PR Newswire

LOS ANGELES, March 12, 2012 /PRNewswire/ — Gene Simmons, rock legend and media mogul, is parlaying his love for music into a new restaurant and entertainment venture called Rock & Brews™.  The concept captures the excitement of live concerts in an authentically themed backstage environment including Rock & Brews’ “The Great Wall of Rock,” rock posters and rock art and multiple flat screen televisions.

Rock & Brews serves rock musicians’ favorite foods and highlights an ever-changing, award-winning craft beer selection with hundreds of artisanal breweries featured from around the world.

The first Rock & Brews is scheduled to open just south of Los Angeles International Airport in the beach community of El Segundo, Calif., on April 3.  Several others are in the works in the Los Angeles area, including one at Los Angeles International Airport, as well as locations in Maui, Hawaii; Denver; Atlanta; Tokyo; and Los Cabos, Mexico. The expansion plan anticipates the opening of four Rock & Brews in 2012 with aggressive plans for continued expansion worldwide beginning in 2013 and beyond.

Rock & Brews was inspired by Michael Zislis, a notable force on the L.A. restaurant scene, and Dave Furano, a veteran concert promoter, who are Simmons’ partners in the venture.

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Lee Rodriguez | Panels on Pages

Ah, nostalgia! Be it that old cartoon, a favorite toy or a comic book from days gone by, isn’t it great, when out of the blue, the memories come flooding back, and you’ve no choice but to exclaim ”Holy Crap! Remember…?”

Guilty pleasure alert: I love KISS Meets the Phantom of the Park. Sure, I’m younger than the average KISS fan by about 25 years, but I can’t help it. My first vinyl albums (Google it, kids) were KISS hand-me-downs. To put it mildly, KISS kicks ass. They’ve endured for decades thanks to their spectacular stage shows and the awesome power of their rock. That’s just science. Most people, especially in the comic community, are aware that in the height of their popularity, KISS was featured in a Marvel comic book and they mixed some of their blood into the ink. It’s one of those “that has to be fake” stories that is 100% true.

Since then, they’ve starred in numerous comics, including the recent KISS Meets Archie and the long running McFarlane jam KISS: Psycho Circus. These guys (or at least Gene Simmons and Paul Stanley) are comic enthusiasts. What many people don’t know, however, is that comics aren’t the only medium in which the band was featured as a superhero team. Oh, no. In 1978, KISS starred in a made for TV movie on NBC produced by Hanna-Barbera. Yes, the same Hanna-Barbera known for cartoons like Scooby-Doo. It’s obvious while watching it. Aside from the stock Hanna-Barbera music, this thing might as well have been one of the New Scooby-Doo Movies. If Scooby can meet Abbott and Costello and Batman and Robin, why not KISS?

Remember Michael Jackson’s Moonwalker? That movie is insane because it’s all over the place. It’s really cool in places, but it’s a collection of “short films” more than a full-length feature (or so they’d have you believe). KISS Meets the Phantom of the Park is insane, too, of course, but in a completely different way. This movie knows exactly the kind of story it’s telling. That story just so happens to be completely ridiculous in the most wonderful way imaginable.

The movie begins with Sam and Melissa. Sam works at Magic Mountain under the genius robotics engineer Abner Devereaux. Devereaux has apparently perfected not only humanoid android technology, but also mind control. Still, he can find no better use of his amazing skills beyond designing attractions for a theme park. This will be the least ridiculous plot point of the movie, so strap in. Sam goes snooping in Devereaux’s lab, sees something he shouldn’t and gets himself disappeared.

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Susan Stapleton | Haute Living

Jeff Bottari/Getty Images

Last night, Nick Simmons from “Gene Simmons Family Jewels” celebrated his 23rd birthday at Hyde Bellagio.

The event was family affair for the Simmons’ clan. The writer and aspiring musician was joined at the nightclub by his KISS rocker dad Gene Simmons, Playboy Playmate mom Shannon Tweed and sister Sophie Simmons.

The family posed playfully together on the red carpet outside of the club before heading inside and settling into a VIP booth overlooking the crowded nightclub.

Jeff Bottari/Getty Images

Later in the night, Simmons got on stage with the house band from The Sayers Club in Los Angeles. The band warmed up the crowd by delivering two dynamic renditions of current hits – Adele’s “Rolling In The Deep” followed by Rihanna’s “We Found Love,” which Simmons enjoyed from the side of the stage. He then joined the band for a high-energy performance that included serenading his fans and from atop the furniture in the venue.

After the performance, Simmons was surprised with a black and white guitar-shaped birthday cake. After it arrived, his mom tweeted a picture of Simmons with his cool birthday dessert and said, “Now THAT’S a cake!” He joked around about playing the “instrument” while “Happy Birthday” played throughout the club. Simmons joined his family back in their VIP booth and continued to celebrate his special day into the early morning hours while the Fountains of Bellagio danced in the background.

Check out the great photo gallery of Nick and his family at the event!

Chris | Decibel Geek

A few months ago we received a handful of photos purportedly from Vinnie Vincent’s private collection. The pictures were supplied by a fan that claimed to have had a close relationship with the former KISS guitarist and had supposedly been jilted. The photos received quite a few views as well as some mud slinging back and forth in the comments section. Read for yourself.

We have now received a whole new set of Vinnie Vincent & KISS photos from the 1982-1983 Creatures of the Night era. These pictures were supplied by a member of the Vinnie Vincent Fan Forum and, as far as we know, are relatively unseen. Could these photos come from the same source as the previous ones? No one here knows for sure but it is interesting.

Many of the shots appear to be from a promotional photo shoot while others seem to be possibly from an in-store appearance. This era  of the band was short-lived, thus photos with the Simmons/Stanley/Carr/Vincent lineup of KISS are a bit more scarce.

See the entire photo set at Decibel Geek.

Hyde Bellagio

Kate Kennedy | Edmonton Sun

TORONTO – Red was the colour du jour at the Heart Truth Fashion Show on Thursday, which had a nearly all-Canadian, all-female roster of stars who donned scarlet dresses by some of the nation’s finest designers in what was just as much a celebration of women as it was an event to bring awareness to their number one killer.

The Heart & Stroke Foundation’s fifth annual event, which took place at The Carlu, matched a who’s-who of Canadians with luxe gowns for a one-time runway show and schmoozefest filled with spirited music and mirth.

Celebrity personalities, including finale models Shannon Tweed-Simmons and husband Gene Simmons – referred to on the official program as “Rock God/Media Mogul” – did more than just brave the crowd of hundreds, they hammed it up in their own special way for a wall of photographer’s at the end of the runway (the Simmons even kissed).

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Toronto Sun

Gene Simmons and Shannon Tweed at Toronto’s Heart Truth Fashion show. More great images a APimages.com.

City TV

Sarah Bauder | Shalom Life

Gene Simmons, KISS frontman and star of Family Jewels, and wife Shannon Tweed appeared on Toronto’s Breakfast Television on Thursday morning to encourage Canadians to eliminate stress from their lives.

The couple is visiting Toronto to attend The Heart Truth celebrity fashion show at the Carlu, a fundraising and awareness event for the Heart and Stroke Foundation campaign targeting women.

According to the Heart and Stroke Foundation, heart disease and stroke are the #1 cause of death in Canadian women. Additionally, women can reduce the risk of contracting heart disease by up to 80% if they make certain lifestyle changes.

Gene Simmons and Shannon Tweed share the changes they’ve made in their lives in order to remain healthy.

“We’re serious about fitness and eating right,” Tweed said. “We run and exercise is important — not being overweight, watching your cholesterol.”

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Kiss Mask Webzine

The South American concert promoter, Premier, leaked the Rock N Roll All Stars Touring set-list (the set-list is tentative, which can change) for the Guatemalan date. The tour begins April 19 in Paraguay.

Duff McKagan- IT’S SO EASY
Sabastian Bach- WELCOME TO THE JUNGLE, YOUTH GONE WILD, I REMEMBER YOU, WHOLE LOTTA’ LOVE, CRAZY TRAIN
Glenn Hughes- HIGHWAY STAR, BURN, SMOKE ON TH WATER, FIREWOMAN, WILDFLOWER
Ed Roland- SHINE, REBEL YELL, MAN IN A BOX (with Glenn Hughes)
Gilby Clarke- KNOCKIN’ ON HEAVEN’S DOOR
Joe Elliott- ANIMAL, ALL THE YOUNG DUDES, SUGAR, TIE YOUR MOTHER DOWN
Gene Simmons- DEUCE, I LOVE IT LOUD, CALLING DR. LOVE, COLD GIN, ROCK AND ROLL ALL NITE (Encore)
All Star Band- Paradise City

Adam Gold | Nashville Scene

NASHVILLE!!! You want the best? You’ve got …Ace Frehley.

That’s right, dorks. Come April 6-8 disgraced dead-dog-hoarder Vinnie Vincent won’t be the only former KISS guitarist occupying Middle Tennessee. Because April 6-8 is when Ace “Spaceman” Frehley will appear as The Full Moon Tattoo and Horror Festival’s guest of honor at Nashville Convention Center. And that’s actual Ace Frehley, not current KISS guitarist Tommy Thayer dressed up in Ace’s “Spaceman” get-up and face makeup, FYI.

Presented by the recently-relocated-to-East Nashville Lone Wolf Tattoo and its parent company Full Moon, Inc., this 11th annual three-day dork-out on body art and bloody fiction will also feature appearances from Jerry “The King” Lawler, I Spit on Your Grave star Camille Keaton, scream queen Stacey Dixon, The Walking Dead’s Norman Reedus, Robert Carradine (the dude who played Lewis in all four installments of the Revenge of the Nerds franchise), Tony Todd (the dude who played The Candyman in the Candyman films), two dudes who each played Jason Voorhees, two dudes who each played Michael Myers and some dude who was in Saw 3.

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AIPACPC | solveisraelsproblems.com

In this short video Gene Simmons talks about his memories and how proud he is of Israel.

Ashley C. Woods | MLive.com

“Cadillac High,” a feature film based on the KISS’s 1975 celebratory tour to the city of Cadillac, has received conditional approval for incentives to shoot the movie in Michigan.

And since the movie turned in its application to the Michigan Film Office before last year’s Dec. 31 deadline, incentives to locate filming of “Cadillac High” won’t be subject to the 2012 cap of $25 million budgeted by the state.

“It was a project that we wanted to make sure to do everything possible to keep here in Michigan,” says Michigan Film Office Communication Adviser Michelle Begnoche.

In 1974, the Cadillac High School Vikings, playing KISS albums in the locker room before and after games, won seven straight games and wound up conference co-champs. Word spread to the glitter-rockers of KISS, who visited Cadillac the next year for the most raucous Homecoming weekend on record.

June 27, 1996, Detroit News: “We always planned to turn this planet into Kiss World and Cadillac was the first proof that it was possible,” says guitarist Paul Stanley, who will be playing Friday with his original bandmates — bassist Gene Simmons, guitarist Ace Frehley and drummer Peter Criss. Simmons agrees. “It’s one thing getting into a band and making some money,” he explains. “It’s another seeing that a band can change people’s lives; that it can instill a better sense of self-esteem in people; that it can help a football team win games.”

According to the Michigan Film Office’s 2011 Annual Report, “Cadillac High” will film in the cities of Cadillac, Pontiac and Detroit. The movie says it will hire 205 Michigan residents and spend just over $27 million dollars to produce the film in the Mitten State; including almost $5.5 million on equipment and material rentals and purchasing, $700,000 on food and just over $534,000 on lodging.

Conditional incentive amounts offered to producer Philip Steuer total $8.2 million, though the Film Office is still waiting on some financial information from the film, says Begnoche. Steuer produced the “Chronicles of Narnia” films and “Oz the Great and Powerful, ” which was shot last year at Raleigh Michigan Studios.

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Bill Baker

Take a trip back through time to the 1989 KISS Convention in Secaucus New Jersey. Bill Baker of the Ace Frehley Archives gives us a video tour of all the mayhem of the day. It’s unbelievable what was for sale at these events decades ago.

Gene Simmons has partnered with the Rock and Roll themed restaurant and beer garden Rock & Brews in El Sugundo California. Gene was on site recently to inspect the on-going remodeling. Rumor has it the Demon himself will be making an appearance at the grand opening April 3, 2012. Visit the Rock & Brews website for this and all future info!

Braveworlds.com

Gene, Paul, Bruce and Eric Carr in an extended 1990 video interview outtake from the Hot in the Shade Tour. First Gene, then Eric and finally Paul take turns on the acoustic guitar playing some awesome Beatles tunes. Later Bruce comes in and shows them how it’s really done.