Robin Leach of the Las Vegas Sun spoke with KISS frontman Paul Stanley. Excerpts from the interview appear below.
Las Vegas Sun:….it’s the first time you’re playing a residency at the Hard Rock, but why is it the icing on the cake?
Stanley: Well because it’s new territory for us, and what KISS has always been about is going against the grain and really doing things in our time and when it feels right for us. There was a time where quite honestly everyone thought of Las Vegas as an elephant burial ground.
It was the more glittery branch in Missouri for some people, but it’s so unique. There was also a time where the best food you could get was a $1.99 prime rib. Now if I want a great meal, I go to Las Vegas. You can’t get a comparable meal in Los Angeles to what you can get in Las Vegas.
Everything has changed so much, and it’s always seemed like a perfect fit for us to be in Las Vegas, but for a lot of reasons, it just wasn’t meant to be. Now the planets have lined up, and everything is as it should be, and we will come in and do what we do.
We are doing a KISS show in Las Vegas, we are not doing a Las Vegas show with KISS. We are a rock and roll band, and we will do what we do — better than any band at this point.
Las Vegas Sun: Are you changing the tour show?
Stanley: Completely different stage. At this point, our influence is so widespread that virtually any rock band you go see live is doing the KISS show. The only thing they can never be is KISS. Anybody with money can buy pyro, can buy lasers, but you can never be us. So for us to come into Las Vegas, we’ll set a different level honestly.
It’s an amazing thing for us to be able to go into a smaller venue and not downsize. Usually going into a smaller venue means doing a smaller show, but because this show isn’t portable and because this show is a permanent installation, we can do things that we couldn’t when you have to break the show down every night.
Las Vegas Sun: In terms of rock and roll, Motley Crue is calling it quits on its current world tour. Are you saying KISS will not call it quits and go on maybe with other musicians?
Stanley: Oh, totally; absolutely. We are unlike any other band. We are closer to an army. We are closer to a sports team. I’m not foolish enough to think that I’m the only person to do what I do. The Yankees continued without Babe Ruth. Time marches on, and if you’re part of a movement or part of a commitment to a cause, then when you’re time is done … look, if you fall in battle, someone picks up your gun and runs.
Somebody has to carry the flag, and that’s what KISS is about. KISS is about a lifestyle and self-empowerment and going against the odds and believing in yourself. I guess enjoying the fruits of hard work. That’s not singular to me. People who said that was not possible in terms of KISS are already 50 percent wrong. The lineup is now 40 years on, and two of the members are not the original members, but they are far better at this point than the original members.
Read more at the Las Vegas Sun.
source: lvsun.com
198 Responses
Guys, I broke down and just gave p&g $1.29 for a ringtone (of a song I own on album, cassette, CD, remastered CD, and x number of compilations). F….!!!! But, I loves me my “disco KISS”. Lol
I’m not an authority on KISS, but the idea of putting another group of guys out there in the same makeup, and passing it off as anything other than a KISS tribute band is ludicrous. Even considering the fact that the replacements, will undoubedly be better singers/players than the origionals. If I were a diehard fan, I would be insulted by this, no matter how many analogies Paul comes up with to justify it.
The imposters can play better than Ace & Peter in their prime. Ask Paul Stanley, he said so. Ace is playing little ole clubs to pay his old bills.
No need to ask Paul anything, he just loves to bs the weak minded fools like yourself lee.
The size of the clubs you play sure has nothing to do with the amount of talent you have. What a stupid remark. Justin Bieber playing big arenas, is he a genius??
Paul has some serious emotional issues. It all makes sense now after reading his book. Stanley the one eared monster still lives inside of paul. The constant validation he needs clearly shows throughout his career via interviews, home videos, books, magazines, Internet, etc. The constant reminders in his book in nearly every chapter about how awful his parents were, how ace and Peter were so horrible, how stupid Peter is, seriously that’s in nearly every chapter. Clearly this guy is an emotional basket case. And the current husband and father of the year has photos of him and ex girlfriends in the book. Again seeking validation, look at me, look at all these hot chick’s, I’m a rock star. There was absolutely no inspiration to be found in this book.
Paul’s book was worse than Gene’s book. And Gene’s book was pathetically full of one lie after another.
Grim Reaper, nice name, maybe you should pay Kiss a visit and point your bony finger to remind them of the addled salmon mousse … ? (insert copyright owning comedy troup here ____) (Btw, hey, Shannon, “salmon mousse” could be interpreted [by you] as a metaphor for the decline of the band’s quality of performance, especially with regard to Paul, as well as the foul words that have been exchanged, or the fishy remarks Paul has made about Ace and Peter over the last years to support his own version of the “truth”/”reality” – are you with me?) (If you dare to say paradox again I will actually visit your music website and find out what drugs trigger your performance, here and there, because you are clearly hallucinating.)
I have no idea what “remind them of the addled salmon mousse…?” is supposed to mean. That’s a funny metaphor though, I mean, the one YOU used….(a good metaphor, which you make, but you attribute to me…oh no, not again).
Shannon, have you ever seen Monty Python’s “The Meaning of Life”, the final scene of the movie? The grim reaper visits people coming together in a lonely house somewhere in the country and tells them they are dead, and that he will take them with him, they object, the do n ot believe him, they even make fun of him, until he points his bony finger at the salmon mousse on the table of which all of them tasted and that was addled and killed them all. So if you haven’t seen this film, you should, not only to understand my reference, but also because it is just so funny, or rather, witty. So my remark – the one to Grim Reaper, not the one in brackets to tease you – can only be of some interest if one actually does know what I am referring to. It is like a code. I thought that everyone in the world would have seen all of the Python’s movies, but … OK. and, of course, I just wanted to tease you to keep that strange conversation about metaphors going …
Where are you playing lee?