Longtime KISS manager Doc McGhee has offered a significant update on the band’s forthcoming farewell tour documentary, revealing that the project has been in the works for five years and aims to show a side of the band that their “on-stage” personas rarely allow.
Speaking during a panel discussion at the “KISS Kruise: Landlocked In Vegas” event on November 15, McGhee explained the challenge of capturing the real KISS after 50 years of showmanship. He detailed that the film crew followed the band for the entire five-year, 250-date “End Of The Road” tour, which began in 2019, stressing that a “fly-on-the-wall” method was the only way to get an honest film.
McGhee compared the band’s constant public-facing image to that of professional wrestling, a facade he wanted the documentary to break.
“We had to do the fly-on-the-wall [approach], because if you don’t, everybody becomes actors, and it gets boring,” McGhee said (via Blabbermouth). “We did this for five years — we started this [in] ’19 — so it was important to us to not have the usual KISS/WWE kind of thing. KISS is like WWE in a certain way — they’re always on, and all this. We wanted to catch all the moments that were inspiring, that you could see the heart of KISS.”
After accumulating “thousands of hours” of footage, McGhee says the editing team has spent the last two years sifting through it to find the narrative. The result, he promises, will be a revelation for fans who are only used to the larger-than-life characters.
“I think when you see it, you’ll see a whole different side of KISS than what we’re used to seeing. You’ll see that tie together,” he stated.
McGhee framed the documentary as the first major “tentpole” in the band’s post-touring era, designed to work in concert with the upcoming biopic and the highly anticipated avatar show.
“I think it will be a great ride that will then bring us into the biopic [the forthcoming feature film “Shout It Out Loud“], and then into the avatar show. I think right now we have the tentpoles set up to set us up for the future.”
Despite the extensive work, McGhee confirmed the documentary has no firm release date, emphasizing the band’s commitment to quality over speed. This same philosophy, he said, applies to all their legacy projects, including the biopic, which has been in development for seven years.
“One thing we’ve always tried to do is, we don’t release anything until it’s right,” McGhee insisted. “Whether it’s the avatar show [or whatever], if it takes longer, it takes longer. If this takes longer, it takes longer. If the movie takes longer… we’ve been doing this movie for seven years. We don’t need to make a movie, and we don’t need to make a documentary. We need to make a phenomenal [documentary], a phenomenal avatar show and the best movie out there, and I think we have the best team to do it.”
Although KISS played their final live show in December 2023, McGhee joked that he is “working a lot harder” now than before. He concluded that these new ventures ensure the brand’s immortality.
“I believe that what we have at our fingertips to give to the world as far as KISS is concerned is going to go on way beyond all of us.”
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