KISS Make Major Announcement at Farewell Show

2023-12-03

Image of Kiss performing live.

Kiss – Author Cat Badra, photo via Ken Settle

Kiss’ final show ever happened at Madison Square Garden on Saturday night (Dec. 2). But, for a band that’s retired over and over again, did you really think this would be the end? Of course, it’s not. Band members made a major announcement at their farewell show, and fans are having mixed reactions to the news.

Kiss’ current lineup features the famed Gene Simmons, Paul Stanley, Eric Singer and Tommy Thayer. Even with the new announcement, band members still say that Saturday’s show marked the end of traditional Kiss live shows. “This is the end of the road,” Stanley said early in the show. “It seems sad, but tonight’s a night for joy. Tonight’s a night to celebrate what we did together.”

At the very end of the show, after the band performed its final song, something different happened. Fans were treated to a short performance of “God Gave Rock and Roll to You,” performed by digital Kiss avatars. That was their introduction to the world of what was up ahead.

After the show, Kiss’ camp sent out a press release announcing a “new era of Kiss.” They added that Kiss is “marking the end of its physical existence by crossing into the digital world.” Fans should expect to see avatars of Kiss being sent out to “perform to fans for decades to come.”

At least Kiss went to the biggest and best to create these visual effects, since George Lucas’ visual effects company Industrial Light & Magic created them using motion-capture technology from band members. The upcoming KISS avatar shows will be in partnership with Pophouse Entertainment Group, who helped craft the recent virtual ABBA Voyage show in London.

Band members are all in on the avatar thing. “We can be forever young and forever iconic by taking us to places we’ve never dreamed of before,” Simmons said in a statement. “The technology is going to make Paul [Stanley] jump higher than he’s ever done before.”

“What we’ve accomplished has been amazing, but it’s not enough,” Stanley added. “The band deserves to live on because the band is bigger than we are … It’s exciting for us to go the next step and see KISS immortalized. I mean, we’ve spent 50 years building it to this point. And by working with ILM and working with Pophouse, we’re all sharing this vision of taking Kiss to a completely different level beyond being just a music band. And we’ve always thought of ourselves as more than just a music band.”

So, I don’t think anyone really expected Kiss to call it quits if there would be another opportunity to stay in the limelight. But, on social media, fans are having a mix response to the announcement. Most of them don’t seem to be digging it, saying the “live music is sacred.” Right now, Kiss hasn’t announced any avatar shows, but they’re teasing dates. Watch video footage of the avatar teaser at the end of Kiss’ final concert at Madison Square Garden, as well as a promo video, below.

Cat Badra
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Posted by Cat Badra | Music, Rock, Rock News

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