Kiss bassist and vocalist Gene Simmons brought a special guest onstage during his solo band’s headlining set at the Alameda County Fair in Pleasanton, California on Friday night (June 19). Midway through the show, Gene Simmons Band was joined by Phil Demmel, the former Machine Head guitarist who now plays in Kerry King‘s solo band, for a run through the Kiss classic “War Machine“. Fan-filmed footage of the performance, captured and shared by Capital Chaos TV, can be seen below.
The appearance added an unexpected jolt to Simmons‘ set, pairing the Kiss co-founder with one of the Bay Area’s most respected metal guitarists. Demmel spent more than 15 years in Machine Head, becoming the band’s longest-serving lead guitarist before departing in 2018, and has since landed a high-profile gig as the second guitarist in Kerry King‘s solo outfit. His sit-in on “War Machine” made for one of the night’s standout moments.
The Gene Simmons Band features Gene on bass and vocals, Jason Walker on guitar and vocals, Brian Tichy on drums and vocals, and Brent Woods on guitar. In a recent interview with the Whittier Daily News, Simmons heaped praise on his backing musicians and explained how the stripped-down nature of the project gives them freedom that Kiss never had.
“My side band, they’re killers by the way. They’re multi-instrumentalists, and all sing lead. It’s really a terrific idea. We don’t have a manager. There are no trucks, no nothing. We just set up and play. We have the flexibility of doing requests someone may yell out. Or if we’re asked if we know ‘Tush‘ by ZZ TOP, we’ll look at each other, it’s the key of G, let’s go and boom, you’re off to the races,” Simmons said.
Simmons went on to describe just how loose and unpredictable the solo shows can get, including digging into deep cuts and even inviting audience members onto the stage.
“We’re going to do material Kiss that has never done. We’re going to do some stuff that maybe has never been recorded. The other thing we can do that Kiss never did is pull fans up from the audience. Do you want to be a rock star? I may pull you up if you can play an instrument. Or, if it’s a kid that looks like he can hold his own on stage, I’ll pull him up. No rules,” he added.
The Pleasanton show kicked off the Alameda County Fair’s concert series, which runs through July 12.
Two days ago, a short run of 2026 U.S. summer shows featuring Gene Simmons alongside Sebastian Bach, Lita Ford, and Quiet Riot was officially cancelled. The three-date mini-tour was scheduled to hit Fresno, Murphys, and Stateline between July 17 and July 19, but was abruptly called off before it could launch. The cancellation was confirmed by Lita Ford in a social media post addressing fans directly.
“We are very sad to announce the cancellation of the following three shows for next month with Gene Simmons, Sebastian Bach & Quiet Riot:
July 17th – Fresno CA
July 18th – Murphys CA
July 19th – Stateline NVSincere apologies for the inconvenience caused and we hope to be back in these markets very soon.”
No official explanation has been provided by any of the artists or the tour’s promotion team. Following the announcement, some fans have begun speculating on social media that the cancellation could be tied to weaker-than-expected ticket sales. However, none of the involved acts have commented on those claims.
