Kiss frontman Paul Stanley had to abandon his traditional zipline stunt during the band’s appearance at the Domination Festival in Mexico on May 3.
In a regular part of the show on their End of the Road farewell tour, Stanley can be seen climbing onto a metal hoop and chain to be flown over the audience during classic track “Love Gun.” In Mexico, however, an apparent technical issue led him to tell the roadie who was trying to help him climb onto the wire to change plans.
Instead of being carried over the crowd, Stanley turned away from the audience until it was time for him to sing again, while the empty prop made its movement to the back of the performance area without him.
In February Stanley told the Los Angeles Times that while he doesn’t look forward to practicing the zipline flight in an empty arena – “I’m not really fond of it” – he very much enjoys the moment during the band’s shows. “With an audience it has an air of invincibility, and that’s exhilarating. To be Superman with a guitar doesn’t suck.”
In the same article bassist Gene Simmons explained the constant attention to detail required to ensure all the moving (and exploding) parts of the band’s stage show are in sync. “At the first show we had some problems onstage,” he explained. “The fans didn’t know anything. They just went, ‘Wow!’”
Fans attending the band’s Feb. 9 show in Sacramento, Calif. definitely noticed when Simmons berated a crewman for failing to light him properly during a performance of “God of Thunder.” As you can see in the video he bellows, “Give me a white spotlight, motherfucker. Asshole has been on tour with us for 20 years and doesn’t get it… bitch, I know where you live. Oh by the way, fuck you.” However, some responding posts suggested it was an occasional part of Simmons’ act, done on several occasions in the past, perhaps as a “ribbing” between “very friendly coworkers.”