Hugh McIntyre | Forbes
Las Vegas is famous for its residencies, whether they be by legacy acts like Elton John, Celine Dion, and Rod Stewart or more contemporary pop stars like Britney Spears or Jennifer Lopez(possibly). Now, one more globally-famous group is throwing their hat into the ring, and it looks to be one of the most “explosive” sets yet.
As part of their 40th anniversary celebration, KISS is coming to Sin City for a 9-show residency—the first of its kind for the group—at The Joint, one of the music venues inside the Hard Rock Hotel & Casino. The shows begin this coming Wednesday, November 5th and end Sunday, November 23rd, with shows scattered in between those two dates.
While The Joint can only hold around 4,500 people at a time, it opens its doors to some of the biggest names in the industry. Aside from KISS, the venue will see acts like Train, Imagine Dragons, and comedian Katt Williams come through before the year is up.
The Joint may be much smaller than the arenas that the legendary rockers are used to, and while guitarist Paul Stanely said that was certainly a challenge, it was also part of the fun.
“What was exciting with the residency is that we didn’t have to create a stage that had to be taken down nightly. This is one of the smaller venues we’ve played in decades. The challenge was to create a bigger show in a smaller venue, and I think we’ve done a great job.” Stanley said on a call recently.
After four decades in the business, KISS is having one of their best years yet. Earlier in 2014 the group was finally inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, something many said was long overdue. They group also toured earlier this year with fellow rockers Def Leppard, selling out almost every stop on the 42-show route that made its way through the US and select cities in Canada. Lastly, the band released a new anthology, KISS 40, which contained one track from every album the band has ever released (including live ones, the solo albums each member released back in the 70’s, and tracks previously only available on compilations) as well as one new song.
KISS is one of the best selling groups of all time, having moved an estimated 100 million units worldwide, with around 40 million of those being shipped within the US. The band has 28 gold albums to their name and has consistently charted new records in the top 40 throughout their career.
While the band’s show is expected to have all the same extravagant special effects, set-ups and pyrotechnics as fans around the world have come to expect from them, that doesn’t mean the band is all show. In fact, Stanley says that KISS is so much more than all of that.
“To last more than forty years you’ve got to have more going for you than just a gimmick. The road to rock and roll is strewn with gimmicks. Luckily, and not surprisingly to me, we are not with them on the curb.”
Tickets are on sale now and start at around $50.