Dr Pepper Cherry so smooth." The new commercial featuring "Dr. Love" launches on March 30, 2009 on network and cable television. Dr Pepper Cherry will also hit the streets this summer, sampling more than one million cans. Dr Pepper Cherry is now available nationwide in both regular and diet.
KISS Ikons includes: .. 90-card base set with themed parallels including "Fire" and "Blood".. Instant win autographed 8x10's from Gene and Paul.. Authentic Gene Simmons-worn memorabilia cards.. KISS Tattoos.. KISS Stickers
The Classic Metal Show: From looking over your catalog of music, the one release that really stuck out to me was KISS "Alive III". What did you do on that one? Sherinian: On the KISS tour, I was the off stage keyboardist. As you know, KISS doesn't have a keyboardist. My main function was to double Paul Stanley's parts, his rhythm guitar parts, with a guitar sounding keyboard patch. You know… Paul's a great performer and he's running around stage a lot, so I was reinforcing him there. I was singing background vocals, and I was triggering samples and sound effects. The Classic Metal Show: When do do something like that, is it difficult to be the "off-stage keyboardist" instead of letting your presence be there? Sherinian: Well, of course, I want to be on stage, but the bottom line is that it's KISS, and they are what they are. It was a great opportunity. I wanted to be exposed to Gene Simmons and learn as much as possible. It was a fun tour. Those guys have a lot of fun and it was three or four months, or something like that. It was the only time in my career that I've been off stage. I figured that it didn't hurt, and I'm honored to be part of Kisstory, as they say. I was on "Alive III", then I also played on the RAMONES tribute record where KISS played a song. They included me playing keyboards. It's all good. Listen to the entire interview here.
First, the name LEFSETZ. I would tell him to his face. That name's gotta go. It blows. If this guy was in a band and wanted to sign with us, he'd have to change his name. Or, sign with someone else. Otherwise, have no clue who this fellow is or what he does. Let's see..... THE LETTER (GENE'S RESPONSES IN ALL CAPS) Imagine you're stranded on a desert island and you stumble upon a member of the opposite sex. You're thrilled! You're gonna have someone to talk to, you're gonna make love until the Coast Guard finally figures out your ship sank and rescues you. And this person may not be a beauty queen, but hey, he or she is all right. At least that's what you think at first. Maybe you even have sex and forget your plight for a moment or two. But then, even though you're exhausted, your partner just won't give up. Insists on having sex every hour, being coddled, all the while telling you how fucking hot they are. It would almost be enough to get you to jump back into the water and swim to your death. That's what listening to Gene Simmons is like. THANK YOU. He's not a dumb dude. THANK YOU. But it's a full time commercial. CORRECT. And why? Doesn't he have enough money? WELL, RESPECTFULLY, IT'S NOT UP TO THIS AMATEUR TO DETERMINE IF I HAVE ENOUGH MONEY. I'LL LET HIM KNOW IF AND WHEN I DO. UNTIL THAT TIME, IT'S BEST TO PAY ATTENTION TO YOUR OWN MONEY. Isn't this like an ex-President buying time on television to give us his opinion on the budget? Running for an office he can't be elected to? Hey Gene, you were a star once, can you let it go? Can you stop trying to convince us that not only is your music great, but that KISS is the biggest act in the world? NO. I mean if we really want to get down to it, don't we have to give credit to Bob Ezrin? YES. ALWAYS. The producer of "Destroyer", containing the KISS klassics "Detroit Rock City", "Shout It Out Loud" and the band's biggest hit, "Beth"? Not only did Ezrin produce those tracks, HE CO-WROTE THEM! I'm thinking without Ezrin, KISS is a footnote. PERHAPS. OH, I FORGOT TO MENTION, KISS STARTS THE SOUTH AMERICAN LEG OF THE 35TH ANNIVERSARY TOUR AT BUENOS AIRES STADIUM - 90,000 PEOPLE. LET ME KNOW IF YOU WANT A TICKET. Ezrin went on to further greatness, producing one of the biggest albums of all time, Pink Floyd's "The Wall", as well as the critically lauded debut of Peter Gabriel. KISS? They took the makeup off and put it back on, reunited with the original members, kicked them out again and kept dunning us with endless product promotions. ALL OF THIS IS TRUE. AND YOUR POINT IS..."? And that's what this "keynote" address at CMW was. A product promotion, for the latest iteration of Simmons Records. CORRECT. I HAVE A FIDUCIARY DUTY TO UNIVERSAL MUSIC CANADA AND I HAVE A VESTED INTEREST IN SIMMONS RECORDS. TO DO OTHERWISE AT CMW, WOULD BE STUPID. I KNOW HE'S NOT INFERRING I'M STUPID. QUITE THE CONTRARY. Just because you're a big musical act, that doesn't mean you're a decent executive, that you can run a record company. SAYS WHO. YOU? AND WHAT HAVE YOU DONE TO MAKE THESE ASSESSMENTS. WHAT'S YOUR QUALIFICATION, IN FACT, FOR SAYING ANYTHING... That's like saying a great football coach has to have been a star quarterback. They're different skills. One that Mr. Simmons has yet to master. Sure, he made that demo tape with Van Halen, but the band ended up on WARNER BROTHERS! THIS MORON DOESN'T KNOW DETAILS AND BEHAVES AS IF HE DOES. FACT ONE: AFTER SEEING THE BAND AT THE STARWOOD CLUB IN LA IN 1977, I SIGNED VAN HALEN TO MY PRODUCTION COMPANY, "MAN OF 1,000 FACES" AND PRODUCED THEIR 24 TRACK DEMO, 15 SONG DEMO AT ELECTRIC LADY STUDIOS. KISS WAS GOING OUT ON TOUR, AND I DIDN'T WANT TO KEEP VAN HALEN TIED UP, SO I LET THEM SHOP THEIR OWN DEAL, WITHOUT INSISTING I KEEP A SLICE. WHAT HIS POINT ABOUT ALL THIS, IS BEYOND ME. Truly, it was relentless. Gene with that bizarre hairdo sponsored by Brillo NOW, NOW...NO NEED TO BE JEALOUS, BABY. JUST BECAUSE I REMEMBER YOUR MOMMY BACKSTAGE AND THEN AT THE HOTEL IS NO REASON TO BE ENVIOUS OF MY GOOD LOOKS. maintaining that 360 deals are good for artists and that Canada can be the new Ireland. CORRECT. I "DO" BELIEVE CANADA POSSESSES ALL THAT. U2 came from Ireland, what does that country possess that Canada does not? Isn't that like saying Mutt Lange came from Rhodesia, the before Lithuania should be able to produce the best record producer on the planet? NO. NOT REALLY. AND, I'M NOT SURE ANYONE READING THIS HAS A CLUE WHAT THE RHODESIA/LITHUANIA THING MEANS. Really, it didn't have to be 2009, it could have been 1009. With a huckster up on stage, trying to convince us to buy from him. NOPE. NEVER SAID YOU SHOULD BUY FROM ME. DON'T LIE, HONEY. Sure, there's salesmanship involved in becoming a successful musical act, but that's not ninety percent of the equation. SAYS WHO, BITCH. YOU? AND, WHAT'S THE NAME OF YOUR BAND. AND WHAT'S YOUR QUALIFICATION FOR SAYING OR DOING ANYTHING? But with KISS, it is! The music is just the vehicle to make money. I don't excoriate this, I just don't REVERE IT! NO PROBLEM. GO FIND ANOTHER BAND. Gene showed a five minute promotional film that was such an assault, the guy in front of me put his hands over his ears. I THINK YOU MISUNDERSTOOD. THAT WAS YOUR GIRLFRIEND. AND YOU WERE TALKING TOO LOUD. SHE WANTED TO SEE AND HEAR GENE SIMMONS. NOT YOU. Didn't Pete Townshend sing "A Little Is Enough"? Obviously, Gene's never heard that track, otherwise he would stop telling us how great he is and let us come to our own conclusion. NO. I WON'T STOP TELLING YOU HOW GREAT I AM. FIND SOMEONE ELSE FOR THAT. It was sad. NO, IT WASN'T. EVERYONE HAD A GREAT TIME AND EVERYONE ENJOYED THEMSELVES. Although Gene paid lip service to the Internet, it was like he wanted to jet back to the seventies, when the label was king, when record companies were flush with cash that they'd blow on a bunch of new acts. THAT'S TRUE. I WANT RECORD COMPANIES TO BECOME POWERFUL AND FLUSH WITH MONEY AGAIN. I WANT BANDS TO REALIZE THAT ANY ENTITY THAT GIVES THEM MONEY (ADVANCES) AND NEVER FORCES THEM TO PAY THE RECORD COMPANY BACK, WHEN AND IF THEIR RECORD BOMBS (AND THEY ALMOST ALWAYS DO), IS THEIR BEST FRIEND. I KNOW OF NO OTHER BUSINESS THAT GIVES YOU MONEY AND NEVER ASKS FOR IT BACK. EVEN YOUR MOM WILL WANT YOU TO PAY BACK HER LOAN. Those days are through. Shit, imagine trying to get money from Simmons' company. That'd be like sucking quarters from a parking meter. Gene's notorious for not parting with his own money. Shit, I'm stunned he doesn't require new acts to pay HIM to be signed! THIS IS A SMALL PERSON, WHO'S NEVER DONE ANYTHING, NEVER BEEN IN A BAND AND DOESN'T KNOW HOW THE RECORD INDUSTRY WORKS. HE DOESN'T KNOW ME AND I DON'T KNOW HIM. AND HE WOULDN'T KNOW, IN EITHER CASE IF I "DO" OR "DON'T" PART WITH MY MONEY. AND IN ANY CASE, IT WOULDN'T BE HIS BUSINESS, OR MY GARBAGE COLLECTOR'S. I only went because the last couple of times Gene's spoken he has said some truly heinous things, blasting the audience, that he told us today to respect, for stealing his music. I figured he'd come out with a few clunkers that would crack you up. But all I got was a damn advertisement. THAT'S CORRECT. I AM ADVERTISING SIMMONS RECORDS. THAT'S WHY I'M UP HERE TALKING ABOUT IT. THIS GUY IS A GENIUS. AND I STILL CONSIDER FREE DOWNLOADS AND FILE SHARING STEALING. AND I WANT YOU TO PAY FOR MUSIC...AND FOR ANYTHING. IF A BAND WANTS TO GIVE AWAY THEIR STUFF FOR FREE...I HAVE NO PROBLEM. MY ONLY QUESTION IS, HOW DOES THE RECORD COMPANY, WHICH PAID GOOD MONEY UP FRONT, GET ITS MONEY BACK, IF THE MUSIC IS FREE"? I know Gene loves that I'm writing this. SURE. I LOVE ANYONE WHO TALKS ABOUT ME. Almost to the point where I considered not writing about his speech at all. But I've got to. Because in order for music to ascend to its rightful position at the top of popular culture's leader board (I CAN'T WAIT FOR THIS LEADER OF POPULAR CULTURE TO TELL ME HOW TO POSITION THINGS). it's got to be more about its intrinsic value than the sell. YES, AND NO. IT "SHOULD" BE ABOUT MUSIC, BUT IT'S ALSO GOT TO BE ABOUT BUSINESS. IN CASE YOU HAVEN'T NOTICED, IT WAS NEVER JUST CALLED "MUSIC." IT WAS, AND STILL IS CALLED THE "MUSIC BUSINESS." It's got to be more about music than showmanship. It's got to be more about creativity than expediency. NO. HES GOT IT ALMOST RIGHT. IT'S GOT TO BE ABOUT BOTH. KISS had a gimmick. It's served the band well. A gimmick can get you noticed, but soon thereafter it becomes about the music. KISS took off its makeup and few cared. HE'S RIGHT. ABOUT 10 MILLION. The Beatles gave up their suits, messed with their hair, even gave up playing live and the band got bigger and bigger. I LOVE THE ANALOGY. KISS AND THE BEATLES. THANKS. The problem is, Gene Simmons thinks there's a handbook. YES. MY HANDBOOK. Listening to him is like watching a bad version of "Glengarry Glen Ross". NO. NOT REALLY. I DIDN'T LIKE THAT FILM MUCH. I'M MUCH MORE FASCINATED BY ME. It's like going to a training session for Kirby vacuum salesmen. It's always interesting to hear how another person made it, but if you want to be successful in the future, you're better off ignoring everything Gene Simmons has to say. THIS STATEMENT MADE BY A GUY WHO'S STILL LIVING IN HIS MOTHER'S BASEMENT. Unless, of course, you love money more than music. ACTUALLY, I LOVE BOTH MONEY AND MUSIC. But since you're reading this, I doubt that... GOOD LUCK TO THIS GUY. WE LOVE HEARING THE GOOD AND THE BAD. AND WE HOPE YOU GET OUT OF MOM'S BASEMENT SOON.
So maybe it shouldn't have come as a surprise that the Kiss guitarist, first introduced to the world with his face covered in white makeup, his lips painted bright red, a dark star over his right eye, would someday set aside that guitar long enough to pour his soul into oil on canvas. Still, Stanley says he was the most surprised guy on the planet when he, an art-class washout from New York City's High School of Music and Art, suddenly began to make the transition from guitar god to serious painter eight years ago. "I managed to fail art. Which is, you know, astonishing," he says with a sly smile as he sits in an oversized easy chair in his home studio. "Nobody fails art at that school." How he managed to do so seems surprising when one casts a glance around Stanley's studio, which sits just behind his house atop a brush-covered, mansion-dotted hillside overlooking Los Angeles. There, basking in the bright light that streams in from the windows are a dozen or more high-resolution scans of some of his original works. Large in scale and filled with bright color, they range from the abstract to the surreal to the figurative. Some of them, such as "God of Thunder" and "Love Gun" are named for Kiss songs. Then there are others, like "Liberty," a huge, abstract representation of the Statue of Liberty. His Kiss band-mate and longtime friend Gene Simmons, who owns the original, says he was captivated when he first saw it and asked to put it in his home. "It captures the grandeur and beauty that is America," Simmons said. There are also representational portraits, including one of the artist's 87-year-old father that, Stanley says with a laugh, is said by friends to be so realistic "that if they issued it in a police bulletin my dad would be apprehended in five minutes." The originals fetch as much as $70,000, a figure the artist confirms with both a touch of pride and a bit of embarrassment. On the one hand, he considers it proof that serious collectors have accepted his work. On the other, he acknowledges he doesn't need the money and, in any case, never set out to sell the art he created. He was approaching 50 and going through a divorce when he found himself searching for another emotional outlet outside of music. "A friend of mine who knew me well said, 'You should paint,'" he recalls. "Having no idea what I was going to do, having no training, I went to a store, bought canvases, paints, pallet knives, brushes and went home and just started. The first piece I hung in the house, invariably people would go to that one and say, 'Who did this?'" Still, he never planned to sell anything until he mentioned in passing to Michael O'Mahoney, president of the Wentworth Gallery, that he painted. O'Mahoney asked to take a look and was impressed. He's since mounted about two dozen Stanley shows around the country. The artist's work hopscotches from style to style, influenced, he says, by everyone from Picasso to Michelangelo to Warhol to numerous other painters he admires. But that doesn't mean, O'Mahoney says, that the result doesn't reflect a unique vision. "To convey warmth, anger, sadness, happiness onto a piece of canvass, there's no precise formula for doing that," he says. "Either you've got it or you don't have it. He's got it." And while O'Mahoney acknowledges that Stanley's art world debut certainly wasn't dampened by the fact he's a rock star, he quickly adds that success in another field can only carry a person so far. "There are other famous celebrities who do art, who I'm certainly not going to name," the gallery owner says. "But I've been approached by them and I've said, 'No, no no. No thank you. I don't care that you can fill a gallery. I've still got to look at my client at the end of the day and say, 'My God, you paid $5,000 for that?'" Even if people had rejected his paintings, Stanley says, he would have kept on creating them and, at the least, put them in his closet. "The whole idea of my getting into art in the first place, or music, was to make myself happy," he says. "Anybody else liking what I do is a bonus." And if his venture into fine art was predicated by some trying emotional times, those are now in the past. Remarried in 2005, he is the father of sons ages 14 and 2 and a daughter born Jan. 28. "I'm up in the morning taking my oldest to school, then making breakfast for my next one and then burping the next one," laughs the 57-year-old artist who is dressed this day in an untucked black shirt, blue jeans and black work boots. His long black hair, showing just a few touches of gray, frames his makeup-free face. His guitar and a pair of small speakers sit nearby. He'll have to put some of his parental chores aside for a while in the spring, Stanley says, when Kiss launches a tour of South America, followed by one of Canada. The group also has a new album in the works. With all of that on his plate, his painting will also likely have to go on the back burner for the first time in years. But he says he's looking forward to the inspiration he hopes to gather while on the road. It is inspiration he hopes will transfer to canvasses rich in color in whatever style he chooses to paint them. "I'm on this journey without a map," he says. "The only thing that's consistent is the idea of expressing myself in color because to me life is incredible. It's rich. It's vibrant. And on it's worst day, it's a miracle."
The event, which will benefit the Arlington-based recovery center for artists and entertainers, will be hosted by Lynn Hoffman of A&E's "Private Sessions" and comedian Chris Zito. Tickets go on sale March 21 via Ticketmaster and the Berklee Performance Center box office. Tickets: $100, $75 and $40. For more information, go to this location.
A three-minute clip of the exchange can be viewed here. Shortly after taking Simmons on in a battle of words, Lefsetz sent out the following message via his e-mail newsletter: "What an asshole. "You can make your own decision who was victorious, I'm sure clips will surface on YouTube. But what stunned me was who this guy was. I truly believed he had another, more human side underneath, that maybe he could let down his guard and laugh at himself. I was wrong. "Whether it be the endless recitation of KISS kronology, or shilling for his venture with Universal Music Canada, not only did Gene continue to sell, he did it in the meanest, most underhanded fashion possible. Proving the old saw if you just met your hero, he wouldn't be one anymore. "Not that Gene's my hero. But others believe in him. What a mistake. At least homey don't play that no more. You truly have to befriend your fans today, treat them civilly, not like you were born on the mountaintop and you're making sure no one else can join you there. "I'd like to tell you our debate was an endless discussion of the issues. Instead, it was constant put-downs of me... My name, my appearance, my experience, my mother. I can handle it, but the relentlessness and the refusal to lighten up completely stunned me. Asshole wouldn't even shake my hand at the end, disappeared like the weasel he truly is. "I arose to greet him when he took the stage, but alas, he had to insult my name before sticking out his hand, which he never did by the way. I just sat back down, stunned that someone could be so vicious. Dick Cheney's got nothing on Gene Simmons. "Who's lost in the Seventies. Wants to generate success for his charges by getting them an opening slot on a tour and a reality TV show. Like anybody cares about the opening acts anyway. As for reality television, where are O-TOWN and DANITY KANE these days? "Gene couldn't come up with one record business success other than 'discovering' VAN HALEN, who, of course, ended up signing with Warner Brothers. "As for his own solo album? He showed a tiny hint of humility here, the only one in the whole damn show. He said the song wasn't good enough and his label was folding, said he needed someone to watch over him. "As for the next KISS album? He's gonna sell that via a big-box retailer. So the old model, actually, the new 360 model, suffices for his charges, the act gets screwed up the wazoo, and the take-the-cash-and-run deal, for music only, works for KISS. If that doesn't illustrate the disparity between the old guard and the new in the music industry, I don't know what will. "KISS will continue to tour. Gene will concoct whatever circus is necessary to put asses in the seats. Whether it be another reunion or an execution on stage. But the band will still be way past its prime, will still be has-beens, will still garner no respect in the world of music. The reason being primarily Gene himself. Such a hateable guy is going to find it impossible to garner any respect. "Furthermore, Gene doesn't seem to realize the Internet allows the public to fight back. The stories filling up my inbox would make Gene cry. But just watch [the second clip here of Gene Simmons and Paul Stanley being interviewed] for illustration. The fireworks reach a frenzy at 1:48."
Both Simmons, who launched Simmons Records with Universal Music Canada earlier this year, and Lefsetz, known for his strong opinions on industry issues, traded electronic barbs after each did separate keynotes yesterday. Simmons and Lefsetz will support their perspectives at a hastily convened debate scheduled for 4 p.m in the main ballroom at the Royal York Hotel in downtown Toronto. Lefsetz has sparred with numerous industry figures on his e-mail list, including a well-publicized spat with Kid Rock. Lefsetz was critical of what he saw as a solely self-promotional appearance by Simmons, who he said had little success with his label in the past. “Just because you're a big musical act, that doesn't mean you're a decent executive, that you can run a record company,” Lefsetz wrote to the thousands who receive his regular e-mails on the music business. “That’s like saying a great football coach has to have been a star quarterback. They’re different skills. One that Mr. Simmons has yet to master. Sure, he made that demo tape with Van Halen, but the band ended up on Warner Brothers!” Simmons responded by calling the pundit a “moron” in an e-mail that Lefsetz sent out to his readers. As for Lefsetz’ request that Simmons stop being self-promotional, Simmons would have none of it. “I won’t stop telling you how great I am,” Simmons wrote. “Find someone else for that.” Canadian Music Week organizer Neill Dixon confirmed this morning the debate would go forward.
As previously reported, Simmons confirms Kiss’ first album since 1998’s Psycho Circus will be produced by singer-guitarist Paul Stanley. “I don’t have enough time to tie my shoelaces and there’s nobody else I trust more than Paul,” says Simmons, who’s currently in Toronto to find three Canadian acts to sign to his recently resurrected Simmons Records, for which he has partnered with Universal Music Canada and businesswoman/former politician Belinda Stronach. While he juggles all his other projects and pursuits, the band is also in the studio. The songs are all written, Simmons says. “There’s nothing to prove to anybody. We’re not interested in musical trends or anything else. We’re too long in the tooth for that. So it’s going to be sort of a classic ’70s rock & roll vibe. Meat and potatoes. You know, sometimes you just want to go out and have a meat and potatoes thing [and] forget the French dressing.” Kiss — Simmons, Stanley, guitarist Tommy Thayer and drummer Eric Singer — will also continue touring for its 35th (now 37th) anniversary, beginning in South America in Santiago, Chile. Last year, the Kiss Alive/35 World Tour hit Europe, U.K., Australia, New Zealand and a few U.S. cities.
Watch a video report from CBC News. A couple of fan-filmed clips can be viewed here: Clip 1, Clip 2
Ultimately, his message was the same as the one last November while he was in town to announce that his recently relaunched Simmons Records (simmonsrecords.com), in partnership with Universal Music Canada and business woman Belinda Stronach, had arrived in Toronto to sign three new bands a year to so-called "360 deals" that would include recording, touring and merchandising/licensing. "My notion is that Canada and specifically Toronto could be and should be, and -- if we all do what we're supposed to do -- will be the centre of pop culture on planet Earth," said Simmons, decked out in a black leather jacket, jeans and steel-toed boots. "And I'll tell you why. Ireland, out of all places, gave the world U2. What do you think they've got that you haven't got? Nothing. Really. Your weather is actually better than Ireland and you've got just as much musical talent and more. It really is here. I believe the next great act is right here in Canada." He later elaborated with reporters during a question-and-answer period. "You want to be able to compete against U2 and the Stones and the biggest bands in the world, that's what we're looking for. And it doesn't have to be rock 'n' roll. Jonas Brothers? You bet your ass. "If I find another group of cute young kids that can write their own songs, or another Chris Brown without the physical cruelty, you'd bet we'd do that in a heartbeat. But this guy should definitely wind up in jail, this kid Chris Brown. You lift your hand to a woman and you should become somebody's girlfriend fast (in prison)." Simmons said he's talking to MuchMusic about doing a reality show with his three newly signed bands, but he was less forthcoming about whether he was about to sign Toronto rock-hip-hop band Down With Webster, after expressing enthusiasm about them last November with Sun Media. He did confirm he was going to see DWW again tonight and have dinner with them. "This band has just got it, whatever that charismatic thing is, and I'm nuts about them," Simmons said. "Now, by the way, that underminds our negotiation -- let the lawyers figure that out." Simmons also said he planned on seeing several bands during CMW and would be giving the one he thought was the best a $10,000 cheque "as a gesture of good faith." On the KISS front, he said his group -- which has sold 75 million albums over the past three decades -- was recording its first studio album in a decade, with singer Paul Stanley producing. And the legendary band starts a world stadium tour on April 5 in Buenos Airies Stadium, followed by about 10 Canadian dates in July, including July 13 in Montreal and July 18 in Halifax. "There's nothing to prove to anybody, we're not interested in musical trends, we're too long in the tooth for that, so it's going to be a classic '70s rock 'n' roll vibe, meat-and-potatoes kind of thing," Simmons told reporters about the sound of the new songs. "Sometimes you just want to go out and have a meat-and-potatoes thing, forget the French dressing. Titles like Rock To The Core, the obvious things. No secret to life. No political messaging, nothing like that." Simmons also just signed a deal with reality-show czar Mark Burnett to do a KISS reality TV show, just filmed a Dr. Pepper's commercial with his son Nick and the four faces of the KISS band members will soon be featured on M&Ms.
His mom had just stepped out for a moment, so he answered it. "Critter, it's Paul Stanley," the caller said. Stanley is the lead singer for KISS, Critter's favorite rock band. "At first, I thought it was just my dad messing with me," Critter said. It really was Stanley. The band had been alerted about Critter by a fan after an article was published March 2 in The Enquirer. The article talked about the 11-year-old's battle with leukemia, and mentioned his love for KISS. "When I realized it was really him, I was like, 'Oh my God!'" Critter said. Stanley told Critter to stay strong and that he was praying for him. "And he told me he was going to send me some KISS stuff," Critter said. All of that happened about 1:30 p.m. The call lasted just a few minutes, but was enough to raise Critter's spirits. "I was lying down all day," Critter said. "Then, after he called me, I was up playing basketball in my room." "He was on top of the world," said his mother, Carol Smith. About 10 p.m. that same day, the phone rang again. Still bouncing off the walls from Stanley's call, Critter got another surprise: It was the band's drummer, Eric Singer. "I was just like 'Woooow!'" Critter exclaimed. Singer talked with Critter for a few minutes and invited him to one of their concerts this summer to see the show and meet the band. "I've never even been to a concert at all," Critter said. "This is just so cool!" This is Critter's second bout with acute lymphoblastic leukemia, a cancer of the white blood cells. During five months in 2007 he underwent five rounds of chemotherapy, a round of radiation and a bone marrow transplant. Critter returned to school at Fourth Street Elementary and was in remission for 15 months until January. He's started chemotherapy. He'll undergo another bone marrow aspiration this weekend. The good news, his mom said, is that doctors are going to hold off for now on another bone marrow transplant until they see how he does. "To have to go through this twice isn't fair, but I'm ecstatic he's responding to the chemo," his mother said. "I'm still nervous, but hopeful."
TOPIC: Segment on musicians that paint featuring the incredible art works of Paul Stanley
The legendary rocker gave the keynote address at Canadian Music Week this morning. He says Simmons Records is looking for artists who are bigger than their songs. Simmons says he plans to sign three Canadian acts in the label's first year. He also says Kiss is in the studio working on their first studio album since 1998's "Psycho Circus." Simmons says Kiss guitarist Paul Stanley will produce the disc. A release date has yet to be determined.
“I'd like to sign three acts the first year,” said Gene Simmons by phone from Beverly Hills, Calif., about his new Canadian record label. He's in Toronto tomorrow to make a keynote speech at Canadian Music Week, taking a break from recording KISS's first studio album in 10 years. Although, he quickly noted, the band is in no hurry to finish the album any time soon, not when Simmons has so many other pots on the stove, including his newly resurrected record label, Simmons Records. If it's unlikely to think of Simmons, who drooled blood on the cover of KISS Alive! II, looking for squeaky clean teen bands – an even stranger image is his business partnership with ex-politico Belinda Stronach, now back in the fold as executive vice-chair of Magna International, and a silent investor in Simmons Records. But is it such an about face? The KISS bassist turned marketing whiz, turned reality-TV celebrity, turned record-label front man has always had business in his makeup. The result of all that stage paint, platform boots, pyrotechnics and blood-red food colouring are the more than 2,500 licensing deals KISS has signed, according to Simmons's website. The resurrection of Simmons Records, which had a less than spectacular existence under the BMG umbrella in the 1980s, came about through a deal with Universal Music Canada, hence the focus on Canadian acts. The head of Universal Canada, Randy Lennox, has been conspicuously in the market for partnerships with new, unconventional record and media companies, such as his involvement with the Toronto-based upstart WIDEawake Entertainment Group, which recently bought the back catalogue recordings of the Death Row rap label. Simmons's marketing company, Simmons Abramson Marketing, had been working with Magna Entertainment's horse-racing operations. Meanwhile, Simmons had gotten to know Stronach further when they were exploring potential real-estate investments. But with Magna Entertainment now in bankruptcy protection and real estate having lost its lustre, Stronach is now investing in a record label which has, it must be said, a highly bankable public face. Simmons is currently filming the latest season of his domesticated rock-star-father reality show Gene Simmons Family Jewels, and he has a hand in everything from a line of clothing to comic books. You can even buy T-shirts with Simmons's face embossed on a $100 U.S. bill with the captions “Go Green With Gene” and “Gene Simmons for President.” “I love getting up every day and filling it with as much as I can, otherwise I'd be home watching I Love Lucy,” Simmons said. He thinks a record label should handle all aspects of a band, from image to songwriting, in the same vein as Motown. And every career move should be carried out with an eye out for tie-ins with licensing deals, TV, movies, you name it – that “360-degree” approach to marketing. Simmons was a little short on the specifics about where his new label has gone since November when word got out about its development. Then as now, Simmons has been touting the Toronto party rap band Down With Webster, which Simmons confirms he's “unabashedly” clamouring to sign. There is still no signed deal, although he's hopeful. He also suggested, despite his Henry Higgins talk of grooming for success, that he would need to do little, if anything to ready that group for the charts. Just last weekend, an e-mail circulated by the Ottawa band Rudeboy claims that Simmons has been phoning Craig Simon's house and sending e-mails to say how much he likes the group. Simmons apparently also added in the message that “as a fan of the Special and the English Beat, let me say how much I enjoyed your stuff.” Gene Simmons and ska? Ultimately, Simmons is open to all ideas. “I'm looking for the next U2 and Led Zeppelin. The only thing that matters is ‘Do you have the goods?'“ he says, but adds “it's not enough to be [just] a band.” Meanwhile, he's getting set for a stadium tour of South America with KISS, before a swing back to Canada for a few gigs in July. Tomorrow, during Simmons's keynote speech at Canadian Music Week, expect a lot more talk about 360-degree marketing, branding and making the impossible possible. As he likes to say, “TV, music, politics, we're all in the same business. You need to use any and every tool possible in this really difficult economic period.”
It’s the upcoming KISS Ikons set, which consists of 90 cards — including special “fire” and “blood” parallel cards — along with authentic Gene Simmons stage-worn memorabilia cards and instant win autograph redemptions good for autographed photos of Simmons and Paul Stanley. (Oh, and it includes temporary tattoos and stickers, too, which are good for making that notebook of yours look like it’s 1975 all over again.) Each 24-pack box should cost you less than $50 as packs carry a suggested retail price of $1.99. In all seriousness, it’s been awhile since we’ve seen KISS cards (1978 Donruss comes to mind, but there have surely been others) and with the band releasing an album and going on tour this year, they’ll surely drive ‘em wild (and maybe a little crazy, too) all night and ev-er-y day. If you’re not old enough to know, this is the band that kick-started the whole marketing machine in music with countless products and items to satisfy their fans. Oh, and they’ve sold more than 85 million albums, too. So, the next question is … how many boxes of cards? We’ll find out starting on April 15.
Friday – May 15 - 7:00 PM – 9:00 PM Wentworth Gallery For details on the VIP Reception with Paul Stanley or to RSVP please call 610-337-8988 or 800-732-6140
"Serenity" is being helmed by Grammy Award-winning produced Bob Kulick along with engineer and partner Brett Chassen. For more information, visit www.rockstarrockstar.com.
Over the past half-dozen years, the platform-booted mastermind of lyrics like "You pull the trigger of my love gun" has been cultivating a financially rewarding following as a painter and sculptor. It may seem an unlikely pursuit for a musician responsible for an entire industry's worth of action figures and lunch boxes. But the Kiss Army has grown up, has children and is now ready to buy art. And Stanley, 57, indulges them with brightly hued paintings that lean toward the abstract. (Think circles, squares and geometric patterns, reminiscent of an electric Madras plaid.) He does figurative work as well, namely the individual portraits he creates of his bandmates — in full Kabuki regalia — against a backdrop of sherbety colors. Jim Waitts, of Montville, N.J., is a three-decade-long Kiss fan who started collecting Stanley's work in 2007 and now owns more than a dozen paintings. "It strikes a chord in me," he says of the art. "It's the use of colors that appeal to me, the overall effect that it achieves." The pieces don't come cheap. Stanley's multiple-edition giclées (i.e., prints on canvas) start in the vicinity of $1,600, while original acrylic paintings — such as his self-portrait in makeup with a studded leather collar — can go for as much as $50,000. Last year alone, he did an enviable $3 million in sales. (Take that, Yale MFAs.) But it's a somewhat ironic turn, given that Stanley failed his art classes when he was at the High School of Music and Art in New York City in the 1960s. "I'm a very hard worker," he says softly, surveying a long line of excited, Kiss-gear-clad fans and buyers. "But it has to be on my own terms." Though his work is overlooked by critics, Stanley's terms suit the Kiss Army just fine: on Feb. 28, dozens of them turned up at Wentworth, inside the swank Mall at Short Hills, to buy art, meet Stanley and stick out their tongues as much as possible. As well-coiffed ladies scrutinized $2,000 totes at the austere Fendi boutique across the way, Stanley mingled with fans and clients, signing autographs, chatting amiably about color palette and pulling swooning women to his fuzzy chest for photo ops. "I met him once at a box-set signing, but this is so much better because you really get to talk to him," says Carolyn Klotz, a die-hard fan who drove more than two hours from upstate New York to attend the opening. She and her partner Pete White, who have followed the band since the '70s, will be hanging their newly framed giclée — Stanley's self-portrait, titled Love Gun — in "the Kiss wing," the special room in their Putnam County home devoted to three decades' worth of band memorabilia. For the gallery, which also sells pieces by a highly unlikely mix of artists ranging from Pablo Picasso to Rosie O'Donnell, Stanley's presence was a boon. By the time the show closed on Saturday evening, roughly three dozen works of art had sold, including a $10,000 bronze sculpture to a longtime Wentworth client who had never before acquired a piece by the artist formerly known as Starchild. Despite prevailing concerns about the flaccid economy, it had been a very good day. Stanley, however, says the rewards are more than monetary. "I like the idea that the snobbism is taken out of it here," he observes, as shaggy-haired guys in rhinestone-encrusted Kiss shirts sip wine and gaze at paintings. "I'm exposing people to art who have never been in a gallery." And they were doing something you don't often see people do at a highbrow art exhibit: they were having an incredible time.
Paul’s segment on ‘Musician Artists’ will air tomorrow (Wednesday, March 4) at 6:45 -650am EST on CNN (345am--350am PST).
The Beatles had Paul McCartney. Led Zeppelin had Robert Plant. KISS have Paul Stanley. For more than thirty years, Paul Stanley has reigned supreme as one of the single-most recognizable frontmen in the history of rock and roll. He's the principal songwriter, driving force and the unwavering voice of KISS, one of the most successful and influential bands ever born on American soil. Employing equal parts hip-grinding rhythm, full-tilt glam and guitar-driven slam, Stanley single-handedly penned such escapist anthems as "Love Gun," "God of Thunder" and "Black Diamond." He was the golden throat that throttled "Detroit Rock City," the charismatic swagger behind "I Was Made For Lovin' You," and stripped of makeup, was the unmasked troubadour that breathed vocal life into the ballads "Reason to Live," "Forever" and "Every Time I Look At You." For his highly anticipated solo Live to Win Stanley chose to sidestep the glitz and glamour that has epitomized much of his career, Stanley strips his emotions to the bone and adorns them with a melodic sheen on Live to Win. In doing away with the legendary bombast, what becomes starkly clear is that these songs about the power of the human spirit and commitment to not compromising ideals can rattle not only the walls, but also the heart and soul of the listener. "What I wanted to do on this album was sing about my life, and my life is not that different than anybody else's," he continues. "The truth is, what we all deal with in life is pretty similar, change the names and the story's the same." "Ultimately your life is always about what you make it and how you will it to be," says Stanley, his tone soft and soothing as he describes his inspiration for Live to Win [New Door Records/ Universal Music Enterprises] his first solo album in more than 25 years, and second overall. "I sing about what I know, what I experience, try to get to keep it all fairly simple and straight ahead, and that what's kept what I've always sung about universal. This album was purely a labor of love and passion, and I was only concerned with turning out the album I heard in my head, without regard for having glitz and star power from other sources." That philosophy is aptly summed in the album's title track, a guitar-driven crescendo that affirms Stanley's determination to make, break and sustain success: "You ask me how I made my way, You ask me every where and why, You hang on every word I say, But the truth sounds like a lie. Live to win, Till you die, Till the light dies in your eyes, Live to win, Take it all, Just keep fighting till you fall" "I've always lived by my own rules and refused to let anyone keep me from my goals or succeeding at what I set out to do. You are either your best friend or your greatest obstacle," says Stanley. "I'm living proof of living to win. One might say I'm lucky, but I tell you, the harder you work the luckier you get. You can either be a victim in life who surrenders to failure and bitch about all your adverse experiences, or you can take a deep breath and charge forward". For more on Paul Stanley and his artwork, visit http://paulstanley.com. Friday: Saturday: When did you start painting? About eight years ago. I’ve probably done 26 shows in the last year-and-a-half. Usually once a month I’m in some city in America doing an art show and this weekend is no different. How would you describe your art style? The one common thread to everything is color. I look upon painting as a challenge in terms of depicting emotions and feelings. So as far as “a style,” I don’t find at this moment there is a particular style as much as there is a point of view about color. Do you have any training? No ... I went to the High School of Music and Art, now the LaGuardia School of the Arts. I went there for art. I was one of those people who had the dubious distinction of failing art. That had more to do with having a problem with authority figures. Do you still have that? Um, thankfully I looked for a job where the authority is me. [Laughs.] How does your art reflect your personality? For me art is like going a trip without a map. In other words, I just want to instinctively find where my comfort is and what I’m feeling at any time. At times the art comes in almost stream of consciousness using color and texture instead of words. Then they are other pieces where I try to deal with iconic pieces, the Mona Lisa or the Statue of Liberty. What I start the piece, I know what I’m going to paint, but how I’m going to paint it, I’m clueless. It’s just going to evolve. Painting is cathartic… because I connect to it emotionally, it seems others connect to it emotionally. What kind of satisfaction does painting give you that music doesn’t give you and vice versa? It’s much more initiate and it’s much more personal in the sense that it lives without a lot of the structure that music does. If you write a song you have to have music and you have to have melody that fits the music and a rhyme scheme that fits the others. With painting for me there’s no boundaries, there’s no limits. In painting, the only limit is the edge of the canvas. How often do you paint? I try to paint three or four time a week, sometimes it’s a bit difficult with the schedule, but I try to make sure that times is reserved. What can fans expect from the new Kiss record? It’s very much an album that picks up where we left off in the 70s. It’s not an album that reflects trying to pick up whatever current. We’ve been out a lot on the Kiss Alive 35 tour. Our biggest and most successful tour of Europe, we did 30 shows and about 400,000 people and we leave for South America — a bunch of stadiums — in April. And the band has never sounded better or more focused. And playing the Kiss Alive album and a lot of other classic songs has really just wetted out appetite to go in the studio and transfer that, that same feeling and ferocity into new material. Do you ever get tired of playing the old stuff? I would never, ever grow tired of those songs. The songs have made me both incredibly satisfied and rich and made a lot of other people very, very happy. It would be a show of disrespect — and maybe not deserving — to grow tired of something that’s meant that much. Paul Stanley’s art will be on display at the Wentworth Galleries this weekend. Wentworth Gallery: The Shops at Riverside, 171 Riverside Sq., Hackensack, N.J. Friday, 6-9 p.m. Wentworth Gallery: The Mall at Short Hills, 1200 Morris Turnpike, Short Hills, N.J. Saturday, 4-7 p.m.
Kulick has been back in the studio working on his next solo CD, tentatively titled "BK3". The album will feature guest appearances by a number of acclaimed rock and heavy metal musicians, including TOTO's Steve Lukather, John Corabi (MÖTLEY CRÜE, UNION, RATT, ESP), Gene Simmons (KISS) and Tobias Sammet (EDGUY, AVANTASIA). Songtitles set to appear on "BK3" include: ESP in 2006 released the "Live in Japan" CD. A DVD set filmed in Sydney, Australia, entitled "Live at the Marquee", was also issued. ESP's setlist consists mainly of KISS hits and obscure KISS songs that have never before been played live, along with selections from MÖTLEY CRÜE, GRAND FUNK RAILROAD, ALICE COOPER and other classic rock bands. "Live Wire" (MÖTLEY CRÜE): Video "Parasite" (KISS): Video
Gabe Reed, an entertainment attorney who represents PUSHKING and who organized Stanley's involvement in the project, stated of the session, "Paul sounded amazing and we are very appreciative that he took the time to contribute to the project." Paul sang on songs "Cut The Wire" and "Kukarracha".
In addition to those four soaring voices, Simmons heard the loud "ka-ching" of cash. "He said we had the goods to be the complete package," says Gatineau's Ramigio Pereira, speaking about the Toronto gig they did for the rock icon. "We are popular with women. Our audience is 90% female, the other 10% are the husbands. He told us to never get married, for business reasons." The phenomenal success of popera's original boy band The Three Tenors -- Luciano Pavarotti, Placido Domingo and the other guy (Jose Carreras) -- meant more international spinoffs of the franchise, including a Canadian version, were inevitable. The floodgates opened and out poured The Irish Tenors, The Celtic Tenors, The American Tenors, Brit cellphone salesman turned opera singer Paul Potts, Il Divo and even a trio of heavenly tenors dubbed The Priests. No doubt about it, with a new hit record, an ambitious and high-profile concert tour and an endorsement deal with Armani, who supplies all their clothing, The Canadian Tenors -- Fraser Walters, Jamie McKnight, Victor Micallef and Pereira -- have what it takes to be successful. "Pavarotti said the tenor voice is like a wild horse. It's beautiful but dangerous. It's the most emotional," says Pereira. "You can feel the testosterone. So when all four of us are singing at full throttle, you can really feel it. The audience knows we're romantic guys. Our concert is like Metallica meets Pavarotti. They can feel it when we sing." Not surprisingly, they back up those claims on the new CD, with Italian aria-like love songs Adagio and Luna, and covers of Canadian tunes, including Rita MacNeil's Home I'll Be and David Foster's Because We Believe. It's the original Canadian content that Pereira thinks makes the album unique. "We take our music very seriously. We have the marketability with women, which is nice, but we're all classically trained singers and musicians first. "We can fill a room without a microphone when we sing." Pereira, who speaks four languages fluently, was more interested in making the NHL than La Scala until he was sidelined with a career-ending injury. That's when he exchanged his hockey stick for a classical guitar at the University of Ottawa and eventually began singing in the Opera Lyra Chorus where he caught the eye of Canadian composer Jill Anne Siemens, who invited him to audition for the Tenors in 2007. Since then, the band has been touring the globe more than the governor general, visiting Scandinavia, Africa and the Middle East, where they joined Italian tenor Andrea Bocelli in song for the 10th anniversary of Shimon Peres' Peace Initiative. And, they met former U.S. president Bill Clinton at an event at which they were attending. "That was a real thrill," Pereira says. "We joked that the next time we meet, he should bring his sax and we could play together."
Check out the 1974 KISS commercial here. In the clip, KISS is performing at the Academy of Music in New York, NY --- January 26, 1974. Notice that Paul is wearing his bandit makeup!
The venue is Arena Movistar, and tickets will go on sale tomorrow, February 18, via Punto Ticket. Other artists that will play during the week-long festival include CHRIS CORNELL, PETER GABRIEL and SONIC YOUTH.
(9) It is hard to believe that Gene Simmons could have been a teacher. He is known best as the frontman for the 1970’s rock band Kiss (right), known for outrageous shows during which Simmons would spit blood, breath fire, and taunt the audience. But Simmons did teach sixth grade in Spanish Harlem. Simmons was reportedly fired for, among other things, replacing the Shakespearean play in the curriculum with Spiderman comics. Click here to visit the Encyclopedia Britannica Blog to view the entire list!
WHAT I SAVED IN THE FIRE Aron Driscoll I bought the guitar from my niece three years ago. I'm a huge KISS fan. She knew I'd had my eye on it for a while and eventually she parted with it for around $1500. It's a Silvertone bass, signed by KISS, so it's a bit of a rarity. When the fire arrived, there wasn't any time to think. There was probably 50,000 other things I could have grabbed in that moment but the guitar was it. And I'm glad of that because it's very special. I get togther with the boys a couple of times every fortnight and play, you know, let it rip. There's nothing left of the house but some kind strangers have given me a caravan so I'm heading back up there to stay for the first time. I'm returning home and so is the guitar. It'll keep me company as I work out what's next.
The Paul Stanley Signature Series also includes several models of the Preacher Guitar that Paul used on his 2006/2007 Solo Tour. CLICK HERE to view all of the available Paul Stanley Guitars from Washburn. PS 2000 "10th Anniversary" Specs: Built in the USA Custom Shop April 01 - Melbourne - 7 p.m. (soundcheck 5 p.m.) The rock band KISS has been around for over four decades and they have become a merchandising machine with no end in sight. From tee shirts to toys, videos to CDs and everything in between, KISS has put their name on an eclectic bunch of products. For those of us who like our music loud and our coffee fresh and strong, the band has the KISS Coffeehouse. If making a trip to Myrtle Beach, South Carolina isn’t in your budget, you can always order the coffee online. KISS’ coffee flavors are named after your favorite KISS songs, and the beans meet the quality standard that all coffee lovers require. KISS Coffeehouse is a stimulating environment to drink a stimulating beverage. No curling up with a nice book or contemplating interpersonal relationships here! It's a place to celebrate life, have fun and experience the hottest band in the world - KISS. (Inside Video)
"The KISS Army has a new princess and her name is Sarah Brianna," says Stanley, 57. "Erin and I feel truly blessed with the addition of this Star Child into our lives." Sarah is the second child for the couple, who married in 2005. The singer/guitarist and his wife, an attorney, live in Beverly Hills with their son Colin Michael, 2, and Stanley's son Evan Shane, 14, from his previous marriage. In addition to caring for Sarah, Stanley has other big projects on the horizon: The accomplished painter will tour America with KISS this summer to celebrate the band's 35-year anniversary.
Wentworth Gallery: The Shops at Riverside, 171 Riverside Square, Hackensack, NJ Friday, February 27, 7 p.m. – 9 p.m. Wentworth Gallery: The Mall at Short Hills, 1200 Morris Turnpike, Short Hills, NJ Saturday, February 28, 4 p.m. – 7 p.m. CLICK here to listen to the interview .
GLAM ROCK COW JOINS THE PARADE
Ferguson Valley artist Joyce Hatchett has given her latest creation a real rock n roll flavor.KISS "SHOCK ME" CLIP FROM ANAHEIM
Here's another KISSonline Exclusive crew's eye view of KISS performing "Shock Me" in Anaheim during the Alive 35 tour .
Paul Interview
Here's an interview with Paul on his artwork that aired on NBC's "South Florida Today!"
CREW'S EYE VIEW OF KISS
Here's a KISSonline Exclusive crew's eye view of KISS opening their Atlanta show with "Deuce" on the Alive 35 tour, 10/26/09. You hear it at the beginning of every KISS show...YOU WANTED THE BEST, YOU GOT THE BEST, THE HOTTEST BAND IN THE WORLD..KISS!!! Now you can SEE Mike "Spike" Rush introducing the band!
SWEDISH IDOL WINNER'S KISS KONNECTION
22 year old Swedish Idol winner Erik Gronwall's new album is coming out in Sweden on June 2 and features a song written by Paul Stanley! You may remember Erik performed "Shout It Out Loud" during the last year's Idol season. Joey Tempest (Europe) and Andreas Carlsson (who co-wrote songs with Paul on his LIVE TO WIN album) also wrote songs for the album. Titled Somewhere Between A Rock And A Hard Place, the album will be proceeded by the single "Crash And Burn" in April.Gene on Lopez
Here is a snippet from the George Lopez show. We will post the entire video soon.
KISS ROCKER PAINTS THE BLUES
The crowd that showed up on Saturday to see Paul Stanley at the Wentworth Gallery in Fort Lauderdale wasn't made up of all KISS fans. There were also serious art collectors who may or may not know all the words to Shout It Out Loud.ERIC SINGER & GENE SIMMONS INTERVIEW CLIP
Eric Singer and Gene Simmons of KISS talked with ITN about their new album 'Sonic Boom'. "The great thing about it is that it's a classic KISS record in the sense that it's more stripped down rather than trying to be too slick, too overly produced, too thought out. We got in a room, worked up ideas as a band and went in and just cut the stuff very fresh." Gene added, "No synth, no keyboard, no voice choirs, no nothin. No sample shmanzel, shut up, pick up your guitar and rock it out." The pair also offered their praise for Lady Gaga. See the clip here.
ACE FREHLEY Interviewed On 'Eddie Trunk Live'
Original KISS guitarist Ace Frehley was interviewed on today's (Monday, March 22) edition of "Eddie Trunk Live" on Sirius (channel 19) / XM Radio (channel 53). The chat can now be streamed in nine parts here: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9.
Eric Singer: Just Being Himself
For eighteen years, Kiss’s drummer has helped his world-famous band stay in our hearts and on the radio by doing what he does best—being himself. In this special online extra from his May 2010 MD cover story, we begin by asking Eric about…KISS Coffeehouse Coming To Australia
THEIR famous faces have adorned posters, T-shirts and even lunchboxes for a generation, so it was only a matter of time before rock legends KISS ended up on a coffee mug.KISS' STANLEY, THAYER Perform Acoustic Set At Wentworth Gallery In Ft. Lauderdale
According to KissFAQ.com, KISS vocalist/guitarist Paul Stanley made an appearance on Saturday, March 20 at the Wentworth Gallery - Las Olas in Fort Lauderdale, Florida to promote his art. The event included a special dinner for art patrons featuring a rare acoustic performance by Stanley and KISS guitarist Tommy Thayer. The pair reportedly performed the following set:
02. Beth
03. C'mon And Love Me
04. Shandi
05. Say Yeah
06. Shout It Out Loud
07. Comin' Home (partial)
08. Lick It Up
09. Rock and Roll All Night
10. Rock Bottom
ACE FREHLEY: Uncasville Performance Footage Available
The Noise Pollution has uploaded video footage of original KISS guitarist Ace Frehley's March 19, 2010 performance at the Wolf Den at Mohegan Sun in Uncasville, Connecticut. Watch the clips here: Deuce, Rocket Ride, Snowblind, Parasite.
CELEBRITY CHEF LIST KISS AS A CULINARY INFLUENCE
In the April issue of Guitar Aficionado, celebrity chef and bestselling author Rocco Dispirito reveals that he got into the restaurant business because he wanted money to build his record collection. Says Dispirito:KISS: Rare 31-Year Old TV Appearance Surfaces To Promote Auctions
A rarely seen 1979 Gene Simmons and Paul Stanley TV interview has been posted online to promote the never ending KISS memorabilia auctions of eBay seller EliteWorks.ACE FREHLEY Interviewed On Q104.3 FM's 'Friday Night Rocks'
Original KISS guitarist Ace Frehley was interviewed on last night's (Friday, March 19) edition of Eddie Trunk's "Friday Night Rocks" radio show on New York's Q104.3 FM. You can now listen to the chat here.'Gene Simmons Family Jewels' shines as it nears a reality milestone
It's unrealistic -- if not downright impossible -- to watch everything that premieres on TV.PAUL STANLEY PS1900 CRACKED MIRROR GUITARS
They are in! And they are AWESOME!KISS UK TV COMMERCIAL
Here's a KISS SONIC BOOM OVER EUROPE TV commercial that's currently running across the UK.
PAUL'S CBS 4 NEWS INTERVIEW
CLICK HERE to watch Paul's interview on CBS 4 News.
ROCK 'N' ROLL ALL NIGHT, PAINT EVERY DAY
Best-known as the face-painting, groupie-bedding frontman of the rock band Kiss, Paul Stanley has spent the past five years building a career as an abstract painter. Stanley’s vivid, colorful works include paintings of hearts, stars and even the Statue of Liberty, hardly subject matter you’d expect from the man who co-wrote “Lick It Up” and “Rock and Roll All Nite.” Stanley will present some of these paintings today and tomorrow at the Wentworth galleries in Boca Raton and Fort Lauderdale, respectively. Joanie Cox recently talked to the rocker about his art, Lady Gaga and why kids like Kiss.ARTWORK WITH A KISS OF STAR POWER
For more than 30 years, Paul Stanley has fronted one of the hottest bands in the world, KISS. The star child of KISS is the singer, songwriter, and rhythm guitarist for the band. But he has a second artistic outlet that brought the legendary rock star to South Florida.Simmons Says Wealthy Must 'Know Your Choices'
Gene Simmons, singer and bassist for the rock band Kiss, said high-net-worth individuals should better prepare to protect their wealth after they die.Gene Simmons' NGTV Files for Bankruptcy
Online celebrity news and entertainment site No Good TV (NGTV), backed by entertainment industry veterans including company chairman Gene Simmons, also of the rock band KISS, and Al Cafaro, music industry veteran and former chairman and CEO of A&M Records, filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection on February 25.PAUL'S INTERVIEW ON SIXX SENSE
Here's Paul Stanley's interview with Nikki Sixx yesteday.
PAUL'S FRIDAY MEDIA SCHEDULE
Paul will be appearing on several Miami area media outlets on Friday. Below is his schedule of appearances:
1) The Paul & Young Ron Radio Show on 98.7 & 105.9 @ 8:30 AM EST
2) NBC 6-WTVJ TV Morning Show @ 11:15 AM EST
3) CBS 4-WFOR TV News @ 5:30 PM EST
4) WMXJ 102.7 Radio - Magic in the Morning @ TBD - some time in AM
New 'Elder'-Era 'Outtakes' Released To Promote Auctions
Over ten minutes of never-before-seen KISS interview "outtake" segments have been released to promote the auctions of eBay seller EliteWorks.Ace: "Friday Night Rocks"
Original KISS guitarist Ace Frehley will guest on tomorrow's (Friday, March 19) edition of Eddie Trunk's "Friday Night Rocks" radio show on New York's Q104.3 FM. You can listen to the program live on the Internet between 11:00 p.m. and 2:00 a.m. EST at this location.
PAUL ON SIXX SENSE RADIO SHOW TONIGHT
Paul Stanley will appear on Nikki Sixx's Sixx Sense radio show tonight. The show airs nationwide tonight from 7 pm -12 pm.A ROCKER'S ARTISTIC SIDE
KISS's Paul Stanley doesn't just front for the iconic rock band—he has sold millions of dollars of his art workGene Simmons survives 100 episodes of life in front of the camera for show 'Family Jewels'
Has Gene Simmons broken the reality TV curse?GENE SIMMONS' TOP 10 CARTOON STARS
The KISS hellrasier lists his all-time animated favouritesPAUL STANLEY INTERVIEW
KISS returns to Europe in the spring with their massive SONIC BOOM OVER EUROPE tour after two years on the road with their mega successful ALIVE 35 tour. The new tour is a part of the band's world tour to support their latest studio disc SONIC BOOM which was released last August. In Early February the band did a series of press conferences in Europe. They first spent a couple of days in Germany and then later on two days in the U.K to promote their forthcoming tour. In London we had an amazing chance to interview Kiss'lead vocalist/guitarist and founding member Paul Stanley. Topics covered included the upcoming tour and the latest album but some other interesting information as well...read on.SIX OF THE BEST WITH ERIC SINGER
Six of the Best: Drummers pick their defining recordsGENE ON THE DOCTORS MARCH 17
KISS FRONTMAN GENE SIMMONS APPEARS ON THE DOCTORS WITH LONG-TIME GIRLFRIEND SHANNON TWEED TO DISCUSS HER RECENT BREAST CANCER SCARENew Ave Tour Dates
March 19, 2010 - Mohegan Sun - Uncasville, CT
March 20, 2010 - House of Blues - Atlantic City, NJ
March 21, 2010 - Nokia Theater - New York, NY
KISS REVEAL SECRETS TO GREAT MAKEUP
Eric and Gene discuss makeup techniques in this interview with Britain's Independent Television Network. Watch the clip!
KISS 1978 Solo Albums ''In-Store' Video Posted To Promote Auctions
Never-before-available footage from Gene Simmons' 1978 solo album promotional tour has been published online to promote a never-ending series of KISS auctions from eBay seller EliteWorks. The in-store appearance took place at a long-defunct New Orleans, Louisiana record store called Tape City on November, 18, 1978. The KISS bassist was in town to announce the band's (ultimately canceled) appearance at the 1979 Mardi Gras Endymion parade.NYSE BELL TAKES CELEBRITY TURN
Corporate meets entertainment at the opening and closing of each trading day. What better place to bring KISS and Dr Pepper together?KISS To Guest On BRUCE DICKINSON's Radio Show
KISS will be IRON MAIDEN frontman Bruce Dickinson's guests on Friday, March 26 during Bruce's weekly BBC 6 Music radio program, dubbed "The Bruce Dickinson Friday Rock Show". Listen to the broadcast live via the Internet between 9:00 p.m. and 12:00 a.m. (midnight) U.K. time at BBC.co.uk.
ACE FREHLEY: 'I Really Appreciate How Great It Is To Edit With Programs Like PRO TOOLS'
Engineer Rich Tozzoli recently conducted an interview with original KISS guitarist Ace Frehley for Premier Guitar. A couple of excerpts from the chat follow below.KISS FAN PARTY IN VERONA, ITALY
ONE NITE KISS: WAITING FOR THE BOOM - SATURDAY, APRIL 17
Via dell'Undustria 29C
Sommacampagn, Verona
Gene Simmons 'voice of Guitar Hero 6'
With original publisher RedOctane being shuttered and developer Neversoft reportedly being taken off the series, the Guitar Hero franchise is surrounded by uncertainty. Uncertainty except for one thing: Gene Simmons will be in the next installment in the long-running music game series--according to Simmons, anyway.KISS ANNOUNCE TWO U.S. SHOWS
KISS will perform concerts in Wyoming and North Dakota this July. The The Hottest and in the World will rock Cheyenne on July 23 and Minot on July 24.
July 24 Minot, North Dakota 2010 State Fair
KISS AT ISLINGTON: FIVE STARS
There's a sense that creatures from another world are walking among us when Kiss take to the stage at the drab Islington Academy. In their familiar kabuki-style makeup, the four men - "Starchild" Paul Stanley and "Demon" Gene Simmons are these days accompanied by guitarist Tommy Thayer and drummer Eric Singer - look as out of place in this tiny room as Wayne Rooney would playing Sunday league football up the road at Hackney Marshes.KISS SIZZLE AT TINY LONDON SHOW
The self-proclaimed "Hottest Band in the World" sizzle at tiny London show.Family Jewels Season 5 Trailer
Gene Simmons Family Jewels Season 5 Trailer.
KISS IN BELGIAN NEWS SEGMENT
Belgium's EEN news featured a segment on KISS' upcoming June 27 appearance at the Graspop festival on the Sonic Boom Over Europe tour. Check it out!
Simmons Records signs T.O. band
Nearly a year after announcing the relaunch of Simmons Records in Toronto during Canadian Music Week, the first Canadian act – Toronto’s The Envy - has finally been signed to the label.STRYPER: KISS Classic Added To Covers Album
Christian hard rockers STRYPER have added KISS' "Shout It Out Loud" to the list of songs they are recording for their upcoming album of covers, to be released later in the year.
* IRON MAIDEN - "The Trooper"
* SCORPIONS - "Blackout"
* OZZY OSBOURNE - "Over The Mountain"
* SWEET - "Set Me Free"
* VAN HALEN - "On Fire"
* DEEP PURPLE - "Highway Star"
* BLACK SABBATH - "Heaven And Hell"
* UFO - "Lights Out"
* KANSAS - "Carry On Wayward Son"
* KISS - "Shout It Out Loud"
GENE INTERVIEW ON UK RADIO
Here's a 3-part radio interview Gene did with London's 104.9 XFM! Part 1, Part 2, Part 3.
AUTOGRAPHED POKER TABLE FOR CHARITY
Poker fans will be itching to get their hands on a poker table signed by some great celebrities being auctioned for charity.E1 And KISS Team Up To Create New TV Series
Leading independent studio E1 Entertainment has finalized a production and development deal with legendary rock band KISS. E1 will tap the worldwide enthusiasm for the KISS brand, collaborating with founding members Gene Simmons and Paul Stanley to create a comedic half-hour kids television series that galvanizes the band's iconic personas for its young fans."DELILAH" LIVE IN LONDON
Here's a great fan-filmed video of KISS opening their London show at O2 Academy with "Modern Day Delilah!"
KISS Featured On CNN's 'Connect The World'
KISS appeared on CNN International's "Connect the World" program on Thursday, March 4 as "Connector of the Day".PAUL AND GENE ON SWEDISH TELEVISION
Here's an interview with Paul and Gene on Sweden's Aftonbladet news program. Check it out!
KISS IN NORWEGIAN NEWS
Norwegian news network NETT-TV has a feature on KISS's upcoming June 8 tour date in Trondheim as part of their Sonic Boom Over Europe tour.
KISS ROCKED ISLINGTON
By their own admission this was their smallest gig in over 25 years - and it showcased what a tight ship KISS are right now.PAUL AND GENE ON ITALIAN TV
Here's a KISS segment from Italy's SKY network featuring an interview with Paul and Gene!
KISS ON EVENING NEWS IN SPAIN
Here's a clip of KISS on Channel 1 (T.V.E.) evening news. This 9 pm new is the most watched in Spain! The segment is about KISS' upcoming tour and dates in Spain.
KISS ON UK TV FIVE
KISS ON UK TV FIVE: video
Kiss blast boring Brits
Check out this incredible footage of Paul flying over the crowd... from Paul's point of view! Special thanks to the KISS crew for rigging the camera in Pittsburgh on the last show of the Alive 35 tour to capture this great clip!
GENE SIMMONS ON BEING BACK TO RAISE HELL
Away from his fire-breathing, blood-spewing, face-painted, tongue-wagging Kiss persona, Gene Simmons cuts an an impressive 6ft 2ins figure, sat in the boardroom of a London hotel.How did Sophie Simmons Get Her Name?
Kiss star Gene Simmons named his daughter after Meryl Streep's character in Sophie's Choice.Kiss blast boring Brits
Kiss bassist Gene Simmons has bemoaned the lack of stars in UK music.AN INTIMATE KISS IN LONDON
We were lucky to get up close and personal with the most recognizable brand in music last night (yes, this one is going on expenses as "research") as American rock legends KISS played a short but exfoliating set in a tiny club on our doorstep in Islington, North London.KISS FEATURE ON GERMAN TELEVISION
KISS' visit to Europe continues to be a hot topic in the media! Here's a feature on the band's "Wetten, Dass..?" appearance from Germany's Salve TV network. Part 1, Part 2.
UK INTERVIEW WITH PAUL AND GENE
Here's an interview that Paul and Gene did with Reuters UK newswire. Take a look!
PAUL & TOMMY BRITISH RADIO INTERVIEW
Listen to this interview Paul Stanley and Tommy Thayer did with Britain's 106.7 Rock radio! (note both clips get cut off): Part 1, Part 2.
"SAY YEAH" LIVE IN LONDON
Check out this great fan-filmed clip of "Say Yeah" live in London!
KISS: 1974 First Album Tour Footage Released To Promote Auctions
Elements from a vintage news segment, containing never-before-available footage from KISS' first tour of Canada, can be viewed below. The report was filmed on June 15, 1974 when KISS was opening for the NEW YORK DOLLS at Toronto, Ontario, Canada's 2,800-seat Massey Hall.Rock 'N' Roll Fantasy CampWraps Up Los Angeles 2010 Outing With Star-Studded Finale
A standing-room-only crowd helped cheer on the latest graduates from ROCK ‘N’ ROLL FANTASY CAMP, held this past week in Los Angeles, with a star-studded show at the Key Club Sunday night (2/28). Rock luminaries like Bret Michaels (Poison), Ace Frehley (KISS), Michael Anthony (Van Halen, Chickenfoot) and Matt Sorum (Guns ‘n Roses, Velvet Revolver), plus 20 other rock stars helped mentor more than 75 Campers from the U.S., Canada and England, all of whom came to Los Angeles to live out their rock ‘n’ roll dreams. For the first time ever, the Camp was filmed for a TV series, produced by Mark Burnett Productions and set to air this summer on VH1 Classic.KISS IN LONDON: THEN AND NOW
THEN: Venue: Hammersmith Odeon, London - Date: May 15, 1976BRUCE KULICK Discusses His Time With KISS
BigMusicGeek.com recently conducted an in-depth interview with former KISS and current GRAND FUNK RAILROAD guitarist Bruce Kulick. A few excerpts from the chat follow below.Legendary Rock Group KISS 'Rocks the Ratings' on ABC'S Hit Show Extreme Makeover: Home Edition
KISS gives to family in need while Extreme Makeover: Home Edition ratings spike.KISS BBC INTERVIEW
In this interview with the BBC, Paul and Gene reveal KISS' musical influences and heroes: Watch here.
KISS Plays Intimate Show In London; Video Footage Available
Fan-filmed video footage of KISS' March 2, 2010 performance in front of capacity crowd of 800 at the O2 Academy Islington in London, England can be viewed here: Love Gun, Detroit Rock City.
PAUL: SHOW LEFT US BREATHLESS!
Last night's KISS show in London was cut short because the Co2 canisters used to blast confetti during Rock and Roll All Nite made breathing nearly impossible. Both the band and fans upstairs and in front of the stage were having difficulty breathing from the concentration of Co2 in the air.KISS IN LONDON: A SURREAL EXPERIENCE
Islington o2 Academy, March 2 2010KISS Guitarist TOMMY THAYER Talks Gear
Vintage Rock correspondent Rachael Cadden conducted an interview with KISS guitarist Tommy Thayer at the Hughes & Kettner booth at this year's NAMM (National Association Of Music Merchants) show, which was held January 14-17, 2010 at the Anaheim Convention Center in Anaheim, California. Watch the chat here.
KISS Plays Rare Club Show In London
KISS played a rare club show earlier tonight(Tuesday, March 2) in front of capacity crowd of 800 at the O2 Academy Islington in in London, England.
01. Modern Day Delilah
02. Cold Gin
03. Let Me Go Rock And Roll
04. Say Yeah
05. Calling Dr. Love
06. Got To Choose
07. I Love It Loud
08. 100,000 Years
09. Love Gun
10. Black Diamond
11. Rock And Roll All Nite
12. Detroit Rock City
BRUCE KULICK Interviewed On 'Eddie Trunk Live'; Audio Available
Former KISS and current GRAND FUNK RAILROAD guitarist Bruce Kulick was interviewed on this past Monday's (March 1) edition of "Eddie Trunk Live" on Sirius (channel 19) / XM Radio (channel 53). The chat can now be streamed in six parts here: Part 1, Part 2, Part 3, Part 4, Part 5, Part 6.
KLITSCHKO ROCKS WITH KISS
The gentlemen are a little older. Since 1974 they have sold approximately 80 million records.MORE KISS ON "HALLO DEUTSCHLAND!"
Today's episode of Germany's "Hallo Deutschland" contained even more footage from KISS' appearance on "Wetten, Dass..?" The show went behind-the-scenes with fans as they formed a giant live KISS logo, interviewed the band, and also showed what happened to Paul's guitar, smashed at the end of KISS' performance... Heavyweight world champion boxer Vladimir Klitschko proudly took it home... autographed by the entire band!
BRUCE KULICK Interviewed On 'Talking Metal'
This latest episode of "Talking Metal" features an interview hosts Mark Strigl and John Ostronomy conducted with former KISS and current GRAND FUNK RAILROAD guitarist Bruce Kulick. The podcast can be downloaded at this location.
KISS APPEARANCE WINS BIG RATINGS
KISS' Saturday appearance on Germany's "Wetten, Dass..?" had the highest number of viewers on German television that night! Drawing over 7.8 million viewers, it beat both Olympic coverage (5.9 million) and "German Superstar" (5.29 million.).
KISS GOES TO HIGH SCHOOL
ESPN's segment "KISS Goes to High School" aired today on SportsCenter. It chronicles the story of KISS' historic 1974 visit to Cadillac High school in central Michigan. Here's a clip!
BACKSTAGE WITH KISS IN GERMANY
Check out this great interview with KISS filmed backstage immediately following their "Wetten, Dass..?" appearance last night! Part 1, Part 2.
KISS SOUNDCHECK ON "HALLO DEUTSCHLAND"
Here's a report from the German television program "Hallo Deutschland" with soundcheck and setup footage from KISS' appearance on "Wetten, Dass..?"
KISS ON GERMANY'S "WETTEN, DASS"
Check out this explosive performance of "Say Yeah" and "I Was Made For Lovin' You" that just aired on Germany's largest, most popular television show, "Wetten, Dass..?" (Wanna Bet?).
BRUCE KULICK To Guest On 'Eddie Trunk Live'
Former KISS and current GRAND FUNK RAILROAD guitarist Bruce Kulick will guest on "Eddie Trunk Live" on Monday, March 1 on Sirius (channel 19) / XM Radio (channel 53). The program airs from 6:00 p.m. until 10:00 p.m. EST.
ESPN TO AIR KISS PIECE SUNDAY
ESPN will air a KISS piece during SportsCenter on Sunday at 10 a.m., 6 p.m. and 11 p.m.AC/DC, METALLICA And KISS Among BILLBOARD's Top 'Money Makers'
AC/DC, METALLICA and KISS have made Billboard's annual Money Makers list, which is the most comprehensive report card of its kind. For the first time, the ranking is based on the artist's share of revenue as opposed to total dollars generated by each artist in the ranking.
02. BRUCE SPRINGSTEEN - $57,619,037
03. MADONNA - $47,237,774
04. AC/DC - $43,650,466
05. BRITNEY SPEARS - $38,885,267
06. PINK - $36,347,658
07. JONAS BROTHERS - $33,596,576
08. COLDPLAY - $27,326,562
09. KENNY CHESNEY - $26,581,141
10. METALLICA - $25,564,234
#4 - AC/DC: $43,650,466KISS ARRIVES IN GERMANY
Hard-rock superstars KISS did not travel by stretch limousine or even private jet when they arrived in Frankfurt -- instead taking a regular Deutsche Bahn train from Erfurt for their network television performance on "Wetten, Dass..?"KISS INTERVIEW IN LOADED MAGAZINE
Here's an excerpt from a recent article in Britain's Loaded Magazine on spending a night on the road with KISS:KISS Sell Out
Limited edition KISS SONIC BOOM Vinyl is now completely SOLD OUT.KISS EXTREME HOME MAKEOVER CLIP
Here's KISS' appearance on ABC's Extreme Home Makeover!
KISS TO PLAY CLASSIC ROCK LONDON CLUB SHOW
Rock legends KISS are set to bring their new "Sonic Boom Over Europe: From the Beginning To the Boom" tour to Europe in Summer 2010.BRUCE KULICK Pays Tribute To Late THE KNACK Singer
Former KISS and current GRAND FUNK RAILROAD guitarist Bruce Kulick has issued the following update:AUTHOR JOE HILL ON KISS
Joe Hill, Stephen King's author son, adores music as much as he loves books. And when working on his novel Horns, in stores now, he listened to KISS. "They're about as guilty a pleasure as you can get," says Hill, 37, adding that his famous father took him to his first KISS concert in the late 1970s. "I stayed awake long enough to see Gene Simmons spit blood, and then I fell asleep next to my dad. "
KISS SCOOTER NOW AVAILABLE
CROSSRUNNER is now accepting orders for their KISS custom collector's edition scooter. The bike sports many fully licensed images of the band and logos in a high resolution, full-color finish! "I wanna KISS scooter tonight, & ride it every day!"
.150cc engine
Green Living Inspired 84 MPG *
Fully Automatic Transmission
Electric Start (kick also, if you desire)
Brakes: Front-Disc, Rear-Drum
Custom Finish Featuring KISSMAJOR KISS ANNOUNCEMENT TUESDAY
... And the only way to find out about it is to subscribe to the Classic Rock newsletter. KISS are poised to make a massive announcement. Unfortunately, we can say no more at this stage. We can give no details or specifics. But believe us... it is MASSIVE news.KISS' 2010 EUROPEAN TOUR
With 35 dates across Europe, the "Sonic Boom Over Europe: From The Beginning To The Boom" is set to be THE rock event of 2010, building on the incredible success of the 2009 "Sonic Boom" album.KISS NOMINATED FOR GOLDEN GODS AWARD
KISS is a nominee in the "Comeback Of The Year" category at this year's Revolver Golden Gods Awards.Commercial for KISS
Here's a 1974 commercial for KISS' first album. In the clip, KISS is performing at the Academy of Music in New York, NY -- January 26, 1974. Notice that Paul is wearing his bandit makeup!
KISS EXTREME MAKEOVER TV COMMERCIAL
Check out this commercial for Sunday's episode of ABC's Extreme Makeover: Home Edition with KISS!
PAUL ADDS TWO FLORIDA ART SHOWS
Wentworth Gallery is pleased to present two art exhibitions by artist, rock icon and legendary KISS frontman Paul Stanley. Paul will make two special appearances at Wentworth Gallery in March.
6000 Glades Road
Boca Raton, FL
819 E. Las Olas Blvd.
Ft. Lauderdale, FLERIC SINGER'S MUSICIAN'S FRIEND INTERVIEW
Here's a great Eric Singer interview with Musician's Friend. The interview took place during Eric's photo shoot for the March cover of the Musician's Friend Catalog.
KISS FEATURE IN Q MAGAZINE
The March 2010 issue of Britain's Q magazine has a feature on Casablanca Records' early years, which features some great vintage photos of the band, as well as quotes from the band on what it was like to work for the label. Here's an excerpt:BRUCE KULICK Is 'Incredibly Saddened' By Passing Of THE KNACK's DOUG FIEGER
Former KISS guitarist Bruce Kulick has commented on the passing of Doug Fieger, THE KNACK lead singer who co-wrote the new-wave band's biggest hit, "My Sharona".BRUCE KULICK Interviewed By AYP MAGAZINE
Andy Nichols of AYP Magazine conducted an interview with former KISS and current GRAND FUNK RAILROAD guitarist Bruce Kulick at the release party for Bruce's long-awaited third solo album, "BK3", on February 6 at the Kiss Coffeehouse in Myrtle Beach, South Carolina. A preview of the chat is available here. The entire interview can be viewed at AYPMagazine.com.
ACE FREHLEY In Melbourne; Video Available
Fan-filmed video footage of original KISS guitarist Ace Frehley's February 7, 2010 performance at Enmore Theatre in Sydney, Australia can be viewed here: 1, 2.
ACE FREHLEY Interviewed On FUSE ON DEMAND
Fuse On Demand recently conducted an interview with original KISS guitarist Ace Frehley about his latest solo album, "Anomaly".KISS BRUCE KULICK & NICK SIMMONS HAND OF THE KING
KISS BRUCE KULICK & NICK SIMMONS HAND OF THE KING BK3 CD RELEASE PARTY FEB/01/2010: Video
MONSTERS OF THE FLYING V: THE SEQUEL!
Two years ago, the Gibson Flying V model turned 50, and we celebrated with our list of the "Monsters of the Flying V,", a tribute to the axe’s original generation of innovators.Q&A WITH TOMMY THAYER
QUESTION 1: Hello, I am trying to get advice for my little brother. He is 18 and very talented when it comes to music and playing. He taught himself how to play guitar, drums, and piano. He can listen to a song on the radio and usually within a couple hours he can play the entire song on his guitar. My question is what would you suggest he do to actually have some sort of chance at making it with his music? He lives in Astoria, Oregon, and I am sure you know how small that place is. I would hate to see his talent be lost due to not being able to find away to show anyone what he can do. By the way, I have read what you and KISS has done for kids and music programs and the support for the military, and I for one am very greatfull for what you do. Thank you, CHRIS JONES, Hammond, ORBRUCE KULICK: 'BK3' First-Week Sales Revealed
Former KISS and current GRAND FUNK RAILROAD guitarist Bruce Kulick's long-awaited third solo album, "BK3", sold around 1,700 copies in the United States in its first week of release. The CD landed at No. 12 on the Top New Artist Albums (Heatseekers) chart, which lists the best-selling albums by new and developing artists, defined as those who have never appeared in the Top 100 of The Billboard 200.
GENE SIMMONS FAMILY JEWELS RETURNS
GENE SIMMONS FAMILY JEWELS RETURNS TO A&E FOR AN ALL-NEW SEASONPhilharmonic Goes KISS
The Calgary Philharmonic is going full makeup to get into the mood for the orchestra's latest rock and roll collaboration, A jeans 'n classics tribute to KISS. (video)
BRUCE KULICK To Appear At 2010 CLEVELAND KISS EXPO
Former KISS guitarist Bruce Kulick will be the special guest at the 2010 Cleveland KISS Expo, set to take place Sunday, March 28 from 1 p.m. to 7 p.m. (12 p.m. for VIP holders) at the Holiday Inn Cleveland South Independence in Independence, Ohio. Bruce will take part in a question-and-answer session and be available for photos and autographs throughout the day.
6001 Rockside Road
Independence, OH 44131BRUCE KULICK: Pro-Shot Footage Of Sydney Performance Available
Professionally filmed video footage of former KISS guitarist Bruce Kulick performing the KISS songs "Crazy Nights" and "Turn On The Night" on December 13, 2009 at The Gaelic Club in Sydney, Australia can be viewed below.
NEW KISS DR. PEPPER COMMERCIAL
Here's KISS' Dr. Pepper commercial that just aired during the 2nd quarter of the Big Game!
RECORD YOUR OWN VERSION OF DR. LOVE NOW
Dr Pepper.com invites KISS fans to be a part of an endless version of "Calling Dr. Love" too! Visit Dr Pepper.com to record your own performance, then become a part of the Never-Ending Song!
LIMITED EDITION SONIC BOOM VINYL
KISS PROUDLY ANNOUNCES THE RELEASE OF SONIC BOOM ON VINYL!SNEAK PEEK OF KISS DR PEPPER COMMERCIAL
Get a sneak peek of Gene Simmons returning as Dr. Love in the Dr Pepper Cherry commercial running during the Big Game this Sunday! Watch here!
PAUL AND GENE SIGNING MONDAY
Paul Stanley and Gene Simmons will appear at the Barnes & Noble store at the Grove at Farmers Market in Los Angeles on Monday, February 8 at 7:00 PM.
Barnes & Noble - The Grove at Farmers Market
189 Grove Drive Suite K 30
Los Angeles, CA 90036
323-525-0270
"SAY YEAH" #1 ON RUSSIAN RADIO CHART!
KISS' "Say Yeah" jumps to #1 on the Russian RADIO ROCKS chart this week! The song debuted at #11 last week.
LEGENDS - NEXT SET OF KISS TRADING CARDS
Press Pass ready to unleash Legends of KISS set."LOST TRACKS" INCLUDE KISS!
As pop culture phenomenon "Lost" begins its sixth and final season on ABC, fans of the television series will gain a unique glimpse into the minds of characters Kate, Sawyer, Locke, Hurley and Charlie with the release of six EPs revealing classic songs important to each of them. Appropriately for characters stranded on a remote South Pacific island, these recordings are their "Lost tracks."BRUCE KULICK Interviewed On 'Good Time Metal Oldies' Show
On December 16, 2009, Jason Saulnier of the "Good Time Metal Oldies" radio show conducted an interview with former KISS and current GRAND FUNK RAILROAD guitarist Bruce Kulick. Listen to the chat in three parts here: Part 1, Part 2, Part 3.
KISS Superbowl Ad
Look for the full spot at the two-minute warning, just before halftime.
CALLING DR. LOVE: KISS INVADES THE SUPERBOWL
Only ET is behind the scenes with legendary rockers Kiss on their first-ever Dr. Pepper Super Bowl commercial -- featuring Mini Kiss!BRUCE KULICK RECORD RELEASE PARTY
Bruce Kulick will be hosting a record release party at the Cat Club in West Hollywood on February 1st at 7pm. Nick Simmons will be performing "Hand Of The King" with Bruce, and the Gene Simmons' Family Jewels show will also be there to capture the evening's activities. Visit Kulick.net for more info on Bruce's new BK3 CD.
Ace Frehley happier without Kiss egos
Former Kiss guitarist Ace Frehley says he's happier touring as a solo artist than with his ex-bandmates because the only ego he has to deal with is his own.ACE FREHLEY Interviewed On Australia's 'Sunrise'; Video Available
Original KISS guitarist Ace Frehley has arrived in Australia for the kick-off of his short tour in support of his new solo album, "Anomaly". His first interview with "Sunrise", Australia's number one breakfast show, (airing on Channel 7), can be viewed at this location.
GIG MEMENTOES
Kiss fans who saw the rock band on their 2009 US tour had the chance to take the show home with them in their back pockets when they walked out of the venue.ACE FREHLEY Taps Former DANZIG Guitarist For Australian Tour
Guitarist Todd Youth (D-GENERATION, DANZIG, THE ROYAL HIGHNESS, MICHAEL MONROE) will join legendary KISS guitarist Ace Frehley for his upcoming tour of Australia.PAUL STANLEY: BOOM TIME
Paul Stanley talks about Kiss’ success as a live act and how he and Gene Simmons once again found their old chemistry and made Sonic Boom pure dynamite.KISS COFFEEHOUSE WINS BEST COFFEEHOUSE AWARD!
The KISS Cofeehouse has been chosen as the best coffeehouse on the Grand Strand. The "Grand Strand" is over a 60 mile stretch of coast line, from the North Carolina border, all the way down to Georgetown, SC. This was the inaugural "Best of the Grand Strand" contest featuring more than 500 of the Grand Strand's best local businesses, in over 65 categories, and was voted on by the local viewing area's viewers! In all, over 11,000 votes were cast by viewers! Coffee with attitude didn't exist in the marketplace until the KISS Coffeehouse exploded onto the scene in Myrtle Beach, SC. KISS Coffeehouse is a stimulating environment to drink a stimulating beverage.
N.Y. company sues to stop N.J. man, Cleveland woman from selling Kiss photo book
You gotta file a lawsuit in Detroit Rock City.KISS APPEARANCE ON 'WETTEN, DASS' CONFIRMED
KISS will appear live on the German TV Show, 'Wetten, Dass...?' ('Wanna Bet?') on February 27.KISS ON FOX BUSINESS NEWS
Check out this clip of KISS at the New York Stock Exchange today with the CEO of Dr. Pepper!
KISS RINGS CLOSING BELL AT NYSE
Here's KISS ringing the closing bell at the New York Stock Exchange today!
BRUCE KULICK: Australian Tour Report To Air On 'Asylum TV'
A feature on former KISS guitarist Bruce Kulick's recent Australian tour will debut on Australia's Channel 31 "Asylum TV" show on Tuesday, January 26 at 11 p.m., with repeats on January 28 at 10 p.m. and January 30 at 11:30 p.m.
KISS TO RING CLOSING BELL AT NY STOCK EXCHANGE
Today, January 25, legendary rock band KISS and "I'm a Pepper" ad icon David Naughton are teaming up with Dr Pepper Snapple Group CEO Larry Young to ring The Closing Bell at the New York Stock Exchange in celebration of the 125th Anniversary of Dr Pepper ? America's oldest major soft drink.KISS PRESS SCHEDULE FOR TODAY
KISS will do interviews on the following radio and TV stations today:
11:05 - 11:30 Playboy Channel
11:35 - 12:00 Road Dog Trucking
3:40 - 3:50 Fox Business TV Channel
GENE SIMMONS' SIGNATURE BASS
If you have an axe to grind with the band Kiss, this is the time to do it. Kiss bassist Gene Simmons has revealed that fans can now purchase a Limited Edition, personally signed version of the Gene Simmons Axe Bass. No surprise, the bass is shaped like an axe. For those who want to show off their chops with this axe, of for those who just want to own this collectors item, there are two models of the bass.BRUCE KULICK Schedules 'BK3' Release Party In Hollywood
Former KISS and current GRAND FUNK RAILROAD guitarist Bruce Kulick will host a release party for his long-awaited third solo album, "BK3", on February 1 at the Cat Club in West Hollywood, California starting at 7:00 p.m.
PAUL'S ONE LIVE KISS AT CIMM FEST
The Chicago International Movies and Music Festival 2010 Proudly presents Paul Stanley 'One Live KISS' on the big screen!
2424 North Lincoln Avenue
Chicago, IL 60614 usaACE FREHLEY: New 'Behind The Player' Commercial
ACE FREHLEY: New 'Behind The Player' DVD Commercial Available right here.
The Hughes Brothers' Gentle Art Of Collaboration
When we were younger, growing up in Detroit, the inevitable yearly Halloween fight would take place: Who was going to be Gene Simmons, “the Demon” of the rock band KISS, that year? We would fight and fight until one of us folded or our mother would settle it by making both of us Gene Simmons. Great! Two half-breed Gene Simmons mutants walking down the block with pillowcases filled with candy. Yeah, Mom, thanks. That’s really going to help with the confusion of being a twin.BRUCE KULICK's 'BK3'; Extended Trailer Available
An extended trailer for former KISS and current GRAND FUNK RAILROAD guitarist Bruce Kulick's long-awaited third solo album, "BK3", can be viewed here.
WIN KISS SONIC BOOM OVER EUROPE TICKETS
We've got five pairs of tickets for Kiss' shows this coming spring to give away in an exclusive competition.
Sun 2nd May Newcastle Metro Radio Arena (UK)
Tues 4th May Liverpool Arena (UK)
Wed 5th May Birmingham LG Arena (UK)
Fri 7th May Dublin, O2 Arena (Eire)
Mon 10th May Manchester MEN Arena (UK)
Wed 12th May London, Wembley Arena (UK)Kiss and Van Halen rockers provide howl effects for The Wolfman
PUERTO RICAN actor Benicio Del Toro's strong, intense features have led him towards many dark and tragic roles, the latest being the lead in the remake of The Wolfman, released on February 12.KISS ADDS BUDAPEST, HUNGARY SHOW
KISS is excited to add a Budapest, Hungary show to their 2010 Sonic Boom Over Europe Tour! The Budapest show will take place on Friday, May 28 at the Papp Laszlo Budapest Sport Arena.REVIEW: KISS -SONIC BOOM
Proving that rock 'n roll can never die, Kiss continues to soldier on with their 19th studio offering, Sonic Boom.ACE FREHLEY: New 'Behind The Player' DVD Trailer Available
A trailer for original KISS guitarist Ace Frehley's "Behind the Player" DVD can be viewed here. The set will be released in North America on January 19 via IMV, a Los Angeles-based producer of interactive music content and video game systems. Order your copy of Behind The Player here.
PAUL PAINTING BENEFITS AFTER-SCHOOL ARTS PROGRAM
Paul Stanley of Kiss has donated one of his latest paintings titled Miami Sunset to benefit Arts for Learning. The painting was unveiled Friday at the W South Beach during a cocktail reception for the 36th annual Miami Beach Festival of the Arts. All proceeds generated from the online auction will benefit the after-school arts programs of Arts for Learning. The auction winner will also receive an invitation for two to an exclusive private dinner event with Stanley at the Diplomat Hotel in March, courtesy of the Wentworth Gallery. Bidding on Miami Sunset, which is valued at $50,000, will begin at $15,000. Bid now at www.biddingforgood.com/artsforlearningmiami
GENE, ERIC AND TOMMY AT NAMM SATURDAY
Gene Simmons, Eric Singer and Tommy Thayer will each make appearances at the 2010 NAMM show in Anaheim on Saturday, January, 17.Top 20 Concert Tours
The Top 20 Concert Tours ranks artists by average box office gross per city and includes the average ticket price for shows in North America. The previous week's ranking is in parentheses. The list is based on data provided to the trade publication Pollstar by concert promoters and venue managers.
2. (2) Bruce Springsteen & The E Street Band; $3,563,047; $87.22.
3. (3) Metallica; $1,250,452; $67.92.
4. (4) Miley Cyrus; $1,078,293; $68.95.
5. (5) AC/DC; $946,924; $73.63.
6. (6) Maxwell; $639,248; $72.77.
7. (7) KISS; $617,296; $63.73.
8. (9) Trans-Siberian Orchestra; $592,720; $45.02.
9. (10) Star Wars In Concert; $534,264; $57.45.
10. (11) Jay-Z; $523,711; $57.67.
11. (13) Kings Of Leon; $438,813; $41.51.
12. (14) Robin Williams; $379,241; $86.55.
13. (15) Leonard Cohen; $377,088; $97.47.
14. (16) Jeff Dunham; $342,175; $45.52.
15. (17) Bob Dylan; $322,799; $57.05.
16. (18) So You Think You Can Dance; $270,467; $52.15.
17. (19) Tiësto; $194,767; $55.88.
18. (New) Rob Thomas; $172,906; $51.25.
19. (20) Creed; $171,606; $36.88.
20. (New) Daughtry; $168,834; $39.01.
GENE SIMMONS BRINGS STAR POWER TO NAMM
Gene Simmons swung his Axe Bass over his shoulder for a few moments. He then switched to the other side. Later, he dropped the bass down, holding a stance.GENE SIMMONS TO AGGRESSIVELY DEFEND AGAINST FALSE ALLEGATIONS
Barry E. Mallen, an attorney at the law firm of Manatt, Phelps & Phillips, is representing Gene Simmons against a complaint filed on December 24, 2009 by Nathaniel Marlowe and Cynthia Manzo arising out of an alleged assault Marlowe and Manzo contend took place the afternoon of December 19, 2009 at the Grove shopping complex in Los Angeles. Mallen described the Complaint filed by Marlowe and Manzo as "opportunistic" and "riddled with distortions and false accusations." The complaint stems from events which occurred after Gene Simmons, Shannon Tweed, his partner of 26 years, and their seventeen year old daughter, Sophie, exited the movie theater at the Grove complex and were accosted by the thin, tall, tattooed Marlowe, who jumped at them and started yelling in their faces. While Simmons and his family attempted to walk away from their pursuer, Marlowe repeatedly converged upon them, while screaming and aiming a small electronic device at them.KISS SELL OUT MADRID , ADD BARCELONA SHOW
After selling out the June 22 show at the Sports Palace of Madrid more than six months in advance, KISS is proud to announce an additional date in Spain. The show takes place on June 24 at the Palau Sant Jordi in Barcelona. Tickets will go on sale next Tuesday, January 19th.PAUL AND GENE ON KISS ALBUMS
SONIC BOOMS: Gene and Paul's memories of some classic Kiss albums:ACE FREHLEY Performs National Anthem At 'Monster Energy AMA Supercross'
Legendary KISS guitarist Ace Frehley performed the national anthem this past Saturday (January 9) at the the Monster Energy AMA Supercross, an FIM World Championship, race. The live season opener took place at Angel Stadium in Anaheim, California and was televised on the Speed channel. Video footage of Frehley's performance cane be viewed here.
ON TOUR WITH KISS IN MINNEAPOLIS
THIS week SFTW goes to Minneapolis to meet rock legends Kiss. We hang out with God Of Thunder Gene Simmons and experience their Alive 35 tour, celebrating the three and a half decades since they first emerged - an explosive taster of what the UK can expect this spring.Gene Simmons Movie Trailers
Runaway
Wanted Dead Or Alive
Red Surf
Never Too Young To Die
LOVE GUN CLIP FROM DALLAS
Check out this great fan-filmed video clip of "Love Gun" from KISS's Dallas Show!
ACE FREHLEY To Perform National Anthem At 'Monster Energy AMA Supercross' In Anaheim
Legendary KISS guitarist Ace Frehley will perform the national anthem at the the Monster Energy AMA Supercross, an FIM World Championship, race. The live season opener will take place on Saturday, January 9 at Angel Stadium in Anaheim, California and will be televised at 10:00 p.m. EST on the Speed channel.
PAUL ADDS TWO FLORIDA ART SHOWS
Wentworth Gallery is pleased to present two art exhibitions by artist, rock icon and legendary KISS frontman Paul Stanley. Paul will make two special appearances at Wentworth Gallery in March.
6000 Glades Road
Boca Raton, FL
819 E. Las Olas Blvd.
Ft. Lauderdale, FLOn The Road With KISS: German-Language TV Report Available
Andreas Renner of Germany's Focus Online went behind the scenes on the road with KISS. You can see the band backstage, at soundcheck, live and more. Watch the German-language report here.
TOMMY TO PLAY IN BOB HOPE CLASSIC
KISS lead guitarist Tommy Thayer will play golf in the celebrity field of the PGA Tour's Bob Hope Classic on January 20th through 23rd in La Quinta, California. Other celebrities appearing this year's tournament are Robbie Krieger of The Doors, Alice Cooper, Dr. Phil McGraw, actors Kurt Russell, Anthony Anderson, Kevin Nealon and Chris O'Donnell, as well as professional athletes Emmet Smith, Greg Maddux and Bo Jackson. For more info go to www.bobhopeclassic.com
Kiss' Gene Simmons: 'How did drugs become cool?'
Kiss say sex, drugs and rock 'n' roll are for "losers".Christopher "Critter" Smith keeps battling leukemia that won't go away
Christopher "Critter" Smith and the leukemia that invaded his body two-and-a-half years ago are still battling each other.BRUCE KULICK To Guest On 'Mars Attacks!'
Powerhouse American vocalist Tim "Ripper" Owens (YNGWIE MALMSTEEN, BEYOND FEAR, ex-JUDAS PRIEST, ICED EARTH) and former KISS guitarist Bruce Kulick will be interviewed on tonight's (Thursday, January 7) edition of "Mars Attacks!" on MarkStriglRadio.com. Hosted by Victor M. Ruiz, the show will air at 8:00 p.m. EST.
BRUCE KULICK AT THE KISS COFFEEHOUSE
Bruce Kulick will host a release party for his long-awaited third solo effort, BK3, at the KISS Coffeehouse in Myrtle Beach, SC on Saturday, February 6th, 2010. The festivities are set to begin at 2:00 PM and everyone is invited to join in the celebration.KISS Featured On 'Nightline'; Video Available
KISS was featured on last night's (Tuesday, January 5) edition of the ABC News program "Nightline". The award-winning show went on tour with the iconic rock band and offered viewers a sneak peek into the musical and marketing genius that is KISS. Watch the segment here.
KISS ON ABC'S NIGHTLINE TONIGHT
A special KISS segment will appear on ABC's Nightline tonight (Jan 5) at 11:35pm EST. The ABC crew caught up with KISS at their United Center show in Chicago during the Alive 35 tour.
KISS IN DR PEPPER SUPER BOWL COMMERCIAL
Latest installment of popular 'Trust Me, I'm a Dr' campaign features the entire KISS lineup.AN EVENING WITH PAUL STANLEY
Wentworth Gallery cordially invites you and a Guest to enjoy an incredible evening with Artist, Rock Icon and Legendary KISS Frontman - PAUL STANLEY. This event is limited to the first 20 guests that RSVP and meet the minimum purchase requirements.Please call 800-732-6140 for additional details
BRUCE KULICK Discusses New Solo Album
BackstageAxxess.com recently conducted an interview with former KISS and current GRAND FUNK RAILROAD guitarist Bruce Kulick. The chat can now be streamed in four parts: Part 1, Part 2, Part 3, Part 4.
PAUL STANLEY Says Meeting JIMMY PAGE Was 'Stunning'
The Pulse of Radio reports: Paul Stanley hardy gets star struck, but says that being introduced to Jimmy Page in 1976 was one of the greatest meetings of his life. Stanley spoke to the Las Vegas Sun and recalled that during the recording of KISS' "Destroyer" album, he finally met one of his greatest inspirations, remembering, "LED ZEPPELIN was mixing 'The Song Remains The Same' soundtrack, and we were coming into the studio after them. We were in the lobby, and Jimmy came up and he knew who I was, and who the band was. It was stunning. Not five years earlier, I was in the audience, watching LED ZEPPELIN with my mouth open, just not believing it."ROCK IN NEW YEAR WITH KISS
Gibson Guitars recently compiled a list of the best songs to ring in the new year with... and one of them is a KISS classic! Rockin' Songs To Ring In The New Year!STILL EPIC ON STAGE
As a music photographer, every gig presents a new challenge and an opportunity to make great images, but as 2009 comes to a close, it's time to look back at some of the best tours, festivals, and events of the year.GET THE NEW KISS SEARCH TOOLBAR & WIN BIG!
The best way to keep updated on everything KISS is to get the brand new official search toolbar for IE, Safari and Firefox. This amazing new FREE tool allows you to surf the web and win exclusive KISS prizes right from your browser (courtesy: searchwithkiss.swagbucks.com). The toolbar keeps you updated with KISS news, quick links to every single official band page. This is the ULTIMATE browser add-on that no fan should be without.PARTY. KISS was the Spectacle of the Year
The sky lit up with bursts of fireworks, sealing a night of partying. It was April 14th, but it smelled like a New Year's Eve celebration.'DELILAH' MAKES TOP SONGS OF DECADE LIST
"Modern Day Delilah" is the #11 song in Classic Rock Magazine's Top 100 songs of the decade!
From the 2009 album "Sonic Boom." So, can KISS still rack out the lines (music, that is)? Hell, yeah. A deceptively simple platform-booted anthem - but only KISS could pull it off.
BATTLE OF TRIBUTE BANDS RINGS IN NEW YEAR IN UTAH
When it comes to celebrating New Year's Eve, three days are better than one.KISS: 'Best Of Kiss Alive 35' Two-CD Set Now Available
On September 25, the KISS Alive 35 tour kicked off in North America in Detroit, Michigan. Each of KISS' 42 shows was exclusively recorded by Concert Online and made available to purchase as a USB leather wristband with a KISS metal buckle or an instant live CD set, consisting of two CDs in a collector's box.
01. Deuce - Live in Greenville (10-17-09)
02. Strutter - Live in Philadelphia (10-12-09)
03. Got to Chose - Live in Hampton (10-16-09)
04. Hotter Than Hell - Live in Little Rock (10-29-09)
05. Fire House - Live in Winnipeg (11-09-09)
06. Nothin' To Loose - Live in Cleveland (09-28-09)
07. C'mon And Love Me - Live in Oshawa (10-07-09)
08. Parasite - Live in Boston (10-05-09)
09. She incl. Guitar Solo - Live in Cleveland (09-28-09)
10. Watchin' You - Live in Uncasville (10-03-09)
11. 100,000 Years incl. Drum Solo - Live in Minneapolis (11-07-09)
12. Black Diamond - Live in Oakland (11-22-09)
13. Cold Gin - Live in Detroit (09-25-09)
14. Rock And Roll All Nite - Live in Greenville (10-17-09)
15. Let Me Go Rock'N'Roll - Live in Anaheim (11-24-09)
16. Detroit Rock City - Live in Detroit (09-25-09)
17. King Of The Night Time World - Live in Uncasville (10-03-09)
18. Love Gun - Live in Atlanta (10-26-09)
19. Calling Dr. Love - Live in Birmingham (10-24-09)
20. Shock Me - Live in Fresno (11-21-09)
21. I Stole Your Love - Live in Montreal (10-01-09)
22. Shout It Out Loud - Live in Portland (11-17-09)
23. Modern Day Delilah - Live in Los Angeles (11-25-09)
24. I Love It Loud - Live in Hampton (10-16-09)
25. Lick It Up - Live in Pensacola (10-19-09)
26. Do You Love Me - Live in Seattle (11-15-09)
27. Say Yeah - Live in Atlanta (10-26-09)Gene Simmons Rocked by Assault Claims
Maybe they were after his family jewels.BRUCE KULICK To Guest On New AVANTASIA Album
Former KISS and current GRAND FUNK RAILROAD guitarist Brice Kulick has joined the list of guest musicians who will appear on the forthcoming release from EDGUY frontman Tobias Sammet's AVANTASIA project.
* Tim "Ripper" Owens (JUDAS PRIEST, YNGWIE MALMSTEEN, ICED EARTH)
* Eric Singer (KISS, ALICE COOPER)
* Michael Kiske (HELLOWEEN)
* Jorn Lande (MASTERPLAN, ARK, MILLENIUM)
* Bob Catley (MAGNUM)
* Sascha Paeth
* Felix Bohnke (EDGUY)
* Alex Holzwarth (RHAPSODY, SIEGES EVEN)
* Russell Allen (SYMPHONY X)
* Jens Johansson (STRATOVARIUS, DIO, YNGWIE MALMSTEEN)
* André Matos (ANGRA, SHAAMAN, VIPER)
* Bruce Kulick (KISS, GRAND FUNK RAILROAD)KISS AND SONIC BOOM: SIMPLY THE BEST
Sonic Boom: Everything is exactly in place -- vision and music. Despite the fact that Kiss is once again playing "classic rock," in essence it's not entirely recognizeable as such either visually or musically. Eric Singer, although several classes' better a drummer than Peter Criss, reasonably stands in the background and is not an exhibitionist - and new guitarist Tommy Thayer? His solos are almost as if he was an identical twin to Ace Frehley.Gene Simmons.com: Christmas Breakfast At A Hotel
Video: Part 1, Part 2.
Couple sues Gene Simmons over alleged attack
A couple who claim they were assaulted by Gene Simmons have sued the KISS bassist.Simmons avoids restraining order
A Los Angeles judge has dismissed a couple's request for a restraining order against KISS rocker Gene Simmons, following allegations the star attacked them in a shopping mall.CHRIS LANEY's New Solo Album To Feature Guest Appearances By BRUCE KULICK
Swedish songwriter/producer/artist Chris Laney is working on material for his second solo album at Polar Studios in Stockholm. Tentatively due in the spring, the CD will feature collaborations and guest appearances by Bruce Kulick (KISS, UNION, GRAND FUNK RAILROAD) and Conny Bloom (HANOI ROCKS, ELECTRIC BOYS), among others.SONIC BOOM #1 ROCK ALBUM OF 2009
KISS' Sonic Boom album has been voted the #1 Rock Album of 2009 by the listeners of 'The Rock Show' on Sunshine FM in the UK!ACE FREHLEY Interviewed In Berlin; Video Available
Berlin, Germany's PitCam Production and More-Metal.com conducted an interview with original KISS guitarist Ace Frehley when he played Huxley's Neue Welt in Berlin on December 11, 2009. Watch the chat here.
GENE AND ERIC VISIT BOYS AND GIRLS CLUB
KISS band members visit Boys and Girls Club in MonroviaGENE SIMMONS ON FOX NEWS
Here's Gene's recent Fox News appearance to promote KISS Kompendium!
GENE SIMMONS RADIO INTERVIEW ON KGO 810
Here's a radio interview Gene did with KGO AM 810 to talk about the release of KISS Kompendium!
GENE SIMMONS ON CW NEWS
Here's Gene's appearance on CW News (WPIX 11) to promote the release of KISS Kompendium!
SONIC BOOM: KISS GETS BACK TO BASICS
Kiss is back on center stage, with their legendary costumes and boisterous guitars, to present their latest work inspired in the tradition of the 70s.KISS WORKS AT WAL-MART
What would happen if KISS worked at Wal-Mart? Wal-Mart decided to find out in this fun promotional video.
GENE ON NBC TODAY SHOW
Here's Gene's appearance on NBC's Today Show to promote the release of KISS Kompendium!
ACE FREHLEY: 'Behind The Player' DVD To Receive European Release Via SEASON OF MIST
Season Of Mist has set a January 15, 2010 European release date for original KISS guitarist Ace Frehley's "Behind the Player" DVD.Amazon.com commercial
KISS's Destroyer album makes a surprise appearance in this holiday Amazon.com commercial!
GENE SIGNING AT BORDERS TODAY
Gene Simmons will appear at the Manhattan - Columbus Circle - Borders today, December 17, 2009 at 12:30 PM.
Borders
10 Columbus Circle
New York, NY 10019
GENE'S THURSDAY PRESS SCHEDULE
Gene Simmons will promote KISS' new book KISS Kompendium with the following TV appearances on Thursday:
7:45 AM to 7:50 AM - CW 11 MORNING NEWS
10:00 AM to 11:00 AM - NBC-TV TODAY SHOW This interview will take place in the 10 o'clock hour with Hoda and Kathie Lee.
Gene will also tape an interview with FOX NEWS INTERNATIONAL that will go out to all Fox local and international TV affiliates.
Gene Simmons told Cher he slept with 4,600 women
Gene Simmons claims Cher was happy he when proved to her he had slept with 4,600 women.KISS Snubbed By ROCK AND ROLL HALL OF FAME
KISS, nominated for the first time this year for induction into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame after being snubbed for a decade, was left out of the honors.Penguins Coaches Enjoy Kiss Concert
Inclement weather prevented the Penguins from gathering Sunday morning at a Waterfront restaurant for their annual holiday party, but head coach Dan Bylsma and his staff still found time to bond. Penguins coaches attended the KISS concert that night at Mellon Arena, though assistant coach Tony Granato joked that they opted against face paint in honor of their favorite band members - front man Paul Stanley for Granato.
KISS ON BRIAN MCKNIGHT SHOW
KISS recently appeared on the Brian McKnight Show. Here's a clip!
VIDEO OF "DETROIT ROCK CITY" IN PITTSBURGH
Check out this fan-filmed clip of "Detroit Rock City" in Pittsburgh on Sunday night!
KISS ROLLS INTO THE IGLOO AND MAKES IT ROCK
Paul Stanley, the best in-between-song screamer in the history of rock 'n' roll, screeched last night, "We've been playing this place for so long -- it feels like church to us!"GERMAN SONIC BOOM TELEVISION SPOT
Check out this German television commercial for Sonic Boom!
KISS ADDS ADDITIONAL UK DATES
Sat, May 1 - Sheffield Arena
Sun, May 2 - Newcastle Arena
Tue, May 4 - Liverpool Arena
Wed, May 5 - Birmingham LG Arena - (moved from 11th)
SOLD-OUT ONTARIO SHOW REGRETFULLY POSTPONED
KISS and AEG Live Regretfully Postpone Sold-Out Sault Ste. Marie, Ontario Show Due to Inclement Weather - Show to be rescheduled for summer 2010GENE SIGNING AT BORDERS
Gene Simmons will appear at the Manhattan - Columbus Circle - Borders on December 17, 2009 at 12:30 PM.
10 Columbus Circle
New York, NY 10019
KISS GOES TO SCHOOL
Video: Fox 23
KISS ROCKS AMERICA....AGAIN!
Ringing ears? Laryngitis? Those aren't symptoms of the latest flu virus, just the aftermath of seeing KISS perform Friday night at the Mid America Center.ACE FREHLEY: 'Behind The Player' DVD Details Revealed
IMV, a Los Angeles-based producer of interactive music content and video game systems, has set a January 19, 2010 release date for original KISS guitarist Ace Frehley's "Behind the Player" DVD.SAULTE STE. MARIE EXCITED FOR KISS!
This Kiss you could miss in the blink of an eye.ALL THE WORLD'S THEIR STAGE
KISS has been rocking since 1973, so it makes sense that references to the band (and their makeup) have popped up just about everywhere in pop culture. Here are a few:SPECTACLE OF ROCK SPECTACLES
On Friday night, KISS was all platform boots, greasepaint, sequins and swagger.Tommy Thayer interview with The Sault Star
To some, Ron Wood is still the spankin' new Stone -- and he officially joined ranks with Mick, Keith and boys in 1976.KISS: ALBUM OF THE YEAR
KISS: Sonic Boom (Roadrunner/Loud&Proud)"DETROIT ROCK CITY" LIVE IN KANSAS CITY
Check out this great fan-filmed clip of "http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qAJN3v2nvBs" from Kansas City!
SHOUT IT OUT LOUD!
Get out your armor. Find the grease paint. And don't forget your Kiss Army membership card.MERRY KISSMAS: KISS HELP FAMILY OF KISS FANS
Merry KISSmas: Legendary Rockers KISS Launch an Offensive with ABC's Hit "Show Extreme Makeover: Home Edition" to Help a Family of Needy KISS Fans.KISS RETURNS WITH SONIC BOOM
Sure, even teenage stoners knew that Kiss was always something of a rock 'n' roll cartoon, but when the band first blazed through the Arena in 1976, it was hard to fathom that someday a suburban super-store would be selling Kiss M&M's for $6 a bag.KISS TAKES OVER TULSA BOK CENTER
It's 1978 and the Christian Right has focused on KISS. KNIGHTS IN SATAN'S SERVICE, they declare! Parents worried about backward satanic messages embedded in records, ill morals, and a depreciation in family values rally to save their innocent children from the evil that was deemed KISS.KISS CONCERT STREAM DRAWS 2 MILLION VIEWS
A-B, Activision Benefit From Unexpected Stickiness of Live Ustream Show by Iconic Rock Band.KISS: LIVE VIDEO CLIPS FROM TULSA
Check out these great fan-filmed video clips of "Deuce" and Tommy's guitar solo from KISS's Tulsa show at the Tuesday!
Mike Judge (Extract) on Gene Simmons
Q: Was it your idea to cast rocker Gene Simmons as bench lawyer Joe Adler in Extract?KISS VISITS TULSA HARD ROCK
KISS visited Tulsa's Hard Rock to greet fans and autograph guitars for the hotel. Here's a news clip!
KISS APPEARANCE ON EXTREME MAKEOVER: HOME EDITION
(Video) Tulsa's Wilson Middle School was transformed into a TV set on Wednesday for a segment of ABC's "Extreme Makeover: Home Edition," featuring legendary rock band KISS.KISS DELIVERS INSTRUMENTS TO SCHOOL
Here's a news clip discussing KISS's presentation of musical instruments donated by the Mr. Holland's Opus foundation to Wilson Middle School!
BRUCE KULICK Says He Was 'Relieved' He Wasn't Asked To Rejoin KISS
Ruben Mosqueda of Sleaze Roxx recently conducted an interview with former KISS guitarist Bruce Kulick. A couple of excerpts from the chat follow below.KISS IS ALIVE IN DALLAS
American Airlines Center in Dallas was packed to the roof last night when legendary rockers KISS - supported by multi-platinum BUCKCHERRY -invaded Big D and proved, without a doubt, that they can still 'rock and roll all night'. And to keep the legend going they even had a protester outside waving a cross and telling people not to go in there because they're doomed.PAUL INTERVIEW ON FOX NEWS
Fox News recently caught up with Paul to discuss Sonic Boom, the Alive 35 tour, and his artwork. Here's the clip!
A Merry KISSmas to Oakville
They were expecting Santa, but got 'Gene Simmons' first - and they liked it.KISS MAKES STOP AT HARD ROCK TULSA
As an oversized tour bus rolled to a halt in front of the grand front foyer of the Hard Rock Hotel & Casino Tulsa, fans rolled outside, lining up to welcome the band.KISS Gives Wilson Middle School The Gift Of Music
Legendary rock band KISS spent the day on Wednesday, December 9, at Tulsa, Oklahoma's Wilson Middle School shooting a segment of ABC's "Extreme Makeover: Home Edition".KISS PRESENTS MIDDLE SCHOOL WITH GIFT OF MUSIC
Legendary rock band KISS visited Tulsa's Wilson Middle School on Wednesday to shoot a segment of Extreme Makeover: Home Edition.KISS VISITS SCHOOL FOR 'EXTREME MAKEOVER'
Legendary rock band, KISS, will spend Wednesday at Tulsa's Wilson Middle School to shoot a segment of ABC's "Extreme Makeover: Home Edition."APPLY YOUR BEST KISS FACE
(Video) Ginger Dickison is a special-effects artist with Spotlight Costumes, LLC, in the South Side. A native of Fresno, Calif., she came to Pittsburgh four years ago to study at the Tom Savini Special Makeup Effects School at the Douglas Education Center in Monessen.Eric backstage
This fan shot video of Eric backstage in Tampa talking watches was posted on the National Association of Watch and Clock Collectors web site.
KISS KOMPENDIUM SWEEPSTAKES
One Grand Prize Winner will win an autographed copy of the KISS Kompendum and a copy of the new KISS album, Sonic Boom. Four runners-up will receive a free copy of the KISS Kompendum. Click here to see complete rules and enter the contest."MODERN DAY DELILAH" PREMIERES ON YAHOO!
KISS's "Modern Day Delilah" music video premieres today on Yahoo!: Yahoo! Music
UK & IRELAND PREMIERE OF "DELILAH" VIDEO
MUZU TV will host the UK & Ireland online premiere of the long awaited "Modern Day Delilah" video on Wednesday 9th December. Head on over from lunchtime Wednesday to play the video on demand and also to check out a competition to win shirts, albums and for one lucky winner a SIGNED copy of the single! The place to be is www.muzu.tv !
QUARTET STILL STOMPS OUT THE HITS!
Nearly a decade after its farewell tour, the larger-than-life, greasepaint, leather and platform-wearing quartet still stomps out hits. Big time.Spin: Kiss, 'Sonic Boom'
Spin: Kiss, 'Sonic Boom' (Kiss) Rock elders in best-LP-since-Love Gun shocker!KISS RETURNS: CALLING DR. LOVE IN AUSTIN
Paul Stanley, Gene Simmons, Tommy Thayer and Eric Singer are back together for the KISS Alive 35 tour which rocked the Frank Erwin Center Friday night December 4, 2009 in Austin, Texas. After selling more than a 100 million albums worldwide, the makeup has come back on and they're touring their new album Sonic Boom. The Frank Erin Center was almost sold out and there was a mixed crowd of young and middle aged fans. Oddly enough I did not see many KISS face-paintings on the audience members this time.BRUCE KULICK Attended NEIL ZLOZOWER's Book Signing
Bruce Kulick was among the musicians who attended rock and roll photographer Neil Zlozower's signing session this past Saturday, December 5 at Mr Musichead Gallery in Hollywood, California for "Six-String Heroes" (Chronicle Books), Neil's new book that showcases 150 of the greatest guitar players in history. Video footage and photos from the event can be viewed here.
HOTTER THAN HELL IN HOUSTON ROCK CITY
KISS is a depleting natural and cultural resource. One day there will be no KISS left, and all the world will have is four garish black and silver suits sitting in some futuristic Smithsonian display. We have had KISS on this Earth for almost 40 years, and many people have never even seen them live.
Deuce
Strutter
Let Me Go Rock 'N' Roll
Hotter Than Hell
Shock Me
Calling Dr. Love
Modern Day Delilah
Cold Gin
Parasite
Say Yeah
100,000 Years
I Love It Loud
Black Diamond
Rock And Roll All Nite
Shout It Out Loud
Lick It Up
Love Gun
Detroit Rock City
KISS VIDEO CLIPS FROM DALLAS
Check out this fan-filmed clips of "Love Gun", "Rock And Roll All Nite", "Detroit Rock City" and "I Love It Loud" from KISS' Dallas Show!
VIDEO CLIP OF ""SAY YEAH" IN LAS VEGAS
Check out this fan-filmed clip of "Say Yeah" from KISS' Las Vegas Show!
How Many Women Can One Man Actually Sleep With?
A lot more than Tiger Woods allegedly has, that's for sure. But almost 5,000? That takes a rock star, not a golfer.'Incarnate' puts a fresh spin on the immortal theme
"INCARNATE" IS proof positive that first impressions aren't always accurate.ERIC SINGER: ON TOP OF HIS GAME
The phrase "words can't describe it" has a whole new meaning when talking about a KISS concert. That certainly seems to be the case when it comes to Kiss' Alive 35 Tour which is currently touring around the US, and soon to be invading Europe. Kiss has made more than a career out of being in a rock band, they have made it a lifestyle with a cult following consisting of some of the most adoring and dedicated fans on the planet. Kiss defies exactly what it is to be in a rock band and their live show has always left fans in awe and amazement. From the fireworks and the flames to the spinning drum riser and rising stage sections, it's safe to say that Kiss is back.
(2)24x15 bass drum
8x8 tom (left of hi-hat)
10x8 tom (left of hi-hat)
12x8 tom
13x8.5 tom
14x14 floor tom
16x16 floor tom
14x6.5 acrylic free floating snareKISS' ALIVE 35 SHOW: UNBEATABLE!
KISS changed my life. My earliest memories of listening to music involve clutching my older brother's vinyl album of KISS Alive and wondering what it would have been to attend a KISS concert. My initial hopes were crushed when I was too young to go with my brother when he saw KISS and Bon Jovi in 1984.VIDEO CLIP OF "DETROIT ROCK CITY" IN HOUSTON
Check out this fan-filmed clip of "Detroit Rock City" at last night's Houston show!
KISS SONIC BOOM AND ROCK AND ROLL OVER GICLEES
Limited edition KISS Rock And Roll Over and Sonic Boom Giclees by Michael Doret are now available for pre order.
Pre Order - Rock And Roll Over Giclee Print
FROM FAN TO FANTASY, THAYER IS ACE
KISS lead guitarist Tommy Thayer admits that he's no Ace Frehley.BRUCE KULICK Talks New Solo Album
KissFAQ recently conducted an interview with former KISS guitarist Bruce Kulick. A few excerpts from the chat follow below.SAY YEAH 2ND SINGLE OFF SONIC BOOM
"Say Yeah" is the second single from Sonic Boom, and it's being released to radio on December 8th! We're calling on the KISS Army to help out by demanding "Say Yeah" be played on your local rock radio station!
SEALED WITH A BIG, BRASH KISS
KISS revels in rock. Everything -- the pyro, the drum solos, the platform boots -- is big. (No, BIG.)KISS ROCKS AUSTIN
The lights went down, and the famous introduction was screamed out: "All right Austin! You Wanted The Best! You Got The Best! The Hottest Band In The World, KISS!"KISS AZKENA FESTIVAL PROMO VIDEO
Check out this clip of KISS greeting fans (in perfect Spanish!) in a promotional video for their June, 2010 show at the Azkena Rock Festival in Vitoria!
KISS AT THE ERWIN CENTER
Gene Simmons prowled the giant stage, scanning the front rows for female fans to harass and thrill. Fingers fondling his bass, Simmons made hard eye contact with his victims, then subjected them to slow, grinding pelvis gyrations - his metallic cod-piece glittering in the lights - and that interminable, wet, wagging tongue. The women gasped and giggled. Simmons, a self-aware pro, laughed back.KISS: NOTHING IN MODERATION
TD BankNorth Garden in Boston, MA - October 5, 2009KISS EXPLODES INTO TULSA
KISS touts itself as the "greatest rock band in the world." Its army of fans agrees.KISS GUITAR TAB FEATURED IN GUITAR EDGE
Guitar tab of "Rock and Roll All Nite" is featured in the January 2010 issue of Guitar Edge magazine! The tab is also viewable online at this link.
TOMMY THAYER: BEING KISS
What do you remember about 1975, if you were around? Inane sitcoms on network television. Gasoline shortage. Recession. The resignation of a corrupt U.S. president. But if music was, and still is, your heart and soul, perhaps what stands out most in your memory is the way your life was changed by a KISS album - their first, self-titled: loud, heavy on the guitars and melodic rock, recorded on tape.PRODUCING SONIC BOOM
"If you had asked me when I was a kid if I thought I'd ever work with KISS, I would have told you that you were completely crazy," says Greg Collins, co-producer and engineer of Sonic Boom. "I wouldn't have dared to dream that would happen."KISS To Play Germany's ROCK AM RING/ROCK IM PARK Festivals?
According to Kiss Related Recordings, KISS has been confirmed as one of the headliners of next year's Rock am Ring and Rock im Park festivals, set to take place June 4-6, 2010 in the German towns of Nürburgring and Nürnberg, respectively. The headliners for the other two days are RAMMSTEIN and MUSE. Other hard rock/metal acts confirmed so far include AIRBOURNE, AS I LAY DYING, BULLET FOR MY VALENTINE, MOTÖRHEAD, RISE AGAINST and VOLBEAT. Tickets are now available for the early-bird price of 140 euros until January 30, 2009.
Ex-KISS Member To Take Part In ROCK 'N' ROLL FANTASY CAMP
Sammy Hagar (CHICKENFOOT, VAN HALEN), Michael Anthony (CHICKENFOOT, VAN HALEN), Vince Neil (MÖTLEY CRÜE), Ace Frehley (KISS), Bruce Kulick (KISS) and Rudy Sarzo (QUIET RIOT) are among the guest musicians who will take part in the Hollywood session of Rock 'n' Roll Fantasy Camp, the phenomenon that's been pairing music fans with rock stars since 1997, in February 2010.
Michael Anthony (CHICKENFOOT, VAN HALEN)
Vince Neil (MÖTLEY CRÜE)
Mark Farner (GRAND FUNK RAILROAD)
Ace Frehley (KISS)
Bruce Kulick (KISS)
Rudy Sarzo (QUIET RIOT)
Mark Hudson (producer, songwriter AEROSMITH)
Kip Winger (WINGER)
Spike Edney (QUEEN)
Teddy Andreadis (GUNS N' ROSES)
Rami Jaffee (FOO FIGHTERS)THE RETURN OF KISS
With the face paint and costumes, KISS is always recognisable. The band which formed way back in 1972 and has won numerous accolades is back with its eleventh studio album, Sonic Boom. The band's first in over a decade, and their first with drummer Eric Singer.SUBMIT YOUR BEST KISS LIVE PICTURE AND WIN BIG!!!
Concert Online is looking for your best pic all about KISS live. Whether it's you and your friends partying hard before or at the concert, the best KISS kostumes, the koolest outfit, or the kraziest fan. The main thing is that your picture deals with your very own KISS live show experience!KISS SET THE DON ON FIRE!
"We all came here to escape from the world tonight," yelled Paul Stanley, lead singer of KISS, before the group launched into "Rock and Roll All Night."KISS, FANS LICK IT UP IN EL PASO
It's easy to think of Kiss as a mere branding opportunity. Gene Simmons, Paul Stanley and company practically pioneered blatant self-promotion in rock 'n' roll, selling everything from underwear to caskets with their distinctive brand on it.KISS ON MISSION TO ROCK THE PLANET
HALLOWEEN is well past but somebody forgot to tell timeless rockers Kiss as they continue their world tour ... complete with make-up and spandex.VIDEO OF "DEUCE" FROM GLENDALE
Here's a fan-filmed clip of KISS opening last night's Glendale, Arizona show with "Deuce!"
KISS FINDS NEW ENERGY IN GLENDALE SHOW
Kiss sounded better in Glendale than the 35-year-old band has in several years, hinting that the drama-filled exits of two founding members may have benefited things in the long run.'Married' star dated KISS rocker
Former Married... With Children star Katey Sagal has revealed she is one of the thousands of women KISS star Gene Simmons claims to have bedded.I GET THAT A LOT
I GET THAT A LOT, featuring popular stars pulling pranks on everyday people, returns with a new one-hour special, to be broadcast Wednesday, Jan. 6 (8:00-9:00 PM, ET/PT) on the CBS Television Network.KISS' SWEET SUCCESS
Ask a rock star to confess an addiction, and you're likely to start feeling dirty. Or not.PAUL STANLEY: MY FAVORITE STREET
During 35 years as frontman for the hard-rocking, Rock & Roll Hall of Fame-nominated band KISS, Paul Stanley has traveled the world over... and over. Coming off the fall release of its new album, Sonic Boom (which debuted at No. 2 on the Billboard Top 200,) the band wraps its North American tour this month before Stanley settles in for the holidays with his family in Los Angeles.KISS: YOU WANTED THE BEST
The scene: June 28, 1996. Detroit, Michigan. For the first time, in 13 years, Kiss is playing its first show in makeup with the original lineup of Gene Simmons, Paul Stanley, Ace Frehley, and Peter Criss. It's nearly midnight at the now-defunct Tiger Stadium, and despicable opening acts Alice in Chains and Sponge have long vacated the stage. Helicopters with spotlights circle the venerable baseball stadium as nearly 45,000 fans await the return of the "hottest band in the world." The band takes the stage, opening with "Deuce," then "Strutter", then "Let Me Go Rock and Roll," and playing two hours of classic 70s-era Kiss tunes, closing with, you guessed it, "Detroit Rock City."KISS MENTION ON LOPEZ TONIGHT
On Monday night's episode of Lopez Tonight, George Lopez mentioned that KISS is one of his favorite bands, and guest Katey Sagal went on to share a story about her friendship with Gene Simmons. Check it out!
KISS ON GERMAN TELEVISION
Here's a clip of KISS from the German television show "Leute Heute" ("People Today") filmed at last week's Anaheim show.
FOX NEWS Profiles KISS On Tour
Fox News recently caught up with the KISS Alive 35 tour to discuss the music, the fans, and the band's new album, "Sonic Boom". Watch the report here.
KISS: FASTER, HEAVIER, HARDER, LOUDER
KISS :: 11.22.09 :: Oracle Arena :: Oakland, CACNN INTERNATIONAL INTERVIEWS KISS
CNN International's Alan Duke interviewed KISS backstage before their Los Angeles show for an upcoming episode of their "Backstory" program. Here's a clip!
VIDEO CLIPS FROM SAN DIEGO
Check out these fan-filmed video clips of "Detroit Rock City" and "Dr. Love" from KISS's show at the Sports Arena!
KISS SONIC BOOM
Rock 'til you drop. Or at least until you can't do it anymore.KISS AT PEARL IN LAS VEGAS
Kiss tour all over the world, but Las Vegas might just be the perfect place to see them. That is, if you're looking for a seamless night of surreal spectacle, over-the-top showmanship and enough pyrotechnics to singe the eyebrows right off your face. A stop at the intimate Pearl at the Palms Concert Theater last Saturday was the latest for the band, and since Denver wasn't on the tour radar, I decided to drop in at the Palms Casino to catch the action.SAN DIEGO: THE TRUE SPECTACLE OF KISS
My introduction to the unstoppable force of nature that is KISS came in the form of a dubious confirmation. While she previously had her suspicions, my grandmother's fears were cemented by both neighbors and friends at church, when they told her that KISS was indeed an acronym for "Kings (or Knights) In Satan's Service."ACE FREHLEY To Guest On Swedish TV Show 'Robins'
According to Kiss On Fire, original KISS guitarist Ace Frehley will guest on the popular Swedish talk show "Robins" this Saturday (December 5). The program airs every Saturday on Swedish national TV (SVT 1) at 9:30 p.m.
KISS Talks About Upcoming European Tour
Alan Duke conducted an interview with KISS backstage at the Staples Center in Los Angeles, California on November 25, 2009. Watch the chat here.
LAS VEGAS: KISS STILL IMPRESSES
Check out these great fan-filmed video clips of "Rock and Roll All Nite" and "Love Gun" from KISS's show at the Pearl!
KISS CELEBRATES 35 YEARS AT PEARL
I first saw KISS in 1977 at The Capital Center in Landover, Maryland when I was 6 years old. They were the first band that I became a true fan of. I joined the KISS Army, bought the lunchbox, The KISS dolls, posters, all that stuff. I got my parents to take me to see them in 1977 and then again in 1979 in my full Gene Simmons makeup. I saw a lot of music during those years, as I grew up in the rock and roll world seeing mostly my parents' music (they took me to see all of their shows), but KISS was my show and the one band I made them take me to see when I was a kid.LAS VEGAS: KISS STILL IMPRESSES
Paul Stanley said something profound at Pearl Theater at the Palms on Saturday night. It was a pointed comment explaining his lack of onstage profundity.THE BOYS ARE BACK IN TOWN: KISS AT STAPLES
Twas the night before Thanksgiving and much of LA had either left town or stayed at home to prepare for the imminent family holiday, but you wouldn't have guessed that if you had been at the Staples Center, where KISS had convened its Army for a back-to-basics, old-school rock and roll show.VIDEO CLIPS FROM LOS ANGELES
KISS's concert at Los Angeles' Staples Center was a momentous event in KISStory, as it was also the first KISS show broadcast live to a worldwide audience on the Internet! Check out "Deuce," "Lick It Up," and "Love Gun!"
KISS HELD COURT AT SUMMIT CENTER
The house was a-rockin' at the Sommet Center (Nashville) as Kiss held court. I think the word of the night was "LOUD" as the amps and PAs were turned up to the max. If you're the type who wants more than just an aural experience at a rock show, this was the place to be. As in the past, Kiss provided plenty of excitement for the eyes as well as the ears. Lights, smoke, pyrotechnics, harnesses (allowing Gene & Paul to fly), big screens, and confetti machines were all employed during the show. All the stops were pulled in this extravaganza. There are only a handful of acts I can think of these days that put on such a stage spectacle; Alice Cooper, Trans-Siberian Orchestra, The Tubes, AC/DC. None demand more of your full-blown attention as Kiss.ON THE ROAD WITH KISS
Here's an article from the Australasian Lighting Industry Association trade publication about KISS's Lighting Director, Motley! Motley discusses working with the band, the current stage setup, and many other behind-the-scenes tech details.VIDEO OF "DETROIT ROCK CITY" IN SAN DIEGO
Check out this fan-filmed clip of "Detroit Rock City" from last night's show in San Diego!
KISS rocker's son debuts comic
Comic books have always run in Nick Simmons’ blood — at times literally.THAYER SAYS KISS IS BETTER THAN EVER
Lead guitarist Tommy Thayer, an 805 native and "the new guy," discussed the latest, including this impending home game gig.EVEN THE CRITICS LOVE TODAY'S KISS!
Say what you will about KISS, but even after all these years, the face-painted foursome is still provocative.Kiss ready to cram outrageous spectacle into small theater
Kiss, the indefatigable glam-rock pioneers who spawned a billion Halloween costumes and their own teenage army, returns to Las Vegas on Saturday for a show at the Pearl at the Palms. This fall the band, still powered by founding members Paul Stanley and Gene Simmons, released its first studio album in 11 years, “Sonic Boom.”GIVE US A KISS: BOYS HIT SCOTLAND
ROCK legends Kiss will slap on their make-up to play their first gig in Scotland for 17 years.KISS UNLEASH 'SONIC BOOM' ON BIRMINGHAM
Rock legends Kiss return to Birmingham NEC next year when they play the LG Arena in support of their spectacular new album, Sonic Boom.LA LICKS IT UP AT KISS CONCERT
Last night's Kiss concert in Los Angeles was the first concert to be broadcast live on Facebook. The scene at L.A.'s Staples Center for the Kiss Alive 35 tour date was both deep with cameras that were shooting the band, as well as the audience for the Facebook broadcast. The band's rhythm guitarist Paul Stanley pointed to sections of the audience, where cameras would focus on them. Each section of fans would cheer loudly as they were being filmed, while the band would conjure the same antics that made them an attraction more three decades ago. The band is currently promoting their Sonic Boom album, released on October 6. The double disc, which also features a DVD, is their 19th release, was recorded at Conway Studios in Los Angeles.ERIC AND GENE ON ESPN
Eric and Gene stopped by ESPN last night before the Staples Center concert to help count down the SportsCenter highlights of the day. Check it out!
Kiss's 35-year anniversary tour winds through El Paso
Kiss guitarist Tommy Thayer's heard it all before. He's just imitating Ace Frehley. He's just a lackey for Gene Simmons and Paul Stanley.Gene Simmons to meet fans at guitar sale event
Gene Simmons is giving Kiss fans something he always wanted as a teen: face time with their favorite rock star.Los Angeles Concert Available Online
KISS' entire November 25, 2009 concert at the Staples Center in Los Angeles can be viewed using the Ustream player here. This was the first-ever live web concert for one of rock's most iconic bands as KISS celebrated the November 19 release of their new, three-track "Guitar Hero" pack featuring "Modern Day Delilah", "I Was Made for Loving You" and "Lick It Up".
KISS AT THE HONDA CENTER
The KISS Army shows no signs of surrender in 2009. Nearly four decades after the pop-metal quartet first emerged amid fireballs and kabuki makeup, the fans still come. And they bring fresh recruits in the form of teens and toddlers, many in the same black-and-white face paint.PAUL STANLEY: PORTRAIT OF THE THERAPEUTIC ARTIST
It's not an unfamiliar L.A. story.KISS DROPS SONIC BOOM ON LATEST TOUR
The previous Kiss studio album, "Psycho Circus," did little to prove that the band still had creative life in it.SONIC BOOM: JUST WHAT THE DOCTOR ORDERED
Is it really possible for a band to reclaim its legendary past with a new album nearly 40 years into its career? Members of the KISS Army were speculating on this once news hit that the band was recording its first album in eleven years, the appropriately titled Sonic Boom. After all, the band's last recording (1998's Psycho Circus) left many wondering if the kabuki-faced rockers still had enough musical firepower to blow their fans' minds.LIVE VIDEO CLIPS FROM ANAHEIM
Check out these fan-filmed clips of "Shock Me" and "Black Diamond" from Anaheim!
BRUCE KULICK's 'BK3' To Receive European Release Via FRONTIERS RECORDS
Former KISS/current GRAND FUNK RAILROAD guitarist Bruce Kulick will release his new solo album, "BK3", in Europe on January 29 via Frontiers Records. The CD will be made available in North America on February 16 through Twenty 4 Records/Rocket Science Ventures.
KISS LIVE ON FACEBOOK TONIGHT!
Bud Light Golden Wheat presents the legendary rockers KISS on Facebook via a Ustream streaming link live from tonight's show at the Staples Center in Los Angeles at 9 pm PST.PAUL STANLEY'S HOLIDAY WISH
Holiday Gift: For the troops
Kiss guitarist Paul Stanley had an unexpected wish: "What I'd like for Christmas is for all the men and women who serve this country to be given the care, respect ... that they are long overdue and deserve in ways we couldn't possibly repay."
VIDEO OF TOMMY'S SOLO IN PORTLAND
Check out this fan-filmed clip of Tommy's guitar solo, playing to a packed house in his hometown of Portland! Clip 1, Clip 2.
GENE: PERFORMING AT 60
This year the group has been nominated for the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and continues to fill arenas with fans of all ages.VIDEO CLIP OF "DEUCE" IN OAKLAND
Here's a fan-filmed clip of "Deuce" live in Oakland on Sunday!
PETER CRISS: Breast Cancer Not Just For Women
Former KISS drummer Peter Criss recently spoke to the Associated Press about the stigma of being a man battling breast cancer. Watch the chat here.
KISS TAKES OVER KEY ARENA
"Man, where are the anthems of our youth? What happened to music that meant something? The Who at the Kingdome or Kiss at the Coliseum? Where is the "Misty Mountain Hop"? Where is the "Iron Man" of today? Look at this. These bands are bottles of bleach. It's beer and lifestyle music. It's like the next world war's gonna be sponsored by...don't know, I mean, what?"- Cliff Poncier, "Singles"MARKETING ASIDE, KISS IS A SERIOUS BAND
Once you get past the grease paint, spandex and 35 years of mainstream merchandizing, Kiss is a rock band to be taken seriously again.KISS ANNOUNCES 2010 EUROPEAN TOUR
Sonic Boom Over Europe: From The Beginning To The Boom - European Tour May / June 2010
May 7 Dublin Ireland O2 Arena
May 9 Glasgow UK SE+CC
May 10 Manchester UK Manchester Arena
May 11 Birmingham UK LG Arena
May 13 London UK Wembley Arena
May 16 Zurich Switzerland Hallenstadion
May 17 Geneva Switzerland Geneva Arena
May 18 Milan Italy Mediolanum Forum
May 20 Vienna Austria Stadhalle
May 21 Ostrava Czech Republic Cez Arena
May 23 Prague Czech Republic O2 Arena
May 26 Berlin Germany O2 World
May 27 Leipzig Germany Leipzig Arena
May 29 Bratislava Slovakia Bratislava Stadium
May 31 Hamburg Germany Colorline Arena
June 1 Oberhausen Germany Koenig Pilsner Arena
June 8 Trondheim Norway Lerkandal Open Site
June 10 Tampere Finland Sauna Rock
June 12 Stockholm Sweden Stockholm Stadium
June 13 Malmo Sweden Malmo Stadium
June 14 Oslo Norway Valhall
June 16 Aalborg Denmark Gigantium
June 18 Arnhem Holland Gelredome
June 20 Clisson France Hellfest
June 22 Madrid Spain Palacio de los Deportes
June 25 Vitoria Spain Azkena Rock Festival
June 27 Festival Belgium Graspop
TOMMY THAYER: LIVING THE DREAM
If your band came of age during the Nixon years and landed their highest ranked album on the Billboard charts in the Obama era, you've definitely done something right. In KISS's case, it was creating a groundbreaking live band utilizing grand theater with gritty street themes, motivating a nation of fans to form an army around you, developing a marketing and merchandising industry that matches Ringling Brothers, and then creating a catalog of rock 'n' roll anthems and dark passages.SONIC BOOM: BEST SINCE CREATURES!
I don't know if it should be cause for celebration when, in making a new album, a band takes a retrograde step thirty years deep.KISS GUITAR TOPS CHARITY AUCTION
Professional baseball player Johnny Damon established The Johnny Damon Foundation,a non-profit charity, to raise and donate funds to charitable organizations. Johnny is also spokesman for the Wounded Warrior Project (WWP), which provides programs and services designated to ease the burdens of severely injured service men and women and their families."ROCK AND ROLL ALL NITE" CLIP FROM SACRAMENTO
Check out this fan-filmed clip of "Rock And Roll All Nite" live in Sacramento!
"DEUCE" CLIP FROM SACRAMENTO
Check out this great fan-filmed clip of "Deuce" live in Sacramento! Screen read "Strutter" but it's actually "Deuce."
KISS: STILL PARTYING EVERY DAY 35 YEARS ON
Kiss is a band that needs no introduction, as the face-painted, pyro-loving, blood-spitting rockers have been at it for more than three decades.KISS ROCK 'N' ROLL ALL NIGHT
Kiss, GM Place, Saturday, Nov. 14.STANLEY SAYS KISS KEEPING IT FRESH
Say what you will about KISS, but even after all these years, the face-painted foursome is still provocative."DETROIT ROCK CITY" IN SEATTLE
Check out this great fan-filmed clip of "Detroit Rock City" live in Seattle!
How Kiss got its groove back
The 1998 Kiss studio CD, "Psycho Circus," looked more like a last gasp than the celebrated event it was intended to be.BRUCE KULICK To Release 'BK3' In February
If you ever play Six Degrees of Bruce Kulick, the former KISS/current GRAND FUNK RAILROAD guitarist's résumé will keep you happily busy for hours. Having been tapped by artists as diverse as Meat Loaf and Kanye West, the veteran axeman's boundless creative energy permeates his third solo LP, "BK3". In the works for nearly six years and produced by Jeremy Rubolino, "BK3" delivers explosive hard rock arrangements and addictive pop melodies that honor both Kulick's singular past and bright future. And then there's the jaw-dropping guest list, boasting members of KISS, THE KNACK, TOTO, MÖTLEY CRÜE and more.
02. Ain't Gonna Die (featuring Gene Simmons)
03. No Friend Of Mine (featuring John Corabi)
04. Hand of the King (featuring Nick Simmons)
05. I'll Survive
06. Dirty Girl (featuring Doug Fieger)
07. Final Mile
08. I'm The Animal (featuring Tobias Sammet & Eric Singer)
09. And I Know
10. Between The Lines (featuring Steve Lukather)
11. LifeWINNIPEG COBBLER 'KISS'ED BY FAME
Here's a corrected version of a story that ran earlier in the week throughout Canada. The boot repaired by the cobbler was actually Tommy Thayer's.ROCK ICONS READY TO ROCK CENTRAL VALLEY
"Look at Kiss culture," says Gene Simmons, radiating pride. "People tattoo their bodies with Kiss faces, name their children after our songs, have Kiss conventions."LIVE KISS CONCERT TO STREAM ON FACEBOOK
Bud Light Golden Wheat presents the legendary rockers KISS (www.kissonline.com) on Facebook via a Ustream streaming link live from their show at the Staples Center in Los Angeles at 9 pm PST on Wednesday, November 25. This is the first-ever live web concert for one of rock's most iconic bands as KISS celebrates the November 19 release of their new, three-track Guitar Hero pack featuring Modern Day Delilah, I Was Made for Loving You and Lick It Up.FREE PAPER KISS TOY
Nicebunny.com is offering a FREE downloadable paper artwork sculpture from their website. Just print out the artwork, cut it out, put it together and there you go! CLICK HERE to download the HedKase Paper KISS Toy FREE
KISS GUITAR HERO TRACK PACK COMMERCIAL
Check out this commercial for the KISS Guitar Hero 3-song track pack, available today!
KISS LIVE STREAMING CONCERT TRAILER
Here's the trailer for KISS's first-ever live streaming concert!
GENE SIGNS AXE BASSES IN CHICAGO
GENE SIGNS AXE BASSES IN CHICAGO: video
WHAT'S HOT: SONIC BOOM
Having to wait 12 years is a test of any fan's patience, and the criticisms aimed at the band living on past glories certainly seemed justified. So here we have the first new release from KISS since "Psycho Circus." Gone are Frehley and Criss, replaced by Tommy Thayer and Eric Singer. As a longtime KISS fan, I had all but given up on anything new, especially as Gene Simmons had been very verbal regarding his views on internet piracy and new material, so it was a surprise to hear the band were in the studio not so long ago.BREAKING THE SOUND BARRIER
It's been 12 years since KISS released Psycho Circus, so you could say "Sonic Boom" is the band's comeback album. Gone are Ace Frehley and Peter Criss, and donning the face paint are Eric Singer and Tommy Thayer as Cat and Spaceman respectively.KISS REVITALIZED
The Holiday 2009 issue of Guitar Player contains over ten pages of KISS coverage! Here are some excerpts from Guitar Player's interview with KISS:KISS FOLLOWS CLASSIC FORMULA
Who are the KISS fans of 2009?KISS BLEW THE ROOF OFF GM PLACE
The KISS Alive 35 Tour rolled into Vancouver last night to a sold-out crowd at GM Place with a setlist packed with more than two hours of classic tracks. Complete with an arsenal of flash pods, pyro, lighting rigs and plenty of fire, Gene Simmons, Paul Stanley, Eric Singer and Tommy Thayer took to the stage giving Vancouver its most explosive show of the year.KISS DAZZLES VOODOO ON HALLOWEEN
Despite the fact that I have attended many a festival in the past few years; I must say that Halloween at Voodoo has become my favorite single day of any festival I have experienced. This was not necessarily due to the lineup itself, albeit a solid one at that. Rather, the combination of numerous energetic, entertaining shows with everyone dressed up in costumes (including the artists) turned the day into a large costume party.KISS TOPS THEM ALL
TWO THINGS usually happen after I tell someone what I do for a living. First, I find myself saying, "Yes, I do realize how fortunate I am." Second, I'm asked, "What's the best concert you've ever seen?""DEUCE" CLIP FROM VANCOUVER
Here's a fan-filmed clip of KISS performing "Deuce" in Vancouver.
PAUL AND TOMMY RADIO INTERVIEW
Reverb Nation's "Metalheadz" radio show (United Kingdom) recently interviewed Paul and Tommy. Here's the clip!
PAUL DISCUSSES GUITAR HERO TRACKS
Paul discusses KISS's Guitar Hero 3-song track pack, the Alive 35 tour and more in a podcast interview with MajorNelson.com, the official blog of Microsoft's Xbox Live. The KISS Guitar Hero track pack will be released on Thursday, November 19.
PAUL SMASHING GUITAR IN SEATTLE
Here's a fan-filmed clip of Paul breaking his guitar in Seattle last night. Check out the explosive finale!
I Love You, Beth Cooper
In the movie "I Love You, Beth Cooper," the film's lead character reveals how she got her name... and yes, KISS is involved. Here's the clip!
GENE FLIES IN SEATTLE
GENE FLIES IN SEATTLE: Video
KISS: BIGGER, BETTER, MORE
"I have been asking for quite a while to put together a show in Dubai," says Paul Stanley, the lead singer of Kiss. "It's a fascinating region. I plan on playing there in the not too distant future."GENE SIMMONS ROCKS MUSIC WORLD WITH SPECIALLY RELEASED BASS, NEW ALBUM
Gene Simmons, singer, bassist and co-founder of the rock band Kiss, has released his own piece of music memorabilia. The Gene Simmons Axe Bass is a specially crafted musical instrument reproduced from Simmons' own trademark design. Each copy is reproduced from the axe-shaped bass he uses in all Kiss concerts, hand-numbered and signed by Simmons. All the black and silver Axe Basses also come with leather cases bearing the painted likeness Simmons' stage persona, the Demon.KISS AT THE UNITED CENTER
Halloween was extended another week this year as the unmistakeable rock group KISS brought their bombastic Alive 35 Tour with opening act Buckcherry to the United Center in Chicago last Friday night. Wearing full make-up and costumes, Gene Simmons and Paul Stanley are the only two original members remaining with guitarist Tommy Thayer and drummer Eric Singer rounding out the quartet. KISS still delivers an over-the- top stage show full of pyrotechnics, with a mass array of lights set against an enormous video screen. They thrust themselves squarely upon the capacity crowd with the frayed classics "Deuce" and "Strutter."KTLA KISS FAMILY GUY PROMO SPOT
Here's an advance edit of the KISS/Family Guy promo spot that will run on KTLA TV in Los Angeles. The promo to win KISS Meet & Greet/tickets to the Los Angeles show will begin on Monday.
KISS CALGARY CLIPS
Here's a fan-filmed clip of KISS performimg "Detroit Rock City" in Calgary.KISS COMES CLOSE TO CLASSIC PERFECTION
The "Demon" tongue of 60-year-old Gene Simmons still flickers and coils like an obscene pink snake. He still blows fire too, like a carnival attraction.VIDEO OF HOTTER THAN HELL IN CALGARY
Here's a fan-filmed clip of "Hotter Than Hell" from last night's show in Calgary!
VIDEO CLIP OF PAUL IN CALGARY
Check out this fan-filmed clip of Paul breaking his guitar in Calgary last night!
KISS EVERYTHING YOU THOUGHT IT WOULD BE
KISS didn't just roll into town last night, they tore through the place like wild hyenas -- glittery, spandex-clad, platform-heeled hyenas -- but hyenas nonetheless.Adam Lambert slams KISS rocker Gene Simmons over sexuality remarks
Adam Lambert is fighting back against comments Gene Simmons made about his sexuality in June. Glambert replied to Simmons, who said Adam's coming out would ruin his career, calling Gene "obnoxious" and a "hypocrite." "Gene was being a d—, and he's not the greatest singer. He's a good businessman, I'll give him that."
ACE FREHLEY: New Audio Interview Posted Online
On November 10, BAD SIDE guitarist Jason Mapes conducted an interview with with original KISS guitarist Ace Frehley for Mapes' shows on the WIHC The Bear 97.9 FM and 99.5 YES FM WYSS radio stations in Sault Ste. Marie. Listen to the chat here.
ACE FREHLEY To Jam At This Sunday's Battle Of The Bands For Rock 'N' Roll Fantasy Camp
Original KISS guitarist Ace Frehley will join this Sunday's Battle Of The Bands for Rock 'N' Roll Fantasy Camp's showcase finale of the graduates of the three-day camp. Frehley will hit stage and jam with the campers as they battle it out to be the top campers of 2009! Frehley will also be a headlining guest counselor November 18 for the five-day camp that follows this Sunday's showcase.
* Sandy Gennaro
* Rami Jaffe (FOO FIGHTERS, THE WALLFLOWERS)
* Rudy Sarzo (QUIET RIOT, DIO, OZZY OSBOURNE)
* Ron Nevison (producer)
* Teddy Andreadis (GUNS N' ROSES)
01. Elliot Easton (THE CARS)
02. Teddy Andreadis (GUNS N' ROSES)
03. Bruce Kulick (KISS)
04. Danny Seraphine (CHICAGO)
05. Mark Hudson (Producer, songwriter — AEROSMITH)
06. Surprise guitar legend TRAVEL TIPS FROM PAUL STANLEY
Paul gives ABC News' John Berman some travel tips about life on the road. Watch the video!
KISS ROCKED SOLD-OUT SASKATOON
KISS absolutely destroyed Saskatchewan's biggest city this week.
1. Deuce
2. Strutter
3. Let Me Go Rock 'N' Roll
4. Hotter Than Hell
5. Shock Me
6. Calling Dr. Love
7. Modern Day Delilah
8. Cold Gin
9. Parasite
10. Say Yeah
11. 100,000 Years
12. I Love It Loud
13. Black Diamond
14. Rock And Roll All Nite
ENCORE
15. Shout It Loud
16. Lick It Up
17. Love Gun
18. Detroit Rock City
SASKATOON ROCKED WITH KISS
For fans, Tuesday night's KISS concert at Credit Union Centre in Saskatoon was all about the music.NEW KISS iPHONE APP
Zannel announced today an exclusive partnership with the legendary rock band KISS to launch an innovative iPhone, mobile phone and online program. Available starting today, KISS fans can see exclusive behind-the-scenes Alive/35 multi-media updates sent directly to their iPhone, iPod Touch, mobile phones and online as well as preview and purchase music from 28 KISS albums.PAUL STANLEY RADIO INTERVIEW
Redding Radio 106X KRRX-FM interviewed Paul Stanley on a recent radio show. Paul discusses the current tour, Sonic Boom, and more. Take a listen!
CALLING DR. KISS
Call her Dr. Kiss.VIDEO OF "FIREHOUSE" FROM WINNIPEG
After one of the lighting trusses caught fire during Monday night's concert in Winnipeg, KISS spontaneously added "Firehouse" to their set! Eric took the vocals as the stage crew put the fire out. Here's a fan-filmed clip:
A KISS ON CANADIAN LIPS
KISS will gladly sell you the whole seat at one of their concerts -- but you're only going to need the edge of it.MINNEAPOLIS VIDEO OF "I LOVE IT LOUD"
Check out this fan-filmed clip of "I Love It Loud" from Saturday night's show at the Target Center in Minneapolis!
KISSING YOUR KIDS
This weekend marked milestones in my sons' young lives -- and in the life of any KISS fan. The boys attended their first KISS concerts. Now, the uninitiated might question whether taking children to a loud, pyrotechnic-filled spectacle is a good idea at all. But when you're a die-hard, devoted fan of the hottest band in the land, and also a parent, it's only natural to reach a point where you'll want to introduce your children to KISS.REVIEW: Kiss flashy and over the top
Fireworks, concussion bombs, fog and pyro are a normal part of most big rock concerts these days.CHICAGO VIDEO CLIP OF "HOTTER THAN HELL"
Here's a great fan-filmed clip of "Hotter Than Hell" live at Chicago's United Center Friday night!
KISS: Video Interview Posted Online
The members of KISS were interviewed by Altitude and Sprint TV prior to their October 31, 2009 performance at the 11th annual Voodoo Experience music festival in New Orleans. Watch the chat here.
KISS AT TARGET CENTER
Take your most jaded music snob, who wouldn't give two sneezes for the low-altitude, tried-and-true rock of Kiss. Take any Pitchfork reviewer, who sees the histrionics, fire-breathing, and pyrotechnics as nothing more than a cleverly executed marketing ploy. Scour the music scene for the most adroit, self-assured listener, and you'll illicit at least one honest statement about the 35-year old hard rock quartet: Kiss has a good thing going.KISS ROCKED MINNEAPOLIS
There's really nothing changed about a KISS concert in three decades, but yet the band and its fans seem to reinvent themselves each night when showtime arrives. For some, Saturday night's concert was a chance to emulate legendary rock personas with makeup and costumes, and for others the opportunity to sing along to timeless rock classics was more than enough excitement. But for everyone, it was a shared and unforgettable evening of glorious rock and roll.ROCKING 'N' ROLLING ALL NIGHT WITH KISS
The moment was chock full of emotion.AGELESS KISS STILL ROCKS AFTER 35 YEARS
A funny thing happens when you turn 35. People start respecting you.VIDEO CLIP OF "HAPPY BIRTHDAY" FROM MINNEAPOLIS
During the November 7, 2009 concert at Minneapolis' Target Center, KISS and the audience sang "Happy Birthday" to Tommy Thayer.
Kissed
THEY say you never forget your first KISS. Russ Antymis was 12 when an older cousin turned him on to an album by the American heavy-metal glam rockers. Now 36, he's still listening.BRUCE KULICK Discusses New Solo Album
Troy Culpan of May The Rock Be With You recently conducted an interview with former KISS guitarist Bruce Kulick. A couple of excerpts from the chat follow below.BRUCE KULICK To Guest On 'Maximum Threshold'
Former KISS guitarist Bruce Kulick, Jason McMaster (BROKEN TEETH, DANGEROUS TOYS) and AM CONSPIRACY (featuring former DROWNING POOL singer Jason "Gong" Jones) will guest on tonight's (Saturday, October 24) edition of the "Maximum Threshold" show beginning at 8:00 p.m. EST. "Maximum Threshold" is an Internet radio show dedicated to presenting up-and-coming hard rock bands and successful bands as well as interviews, news and music reviews. To hear the program live, go to this location.
KISS ROCKS CHICAGO
Once you've seen a giant demon in silver platform boots sprout wings and spit blood and fire, what's left? For Kiss, that shtick was outrageous enough to get them noticed in the '70s until they were the biggest band in the world.
2. Strutter
3. Let Me Know
4. Hotter Than Hell
5. Shock Me
6. Calling Dr. Love
7. Modern Day Delilah
8. Cold Gin
9. Parasite
10. 100,000 Years
11. I Love it Loud
12. Black Diamond
13. Rock and Roll All Night
14. Shout It Out Loud
15. Lick It Up
16. Love Gun
17. Detroit Rock City
VIDEO CLIP OF "DETROIT ROCK CITY"
Check out this KISSONLINE EXCLUSIVE video clip of KISS performing "Detroit Rock City" last night in Chicago!
SONIC BOOM: FUN, HARD ROCK AND ROLL
Rock 'til you drop. Or at least until you can't do it anymore.KOMPLETE KISS TRADING CARD SET
The Komplete KISS factory set that will be available in Walmart and Target stores in mid-November. Komplete KISS is a 180-card factory set that includes the complete KISS Ikons and KISS 360 sets with an electric blue "KISS" parallel. Similar to the popular blood-spitting and fire-breathing parallels that were inserted into boxes of KISS Ikons and KISS 360, the electric blue "KISS" parallel is a must-have for KISS fans. Each Komplete KISS factory set also includes a 5-card Komplete KISS foil insert.
KISS TO APPEAR ON FUSE TV SPECIAL
Relive the Music! See last weekend's best Voodoo Experience festival performances featuring KISS. Watch it tonight at 10pm/9c only on Fuse TV.KISS: 'THE LEGEND IS ALIVE'
Legendary rockers KISS show their support for wounded warriors and reflect on their 35-year-career with CNN's Naamua Delaney: video
GENE SIMMONS Offers Fans Chance To Own His Signature Axe Bass Guitar
Gene Simmons, co-founder of the legendary KISS, has announced fans will be able to get their own licks in with the purchase of a limited and personally signed edition of the Gene Simmons Axe Bass.KISS rocked the 11th Voodoo Experience
Saint most likely to rock and roll all night and party every day: Tight end Jeremy Shockey. And not just because he was down front for KISS, pumping his fist skyward during "Shock Me."SUPRISINGLY PRATICAL KISS BRANDED ITEMS
Kiss merchandise for hearth, home, and the hereafterGENE SIMMONS ON MUSIC, MAKEUP
Mr. Simmons, your tongue is the most well-known tongue in the world.NORWEGIAN SINGER COVERS KISS
Norwegian singer Maria Mena sings her cover of KISS's "I Was Made for Lovin' You" on Dutch television.
KISS: A SURREAL EXPERIENCE
It is a truly surreal experience to watch KISS in concert for the first time. I'd always viewed them as one of those iconic, canonized bands that only existed in the movies (and on reality TV) until this show.ACE FREHLEY: Video Version Of 'Talking Metal' Interview Posted Online
"Talking Metal" has posted an eight-minute video version of host John Ostronomy's interview with with legendary KISS guitarist Ace Frehley. Ace also shows John how to play the main riff of "Outer Space", the first single off "Anomaly".
Monsters of Folk
Monsters of Folk, the "supergroup" consisting of My Morning Jacket's Jim James, Conor Oberst, M. Ward and Mike Mogis, celebrated Halloween at Kentucky's Louisville Palace. The group played its standard mix of originals and individual member solo cuts before taking a twenty-minute break near the end of the night.VIDEO CLIP OF GENE SPITTING BLOOD IN PHILLY
Check out this great fan-filmed video clip of Gene spitting blood at the Philadelphia show last month. During this show Gene spit blood "old school style..." after flying above the stage!
Texas schoolteacher whose "alter ego" comes out at night
Check out this news clip of a Texas schoolteacher whose "alter ego" comes out at night after he leaves the classroom...
KISS AT 60: ROCKING HARD AS EVER
Maybe they're now eligible for the cover of AARP magazine, but Simmons and mates rock as hard as ever
When: 7:30 p.m. Friday
Where: United Center
Price: $20.50-$126 at 312-455-4500
VIDEO CLIP OF "DEUCE" LIVE AT VOODOO
Here's a great fan-filmed clip of KISS opening their Voodoo Fest set with "Deuce" on Halloween night in New Orleans!
VIDEO CLIP OF "STRUTTER" LIVE AT VOODOO
Here's another fan-filmed clip of KISS performing "Strutter" on Saturday night in New Orleans!
KISS IS EVERYWHERE!
The new children's Wubbzy DVD "Wubb Idol" features a clip of the Nickelodeon character rocking with other popular singers... including one who will look quite familiar to KISS fans!
ACE FREHLEY: New Audio Interview Posted Online
ILMOEntertainment conducted an interview with original KISS guitarist Ace Frehley on October 30, 2009. The seven-minute chat can now be streamed in the YouTube clip here.
KISS' STANLEY, SIMMONS Discuss 35th Anniversary Of 'Alive!'
KISS members Gene Simmons and Paul Stanley discussed the 35th anniversary of "Alive!" last month on "In The Studio - The Stories Behind History's Greatest Rock Bands" with professional radio broadcaster and rock musician interviewer Redbeard. Paul and Gene also talked about the band's beginnings, KISS concerts in their early years, as well as the new album, "Sonic Boom", and the current state of the recording industry. Listen to the program in three parts here: Clip 1, Clip 2, Clip 3.
KISS: BEST OF VOODOO EXPERIENCE
Best Reason To Move My Car: KissFUSE TV INTERVIEWS KISS
Fuse TV interviewed KISS before Saturday night's concert at Voodoo Festival in New Orleans. Check it out!
FANS, ZOMBIES ROCK WITH KISS AT VOODOO
Fairies danced with evil clowns, rock stars roiled seas of fans and zombies gathered en masse at the music-festival-slash-freak-show that became the Voodoo Art and Music Festival this Halloween weekend.NEW ORLEANS GOT A BIG KISS
Rarely are the members of KISS accused of being great musicians or songwriters. KISS built its legend with different tools, specifically showmanship, savvy and good songs. Closing out the big Voodoo Stage on Saturday night - could Voodoo Fest have booked a more appropriate Halloween Night headliner than the original Monsters of Rock? - the current members of KISS played well.KISS TO APPEAR ON FUSE TV SPECIAL
Highlights from last night's KISS concert at New Orleans' Voodoo Festival will appear in an upcoming Fuse TV special.Coach rocks with KISS!
Coach rocks with KISS!BEHIND-THE-SCENES VIDEO: FLY LIKE GENE!
Ever wonder what it's like to fly like Gene Simmons? KISS crew member Dean Snowden tries on Gene's flying harness before the show and takes a ride... camera in hand!: video
SONIC BOOM: A MASTERPIECE!
Rating: KKKKK out of KKKKKKISS ALIVE AT 35
The bellman was at the door to pick up his luggage, his cell phone was ringing (the ringtone: Led Zeppelin's "Black Country Woman") and he had a hacking cough. None of those interruptions prevented singer Paul Stanley from talking about his favorite subject, Kiss.DETROIT'S COBO ARENA, REVISITED
The KISS Alive 35 tour has played to huge audiences all over the world - at Download 2008, and in stadiums throughout North and South America in 2009. But there is one place above all others that has a special significance in KISStory. It's a place that the New York band think of as their spiritual home. A place they call Detroit Rock City.Editor by day... "Paul Stanley" by night
By day he cracks the whip as a team of journalists produce the city's biggest free entertainment newspaper, Xpress.VIDEO CLIP OF "SAY YEAH" LIVE IN ARKANSAS
Check out this KISSonline exclusive clip of KISS playing "Say Yeah" Thursday night in Little Rock!
GUITAR HERO 5 KISS TRACKS ANNOUNCED
Check out this video of KISS opening the Madison Square Garden show on October 10, 2009 with "Deuce" - shot from ON the stage!
Rolling Stone: SONIC BOOM ROCKS AMERICA
The new KISS record is a chamber-pop concept album about the plight of migrant workers. Just kidding.GUITAR HERO 5 KISS TRACKS ANNOUNCED
Look for KISS to headline the Guitar Hero stage on November 19 with a three song track pack that's sure to satiate the KISS fan in everyone. The track pack will feature "Modern Day Delilah," the first single off their new album, Sonic Boom, "Lick It Up," the title track from their 1983 album, Lick it Up, and "I Was Made for Loving You," KISS's second Gold single.ACE FREHLEY: Los Angeles Footage Posted Online
Original KISS guitarist Ace Frehley kicked off his "Anomaly" world tour on October 28 at Nokia Theatre in Los Angeles, California as the support act for ALICE COOPER.
01. Rocket Ride
02. Parasite
03. Outer Space
04. Snowblind
05. Sister
06. Speedin' Back To My Baby
07. Shock Me
08. Love Gun
09. Cold Gin / Black Diamond
10. OutroKISS ASSAULTS ARKANSAS
Unrelenting torrential rain wasn't enough to dampen the spirits of three generations of KISS fans who celebrated through an 18-song concert in an atmosphere that resembled some unholy combination of Halloween and the Fourth of July.Sightings
Nicole Kidman and Keith Urban had a rock 'n' roll date night at the KISS concert at Nashville's Sommet Center. The celebrity couple pulled up to the backstage entrance, sneaking into the show under the radar. But once inside, they rocked out and "were adorable, smiling and totally low-key," an onlooker tells us.
THE KISS HOUSE
The flames, lights and fog machine were installed this week, helping to make a home on Franklin's West Main Street look like a stage for one of rock's most sensational acts: KISS.KISS discusses new tour with VH1 Classic
KISS discusses new tour with VH1 Classic: video
Gavin Rossdale To Play Simmons Character In Tv Drama
Rocker GAVIN ROSSDALE is to play a twisted character loosely based on KISS star GENE SIMMONS in TV cop drama CRIMINAL MINDS.KISS ARRIVES FOR HALLOWEEN
On the heels of Sonic Boom, their first release in eleven years, KISS, the masked marvels of rock and roll, arrive in New Orleans just in time for Halloween with a spot in the VooDoo Experience lineup. While longtime KISS Army members have an idea what to expect, first-time concert goers just need to remember to heed the warning and buckle up and hang on for the ride when that curtain drops at New Orleans City Park.KISS MAKES MUSIC CITY "ROCK CITY"
Even with Halloween just a few days away, there was no question why the freaky makeup-wearing masses had descended on lower Broadway in Nashville. Kiss was in town.KISS PHENOMENON LIVES ON
Some listeners may think of the band KISS as a '70s and '80s band, but KISS is perhaps more alive today more than ever. With a new album Sonic Boom and a hungry group of new young fans, KISS pushes on as one of the biggest names in rock 'n' roll and in pop culture in general.KISS AT SOMMET CENTER
OK, we get it: We're Nashville and KISS loves us. Paul Stanley reminded us of that ad nauseam last night at the Sommet Center, where we de-virginized ourselves of the KISS concert experience. How was it? It was exactly what we expected: a totally awesome, face-melting onslaught of gargantuan camp, fire, galloping riffs and fist-pumping shout-alongs. We came to see all those things, and we got what we wanted: the best.BELGIAN KISS FAN EXPO REMINDER
The big KISS Fan Expo in Kuurne, Belgium takes place this Sunday, November 1. KISS fans from around Europe with gather to celebrate all things KISS! Special guest will be Lydia Criss, who's bringing along an exclusive version of her book 'Sealed with a KISS'. KISS merchandise dealers from around the world will also be attending and selling everything KISS! KISS VISITS LOCAL VETERANS
Here's a CBS News clip of KISS's visit to the Wounded Warriors in Augusta yesterday!
KISS SURPRISES WOUNDED WARRIORS WITH VISIT
Although their long locks were far from military muster, members of the iconic rock act KISS were warmly welcomed at the Charlie Norwood VA Medical Center today.ACE FREHLEY To Appear At LES PAUL Tribute Event
Ace Frehley (KISS) and Zakk Wylde (OZZY OSBOURNE, BLACK LABEL SOCIETY) are among the musicians who will appear at a very special tribute to the late, great Les Paul to be held at the historic Ryman Auditorium, former home to the Grand Ole Opry, in Nashville on Thursday, November 19, 2009. The tribute concert program will be free to the many fans of Les Paul and Gibson Guitar.PETER CRISS Discusses Battle With Breast Cancer On 'Fox & Friends'
Former KISS drummer Peter Criss was a guest on this morning's (Wednesday, October 28) edition of the "Fox & Friends" show on the Fox News Channel to talk about the stigma of being a man battling breast cancer. Watch video of his appearance here.
KISS Members Visit Wounded Warriors
According to WJBF-TV, some of Augusta's Wounded Warriors got to go see KISS in Atlanta Monday night (October 26), but for those who couldn't, KISS came to see them.Gene Simmons to speak at Saskatoon business luncheon
He'll spend a night in KISS and then tell a Saskatoon audience about his success in business.KISS Performs "Say Yeah" in Atlanta 10/26/09
Video: KISS Performs "Say Yeah" in Atlanta 10/26/09
KISS GO BIGGER, LOUDER WITH 'SONIC BOOM'
The members of KISS have been donning their trademark black-and-white make-up since the 1970s, traveling the world singing catchy songs, romancing groupies, spitting blood and exploding things on stage.EARLY KISS HALLOWEEN TREAT
"Alright Youtube! You wanted animated Kiss figures, you got animated Kiss figures!". (video)KISS PRE-SHOW BLOCK PARTY IN NASHVILLE
Break out the KISS costumes from a few Halloweens back and head to Lower Broadway on Wednesday Oct 28 for a free pre-show party ahead of KISS rocking the Sommet Center.
Nashville's Largest Pre Show Block Party
Free KISS face painting for fans
KISS Prize Packs for best costumes and lots of surprises!
The Stage
2nd Fiddle
Cross Roads
Broadway Brewhouse
Bailey's
Tootsies
Rippy's
MODERN DAY DELILAH #1 AT RUSSIAN RADIO!
Great news...KISS' song Modern Day Delilah is #1 on the Russian radio charts this week!
KISS Is Everywhere
Check out the opening of tonight's episode of Gossip Girl... KISS truly is everywhere!
YOUR OTHER FIVE ESSENTIAL KISS RELEASES
Got 'Sonic Boom'? These are the other 5 releases that you must own!
Casablanca, 1974
As far as debut albums go, they don' come more action-packed than Kiss' self-itled masterpiece. Most bands take whole careers to write songs as great as Black Diamond and Strutter, Kiss did it from the start.
BEST TRACK: Cold Gin
Casablanca, 1975
The album that broke Kiss into the mainstream, Alive remains one of rock' landmark live albums. You wanted the best? Here it is, bitch.
BEST TRACK: C'on And Love Me
Casablanca, 1976
Frankly, your record collection has a gargantuan hole in it if this isn' sat on your shelf. Almost faultless (even the most ardent of Kiss fans can't defend Great Expectations), Destroyer is essential to anyone who claims a love of rock.
BEST TRACK: God Of Thunder
Casablanca, 1977
As well as giving the world one of the greatest title-tracks ever, Love Gun is the last Kiss album to receive universal acclaim from fans and critics alike. And, as everyone knows, a Kiss show can't fail when opened with I Stole Your Love.
BEST TRACK: I Stole Your Love
Mercury, 1992
Kiss may have been as relevant in 1992 as the cassette tape is now, but Revenge is a corker of an album. That the band recorded it shortly after the death of drummer Eric Carr only makes it an even more remarkable achievement.
BEST TRACK: Unholy
RETURN OF THE KINGS
KISS have been the godfathers of good-time rock for 35 years. Having unleashed their best album in years, they're still not ready to hang up their platform boots. Paul Stanley explains how they're showing the pretenders how it's done.PAUL STANLEY Says Re-Recording KISS Classics Was A Challenge
According to The Pulse of Radio, Paul Stanley says that the bonus disc of KISS re-recording their '70s and '80s hits included on the new "Sonic Boom" package was both a thrill and a challenge for the band. "Sonic Boom", which is sold exclusively at Wal-Mart properties, costs only $12, features the new "Sonic Boom" album, along with a 2009 DVD concert featuring current members Tommy Thayer and Eric Singer filmed in Buenos Aires, Argentina — as well as Thayer and Singer joining Gene Simmons and Paul Stanley on the new re-recordings.SEALED WITH A KISS
You want subtle? Well, not at a KISS concert.KISS Clips From Birmingham
Here's a KISSONLINE EXCLUSIVE video clips of "Lick it Up", "Shock Me", "Deuce" and "Calling Dr. Love" live from Birmingham!
Couple to put best face on Halloween nuptials
The groom will appear as a leering, dagger-tongued figure with his hair in a topknot and his face painted in the grotesque mask of the Demon, rocker Gene Simmons' KISS stage persona.SONICALLY SPEAKING
"The record industry is dead. It's six feet underground."SONIC BOOM OUT IN AUSTRALIA TODAY!
KISS' SONIC BOOM album was released in Australia today!PAINTED LORDS OF ROCK 'N' ROLL WOW NEW YORK
There's a moment tonight when Paul Stanley begins to strum Led Zeppelin's Stairway To Heaven, before shuddering and launching into KISS' own Black Diamond. KISS May never receive the critical accolades heaped upon Led Zeppelin, but unlike Led Zeppelin, they are still a living, (fire) breathing, strutting, storming rock band with plenty of life left in them.BETTER THAN BEING 10 YEARS- OLD ALL OVER AGAIN
From the number of kids running around the BankAtlantic Center at Kiss' show last night, many replete with full make-up, it's apparent that one need not be of a certain age to appreciate the hard rock demigods -- you just have to feel it. Oh, I'm not talkin' about feeling 30 or 40 or 50 or more. I'm talkin' about feeling like a 10-year-old. And with Kiss, you could be bridging the century mark and still feel as if you were in fifth grade.Bruce Kulick performing with the School of Rock Hollywood!
KISS Guitarist Bruce Kulick performing live with the School of Rock Hollywood!: video
BACK STAGE IN TAMPA WITH KISS
Fox 13's Mark Wilson conducted an interview with KISS backstage at the St. Pete Times Forum in Tampa, Florida on October 21, 2009. Watch the interview here.
'SHOUT IT OUT LOUD' CLIP FROM TAMPA
Check out this great fan-filmed clip of "SHOUT IT OUT LOUD" at last night's show in Tampa!
KISS make up decals
Check out these great new temporary one-time use KISS make up decals -Starchild, Demon, Spaceman and Catman.AN ASSAULT ON THE SENSES
The experience of attending a KISS concert begins long before the house lights go down. The roads leading to the arena are filled with loyal followers in everything from jeans and black concert shirts to very impressive replicas of KISS costumes from every era in the band's long history. The Irish pub we had dinner in prior to the show was packed with fans talking about "The Hottest Band in the Land," and as people walked about there were high fives, fist pumps, and energetic screams and hollers back and forth. Most of us had a good idea of the sensory assault we were about to subject ourselves to inside the St. Pete Times Arena, and we were sharing the energy built up inside us like the capacitors in the wall of amplifiers humming behind the KISS curtain on the floor of the arena.GETTING TO KNOW YOU WITH ERIC SINGER
Next up in the Getting To Know You series we sit down with Eric from rock legends KISS. What a great guy he was!!KISS ROCKS TAMPA!
After 35 years, KISS has sold nearly 90 million records and is still rocking arenas across the country.KISS STILL KNOWS HOW TO ROCK THE HOUSE!
When they finally get around to stuffing Gene Simmons and Paul Stanley into the Rock 'n' Roll Time Capsule, (no doubt manufactured and trademarked by Kiss), it will no doubt include much of the highlights from Wednesday night's show at the Forum.KISS TOUR IS ONE OF A KIND
When debates rage forth about the all-time greatest rock bands, Kiss rarely gets a nod. This isn't because the face-painted fiends aren't worthy. Nor have they been forgotten. It's just that Kiss has always been, well, Kiss, a blood-splattered, Franken-booted genre of one, all parts Broadway and Mary Kay, glam and ham.ACE FREHLEY: New Australian Dates Announced
Original KISS guitarist Ace Frehley's "It's Ace Down Under" tour is now scheduled for February 2010. The East Coast venues remain the same and all tickets bought for the October tour are valid for the rescheduled February shows.
Feb. 04 - Adelaide, Australia - HQ
Feb. 05 - Melbourne, Australia - Palace (formerly Metro)
Feb. 07 - Sydney, Australia - Enmore Theatre
Feb. 08 - Brisbane, Australia - The TivoliGENE ON "POP CULTURE KING SHOW" TONIGHT
A 16 minute conversation with Gene Simmons is the feature on tonight's "The Pop Culture King Show" - WMLB Radio. The show airs at 8 p.m. EST and replays at noon on Sunday. It can be streamed live by going to www.1690wmlb.com.
KISS IN NEW INTOUCH WEEKLY
KISS is featured in the new InTouch Weekly. The issue is on newsstands now. InTouch is one of the largest, weekly magazines and the circulation is more than 900,000.
KISS ARMY MARCHES ON
Bill Starkey doesn't paint his face, wear studded platforms or spit fake blood.ACE FREHLEY: I Would Have 'No Problem' Attending ROCK HALL Induction With KISS
Original KISS guitarist Ace Frehley says that he would have "no problems" with attending the Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame induction ceremony with his former bandmates. He tells the Artisan News Service, "We're all on speaking terms. [We] don't have any bad blood between us. I really had to let all the negative energy go years ago — for my own sanity and personal health. I move forward. If there's negative people around me, I distance myself from them. So I don't have a problem with those guys and I don't see a problem accepting an award with them."
PETER CRISS On Stigma Of Being A Man Battling Breast Cancer
Former KISS drummer Peter Criss recently spoke to Elizabeth Cohen of CNN out about the stigma of being a man battling breast cancer. Watch excerpts from their chat here.
Former KISS drummer: rockers get breast cancer too
Founding KISS member Peter Criss knows that many of his male, rock music fans are macho, so he is making the rounds to tell them that rocker guys like him can suffer from the disease, too.PETER CRISS Discusses Battle With Breast Cancer; Audio Available
After keeping his battle with the disease quiet for more a year, original KISS drummer Peter Criss recently spoke to Jane Pratt on Sirius XM's Jane Radio about how his rock career actually helped him discover he had breast cancer and why he decided to come forward to raise awareness of the disease. Listen to excerpts from the chat here: Clip 1, Clip 2, Clip 3.
KISS TOUR STOPS AT BANK ATLANTIC CENTER
During the age of the live album (Cheap Trick's At Budokan, Peter Frampton's Frampton Comes Alive!, Ted Nugent's Double Live Gonzo!, AC/DC's If You Want Blood You've Got It, etc.), Kiss's Kiss Alive! rocked out in a way that even the band's heaviest contemporaries couldn't match. Of course, much of what set it apart from the pack was the band's theatrics. But there's no denying Kiss also unleashed some of the most ferocious tracks to blast through a stack of Marshall amplifiers.SEALED WITH A KISS
Get ready to rock and roll all night -- KISS is back.SONIC BOOM IS CLASSIC KISS ALBUM
Few, if any bands, are fortunate to have to kind of loyal and enthusiastic fanbase that KISS maintains. The band has perhaps set a record for the most overall sales when toys, games, comic books, and trading cards are factored in alongside their worldwide album sales of 80 million. Although Canadian singer Michael Buble topped KISS on the charts during the week of Sonic Boom's release, its #2 spot is still a good indicator that a 25th Gold certified album for the band is not out of the question. In the two weeks since Boom's release, fans have been trying to decide whether its 11 song offering makes up for the 11 years that passed since 1998's Psycho Circus. They've also been trying to classify the album; is it really classic KISS? glam KISS? or perhaps modern KISS?ACE FREHLEY To Guest On 'Uncensored Net Noise'
Original KISS guitarist Ace Frehley will guest on "Uncensored Net Noise" on Friday, October 23 beginning at around 9:30 p.m. EST.Kiss back with a 'Boom'; drummer has say
Critics who have dismissed modern-day Kiss as nothing but a cartoonish merchandising machine take note: you’re probably still right. But the band has proven that there is some rock and roll left in the tank, and this week celebrates the highest charting release in its history as “Sonic Boom” landed in the No. 2 slot on the Billboard charts, selling 108,000 copies.BEHIND THE SCENES ON LETTERMAN SHOW
Go behind the scenes with the KISS crew as they pack KISS's stage show into the Ed Sullivan Theater for KISS's performance on "The Late Show with David Letterman."
KISS HALLOWEEN COSTUMES
Visit KISSCOSTUMES.com for the only officially licensed KISS costumes and accessories.Q&A with KISS co-founder Gene Simmons
Marketing madman and Kiss co-founder, Gene Simmons, says there no sign of slowing. The brand, er, band has an animated TV series and Broadway musical in the works.OFFICIAL "KISS DAY" IN FLORIDA!
Today is officially "Kiss Day" in Pensacola, according to a proclamation issued by the Escambia County, Fla., Board of County Commissioners.KISS ROCKED SOLD OUT COLISEUM
At the tender age of 14, the first rock concert I attended was a group dubbed "The hottest band in the world." Yep, it was Kiss, a four-member band wearing costumes, makeup and high-heeled shoes, with a stage show that included pyrotechnics, fire breathing, blood-spitting, smoking guitars and confetti cannons.AN ARMY OF DEVOTED FOLLOWERS
Jan DeStafney's son has been breathing fire in the backyard.TOMMY TALKS KISS, TOUR, & SONIC BOOM
Some bands should need no introduction. But if KISS needs one, it should the words that have brought the band onto the stage for decades:TOMMY SINGS 'SHOCK ME' IN GREENVILLE
Check out this great fan-filmed clip of Tommy Thayer singing "Shock Me" at last night's show in Greenville!
Video: KISS ON GOOD MORNING AMERICA
Good Morning America went behind-the-scenes with KISS at their Nassau Coliseum show! ABC's Kate Snow takes viewers backstage to discuss the band's lengthy career and loyal fan following... and she even tries on Paul's platform boots. Take a look!
KISS performing "Strutter" live
Here's a KISSONLINE EXCLUSIVE video clip of KISS performing "Strutter" live at Madison Square Garden last weekend!
TOMMY INTERVIEW FROM SCOTLAND
Check out this interview with Tommy Thayer from Scotland's Classic Rock station 96.3!: Cilp 1, Clip 2
KISS STRONG AS EVER
Those grease-painted glam lords of campy metal are at back at it. Thirty-five years after their first album, Kiss has just put out "Sonic Boom," a new studio disc that's being sold exclusively next to the Cheerios and Windex at Walmart stores nationwide.35 YEARS OF STAYING POWER
Did Gene Simmons just make a lewd comment about my mom? And did the Demon just call me a woman? And what was that hand gesture by Paul Stanley?KISS performs "Detroit Rock City"
KISS performs "Detroit Rock City" live in Hampton - 10/16/09
FACE PAINTED & PASSIONATE FOR KISS
From the mind of Freddie Hamm:KISS IS STILL KING OF CONCERTS
When I was 5 years old, I remember rocking out to KISS downstairs in our family room pretty much every evening before dinner.Picture this - Kiss concert on outdoor screen
Picture the 17-centimetre long tongue of Gene Simmons.GOLDMINE'S COBO REVIEW
They say "where there's smoke there's fire" and on Sept. 25 there was plenty of that, along with enough explosions and fireworks to set off the Fourth of July! You see, this was the opener of the "Kiss Alive 35" North American 40-plus city tour, and the classic quartet returned to the place where it all started for them back in 1975.KISS: Guitar Hero 5 Fridays on Yahoo! Music
KISS: Guitar Hero 5 Fridays on Yahoo! Music: Visit the website here!
GUITAR HERO & KISS SET TO ROCK!
Guitar Hero 5 will launch a new KISS downloadable 3-song track pack on 11/19/09! While you wait, you can also rock out to KISS right now in GH5 which features "Shout It Out Loud." For more information, visit www.guitarhero.com.
KISS IN PHILLY & DC
They say you never forget your first Kiss. I vividly remember mine.KISS BACK WITH A BOOM
Critics who have dismissed modern-day Kiss as nothing but a cartoonish merchandising machine take note: the band has proven that there is some rock and roll left in the tank, and this week celebrates the highest charting release in its history as "Sonic Boom" landed in the No. 2 slot on the Billboard charts.KISS IS ALIVE AND 35
A strange thing has happened with the release of "Sonic Boom," the new album by rock legends KISS.THANK YOU KISS ARMY!
To All,BRUCE KULICK Schedules Appearances In Holland, Switzerland, Norway
Guitarist Bruce Kulick (KISS, GRAND FUNK RAILROAD, UNION) is heading to Holland, Switzerland and Norway for four appearances. At each stop, there will be a sneak peek of Bruce's upcoming "BK3" CD, guitar clinic, personal meet-and-greet event, question-and-answer session, and new merchandise available.
Muziek Podium 3
Voetboogstr. 3
Amsterdam
Holland
Salle du centre de la Jeunesse
Serre 12
La Chaux-De-Fonds
Switzerland
Backstage Musikk AS
Sandvika
Norway
Glassheim
Jevnaker
NorwayOriginal KISS drummer celebrates surviving breast cancer
A year after beating breast cancer, Peter Criss, a founding member of the rock band KISS, calls himself "the luckiest man in the planet."More 'Sonic Boom' First-Week Chart Positions Revealed
KISS' new album, "Sonic Boom", has registered the following first-week chart positions:
USA: #2
Sweden: 2
Czech Republic: #3
Germany: #4
Austria: #6
Finland: #7
Switzerland: #12
Holland: #3
Italy: #14
U.K.: #24
France: #31
Spain: #32
Belgium: #57
35 Years On, Kiss Still Delivers
That old saw about selling iceboxes to Eskimos would be no sweat for Gene Simmons and Paul Stanley. These guys are still selling concert tickets to the same folks who paid to see Kiss's farewell shows a decade ago.KISS Fan Cam
Alex Iglesias brought the FanCam out to Madison Square Garden on Saturday night to meet New York's KISS Army and find out who among them could pull off f the longest kiss - and which fan has a tongue that rivals Gene Simmons'. Did you make the cut? See the results right here.
LENNY KRAVITZ TALKS KISS
LENNY KRAVITZ TALKS KISS: Video
Michael Buble beats KISS on album chart
After only three days of sales, Michael Buble's new album topped the Billboard 200 chart, while rock legends KISS finished in second place, the highest album-chart position of their career.SONIC BOOM ROARS!
'Sonic Boom' album from KISS soars while Gene Simmons and Paul Stanley's friendship enduresKiss delivers more `Boom' for the buck on new CD
Kiss, "Sonic Boom" (Kiss Records)KISS: BETTER THAN EVER!
The crowd at the Verizon Center on Tuesday proved that there's still demand for what Kiss supplies. There were old guard Kiss Army types like Jerry Frey, 47, who drove down from York, Pa., wearing a shirt that said "Kiss Farewell Tour." Frey said he bought the shirt in 2000, at one of the many Kiss shows he's seen since adolescence. "They won't quit, and I don't want them to quit," Frey said.Q & A: Gene Simmons
The Kiss bassist on his ego, his Playmate, his surprisingly normal kids, and his very traditional parenting style.'Sonic Boom' First-Week Sales Revealed
KISS' new album, "Sonic Boom", sold 108,000 copies in the United States in its first week of release to land at position No. 2 on The Billboard 200 chart. This marks the band's highest-charting LP ever. KISS has notched eight Top 10 albums, according to Billboard.com. Its previous highest-charting set was 1998's "Psycho Circus", which debuted and peaked at No. 3 with 110,000 copies in its first week, according to Nielsen SoundScan. The group's other high-charting sets include 1975's "Alive!" (No. 9), 1977's "Love Gun" (No. 4) and 1992's "Revenge" (No. 6).
KISS VIDEO CLIPS FROM WASHINGTON
Take a look at these fan-filmed video clips from last night's KISS show in Washington: Clip 1. Clip 2.
ROCK AND ROLL ALL NITE WITH KISS
The year was 1979, and a wide-eyed 12-year-old boy had but one dream: seeing Gene Simmons, Paul Stanley, Ace Frehley and Peter Criss live in concert at the Lakeland Civic Center.STILL ROCKING AFTER 35 YEARS
Rock band Kiss are celebrating their 35th year in the music charts with the release of their first studio album in nearly a decade, Sonic Boom.Latest KISS makeover pays off for tireless rockers
Paul Stanley surveys his home high in the hills overlooking Los Angeles and proudly dubs it "the house that bad reviews built."Philadelphia Setlist
01. Strutter
02. Deuce
03. Modern Day Delilah
04. Hotter Than Hell
05. Come On And Love Me
06. Watchin' You
07. Got To Choose
08. I Love It Loud
09. She
10. Parasite
11. 100,000 Years
12. Black Diamond
13. Rock And Roll All Nite
14. Shout It Out Loud
15. Lick It Up
16. Love Gun
17. Cold Gin
18. Detroit Rock City
KISS VIDEO CLIPS FROM PHILLY
Check out these fan-filmed video clips of "Love Gun" and "Detroit Rock City" from last night's show in Philadelphia!
KISS DELIVERS THE BOOM
Legendary rock band KISS brought its hard rock spectacle and "Alive/35 Tour" to the Wachovia Center on Monday, and though some things certainly must have seemed familiar to the KISS faithful, some things have also clearly changed.ACE FREHLEY: Australian Tour To Be Rescheduled For February
Original KISS lead guitarist Ace Frehley was due in Australia next week for three shows. However, Australian promoters advised today that the tour will now be postponed until February 2010 in order to accommodate the artist schedule and the newly added tour dates. When the tour does reach Australia, it will be in an expanded format with extra dates being scheduled in Perth and Adelaide due to overwhelming demand from Ace fans in both of those cities.KISS WILL ROCK AND ROLL D.C.
Kiss Alive Tour stops in D.C. to promote release of 'Sonic Boom'ACE FREHLEY's Australian Tour Postponed
Original KISS guitarist Ace Frehley's previously announced Australian tour, which was supposed to kick off on October 19 in Melbourne, has been postponed until next year. An official statement regarding the matter is expected to be released later today.
First 'Sonic Boom' Chart Positions Revealed
KISS' new album, "Sonic Boom", has registered the following first-week chart positions so far:
Holland: #13
Italy: #14
U.K.: #24
KISS IN 'KISS COUNTRY'
Is there a more dedicated fan base than the Kiss Army? The elder statesmen and stateswomen brought along a whole bunch of new recruits to witness the spectacle of what could be the best visual stage show ever, as well as a constant supply of down-home Rock and Roll cooking for the New York audience.PAUL AND ERIC RADIO INTERVIEW
Here's an interview with Eric Singer and Paul Stanley from Q104.3 radio! The guys discuss the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame nomination, Sonic Boom, the new tour and more!
KISS ROCKS NASSAU ALL NIGHT
The Kiss Army was out in full force in Long Island last night, just weeks after Kiss was nominated for the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. The band's long and storied career is clearly far from over, as they fill arenas around the country on their first national tour in years.KISS CLIPS FROM MADISON SQUARE GARDEN
Shout It Out Loud, Cold Gin, Modern Day Delilah.
GENE SIMMONS TALKS AXEBASS, ALBUM, TOUR
Q: Just one glance at the Gene Simmons AxeBass will make jaws drop. It's sleek; black; beyond cool. How did you create it?KISS at 60
Maybe they're now eligible for the cover of AARP magazine, but Simmons and mates rock as hard as everKISS VIDEO CLIPS FROM UNIONDALE
Cilp 1, Cilp 2.
Sex solution
KISS star Gene Simmons says the best way to survive in rock is to avoid booze and drugs -- and concentrate on sex. He told us as he prepared for tonight's sold-out concert at the Garden: "The only way to do it is no booze, no drugs . . . If you are not clean, you don't belong up there. I've never been drunk or high in my life. The only way to survive the long haul is to be straight-nosed. I've been here for four decades." Simmons, who romanced Cher and Diana Ross before settling with former Playboy Playmate Shannon Tweed, said, "The only temptation I've had in my career is of the female variety. And that's one you can enjoy."
KISS TO APPEAR ON GOOD MORNING AMERICA
ABC's Good Morning America filmed a segment at tonight's Nassau Coliseum KISS Show! It will air next Saturday morning, 10/17.
Buy 2-CD Sets Of Entire 'Alive 35' Tour And Receive Limited-Edition Kollector's Box
On September 25, the KISS Alive 35 tour kicked off in North America in Detroit, Michigan. Each of KISS' 42 shows is being exclusively recorded by Concert Online and made available to purchase as a USB leather wristband with a KISS metal buckle or an instant live CD set, consisting of two CDs in a collector's box. To ensure maximum quality, all tracks are recorded live and are mixed with state-of-the-art recording technology by Concert Online.PAUL STANLEY ON KISS, SONIC BOOM, & LIFE
I went to Paul Stanley's place high above Beverly Hills in September. "The house that bad reviews built" was being renovated, so we sat in the pool house that doubles as his art studio. We talked about the philosophy behind the new album, his relationship with Gene Simmons, and his political views.REKINDLING THE FIRES OF A ROCK ICON
When you're a member of KISS, you're a demon or a star child from your first cigarette to your last dying day - especially if you're the 36-year-old band's remaining original members, bassist/reality TV star Gene Simmons and guitarist/painter Paul Stanley.LOVE GUN CLIP FROM OSHAWA
Here's a great fan-filmed clip of "Love Gun" live in Oshawa last night!
ACE FREHLEY: Quality Video Footage Of Arrowhead National Anthem Performance Available
Original KISS guitarist Ace Frehley performed the U.S. national anthem on Sunday, October 4 when the Kansas City Chiefs played the New York Giants at Arrowhead stadium in Kansas City, Missouri. Quality video footage of Ace's appearance, which took place prior to the game, can be viewed here.
MAKING KISS-TORY
Guitarist decides to Kiss and tell about new album and how he wound up in one of the world's biggest rock bandsKISS: BEST WISHES TO PETER CRISS
Peter,KISS' LEAD GUITARIST TOMMY THAYER
Lead guitarist Tommy Thayer, 48, grew up a KISS fan in the Portland, Ore., area.Almost KISS
The news station FOX 4 came out to get coverage of Almost KISS: video
Kiss, Buble Battle For No. 1 On Billboard 200
Next week's Billboard 200 chart will either house a first-ever No. 1 album from iconic band Kiss, or pop singer Michael Buble may crash the group's rockin' party with his new set, "Crazy Love."KISS BLOWS DOORS OFF OSHAWA
Halloween came early to Oshawa this year, 35 years in the making.M&Ms KISS BLEND ROCKS KISS FANS
Mars Direct Inc., a division of Mars Snackfood US, announced the launch of the MY M&M'S KISS Blend - a rockin' partnership between the beloved candy brand and one of rock's most prolific bands. For a limited time, the KISS Blend will take each of the members' iconic faces and put them on colorful MY M&M'S Chocolate Candies, creating a delicious collector's item for any fan.KISS Classic Rock / Metal Hammer EXCLUSIVE Video
KISS Classic Rock / Metal Hammer EXCLUSIVE: Video
KISS ON JIMMY KIMMEL LIVE
Here's KISS performing "Modern Day Delilah" and "Detroit Rock City" on Jimmy Kimmel Live from Detroit's Cobo Arena!
KISS gives Oshawa a big hug
"Hello, Shwa. Did you really think we weren't coming to see you? You know we love our big cities but we were always coming." - KISS singer Paul StanleyKiss' Album Keeps The Aging Band Relevant To Rock
You wanted the best, and you got the best. The hottest band in the world: Kiss." Beneath all the layers of makeup, explosions, and merchandise, it is often forgotten that Kiss was one of the most popular and revolutionary rock bands of the 1970s. Paul Stanley (The Star Child), Gene Simmons (The Demon), Ace Frehley (The Spaceman), and Peter Criss (The Catman) effectively crafted a hard-rock version of the Beatles, with each member singing and maintaining their own unique persona. While the songs may not have been the most complicated compositions ever recorded, Kiss' hook-ridden pop metal records were purchased in droves.KISS DELIVERED ON OSHAWA PROMISE
Kiss delivered on its promise to Oshawa, Ont., on Wednesday with a supersized show that spared no flair, flames or facepaint.KISS AND MAKEUP
It was the KISS of life Oshawa needed.KISS Fan Arrested For Urinating On Woman At Boston Concert
According to BDPNews.com, an officer performing a paid detail in the area of the TD Banknorth Garden in Boston, Massachusetts on Monday, October 5, 2009 at about 10:06 p.m. responded to a call for a disturbance on Accolon Way. Once there, the detail officer spoke to security personnel who were detaining a suspect. According to the victim, she was inside the building attending the KISS concert when she felt a warm feeling on the back of her leg. As a result of the warm sensation, the victim says she turned around to observe an individual urinating on the back of her leg. At this time, the victim promptly alerted security personnel of the incident. Consequently, security personnel escorted the suspect from the building. Officers noted the suspect appeared to be highly intoxicated given his slurred speech and the odor of alcohol emanating from his person.KISS' 'Sonic Boom' To Top Next Week's U.S. Album Chart
According to Hits Daily Double, the companion web site of music industry tip sheet HITS, KISS' new album, "Sonic Boom", is on track to sell between 150,000 and 175,000 copies in the United States in its first week of release, giving the masked rockers a beeline on their first chart-topping release ever.
KISS ANNOUNCES MORE 2009 TOUR DATES
KISS is excited to announce five additional dates have been added to their North American Alive 35 Tour!
KANSAS CITY, MO - SPRINT CENTER - Thu, Dec. 10, 2009
COUNCIL BLUFFS, IA - MID-AMERICA CENTER - Fri, Dec. 11, 2009
PITTSBURGH, PA - MELLON ARENA - Sun, Dec. 13, 2009
SAULT STE. MARIE - ESSAR CENTRE - Tue, Dec. 15, 2009
Gene Simmons: The Billboard Kiss Cover
It would be hard to come up with a more prominent rock'n'roll bassist than Gene Simmons of Kiss. The Kiss co-founder, reality TV star and entrepreneur has his fingerprints on virtually all segments of the music industry. Born Chaim Witz in 1949 in Haifa, Israel, and the only child of a Holocaust survivor, Simmons ignited the Kiss explosion in 1972. The band remains a touring, licensing and merchandising powerhouse, and it launched the U.S. leg of the Kiss Alive/35 tour Sept. 25 in Detroit. The group released "Sonic Boom," its first album of new material in 11 years, Oct. 6 exclusively through Wal-Mart and Sam's Club.THE RETURN OF KISS
Still rock 'n' rolling all night after 35 years together, KISS just released their 19th studio album, Sonic Boom. Founding members Gene Simmons, 60, and Paul Stanley, 57, open up wide for US.Members Of WHITESNAKE, KISS, GUNS N' ROSES Featured On NORTHERN LIGHT ORCHESTRA CD
Doug Aldrich (WHITESNAKE), Bruce Kulick (KISS), Dizzy Reed (GUNS N' ROSES), Jason Hook (ALICE COOPER) and Shane Gibson (KORN) are among the musicians who are featured on NORTHERN LIGHT ORCHESTRA's new album, "The Spirit Of Christmas", in stores October 20 via VSR/EMI CMG Distribution. Where classic rock meets the timeless music of Christmas, "The Spirit of Christmas" is guaranteed to be a recording entity that provides the very best in entertainment.KISS: LOUD & PROUD!
It's been a few years since "Psycho Circus," and just when you thought KISS were going to just carry on doing greatest hits tours, along comes a new album. This time around it's the Gene and Paul show, plus Tommy Thayer and Eric Singer.UNLEASHING THE FORMIDABLE SONIC BOOM
It's been a long time since KISS last released an album, the somewhat patchy "Psycho Circus," but they're finally ready to unleash the formidable "Sonic Boom" on the world. Martin Howell had a chat with the Starchild himself, Paul Stanley, to get the lowdown on the album and on what happened to Ace Frehley and Peter Criss.Craig Ferguson talks KISS
Craig Ferguson discusses KISS in monologue: video
KISS IS ROCKING OUT AND LOVING IT
The self-proclaimed hottest band in the world, the painted, stacked boot-sporting heroes who got your reviewer into the world of rock n' roll aged 12, are back.KISS RE-HARNESSES APPEAL
KISS "Sonic Boom" - their first studio album in 11 years.SONIC BOOM - BACK TO THE FUTURE
Guitarist Magazine: KISS' Sonic Boom: Back to the future with stunning results! This is the first album of new material since 1998's Psycho Circus, and the best news is that it could have been recorded in the band's halcyon days. For example, Never Enough - a cross between an AC/DC filler and Elton John's Saturday Night's Alright - could be an outtake from Dressed to Kill, while the ultra-catchy Nobody's Perfect would be a shoe-in on Dynasty. Guitarist Tommy Thayer may be playing well within himself, but Paul Stanley, who also sat in the producer's chair, is singing better than ever. In a nutshell, this is classic KISS for 2009, and if that statement floats your boat to any degree, you're in for a real treat.
Follow KISS
Follow KISS on Twitter here: http://twitter.com/kissofficial
Classic rockers Kiss set to play promised Oshawa, Ont., show after controversy
Kiss is set to deliver on its promised show in Oshawa, Ontario tonight.KISS CRUSHES ALL IN ITS PATH
In 1996, KISS decided to reform their original line-up - make-up, stack heels, costumes, the lot - for one final pyrotechnic hurrah. It was a KISS many fans weren't old enough to have seen first time round, and burying the memory of their sometimes dodgy hair metal era, it was utterly spectacular. What most people (including original guitarist Ace Frehley) didn't realise was that KISS figureheads Paul Stanley and Gene Simmons didn't plan to stop there. Thirteen years on, and despite Frehley and original drummer Peter Criss being replaced by younger and fitter alternatives (Tommy Thayer and Eric Singer, respectively), the KISS nostalgia machine continues to crush all in its path.Letterman Gets A Lick
As you've probably heard by now, it's been a rough week for David Letterman. If the remedy for his personal and professional turmoil is a lick on the ear from the unhumanly long tongue of Gene Simmons, he was in luck yesterday. Kiss were the musical guest last night on the Late Show, transforming the Ed Sullivan Theatre into Madison Square Garden for five minutes with a performance of their Sonic Boom single "Modern Day Delilah." "Our next guests are here to blow the roof off the dump, ladies and gentlemen," Letterman told the Late Show audience while introducing Kiss, whose Sonic Boom hit Walmarts across the country yesterday. The potential Rock and Roll Hall of Famers seemingly packed their entire stage show - including the pyrotechnics behind drummer Eric Singer - onto Letterman's tiny set, resulting in one of the most exciting Late Show performances in recent memory. And then came the lick: Simmons' massive tongue surprised Letterman as the host went to greet the band following their performance. In case you missed the Late Show performance, Kiss will be back on late-night tonight after midnight when they perform a pair of tracks on Jimmy Kimmel Live!. The Kimmel performance was actually pre-recorded September 24th during a private warm-up show at Detroit's Cobo Arena, where 1,500 fans took part in a show that also doubled as a shoot for the "Modern Day Delilah" video. Here's KISS performing "Modern Day Delilah" on David Letterman's Late Show!
KING OF THE NIGHT TIME WORLD CLIP FROM BOSTON
Here's another great fan-filmed clip - "King Of The Night Time World" from KISS' Boston show on Monday.
KISSonline Exclusive: Sonic Boom Recordings: #7
KISSonline Exclusive: Sonic Boom Recordings: #7
KISS Performs On 'Late Show With David Letterman'; Video Available
Video footage of KISS performing its new single, "Modern Day Delilah", on last night's (Tuesday, October 6) edition of CBS-TV's "Late Show With David Letterman" can be viewed here.
KISS 35 YEARS: COMMANDING AN ARMY
Everyone has a childhood hero or at least someone that they idolized growing up. For some, it's a sports figure; some might even say a movie star or a relative. For me, I had my sports figure idols but mainly worshipped rock stars. As a child, I wanted to be Nikki Sixx from Motley Crue, Duff McKagan from Guns 'N Roses, or Gene Simmons from KISS, which would only make sense for me to become a bass player. Now, it's not every day that you get to meet or speak to your childhood idols, but I've been lucky enough to have that day happen a few times, already meeting Nikki and Duff.KISS CAN STILL PARTY WITH THE BEST OF THEM
Nothing says family like fathers and sons (and a few daughters, too) in Kiss face paint. Kiss, which first spit flame to fame in the '70s as the fire-breathing, pyro-shooting, action-figure fantasy of teenagers everywhere, has stuck around for so many generations that Monday night at the Garden it was the parents who called their kids to tell them they'd be home late.PETER CRISS Reveals He Was Diagnosed With Breast Cancer
Original KISS drummer Peter Criss has issued the following update:KISS STILL ROCKS 'N' ROLLS ALL NIGHT
You wanted the best, you got the best! The hottest band in the land, one half of KISS! Before the Boston TD Garden show, Gene Simmons boasted to the Herald that this was the largest tour they'd ever done."JIMMY KIMMEL LIVE" PRESENTS A SPECIAL MUSICAL APPEARANCE BY LEGENDARY ROCK BAND KISS
Performing from the Detroit venue where their music career originated, acclaimed rock band KISS will appear on ABC's "Jimmy Kimmel Live," Wednesday, October 7 at 12:05 a.m., ET/PT at Cobo Hall Arena. This performance will coincide with the release of their new album, "Sonic Boom."KISS' SIMMMONS, THAYER Interviewed On 105.5 WDHA; Audio Available
KISS members Gene Simmons (bass, vocals) and Tommy Thayer (guitar) were interviewed this morning (Tuesday, October 6) on New Jersey's 105.5 WDHA radio station. The six-minute chat can now be streamed here.
EVERYTHING THAT ROCK 'N' ROLL SHOULD BE
Gene Simmons doesn't give a damn whether people buy the new KISS album.AUTOGRAPHED KISS GUITAR GIVEAWAY
A Sonic Boom is coming, and we don't just mean the new album from KISS... It's The Great KISS Guitar Giveaway - to help you rattle some walls on your own, KISSOnline.com is giving you a chance to win one of three WASHBURN GUITARS SIGNED BY ALL OF KISS!KISSonline Exclusive: Sonic Boom Recordings: #6
KISSonline Exclusive: Sonic Boom Recordings: #6
BLACK DIAMOND CLIP FROM MOHEGAN SUN
Here's an awesome fan-filmed clip of "Black Diamond" from KISS' Mohegan Sun show Saturday night
WALMART KISS KORNER STORE LISTING
On October 6th, Walmart, the world's largest retailer, will offer SONIC BOOM in a three-disc set that also features KISS KLASSICS, a 15-track completely re-recorded greatest hits CD, as well as a live DVD shot in Buenos Aires, Argentina during the band's 2009 South American tour.With 'Sonic Boom,' veteran rockers Kiss will roar anew
"Look at Kiss culture," says Gene Simmons, radiating pride. "People tattoo their bodies with Kiss faces, name their children after our songs, have Kiss conventions.PAUL AND TOMMY DISCUSS SONIC BOOM
ROADRUNNER RECORDS UK EXCLUSIVE: KISS Track by Track Part 2
PAUL STANLEY Says KISS Is Bigger Than Its Members
The Pulse of Radio reports: With a new album in stores, "Sonic Boom", and legions of fans turning out for their current Alive! 35 tour, KISS is flying high. Recently group frontman Paul Stanley addressed the fact that the band is trying to recapture the magic of their 1975 "Alive!" album without the group's original lineup. In particular, Stanley was asked about fans being upset that Tommy Thayer and Eric Singer have been sporting the costumes previously worn by Ace Frehley and Peter Criss.Manly, raucous riff-rock
The thing about painting your mug is that if you were to lose face, it's easy enough to slap another coat of grease paint on yourself, come back, and try again. The long-running bombastic rock band KISS was being roundly booed - reasonably so, given that its opening number (King of the Night Time World) ended abruptly when the costumed quartet's fearsome sound system cut out. The singer Paul Stanley, his face caked white, made like a mime, mouthing words and flashing his fingers that the band would return in five - no, better make it 10 - minutes.KISS Review - Boston Herald
“Sonic Boom” (Roadrunner): B
KISS have always hid their danceable hooks in heavy-metal fire and face paint. Thankfully, the band’s first album in 11 years is no different. Paul Stanley, Gene Simmons, drummer Eric Singer and new guitarist Tommy Thayer induce more rump shakin’ than head bangin’ on pop anthems “Stand,” “Never Enough” and the tambourine-and-cowbell-flavored “Yes I Know (Nobody’s Perfect).” “I’m an Animal” manages one sludgy, heavy riff, but it’s tucked between so much catchy fluff rock, it barely distracts from the oh-so-dumb fun. Download: the weak-but-hilarious The Who rip-off “Hot and Cold.”
PAUL & GENE CANADIAN TV INTERVIEW
Check out this great interview with Paul and Gene on Quebec television show "Tout le Monde en Parle" ("The World Is Talking About It!"): Part 1, Part 2
SONIC BOOM DELIVERS!
When word started circulating last year that Kiss was working on its first new album in 11 years, even long-time fans were a bit skeptical. The band's last studio album, 1998's much touted reunion effort, Psycho Circus, recorded (at least on paper) with original members Ace Frehley and Peter Criss, had been a disappointment. More recent solo albums by founding members Gene Simmons and Paul Stanley had also failed to live up to expectations.KISS BRINGS VINTAGE SOUND TO SHOW
Forget U2 or The Rolling Stones. If you want to see the spectacle of a rock show, take in a Kiss concert. Of pretty much any group in rock history, Kiss is one whose performances display the essence of the band.KISS IS STILL ALIVE AFTER 35!
Some rock bands grow old gracefully - and then some rock bands are KISS.KISSonline Exclusive: Sonic Boom Recordings: #5
KISSonline Exclusive: Sonic Boom Recordings: #5
ACE FREHLEY Performs U.S. National Anthem In Kansas City
Original KISS guitarist Ace Frehley performed the U.S. national anthem earlier today (Sunday, October 4) when the Kansas City Chiefs played the New York Giants at Arrowhead stadium in Kansas City, Missouri. Fan-filmed video of Ace's appearance, which took place prior to the game, can be viewed here: Clip 1, Clip 2
ESPN WORKING ON KISS - CADILLAC STORY
The story that has been told and retold, of the rock band KISS visiting Cadillac in 1975 at the invitation of the Cadillac High School football team, will be retold again, this time by the cable sports network ESPN.OFFICIAL KISS M&M'S - THIS WEEK AT WALMART
The official KISS M&M's that are being sold exclusively at over 2800 Walmarts beginning this week. There are four different bags - Paul, Gene, Eric and Tommy! Each bag contains black, white, silver and red candies with band members faces imprinted on the M&M's! The KISS M&M's are part of Walmart's KISS Korners, which will feature CDs, blankets, trading cards, and other cool KISS items!
ARTIST DISCUSSES KISS M&M ADS
Interview with William Vaughan of Splashlight about his involvement with the KISS M&Ms advertisements.EW: Quick Take
KISS haven't gotten any subtler in the 11 years since their last studio album ("Baby, feel my tower of power!" declares Gene Simmons on "Hot And Cold.") And why should they? There's no denying the pleasingly hook-laden nature of such anthemic rockers as Boom's "Stand" and "Modern Day Delilah." This Walmart-only three-disc set -- which includes a CD of rerecorded hits and a live DVD -- should remind Hall of Fame voters that the recent nominees deserve consideration for far more than just Simmons' fire-breathing abilities.
KISSonline Exclusive: Sonic Boom Recordings: #4
KISSonline Exclusive: Sonic Boom Recordings: #4
ROCKERS REWARD KISS ARMY
The lights go down. A low and steady tone rumbles from the amplifiers. Legions of fans, known as the KISS Army, leap to their feet as a roar of excitement fills the air at the John Labatt Centre last Tuesday night.LEGENDARY KISS IS BACK & STARRING AT WALMART
KISS is back with a new record, a concert tour and a promotional blitz coming to a Walmart near you."I LOVE IT LOUD" CLIP FROM TORONTO
Here's a great fan-filmed clip of "I Love It Loud" from KISS' Toronto show last night!
KISSonline Exclusive: Sonic Boom Recordings: #3
KISSonline Exclusive: Sonic Boom Recordings: #3
KISS ELECTRIFIES AIR CANADA CENTRE
Sure, they wanted to rock and roll all night, but KISS short circuited just one song into their Air Canada Centre show Friday night.KISS faces: Is it the mask or the man?
If you squint your eyes at TD Garden on Monday night, you might think you’re watching the original incarnation of KISS.KISS' HAPPY, LOYAL AUDIENCE
Ahhh, Kiss. They could play six times a year in Montreal, and an army of fans (note the subtle allusion) would always be present to cheer for them, as demonstrated by their second visit to Montreal in just over two months at the Bell Center Thursday evening.KISS: 'Sonic Boom' Track-By-Track Guide With STANLEY, THAYER
The first part of a track-by-track guide to KISS's new studio album, "Sonic Boom" — featuring guitarist/vocalist Paul Stanley and guitarist Tommy Thayer — can be viewed at RoadrunnerRecords.co.uk. Part two will follow on Monday.
SONIC BOOM EUROPEAN TRAILER
Here's the SONIC BOOM European Trailer.
Q&A with KISS frontman Paul Stanley
KISS Army lifers who feared the band would never make another studio album are in good company -- even Paul Stanley had given up on the idea.KISS In Montreal: Setlist, Video Footage Available
Fan-filmed video footage of KISS' October 1, 2009 concert at the Bell Centre in Montreal, Quebec, Canada can be viewed below.
02. Deuce
03. Got To Choose
04. Modern Day Delilah
05. Hotter Than Hell
06. I Stole Your Love
07. C'mon And Love Me
08. Parasite
09. She
10. Watchin' You
11. 100,00 Years
12. I Love It Loud
13. Black Diamond
14. Rock And Roll All Nite
--------------------------
15. Shout It Out Loud
16. Lick It Up
17. Let Me Go, Rock And Roll
18. Love Gun
19. Detroit Rock City
GENE SIMMONS STARRING IN NEW CHRISTMAS MOVIE
KISS bassist Gene Simmons finished filming The Christmas Movie this summer, which is rumoured to be scheduled for release this November, however, there is no official date released on IMDB or Wonderstar Productions. The family film also stars Elliott Gould, Linda Gray, Lainie Kazan, Cloris Leachman, Della Reese, Oleysa Rulin, Cybill Shepherd, and Fred Willard. It was written and directed by Dan Gordon, who was responsible for screenwriting The Hurricane, starring Denzel Washington.KISS CLEVELAND CLIP
Here's a great fan-filmed clip of "Shout It Out Loud" from KISS' Cleveland show on Monday.
KISSonline Exclusive: Sonic Boom Recordings: #2
KISSonline Exclusive: Sonic Boom Recordings: #2
KISS wants to rock and roll the Garden and Coliseum
'Gene Simmons Family Jewels," the A&E reality show starring the spidery, fire-breathing, tongue-dangling KISS bassist as a family man, is stuffed with slumber parties, home movies, teen girls saying, "Whatever," and (somewhat randomly) a depressed comedian Carrot Top at a bar. But it doesn't have Paul Stanley. "God knows, he's asked me enough times," says singer and guitarist Stanley, who co-founded the band with Simmons in 1972. "There's nothing that appeals to me less than creating a TV life, as opposed to living my private life. It's just not for me. I also don't like the idea of confusing what Gene does with what KISS does. It's better to keep 'em separate."STANLEY, SIMMONS To Guest On 'Tout Le Monde En Parle'
According to Cyberpresse.ca, KISS members Gene Simmons and Paul Stanley will guest on this Sunday's (October 4) episode of the French-language show "Tout Le Monde En Parle". The program was taped earlier today at the Radio-Canada studios in Montreal and will air on all Radio-Canada stations across Canada.
Paul Stanley's interview on Montreal's CHOM-FM
Check out Paul Stanley's interview from earlier today (Thursday, October 1) on the "The Metal File" podcast from Montreal's CHOM-FM.
KISS ROCK DETROIT ROCK CITY
As a teenager in the late 70's, I began getting into rock music, slowly, by buying an album here and there and listening to records at friends' houses, or maybe borrowing the album. This was long before MySpace and Napster, before iPods and satellite radio. Rock music hit us in shortly before high school and it was new. There was no Britney Spears, Miley Cyrus or Jonas Brothers to draw us into pop music during our elementary school days. Radio was abysmal for my friends and me mostly because disco and oldies dominated. Our mantra was "disco sucks" and although now I can have a nostalgic interest in disco, back then good ass-kicking rock music was the fodder of youth.KISSonline: Sonic Boom Recordings: #1
Sonic Boom Recordings: #1- KISS has posted the first in a series of video clips documenting the recording process for the band's new studio album, "Sonic Boom". Watch it here.
BUCKCHERRY Talks KISS Tour, Live Album
Altitude TV Josh Todd and Keith Nelson of BUCKCHERRY. Topics discussed include how they really got the KISS tour, their new live CD, and how they two have managed to keep the BUCKCHERRY train rolling. Watch the four-minute clip here.
KISS Crew Sets Up Stage For Cobo Arena Concerts; Video Available
Video footage of KISS' "extremely hard-working crew" setting up the stage for the band's September 25-26, 2009 performances at Cobo Arena in Detroit, Michigan can be viewed here.
KISS To Guest On 'Late Show With David Letterman'
According to Interbridge.com's The Late Night TV Page, KISS will guest on CBS-TV's "Late Show With David Letterman" on Tuesday, October 6.
ACE FREHLEY On Why KISS' Reunion Tour Stopped Being Fun
Stop Smiling magazine recently conducted an interview with original KISS guitarist Ace Frehley. An excerpt from the chat follows below.Pro Audio Recording Of 'Modern Day Delilah' Performance From Cleveland Available
Professionally made audio recording of KISS performing the new song "Modern Day Delilah" on September 28, 2009 at Quicken Loans Arena in Cleveland, Ohio can be heard in the YouTube clip here.
Live Review: KISS in London, Ont.
Sweet 35 and still being KISSed like the first time.ACE FREHLEY: European Tour Dates Announced
Original KISS guitarist Ace Frehley has scheduled the following European tour dates, with more to be announced:
Nov. 30 - Stockholm, Sweden - Debaser
Dec. 02 - Helsinki, Finland - Nosturi
Dec. 04 - Malmö, Sweden - Kulturbolaget - KB
Dec. 06 - Gothenburg, Sweden - Trädgårn
Dec. 08 - Hamburg, Germany - Grosse Freiheit
Dec. 09 - Zeche, Germany - Bochum
Dec. 11 - Berlin, Germany - Huxleys
Dec. 12 - Frankfurt, Germany - Batschkapp
Dec. 13 - München, Germany - Tonhalle
Dec. 15 - Luzern, Switzerland - Schüür
Dec. 16 - Rijssen, Holland - Lucky
Dec. 17 - London, UK - O2 Shepherds Bush Empire
SPARKS FLY AND BLOOD SPEWS
Halloween arrived early last night, when the Kiss Army invaded downtown Cleveland, Ohio, for a concert at Quicken Loans Arena. The show was the second stop of the Kiss Alive 35 tour, following a sold-out two-night stand in Detroit Rock City. The trek celebrates the 35th anniversary of Alive!, the band's first landmark live album - one of RS' Greatest Albums of All Time - which helped elevate the group from a New York makeup act to international rock icons.
Deuce
Strutter
Got to Choose
Let Me Go, Rock N Roll
Modern Day Delilah
Hotter Than Hell
Nothing to Lose
C'Mon and Love Me
Parasite
She
Guitar solo
Watchin' You
100,000 Years
Drum solo
(Paul teases crowd with the first bar of Led Zeppelin's "Stairway to Heaven")
Black Diamond
Rock and Roll All Nite
Shout It Out Loud
Lick It Up (with a brief instrumental interpolation of the Who's Baba O'Riley)
Bass solo
I Love It Loud
Cold Gin
Love Gun
Detroit Rock City
KISS TO ROCK SOLD OUT LABATT CENTRE TONIGHT
For KISS, it has been London, Rock City for more than 35 years.STILL MADE FOR LOVIN' YOU
They've been extolling the virtues of all-night rocking and daily partying for 35 years, and they're not done yet. Next Tuesday, the day after filling the TD Garden with its spectacle, Kiss releases its first album in 11 years, "Sonic Boom." Last week, the makeup-loving quartet learned that, 10 years after their initial eligibility, they made the nomination ballot for the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. We chatted with amiable Kiss guitarist-vocalist Paul Stanley last week as the band prepared to rock Cobo Center in Detroit, the scene of their first "Alive" album.Ace To Perfron National Anthem
Ace Frehley will perform the U.S. national anthem on October 4 when the Kansas City Chiefs play the New York Giants at Arrowhead stadium in Kansas City, Missouri. Ace's appearance will take place prior to the game.
Ace: Video Footage Of VINTAGE VINYL Signing Session Posted Online
Original KISS guitarist Ace Frehley signed copies of his new solo CD, "Anomaly", this past Saturday, September 26 at Vintage Vinyl in Fords, New Jersey. Fan-filmed video footage of the event can be viewed here.
KISS KICK OFF ALIVE 35 IN DETROIT
Kiss opened the U.S. portion of its Kiss Alive 35 tour by recreating its breakthrough "Alive!" album in the place it was made -- Cobo Arena in Detroit Rock City.KISS KEEPS COBO HALL ALIVE
Detroit's legendary Cobo Center (formerly Cobo Hall) may be closing its doors for a much lamented expansion in just a few days, but KISS couldn't resist stopping by for a two night set to remind the Motor City that they truly don't make concert venues like this anymore.KISS PLANTS FINAL SMOOCH
Kiss took a shot at traveling back in time Friday and Saturday night in Detroit, and legendary co-founders Paul Stanley and Gene Simmons --receiving marching orders from the loyal ranks of faithful fans enlisted in the Kiss Army -- enjoyed a successful tour of duty.
"Deuce"
"Strutter"
"Got to Choose"
"Modern Day Delilah"
"Hotter than Hell"
"Nothin' to Lose"
"C'mon and Love Me"
"Parasite"
"She" (w/ Thayer guitar solo)
"Watchin' You"
"100,000 Years" (w/ Singer drum solo)
"Cold Gin"
"Black Diamond"
"Rock 'n' Roll All Nite"
"Shout It Out Loud"
"Lick It Up"
"I Love It Loud" (w/ Simmons bass solo)
"Let Me Go Rock 'n' Roll"
"Love Gun"
"Detroit Rock City"
ACE FREHLEY Interviewed On EDDIE TRUNK's 'Friday Night Rocks'; Audio Available
Original KISS guitarist Ace Frehley was the in-studio guest this past Friday (September 25) on Eddie Trunk's "Friday Night Rocks" radio show on New York's Q104.3 FM. The interview has now been posted on YouTube and is available for streaming in eight parts here: Part 1, Part 2, Part 3, Part 4, Part 5, Part 6, Part 7, Part 8.
KISS COME ALIVE AT TOUR OPENER
The final performance of KISS's Detroit Rock City at Detroit's Cobo Arena... before the walls come down. September 26, 2009: video
Modern Day Delilah at Cobo Hall
KISS performs Modern Day Delilah from SONIC BOOM at Detroit's Cobo Arena, September 26, 2009: video
Love Gun At Cobo Hall
"Love Gun" from last night's Detroit Cobo Arena show - September 26, 2009: video
PETER CRISS Comments On KISS' Nomination For Induction Into ROCK HALL
Former KISS drummer Peter Criss has commented on the band's nomination for induction into the Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame. He writes on his web site, "I would like to thank the Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame for the nomination and recognition of the original KISS. As a founding member, I am deeply grateful to the Hall of Fame for their consideration. It would be an honor and a dream come true to be inducted."
KISS COME ALIVE AT TOUR OPENER
Friday night the KISS army invaded Detroit Rock City. Suburban families, pony-tailed bikers, cleavage-flaunting cougars, and packs of 40-year-old fathers bulging in their aged acid-washed jeans all painted their faces black and white for the opening date of KISS' U.S. tour at the old-school Cobo Hall. Their mission: To rock. HARD.
Deuce
Strutter
Got To Choose
Hotter Than Hell
Nothin To Lose
Com'n And Love Me
Parasite
She
Watchin You
100,000 Years
Cold Gin
Let Me Go Rock And Roll
Black Diamond
Rock And Roll All Nite
Shout It Out Loud
Lick It Up
I Love It Loud
Modern Day Delilah
Love Gun
Detroit Rock City
KISS Performs Entire 'Alive!' Album At Tour Kick-Off
KISS kicked off its Alive 35 North American tour last night (Friday, September 25) at the Cobo Arena in Detroit, Michigan. The band played its classic album "Alive!" in its entirety, and introduced a new stage set, pyro effects that only the "hottest band in the world" could deliver, and all-new costumes. Fans were treated to a two-and-a-half-hour set of some of rock's greatest hits, including "Rock and Roll All Nite" and "Detroit Rock City", as well "Modern Day Delilah", the first single from the band's new album, "Sonic Boom".ACE FREHLEY: New Video Interview Posted Online
Argentinean rock journalist Lucas H. Gordon, who currently resides in Hollywood, California, recently conducted an interview with original KISS guitarist Ace Frehley. Watch the chat here.
KISS BRINGS 'ALIVE!' BACK TO COBO ARENA
Detroit Rock City came alive Friday night as Kiss kicked off their latest tour in the venue that made them famous (and the venue they made famous): Cobo Arena.KISS COBO SHOW VIDEO
KISSonline Exclusive Video! KISS live at Cobo Arena, Detroit 9/25/09 Show Highlights
FOX NEWS: KISS RETURNS TO "DETROIT ROCK CITY"
FOX NEWS: KISS RETURNS TO "DETROIT ROCK CITY": Video
ABC12 INTERVIEW WITH KISS
ABC12 INTERVIEW WITH KISS: Video
Kiss kicks off tour, rocks Cobo Arena in Detroit
There was metal.PAUL STANLEY And GENE SIMMONS Interviewed In Detroit
ABC 12 News conducted an interview with KISS members Gene Simmons and Paul Stanley earlier tonight (Friday, September 25) prior to the band's performance at Cobo Arena in Detroit, Michigan. Watch the chat here.
KISS: Footage Of 'Modern Day Delilah' Video Shoot Available
KISS filmed footage for the "Modern Day Delilah" video during the band's private warm-up show at Cobo Arena in Detroit, Michigan on Thursday (September 24). Over 1,500 lucky fans attended the event, where the group also previewed its new stage and taped two songs for an upcoming episode of "Jimmy Kimmel Live!" Watch fan-filmed video footage of the "Modern Day Delilah" video shoot here.
KISS KORNERS NOW AT DETROIT AREA WALMARTS!
Walmart Detroit area stores now have their KISS KORNERS open and stocked with KISS masks, M&M candies, music, make up, wigs and Mr. Potato Head collector toys to celebrate the band's national tour and first concert tonight in Detroit! Walmarts nationwide will launch KISS Korners on Oct. 6, the day the band's SONIC BOOM album is released exclusively at the chain.
ACE FREHLEY On FOX NEWS' 'Red Eye'
Original KISS guitarist Ace Frehley was interviewed this past Wednesday night (September 23) on Fox News' "Red Eye" show with host Greg Gutfeld. Video of his appearance can be viewed here.
KISS Plays 'Private' Warm-Up Show In Detroit In Front Of 1,500 Fans
Over 1,500 lucky fans attended a private KISS warm-up show at Cobo Arena in Detroit, Michigan on Thursday (September 24). The band previewed their awesome new stage while filming footage for the "Modern Day Delilah" video as well as two songs for an upcoming episode of "Jimmy Kimmel Live!"
* "Modern Day Delilah"
* "Detroit Rock City"
* "Got To Choose"
* "Shout It Loud"KISS & TELL INTERVIEW WITH ERIC SINGER
The son of a popular Cleveland bandleader, Kiss drummer Eric Singer grew up in the '70s listening to WMMS and jamming on drums with his neighborhood rocker pals.KISS IS ALIVE ONCE AGAIN IN DETROIT
More than 30 years after their seminal live album "Alive!" was recorded in part during a show at Cobo Arena in Detroit, the facepainting rockers are back with a new CD and North American tour, which kicks off Friday -- in Detroit Rock City, of course.KISS BIDS GOOD-BYE TO COBO
It's going to get sentimental in Cobo Arena this weekend.KISS RETURNS WITH A VENGEANCE!
The hottest band in the world returns with a vengeance!Ace finds his own space to exorcise his demons
GRAVITY might be partially responsible but balance was never one of Ace Frehley's strong points. The spaceman in Kiss toppled over regularly on stage in their early 1970s days as he was getting used to wearing platform shoes. Later, as one of the era's most popular guitar stars and a big drinker, car crashes were among his offstage spills.ACE FREHLEY To Guest On EDDIE TRUNK's 'Friday Night Rocks'
Original KISS guitarist Ace Frehley will be the in-studio guest on Eddie Trunk's "Friday Night Rocks" radio show on New York's Q104.3 FM on Friday, September 25. If you live in the U.S., you can listen to the program live on the Internet between 11:00 p.m. and 2:00 a.m. at this location.
KISS To Guest On 'The Howard Stern Show'
According to Deucenews, KISS members Gene Simmons and Paul Stanley will appear on "The Howard Stern Show" on Tuesday, October 6 to promote the band's new album, "Sonic Boom", which will be released that same day. Since January 9, 2006, "The Howard Stern Show" has been broadcast on Howard 100, one of Stern's two uncensored channels on Sirius XM Radio, a subscription-based satellite radio service.
KISS SALUTES DETROIT
Kiss' love affair with Detroit -- and the city's relationship with the legendary costumed rock outfit -- has lasted longer than many marriages.Q&A WITH KISS CO-FOUNDER PAUL STANLEY
Kiss will launch its North American tour with a pair of Cobo Arena shows this weekend, the latest chapters in the long, strong relationship between the band and the town it dubbed Detroit Rock City.Endquote
"IT'S like a 40-year- old marriage without sex. But how many 40-year-old marriages have sex anyway?" -- Paul Stanley of Kiss on his four-decade collaboration with Gene Simmons on the Dennis Miller radio show.
PAUL STANLEY COMMENTS ON HALL OF FAME NOMINATION
KISS is a first-time nominee among a dozen finalists for induction into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, according to a list released this morning by the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame Foundation.KISS NOMINATED FOR ROCK HALL OF FAME
Could Kiss finally make it into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame? After being snubbed for years - the band has been eligible for the honor since 1999 - Kiss has finally been nominated, along with Abba, Donna Summer, Genesis, the Stooges, the Hollies, LL Cool J and the Red Hot Chili Peppers, the organization has announced. Jimmy Cliff, Darlene Love, Laura Nyro and the Chantels are also on the ballot, and votes will be cast by a group of more than 500 musicians and industry professionals; of the 12 nominees, the five that get the most votes will be announced in January and inducted into the Hall of Fame at its 25th annual ceremony on March 15 at the Waldorf-Astoria in Manhattan. Acts become eligible 25 years after the release of their first record.
ACE FREHLEY To Tour Australia In October
Original KISS guitarist Ace Frehley will embark on a tour of Australia in October. The dates are as follows:
Oct. 20 - Sydney, Australia - Enmore Theatre
Oct. 21 - Brisbane, Australia - The TivoliACE FREHLEY To Guest On 'Maximum Threshold'
Original KISS guitarist Ace Frehley will guest on this weekend's (Saturday, September 26) edition of the "Maximum Threshold" show beginning at 8:00 p.m. EST.KISS: Austrian Telecom Ad
Austrian Telecom YESSS features a classic KISS hit in a television commercial... with kazoos!: VideoACE FREHLEY Interviewed On San Francisco's 107.7 FM
Original KISS guitarist Ace Frehley was interviewed by Steven Seaweed on the San Francisco radio station 107.7 FM this past Friday (September 18). The chat can now be viewed in five parts here: Part 1, Part 2, Part 3, Part 4, Part 5.
Former KISS Guitarist BRUCE KULICK To Perform At 'Rock And Roll Bash'
Former KISS and current GRAND FUNK RAILROAD guitarist Bruce Kulick will appear at the seventh annual Rock And Roll Bash to raise money to benefit the programs of the Casey Cares Foundation. The event will be held at Rams Head Live! in Baltimore this Saturday, September 26 starting at 6:30 p.m. Along with great music and dancing will be dinner, an open bar, auctions and the chance to get "up close and personal" with the musicians.Bring KISS' 'Alive 35' Tour With You Wherever Go
On September 25, the KISS Alive 35 tour will kick off in North America in Detroit, Michigan. Each of KISS' 42 shows will be exclusively recorded by Concert Online and available to purchase as a USB leather wristband with a KISS metal buckle or an instant live CD set, consisting of two CDs in a collector's box. To ensure maximum quality, all tracks are recorded live and are mixed with state-of-the-art recording technology by Concert Online.ACE FREHLEY: New Audio Interview Posted Online
Rock My Monkey recently conducted an interview with original KISS guitarist Ace Frehley about Ace's new solo album, "Anomaly". The chat can now be streamed at this link.
KISS PRIVATE VIDEO SHOOT
Detroit radio 101 WRIF and Bud Light Golden Wheat are proud to bring you the exclusive KISS private video shoot!!ACE FREHLEY Interviewed On CNN
Quinn Brown of CNN recently conducted an interview with original KISS guitarist Ace Frehley about Ace's new solo album, "Anomaly". Watch the three-minute report here.
KISS IN CHAINS!
Alice In Chains' Myspace has posted a short film - 'Black Gives Way To Blue', that features the band members being interviewed while applying KISS Makeup. Watch!
KISS ROCKED CADILLAC
Cadillac High School Football Coach Dave Brines new they had to do something. The year before, the Vikings had gone 9-0 and finished third in the state, part of a 16-game winning streak. Although they had lost a few players since that undefeated 1973 season, Brines and his assistant coach, Jim Neff, knew their 1974 team was solid. Still, they had lost their first two games, although by close margins.Ace Frehley kisses up for November show
Kewadin Casino has unveiled several upcoming shows, including former Kiss lead guitarist Ace Frehley.ACE FREHLEY To Perform With ALICE COOPER In Los Angeles
Original KISS guitarist Ace Frehley will perform with legendary rocker Alice Cooper on October 28 at the Nokia Theatre in Los Angeles. More information will be made available soon.
KISS Interviewed On 'The Dennis Miller Show'
KISS members Paul Stanley (guitar, vocals) and Gene Simmons (bass, vocals) were interviewed earlier today (Friday, September 18) on "The Dennis Miller Show". The chat can now be streamed in the YouTube clip here.
Former KISS Guitarist BRUCE KULICK Returning To Australia In December
Former KISS guitarist Bruce Kulick is coming back to Australia armed with his first new solo album in five years — "BK3" — and a brand new live show that promises to delve into the depths of material from his twelve year tenure with KISS and his work in the last thirteen years as a solo artist. "BK3" is Kulick's third solo release, hence the title.
Dec. 12 - Adelaide, Australia - Fowlers
Dec. 13 - Sydney, Australia The Gaelic Theatre
Dec. 14 - Melbourne, Australia - The Corner Hotel
KISS ON NATIONAL NEWS
KUSI morning news, San Diego: videoKISS' THURSDAY MORNING TV APPEARANCES
KISS will do over 20 Television interviews on Thursday morning, including the following, which will air live.GENE SIMMONS TALKS NEW KISS 'SONIC BOOM'
Gene Simmons says Kiss fans can expect "new outfits, a brand new stage and millions more (dollars) put into it" when the group begins its Kiss Alive 35 tour to promote "Sonic Boom," its first new album in 11 years, on Sept. 25 in Detroit.ACE FREHLEY's 'Anomaly' Projected To Sell 12K-15K First Week
According to Hits Daily Double, the companion web site of music industry tip sheet HITS, original KISS guitarist Ace Frehley's new solo album, "Anomaly", is on track to sell between 12,000 and 15,000 copies in the United States in its first week of release.
ACE FREHLEY Talks 'Anomaly', New KISS Album
Norway's NRK conducted an interview with original KISS guitarist Ace Frehley on Tuesday, September 15 — the day his new solo album, "Anomaly", was released. , During the chat, Frehley revealed that he already has four songs finished and ready for his next solo CD. He also claimed that he still can use the "Spaceman" make-up, last seen on his face in the Dunkin' Donuts commercial, even though KISS owns the rights to the design, now worn on stage by Tommy Thayer.THE ALBUM FANS HAVE BEEN WAITING FOR!
For those of you who have been living on another planet for the past few months, Kiss is celebrating its 35th anniversary by releasing a new album entitled Sonic Boom in October, and the band has been hyping the new disc as the best Kiss has recorded since the heyday of its classic lineup with albums like Rock And Roll Over and Destroyer.GENE SIMMONS Says KISS Delivers Most Value For The Buck
The Pulse of Radio reports: Gene Simmons says that as always KISS delivers more bang for your buck — and the band's upcoming North American tour is no exception. The tour ties in the band' first new studio album in over a decade, called "Sonic Boom", and kicks off at Detroit's Cobo Arena — where their 1975 classic breakthrough album "Alive!" was originally recorded — over two nights on September 25 and September 26.ACE FREHLEY At GRAMMY MUSEUM
Legendary KISS guitarist Ace Frehley discussed his first new album in 20 years, "Anomaly", yesterday (September 14), the day before the CD's release, before an intimate audience of 200 in the The Grammy Museum's Grammy Sound Stage in Downtown Los Angeles. In addition to a one-on-one discussion between Ace and Museum executive director Robert Santelli, a panel discussion complete with album tracking and audience questions took place with Ace, Bob Santelli, "Anomaly" associate producer Frank Munoz, renowned producer Marti Frederiksen and mixer Anthony Focx. Check out photos from Rockerazzi.net.
Former Members Of MEGADETH, BLACK SABBATH, KISS To Appear On 'Rocky Horror' Metal Tribute
In the late spring of 2010, Versailles Records will release "Time Warp: A Metal Tribute to the Rocky Horror Picture Show", which will feature metal renditions of the full film soundtrack, featuring current/former members of:
FUEL
MOUNTAIN
STEELHEART
MEGADETH
ALICE COOPER BAND
BLACK SABBATH
MY LIFE WITH THE THRILL KILL KULT
PIGFACE
MACABRE
OZZY OSBOURNE BAND
L.A. GUNS
WARRANT
CRO-MAGS
KISS
BADLANDSMusic Review: An 'Anomaly': Album from Ace Frehley
Guns 'N Roses has nothing on Ace Frehley when it comes to lengthy album delays. The 17 years it took to finish "Chinese Democracy" was generally considered the gold standard of rock 'n' roll procrastination.Oshawa wants another KISS concert
An Oshawa city councillor says he's tapping in to his list of contacts to try to secure an additional KISS performance after tickets for the band's October show sold out within minutes.ACE FREHLEY Interviewed On California's 98.7 FM
Original KISS guitarist Ace Frehley was interviewed by the Burbank, California radio station 98.7 FM prior to his September 12, 2009 performance at the Viper Room in West Hollywood, California as part of the Sunset Strip Music Festival. Watch the chat here.
ACE FREHLEY Joined By SLASH During SUNSET STRIP Performance
Original KISS guitarist Ace Frehley was joined on stage by former GUNS N' ROSES and current VELVET REVOLVER axeman Slash last night (Saturday, September 12) during his performance at the Viper Room in West Hollywood, California as part of the Sunset Strip Music Festival.
02. Deuce
03. Outer Space
04. Snow Blind
05. Sister
06. Getaway
07. Speedin' Back To My Baby
08. Shock Me (with smokin' guitar solo)
09. Rocket Ride
10. Space Bear
11. Love Gun
12. Cold Gin (featuring Slash)
13. Black Diamond (outro)PAUL STANLEY SURPRISED WITH TELLY PRESENTATION
During an exhibition of his artwork on Saturday, Paul Stanley was honored with a surprise award ceremony at Wentworth Gallery in Schaumburg, Illinois.'Shwa KISS tickets snapped up
Tickets to rock and roll all night with KISS in Oshawa have sold out.PAUL STANLEY ON ABC CHICAGO
PAUL ON ABC CHICAGO: Video
PAUL STANLEY ON WGN TV
PAUL STANLEY ON WGN TV: Video
ACE FREHLEY To Discuss New Album During Appearance At L.A.'s The Grammy Museum
Be among the first to hear legendary rock guitarist Ace Frehley discuss his first new album in 20 years, "Anomaly", the day before its release. Before an intimate audience of 200 in the The Grammy Museum's Grammy Sound Stage in Downtown Los Angeles, hear Frehley in conversation with Museum executive director Robert Santelli about the craftsmanship, production, and brilliant guitar work that went into the long-awaited new album. After the interview, Frehley will take questions from the audience and sign copies of the album.KISS - Modern Day Delilah Lyrics
[Verse]
I still remember when I saw your face across the room
Told me to take you but the price of love would seal my doom
I know the way you made the others break
But loving me would be your first mistake
Same old way, same old ways
Modern Day Delilah
Each time you learn to give
Queen to slave
Modern Day Delilah
You lived your glory in a liars haze you called the truth
The same old story of a social plan from wasted youth
You thought that you could bring me to my knees
But whos the one whos crying baby please
Same old way, same old ways
Modern Day Delilah
Each time you learn to give
Queen to slave
Modern Day Delilah
Just like the trigger of a loaded gun
You were the reason for the damage done
Too many lovers like a hunters prey
Not today
I know the way you made the others break
But loving me would be your last mistake
Each time you learn to give
Same old ways
Modern Day Delilah
Shame, shame, shame on you girl
Queen to slave, come on now
Modern Day Delilah
Yeah, yeah, each time you learn to give
Same old way, same old ways
Not today
Delilah
Queen to slave, loves decayed
Delilah
Ace Frehley Talks New Album, "Anomaly"
Ace Frehley intends his new "Anomaly," the former Kiss guitarist's first set of new material in 20 years, to "kind of pick up where I left off with my first solo album" -- 1978's "Ace Frehley," which was recorded and released during Kiss' commercial zenith.Meat Loaf, Ace Frehley To Lead Rock Fantasy Camp
Meat Loaf, Yes singer Jon Anderson and former Kiss guitarist Ace Frehley will be the headline "counselors" at this year's Rock 'n' Roll Fantasy Camp, which will take place Nov. 17-22 in Hollywood. A shorter and less expensive session will also be held Nov. 12-15.PAUL STANLEY Interviewed On WXRX 104.9 FM
KISS guitarist/vocalist Paul Stanley was interviewed earlier today (Wednesday, September 9) on Rockford, Illinois' WXRX 104.9 FM radio station. The chat is now available for streaming in two parts: Part 1, Part 2
ACE FREHLEY Interviewed By Former EXODUS Bassist
Former EXODUS bassist Michael Butler recently conducted an interview with original KISS guitarist Ace Frehley for "Hairbangers Ball". You can now watch the chat here.
PAUL STANLEY ON WXRX TODAY
Paul will appear on the Stone & Double T Show - WXRX radio 104.9 Chicago today at 3PM (CST). CLICK HERE to listen to the interview at 3PM (CST)
KISS TOUR EDITION TRADING CARDS
So by now most everyone knows that KISS' new album 'Sonic Boom' releases on October 6 and will be sold exclusively through Wal-Mart. What you may not know is that Press Pass has a companion product that will be sold alongside the CD/DVD... KISS "Tour Edition" is a 33-card set with lots of bonus goodies (three collectible boxes and posters!) culled from 35 years of KISS tours. Full of vintage photography as well as set lists and insider info from the tours, this exclusive set is one retrospective every KISS fan will want. Attractively priced at $10 it will be a nice compliment to 'Sonic Boom.'
Listen to the complete Anomaly Album online
Listen to the complete album a week before its in stores. Listen here.
SONIC BOOM REVIEW
With Sonic Boom, KISS has stopped chasing the next hot trend and their lust for a number one single. Instead, the band has focused their efforts on making the best possible 'KISS music' and by and large have succeeded. Combining the brash swagger of their '70s catalogue with the pop sensibilities of their '80s adventures and the raw power of their '90s era, Sonic Boom delivers an album that all KISS fans can call their own.GENE SIMMONS Comments On 'Shatner's Raw Nerve' Appearance
KISS bassist/vocalist Gene Simmons was recently interviewed for "Shatner's Raw Nerve", the new "edgy and off-beat celebrity interview series" hosted by actor and Emmy award winner William Shatner. Gene says, "[I] must admit I was taken aback and surprised by Shatner's incisive questions and genuine nature. We both had a good time." A short video clip that was shot during Simmons' visit to Shatner's studio can be viewed here.
KISS KOMPENDIUM
In '77, blood from each member of the rock band KISS was drawn by a registered nurse and poured into vats of red ink used for printing the band's first comic book. It was created by Marvel legend Stan Lee and was the beginning of a hugely successful KISS comic book franchise. All are now out of print.KISS ARMY WORLDWIDE
Kiss Army Worldwide: The Ultimate Fanzine PhenomenonACE FREHLEY On 'Nights With Alice Cooper'; Audio Available
Original KISS guitarist Ace Frehley was interviewed on the September 3, 2009 edition of the internationally syndicated radio show "Nights With Alice Cooper". The chat is now available for streaming at this location.
ACE FREHLEY Schedules VINTAGE VINYL In-Store
Original KISS guitarist Ace Frehley will sign copies of his new solo CD, "Anomaly", at Vintage Vinyl in Fords, New Jersey on Saturday, September 26 at 1:00 p.m. You must pre-order the new CD or LP to gain access to this event. Ace will sign one record per customer (customer's choice), including KISS records. Visit www.vvinyl.com for details.
Rock group's CD blitz includes Mr. Potato Heads
How many Kiss Mr. Potato Head kollectibles are you going to need?Wal-Mart Isn't Kutting Korners to Kapitalize on KISS
In its battle of the bands with Target, Wal-Mart is getting serious.Ace Frehley closes 20-year gap with "Anomaly"
Former Kiss guitarist Ace Frehley intends "Anomaly," his first album of new material in 20 years, to "kind of pick up where I left off with my first solo album." That self-titled set was released in 1978, during Kiss' commercial zenith.GENE'S Q104 RADIO INTERVIEW
GENE SIMMONS Q104 RADIO INTERVIEW: Listen
SIMMONS WON'T KISS BUTT
MUSICIAN, TV star, bestselling author and "Extract" co-star Gene Simmons has mastered just about everything except humility. He waxed philosophical to The Post about Beavis, Butt-head and the meaning of life.Q&A with ex-KISS rocker Frehley
Space Ace is in a good place these days.ACE FREHLEY Confirmed For Japan's LOUD PARK
ACE FREHLEY, FIREBIRD, BLESSED BY A BROKEN HEART and DEAD BY APRIL have been confirmed for this year's installment of the Loud Park festival, set to take place October 17-18 at Makuhari Messe, a convention center in Japan located in the western region of Chiba Prefecture, close to Tokyo.
MEGADETH
ARCH ENEMY
ANTHRAX
DOKKEN
ACE FREHLEY
FIREBIRD
OUTRAGE
STEEL PANTHER
BLESSED BY A BROKEN HEART
POISON THE WELL
LED ZEPAGAIN
HIROAKI TAGAWA
FADE
LIV MOON
ROB ZOMBIE
FAIR WARNING
CHILDREN OF BODOM
PAPA ROACH
GOTTHARD
NAPALM DEATH
HATEBREED
STEADLUR
H.E.A.T
DEAD BY APRIL
LAZARUS A.D.
GALNERYUS
CROSSFAITHACE FREHLEY Interviewed On 'Hard Rock Nights'
Original KISS guitarist Ace Frehley was a guest last month on the weekly syndicated radio program "Hard Rock Nights". Ace joined host JT to talk about the songs on his upcoming solo album, "Anomaly", guitars and fame. "I always knew I was going to be famous," Ace admitted. "I just wasn't sure to what extent. I probably would have practiced a little more if I knew how many people I was going to influence."WAL-MART Stores To Unveil 'Kiss Korners' In October
KISS fans ready for the new "Sonic Boom" CD/DVD release October 6 can own a piece of KISStory when Wal-Mart stores unveil "KISS Korners" in electronics departments and Halloween aisles in October. Stores will offer in special areas KISS T-shirts, wigs, makeup, limited edition KISS M&M candies, and even KISS Mr. Potato Head spuds of all four band members through Halloween.
* KISS T-shirts - $5
* Four select KISS Mr. Potato Head kollectibles (The Demon, The Spaceman, The Catman and The Starchild) - $10
* KISS fleece blanket - $10
* KISS M&M candies (7 oz. bags - Limited Edition) - $6
* KISS catalog CDs such as "Dressed to Kill", "Destroyer", "Love Gun" and "Very Best of Kiss" — $5 - $9
* KISS makeup kits, masks and wigs (select Wal-Mart stores*) - $5CD Review: KISS: Sonic Boom
KISS - Sonic Boom (Loud & Proud)
A funky guitar lick straight from the '70s hooks up with an '80s arrangement and a big chorus for a killer opener voiced by Paul. "Yeah, yeah!" are his first words. No argument here.
Gene steps up to the mic on a gear-shifting stomper anchored by his grinding bass, dripping with his usual lascivious lyrics, and graced with a smoking Thayer solo. Two aces in a row.
Another outsized '80s hair-metal arena-rocker from Paul -- but from the slinky guitars and bare-bones beat to Stanley's high-register vocals, it works. Three for three.
Gene's turn again -- and he dishes up a classic power-chord glam-slam that wouldn't have been out of place on Dressed to Kill. The best song so far. And that's saying something.
Stanley and Simmons share the mic on a bombastically overblown stadium-rock anthem to solidarity and perseverance. It's even cornier than it sounds. The only stumble so far.
Simmons gets the disc back on track with a punchy '70s-style cowbell rocker in the mold of Dr. Love. "Baby, feel my tower of power," leers Gene. Another wicked solo from Thayer.
Drummer Singer -- who wears Criss' gear and handles his tunes onstage -- shows off his raspy vocal prowess on this solidly driving number.
Another classic riff -- there's a bit of God of Thunder in there, but faster and more fiery -- along with another wailing vocal from Paul. The punny chorus is the only drawback.
Armed with a lumbering beat and a swaggering Zep-like guitar lick, Gene bellows out a dinosaur-stomper reminiscent of War Machine and I Love it Loud.
As his reward for all his blistering Frehley-style fretwork, Thayer gets the vocal spotlight on this chunk of power-chord cowbell-plonk rock.
The guitars go from jangly to chugging and Paul plays with some echoing vocals on this Tears Are Falling-like closing anthem. You wanted the best? This time, you actually got it.
ACE FREHLEY Interviewed By GlamMetal.com; Audio Available
Thomas Orwat of GlamMetal.com recently conducted an interview with legendary KISS guitarist Ace Frehley. The chat is now available for streaming here.
KISS AND SAY HELLO
Kiss ends a 10-year absence from Billboard's rock airplay charts, as "Modern Day Delilah" debuts at No. 26 on the Heritage Rock survey (viewable every other week in the print issue of Billboard magazine).ACE FREHLEY Interviewed On 'Rock N' Roll Breakfast Show'
The Reverend of the "Rock n' Roll Breakfast Show", which airs on Victoria, British Columbia, Canada's CFUV 101.9 FM radio station, recently conducted an interview with legendary KISS guitarist Ace Frehley. Ace spoke candidly about the songwriting on his new solo album, "Anomaly", how he approaches recording his solos, his sobriety, his upcoming tour, the "Gene Simmons Roast", and the possibility of releasing rarities from his personal collection. Listen to the interview at this location.
GENE SIMMONS To Guest On Tomorrow's 'Jim Kerr Rock 'N' Roll Morning Show'
KISS bassist/vocalist Gene Simmons will be interviewed tomorrow morning (Thursday, September 3) at 8:15 a.m. on WAXQ-FM / Q104.3's "Jim Kerr Rock 'n Roll Morning Show". If you live in the U.S., you can listen to the show live on the Internet at this location.
KISS - Sonic Boom
KISS - Sonic Boom (Loud &Proud/Roadrunner)KISS TO ROCK OSHAWA
AN EVENING WITH KISS SET TO ROCK GENERAL MOTORS CENTRE, OSHAWA, ON. ON OCTOBER 7TH, 2009'SONIC BOOM,' THE FIRST ALBUM IN 11 YEARS
Face-painted rockers KISS have joined the growing list of bands partnering with Walmart for an exclusive release: The upcoming SONIC BOOM -- the band's first album in 11 years -- is a three-disc set featuring the new album, a remastered greatest-hits CD, and a DVD shot in Argentina on the band's most recent tour. To sweeten the deal (and potentially frighten more Walmart shoppers), the album will be sold from "KISS Korners" set up in stores, featuring band gear and collectibles at recessionary prices. A Gene Simmons-flavored Mr. Potato Head? Yes please!GENE'S WDHA RADIO INTERVIEW
Part 1, Part 2
'Vintage Kiss Photos: 1974-1981' Book Now Available
A limited-edition "Vintage Kiss Photos: 1974-1981" book, compiled by veteran KISS photo archivist Marc Scallatino, chronicles the early days of the "hottest band in the land." Culled from hundreds of rare, previously unseen images of Paul Stanley, Gene Simmons, Ace Frehley, Peter Criss, and Eric Carr, this book takes the reader on a thrilling ride through a major chapter in KISS' history.
* Format: 160 pages with 300 black-and-white and color photos
* The first 2,000 copies sold will include a free 8x10" color photo (A $10 value!)ACE FREHLEY Interviewed By THE WILDHEARTS Frontman GINGE
THE WILDHEARTS frontman Ginger recently conducted an interview with original KISS guitarist Ace Frehley for "The Rock and Roll Geek Show" (which is hosted by former EXODUS bassist Michael Butler). You can now watch the chat here.
KISS SONIC BOOM REVIEW
It's been more than a decade since KISS' last studio album. Eleven years is a decent chunk of time on most scales - but for KISS fans this has seemed an eternity.BRUCE KULICK To Guest At First Annual Los Angeles KISS Expo
Former KISS guitarist Bruce Kulick will be the special guest at the first annual Los Angeles KISS Expo, which will be held on Sunday, October 18, 2009 from 12:00 p.m. to 10:00 pm at the Los Angeles airport Marriott Hotel, located at 5855 W. Century Blvd, Los Angeles. The KISS Expo will be a fun-filled event with KISS dealers from around the world, live music, special guests, a KISS costume contest, giveaways and more.ACE FREHLEY: Audio Samples Of Entire 'Anomaly' Album Available
30-second audio samples of all the tracks that will appear on legendary KISS guitarist Ace Frehley's new album, "Anomaly", are available for streaming on Amazon.de.KISS ARMY FLOCKS FOR TICKETS
The KISS Army mobilized an especially dedicated battalion to downtown London Saturday morning.KISS ALIVE 35 TOUR COMMERCIAL
KISS ALIVE 35 TOUR COMMERCIAL: Watch Here!
PAUL STANLEY ON CASABLANCA'S 35th
Casablanca Records, the label whose roster included Kiss, Angel, Parliament, Donna Summer and The Village People, is celebrating its 35th anniversary this year. Come inside to hear what Paul Stanley has to say about the legendary company?KISS CONCERT ON VH1 CLASSIC TONIGHT
The KISS/HALLOWEEN 1998 DODGER STADIUM Show airs tonight on VH1 CLASSIC's CLASSIC CONCERT at 9pm (est). This historic concert originally aired on FOX's Halloween Special and was the opening night for the band's "PYSCHO-CIRCUS" 3-D Tour. The LA show sold-out in 45 minutes.
ACE FREHLEY On 'Psycho Circus'
Joe Matera of Ultimate-Guitar.com recently conducted an interview with legendary KISS guitarist Ace Frehley. A couple of excerpts from the chat follow below.PAUL STANLEY Says Media Is Not To Blame For Spoiling KISS' Oshawa Surprise
Dan Robson of TheStar.com reports that KISS guitarist/vocalist Paul Stanley was a little more understanding than his bandmate Gene Simmons about the media's role in spoiling the surprise the band had in store for Oshawa — the Canadian city that had won an online voting competition to determine whose hometown would be included in the group's "Kiss Alive 35" tour.WDHA'S KISSMAS IN AUGUST
NOW THROUGH SUNDAY IT'S A CRAZY KISSMAS BLOW OUT! WE'VE GOT TICKETS, TICKETS, AND MORE TICKETS TO: KISS- SATURDAY OCTOBER 10TH- AT MADISON SQUARE GARDEN...IN NEW YORK CITY!ACE FREHLEY: 'I See UFOs All The Time'
In the latest episode of "Talking Metal", hosts Mark Strigl and John Ostronomy continue their "Countdown to Anomaly", featuring the final three and a half minutes of Ostronomy's interview with legendary guitarist Ace Frehley. In the interview, Ace reminisces about his relationship with the late "Dimebag" Darrell Abbott (PANTERA, DAMAGEPLAN). "We all miss him a great deal," says Ace. "He never had a bad word to say about anybody… a sweetheart of a guy." Ace also discusses UFO activity in New York's Hudson Valley and tells "Talking Metal", "I see UFOs all the time." The 25-minute podcast can be downloaded as an MP3 audio file at this location.
Kiss confirms it will play Oshawa after fans said band ignored contest result
Kiss has confirmed it will make good on the terms of its online contest and will play a concert in Oshawa, Ont., on Oct. 7.KISS makes it better for Oshawa
KISS will rock Oshawa after all.OSHAWA GETS A BIG KISS!
"We are happy to announce that KISS is coming to Oshawa's GM Centre on October 7th. After the outpouring of emotion we saw today, there was no way we could follow our original plan and make you wait until a later tour leg. You'll now be getting a special record release show. Oshawa, we promise a good time. Stay tuned for details including ticket information. And, for the other cities, we have plans in the works for you, too."
A big KISS for Oshawa
KISS will rock Oshawa after all.Outer Space is now available on iTunes
Ace Frehley's Outer Space is now available on iTunes: Click here!
ACE FREHLEY: 'Anomaly' Audio Samples Available
Short audio samples of several tracks that are set to appear on "Anomaly", the fifth solo album from legendary KISS guitarist Ace Frehley, have been posted on YouTube and are available for streaming at this location.
Red carpet report: 'Extract' premiere
Where: Arclight Hollywood
When: Monday nightOshawa's goodbye KISS
Kiss this dream concert goodbye.
-1. Oshawa -- 14,569
- 2. Winnipeg -- 12,913
- 3. Sault Ste. Marie -- 11,315
- 4. Kingston -- 6,840
- 5. Calgary -- 6,695
- 6. Peterborough -- 6,355
- 7. Saskatoon -- 5,603
- 8. Toronto -- 5,304
- 9. Edmonton -- 5,290
- 10. Sudbury -- 5,207
- 1. Toronto, Air Canada Centre, Oct. 2
- 2. Winnipeg, MTS Centre, Nov. 9
- 3. Saskatoon, Credit Union Centre, Nov. 10
- 4. Calgary, Pengrowth Saddledome, Nov. 12.
'Sonic Boom' To Be Released In Europe Via LOUD & PROUD/ROADRUNNER RECORDS
The much-anticipated new KISS album, "Sonic Boom", will be released in Europe on October 5 via Loud & Proud/Roadrunner Records.VINNIE VINCENT Sues Band For Using His Image Without Permission
According to TMZ.com, former KISS guitarist Vinnie Vincent — who has sued the band several times since he left the group back in 1984 — has filed another complaint, but this time he's thrown a cable network into the mix.GENE SIMMONS' Son NICK Talks About 'Incarnate' Comic Book On KTLA 5 NEWS
Nick Simmons, the 20-year-old son of KISS bassist/vocalist Gene Simmons, was interviewed last week on KTLA 5 News about his comic book, "Incarnate". Watch the five-minute segment here.KISS ANNOUNCES 2009 TOUR DATES
KISS ALIVE 35 NORTH AMERICAN 2009 Tour:
DATE CITY VENUE ON-SALE
FRI, SEP 25, 2009 DETROIT, MI COBO ARENA SOLD-OUT
SAT, SEP 26, 2009 DETROIT, MI COBO ARENA ON-SALE NOW
MON, SEP 28, 2009 CLEVELAND, OH QUICKEN LOANS ARENA SAT., AUG. 29
TUE, SEP 29, 2009 LONDON, ONT JOHN LABATT CENTRE SAT., AUG. 29
THU, OCT 1, 2009 MONTREAL, QC BELL CENTRE SAT., AUG. 29 #
FRI, OCT 2, 2009 TORONTO, ON AIR CANADA CENTRE SAT., AUG. 29
SAT, OCT 3, 2009 UNCASVILLE, CT MOHEGAN SUN ARENA SAT., AUG. 29
MON, OCT 5, 2009 BOSTON, MA TD GARDEN SAT., AUG. 29
FRI, OCT 9, 2009 UNIONDALE, NY NASSAU COLISEUM SAT., AUG. 29
SAT, OCT 10, 2009 NEW YORK, NY MADISON SQUARE GARDEN SAT., AUG. 29
MON, OCT 12, 2009 PHILADELPHIA, PA WACHOVIA CENTER SAT., AUG. 29
TUE, OCT 13, 2009 WASHINGTON, DC VERIZON CENTER SAT., AUG. 29
FRI, OCT 16, 2009 HAMPTON, VA HAMPTON COLISEUM SAT., AUG. 29
SAT, OCT 17, 2009 GREENVILLE, SC BI-LO CENTER SAT., AUG. 29
MON, OCT 19, 2009 PENSACOLA, FL CIVIC CENTER SAT., AUG. 29
WED, OCT 21, 2009 TAMPA, FL ST PETE TIMES FORUM TBA
THU, OCT 22, 2009 SUNRISE, FL BANKATLANTIC CENTER TBA
SAT, OCT 24, 2009 BIRMINGHAM, AL BJCC TBA
MON, OCT 26, 2009 ATLANTA, GA PHILLIPS ARENA TBA
WED, OCT 28, 2009 NASHVILLE, TN SOMMET CENTER TBA
THU, OCT 29, 2009 LITTLE ROCK, AR VERIZON ARENA TBA
SAT, OCT 31, 2009 NEW ORLEANS, LA NEW ORLEANS CITY PARK ON-SALE NOW
FRI, NOV 06, 2009 CHICAGO, IL UNITED CENTER TBA
SAT, NOV 07, 2009 MINNEAPOLIS, MN TARGET CENTER TBA
MON, NOV 09, 2009 WINNIPEG, MB MTS CENTRE TBA
TUE, NOV 10, 2009 SASKATOON, SK CREDIT UNION CENTRE TBA
THU, NOV 12, 2009 CALGARY, AB PENGROWTH SADDLEDOME TBA
SAT, NOV 14, 2009 VANCOUVER, BC GM PLACE TBA
SUN, NOV 15, 2009 SEATTLE, WA KEYARENA TBA
TUE, NOV 17, 2009 PORTLAND, OR ROSE GARDEN TBA
FRI, NOV 20, 2009 SACRAMENTO, CA ARCO ARENA TBA
SAT, NOV 21, 2009 OAKLAND, CA OAKLAND ARENA TBA
TUE, NOV 24, 2009 ANAHEIM, CA HONDA CENTER TBA
WED, NOV 25, 2009 LOS ANGELES, CA STAPLES CENTER TBA
FRI, NOV 27, 2009 SAN DIEGO, CA SPORTS ARENA TBA
SAT, NOV 28, 2009 LAS VEGAS, NV TBD TBA
TUE, DEC 01, 2009 GLENDALE, AZ JOBING.COM ARENA TBA
WED, DEC 02, 2009 EL PASO, TX UTEP TBA
FRI, DEC 04, 2009 AUSTIN, TX FRANK ERWIN CENTER TBA+
SAT, DEC 05, 2009 HOUSTON, TX TOYOTA CENTER SAT., AUG. 29 @
SUN, DEC 06, 2009 DALLAS, TX AMERICAN AIRLINES CENTER TBAACE FREHLEY On 'Anomaly': 'I Can't Wait For Everyone To Hear This'
KissFAQ recently conducted an interview with original KISS guitarist Ace Frehley. A few excerpts from the chat follow below.PAUL INTERVIEW ON WRIF
Paul Stanley Interview on WRIF - 8/21/09: Listen here.
GENE INTERVIEW ON WCSX
Gene Simmons on 94.7 WCSX - 8/21/09: Listen here.
KISS ADD 2ND COBO ARENA SHOW!
By overwhelming demand, a 2nd KISS Show has been added at COBO Arena. The new show date is Saturday, September 26. Tickets are now on sale at all Ticketmaster outlets or at Ticketmaster.com.
Ex-KISS Guitarist BRUCE KULICK To Appear At CHILLER THEATRE Expo
Former KISS and current GRAND FUNK RAILROAD guitarist Bruce Kulick has been added to the list of artists who are scheduled to make guest appearances at the Chiller Theatre toy, model and film expo on October 30 - November 1 at the Hilton Hotel in Parsippany, New Jersey. For more information, go to this location.
KISS To Recreate 1975 Cobo Show On September 25
Gary Thison of Examiner.com reports that Gene Simmons revealed on an interview with Dominski and Doyle on WCSX -FM that KISS, who is scheduled to perform at Cobo arena in Detroit on September 25, is planning to recreate the show they performed there in 1975. That show was recorded and featured on their hit album "Alive!" Simmons also stated that this show at Cobo will be recorded and released at a later date as a DVD.
PAUL ON DETROIT RADIO TODAY (Aug 21)
Paul will appear on Detroit's WRIF Radio Station some time today, we believe in the 5 PM (EDT) hour. VISIT the station's site for more info.
ACE FREHLEY Says New KISS Single Sounds Like It Could Have Been Recorded In The '80s
Bob Suehs of Rock N Roll Experience conducted an interview with original KISS guitarist earlier today (Thursday, August 20). An excerpt from the chat follows below.ACE FREHLEY: Official 'Anomaly' Listening Parties Announced
Original KISS guitarist Ace Frehley's fifth solo album, "Anomaly", will be played back at the following official listening parties:
10:00 p.m. (free entrance; 21 and over)
7:00 p.m.
Ticket info: (212) 219-2850 (21 and over)
"Anomaly" listening party and performance by ALIVE! (KISS tribute)
Giveaways of signed CDs and posters from Ace
7:00 p.m.
Ticket info: (401) 331-LUPO (all ages)
"Anomaly" listening party and performance by ALIVE! (KISS Tribute)
Giveaways of signed CDs and posters from Ace
Gene Simmons in Extract
Extract Movie Trailer: Watch here. Extract premieres Aug 24th.
ACE FREHLEY, COREY TAYLOR, AARON LEWIS, VINNIE PAUL Jam At RIDE FOR DIME; More Video Available
Ace Frehley (KISS), Corey Taylor (STONE SOUR, SLIPKNOT), Aaron Lewis (STAIND), Vinnie Paul Abbott (PANTERA, DAMAGEPLAN, HELLYEAH), Phil Demmel (MACHINE HEAD), Bob "Zilla" Kakaha (DAMAGEPLAN, HELLYEAH) and Mikey Doling (SNOT, SOULFLY) are among the musicians who took part in an all-star jam this past Sunday (August 16) at the fifth annual Ride For Dime, an annual charity remembrance ride and concert event held in memory of the victims of the December 2004 Alrosa Villa shooting ("Dimebag" Darrell Abbott, Jeff Thompson, Nathan Bray and Erin Halk). Watch video footage of the performance here: Clip 1, Clip 2, Clip 3, Clip 4
GENE SIMMONS Talks About 'Kiss: Carnival Of Souls' Musical Theatre Show; Video Available
KISS bassist/vocalist Gene Simmons spoke to ChannelNewsAsia.com last week about his latest project, "Kiss: Carnival of Souls", a musical theatre show produced in collaboration with Singapore company Storm Lion.SONIC BOOM TRACK-BY-TRACK REVIEW
Modern Day Delilah: Given the eleven years since their last barely passable studio album ? 1998's Psycho Circus it seemed unlikely that Kiss would ever release another album of new material. Seemingly invigorated by a huge recent upsurge in interest in their hefty back catalogue by the younger generation of rock listeners into the studio they went, and six weeks later emerged armed with Sonic Boom. However, we didn't expect them to knock one out of the park this early with this heaving, sweating lump of fabulous groove straight from 1975. "Yeah yeah" are the first words to exit Stanley's mouth and immediately our ears are pricked to what is not stylistically a typical Kiss track, a circular, bass heavy riff driving everything along. The net result is your immediate desire to renew that direct debit to the' Kiss army' while arranging to graft eight or more inches of surplus off your backside on to your tongue?it really is that good.THE RETURN OF KISS CONTINUED
In developing and refining my pencil sketch for Sonic Boom I wasn't completely happy with how the background was working with the diamond shape and the positioning and scale of the lightning border (a small nod to RaRO). I also wanted to play up the idea of something shattering (i.e. from a sonic boom). So I came up with the semi-abstract idea of concentric circles rippling outward like water, only breaking up incrementally into smaller and smaller segments as they expanded, changing the background color from violet to black. It seemed like a fairly simplistic idea, so I tried it and it worked. It also seemed to serve well to both ground and amplify the light beams emanating from the center, which break through the faces. I went through several color iterations, ending with one that had a dark red bleed border. I showed that version to Paul. He looked at it for a minute and then suggested we just change the border to black. We both agreed that this worked better, finishing the design process on this piece.Entire 'Modern Day Delilah' Song Available For Streaming
"Modern Day Delilah", a brand new song from KISS, is available for streaming in its entirety here (courtesy of KissOnline.com). The track comes off KISS' first new studio album in over a decade, called "Sonic Boom", whcih will be released on October 6 exclusively at Wal-Mart properties. The collection, which costs only $12, will also feature the band's re-recordings of their greatest hits which was previously available as a Japanese import, and a 2009 concert featuring current members Tommy Thayer and Eric Singer filmed in Buenos Aires, Argentina. The cover for "Sonic Boom" is by veteran artist Michael Doret, who created the cover for the band's 1976 album "Rock And Roll Over".
WALMART TO SELL KISS' NEW MUSIC
Wal-Mart Stores Inc., the world's largest retailer, will offer a $12 CD set with rock band Kiss's first new music in 11 years, and plans to expand into other merchandise licensed by the group.KISS BORN AGAIN WITH WALMART'S SONIC BOOM
"Is there any way to play it back on a man's level?" says Gene Simmons, requesting more volume and rolling his eyes at Conway Studios in Los Angeles. Kiss are finishing up Sonic Boom, the band's first new studio album in 11 years, and the God of Thunder wants to hear the songs played back at maximum loudness.CLASSIC ROCK PREVIEW OF SONIC BOOM
Classic Rock can confirm that the new Kiss album will be called Sonic Boom - and we've got the full tracklisting. Not only that, but we've heard six of the album's 11 songs!
2. Russian Roulette
3. Never Enough
4. Yes I Know (Nobody's Perfect)
5. Stand
6. Hot And Cold
7. All For The Glory
8. Danger Us
9. I'm An Animal
10. When Lightning Strikes
11. Say YeahACE FREHLEY Interviewed By 'PodKISSt'
The latest edition of the popular KISS-themed podcast entitled "PodKISSt" features an interview with original KISS lead guitar player Ace Frehley. The 35-minute chat is available for streaming and/or download at this location.
ACE FREHLEY, COREY TAYLOR, AARON LEWIS, VINNIE PAUL Jam At RIDE FOR DIME
Ace Frehley (KISS), Corey Taylor (STONE SOUR, SLIPKNOT), Aaron Lewis (STAIND), Vinnie Paul Abbott (PANTERA, DAMAGEPLAN, HELLYEAH), Bob "Zilla" Kakaha (DAMAGEPLAN, HELLYEAH) and Mikey Doling (SNOT, SOULFLY) are among the musicians who took part in an all-star jam yesterday (Sunday, August 16) at the fifth annual Ride For Dime, an annual charity remembrance ride and concert event held in memory of the victims of the December 2004 Alrosa Villa shooting ("Dimebag" Darrell Abbott, Jeff Thompson, Nathan Bray and Erin Halk). Watch video footage of the performance here: Clip 1, Clip 2
KISS, ANGEL Members Talk About CASABLANCA RECORDS
The legendary record label Casablanca Records is celebrating its 35th anniversary this year. As a result, PopMatters.com has issued a five-part feature titled "Casablanca Records: Play It Again". New York City journalist Christian John Wikane wrote the 41,000-word article which covers the history of Casablanca and includes interviews with artists and industry figures associated with the label, such as members of KISS, ANGEL, Bill Aucoin, Donna Summer, PARLIAMENT FUNKADELIC and many more.Behind The 'Sonic Boom' Album Cover Art
The cover art for the new KISS album, "Sonic Boom", was created by Michael Doret, who also designed the band's classic "Rock And Roll Over" album cover."Modern Day Delilah" audio sample:
"Modern Day Delilah" audio sample: Listen Here!
KISS Sonic Boom
SONIC BOOM CD Track Listing:
2. RUSSIAN ROULETTE
3. NEVER ENOUGH
4. YES I KNOW (NOBODY'S PERFECT)
5. STAND
6. HOT AND COLD
7. ALL FOR THE GLORY
8. DANGER US
9. I'M AN ANIMAL
10. WHEN LIGHTNING STRIKES
11. SAY YEAHKISS CD EXCLUSIVELY AT WALMART
KISS and Walmart announced today that SONIC BOOM-the band's highly anticipated CD, and its first new material in 11 years-will be sold in the U.S. and Canada exclusively at Walmart, Walmart.com and Sam's Club retail locations beginning October 6. SONIC BOOM, produced by the band's Paul Stanley in Los Angeles, is the centerpiece of a three-disc set that also features a completely re-recorded greatest hits CD as well as a live DVD shot in Argentina during the band's recent, record-breaking KISS ALIVE 35 South American tour. The CD set will retail for $12, with pre-orders starting in September on Walmart.com.KISS AT COBO ARENA ONE LAST TIME
One last time, before the walls come down, Cobo Arena will hear a SONIC BOOM...KISS COBO ARENA COMMERCIAL
KISS COBO ARENA COMMERCIAL: Video
KISS SONIC BOOM T-SHIRTS
You can now pre-order these new KISS SONIC BOOM t-shirts exclusively here at KISSONLINE.com. Orders will ship on or around the last week of August.Kiss to release new album at Wal-Mart, Sam's Club
Wal-Mart is being embraced with a Kiss.Ace Frehley - Audio Interview
Classic Rock Revisited Editor Jeb Wright interviewed guitarist Ace Frehley on August 13th to discuss his upcoming CD Anomaly. They discussed the new albumin-depth, why it took 20 years to make and how VH1 Classic's Eddie Truck made Ace change his mind on which song should be released as the first single. Click Here to listen to the interview
ALL THE WORLD'S A CANVAS
Any rock music fan knows who Paul Stanley is.Vegas could see Kiss stage show
A new kind of carnival may be coming to town, one that trades the dancing bears and stiltwalkers for blood-spittin' dudes in grease paint and hot-under-the-collar hard rock.KISS: New Album Title Confirmed, Track Listing Revealed
KISS manager Doc McGhee has confirmed to Classic Rock magazine that the band's new album will be titled "Sonic Bloom" and that it will be released exclusively through Wal-Mart stores in the U.S. as part of a package including a disc of re-recorded KISS classics (already available in Japan) and a live DVD.
02. Russian Roulette
03. Never Enough
04. Yes I Know (Nobody's Perfect)
05. Stand
06. Hot & Cold
07. All The Glory
08. Danger Us
09. I'm An Animal
10. When Lightning Strikes
11. Say YahMeat Loaf, Ace Frehley to lead rock fantasy camp
Meat Loaf, Yes singer Jon Anderson and former Kiss guitarist Ace Frehley will be the headline "counselors" at this year's Rock 'n' Roll Fantasy Camp, which will take place Nov. 17-22 in Hollywood. A shorter and less expensive session will also be held Nov. 12-15.Ace Frehley On Les Paul
"The music industry has lost a giant! I'm very saddened by the news of Les Paul's passing. I was lucky enough to have known Les as a friend, and admired him as a musician and innovator. He forever changed the way we listen to music." -- Ace Frehley (From AceFrehley.com)
ACE FREHLEY On 'Anomaly': 'I've Been Trying To Get This Album Out For A Long Time'
Dr. Matthew Warnock of Modern Guitars recently conducted an interview with legendary KISS guitarist Ace Frehley. A couple of excerpts from the chat follow below.PAUL STANLEY PREACHER PROMOTION
What do you get when you combine Washburn Guitars, Boogie Street and Rock’s FINEST frontman ever? Well… you could get a lot of things!! But, in this case - you get the FINEST electric guitar deal on the market today!ACE FREHLEY To Guest On 'Mad As A Hatter'
Legendary KISS guitarist Ace Frehley will be the featured guest on the "Mad As A Hatter" show tomorrow (Thursday, August 13) at 1:30 p.m. EST."Rock & Roll All Night": Trace Adkins Visits Kiss Icon
Trace Adkins outlasted Kiss bass player Gene Simmons in the 2008 NBC series "The Celebrity Apprentice," but he forged a friendship with the blood-spitting, fire-breathing, rock & roll showman in the process.KISS / M&M's AD CAMPAIGN UPDATE
The KISS / M&M's ad appears in the latest issues of Rolling Stone, People, Entertainment Weekly and Family Circle. These issues are currently on newsstands everywhere! The ad will continue to run in issues of TV Guide, USA Weekend, Sports Illustrated, Good Housekeeping, Better Homes & Garden, and other major magazines through October. Limited edition KISS M&M's will be released in October!
Kiss Is Everywhere
Check out the KISS Tribute band in this European car safety commercial!
GENE SIMMONS To TRENT 'REISER': 'If You're Going To Open Your B**** Mouth, Do It Properly'
According to AsiaOne.com, KISS' forthcoming Las Vegas show, which is estimated to cost between $40 million and $60 million, will be styled like a Cirque Du Soleil performance — with less talk by actors and more KISS songs, says vocalist/bassist Gene Simmons.ACE FREHLEY Signs Australian Licensing Deal With RIOT! ENTERTAINMENT
Legendary KISS guitarist Ace Frehley has inked a licensing deal with Riot! Entertainment for the Australian release of his fifth solo album, "Anomaly". Due on September 15 via Ace's own Bronx Born Records, with Rocket Science providing a full label service platform in the U.S., the CD was produced and recorded in Westchester County, New York between 2007 and 2009 and was mixed in Los Angeles.
Gene Simmons Family Jewels - August 16
Sex & Rock N' Roll NEW - episode 1
Nick's band's gear is stolen right before their debut gig; Shannon convinces Gene to attend a dinner party.
Gene is in Japan filming a monster movie; Shannon and Tracy go antiquing.
Kiss go to Vegas
AMERICAN rockers Gene Simmons and Paul Stanley of the legendary Kiss rock band will make appearances in a Las Vegas live theatre extravaganza co-produced by local entertainment company Storm Lion.ACE FREHLEY Perform With CAMP FREDDY: Photos Available
Ozzy Osbourne and Ace Frehley made surprise appearances with CAMP FREDDY — the Los Angeles-based "jam" group featuring Dave Navarro (JANE'S ADDICTION, RED HOT CHILI PEPPERS), Billy Morrison (ex-THE CULT, CIRCUS DIABLO), Matt Sorum (VELVET REVOLVER, ex-GUNS N' ROSES), Donovan Leitch (son of legendary folk singer Donovan), and Chris Chaney (ex-JANE'S ADDICTION, ALANIS MORRISETTE) — during the August 1 ESPN/X-Games party at the House Of Blues in West Hollywood, California. Osbourne performed four songs with the band — "I Don't Know", "Iron Man", "Crazy Train" and "Paranoid" — while Frehley made an appearance for the KISS classics "Cold Gin" and "Rock And Roll All Night". Other guest musicians at the concert included Steve Stevens, Billy Duffy, Steve Jones, Duff McKagan, Justin Hawkins, Franky Perez and Naveen Andrews.
01. Highway Star
02. Jean Genie
03. Highway To Hell
04. Firewoman
05. Surrender
06. Cold Gin
07. Rock And Roll All Night
08. It's So Easy
09. Brand New Cadillac
10. White Wedding
11. God Save The Queen
12. Fat Bottomed Girls
13. I Believe In A Thing Called Love
14. I Don't Know
15. Iron Man
16. Crazy Train
17. ParanoidMICHAEL DORET ON THE NEW KISS COVER
Here are some excerpts from a recent Deuce News interview with Michael Doret, designer of the classic "Rock N Roll Over" album cover. Michael's latest design, the brand new KISS Album cover, will be premiered soon on KISSONLINE!ACE FREHLEY: New 10-Minute Audio Interview And 80-Image Photo Gallery Posted Online
In the latest episode of "Talking Metal", hosts Mark Strigl and John Ostronomy continue their "countdown to 'Anomaly'," featuring a 10-minute interview Ostronomy conducted with legendary KISS guitarist Ace Frehley. Also available is an 80-image Frehley photo gallery containing over 60 never-before-seen personal, live, and backstage photos of Ace. The 30-minute podcast can be downloaded at this location.
Montreal Show Announced
Canadian concert promoters Gillett Entertainment Group have announced the first Canadian show of KISS' upcoming fall 2009 tour in support of the band's new album, which is scheduled for release in early October. The "hottest band in the world" will perform at the Bell Center in Montreal, Quebec on Thursday, October 1. Tickets go on sale on Saturday, August 15 at noon EST. Prices range from $65 to $125 (tickets subject to all applicable facility fees and service charges). For more information, visit www.geg.ca.
ROCK N ROLL CHORUS AT KISS COFFEEHOUSE
Check out 'The Rock N Roll Chorus' performing "Tears Are Falling" at the KISS Coffeehouse in Myrtle Beach, SC.
TAYLOR SWIFT KISSES KEITH URBAN
Taylor Swift Pranks Keith Urban With KISS CostumesKISS, MÖTLEY CRÜE Featured On 'Brütal Legend' Soundtrack
GameDaily.com has revealed the complete track listing for the Brütal Legend video game, whcih will be available for the Xbox 360 video game and entertainment system and the PlayStation computer entertainment system on October 13 in North America and on October 16 in Europe. (KISS - God of Thunder)ACE FREHLEY: 'School Of Rock' Rehearsal Photos Posted Online
French KISS fan site Diamant Noir has uploaded photos of original KISS guitarist Ace Frehley and ex-GUNS N' ROSES drummer Steven Adler rehearsing with kid rockers from Paul Green's School Of Rock for the special charity event which was held on July 25 at The Music Box at the Henry Fonda Theatre on Hollywood Boulevard in Hollywood, California.
ERIC SINGER To Appear On New AVANTASIA Album
Acclaimed drummers Eric Singer (KISS, ALICE COOPER, BLACK SABBATH) and Alex Holzwarth (RHAPSODY OF FIRE, ANGRA, SIEGES EVEN) will both appear on the forthcoming album from EDGUY frontman Tobias Sammet's AVANTASIA project.ACE FREHLEY Interviewed On 'Rockin' Metal Revival'
Original KISS guitarist Ace Frehley was interviewed for the latest episode of the "Rockin' Metal Revival". The program is now available for download in three parts at this location. (Note: The Frehley interview can be heard during the second part/hour.)
ACE FREHLEY: New Audio Interview Posted Online
A new audio interview with legendary KISS guitarist Ace Frehley has been posted at RockstarWeekly.com (scroll down for audio clips)
Trace Adkins Reunites With Celebrity Apprentice Co-Star Gene Simmons
Trace Adkins will appear on an episode of A&E's popular reality show, Gene Simmons Family Jewels, on Sunday (Aug. 9). Adkins and Simmons co-starred in Celebrity Apprentice in 2008. In the new episode, Simmons visited Nashville as a favor to Kiss' manager to mentor a promising country band. Adkins comes by the recording studio for a surprise visit and to offer his opinion. Adkins competed in Celebrity Apprentice to raise money and awareness for food allergies.
ACE FREHLEY Instructional DVD Coming In The Fall
Matt Mrowicki of Chorus And Verse recently conducted an interview with original KISS guitarist Ace Frehley. A couple of excerpts from the chat follow below.ACE FREHLEY: Audio Interview Excerpt Posted Online
The latest episode of "Talking Metal" features the first excerpt of host John Ostronomy's interview with legendary KISS guitarist Ace Frehley. In the excerpt, Ace recounts the recording of the cut "Ghengis Khan" from his new solo album "Anomaly" and how ROB ZOMBIE/ex-MARILYN MANSON guitarist John 5 tapped Pearl Aday (ANTHRAX guitarist Scott Ian's fiancée and daughter of legendary crooner Meat Loaf) to sing background vocals on the track.Gene Simmons Tells Trent Reznor to KISS His Ass
Trent Reznor apparently crossed the line by insulting rock legends KISS by comparing the band to geriatric clowns that have continued playing long after their expiration date. TwentyFourbit wrote that the bitter Nine Inch Nails singer poked fun at his predecessors only to prompt a classy response from that mensch, Gene Simmons. The iconic figure put on his Mean Girls hat with this:Pre-Order New KISS Book
KISS Army Worldwide: The Ultimate Fanzine Phenomenon (Hardcover Book)ACE FREHLEY To Guest On 'Hard Rock Nights'
Original KISS guitarist Ace Frehley will guest on the next edition of the weekly syndicated radio program "Hard Rock Nights". Ace joins host JT to talk about the songs on his upcoming solo album, "Anomaly", guitars and fame. "I always knew I was going to be famous," Ace admits. "I just wasn't sure to what extent. I probably would have practiced a little more if I knew how many people I was going to influence."Gene Simmons Family Jewels August 9 & 16
Gene the Slacker-NEW 6:30/9:30 - August 9
Gene takes a week off
Nick's band's gear is stolen right before their debut gig; Shannon convinces Gene to attend a dinner party.
ACE FREHLEY: 'Anomaly' Electronic Press Kit Available
An Electronic Press Kit (EPK) for "Anomaly", the fifth solo album from original KISS guitarist Ace Frehley, can be viewed here.
ACE FREHLEY: 'Writing Comes To Me Real Easy These Days'
Magnet magazine recently conducted an interview with original KISS guitarist Ace Frehley. A few excerpts from the chat follow below.New Album Rumors
KISS' much-anticipated new album is rumored to be entitled "Sonic Boom". The editor of Guitar Player magazine, who had a chance to preview five songs off the LP last week, wrote on Facebook that this was the title "they had on the studio TV monitors while they were playing the audio files." In addition, an update on MelodicRock.com's Twitter account states that the album, which has a tentative release date of October 6, will be issued as a triple-disc set through Wal-Mart featuring the new album, a CD of re-recorded KISS hits (which was recently released in Japan), and a DVD. However, it should be noted that none of this information has yet been corroborated by an official source and should be treated as a rumor only.
ERIC SINGER HAILS THE COFFEEHOUSE
The KISS Coffeehouse in Myrtle Beach celebrated its third anniversary Saturday. The "all day and night rock 'n' roll party" featured an appearance by KISS drummer the Catman Eric Singer in honor of the coffeehouse's continued success.KISS SENDS GET-WELL TO INJURED FAN
Windsor teen Shawn Kinghorn may have been too injured to see Kiss blow away Sarnia's Bayfest, but that didn't stop his rock superheroes from acknowledging their fallen fan.ACE FREHLEY To Perform During SUNSET STRIP MUSIC FESTIVAL
Original KISS guitarist Ace Frehley will perform at the Viper Room in West Hollywood, California on Saturday, September 12 during the Sunset Strip Music Festival. Tickets are $25 and can be purchased via TicketWeb.com.
KISS Guitarist TOMMY THAYER Interviewed On KATU-TV's 'AM Northwest'
KISS guitarist Tommy Thayer was interviewed this past Friday (July 31) on the "AM Northwest" morning show on Portland, Oregon's KATU-TV. Watch the eight-minute interview below.
ACE FREHLEY Signs European Deal With SEASON OF MIST
Original KISS guitarist Ace Frehley has inked a European deal with Season Of Mist for the release of his fifth solo album, "Anomaly". Due in the U.S. on September 15 via Ace's own Bronx Born Records, with Rocket Science providing a full label service platform, the CD was produced and recorded in Westchester County, New York between 2007 and 2009 and was mixed in Los Angeles.
INDIE "CHRISTMAS" GOES INTO PRODUCTION
WonderStar Prods. is moving into production on the indie film "The Christmas Story," written and directed by Dan Gordon.PAUL ADDS CHICAGO AREA ART EXHIBITS
Wentworth Gallery is pleased to present two art exhibitions by artist, rock icon and legendary KISS frontman Paul Stanley. Paul will make two special appearances at Wentworth Gallery in September
Woodfield Shopping Center
5 Woodfield Shopping Center
Schaumburg, ILACE FREHLEY: New Song Available For Streaming
A new Ace Frehley track entitled "Outer Space" is available for streaming at this location. The song comes off the original KISS guitarist's fifth solo album, "Anomaly", which is scheduled for release on September 15 via his own Bronx Born Records, with Rocket Science providing a full label service platform. The CD was produced and recorded in Westchester County, New York between 2007 and 2009 and was mixed in Los Angeles.
GUITAR PLAYER Magazine Previews New KISS Album
The editor of Guitar Player magazine had a chance to preview five songs off the new KISS album, which is scheduled for release in early October. He writes on the publication's Facebook page, "Paul [Stanley, KISS guitarist/vocalist] sings his ass off. Eric [Singer] plays some amazingly powerful drums. Gene [Simmons] was finally made to play all of his bass parts (apparently, in the past, if someone had a cool bass idea, he let them play it), and he DOES have a pretty driving sound. Finally, Paul and Tommy's [Thayer] guitars sound HUGE — with some fab riffs and '70s-style solos."
COFFEEHOUSE RADIO AD
Here's the Radio advertisement for the KISS Coffeehouse's 3rd Anniversary party with Eric Singer on August 1st, 2009!
KISS Performs Unmasked Without PAUL STANLEY
According to Kiss On Fire, KISS members Gene Simmons (bass, vocals), Tommy Thayer (guitar) and Eric Singer (drums) played the band's classic song "Deuce" at this year's San Diego Comic-Con International on Saturday, July 25 at the Hard Rock Cafe. This marked the first time KISS (minus guitarist/vocalist Paul Stanley) performed unmasked since 1995. Watch video footage of the appearance here.
ACE FREHLEY, STEVEN ADLER Perform With 'Paul Green's School Of Rock'
Original KISS guitarist Ace Frehley headlined a special charity event to benefit Paul Green's School Of Rock last night (Saturday, July 25) at The Music Box at the Henry Fonda Theatre on Hollywood Boulevard in Hollywood, California.Ace Frehley is headlining 'Special Charity Event'
The concert is at 8 PM on Saturday night at THE MUSIC BOX at the Henry Fonda Theatre on Hollywood Boulevard.ACE FREHLEY Schedules 'Rockline' Appearance
Original KISS guitarist Ace Frehley will guest on the nationally syndicated radio show "Rockline" with host Bob Coburn on Wednesday, September 16 at 8:30 p.m. PT / 11:30 p.m. ET. Fans are encouraged to speak with Frehley by calling 1-800-344-ROCK (7625). For more information, visit RocklineRadio.com.
KISS Interviewed On Ontario's 'Out There'
"Out There" host Melissa DiMarco conducted an interview with KISS backstage just before they performed at Casino Rama in Orillia Ontario, Canada earlier this week. You can watch the chat here.
Rock 'n' roll up North
Mr. and Mrs. Simmons. Mr. Tongue and his Excess Bride. Boy, have they been taking Canada by storm! Here, there and every-lair. I mean, has there been a royal tour quite like this since that one channelled by Chuck and Di back in 1983?ACE FREHLEY's 'Longtime Close Friend' EDDIE TRUNK Reports On 'Anomaly'
Eddie Trunk, co-host of the VH1 Classic television program "That Metal Show" who has a long-running radio show, "Friday Night Rocks", on New York's Q104.3 FM, has posted the following commentary on his official blog:JONESBORO KISS FAN EXPO
Last year with a couple of friends, we started a KISS FAN Expo in our hometown of Jonesboro, Arkansas. This Aug. 15th we are having a second one. The purpose of our conventions are to raise money for needing charities.BELGIAN KISS FAN EXPO
10 years of KISStory in Belgium is being celebrated in style. The 5 man tribute band from Belgium is pulling out all the stops on Sunday November 1st. At the Hippodrome in Kuurne, Belgium they plan a KISS Fan Expo with special guest LYDIA CRISS, the usual worldwide KISS dealers accompanied by a rock and metal market.ACE FREHLEY Jams With NICKELBACK In New Jersey
Kevin Alba from MetalAsylum.net has submitted the following report to BLABBERMOUTH.NET:Revamped Website, Anomaly Lands Limited Edition Shirt, and New Pics
(www.acefrehley.com) I want to start by thanking everyone who has supported Ace Frehley & AceFrehley.com over the last seven months. As you can see, we've revamped the website in anticipation of the September 15th release of "Anomaly", but the vibe is still the same, so keep sending Ace your comments, questions & photos.... And tell every Ace fan you know to sign up, remember it's free to be a part of AceFrehley.com & at this moment we are more than 16,000 sign ups strong!!!! So what are some of the perks? Check this out: Today, we are putting on sale a very limited edition "Anomaly Release Date" shirt, limited to 150 pieces. The front "Blue Ghost Anomaly" design will be retired in September & a whole new line of shirts & merch will be available to you..... So pick up your copy of Ace Frehley Anomaly "Lands On Earth" 09-15-09 shirt today!!! .....and check out the new website, if you haven't already.... brand, new pics are up from Ace's instructional guitar DVD shoot available this fall on IMV DVD.....Limited Edition Shirt Link: Also attached are a pic of the new limited edition shirt, a pic with Nickelback from last night, and a vintage makeup pic.... Enjoy! (Merchandise page)
Gene Simmons Family Jewels - August 2
Derby Queen - Episode 1 - A&E
The kids convince Shannon to return to acting.
While Shannon is recovering from an accident, Gene handles the day-to-day household chores; Nick entertains a friend and his mother.
Live Review: KISS at Casino Rama - July 20, 2009
For two nights this week, legendary New York rock band KISS made it feel like north of Toronto was Rama Rock City.ACE FREHLEY On 'The Opie & Anthony Show'; Video Available
Original KISS guitarist Ace Frehley was a guest on "The Opie & Anthony Show" on Monday, July 20. Watch clips from his appearance here: Clip 1, Clip 2
KISS Destroy Caesars Windsor Casino - Still the Hottest Band in the World
The spectacle that is KISS live must genuinely be experienced to be fully understood and appreciated. Though it may be explained in articles much like this, it truly should be witnessed for one's self. The creativity in design as well as the preparation and execution of a show of this magnitude, undeniably deserves its ranking as one of the greatest shows on Earth.KISS CARNIVAL ROCKS HALIFAX
Foursome rocks through early anthems, sets Halifax sky a-light on Saturday!ACE FREHLEY To Guest On 'The Opie & Anthony Show'
Original KISS guitarist Ace Frehley will guest on "The Opie & Anthony Show" on Monday, July 20. "The Opie & Anthony Show" airs every weekday from 6:00 a.m. to noon on Sirius/XM satellite radio (XM Channel 202 / Sirius Channel 197: The Virus), with replays throughout the day.
Halifax Video Footage
Video footage of KISS performing the song "Detroit Rock City" last night (Saturday, July 18) at Halifax Commons in Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada can be viewed here.
GENE SIMMONS Rings In Toronto Stock Exchange
Gene Simmons, co-founder of the rock band KISS and star of the reality show "Gene Simmons Family Jewels", along with his life-mate Shannon Tweed, opened the TSX (Toronto Stock Exchange) market on Friday, July 17 in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. A reporter for the CBC apparently commented on the fact that he has never seen so many people trying to peek into the TSX building to catch a glimpse of a celebrity ringing the opening bell. Simmons previously rang the opening bell on the New York Stock Exchange on November 19, 2008.
KISS ARMY INVADES HALIFAX
KISS rocks, awes tens of thousands of faithful on Commons!PANCAKE MAKEUP? CHECK.
WEARING thigh-high platform boots, Starchild face make-up, a kilt and a Gene Simmons T-shirt over massive arms covered in flame tattoos, Brett Kummer was a one-man Kiss army last night. The Halifax mechanic fashioned his concert footwear by gluing some wood to the bottom of old motorcycle boots.ACE FREHLEY Interviewed For MTV2's 'Headbangers Ball'
John Ostronomy of "Talking Metal" played rhythm and learned riffs from Ace Frehley's first solo album in years from the original KISS guitarist at the Gibson/Baldwin Showroom in New York City on Wednesday July 15.Ex-KISS Guitarist BRUCE KULICK Completes Work On 'BK3' Album
Guitarist Bruce Kulick (KISS, GRAND FUNK RAILROAD, UNION) has completed work on "BK3", his third solo album following 2001's "Audio Dog" and 2003's "Transformer". The CD was mastered on Thursday, July 16 at Precision Mastering in Hollywood, California. An official release date has not yet been announced.Promoters expecting a more 'rambunctious' crowd for KISS
Paul Stephens has been a diehard KISS fan since he was 12.KISS ROCKS 90,000 IN QUEBEC!!!
After waiting for nine years, Quebec was clearly overdue for a visit from the infernal quartet, KISS. Tens of thousands of KISS Army soldiers descended to see their idols on Thursday. Large and small, men and women painted their faces and have donned their homemade costumes of the devil, the starchild, the spaceman and the cat-man, these comic characters were embodied by Gene Simmons (bass, vocals), Paul Stanley (vocals, guitar), Tommy Thayer (guitar) and Eric Singer (drums, vocals).KISS ROCKS ALL NIGHT LONG
KISS rocked some of their most classic tunes all night long for a record-setting crowd Wednesday night at the Cisco Ottawa Bluesfest.Never-Before-Seen, Vintage KISS Photos Featured In New Book
As a longtime fan of rock and a resident of Enid, Oklahoma, Richard Galbraith has attended countless concerts since the early '70s, and documented most of them with this photography. LED ZEPPELIN, ALICE COOPER, RAMONES, THE SEX PISTOLS, and BLACK SABBATH (among many others) have all passed through the lens of Mr. Galbraith.
02. July 26, 1976 - Kansas City, Missouri [Municipal Auditorium]
03. January 6, 1977 - Tulsa, Oklahoma [Tulsa Assembly Center]
04. January 7, 1977 - Norman, Oklahoma [Lloyd Noble Center]
05. November 23, 1977 - Tulsa, Oklahoma [Tulsa Assembly Center]
06. October 17, 1979 - Norman, Oklahoma [Lloyd Noble Center]
07. October 29, 1979 - Tulsa, Oklahoma [Tulsa Assembly Center]
08. March 21, 1983 - Norman, Oklahoma [Lloyd Noble Center]
09. February 22, 1986 - Tulsa, Oklahoma [Expo Square Pavilion]Video: KISS get Sens jerseys
KISS get Sens jerseys (14 seconds)
Ace Frehley: Ready for Solo LP "Anomaly," But Not a Kiss Reunion
Kiss‘ original guitarist, Ace Frehley, has primarily focused on playing live shows since he left the band in 2002, though no new studio material has surfaced. But that’s soon about to change. September 15th will see the release of Ace’s first solo album in nearly 20 years, Anomaly, via his own label, Bronx Born Records. Produced almost entirely by Frehley, the album shows why many rock and metal guitarists list “Space Ace” as a prime six-string influence, as evidenced by the epic “Genghis Khan” and a kick ass cover of Sweet’s “Fox on the Run.” Frehley recently sat down with Rolling Stone to discuss the new album, his ex-bandmates and kicking booze once and for all.Concert Review: KISS - LeBreton Flats, Ottawa - July 15, 2009
They hollered at the first deafening screech of electric guitar.KISS JUGGERNAUT BLOWS 'EM AWAY!
KISS cranks up the spectacle for record Bluesfest crowd.New KISS Album To Arrive In Early October ; Ottawa Footage Available
KISS is tentatively scheduled to release its new album in early October. Songtitles set to appear on the CD include "Russian Roulette", "Modern Day Delilah" and "Stand".KISS SETS ATTENDANCE RECORD AT BLUESFEST
KISS rocked over 40,000 fans last night in setting the attendance record for the most fans to ever attend the Ottawa Bluesfest!! KISS' show was also the only show of this year's Festival to sell out!
PAUL STANLEY ON ART, AMERICAN IDOL & KISS
With KISS having recently come off of a huge stadium tour across South America, Paul Stanley continues to keep busy. About ten years ago, as the result of a divorce, a friend suggested he try painting as a cathartic way of helping to express his emotions. He went and purchased brushes and canvasses and he’s been at it ever since. Stanley has never been one to stand on the sideline. In the past he’s played the lead in the Phantom of the Opera in Toronto and toured on his own in support of his solo release “Live to Win.” He's currently producing the forthcoming KISS album, the band's first release of new material in eleven years, and continues to show his art work at Wentworth Galleries across the country. He recently took time out of his hectic schedule to speak with us.RADICAL PUBLISHING & NICK SIMMONS JAM AT SAN DIEGO COMIC-CON
Coinciding with the weekend of San Diego Comic-Con 2009, Radical Publishing, Gene Simmons and Nick Simmons will be hosting THE RADICAL EVENT AT THE HARD ROCK HOTEL in San Diego; An exclusive invitation-only rock concert extravaganza promoting the release of Nick Simmons’ first comic book title Incarnate. The event will feature live performances by Gene and Nick Simmons as well as a surprise performance from some very special guests.Gene Simmons hits the Hill, stirs things up with 'Jesus' comment
Parliament Hill rocked as KISS frontman Gene Simmons and his partner actress Shannon Tweed took the stately buildings by storm Tuesday, delighting hundreds of waiting fans and some codgy senators who got in on the media circus that ensued.Gene Simmons tours Parliament Hill
Gene Simmons of the band KISS has his mouth covered by his Canadian partner Shannon Tweed as he speaks to the media during a tour of Parliament Hill on Tuesday. Watch the Video: here
KISS DYNASTY IS ALIVE, NEW ALBUM COMING
Love them or hate them; 70's theatrical rock band KISS is alive and well. The band recently announced on their official website www.kissonline.com that a new album is in the works and will be released in October 2009.KISS MONTREAL CONCERT CLIPS
Clip 1, Clip 2
Gene Simmons Family Jewels - July 26
Letters Lost - Episode 1
Gene is in Japan filming a monster movie; Shannon and Tracy go antiquing.
An exchange student visits Sophie; Nick gets his own apartment for the summer.
KISS ROCKS BY ITS OWN RULE BOOK
Halloween came early this year. The Bell Centre was filled to the rafters Monday night, with a sellout crowd of 15,000 Kiss devotees on hand to celebrate the band’s Kiss Alive/35 tour.TRENT REZNOR on GENE SIMMONS
Inquirer.net: Much has been said about "The Downward Spiral" album and how your life was troubled at that time. But how do you maintain the passion to sing the songs in that record when things are different now?FACE PAINT FOR THE KISS ARMY!
Radio station CHOM-FM will be outside Montreal's Bell Centre tonight face painting the KISS ARMY from 5 - 7 PM! Stop by for some war paint before you rock with KISS!
SHOUT IT OUT LOUD FROM BAYFEST
SHOUT IT OUT LOUD: Clip
ROCK SUPERSTARS KISS RULE EXPLOSIVE SHOW
"All right, Caesars Windsor! You wanted the best, you got the best! The hottest band in the world: KISS!"KISS Kicks Off Canadian Tour; Video Footage
KISS kicked off its Canadian tour last night (Friday, July 10) at the 11th annual Rogers Bayfest in Sarnia, Ontario.
02. Strutter
03. Got To Choose
04. Hotter Than Hell
05. Nothin' To Lose
06. C'mon & Love Me
07. Parasite
08. 100,000 Years
09. Watchin' You
10. Cold Gin
11. Black Diamond
12. Rock and Roll All Nite
-----------------------------------
13. Shout It Out Loud
14. Lick It Up
15. I Love It Loud
16. I Was Made for Lovin' You
17. Love Gun
18. Detroit Rock City
Tweed: If KISS plays Oshawa, 'I'll be there'
Oshawa is ready to roll out the red carpet for Shannon Tweed and Gene Simmons.KISS SETS ATTENDANCE RECORD AT BAYFEST!
They're called the hottest band in the world for a reason. And KISS didn't disappoint throngs of die-hard fans Friday night with an energetic show that powered high-voltage rock, fireworks and fire for nearly two hours. The band set an attendance record for the most fans to ever attend the Sarnia Bayfest!!
KISS WAS MADE FOR LOVIN' SARNIA
On Friday, KISS discovered that Sarnia was its own “rock city.”KISS WOWS BAYFEST!
Thousands of screaming fans ‘loved-it-loud’ last night when legendary rockers KISS took to the stage at Sarnia Bayfest.LEGENDARY KISS ARENA CLOSING DOORS
The legendary concert venue COBO arena is to become the victim of a city expansion plan. This historic structure has hosted KISS concerts on many occasions, not the least of which was the series of shows that became the KISS ALIVE! album. As producers of the documentary film "Live at COBO" we wish to get the word out to all artist who have a connection to COBO.ACE FREHLEY To Release New Solo Album Via His Own Label
Original KISS guitarist Ace Frehley will release his fifth solo album, "Anomaly", on September 15 via his own Bronx Born Records, with Rocket Science providing a full label service platform. The CD was produced and recorded in Westchester County, New York between 2007 and 2009 and was mixed in Los Angeles by Marti Frederiksen, who has previously worked with AEROSMITH and DEF LEPPARD, among many others.Gene Simmons Family Jewels - July 19
Grapes of Wrath - NEW Episode 1 A&E
Shannon and Tracy spend a weekend at a Wine Country vineyard; Nick has to work nonstop to finish a missed deadline for his comic book.
Gene lends Snippy to his nephew to cheer him up after his dog passes away.
Gene Simmons talks Kiss Canadian tour, first new album since 1998
If Kiss fans are fretting that the band's upcoming eight Canadian shows will pale in comparison to the 60-city megatour planned for this fall - when the band will unveil new outfits and new material - bassist/vocalist Gene Simmons says not to worry.PAUL ADDS CHICAGO AREA ART EXHIBITS
Wentworth Gallery is pleased to present two art exhibitions by artist, rock icon and legendary KISS frontman Paul Stanley. Paul will make two special appearances at Wentworth Gallery in September
Woodfield Shopping Center
5 Woodfield Shopping Center
Schaumburg, ILHe'll rock 'n' roll all night
Gene Simmons, co-founded KISS more than 35 years ago, will be the grand marshal of the Honda Indy Toronto this weekend.The kids are alright (mostly)
Gene Simmons and KISS invade CanadaRock drummer KISS's summer
Jason Manara is a singer-songwriter, a drummer, a music teacher and owns a clothing line.Gene Simmons kicked in the Family Jewels
KISS rocker Gene Simmons, who also has a popular reality TV series "Gene Simmons Family Jewels", is likely to be a wee bit upset when he learns that Ottawa has done a complete 180 and won't be declaring July 15 Shannon Tweed Day in the nation's capital.Launch of GENE SIMMONS MoneyBag Adrenaline Sports Clothing Line On 'Family Jewels'
Dussault Apparel founder and head designer Jason Dussault has announced that the launch of the Gene Simmons MoneyBag Adrenaline Sports clothing line, designed by Dussault, will be on the television series "Gene Simmons Family Jewels" on Sunday, July 12, 2009. The episode is titled "Night from Hell". (Check local listings for times.)PAUL STANLEY ON NEW KISS ALBUM
THIS IS KISS. CLASSIC KISS!TOMMY THAYER ON THE NEW KISS ALBUM
YOU'RE GONNA LOVE IT!GENE SIMMONS Gets Frisked By Off-Duty Cop In Beverly Hills
Exposay has uploaded a photo gallery of KISS bassist/vocalist Gene Simmons apparently getting risked by an off-duty cop at the Beverly Center in Beverly Hills, California on July 2, 2009. No further details are currently available.
ERIC SINGER ON NEW KISS ALBUM
NO BALLADS, NO SLOW SONGS, NO FILLERS!Gene Simmons loves Canada
When Gene Simmons and KISS invade Ottawa to play in the Bluesfest July 15, he'll be bringing along actress and former Playmate Shannon Tweed.GENE SIMMONS ON THE NEW KISS ALBUM
BEST KISS ALBUM IN 30 YEARS!ROCKING THE ART WORLD
Paul Stanley of KISS brings his works to Charlotte this monthKISS FULFILLS CANCER PATIENT'S DREAM
Critter Smith flew on an airplane for the first time June 27.Rocker interested in alleged kid victims
Gene Simmons says he's heard enough celebrity tributes to Michael Jackson, and wants to hear from the kids who accused the late pop singer of molestation.Official Ace Frehley Anomaly Commercial
Come check out the Anomaly commercial..... release date officially announced!
KISS Fall Tour
Official tour dates will be announced in August.
PACIFIC LEGENDS GOLF CLASSIC RETURNS
The Reserve Vineyards & Golf Club will be the place to be on Aug. 2-3 as the stars come out for the third Pacific University Legends Golf Classic, hosted by Tommy Thayer.ACE FREHLEY: 'Anomaly' U.S. Release Date Announced
According to the Rocket Science music label services organization, which lists original KISS guitarist Ace Frehley as one of its clients, Frehley's new solo album, "Anomaly", will be released on September 15. The CD was produced and recorded in Westchester County, New York between 2007 and 2009 and was mixed in Los Angeles by Marti Frederiksen, who has previously worked with AEROSMITH and DEF LEPPARD, among many others.
Oshawa finishes first in online poll for KISS date
Oshawa's loud campaign to bring heavy-metal heroes KISS to a city hushed by auto-plant layoffs may have paid off.Gene Simmons Family Jewels - July 12
The Night From Hell - NEW - A&E Episode 1
Sophie puts a cheating boy through the wringer; Gene volunteers Carrot Top to crash a Vegas bachelorette party.
Shannon guilts the family into throwing a themed party.
COUNTRY STAR GETS NEW GUITAR
When I interviewed Keith Urban last month, we talked a lot about guitars. Well, he talked. I listened. He had a lot to say about his whole arsenal. But the thrill in his voice seemed to go up a notch when we got around to his latest creation.Gene Simmons to marshal T.O. Indy
The original God of Thunder will be on hand at the upcoming Honda Indy Toronto.Gene Simmons Talks 'Family Jewels' and 'American Idol' Alum Adam Lambert
While Gene Simmons may be best known as the long-tongued bassist from Kiss, he's slowly but surely proving he also has a knack for reality TV, as 'Gene Simmons Family Jewels' sails into its fourth season Sundays at 9 p.m. on A&E.ONE LIVE KISS WINS TELLY AWARD
The 30th Annual TELLY AWARDS have been announced and ONE LIVE KISS received the highest honor!KISS Setlist: Summerfest
01. Deuce
02. Strutter
03. Got To Choose
04. Hotter Than Hell
05. Nothin' To Lose
06. C'mon And Love Me
07. Parasite
08. She
09. Tommy Guitar Solo
10. Watchin' You
11. 100,000 Years
12. Eric Drum Solo
13. Cold Gin
14. Let Me Go, Rock And Roll
15. Black Diamond
16. Rock And Roll All Nite
17. Shout It Out Loud
18. Lick It Up
19. Gene Bass Solo
20. I Love It Loud
21. I Was Made For Lovin' You
22. Love Gun
23. Detroit Rock City
KISS STILL SHOUTS IT OUT LOUD!
When it comes to covering up your age, makeup goes a long way.LIVE KISS CLIP FROM SUMMERFEST SHOW
KISS perform "Nothin' to Lose" and "C'mon and Love Me" during their Alive 35 Summer Tour at Milwaukee's Summerfest on 6/27/09: Clip
New 'Gene Simmons Family Jewels' Preview Clip Available
Legendary rock god multi-hyphenate Gene Simmons and his unconventional family are back and better than ever for an all-new season of A&E's hit unscripted series "Gene Simmons Family Jewels". The 15-episode season kicked off on June 7 with daughter Sophie's sweet sixteen party, giving viewers an all-access pass to the milestone celebration.KISS Among 'Classic Rock Roll Of Honour' Nominees
The nominations for the 2009 Classic Rock Roll Of Honour awards staged by Classic Rock magazine
01. KISS - Kissology - The Ultimate Kiss Collection
02. THE ROLLING STONES - Shine A Light
03. NEIL YOUNG - Archives
04. IRON MAIDEN - Flight 666
05. Woodstock - The Movie
06. ANVIL - "Anvil! The Story of Anvil"
MAYOR VOTES FOR KISS CONCERT
Mayor Paul Ayotte is shouting out loud that he supports Peterborough’s bid for the KISS concert.Eminem, Kiss, Flaming Lips To Headline Voodoo Experience
Eminem -- in his first full-scale concert performance in four years -- Kiss, Jane's Addiction and the Flaming Lips are among the headliners at the 11th annual Voodoo Experience music festival, taking place Halloween weekend in New Orleans. Widespread Panic was previously announced as part of the festival's bill."ROCK AND ROLL OVER" ARTIST WORKS WITH KISS AGAIN
"ROCK AND ROLL OVER" ARTIST WORKS WITH KISS AGAINAutographed Ace Photos/Vintage Posters Now Available
We got some cool, new, vintage Ace stuff on sale on the merch page...Merchandise page: www.acefrehley.com/two-sides/
PAUL NOTE ON NEW KISS ALBUM
Hey All, We're about four days from finishing the new KISS album. Eleven tracks, and it IS everything I've told you. It IS classic. It IS all written within the band. And IT ROCKS BIG TIME! Tommy and Eric both handle lead vocals. The songs, sound and playing will knock your socks off. You will all be as proud and excited as we all are. Oh...and WAIT till you see the cover!Gene Simmons Family Jewels - June 28 - A&E Episode 1
Economic Stimulus - episode 1 (30min) - Gene rings the bell at the New York Stock Exchange; Shannon gets addicted to late-night infomercials.
KISS' SIMMONS Confirms Deal With WAL-MART Is In Works
KISS bassist/vocalist Gene Simmons has confirmed that a deal is in the works with Wal-Mart that will result in an "entire section" of the giant retailer's stores across the country (apparently dubbed "Kiss Korner") being dedicated to KISS.ERIC SINGER TO CELEBRATE AT KISS COFFEEHOUSE
KISS COFFEEHOUSE'S 3RD ANNIVERSARY
• Picture w/Eric!
• Basic Laminate Pass!
• 2nd In line For Meet & Greet (2 PM – 4 PM)
• KISS Coffeehouse Recordable Key Chain & Personalized Greeting From Eric To You!
• Picture w/Eric!
• VIP Laminate Pass!
• 1st In line For Meet & Greet! (11 AM – 1 PM)TOMMY THAYER QUOTES FROM SPANISH INTERVIEW
The band is working on a song called "Rotten to the core" but it is not the old one. We are writing all new songs and there are no outsider writers. All is new. All four of us are involved. We are all really motivated and it will be the best KISS album in a long time.'Gene Simmons Family Jewels': This Week's Preview Clip Posted Online
Legendary rock god multi-hyphenate Gene Simmons and his unconventional family are back and better than ever for an all-new season of A&E's hit unscripted series "Gene Simmons Family Jewels". The 15-episode season kicked off on June 7 with Sophie's sweet sixteen party, giving viewers an all-access pass to the milestone celebration.Gene Simmons Family Jewels - June 28 - A&E Episode 2
Episode: Slumber Party (30min)
Gene is charged with watching over Sophie's sleepover, keeping out boys trying to crash the party and tracking down a girl who sneaks off for a secret rendezvous
KISS Balloon
KISS is everywhere... Balloon Party ( Brazilian balloon contest ) Look: www.youtube.com/watch?v=cXx6CzEtfmo
Ace: "Anomaly" is finished!
(www.acefehley.com) Earth People!!! How are you?...... I'm happy to say that my new album "Anomaly" is finished!
2. Outer Space
3. Pain In The Neck
4. Fox On The Run
5. Genghis Khan
6. Too Many Faces
7. Change The World
8. Space Bear
9. A Little Below The Angels
10. Sister
11. It's A Great Life
12. Fractured Quantum
13. The Return of Space Bear (Dedicated to Tom Snyder) iTunes Exclusive album only track
Tongues were wagging as KISS star Gene Simmons visited Memphis
Gene Simmons paid his respects to Memphis music last fall with a visit to the home of rock and roll for tonight's episode of his A&E reality show, "Gene Simmons Family Jewels." Gene Simmons to Adam Lambert: Shut up about being gay
Adam Lambert opened up about his sexuality for a Rolling Stone cover story this week - confirming that he's gay after weeks of fan speculation - but at least one person wishes he would shut up about it already: Kiss rocker Gene Simmons.PAUL STANLEY Flips Off FOX Charlotte
KISS guitarist/vocalist Paul Stanley was a guest this morning (Friday, June 12) on the "Fox News Rising" program on WCCB Charlotte. In addition to discussing his art exhibit at the Wentworth Gallery at SouthPark Mall, Stanley helped the station executives shut off their analog transmitter and officially begin their transition to purely digital TV. As the show ended at 8 a.m., so too did analog broadcasting for WCCB. The anchors counted down from 10, and Stanley flipped the switch. "It was historic," Stanley told viewers seconds later.
* Paul Stanley Interview
Gene Simmons Slams Vegas Headliner Santana
KISS bassist/vocalist Gene Simmons was interviewed on yesterday's (June 11) edition of "Good Day Philadelphia". Watch his appearance here. In other news, Simmons will be the featured guest on "The Hour" on Tuesday, June 16. The program, which airs at 11:00 p.m. on CBC in Canada, is hosted by George Stroumboulopoulos.
Gene Simmons Slams Vegas Headliner Santana
KISS lead singer Gene Simmons had harsh words for Carlos Santana during a Thursday morning interview on FOX5 News: Live In Las Vegas.PAUL STANLEY'S FRIDAY MEDIA SCHEDULE
Paul will be appearing on several Charlotte media outlets on Friday. Below is the schedule of appearances:KISS CLIP FROM BUENOS AIRES
Legendary rock god multi-hyphenate Gene Simmons and his unconventional family are back and better than ever for an all-new season of A&E's hit unscripted series "Gene Simmons Family Jewels". The 15-episode season kicked off on June 7 with Sophie's sweet sixteen party, giving viewers an all-access pass to the milestone celebration.KISS CLIP FROM BUENOS AIRES
Here's a clip of "C'mon and Love Me" form KISS' Buenos Aires show at the Quilmes Rock 2009 Festival at the River Plate Stadium.
TOMMY QUOTE FROM 'GUITARRA TOTAL'
Here's a quote from Tommy Thayer's recent 'Guitarra Total' Magazine cover story: "It's a great tune, there is something that people missed, and that's I am a good singer, I am a good vocalist. I have much experience, but I've never been a solo singer. My voice works well on that and I think people will be surprised. The band is working on a song called 'Rotten To The Core' but it is not the old one. We are recording all new songs. All four of us are involved. It will be the best KISS album in a long time. For what concern new possible costumes for the fall tour a decision will be taken soon."
New CASABLANCA RECORDS Insider's Book Coming This Fall
"And Party Every Day: The Inside Story Of Casablanca Records", a 300-plus-page hardcover biography, will be released this fall through Backbeat/Hal Leonard Books. This is the first time a full-length book has been published on the legendary 1970s record label and its enigmatic founder Neil Bogart.PAUL ON JOHN BOY & BILLY BIG SHOW TUESDAY
Paul Stanley will appear on the nationally syndicated 'John Boy & Billy Big Show' Tuesday at 8:10 AM EST.Gene Simmons Family Jewels - June 21 - A&E
Episode: Godfather Gene (60min)
Shannon joins Gene in New Jersey as he becomes godfather to a friend's newborn grandson and inadvertently starts a feminist uprising amongst the wives.
Gene Simmons Family Jewels - June 14 - A&E
Episode 1: Memphis Blues (30min)
Nick learns the blues firsthand when he goes on a business trip with his dad.
Gene's mother volunteers him to host a fundraiser for a local fire department.
Pro-Shot Footage From Lima Available
Professionally filmed video footage of KISS' April 14, 2009 concert at the 45,000-capacity Estadio Nacional Stadium in Lima, Peru as part of the group's 2009 South American tour can be viewed below (courtesy of "Mproducciones"): Clip 1, Clip 2, Clip 3
Will KISS' Next Album Be A WAL-MART Exclusive?
According to NWAnews.com, Gene Simmons and Paul Stanley, co-founders of the rock band KISS, made a surprise stop at the at the 39th annual Wal-Mart shareholders meeting Friday (June 5) in Fayetteville, Arkansas, fueling speculation that the next KISS album will be a Wal-Mart exclusive. Though they didn't perform, a camera crew from Simmons' A&E TV show "Gene Simmons Family Jewels" followed him around Bud Walton Arena.'Gene Simmons Family Jewels': New Preview Clip Available
Legendary rock god multi-hyphenate Gene Simmons and his unconventional family are back and better than ever for an all-new season of A&E's hit unscripted series "Gene Simmons Family Jewels", premiering with a special one-hour episode on Sunday, June 7 at 10:00 p.m. ET/PT. The 15-episode season kicks off with Sophie's sweet sixteen party, giving viewers an all access pass to the milestone celebration. When a case of sibling rivalry spirals out of control, Nick pulls on dad's heartstrings and his sense of theatrics to escalate the low-key party she wanted into the blowout of the century, all to the dismay of shy Sophie. Watch a preview clip here.
Gene Simmons on 'Family Jewels'
June 4: TODAY's Hoda Kotb and Kathie Lee Gifford talk to rocker Gene Simmons about the fourth season of his TV show, "Gene Simmons Family Jewels." Watch the clip
DESPERATE CITY PUCKERS UP
OSHAWA RE-PINS DREAMS ON KISS!IT'S BEEN A LONG ROAD TO RECOVERY
PAUL'S MUSIC HELPS FAN RECOVERKiss star sells kidney stone
Kiss star Gene Simmons has raised $15,000 for a good cause - by selling his kidney stone in a bizarre online auction.KISS IN LIMA, PERU
Check out this great clip of KISS from their Lima, Peru Show in April!
GENE SIMMONS Talks New KISS Album; Audio Available
Wags & Elliott of the Columbus, Ohio radio station QFM96 recently conducted an interview with KISS bassist/vocalist Gene Simmons. The eight-minute chat is now available for download as an MP3 audio file at this location.PAUL ADDS ATLANTA ART SHOWS
Wentworth Gallery is pleased to present two art exhibitions by artist, rock icon and legendary KISS frontman Paul Stanley. Paul will make two special appearances at Wentworth Gallery in July & August
Wentworth Gallery
Phipps Plaza
3500 Peachtree Road NE
Atlanta, Georgia
Wentworth Gallery
Perimeter Mall
4400 Ashford Dunwoody Road
Atlanta, GeorgiaKISS And SPARK OF BLUE Bring Virtual Concert Lighters To iPhone
KISS, the juggernaut of licensing and merchandising, has teamed up with Spark of Blue, a new company specializing in bite-size entertainment for smartphones and other Internet-connected devices to bring Virtual Concert Lighters to the iPhone and iPod touch. The KISS Virtual Concert Lighter is now available to coincide with the band's recently launched 35th anniversary world tour.
* Free upgrades for life — new features will constantly be created for the Virtual Concert Lighters
* Fully customizable with a choice of 24 full-color official KISS lighter cases.
* Unique scrolling text marquee
* Realistic flame sways and moves as you move your hand
* Dynamic sound effects and musical riffsSTANLEY And SIMMONS Interviewed On KLOS' 'Mark And Brian' Show; Audio Available
KISS members Paul Stanley and Gene Simmons were interviewed this past Friday, May 29 on the "Mark and Brian" show on the Los Angeles radio station KLOS 95.5. Listen to the chat in three parts: Clip 1, Clip 2, Clip 3
PAUL AND GENE ON MARK & BRIAN SHOW
Paul Stanley and Gene Simmons will appear on the Mark & Brian Show today at 9:15 (PST). The show is broadcast from KLOS 95.5 in Los Angeles and is also heard on the following stations:
Palm Springs, CA - KDGL 106.9FM
Sacramento, CA - KSEG 96.9 FM
Visalia, CA - K100 99.7 FM
Santa Maria, CA - KXFX 99.1
San Luis Obispo, CA - KXFM 99.1 FM
Portland, OR - KGON 92.3 FM
Hermiston, Oregon - KLKY
Laughlin, NV - KLUK 97.9 FM
Bullhead City, AZ - KLUK 97.9 FM
Farmington, NM - KRWN 92.9 FM
Gallup, NM - 93X, KXXI 93.7 FM
Cortez / Durango, CO - KRWN 92.9 FM
Twin Falls, Idaho KIKX 104.7
PAUL RADIO INTERVIEW FRIDAY
KISS members Gene Simmons and Paul Stanley were recently interviewed by "The BJ Shea Morning Experience" on the Seattle station KISW 99.9 FM. Listen to the chat using the audio player here.
ARENA'S MANAGEMENT DEMANDS KISS
No, KISS wasn't in town, but this was the next best thing. Members of the Tsongas Arena's management, including box-office manager Carla Dubiel , General Manager Craig Gates, Ralph Martin, who works in operations, and ticket seller Sarah Mallard, donned the black-and-white makeup of 1970's rockers KISS and assaulted the downtown, shilling for votes to "demand" that KISS play the arena.PAUL RADIO INTERVIEW FRIDAY
Paul Stanley will be on Alan Handleman Show Friday at 4:00 PM (EST). The Show aires on North Carolina's Superstation -FM Talk 101.1 WZTK. CLICK HERE on Friday at 4:00 PM to listen to the interview live .
NEW KISS TRADING CARDS COMING
Press Pass released preview information for its second set of non-sports cards for the band KISS on Thursday with KISS 360 scheduled for release on Aug. 12.GENE SIMMONS To Guest On A&E's 'Private Sessions'
KISS basist/vocalist Gene Simmons will guest on this Sunday's (May 31) episode of A&E's "Private Sessions", a weekly one-hour performance and interview series hosted by Lynn Hoffman. The show will air at 9:00 a.m. EST / 8:00 a.m. CST. Check out a couple of preview clips here: Clip 1, Clip 2
Buckcherry Supporting Kiss On Summer Tour
Buckcherry will support Kiss on all dates for the band's upcoming North American tour, Billboard has learned. The tour, which begins in September, made headlines last month when it was announced that Kiss had partnered with live music social networking site Eventful to route the tour through the top-voted North American markets as determined by demand on the Eventful website.YOU CAN DESIGN FOR KISS
Design By Hümans is excited to present it's newest DBH Music Series contest partner! Fresh off their American Idol performance with Adam Lambert, let's welcome KISS!
$250 Credit
$250 Credit
$250 CreditACE FREHLEY: What's In My Bag?
Original KISS guitarist Ace Frehley is featured in Amoeba Music's "What's In My Bag?" segment in which he shares some of his shopping picks. Watch the three-minute clip here.
Paul Mention By Coverdale
NRK Hordaland: When you look out at the audience,.. 30 years ago, there was a lot of young people in the audience. And now there is a lot of young people in the audience. There's a new generation out there. What do you think about it?More 'Kissteria' Details Revealed
"Kissteria", the one-hour KISS tour special produced by the Greif Company (co-producers of "Gene Simmons Family Jewels" show), will air on the A&E network sometime in the fall. A description of the program reads as follows: "For the first time in their 35-year career, rock icons KISS give you an all access pass to the 'Alive 35' Australian tour. When Paul [Stanley] and Gene [Simmons] decide to launch a spontaneous mini-tour with only one week's notice, the entire KISS family must scramble to make it a reality. Malfunctioning pyrotechnics, faulty flying righs and missing drummers are the least of their challenges."
KISS AMERICAN IDOL MEDLEY CLIP #1 ON iTunes
KISS AMERICAN IDOL MEDLEY CLIP #1 ON iTunes'American Idol' Effect Spikes KISS Sales At iTunes, Amazon
According to KISSFaq.com, KISS has seen a bit of a sales spike due to its appearance on "American Idol" on Wednesday, May 20. As of this morning, "Rock And Roll All Nite" is No. 12 on iTunes Top Rock Songs list, with "Beth" at No. 22 and "Detroit Rock City" at No. 52.Adam Lambert to Tour With Kiss?
Rock star Adam Lambert has been offered his first tour a day after losing American Idol to fellow finalist Kris Allen - Gene Simmons has invited him to hit the road with Kiss.Gene Simmons 'thrusts' at fan
Gene Simmons "thrusted" at a female fan after performing on 'American Idol'.KISS AND ADAM BLOW UP IDOL
NOW THAT'S THE WAY TO ROCK THE HOUSE!KISS - WOW!
Adam Lambert introduced KISS - WOW! - and the strange getup became a bit more clear. This was the most awesome moment in all of Idol history, for me personally. Amid pyrotechnic wonders, the band worked the song to a frenzy with Adam’s strong rock vocals on display. “Detroit Rock City,” and you’d better believe it.AMERICAN IDOL WINNER - KISS!
It was a night to remember for all those members (including me) of the KISS Army.GENE SIMMONS Talks About How He Wants To Be Remembered
KISS bassist/vocalist Gene Simmons (with his longtime girlfriend Shannon Tweed at his side) was interviewed by Rockerrazzi.com at the Rally for Kids with Cancer Scavenger Cup "Qualifiers" celebrity draft party on May 1, 2009 at the Hollywood Roosevelt Hotel in Los Angeles, California. Watch the chat here.
Adam Lambert Gets Glammed Up With Kiss
Say what you will about Adam Lambert, but you cannot deny the fact that the guy knows how to put on a show.KISS BLOWS UP AMERICAN IDOL!
KISS just rocked an audience of over 25 million with American Idol Finalist, Adam Lambert! Watch here!.
Quoted: American Idol
"Adam did win. So did Kris. Nobody lost tonight. These are two champions," said Paul Stanley from Kiss backstage.
GENE SIMMONS On What It Takes To Make It In Entertainment Industry
KISS bassist/vocalist Gene Simmons and his longtime girlfriend Shannon Tweed were interviewed by ExploreTalent.com about what it takes to make it in the entertainment industry at the Rally for Kids with Cancer Scavenger Cup "Qualifiers" celebrity draft party on May 1, 2009 at the Hollywood Roosevelt Hotel in Los Angeles, California. Watch the chat here.
ACE FREHLEY: Rare Family Photos Posted Online
Original KISS guitarist Ace Frehley's official web site has been updated with 12 new pictures, including some rare family photos and a classic makeup picture. Check them out at this location.
AJAX GARCIA To Exhibit Rare KISS Art In Los Angeles
On Thursday, May 21, 2009, rock fans can expect a special treat from NAPOLEON BLOWNAPARTS frontman Ajax Garcia. The musician/media artist who is responsible for creating the famous KISS Icons designs will be on hand to represent the Eerie Pop Industries brand by sharing his latest work with the public.
Ages: 21 & Over
Bonus: Free Jello shots / discount Budweiser products (Get there early)
Admitance: Free Before 10:00 p.m. or with V.I.P Card
Location: Senor Fish Gallery (Downtown Los Angeles)
Address: 416 E. 1st Street, Los Angeles, CA.
KISS AT MILWAUKEE SUMMERFEST
KISS will rock the Milwaukee Summerfest on Saturday June 27! The show will take place at the Marcus Amphitheater. Ticket on-sale information will be announced soon. For more info on the 2009 Summerfest visit www.summerfest.com.
PAUL STANLEY Says New KISS Album Is 'About Two Weeks' From Being Completed
KISS guitarist/vocalist Paul Stanley was a guest this morning (Friday, May 15) on NBC Philadelphia to promote his art exhibitions this weekend at Wentworth Gallery in King of Prussia. When asked about a possible KISS tour of the U.S., Stanley replied, "We're about two weeks from the album being completed — the first album in ten years. [It's] very much a vintage, classic-sounding album, right back to our roots. We are really thrilled with it, and you will be, too. And that will be followed by a classic KISS tour — flying around the stage, blowing stuff up; all the stuff you want to see. When you are paying hard-earned money for a ticket, you should know where that money is going. And when you come to see us, it's like seeing Superman at the circus." Watch Stanley's appearance on NBC Philadelphia here.
Rock N Roll All Nite HD Video with Alice Cooper and the Supergroup
(www.acefrehley.com/rocket-rides) Here's a short clip of the encore of the Right Turn Benefit Concert I did in Boston a few weeks ago........"Rock And Roll All Nite" performed with one of KISS' inspirations in the early days, Alice Cooper!!......It was an honor to share the same stage with you Alice!!..... Hope to do it again.........Rock N' Roll........ Ace
PAUL STANLEY On Philadelphia's WTXF-TV; Video Available
KISS guitarist/vocalist Paul Stanley was interviewed this morning (Friday, May 15) on Philadelphia, Pennsylvania's WTXF-TV channel 29 about his art exhibitions this weekend at Wentworth Gallery in King of Prussia. Watch his appearance here.
KISS FEATURED AT HENRY FORD MUSEUM
Get ready for a second dose of the “tour of cool” with Rock Stars’ Cars & Guitars 2, an all-new summer installation on display May 16 to September 7, 2009 at Henry Ford Museum. This explosive exhibit features more than 20 cars, more than 50 guitars and a wide array of rock memorabilia, including iconic costumes and guitars from KISS!More KISS 'Creatures'-Period Footage Surfaces
Another "Creatures Of The Night"-era clip from KISS' 1983 charity concert at St. Louis, Missouri's Keil Auditorium, as well as two additional "Music From The Elder"-period KISS clips, have surfaced on YouTube and can be viewed below. The "Creatures" clip focuses on KISS' charitable donation to help a baby girl receive a liver transplant.ACE FREHLEY's 'Anomaly' In Final Mixing Stage
Original KISS guitarist Ace Frehley is currently in Los Angeles putting the finishing touches on the mixes for his new solo album, "Anomaly".
01. Outer Space
02. Foxy & Free
03. Sister
04. Too Many Faces
05. It's A Great Life
06. Skels
07. A Little Below The Angels
08. Fox On The Run (SWEET cover)
09. Change The World
10. Pain In the Neck
11. Genghis Khan
12. Fractured Quantum
PAUL'S FRIDAY MEDIA SCHEDULE
Paul will be appearing on several Philadelphia media outlets on Friday. Below is the schedule of appearances:
1) FOX-WTXF TV / Morning News @ 8:35 am
2) WMMR-FM Radio / The Preston & Steve Show @ 9:20 am
3) NBC-WCAU TV / The 10! Show @ 10:30 am
KISS TO ROCK CALIFORNIA!
The California Mid-State Fair announced Thursday that legendary rock and roll band KISS has been signed to perform at the 2009 Fair on Tuesday, July 28.GENE SIMMONS To Serve As AFFLICTION CLOTHING 'Brand Ambassador'
Affliction Clothing, the premier label for men who love hard rock and fast living, has announced that Gene Simmons, rock god, multi-media magnate and co-founder of the hottest band in the world, KISS, will be serving as a brand ambassador. The relationship is the result of both parties' commitment to Children's Hospital of Los Angeles' Rally for the Cure.COSTUMES FOR THE KISS ARMY!
KISSCostumes.com is the exclusive retailer of officially licensed KISS costumes and they are ready to bring the world of KISS to your living room. Their collection of authentic KISS costumes, including all of the band members, The Demon, Starchild, Spaceman, and Catman, is sure exceed the expectations of even the biggest KISS fans.KISS FRONT MAN SHOWCASES VISUAL ART
Once known for painting his face, Paul Stanley has a new canvas.The Kiss front man will showcase his acrylic paintings May 15 and 16 at the Wentworth Gallery in King of Prussia, Pa.KISS Memorabilia Featured In 'Rock Stars' Cars & Guitars 2' Exhibit
According to MetroTimes.com, a number of guitars that (design-wise) belong to KISS and CHEAP TRICK's Rick Nielsen are featured in the "Rock Stars' Cars & Guitars 2" exhibit, which is coming later this month to Dearborn, Michigan's Henry Ford Museum. Gene Simmons' star bass and Paul Stanley's axe guitar are included, as well as Rick Nielsen's Chandler Electroslide, which uses a CHEAP TRICK record as a pickguard. Also shown is Ian Hunter's H-shaped double-neck guitar ("The Weapon"). But the cars are the main attraction. You'll spot ZZ TOP's Billy Gibbons' iconic 1933 Ford Coupe "Eliminator", Rick Nielsen's John Deere riding mower with a customized paint job, and METALLICA's James Hetfield's metallic purple '53 Buick Skylark (with a matching guitar, of course). "Rock Stars' Cars & Guitars 2" runs May 16 through September 7 at the Henry Ford Museum, 20900 Oakwood Blvd., Dearborn; 313-982-6220. There's a preview party at 6:30 p.m. on Thursday, May 14. Opening day — Saturday, May 16 — sees a full day of concerts. For more information, visit TheHenryFord.org.
New KISS Album Nearing Completion
KISS guitarist/vocalist Paul Stanley was guest on today's (Tuesday, May 12) edition of "John DeBella Show" on Philadelphia's classic rock station 102.9 WMGK. During the interview, Stanley revealed that the new KISS album is almost finished and will come out in September. Paul once again said that it sounds like a typical '70s KISS LP and he said that KISS will promote the new CD with a new tour that will feature the biggest show they have ever done. The program can now be streamed online at this location.
PAUL ON PHILADELPHIA RADIO TUESDAY
Paul Stanley will be on The John DeBella Show on Tuesday at 8:05 am. The Show aires on Philadelphia classic rock station 102.9 WMGK. The audio can be streamed at www.wmgk.com. Afterwards, the podcast can be heard at www.wmgk.com/debella
TRIBUTE BAND CELEBRATES ARMED FORCES
KISS Tribute band to celebrate Armed Forces Day
Bragg Blvd. via 1500 Howell St., Fayetteville, North Carolina 28307
KISS VIRTUAL CONCERT LIGHTER
Spark of Blue Software to build licensed iPhone apps, starting with KISS concert lighter. Yes, you too can own your very own virtual KISS concert lighter on the iPhone.Oshawa wants to shout it out loud: It'll win KISS
Think of them as just one Gene Simmons' tongue-length behind.New York/Boston Groove HD Video with the Supergroup
(www.acefrehley.com/rocket-rides) Here is another clip from the gig in Boston with the Supergroup!!!!...... New York/Boston Groove in HD!!!..... My thanks again to the Right Turn Organization for inviting me this year & to Ricky Byrd for orchestrating the music......... if you would like to contribute here's the link: http://www.right-turn.org..... Even more vids from the show in the next few days.......Stay tuned!!- ACE
FAN FIGHTS TO BRING KISS TO BELLEVILLE!
Marcel Dubé can still remember the first time he saw the rock ‘n roll band KISS.30-Year-Old Footage of World's Most Embarrassed KISS Fan Surfaces
After 30-years, a 1979 St. Louis news story has surfaced online featuring what easily has to be the world's most embarrassing KISS fan footage. The charming clip features a young fan named Terry rocking out to KISS in his full 1970s iron-on glory. Additionally, two more "lost" "Music From The Elder"-era interview clips from 1982 were also made available today.Montreal Show Sold Out
According to KissNews.de, KISS' July 13 concert at the 15,000-capacity Bell Centre in Montreal, Quebec, Canada is officially sold out.
GENE SIMMONS MoneyBag Brand, DUSSAULT APPAREL Announce Strategic Alliance With CONCEPT ONE
Jason Dussault, Chairman and Head Designer for Dussault Apparel and Gene Simmons, owner of the Gene Simmons MoneyBag brand, have signed a long-term exclusive apparel and accessories license agreement and strategic brand building alliance for the Gene Simmons MoneyBag brand with New York City-based Concept One Accessories. Concept One is recognized as America's premier resource for licensed fashion, sports, and entertainment accessories. Under the license agreement, Jason Dussault has agreed to provide sales and design services to the venture and will be transferring royalty fees to Dussault Apparel.ARE YOU THE ULTIMATE KISS FAN?
DEMAND-IT ULTIMATE KISS FAN CONTEST: Show the world why you're the ultimate KISS fan and a meet and greet with KISS and tickets to a show during the band's upcoming tour!
-Submit a video to this group to enter the contest.
-Winners will be chosen based on creativity and enthusiasm, so don't hold back!
-Videos must be one minute in length or less.
-Be sure to include your city as one of the tags.
-Contest ends on 6/30/09!PAUL ON BOB & TOM SHOW THURSDAY
Paul Stanley will appear on the nationally syndicated Bob & Tom Radio Show Thursday at 10am EST. The show, which broadcasts from Indianapolis (on WFBQ), is heard on 150 stations around the country! CLICK HERE for a complete list of radio stations that carry Bob & Tom .
GENE SIMMONS ON LEX & TERRY SHOW
Gene Simmons will be live on the syndicated radio show Lex & Terry tomorrow morning (May 6) at 8:30am CST. The Lex & Terry Morning Radio Network can be heard on over 30 stations coast to coast. The show is also heard on XM Satellite Radio each day. Visit www.lexandterry.com for a list of radio stations that carry the show.
Birthday Video, Boston 2009, with Alice Cooper & Friends
(www.acefrehley.com/rocket-rides) As promised.....Here's how I spent my birthday this year!!!....In Boston with Alice Cooper, Lynn Hoffman (from A&E Sessions), Chad Smith, Simon Kirke & the rest of the Supergroup singing Happy Birthday!!!!....Wild!!!!....My thanks to the Right Turn Organization for inviting me this year & to Ricky Byrd for orchestrating the music.........I know times are tough, but this is a great cause......... if you would like to contribute here's the link: www.right-turn.org..... More vids from the show in the next few days.......Stay tuned!!- ACE
KISS SONGS ON BULGARIAN MUSIC IDOL
Bulgarian Music Idol contestants Preslava Mruvkova and Dimitar Atanasov, chose KISS songs to perform on the TV Show! Here are the clips of "Forever" and "I Was Made For Lovin' You" :
KISS CLIP FROM COLOMBIAN TV
Here's a clip featuring several Colombian TV reports of KISS' Bogota concert!
KISS, OSHAWA WANTS YOU!
The rock band Kiss is scouting for locations as part of plans for a North American tour and Robert Lutczyk, an Oshawa City Councillor, says Oshawa residents should get online and vote at www.eventful.com/kiss.GENE SIMMONS To Appear In 'Extract' Film
KISS bassist/vocalist Gene Simmons reportedly has a small part as a "shady lawyer" in Mike Judge's new comedy "Extract", which is set to open in theaters in September.GENE SIMMONS FAMILY JEWELS RETURNS TO A&E FOR AN ALL-NEW SEASON
SEASON FOUR OF THE HIT UNSCRIPTED SERIES PREMIERES SUNDAY, JUNE 7 AT 10 PM ET/PT WITH A SPECIAL ONE-HOUR EPISODEPAUL STANLEY: New KISS Album 'As Good As' Band's Classic Records
KISS guitarist/vocalist Paul Stanley was interviewed this morning (Friday, May 1) on "The Danny Bonaduce Show" on the Philadelphia, Pennsylvania radio station 94 WYSP. Topics included his upcoming art gallery appearances in Pennsylvania, the early favorable results for Canadian cities on the upcoming KISS fan-routed tour, and the recent successful South American tour. The new album was also a brief topic of conversation, with Paul saying the band is currently finishing the album for a September release, and describing it "as good [as], if not better than, some of the vintage" KISS material. The interview is now available for download as an MP3 audio file at this location (17 MB).
KISS ON 'FAIRLY ODDPARENTS' TONIGHT
KISS CLIPS FROM "WISHOLOGY": An intergalactic adventure of epic proportions will unfold in May on Nickelodeon with The Fairly OddParents: Wishology, three one-hour primetime specials premiering the weekend of May 1, 2 and 3 at 8:00 p.m. (ET/PT). Based on the hit animated series from creator Butch Hartman, the trilogy follows Timmy Turner (Tara Strong) as he is anointed The Chosen One and must search for a magical wand to prevent a deadly galactic force known as The Darkness from destroying Earth. The wild, whirlwind multi-part quest, which takes the young hero from Dimmsdale to Fairy World to Las Vegas and beyond, and features cameos by famed KISS band members Gene Simmons and Paul Stanley!PAUL INTERVIEW ON DANNY BONADUCE SHOW
Paul Stanley will be on WYSP-FM / The Danny Bonaduce Show Philadelphia this Friday, May 1 at 7:30 am EST. You can to listen the interview online by CLICKING here Friday morning.
ROCK CAMP Begins In Los Angeles With BRUCE KULICK
Rock 'N' Roll Fantasy Camp kicks off on Wednesday (April 29) in Hollywood with a list of guest instructors that includes AEROSMITH frontman Steven Tyler, VELVET REVOLVER bassist Duff McKagan, FOO FIGHTERS touring keyboardist Rami Jaffee, Todd Rundgren, former KISS guitarist Bruce Kulick and others. The camp allows fans to perform with and learn from some of their favorite rock stars. Tyler told The Pulse of Radio that he "positively" will be able to tell if any of his students have true talent. "I can listen to the melody line they've got, and I can tell them right then and there that it's not about hitting that note, it's about how you approach it," he said. "It's about (scats for a few seconds). It's about that as opposed to trying to hit the note, trying to get the vibrato just right, trying and trying and trying. It's about making something work for you."KISS AT QUEBEC'S SUMMER FESTIVAL
KISS will rock Québec City's 2009 Summer Festival on Thursday, July 16. Ticket on-sale information will be announced soon. For more info on the Festival visit http://www.infofestival.com .
Hartman lands Simmons, Stanley for 'OddParents'
While working on a three-part, prime-time Fairly OddParents special, creator/executive producer Butch Hartman and head writer Scott Fellows had a big decision to make concerning a plot point involving main character Timmy Turner.KISS FAN EXPO SWEDEN
KISS Army Sweden presents the 2009 KISS Fan Expo Sweden this Saturday, May 2nd in Vasteras (outside Stockholm)! Special Guest will be Lydia Criss. KISSonline is also attending!More New KISS 'Elder'-Period Footage Surfaces
Two additional "Music From The Elder"-period KISS clips have surfaced on YouTube (see below) as well as a "Creatures Of The Night"-era footage from KISS' 1983 Keil Auditorium concert in St. Louis, Missouri.KISS AND MAKE-UP
ARTIST James Kuhn faces up to a new challenge every day. For the wacky painter uses his own mug as a canvas for a new image every 24 hours.THE GREATEST SINGERS IN ROCK
A suitcase that was once owned by original KISS guitarist Ace Frehley and then given to John Harte, KISS' bodyguard and head of security in the 1970s and 1980s, is being auctioned via eBay. The same suitcase is sitting behind Ace in the Waring Abbott photo from April 24, 1974. It is signed by all four original KISS members in 1976 and even has the KISS logo hand-drawn by Paul Stanley and the words "This Belongs To" above Ace Frehley's signature. For more information, and to place a bid, go to this location.
THE GREATEST SINGERS IN ROCK
In the May issue of Classic Rock on sale now…The Greatest Singers In RockKingston Mayor And Chief Of Police Enlist In The KISS Army
If Gene Simmons comes to Kingston, Mayor Harvey Rosen said he knows just what he'll do.BRUCE KULICK: More Limited-Edition EP Details Released
Bruce Kulick (KISS, GRAND FUNK RAILROAD) is offering a limited-edition EP of tracks from his forthcoming "BK3" CD for sale through his web site, www.kulick.net. The three-song disc was created especially for Kulick's recently completed Australian guitar clinic tour, which took him to four cities during his brief one-week visit. Included on the disc are "No Friend of Mine" featuring guest vocalist John Corabi (MÖTLEY CRÜE, UNION, RATT, ESP), "And I Know" (featuring Kulick on vocals), and the instrumental track "Between The Lines" featuring a musical "supergroup" comprised of drummer Kenny Aronoff, bassist Jimmy Haslip, and the dual guitar attack of Kulick and Steve Lukather. The disc is available in extremely limited quantities, and orders are limited to two copies each. All copies will be hand-signed by Bruce Kulick, and orders from Australia will receive a "special bonus" along with their CD as a thank-you to the fans there who were unable to attend the clinic tour shows.PAUL STANLEY Donates First Bottles Of Signature Wine To Red Cross Australia
Kiss Army Australia reports that KISS guitarist/vocalist Paul Stanley will donate the first wines exclusively bottled for his new Paul Stanley Collection wine series to be auctioned simultaneously in Melbourne and Sydney on May 30 to raise funds for vital Red Cross services.ALICE COOPER, ACE FREHLEY Rehearsing For Tomorrow's 'Supergroup' Benefit Concert
Alice Cooper will headline the second annual "Supergroup" benefit concert tomorrow (Sunday, April 26) at Berklee Performance Center in Boston, Massachusetts. Joining him for the 7:00 p.m. show will be guitarist Ace Frehley (ex-KISS), guitarist Ricky Byrd (ex-JOAN JETT AND THE BLACKHEARTS), drummer Chad Smith (RED HOT CHILI PEPPERS), drummer Simon Kirke (ex-BAD COMPANY), guitarist Barry Goudreau (ex-BOSTON, Teddy "Zig Zag" Andreadis (ex-GUNS N' ROSES, ALICE COOPER), bassist Will Lee ("Late Show with David Letterman"), singer-harmonica player James Montgomery, singer Kate Taylor, bagpipe and tin whistle player Scruffy Wallace (DROPKICK MURPHYS) and guitarist Damon Johnson (ALICE COOPER).Kiss fans put Sault in running for concert
Cdr. Paul Berlingieri of Kiss Army headquarters, Sault Ste. Marie division, was "ecstatic" when his favourite rockers announced they would conduct their upcoming summer and fall tour based on the whims of their fans.New KISS 'Elder'-Period Footage Surfaces
Previously unreleased "outtake" footage from KISS' ill-fated "Music From The Elder" period has surfaced on YouTube (see below). This is the first time in nearly 13 years that any new "Elder"-era master tapes have been discovered. The clip, which is dated January 5, 1982, features band members Gene Simmons and Paul Stanley (along with their then-manger Bill Aucoin) talking about King Kong and former KISS road manager Sean Delaney as they prepare to tape a segment for a short-lived CBS-TV series. Also available is professionally shot footage from KISS' 1980 "Unmasked" stadium tour of Australia.CALL TO ARMS FOR KISS ARMY
DEMAND KISS: Peterborough now running seventh in rock band's online poll to pick 40 cities for tourKISS To Perform At CISCO OTTAWA BLUESFEST
KISS will perform at this year's Cisco Ottawa Bluesfest on Wednesday, July 15 in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada. Tickets go on sale to the general public Saturday, April 25 at 10 a.m. For more information, visit www.ottawabluesfest.ca.
KISS ON LIMA TV
Check out these two great TV clips of KISS in Lima on Canal 2 TV: Clip 1, Clip 2
RALLY FOR KIDS WITH CANCER
The Rally for Kids with Cancer Scavenger Cup is an exclusive car rally designed to raise much needed funds for Children's Hospital Los Angeles, and PADRES Contra El Cáncer. The money raised will be going towards cancer research, care, and treatment, in the hopes of one day ending children's cancer.KISS DAZZLED CARACAS
KISS dazzled Caracas with its impressive, hallucinogenic rock show!KISS ON 'THE FAIRLY ODDPARENTS'
As we reported in March 2008, Paul and Gene lent their voices to a special episode of Nickelodeon's highly rated animated show, 'The Fairly OddParents'. The episode, "Wishology", will air in three parts as follows:
Friday, May 8, at 8 PM EST
Friday, May 15, at 8 PM ESTACE FREHLEY: Video Footage From AMOEBA MUSIC In-Store Posted Online
Video footage of original KISS guitarist Ace Frehley's in-store appearance yesterday (Saturday, April 18) at Amoeba Music in Hollywood, California can be viewed below (courtesy of "rockiss"). Clip 1, Clip 2
ACE FREHLEY Debuts New Song At Hollywood In-Store
Original KISS guitarist Ace Frehley debuted a new solo track, "Pain in the Neck", from his forthcoming CD "Anomaly", during an appearance earlier today (Saturday, April 18) at Amoeba Music in Hollywood, California.PAUL ADDS 2 CHARLOTTE ART SHOWS
Wentworth Gallery is pleased to present two art exhibitions by artist, rock icon and legendary KISS frontman Paul Stanley. Paul will make two special appearances at Wentworth Gallery in June.
Saturday – June 13, 2009 – 5:00 PM – 8:00 PM
South Park Mall
4400 Sharon Road
Charlotte, NC 28211Canadians want Kiss
It appears Canadians really want their Kiss.KISS CLIPS FROM CARACAS
Here are a few clips of KISS from Venezuela yesterday:KISS In Lima: Peruvian TV Reports Available
Two separate Peruvian TV reports on KISS' first-ever concert in the country, which took place Tuesday night, April 14 at the 45,000-capacity Estadio Nacional stadium in Lima, can be viewed here: Clip 1, Clip 2
FAN FILMED KISS CONCERT CLIP
Here's a fan filmed clip of KISS' performing "Deuce" at River Plate Stadium in Buenos Aires
KISS SPECIAL ON BRAZILIAN COMEDY TV SHOW
Here's a 2 part clip of KISS on the comedy prorgam "Panic on TV": Part 1, Part 2
KISS ARRIVING IN LIMA
Check out these great clips of KISS arriving at the Lima, Peru Airport: Clip 1, Clip 2, Clip 3
KISS TV NEWS REPORT FROM LIMA
Here are 3 news reports on Peruvian KISS fans: Clip 1, Clip 2, Clip 3
KISS Members Greet Fans In Santiago
Video footage of KISS drummer Eric Singer and bassist/vocalist Gene Simmons greeting fans outside their hotel in Santiago, Chile can be viewed here.
02. Strutter
03. Got To Choose
04. Hotter Than Hell
05. Nothin' To Lose
06. C'Mon And Love Me
07. Parasite
08. She
09. Tommy Thayer Solo
10. 100,000 Years
11. Cold Gin
12. Let Me Go Rock 'N' Roll
13. Black Diamond
14. Rock And Roll All Nite
15. Shout It Out Loud
16. Lick It Up
17. Gene Solo
18. I Love It Loud
19. I Was Made For Lovin' You
20. Love Gun
21. Detroit Rock City
TV NEWS CLIP ON KISS' LIMA CONCERT
Here's a KISS concert clip that ran this morning on Peruvian TV
KISS Interviewed On Argentine TV Show 'CQC'
Argentine television show "Caiga Quien Caiga" (also known as "CQC") conducted an interview with the four members of KISS prior to the band's April 5, 2009 concert at the Quilmes Rock festival in front of 65,000 fans at the sold-out River Plate Stadium in Buenos Aires. Watch the chat here.
Nick Simmons' Comic Book Dreams
Gene Simmons' son Nick is launching his career as a cartoonist at this year's comic book mecca Comic Con.NEW KISS BOOK IN THE WORKS
KISS FANZINE PHENOMENON: Ken Sharp is helping put together a KISS book unlike any you've ever seen. This one will chronicle the history of the KISS fanzine phenomenon. Our intention is to honor all of your fanzine editors, your fanzines and of course all the KISS fans who read and enjoyed them.
Ken Sharp
16946 Burbank Blvd # 211
Encino, CA 91316 USAGENE, OR RUTH?
IMAGINE pastry chef Claudia Fleming's surprise when she slinked into the Four Seasons restaurant's ladies lounge on Monday and discovered Gene Simmons, the costumed crooner of Kiss. "She came running out like she'd seen a ghost," laughed the eatery's co-owner Julian Niccolini. What Fleming actually saw was Gourmet editrix Ruth Reichl primping for a video she was filming in the Pool Room. "Yes, it's true," a Gourmet rep told Page Six. "Ruth was in full Gene Simmons regalia . . . Stay tuned to gourmet.com for the full scoop."
PAUL STANLEY WASHBURN GUITARS
Things don't always happen in 'order'. So is life, right? Well, we have gotten a few of our PS5 series Paul Stanley Preacher guitars in recently from the FIRST RUN. This first run features a chrome set of Seymour Duncan humbuckers. A JB in the bridge position and a '59 in the neck. The run is a total of 8 pieces.BRUCE KULICK Issues Recap Of Australian Clinic Tour
Former KISS guitarist Bruce Kulick has issued a following update:KISS In Sao Paulo; Brazilian TV Report Available
Globo's "Jornal Hoje" program aired a one-minute report on KISS' April 7, 2009 concert in Sao Paulo. Watch the clip here.
SEPULTURA Frontman Interviews KISS For MTV Brazil
Vocalist Derrick Green of Brazilian/American thrashers SEPULTURA conducted an interview with the four members of KISS for the Brazilian version of MTV prior to KISS' April 7, 2009 concert in Sao Paulo. Watch the chat here.
U.K. Artist Paints Airbrushed PAUL STANLEY T-Shirt; Video Available
Video footage of professional airbrush artist Nick Smith painting an airbrushed Paul Stanley (KISS) t-shirt can be viewed in two parts below.KISS In Argentina: TV Report Available
CasinoPeru.com.pe has posted a three-minute report on KISS' April 5, 2009 concert at the Quilmes Rock festival in Argentina in front of 65,000 fans at the sold-out River Plate Stadium in Buenos Aires. Watch the clip here.
Ace's first ever video blog / Anomaly preview
Ace's first ever video blog is now up and available to watch!! It has a sneak peak at two more tracks from the upcoming Anomaly CD!! It also has some pics from the Hard Rock Cafe opening at Yankee Stadium. www.acefrehley.com/rocket-rides
KISS: Pro-Shot Footage From Last Night's Show In Buenos Aires Available
Last night's (Sunday, April 5) KISS performance at the Quilmes Rock festival in Argentina in front of 65,000 fans at the sold-out River Plate Stadium in Buenos Aires was webcast via the 10musica.com web site. Youcan now watch clips from the show here: Clip 1, Clip 2, Clip 3, Clip 4, Clip 5, Clip 6, Clip 7
KISS Announces First-Ever Fan-Routed Tour
KISS is celebrating 35 years of rockin' the world like no other band has ever done before. The legendary band, currently touring soccer stadiums of South America, announced from Brazil today that their upcoming U.S. and Canadian tour will be the world's first to put fans in charge of where their favorite artist plays. By partnering with Eventful, the leading social media company for events, fans will "Demand" where KISS will perform on their latest trek across the top-voted North American markets beginning this September. No matter where the fans say — from stadiums to cornfields — if there are enough votes, KISS will be there! And in order to keep the competition fair for smaller cities, final site selection will weigh population size versus total votes.KISS In Brazil; TV Report Available
Brazilian media company Globo has posted a video report on KISS' visit to the country as part of the band's current South American tour.KISS KOUNTDOWN BEGINS
MAJOR KISS ANNOUNCEMENT...AT KISS ONLINE ON MONDAY AT 3PM EDT!
Tonight's Concert To Be Webcast
Tonight's (Sunday, April 5) KISS performance at the Quilmes Rock festival in Argentina in front of 65,000 fans at the sold-out River Plate Stadium in Buenos Aires will be webcast via the 10musica.com web site. KISS will perform at 22:00 Argentinian time (9:00 p.m. EST/6:00 p.m. PST)
"ROCK & ROLL ALL NITE" FROM CHILE
Here's a great video clip of "Rock & Roll All Nite" from Santiago, Chile. The clip is compliments of ROCKnVIVO. Check out Paul's new costume.
NEW STRING & PICK PACK
NEW STRING & PICK PACK: This package includes Ernie Ball® Hybrid Slinky® nickel wound guitar strings; gauges 9-11-16-26-36-46. Just like Tommy uses onstage.KISS CLIP ON ARGENTINIAN TV
Here's KISS on the TN TV channel in Argentina. The band will rock River Plate Stadium tonight!
KISS Kicks Off South American Tour; Video Footage Available
KISS kicked off its South American tour last night (Friday, April 3) at the sold-out, 18,000-capacity Municipal De La Florida in Santiago, Chile. The group's setlist included the following songs (not in exact order):
* Strutter
* Got To Choose
* Hotter Than Hell
* Nothin' To Lose
* C'Mon And Love Me
* Parasite
* She
* Watchin' You
* 100,000 Years
* Cold Gin
* Let Me Go Rock'N'Roll
* Black Diamond
* Rock And Roll All Nite
* Shout It Out Loud
* Lick It Up
* I Love It Loud
* I Was Made For Loving You
* Love Gun
* Detroit Rock CityPETER CRISS Reveals CHILLER THEATRE Signing And Photo 'Fees'
Original KISS drummer Peter Criss will make a guest appearance at the Chiller Theatre toy, model and film expo on April 17-19 at the Hilton Hotel in Parsippany, New Jersey. According to a post on his web site, "Peter will be signing autographs and taking photos. His guest signing fee starts at $40.00. Photos will be taken by our photographer only — fee is $10.00." For more information, go to this location.
Video Greetings For Fans In Colombia, Venezuela
Video messages from KISS members Paul Stanley and Gene Simmons for their fans in Colombia and Venezuela shot just prior to the start of the band's South American tour can be viewed here: Clip 1, Clpi 2
ACE FREHLEY, ANTHRAX Members Perform At Hard Rock Café Yankee Stadium Grand Opening
Original KISS guitarist Ace Frehley performed yesterday (Thursday, April 2) at the grand opening of the 7,000-square-foot Hard Rock Café in the new Yankee Stadium. Frehley was backed by guitarist Scott Ian (ANTHRAX), bassist Frank Bello (ANTHRAX) and drummer Anton Fig ("Late Show with David Letterman") for a performance of the classic song "New York Groove". Check out photos at this location. Video footage of the event can be seen here.
GENE SIMMONS Talks South American Tour, Upcoming Album
Peru's ElComercio.com.pe web site conducted an interview with KISS bassist/vocalist Gene Simmons late last month. Listen to the three-and-a-half-minute chat here.
Paul Stanley Rocks the Artworld
Besides the occasional body paint and stage make up, rock stars aren’t usually known for their artistic touch. But every rule has its exception and KISS lead singer Paul Stanley is just that: an exception. The rocker’s paintings often tout $70,000 price tags. If it hadn’t been for school, he may have gone the way of Picasso earlier on.KISS INTERVIEW ON PERUVIAN TV
Here is a TV interview with Paul and Gene that aired on channel Canal 4 in Lima, Peru: Part 1, Part 2
PAUL ADDS 2 CHARLOTTE ART SHOWS
Wentworth Gallery is pleased to present two art exhibitions by artist, rock icon and legendary KISS frontman Paul Stanley. Paul will make two special appearances at Wentworth Gallery in June.
South Park Mall
4400 Sharon Road
Charlotte, NC 28211KISS To Play This Year's VOODOO EXPERIENCE?
According to WDSU.com, Voodoo Experience festival founder Steve Rehage has announced that he has booked many performers for this year's event — which will take place the weekend of Oct. 30-Nov. 1 in New Orleans, Louisiana — including the rock band KISS.KISS To Complete New Album In July
KISS bassist/vocalist Gene Simmons has told the Brazilian web site Comércio do Jahu that the band's new album will be completed in July for a September release. According to Simmons, the group has already finished recording the vocals and guitar for four tracks, with the finished product expected to include between 12 and 15 songs. Simmons describes the album's direction as the "classic KISS sound," not a million miles removed from the "Rock and Roll Over" LP but with a more modern production. The group's first album since 1998's "Psycho Circus" is being produced by KISS guitarist/vocalist Paul Stanley and will contain "no rap or country," Simmons said.[AceFrehley.com] All-New Merchandise arrived today
(www.acefrehley.com/) Ace wanted me to let you know about an exciting week he's got planned for you, starting with All-New Merchandise arriving today into The Official Ace Frehley Store!!!! Also, check your email in the next couple of days for Ace's first ever video blog AND..... this Thursday, April 2nd, the Hard Rock Cafe will open at the New Yankee Stadium, and guess who's showing up?? Ace Frehley!!! This event will feature the SpaceMan from the Bronx backed by Scott Ian, Frank Bello & Anton Fig performing the classic hit "New York Groove". This grand opening is unfortunately closed to the public.... BUT, get all the pics here at AceFrehley.com............. and finally...... I've still been getting a lot of questions about the "mystery" song playing on the AceFrehley.com home page............. It's called "Know Where You Go" off Anton Fig's record Figments............. They recorded it around 5 years ago with Sebastian Bach & Richie Scarlet.......... You can get the full song & the ringtone to it on iTunes..... The link below will get you there............. Mystery solved!!!!!!!
GENE SIMMONS Says Four Songs Have Been Recorded So Far For New KISS Album
KISS bassist/vocalist Gene Simmons has issued the following update:ALICE COOPER, KISS Guitar Legends To Guest On 'Metal Lessons Radio'
This week's edition of "Metal Lessons Radio", a theme-based hard rock and metal show, will feature Dick Wagner (ALICE COOPER, LOU REED) and Bob Kulick (Grammy Award-winning producer, and guitarist).
Wednesday, April 1 at 2:00 p.m. EST
Wednesday, April 1 at 4:00 p.m. EST
Sunday, March 29 at 10:00 a.m. EST
PAUL STANLEY: New KISS Album To Be Released In September
KISS guitarist/vocalist Paul Stanley has told Brazil's O Dia Online that the band's new LP will be released in September. He also described it as "a classic KISS album" and a throwback to the "Destroyer" and "Love Gun" songwriting style bit with modern production.
Five questions for...Gene Simmons
Not only is Gene Simmons the God of Thunder (and rock and roll), he's now the proud owner of a Canadian-based record label—Simmons Records, an imprint of Universal Music Canada. With Belinda Stronach at his side (the pair met when Simmons was marketing her dad's energy drinks), he'll sign three Canadian acts this year with the goal of creating the biggest band in the world—aside from Kiss, obviously.KISS TV ADS
Check out these 2 KISS commercials that aired this week on TV in Argentina! Clip 1, Clip 2
PAUL STANLEY on the New Album
KISS guitarist/vocalist Paul Stanley has told legendary rock photographer Ross Halfin that the band is "well on the way" recording its new studio album. According to Halfin, Stanley said "it sounds unmistakeably and very much like the early classics, though sonically miles beyond."
GENE SIMMONS' DR PEPPER Commercial Posted Online
KISS bassist/vocalist Gene Simmons is the latest celebrity to appear in Dr Pepper's "Trust Me, I'm a Dr" campaign as Dr. Love. As part of the campaign, Simmons and his son Nick Simmons recently filmed a TV commercial introducing new Dr Pepper Cherry which will begin airing on March 30. You can now watch the commercial here.
BRUCE KULICK: 'BK3' EP Details Revealed
Former KISS guitarist Bruce Kulick will make a "BK3" limited-edition EP available at his upcoming clinics for Allans Music in Australia. The CD will feature guest appearances by TOTO's Steve Lukather and John Corabi (MÖTLEY CRÜE, UNION, RATT, ESP).
* No Friend Of Mine (feat. John Corabi on vocals)
* And I Know (vocals by Bruce Kulick)
* Between The Lines (feat. Steve Lukather)
April 01 - Melbourne - 7:00pm
April 02 - Brisbane - 6:30pm
April 03 - Adelaide - 7:00pm
April 04 - Sydney - 5:00pm
* I Will Survive
* Life
* It's Never Enough (Doug Fieger on vocals)
* Is Not Gonna Die (co-written with Gene Simmons on vocals)
* Hand Of The King (Co-written with Nick Tweed Simmons on vocals)
* I Am The Animal (Tobias Sammet on vocals, Eric Singer on drums)
KISS Confirmed For Sarnia's ROGERS BAYFEST
According toThe London Free Press, KISS and STONE TEMPLE PILOTS are among the confirmed artists for the two-weekend Rogers Bayfest concert, set to take place in July in Sarnia, Ontario, Canada.ACE FREHLEY: 'Anomaly' Track Listing Revealed?
According to the Copyright.gov web site, which includes a searchable database of documents filed with the United States Copyright Office, original KISS guitarist Ace Frehley's new solo album, "Anomaly", will feature the following track listing:
02. Foxy & Free
03. Sister
04. Too Many Faces
05. It's A Great Life
06. Skels
07. A Little Below The Angels
08. Fox On The Run (SWEET cover)
09. Change The World
10. Pain In the Neck
11. Genghis Khan
12. Fractured QuantumGENE SIMMONS' DR PEPPER Commercial To Begin Airing Next Week
Dr Pepper just got a whole lot smoother with the introduction of the new flavor Dr Pepper Cherry. The exciting new blend combines the great taste of Dr Pepper with the perfect amount of cherry flavor. It's so amazingly smooth; you have to try it to believe it.AceFrehley.com: Tickets are on sale now
Ace wanted to remind you guys that tix are ON SALE NOW for the Sunday, April 26 Benefit Concert in Boston with ALICE COOPER, SIMON KIRKE (Bad Company), CHAD SMITH (Red Hot Chili Peppers) & many more!!!! It's for a cause really close to Ace & he'd love to see all of his friends there! You can get all the info on the concert on the GETAWAY PAGE & purchase tickets directly at this link.
TV COMMERCIAL FROM BRAZIL
Here's a TV commercial for KISS' Brazil Shows.
KISS IKONS TRADING CARDS
KISS Ikons, the new trading card set from Press Pass, goes behind the scenes with a 90-card base set that includes rare and never-before-seen photos, along with quotes directly from current and former band members about everything KISS. Discover everything from how the band got its name to the inspiration behind some of their most memorable songs.DEREK SHERINIAN: I 'Reinforced' PAUL STANLEY On KISS' 'Alive III'
On the March 14 edition of "The Classic Metal Show", keyboardist Derek Sherinian talked about his latest solo release, "Molecular Heinosity", and his involvement with KISS on the band's "Alive III" tour. An excerpt from the interview follows below.KISS CLIP ON NEWS IN ARGENTINA!
Check out this live KISS clip that aired on the news in Argentina. KISS will perform at River Plate Stadium in Buenos Aires on April 5.
Gene Simmons: A Response to Bob Lefsetz
Before we start this review of my Keynote Speech at CMS from a guy who's blog was forwarded to me, I'm going to take the liberty of telling everyone I'm going to comment as we go along.Kiss guitarist Paul Stanley displays artistic side
When it comes to glam rock stars, Paul Stanley always could wield that makeup brush with the best of them.ALICE COOPER, ACE FREHLEY, CHAD SMITH To Perform At 'Supergroup' Benefit Concert
Alice Cooper will headline the second annual "Supergroup" benefit concert on April 26 at Berklee Performance Center in Boston, Massachusetts. Joining him for the 7:00 p.m. show will be guitarist Ace Frehley (ex-KISS), guitarist Ricky Byrd (ex-JOAN JETT AND THE BLACKHEARTS), drummer Chad Smith (RED HOT CHILI PEPPERS), drummer Simon Kirke (ex-BAD COMPANY), guitarist Barry Goudreau (ex-BOSTON, Teddy "Zig Zag" Andreadis (ex-GUNS N' ROSES, ALICE COOPER), bassist Will Lee ("Late Show with DAvid Letterman"), singer-harmonica player James Montgomery, singer Kate Taylor, bagpipe and tin whistle player Scruffy Wallace (DROPKICK MURPHYS) and guitarist Damon Johnson (ALICE COOPER).GENE SIMMONS Vs. BOB LEFSETZ: Entire Video of Debate Available
Video footage of the entire 34-minute debate between Bob Lefsetz, who is described one of the music industry's most influential online analysts, and KISS bassist Gene Simmons, which took place yesterday (Friday, March 13) in the main ballroom at the Royal York Hotel in downtown Toronto during Canadian Music Week, can be viewed here.
GENE SIMMONS Vs. BOB LEFSETZ: Entire Audio of Debate
The debate can be downloaded as an MP3 audio file (54 MB) from Medium Online.
Music Industry Analyst Calls GENE SIMMONS An 'A**hole' And A 'Weasel'
Bob Lefsetz, who is described one of the music industry's most influential online analysts, and KISS bassist Gene Simmons took part in a hastily convened debate earlier today (Friday, March 13) in the main ballroom at the Royal York Hotel in downtown Toronto during Canadian Music Week.Simmons, Lefsetz To Debate At Canadian Music Week
Industry pundit Bob Lefsetz and outlandish Kiss bassist/gadfly Gene Simmons were poised to square off in a battle royale of massive egos at Canadian Music Week after the pair exchanged e-mail insults on the first day of the conference.Kiss Hit the Studio for "Meat and Potatoes" Album With "Classic '70s Rock & Roll Vibe"
The first studio album from Kiss in more than a decade will include songs “about the obvious things,” says bassist-singer Gene Simmons, citing titles such as “Rotten To The Core.” “No secret to life, no political messaging, nothing like that,” he says of the lyrics.GENE SIMMONS In Toronto: Video Report, Fan-Filmed Clips Available
KISS bassist/vocalist Gene Simmons was in Toronto, Ontario, Canada yesterday (Thursday, March 12) to make a keynote speech at Canadian Music Week, taking a break from recording KISS's first studio album in 10 years.KISS recording first album in decade
KISS bassist Gene Simmons did his best Phil Donahue yesterday. He roved the aisles in a Toronto hotel ballroom with a microphone in hand, no script, and interacting with audience members during his keynote address at Canadian Music Week.LEGENDARY ROCKERS LIFT AILING FAN'S SPIRITS
The phone rang Wednesday afternoon in Christopher "Critter" Smith's room at Cincinnati Children's Hospital Medical Center.PAUL ON SHOWBIZ TONIGHT THIS WEEKEND
Paul Stanley will appear on CNN’s Showbiz Tonight (Airs on CNN’s HLN—formerly Headline News) on Saturday and Sunday, March 14 & 15 at 11:00 p.m. ET / 11:00 p.m. PT .Simmons takes 'star power' over talent
Gene Simmons wants Canadian bands for his new record label. But the Kiss frontman says he values star power over talent.Kiss begin work on first album in 11 years
Kiss have begun work on the long awaited follow-up to 1998's Psycho Circus. According to guitarist Paul Stanley, who is producing the as yet untitled record himself, the album will have a "classic 70's Kiss sound". However the band are reportedly in "no rush" to finish it, and will embark a South American tour next month as part of their 35th anniversary world tour. The band's show at Simon Bolivar Park in Bogata, Columbia on April 11 is expected to go ahead as planned, even though Columbian authorities are currently debating whether any more heavy metal concerts will be allowed to take palce in the country following a riot before an Iron Maiden concert over the weekend.
KISS PROMO CLIP FOR PERU SHOW
KISS will make their first ever appearance in Peru on April 14th! The band will perform at the 45,000 seat Estadio Nacional Stadium in Lima as part of their 2009 South American Tour. Check out this promotional clip from Lima, Peru:
PAUL STANLEY HELPS YOUTH BASEBALL TEAM
PAUL STANLEY, lead singer of the legendary rock band KISS, has come to the aid of the Fishers, Indiana fourth grade Youth Travel Baseball Team - the HSE Fishers Cats! Stanley donated one of his signature model Washburn guitars to help the team raise money to help offset some expenses of their upcoming summer season. The autographed Paul Stanley 'Preacher' guitar will be raffled off at the 2009 Indianapolis KISS Fan Expo on March 15th. 100% of all proceeds from sales of raffle tickets will go to the team.
Simmons and Stronach: hope to make beautiful music together
The blood-spewing, kabuki demon is happy to talk “360 marketing” and the search for teen acts to tailor into the next big thing – even a Jonas Brothers-like boy band, if that's what it takes.Ace Merchandise Store is now open
In case you hadn't heard, Ace's official merchandise store "Two Sides of the Coin" is up & running, with limited quantities of a bunch of out of print 2008 Rocket Ride Tour stuff..............And......... Ace also has his own MySpace and Facebook pages up....... so check those out too!
PETER CRISS To Appear At CHILLER THEATRE Expo
Original KISS drummer Peter Criss has been added to the list of artists who are scheduled to make guest appearances at the Chiller Theatre toy, model and film expo on April 17-19 at the Hilton Hotel in Parsippany, New Jersey. For more information, go to this location.
NEW KISS TRADING CARD SET
Forget your baseball cards for a minute … the latest non-sport set from Press Pass will have collectors breathing fire, spitting up blood, throwing the goat and ripping packs with the dial turned up to 11.PAUL ADDS NEW PENNSYLVANIA ART SHOWS
Wentworth Gallery is pleased to present two art exhibitions by artist, rock icon and legendary KISS frontman Paul Stanley. Paul will make two special appearances at Wentworth Gallery in May.
Saturday – May 16 - 5:00 PM – 8:00 PM
The Court at King of Prussia
690 West Dekalb Pike
King of Prussia, PAFormer/Current Members Of KISS, QUIET RIOT To Guest On ROCK STAR & SUPER STAR Debut
Chris Caffery (SAVATAGE, TRANS-SIBERIAN ORCHESTRA), Carlos Cavazo (QUIET RIOT, RATT), Mark Slaughter (SLAUGHTER), Zak Stevens (SAVATAGE, CIRCLE II CIRCLE), Jon Oliva (SAVATAGE, TRANS-SIBERIAN ORCHESTRA) and Bruce Kulick (KISS) will reportedly make guest appearances on the upcoming debut album from ROCK STAR & SUPER STAR, entitled "Serenity". The CD is said to be a project spun to raise awareness for twin brothers Marc "Rock Star" and Kris "Super Star" Kancler's non-profit organization We Are One, which is aimed at supporting kids that are recovering from drug addition.FROM KISS FRONT MAN TO GALLERY ARTISTE
On an overcast afternoon in the tony New Jersey enclave of Short Hills, dozens of patrons have packed into the Wentworth Gallery to celebrate an art opening. Glasses of chilled chardonnay are served in the white-walled space as a battalion of gallery assistants respond to customer queries about abstract works in shades of blush and marigold. But make no mistake: this is not your average academic art exhibit. A quick scan of the attendees reveals lots of big hair, tight jeans and hints of rocker-girl décolletage. The sound system throbs with the refrain "Lick it up, lick it up." And perched behind a velvet stanchion, in an unbuttoned silk shirt that reveals just the right amount of furry, well-carved chest, is the artist: Kiss guitarist and front man Paul Stanley.PAUL ON CNN WEDNESDAY
Paul Stanley will be featured tomorrow morning on CNN’s American Morning.GENE SIMMONS' 'Alter Ego' Box Set To See Light Of Day This Year
KISS bassist/vocalist Gene Simmons' long-promised box set of previously unreleased solo material, which has apparently had several different working titles over the years — including "Monster" and "100" — will finally see the light of day in 2009. Responding to a fan's letter in the letters section of his official web site, Gene writes, "I've always written 'outside' stuff, but KISS is KISS. And that means the outside stuff winds up on solo albums, or I keep it in the drawer. This year, I plan on releasing 'Alter Ego', a box set of unreleased songs...about 150 of 'em. You'll hear more 'outside' stuff. "
2009 RIO CARNIVAL CLIP
Check out this clip of the 2009 Rio Carnival featuring school 'Salgueiro' from Rio de Janeiro honoring KISS with their Gene inspired costumes.
PAUL STANLEY INTERVIEW ON CW 11
Paul Stanley Talks About Artwork and KISS tour: Video
Sneak Peek Video into the new album... Anomaly
(www.acefrehley.com) Here's a peek at one of the new Anomaly tracks, "Pain In The Neck." I've been tweaking the solo & this is pretty close to what you'll hear on the album.........www.acefrehley.com/rocket-rides More to come............ Ace
PAUL STANLEY ON ABC 7 TV
As he celebrates his 35th anniversary as the lead singer of KISS, Paul Stanley is making another name for himself as a painter and artist. More recently, he celebrated more than $3-million in sales of his paintings in 2008. Paul Stanley joined us this morning with details of his art show in New Jersey.
Paul Stanley's local show:
Saturday - February 28, 2009- 4:00 PM - 7:00 PM
Wentworth Gallery
The Mall at Short Hills
1200 Morris Turnpike
Short Hills, NJ
For details on the VIP Reception with Paul Stanley or to RSVP please call 973-564-9776 or 800-732-6140.
PAUL'S WEEKEND MEDIA APPEARANCES
Paul will appear on the following NY area TV programs to promote his New Jersey art exhibitions and highly successful art career.
CW11 / PIX Morning Show - 8:45 AM
WNBC Weekend Today in New York - 10:00 AM
WCBS 2 NEWS - 6:45 AM
ABC Morning News NY - 7:45 AM
KISS To Enter Studio Next Week
KISS guitarist/vocalist Paul Stanley was a guest on the "Happy Hour" show this afternoon (Thursday, February 26) on the Fox Business network. During the segment, which can be viewed here, Stanley confirmed to that he, Gene Simmons and the rest of KISS will enter the studio next week to grind out a new record for release this fall. "It's a KISS album in the most true and classic sense — we're recording it in analog, not digital, and writing it ourselves," Stanley recently said.
Paul Stanley rock 'n' rolls all night and paints (almost) every day
He’s more famous for painting his face, not canvases, but for years Paul Stanley, frontman for the legendary rock band Kiss, has been making the move from huge arenas to small galleries. Stanley, 57, will be in New Jersey this weekend for two art shows featuring his paintings and sculptures. The native New Yorker filled us in on his art:PAUL STANLEY To Guest On FOX BUSINESS' 'Happy Hour'
KISS guitarist/vocalist Paul Stanley will guest on the "Happy Hour" show this afternoon (Thursday, February 26) at 5:45 p.m. on the Fox Business network. The topic of the discussion will be Paul's successful art career and KISS' 35th anniversary.
BRUCE KULICK Talks About Upcoming Solo Album
Former KISS guitarist Bruce Kulick was interviewed by Belgian TV channel ACTV on February 16, 2009 prior to ESP's (ERIC SINGER PROJECT) concert at Spirit of 66 in Verviers, Belgium. Watch the two-minute chat here.
* I Will Survive
* And I Know
* No Friend Of Mine (John Corabi on vocals)
* Life
* It's Never Enough (Doug Fieger on vocals)
* Is Not Gonna Die (co-written with Gene Simmons on vocals)
* Hand Of The King (Co-written with Nick Tweed Simmons on vocals)
* [Instrumental] (with Steve Lukather)
* I Am The Animal (Tobias Sammet on vocals, Eric Singer on drums)
ERIC SINGER PROJECT: Verviers Footage Available
Fan-filmed video footage of ESP (ERIC SINGER PROJECT) — the band featuring Bruce Kulick (KISS, GRAND FUNK RAILROAD), Eric Singer (KISS, ALICE COOPER), John Corabi (MÖTLEY CRÜE, RATT) and Chuck Garric (ALICE COOPER, DIO) — performing on February 16, 2009 at Route 66 in Verviers, Belgium can be viewed below (clips uploaded by "cardeheij").'Kiss Kompendium' Due In October
Gene Simmons and Paul Stanley's "Kiss Kompendium", a compilation of all KISS comics featuring the adventures of the band's four superhero characters defeating evil with comic icons like Spiderman, the X-Men, the Fantastic Four, the Hulk, and Wolverine, will be released on October 27 via Collins Design. The foreword was written by Gene Simmons.
'Family Jewels' Season 4 Photographic Sneak Peek
A&E TV has posted photos of the fourth season of "Gene Simmons Family Jewels", reality television show that follows the family life of the rock star Gene Simmons of KISS, his former Playboy Playmate of the Year partner Shannon Tweed and their two children Nick, 19 and Sophie, 16.
KISS CLIP FROM ARGENTINA
Here's a KISS clip that recently aired on the TN TV channel in Argentina. KISS will perform at River Plate Stadium in Buenos Aires on April 5.
PAUL Lays Down Vocals For New PUSHKING Album
KISS frontman Paul Stanley has finished laying down vocals for the track "Cut the Wire" for Russian rockers PUSHKING's new album, "Pushking Duets", to be released in late 2009.Ace puts up last makeup pic and rare pic from 1977
(www.acefrehley.com) We've updated the 12 pics section with 12 new pictures, including the last makeup pic from the Dunkin' Doughnuts commercial and a rare non makeup pic from 1977. www.acefrehley.com/12-pics/
ERIC SINGER Says Recording Sessions For New KISS Album Have Not Yet Begun
KISS drummer Eric Singer was interviewed by Belgian TV channel ACTV on February 16, 2009 prior to ESP's (ERIC SINGER PROJECT) concert at Spirit of 66 in Verviers, Belgium. Watch the two-minute chat here.
Canadian Tenors gets KISS of approval
KISS frontman Gene Simmons isn't a big opera fan, but he does have a good entrepreneurial eye, and the first time he witnessed The Canadian Tenors he loved what he heard.THIS DAY IN KISSTORY 1974
DEBUT KISS ALBUM RELEASED - Today is the 35th Anniversary of the release of KISS' self-titled debut album!KISS To Close Chile's PEPSI MUSIC FESTIVAL
According to El Mercurio, KISS will close the the Pepsi Music Festival in Santiago, Chile on April 3.Ten Teachers Who Made a Mark in Another Field
Everyone is concerned about the number of teachers leaving the profession. These ten individuals left teaching and went on to achieve greatness in their chosen fields. For some, you might think it possible that they would have done still more good remaining in the classroom.WHAT I SAVED IN THE FIRE
The following article was in the Australian Sun-Herald (one of Sydney's Sunday newspapers) with regard to the recent horrible Victorian bushfires. They ran the feature titled "What I Saved", and this Aron (see below) saved his treasured KISS autographed guitar...!
Age: 35
Lived: Whittlesea Road, FlowerdalePS 2000 "10th ANNIVERSARY" EDITION
Here's the latest Paul Stanley Guitar from Washburn, the 10th Anniversary edition of the classic PS2000. The guitar is available in Black, White and Cracked Mirror.
Mahogany body with maple cap
Gloss finish
8 ply binding
Tone Pros® tune-o-matic bridge
Paul Stanley Tailpiece
Seymour Duncan '59 neck pickup
Seymour Duncan JB bridge pickup
3-way toggle switch
2 volume, 1 tone control
Mahogany set neck
Ebony fingerboard with Paul Stanley pearl/abalone split block inlays (X at 12th fret)
22 jumbo frets
24.75" scale
14" fingerboard radius
Double action truss rod
Graph Tech nut
18:1 Grover tuners
Buzz Feiten Tuning System
Case: GC31 Included
Colors: Black, White, Cracked Mirror
Former KISS Guitarist BRUCE KULICK Schedules Australian Clinics
Former KISS guitarist Bruce Kulick has scheduled the following in-store appearances/clinics in Australia in conjunction with Allans Music.
April 02 - Brisbane - 6:30 p.m. (soundcheck 4:30 p.m.)
April 03 - Adelaide - 7 p.m. (soundcheck 5 p.m.)
April 04 - Sydney - 5 p.m. (soundcheck 3 p.m.)
CAFFEINATED CROSS-BRANDING
At KISS Coffeehouse, Rock 'n' Roll All Night and Drink Coffee Every DayKISS Singer Paul Stanley Welcomes a Daughter
KISS frontman Paul Stanley and his wife Erin welcomed an 8 lb. baby girl on Jan. 28, the rocker's rep tells PEOPLE exclusively.PAUL ON JIM KERR SHOW
Paul made an appearance on the Jim Kerr Morning Show today to promote his upcoming Art show at Wentworth Gallery.Wiped Out/Hard Times Limelight New York from 1992
(http://www.acefrehley.com) Here's a clip of a song I rarely play live... Wiped Out was co-written by my good friend Anton Fig. Anton played drums on my '78 solo record, the solo stuff in the 80's, and I'm proud to say Anomaly too! You can see him every night on the skins on the David Letterman Show. Hard Times is off Dynasty... Enjoy!
Click here to read part 5 of the News Archive
