News Archive November 2010

A Rock And Roll Derby Weekend
From: The Star Phoenix
by Rory Maclean and Jeanette Stewart
Posted: November 19, 2010

Saskatoon continued to roll out the red carpet for celebrities Gene Simmons and Shannon Tweed during the weekend.

The famous couple were guests at a Saskatoon roller derby match Saturday night, seated on a stage in the stands with other special guests.

A former model and actress, Tweed is the common-law wife of rock 'n' roll superstar Simmons, who plays bass in the band KISS. Born in St. John's, Newfoundland but raised in Saskatoon, she graduated from Mount Royal Collegiate before she began her modelling career.

The couple were in Saskatoon during the weekend taping an episode of their reality show Gene Simmons Family Jewels, which features the couple and their two children Nick and Sophia.

At the roller derby event, KISS T-shirts were dotted among the crowd, a mixed bag running from younger teens to the middle-aged.

One fan, Daniel McLeod, sported a KISS flag as a cape. The flag featured Simmons in his black and white stage makeup with his iconic tongue hanging down.

McLeod had never been to roller derby before, but when he found out Simmons and his wife would be at the match, he decided to come catch a glimpse of the rock star.

"KISS was pretty much it for me in high school," he said.

"They're awesome live, too, especially Gene. Spitting blood on stage, breathing fire; the guy knows how to put on a show," said McLeod.

He was hoping to get the flag autographed after the match.

"It's not every day you get a chance to meet a rock star."

On Friday the famous couple attended a Saskatoon Blades game as part of the taping of the show, which featured Tweed participating in a puck-dropping ceremony, and Simmons playing goal tender in an on-ice shoot out.

The StarPhoenix also received an email from a reader named Cara Ong, who saw the couple in the Starbucks in the Midtown Mall.

Starstruck by the sighting, Ong tried to call her husband to tell him what was happening.

"Halfway through me telling Jamie that I was in line behind Gene Simmons he took my phone and left a message on our answering machine saying something like, 'This is Gene Simmons. Jamie you are going to be so jealous because I'm standing beside your wife right now.'"

Simmons signed an autograph for Ong's husband and told her she looked too young to be married.

"Overall, it was the best trip to Starbucks ever," she said.