KISS’ GENE SIMMONS DISCUSSES WHEN THE BAND WILL RESUME TOURING AND THIER FORTHCOMING BOOK OF CONCERT POSTERS
During a May 7th Facebook Live chat with Scott Brown, the United States ambassador to New Zealand and Samoa, KISS bassist/vocalist Gene Simmons was asked when the band plans to resume its End Of The Road farewell tour.
He responded (as per blabbermouth.net): “First and foremost, it doesn’t matter about me, me, me and the band and all that stuff. The most important thing is to keep you guys safe, ’cause we love you. Without the fans, we’re nothing and we’re nobody. I’d be asking you, if you were next in line, if you’d like some fries with that. In fact, that person is cooler than I will ever be. So it’s less about self-aggrandizement and more about we are going out there once it’s safe. Once we have a vaccine out there and the scientists — not the politicians — are telling us, ‘Okay, open the doors. Celebrate life. Go out there and enjoy yourself.’ Then we’re going out there…”
He was then asked if there is a certain number of people that he would feel comfortable performing in front of once the coronavirus pandemic has subsided. He replied: “There are different rules [for different regions]. There are more people in Los Angeles county than there are people living in Australia — 28 million, something like that, in the county. There are more people than New Zealand. L.A. specifically, and New York specifically, especially New York, people are on top of each other. There are so many people, it’s difficult when you’re in an apartment building to come out of anywhere and keep social distancing — it’s almost impossible. So we have to figure this out — the scientists and the politicians, and hopefully they’ll get together. [There should be] New York rules, London rules, Paris rules, Tokyo rules… There are more people in Tokyo than these other cities, where everybody is in large buildings packed in together. Never mind India and China, where you have a billion and three hundred million people and a billion and four hundred million people packed into one country. Those are different kinds of rules — and should be — than rules in New Zealand, where you have lots of clean, fresh air and distancing between the people. So I would urge all politicians…I hope the politicians and the scientists get together and understand there needs to be different sets of laws depending on how closely packed we are to each other. You don’t have to be a genius to figure that out.”
Simmons also revealed that the band is working on a coffee-table book of concert posters spanning the band’s entire five-decade existence.
He said it will be “…[A] huge coffee table book. I mean, as big as we can get it, and it’s posters from 1973 until 2020. And these are original posters — KISS posters from the very beginning.”
He continued, It’s interesting historically. When you go back, some of the bands we took out on their first tours. So you’ll see ‘KISS‘ with the faces, and you’ll see little ‘AC/DC’. See ‘KISS’ and little ‘Rush’; these are all bands we took out on their first tour. Bon Jovi, Mötley Crüe, Judas Priest, Iron Maiden, Scorpions— you name it — we took ’em on their first tour. Not because it’s about, ‘Hey, we know stuff.’ We’re fans too. When you hear something that’s good, you say, ‘Hey, that’s kind of cool.’ And if you have the power — somebody gave us a chance to get up there — carry it forward; pass it forward; give somebody else a chance to get up there. We weren’t some of those a–holes who would pull down the volume when the opening act [is on]. That’s all nonsense. You wanna use all the lights and all the sound? Go for it. Just be as good as you can be, ’cause that makes the whole night better. And if fans love the whole night…? Who wants a stinky band opening the show? C’mon.”
My favorite KISS concert poster is from Alive ll. Non concert poster? That’s easy ~ Empire State Building, of course! The motorcycles are also really cool.
That KI$$ Alive II pic was taken in my home town of San Diego! I, too, think it’s a great poster! The Spirit of 76 poster is another fave of mine. KI$$ has always been a very visual band, so this poster book should have amazing shots in it, although it’s sure to include shots of the current version of the band, none of which I’d want to see.
The pandemic has been terrible with many lives lost. Economies have been negatively impacted and millions have lost their jobs. But, without losing sight of the seriousness of the pandemic, a few good things have resulted from it…..less traffic on the road, less pollution in the air, people are paying attention more to nature, and it put an end, for the time being, to KI$$’ “End of the Road” tour. I mentioned that to my wife, who knows how I feel about the current tribute version of the band, and she just rolled her eyes at me….. :o)
I fear all the pandemic will do is postpone the “End of Road” tour so it can resume exactly when KI$$ decides to celebrate their 50 Anniversary World Tour, cuz there is no way KI$$ will leave if they can find a way to make a few more dollars. But as much as I want the current version of KI$$ to be over, I can’t imagine a rock wold without my Demon and Starchild.
It doesn’t matter if its Gene or Paul talking they always say similar versions of the same BS … it’s not about me/us it’s the fans , we do it all for the fans ….. maybe once along time ago…. but now, first, it’s about you Gene and you Paul – all your business interests then the fans – if the fans were first , you wouldn’t be lip syncing you would retire with some dignity intact- if the fans were first , you wouldn’t rob the fans and charge a zillion bucks for a meet and greet or a zillion bucks for a guitar you played on stage or a prop, on and on…. kiss has put out some cool stuff over the years for sure, I was a huge fan of their music until it became clear kiss only cared about how much dough they could pry out of their fans wallets-
when they dressed up tommy and eric { not their fault they are great players and seem to be great people} as ace and pete- that was the beginning of….the fans matter less than their ego- ohh yeah the poster book …… how much ???????
I agree Gene should stop talking about “doing it all for the fans,” but I really can’t fault them on charging exorbitant prices for meet-and-greets and selling guitars and props, and all the other revenue streams. The only people who complain about it are the ones who can’t afford the price tags or who have the good sense not to get suckered into every “VIP” offer. The only reason KISS charges what they charge is because there’s a market for it – and those people are ready and willing to shell out whatever they’re asked. Also, none of this is exclusive to KISS. Aerosmith, Metallica, Motley Crue, (and the list of bands goes on) meet-and-greets are not any cheaper. It’s the music business and these guys are all businessmen.
Mark my words. This will be another 4 foot book that will cost $2000 to buy. I have no doubts about that.
Doug
Agree with the Empire State Building shot. Also liked some of the CREEM photo shoots from the Destroyer – Rock and Roll Over tours
As for concert shots, I prefer the Kiss Concert 1976 Big Poster of Alive – not as glamorous as the Alive II shots but love how raw the shots in the poster.
In the 70’s, my walls were covered with KISS, Aerosmith, and Led Zeppelin posters, by time the 80’s rolled around they were mostly covered with Van Halen, AC/DC, and Judas Priest posters! 😉 – with a few of the older posters still hanging up. Used to have a great poster of Ozzy and Randy as well.
I had the Spirit of ’76 poster on my wall! Right next to Farrah Fawcett’s famous poster. 🙂
The Farah Fawcett poster turned more boys to men than the US Military.
LOL!!! I remember that picture, it was in the window of many poster shops
There were alot of cool posters of Evel Knievel in the 70’s.