In a recent interview with Barbara Caserta of Linea Rock, KISS bassist/vocalist Gene Simmons was asked about the possibility of original members Ace Frehley (guitar) and Peter Criss (drums) making guest appearances at the band’s last-ever concerts in early December at Madison Square Garden in New York City.
Simmons responded (as transcribed by blabbermouth.net), “For the fans — the older, older fans — the ones who’ve been around for 50 years, they’re old, and some of them wanna see Ace and Peter. The newer fans never saw them and they don’t know. But the older fans wonder about Ace and Peter. Well, I asked both Ace and Peter a few times: ‘Do you wanna come out for the encores? Do you wanna do some shows?’ And they both said ‘no.’ So, I don’t know what to say about that… But it’s always welcome. But there are many other big stars, superstars, who wanna jump up onstage and play a song. But we’re not sure about that. Maybe the best thing to do is to end the way we started: four guys with guitars. No keyboards, no synthesizers — nothing. Just playing.”
The last portion of KISS’ North American tour will begin in October and culminate in the MSG concerts on December 1st and December 2nd.
8 Responses
Was the check not big enough, or was one not offered? It’s one of the two options…..let’s see how Ace and Peter respond to Gene’s claim.
“Just push play”….there, I corrected Gene’s closing quote in this article. You’re welcome, Gene.
….and another once great band comes crashing to its end…..
Really …what do you expect them to say , no way in hell they get taken advantage of getting up for a song or 2 for free on the last show.. if they said yes paul and gene would benefit massively because they would practically scream it to world come see the original kiss line up one last time .. I’m glad they said no , at this point gene & paul are trash
It’ll sell out regardless. P n G hold all the cards.
Obviously, there’s no mystery here: Gene/Paul offered Ace/Peter some dollar figure to show up. Ace/Peter wanted more money (or in Ace’s case, probably a percentage). Gene/Paul have no incentive to agree to their demands because the MSG show are going to be sold out with or without Ace/Peter. End of conversation.
I don’t think anyone’s necessarily a “bad guy” here. If they could’ve all agreed to appear together one final time, it would’ve been a sentimental moment for the older/original fans. Fact is, NONE of them are “doing it for the fans.” It comes down to money. And that’s neither good nor bad. It’s just a fact.
Good response from the other two prior band members. Nothing to make the current band members any more money. Gave up on KISS after not receiving any of the merchandise we paid for with the 2000 Dubai concert and only hearing lies come from their band management. They just took all their fans money and said not their fault their fans did not get the merchandise promised to them.