First Kiss

Everything's looking awesome on the Subway today:
Shock-rockers are celebrating their 35th anniversary with a massive tour across Europe!
The band just posted online that they're hitting up Germany, Italy, Mexico, Russia, the Czech Republic, the United Kingdom, the Netherlands, France, and Spain.

If you're a fan, catch them playing in New York City on May 15th!

🤣

Vegas is actually closer than Phoenix, and it’s happening on 12.05.

It'll probably happen somewhere in Italy too

Around here, they only ever play in Paris! 😢

KISS is this legendary American rock band that kicked things off back in New York City in '73. They’re basically icons because of that crazy face paint and those over-the-top stage costumes they rock. They really blew up in the mid-70s with this massive sound that was like a heavy mix of classic rock, glam, and early heavy metal. And man, their live shows? Absolutely wild. We're talking fire-breathing, blood-spitting, smoke guitars, and enough pyrotechnics to light up the whole coast.
To date, KISS has racked up 24 gold albums, and their total sales have absolutely smashed past the 100 million mark.
The OG lineup—which everyone agrees was easily their most successful and recognizable era—featured Gene Simmons on bass and vocals, Paul Stanley on rhythm guitar, Ace Frehley on lead guitar and vocals, and Peter Criss on drums and vocals.
With that signature makeup and gear, they basically turned themselves into comic book characters: The Demon (Simmons), Star Child (Stanley), The Spaceman (Frehley), and Catman (Criss).

I haven't seen any threads about them around here yet, so I figured I'd start one. 🤷
I'm dying to know what you guys think of them. 🙂

P.S. There’s been some chatter floating around about them potentially touring through Los Angeles soon, but honestly, it all sounds like total tabloid speculation (though I’d sure love it if it actually happened 👍).

Makeup artists 😁

KISS is just a front to rake in massive amounts of cash... 🤷

Jessica Doyle91 said:KISS is just a front to rake in massive amounts of cash... 🤷

Oh, so that automatically means they suck? 🙄

They're actually pretty good.
But man, Gene Simmons has such a gross tongue thing going on. 😬

One of the most overrated bands in the history of rock—honestly. They just relentlessly leaned into their image, which ended up completely swallowing up what was already pretty mediocre music.

Exactly. God forbid anyone actually writes a fun, catchy song. If you find yourself humming a chorus or a riff later on, it’s an instant sign that it’s total garbage.🙄 ☕

Morgan Brown4 said:So that basically means everything they do is garbage.🙄

Music is subjective—some people love it, some don't. It's all about personal taste. P.S. Just look at the seven eras of rock and roll and you'll see what I mean. Everyone would gladly kiss them anywhere if they were worth a billion dollars. In that context, it’s not even about the music anymore; it’s about the show. People pay to see the spectacle, and at the end of the day, that's what they're actually footing the bill for.

Look, we all know it. Paul and Gene always prioritized the money, but they still managed to churn out killer, fun hard rock tracks. It’s a huge difference compared to some of those later bands where chasing the paycheck became the only thing that mattered.

here are a few shots from last Thursday:







KISS put on an absolutely killer show in Zurich—totally their style. Honestly, the whole production was spectacular; it’s one of those things every rock fan just needs to experience at least once.
Sure, you could call it cheesy or old-school or even played out—but man, it was good. Just damn good!

The real reason I ended up going was because the opening act was phenomenal Rival Sons—I would’ve been seriously missing out if I hadn't shown up...

Rock and Roll All Nite

Detroit rock City / I Was Made For Lovin' You

Raymond Palmer8 said:KISS did what they do best and put on an incredible show in Zurich. It was absolutely spectacular... honestly, any rock fan needs to experience this at least once...
You could call it cheesy, old-school, or totally played out... but man, it hits hard. It’s damn good...

I'm still torn on whether I should actually go to the show... but honestly, that opening band was freaking incredible... Rival Sons... pure rock and roll... Man, I'd be seriously tripping if I hadn't gone...

That’s basically the textbook definition of a KISS concert...🙂Man, those videos and photos of yours are priceless...
First off, thanks for bringing this thread back to life and reviving such a legendary band... been almost three years since anyone talked about them...🙂I've been tempted to pull this move since the second I signed up for this forum... did it once before with another NYC band, the Ramones...

Man, I'm so jealous you actually got to be there... looks like an incredible show. Based on those clips, it’s clear the band hasn't lost a step. Honestly, that performance of Detroit rock City might even be one of the best KISS ever played. I've never had the chance to see them live myself, just lived through their DVDs and random YouTube clips...
You can see for yourself how much interest there actually is for the band around here...😕They were supposed to play a show over in Mexico a few years back, but they barely sold any tickets so the whole thing just fell through...

Don't want to bug you with too many concert questions... just wondering if they played Parasite, Black Diamond, or Going Blind... those were always on the setlist...

Hey, here’s the full setlist for you.

The only bummer about the setlist is they didn't close things out with "Rock and Roll All Nite" like they usually do—instead, the KISS guys just walked off, the lights came up, and "God Gave Rock" started blasting over the PA while the whole stadium sang along...

Thanks....The setlist could've been better, honestly, but it's always a struggle balancing what fans want to hear with playing some newer stuff. Including two tracks from the "Monster" album feels like a good middle ground for a legendary band like KISS—they don't want to drift too far from the classics people actually show up for.

I'm definitely one of those guys who leans toward their early era, especially back when Ace Frehley was the main man on guitar.

All things considered, they're doing pretty well for a band that's been around since '73. Paul Stanley hasn't lost an ounce of that killer voice. He’s got incredible energy for a sixty-one-year-old, especially since he just had his third kid a couple of years ago.😍

I dig that they saved the big hits for the encore, though I gotta say, I was hoping they'd throw in "Forever." That ballad would've meant a lot... but whatever.

It was also cool seeing them let the crowd belt out "God Gave..." There's just a certain charm to that moment🙂.

It's kind of weird that there's no footage of "Rock and Roll All Nite"—I managed to find clips for every other song.

Here's a clip from the show in Prague, which was the week before Zurich. Apparently, if you look at 1:40, you can see Paul's wife and oldest son walking by🤷.

They were on their last tour

KISS, Washington, D.C., 07/09/2022.

https://www.facebook.com/hr.eventim/...2060012573000/

I honestly never imagined I’d actually see this happen right here in the States.

It’s almost as if I had some sort of premonition, because I actually ended up returning those tickets I had originally bought for the show in Budapest.