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Monthly Archives: November 2016

KISS add UK dates to European tour

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Martin Kielty | Team Rock

screen-shot-2016-11-29-at-1-11-19-pmKiss have extended their 2017 European tour, adding dates in the UK, Denmark, Italy and the Czech Republic.

This week the band revealed a run of shows starting on May 1. Now they’ve listed eight new dates, taking their schedule up to the end of the month.

Bassist Gene Simmons recently said of the Kiss approach to performing: “All that matters is what happens on that stage – that’s electric church.

“It’s our job – anyone who gets up on that stage – to create magic time. To take you away, just for those few hours… and then you get back to gravity, and all the chaos that’s out there.”

Tickets go on general sale on December 2 (Friday), except in Finland, where sales commence on December 5. Pre-sales begin on November 29 (today) in the UK, Germany, Sweden and Russia, on November 30 in Denmark, and on December 1 in Norway, Austria and Holland.

Pre-sales are available via the Kiss Army site.

Kiss updated European tour 2017

May 01: Moscow Olympiski, Russia
May 04: Helsinki Hartwell Arena, Finland
May 06: Stockholm Tele2 Arena, Sweden
May 07: Oslo Spekrun, Norway
May 09: Horsens Forum, Denmark
May 10: Gothenburg Scandinavium, Sweden
May 12: Dortmund Westfallenhalle, Germany
May 13: Stuttgart Schleyerhalle, Germany
May 15: Torino Pala Alpitour, Italy
May 16: Bologna Unipol Arena, Italy
May 18: Munich Olympiahalle, Germany
May 20: Brno BCC, Czech Republic
May 21: Vienna Stadthalle, Austria
May 23: Franfurt Festhalle, German
May 24: Rotterdam Ahoy, Holland
May 27: Glasgow SSE Hydro, UK
May 28: Birmingham Barclaycard Arena, UK
May 30: Manchester Arena, U
May 31: London O2 Arena, UK

 

Ace Frehley interview: street gangs, stabbings, and Paul Stanley’s IQ

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Henry Yates | Metal Hammer

hqtvh8n4c0uct8d0-fill640x320xWith his intergalactic face-paint and rocket-launching Les Paul, Ace Frehley’s ‘Spaceman’ stage persona of the 70s suggested a man who had fallen to earth. The truth was more prosaic. Paul Daniel Frehley was born in April 1951 in the notorious Bronx district of New York, but escaped a life of crime and menial labour when, in 1972, he spotted a small-ad in the Village Voice – ‘Lead guitarist wanted with flash and ability’– and joined Gene Simmons, Paul Stanley and Peter Criss in Kiss. By 1982 he’d left the Kiss line-up in a narcotic haze. Today he’s sober, promoting a new Gibson Les Paul signature model, and has, as the title of his recent autobiography says, no regrets.

This interview originally appeared in Classic Rock 170.

Do you think you’re ageing well?

Yeah. I think the fact I don’t drink any more helps a lot. After a while, in your 50s and 60s, drinking really ages you. I miss the insanity of it, and some of the crazy situations, but I still have fun today, it’s just controlled mayhem. The more I abused alcohol and drugs, the more blackouts I had. So those areas of my book were hardest to write. Probably the biggest black spot was after I left Kiss, so my friends, family and the people who were around at the time had to jog my memory.

What regrets do you have?

None, really. I probably wasn’t a good role model, because my career got in the way of my family life and it’s hard to do both well. That’s not a regret, though, because if I hadn’t chosen my career I wouldn’t be where I am today. You can’t change the past.

Wasn’t it a bit harsh to reveal in your book that Gene had pubic lice?

Well, we all had them, but it originated with Gene. Actually, most people who know Gene have said I went pretty easy on him. I sent him a copy for Christmas but I haven’t gotten any feedback yet. Gene’s heart is in the right place a lot of times, and on a personal level we get along fine, but he makes business decisions I don’t agree with and that’s when we run into problems. We had lunch a few months back and just reminisced about old times. But Gene likes to hear himself talk, y’know? He talks about three people: me, myself and I. You have an IQ of 163. How come you’ve done so many stupid things? That’s where addiction comes in. Kiss once took an IQ test, and I was on top. I guess my brain was working good that morning – thank God for good genes. I think Paul got the lowest score. No, that didn’t surprise me. A frontman doesn’t have to be a genius, he just has to have the right moves. But with an IQ test, there are people who are brilliant that would probably do real shitty on them. I mean, Gene has the best business brain, absolutely. I don’t consider myself a very good businessman. When I start doing numbers I get a headache. I’m ruled by the creative side of my brain, not the analytical side.

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Gene Simmons Calls Rush ‘One of My Favorite Bands of All Time’

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Annie Reuter | Radio.com

Gene Simmons is not one to shy away from sharing his opinion and recently the Kiss rocker talked about the band Rush.

In a nearly two-minute clip taken from the new documentary Rush: Time Stand Still, Simmons spoke highly of the Canadian trio.

“You know I love Rush,” Simmons says. “Always have. When we first heard Rush we were struck. It was like Canadian Led Zeppelin. Rush was a hard rockin’ band. It felt English. We thought they were English.”

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KISS Expo Tokyo 2016: How the Band’s First Official Exhibition Came About Read More: Kiss Expo Tokyo 2016: How the Band’s First Official Exhibition Came About

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Annie Zaleski | Ultimate Classic Rock

screen-shot-2016-11-03-at-11-50-11-amFrom Oct. 13-31, the first-ever band-sanctioned Kiss Expo took over the top floor of Laforet, a boutique-filled shopping mall in the Harajuku neighborhood of Tokyo.

The Expo was arranged like a museum exhibit, with memorabilia, artifacts and interactive elements, as well as a gift shop stuffed with exclusive merch — from a toilet paper holder featuring Gene Simmons‘ visage (the unfurling roll mimics his tongue) to T-shirts and prints reflecting a Kiss collaboration with the beloved cartoon character Astro Boy.

During the expo’s opening weekend, Ultimate Classic Rock received a guided tour of the exhibit from Hanako Tabata, an executive producer in the strategic marketing division of Sony Music Entertainment Japan. After walking by a gigantic Kiss logo — and mannequins dressed in familiar Kiss outfits — visitors were greeted with a trio of gems from band lore: Kiss’ 1976 formation contract, the legal documents which served as trademark registration for the band member’s distinctive faces and Simmons’ concert-used fire sword.

Lucky for fans, however, the members of Kiss were meticulous about keeping everything that might be of interest in the future. The Expo’s offerings included early show posters hand-drawn by Simmons and Paul Stanley; Kiss fan-club flyers; scrapbooks and photos; call sheets for TV appearances; and an impressive, colorful array of backstage passes from across the years. One glass case even contained a bunch of cassette demos and recordings — including one featuring Simmons’ collaboration with Bob Dylan.

Elsewhere, the Expo highlighted the costumes, clothing and tour ephemera that made Kiss so one-of-a-kind — from a Peter Criss satin jacket (compete with vintage dirt and a rip) and Simmons’ Spector “Love Gun” bass to an entire wall highlighting Kiss’ history of broken guitars, from 1976 through 2015. And, of course, there were no shortage of awards: a gold 8-track, Simmons’ gold discs and Rock and Roll Hall of Fame induction trophy and a wheel of platinum discs signifying 30 million albums sold.

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