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Monthly Archives: May 2019
Kiss: private planes, accidental hashcakes, and one final spin around the globe
Classic Rock
Iggy Pop claimed that he killed the 60s, but it turned out it was four semi-normal guys right off the streets of New York who really drove the final stake through heart of the peace-and-love decade nearly 46 years ago.
Gene Simmons, a former elementary school teacher; Paul Stanley, a cab driver with a heart-shaped face; Peter Criss, a sometime butcher and itinerant drummer who studied under the mighty Gene Krupa; and Ace Frehley, a gang member-cum-liquor delivery man. They stormed out of a $40-a-month fourth-floor walk-up in New York’s Chinatown in their six-inch platforms and sweaty black leather looking like four beasts disgorged from the underworld, and unleashed an unholy and entirely masculine creed of sex, braggadocio, innuendo and conquest, all delivered at a screeching 110 decibels and addressing every young man’s fantasies.
While the band’s message has changed over the years (they’ve become more family-friendly and forswear any cursing during the show), they still attract legions of foot soldiers into the Kiss Army – even now, when they’re calling it quits in one final tour they’ve dubbed the End Of The Road. (They’ve attempted to trademark the term with the US Patent office to prevent any other retiring bands from using it. Good luck with that.) So far, 44 shows have been played in North America, with another 25-date run beginning in August. The European leg begins next week, and there are plans to extend the tour until, probably, mid-2020.
Back at the beginning, the band were fuelled by high ambition, an unrelenting will, a prodigious work ethic and only the most rudimentary of musical talents. But they not only changed the face of musical history by painting it in Stein’s Clown White, they also kicked off their own brand of revolution, putting music back in the hands of the ordinary people and turning it back into a populist manifesto, picking up where Grand Funk Railroad left off by knocking rock music off of its lofty perch, stripping it of its perfect hair, wrecked cool and tight velvet stovepipe pants.
What Is PAUL STANLEY’s Definition Of ‘Farewell’? He Explains
Blabbermouth
KISS frontman Paul Stanley spoke to KTLA 5 Morning News about the band’s “End Of The Road” farewell tour, which kicked off in January and is expected to last for three years.
Asked what his definition of “farewell” is, Stanley said (see video below): “Well, it’s the end of the road, in the sense that we’ve spent 45-plus years touring. And as glorious as it is doing two hours on stage and playing for sold-out houses, really it takes its toll, whether it’s my two torn shoulders that have been repaired, or my bicep tendons, or my knees. I wear them proudly as battle scars.
“I think it’s time,” he continued. “The show that we’re doing right now is the biggest thing we’ve ever done. It’s just state of the art. We’ve done 44 shows so far, all of them sold out, played to half a million people, and we’re just getting started, actually. It’s a big world.”
Asked whether he still spends time practicing his guitar playing, Stanley said: “I’m on stage so much of the time, and we’re playing so often that there’s really no need. But when we rehearse, like for the ‘End Of The Road’ tour that we’re on, we spent about three months rehearsing. Now, we’ve been playing these songs for 45-plus years, but there’s a difference between playing them and really synchronizing, and that synchronicity, that comes from rehearsing. So, we took this very seriously. We wanted the band to be in top form, and if we’re gonna call it quits, it’s great to do it when everybody loves each other rather than everybody’s not talking or the band is on the decline. It seems like the right time for a victory lap, and that’s what we’re doing.”
As most fans remember, back in 2000 and 2001, KISS already performed a “Farewell Tour”. The trek, which was the last to feature drummer Peter Criss, played 142 shows over five legs, covering North America, Japan, and Australia. Stanley later said that the 2000 tour was nothing more than an attempt by the group to “put KISS out of its misery” after years of ego clashes and disagreements over songwriting credits between the band’s original members. Continue reading
Three Sides of the Coin, episode 335 – Less smoke, more pyro = Special effects and pyro professional John Watkins joins us
Micheal Brandvold
KISS Autograph Collection for sale at KISSmuseum.com
All kinds of autographs at all kinds of prices from a recently purchased private collection.
Podcast Rock City, episode 247 – Indy Expo Recap!
Jody Havenot
Three Sides of the Coin, episode 334 – David Frangioni, author of CRASH: The World’s Greatest Drum Kits
Michael Brandvold
VINNIE VINCENT’s Latest Comeback Performance No Longer Advertised On His Web Site
Former KISS guitarist Vinnie Vincent‘s performance at the “Speedballjamm”, which was scheduled to take place next month at the S.I.R. Soundstage in Nashville, Tennessee, is no longer being advertised on his web site.
The “Appearances” section of VinnieVincent.com contains no mention of the June 7 event, but includes the following message: “Come see the legendary Vinnie Vincent in person! Vinnie will be appearing at a variety of events for musical performances, meet and greets, autograph sessions, photo ops, and more! Check the listings below for an appearance in your area!”
Vincent‘s “Speedballjamm” appearance was being billed as an intimate event, with only 60 VIP tickets being made available at the cost of $300 per ticket. The performance was supposed to see Vincent backed by his handpicked musicians, Mike Weeks and Chuck White.
Less than a week ago, fans reported via social media that fewer than a dozen tickets had been sold for the “Speedballjamm”.
A representative for S.I.R. confirmed to Ultimate Classic Rock that the show won’t be happening at the venue, explaining that it had been pulled from the schedule this morning and that its only involvement with the event was to rent the space to Vincent.
Rocker Gene Simmons fights back tears at Pentagon talking about how late mother loved US: ‘America is the promised land’
KISS frontman Gene Simmons delivers briefing at Pentagon podium that has not seen a spokesperson in almost a year
New York (CNN Business)As the frontman of KISS, Gene Simmons occupies rarefied air — a rock star who entertains arenas filled with adoring fans. On Thursday, Simmons joined another exclusive club, conducting only the second on-camera press briefing at the Department of Defense in the last year.
The only other person to stand at the Pentagon Briefing Room podium over the past year? The movie star Gerard Butler, who was there last October to promote a new movie.
It’s just the latest sign of the Trump administration’s ongoing marginalization of the press briefing, long a conduit through which the president and the cabinet have communicated policies and priorities to the news media and the public.
Simmons was on hand Thursday to address Department of Defense personnel and meet with outreach officials as part of a Pentagon initiative to engage the broader public with regards to military activities. He also paid a visit to the White House later in the day.
The last time a press secretary briefed reporters on camera at the Pentagon was May 31, 2018. The White House press briefing, meanwhile, is in the midst of an unprecedented drought. Come Friday, it will have been 67 days since White House Press Secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders has held a press briefing.
“The White House hasn’t held press briefing in so long that the lectern in the briefing room is quite literally gathering dust,” CNN White House reporter Maegan Vazquez tweeted Wednesday, posting a photo of the particles that had collected on the lectern.
KISS’ PAUL STANLEY ANNOUNCES NEW ALBUM BUT FANS OUTRAGED FOR SOME REASON
KISS frontman Paul Stanley shared a recent studio photo on his verified Instagram and revealed that he’s working for a new project.
Stanley said that they are recording a new Soul Station album which will mix classic old tunes with the new one.
Here is his statement:
“SOUL STATION ALBUM VOCALS yesterday. Classic old tunes and new. This is really AWESOME.”
mickw85_wyld_ryde_ commented:
“With no disrespect intended…There’s no market for a new KISS album but there is for this? 😕”
3robert62 shared his opinion:
“No kiss album will never match anything as good as 70s kiss😂🤷🏻♂️”
qfinch85 also commented:
“What a stupid thing to say. Revenge from a writing and talent level destroyed 70s kiss. Hell carnival of souls was more talented than 70s KISS. But if you’re not a musician then I guess your album sales to the popular crowd overshadows logic.”
You can see the photo below:
Gene Simmons says Pop music is ‘handcuffed by the industry’
It’s not just rock music that may be “finally dead,” KISS magnate Gene Simmons theorized during a rundown of his favorite songs for MusicRadar last week, but pop as well. The musician asserted Friday (May 10) that the more mainstream side of music is governed by an industry that “sets the rules” and dictates how songs should sound, effectively rendering artists “handcuffed” to such restrictions.
While identifying the Beatles and Little Richard as some of the artists that “blew [his] mind” in his formative years, the KISS bassist and vocalist defended today’s top pop artists while snubbing their business environs.
“These days we have the talent — [Lady] Gaga, Bruno Mars, Adele, all great artists,” Simmons said. “But they’re handcuffed by the industry. The industry sets the rules and says rap has to sound like this; soul has to sound like this; EDM has to sound like this. Fucking pathetic!”
He continued, “I don’t want to sound like one of those miserable, moany guys that says, ‘Man, everything was better back then.’ But when it comes to music… shit, it was so much better! When I heard it, it changed my life forever!”
The recent comments follow Simmons’ frequently dissected takeon the “death of rock”. As he told Esquire in 2014, “Rock did not die of old age. It was murdered. Some brilliance, somewhere, was going to be expressed, and now it won’t, because it’s that much harder to earn a living playing and writing songs. No one will pay you to do it.”
Podcast Rock City, episode 246 – We interview Tommy and Bruce live at the Indy KISS Expo
Jody Havenot
Three Sides of the Coin, episode 333 – Jacques van Gool shares some amazing KISS collectibles
Michael Brandvold
The KISS Room – May 2019
Matt Porter
‘We Wanted To Be Larger Than Life’: Paul Stanley Of KISS On Almost 50 Years Of Rock
After nearly 50 years, KISS is saying goodbye to touring. The over-the-top purveyors of heavy metal have embarked on a year-long finale tour titled “One Last KISS: End of the Road World Tour.” The 105-stop tour spans North America, Europe, Australia and New Zealand and will encapsulate KISS’ larger-than-life show for the last time.
Before his storied rock rise, KISS’ lead singer Paul Stanley recalls being a New York cab driver and driving people to Madison Square Garden to see Elvis. He remembers telling himself that night, “One of these days, people are going to be driving here to see me.”
Stanley formed KISS in 1973 along with bassist and back-up vocalist Gene Simmons. Inspired by glam rock, the band was determined to make its performances into an all-encompassing experience.
“As a rock fan I had gone to see bands who oftentimes made you think they were doing you a favor by showing up when I just paid them,” Stanley says. “I think there was a lot of apathy onstage in a sense of complacency.”
New KISS Merchandise additions to KISSmuseum.com
Tons of new additions of unique one-of-a-kind KISS items added to the KISSmuseum.com website.
See the new KISS Merchandise additions at KISSmuseum.com
Podcast Rock City, episode 245 – PRC Family Feud
Joe
Paul Stanley abandons zip-line stunt at KISS show
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.”
That one time Gene Simmons got high
Veteran journalist Jaan Uhelszki recalled the moment she witnessed Kiss co-founder Gene Simmons getting high for the one and only time in his life, after he ignored her warning to avoid eating hash brownies.
Uhelszki, a co-founder of respected music magazine Creem, was able to tell Simmons’ bandmates Tommy Thayer and Eric Singerabout the night in Detroit in 1974, which delighted them because they’d only ever heard it from Simmons himself.
“We’d heard that story a hundred times, but we never knew that there was a witness,” Thayer told her, as recounted in the May edition of Classic Rock Magazine. “We weren’t even sure it was true!” Singer added.
“It was the promoter’s birthday as well as a party for Kiss, so there was a giant birthday cake,” Uhelszki wrote. “But after it was cut, waitresses made the rounds with plates of chocolate brownies. ‘Don’t even think of having any of those,’ I cautioned Simmons. ‘Why not? I love brownies,’ he replied, a little queriously. ‘I know you love brownies. But just don’t. They’re hash brownies.’ He looked bewildered, as if trying to figure out why anyone would want to defile chocolate with drugs.”
She went on to tell how Simmons grabbed three and “devoured” them, while the bassist tried to claim it had been six. “It was three,” Uhelszki told him. “One would have put you over the top.” She said that, once the hash had begun to take effect, “it was like being with E.T. tentatively discovering the wonders of planet Earth, complete with long fingers outstretched to touch ordinary objects.”
Simmons asked, “Are my feet as big as I think they are? Does my head look funny? Is it really small? Why are my hands so big? Are my teeth shiny?” As they left the party in a car, he continued with “a steady stream of questions, the border between what he was thinking and saying all but demolished.”
Suddenly deciding he wanted milk, Simmons directed the driver to a late-night store. “When we entered the place, Simmons said in a carefully articulated but booming voice, ‘May I have a glass of milk, please?’” Uhelszki recalled. “I remember the man behind the counter as if it were yesterday. ‘We don’t sell glasses of milk, son.’”