PAUL STANLEY ON KISS’ “END OF THE ROAD” TOUR, “THE IDEA OF BRINGING BACK FORMER MEMBERS AS PRESENT [ONES] IS RIDICULOUS”

Allison Stewart of the Chicago Tribute spoke with KISS frontman Paul Stanley. Highlights from the interview appear below.

Q: How are you approaching every night? Are you going out there like, “This is the last time Kiss will ever play Dallas,” or, “This is the last time Kiss will ever play Chicago”? 

A: It really feels more like a celebration than a funeral. I guess it’s how you look at it. … We’ve all been in a position where something ends — a relationship, a life — and you have all these regrets about what you didn’t say, and if you’d only known. We’re in this amazing position where we get to do a tour and connect all the dots, and celebrate our relationships. It’s celebratory.

Q: And yet, you brought your 98 year-old dad to the show in L.A. a few weeks ago. Do you ever look at him and think, “I could keep going into my 90s”?

A: I didn’t bring him, he insisted on coming (laughs). … If we were a band in tennis shoes and jeans and t-shirts, yeah, we could do this into our 90s. But we’re not, we’re KISS, and even though we make it look easy, we’re wearing between thirty and forty pounds of gear and running around for two-plus hours, so it’s important for everyone to realize that life is finite, and there is a expiration date for us. It’s better to stop now than to kind of fizzle out. Making a passive decision is still a decision… The band has never been better, we’ve never had more fun. Most bands do a final tour because they hate each other. For us, it’s the complete opposite.

Q: Are you impervious to the trends that are sweeping the country now? Everyone’s more uptight than they were in the ‘70s. Or are you at a level where it doesn’t affect you?

A: I’m of the belief that you leave your politics at the bottom step going up to the stage. I’m here to give people an escape from what they deal with 24 hours a day. If you want bad news, you can go on the internet, you can watch television, but everybody can use a break.

Q: Do you see KISS going on in some form? Doing one-off shows, making albums?

A: I have no idea about the future, honestly.

Q: What would be your preference?

A: There’s no way, whether I want it to or not, that KISS would stop. We live on in one form or another, because we live on through the fans.

Q: When you get to the final, final lap, do you rule out bringing back any former members? Is everything on the table?

A: This isn’t — this was never going to be a reunion tour of any members. This is a celebration of the history of this band and the success of this band. The lineup as it is has been seventeen years. (Guitarist Tommy Thayer) has been with us that long, and (drummer Eric Singer) has been with us 25 years, so the idea of bringing back former members as present members is ridiculous. Certainly, I’ve always been open to the idea of former members being part of an evening in a one-off form, but it has nothing to do with KISS as entity. I celebrate the past, but I don’t want to live in it. When I was watching the Super Bowl, at the end I saw Joe Namath carrying the trophy up to the stand. It was great to see him, but I don’t think anybody wanted him to suit up and get on the field.

Read more at the Chicago Tribune.

Remaining dates on KISS’ End Of The Road tour:

March:

6 Sioux Falls, SD Denny Sanford PREMIER Center
7 Omaha, NE CHI Health Center Omaha
9 Grand Rapids, MI Van Andel Arena
10 Moline, IL TaxSlayer Center
12 Louisville, KY KFC Yum! Center
13 Detroit, MI Little Caesars Arena
16 Columbus, OH Nationwide Arena
17 Cleveland, OH Quicken Loans Arena
19 Montreal, QC, Canada Bell Centre
20 Toronto, ON, Canada Scotiabank Arena
22 Long Island, NY NYCB LIVE’s Nassau Coliseum
23 Uncasville, CT Mohegan Sun Arena
26 Boston, MA TD Garden
27 New York, NY Madison Square Garden
29 Philadelphia, PA Wells Fargo Center
30 Pittsburgh, PA PPG Paints Arena

April:

2 Quebec City, QC, Canada Videotron Centre
3 Ottawa, ON, Canada Canadian Tire Centre
6 Raleigh, NC PNC Arena
7 Atlanta, GA State Farm Arena
9 Nashville, TN Bridgestone Arena
11 Tampa, FL Amalie Arena
12 Jacksonville, FL Jacksonville Veterans Memorial Arena
13 Birmingham, AL BJCC

August: 

6 Sunrise, FL @ BB&T Center
8 Charleston, NC @ North Charleston Coliseum
10 Charlotte, NC @ PNC Music Pavilion
11 Bristow, VA @ Jiffy Lube Live
13 Virginia Beach, VA @ Veterans United Home Loans Amphitheater
14 Newark, NJ @ Prudential Center
16 Montreal, QC @ Bell Centre
17 Toronto, ON @ Scotiabank Arena
20 Brooklyn, NY @ Barclays Center
21 Hershey, PA @ HersheyPark Stadium
23 Darien Center, NY @ Darien Lake Amphitheater
24 Saratoga Springs, NY @ Saratoga Performing Arts Center
27 Syracuse, NY @ St. Joseph’s Health Amphitheater at Lakeview
29 Cincinnati, OH @ Riverbend Music Center
31 Indianapolis, IN @ Ruoff Home Mortgage Music Center

September: 

1 St. Louis, MO @ Hollywood Casino Amphitheatre
3 Des Moines, IA @ Wells Fargo Arena
5 Little Rock, AR @ Verizon Arena
7 Bossier City, LA @ CenturyLink Center
8 San Antonio, TX @ AT&T Center
9 Houston, TX @ Toyota Center
11 Albuquerque, NM @ Isleta Amphitheater
12 Denver, CO @ Pepsi Center
14 Salt Lake City, UT @ USANA Amphitheatre
16 Oakland, CA @ Oracle Arena