News Archive September 2009
From: Billboard.com
by Gary Graff
Posted: September 15, 2009
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
"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."
