This is Spinal Tap? No, it was the Kiss press conference to announce their upcoming plans to the press, but mostly, to a theater full of die-hard Kiss fans, many donned in that famed black and white makeup and yelling out, "We love you, Ace!" every few minutes. The plans include the Tuesday (Sept. 22) release of Psycho Circus, their first new studio album in about two decades with all four original members -- Paul Stanley, Gene Simmons, Ace Frehley, and Peter Criss; the Psycho Circus world tour, which kicks off on Halloween at Dodger Stadium in Los Angeles with the Smashing Pumpkins; spots on Fox-TV's shows Mad-TV and Millennium; the TV special Kiss Live: The Ultimate Halloween Party, airing from Dodger Stadium; their new Web site; a charity tie-in; and the forthcoming new New Line Cinema movie, Detroit Rock City.

But prior to fielding questions from the mob, the band's new video for the title track of Psycho Circus was premiered. The 3D clip, featuring guitar necks, Simmons' tongue, and other such things appearing to shoot right out at the viewer, was met with cheers of joy from the fans in attendance.

Once that was over, the band took the stage to lip-synch while posing for the cameras as "Psycho Circus" was playing, prompting one music industry rep in the audience to quip, "It's almost like they're mocking themselves." After the glamour shots were done, the boys finally sat at a table (with name tags, like at a real press conference), and churned out one soundbite after the next.

"There will be lots of special effects... It's gonna be a kick-ass rock and roll show," declared Stanley of the tour, which is expected to run through 1999. The tour will receive the ultimate launch party courtesy of Fox, which will have the band on as guests on Mad-TV on Oct. 31 from 11-12 p.m. EST/PST. Then at midnight on the same night, Fox will air the Dodger Stadium show as part of Kiss Live: The Ultimate Halloween Party. Like the video and the album cover, fans will have to put on those fashionable, plastic 3D glasses for the Psycho Circus tour as well, since, as Stanley said, it will be the first 3D tour ever.

The show will also be available via Pepsi's Web site at www.pepsi.com. Tickets for the Dodger Stadium show go on sale Saturday (Sept. 26) at 10 a.m. PDT at all Ticketmaster locations. The band has also named Feed the Children as their charity of choice for the world tour, and expects to deliver more than 1 million meal supplements to children in need via 10 truckloads of food -- one a month for the next 10 months.

Kiss, who had the No. 1 grossing tour of 1996 and 1997, will also guest star in a Halloween episode of Millennium on Friday (Oct. 30) from 9-11 p.m. EST/PST. The band will appear as themselves in a story line centered around a series of murders on and around the set of a B-horror movie.

The band also briefly talked about the forthcoming movie, Detroit Rock City, which Simmons says is currently being shot in Toronto and will feature "the coolest of the cool." Already slated to appear in the movie with Kiss are Edward Furlong (Terminator 2, Pecker) and Natasha Lyonne (Slums of Beverly Hills). The film, directed by Adam Rifkin, is due next summer.

As if that's not enough, the band is also giving away the official Kiss custom sports car during their New Year's Eve 1999 show outside of Detroit at the Pontiac Silverdome, which will also be part of Dick Clark's New Year's Eve television special. To enter to win, fans can call 1-900-Call-Kiss. The fully loaded black sports car looks almost like the Batmobile and is based on a 1999 Plymouth Prowler. Simmons says the car is worth $75,000.

Finally, the Psycho Circus home video hits stores Oct. 20, including a one- dimensional version of the video for the title track, as well as the 3D version of the clip. The video will also include a bonus CD with the tracks "Psycho Circus" and "In Your Face" available in four different covers (yes, one each featuring the four band members); the documentary home video, Kiss: The Second Coming, of the Alive Worldwide tour in 1996-97 featuring 135 minutes on two tapes and a 38-page booklet, hits stores Nov. 17; those long- awaited Kiss dolls courtesy of Spawn creator Todd McFarlane are still on deck; kids can also get a First USA Kiss platinum Visa card; and like David Bowie, Kiss, is becoming an Internet Service Provider as well. -- Carrie Borzillo

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