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
Robin Leach, he of the “Lifestyles of the Rich and Famous” did this interview. Is this not the nail in the coffin? Rock is officially dead.
please, kiss sucks and has sucked since they went with fake ace and fake peter. real fans my butt, paul and gene haven’t cared about what the real fans, hard core fans, or average fans have felt for years. the only thing they care about is your money into their pockets. so they will sell anything to you. real fans know the truth and real fans wont be bullshitted. paul you have the classic signs of being a pathological liar. now it is Halloween and I have some work to do. p.s. for the goofballs that say that this is the real kiss and the band has never sounded better and paul’s voice is great and they are the most happiest blah blah, please do yourself a favor go listen to the backstreet boys because that is what you enjoy buying.
You know things are messed up with Kiss, when GENE sounds like the sane one!
If you look at his twitter account, he acts like he is the “Oprah of Rock” with all his feel good messages.
But when it comes to Ace and Peter, he cannot help himself and put them down.
Man does he have issues.
maybe paul’s next solo album will be a concept album, a rock oprah.
And you don’t have issues as you bash and put down Gene?
Lol, hilarious. Pot calling kettle…
You call what I said “bashing” Gene?
My screen name is more offensive….but true.
Why what mighty thin skin you have? Thanks for the laugh. 🙂
For decades Paul has been using the sports team reference, concerning players leave and the team goes on. EARTH TO PAUL STANLEY: A sports team is a franchise where the name is decided on FIRST, then the players come in. And everybody with a brain knows that players come and go, yet the franchise remains intact. A rock and roll band comes together, then decides on a name that suits them. NOT TO MENTION, but I will anyway, the idea of comparing KISS to any band or sports team that has multiple players over the years is lunacy of the highest order. I’ve said it 1,000times: KISS IS A SPECIAL CASE. This isn’t Nazereth or Boston. This is 4 iconic members that burned itself into the minds and hearts of millions. YOU CANNOT DISMISS THIS, nor can you just flippantly use stupid comparisons to justify your plight, Stanley. The Beatles. Kiss. The most famous 4 man band faces IN HISTORY. To try to explain it away as anything else is absolutely insulting to us fans of 40 years!
And the difference is: the Beatles need not tell everyone for a 1000 times they are the greatest, they just let others do it.
Joe,
you sound like a loyal fan, a fan who is rooted in reality , kiss was special once, that memory will never leave me, seeing them live for the first time with ace, peter, gene, and paul, it was just unbelievable what they made you feel- to a kid like me, gene was actually really scary, and paul was the coolest guy on the planet- ace was literally the most amazing guitarist i had ever seen and peter was pounding the hell out of his drums , all in the coolest make up and costumes ever conceived – i have been playing music ever since and have amazing memories with kiss as the soundtrack- if someone would have said to me then kiss would be what they are now in the year 2014 i would have beat their ass on the spot lol! i saw kiss for the last time live during the reunion tour and thankfully they had a very good night – that for me was how i want to remember them , that was a great end to their story for me- Joe, you are right- what they are now is lunacy .
Thank you, bobbyd…I’m glad there are still a few of us left holding the flag, however tattered and disgraced it may be.
How many of you bazoos saw Kiss in ’14? Paul knows the ’14 line-up blows away the ’77 line-up and he says so. Don’t even bring up Ace ’14 compared to Kiss ’14, the guy can’t sing, the album blows compared to the last 2 Kiss albums and wait’ll you see the reviews of his shows at non sold out clubs. Didja see Vince is so broke he had to do a club meet and greet appearance in Houston after the Crue show? That knock out in Vegas musta cost him a fortune.
yeah ok Lee, now it’s time to go feed the cattle on your farm, thanks for stopping, YEEEEEEEHAWWWWWW
You copied 95% of your post from another one on here earlier, do you not have one new thought to contribute? or at least paraphrase it?
i’m starting to wonder if this idiot is Paul himself. He just keeps rehashing the same comments as he has in previous topics, like Paul rehashing the same crap he has for years. Kiss needs Def Leppard and Motley Crue. Paul McCartney, AC/DC, Iron Maiden, Metallica need nobody. Hell if you really want to slap Kiss in the face, Carrie Underwood and many country acts are blowing away Kiss. So what does Paul have left, oh yeah keep crapping on Peter Criss and Ace Frehley, the 2 guys I liked least in the band. Now the 2 I have the m ost respect for.
I think the control issue is so heavy on Paul he would not bother to show himself because he would think he is doing everything right again.
Dude, the last two kiss albums were terrible. Sonic Boom? Sonic BM…
SB and Monster were horrible and face the facts, every die hard Kiss fan knows that. I wasn’t buying that crap knowing I can easily listen to it for free on the internet.
bubbles, you are the “tweeter of the night”!
Thanks man. I got a laugh out of it!