Two years after the conclusion of their massive “End Of The Road” farewell tour, the members of KISS reunited in Las Vegas this weekend, not just to perform, but to hint that the band’s creative output is far from finished.
On November 16, the lineup of Paul Stanley, Gene Simmons, Tommy Thayer, and Eric Singer participated in a wide-ranging Q&A session moderated by Chris Jericho (Fozzy) at the “KISS Kruise: Landlocked In Vegas” event at Virgin Hotels. During the discussion, Stanley dropped a significant revelation regarding the band’s future musical endeavors, specifically tied to their upcoming multimedia projects like the biopic and avatar show.
When pressed on whether new music would accompany these projects, Stanley was surprisingly candid.
“There may be some music in the works,” Stanley admitted. “We like to tell you what we’re doing, the things that are planned. The problem is that so much of what we may bring up never comes to fruition, [but] music, yeah, that looks pretty damn… more than possible. Probable. I’m not going to give you any hints, but I only write when there’s a project — and I’ve been writing.”
The Q&A followed a rare performance where the band played two sets—one acoustic and one electric—without their signature makeup and costumes. Stanley emphasized that stripping away the theatrics was a point of pride, proving that KISS remains a potent musical force even without the pyrotechnics.
“It was special for us because we know —– and there’s no false modesty — we’re really good as a band, and really solid,” Stanley said. “You can put smoke bombs on stage and you can put on makeup and boots and all that stuff, and at the end of the day, a crappy band is a crappy band. For us to get up and play just like this… it feels really good for us… We wanted to be as good as we are.”
He noted that despite the hiatus, the chemistry remained instant: “[It was] interesting for us after two years to get into a rehearsal room. It’s like riding a bike. We are who we are, and as soon as we plug in, that’s what we sound like.”
However, the “unmasked” setting did highlight the lyrical content of certain vintage tracks. Stanley laughed about the inclusion of “Take Me” from the 1976 album Rock And Roll Over in the setlist.
“It’s really funny because some of those songs are not really age-appropriate anymore,” Stanley joked. “I couldn’t imagine writing a song today [saying], ‘Put your hand into my pocket / grab on to my rocket.’ A nice place to visit, but I wouldn’t want to live there.”
The session also provided a platform for the band members to recognize each other’s musicianship, a topic often overshadowed by their public personas. Eric Singer took a moment to praise Gene Simmons‘ reliability as a rhythm section partner.
“Gene is a great bass player. I’ve played with a lot of great musicians, and Gene is as solid as a rock. He doesn’t speed up; he doesn’t slow down… Gene‘s very creative and melodic. Listen to ‘Goin’ Blind‘ as a good example,” Singer explained. “Gene is so easy to play with, it’s, like, effortless.”
Stanley agreed, adding: “I have to say, I don’t think that Gene ever gets his due because Gene loves doing shtick. All that Gene does as far as his personality and the things he says, somehow gets in the way of certain people listening and going, ‘He’s a fantastic bass player.'”
The conversation took a somber turn when Simmons was asked about regrets. The bassist reflected on the band’s history with original members Peter Criss and the late Ace Frehley, admitting that his desire to keep the business moving sometimes superseded his ability to help his friends.
“If I have any regrets, it’s that I sometimes — and I think we all go through this — wish we were smarter and better at trying to help Ace [Frehley] and Peter [Criss] have better lives,” Simmons confessed. “All of us are guilty of it, and so am I — ‘I don’t want to start an argument. Let’s just continue doing the tour,’ because you want to get through it for selfish reasons because it’s working and the chicks and the money… [In the] meantime, somebody who might be your brother is ruining their life by bad decisions.”
He continued, emphasizing the importance of intervention: “I wish I would have practiced more tough love and been more in the face of people that we cared about… Tough love is a good idea in my opinion… It’s not going to be a popular thing — you’re going to argue about it — but in the long run, you’re going to be helping that person hopefully change their life.”
Stanley also discussed the band’s resilience during their commercial slumps in the 1980s, recalling a specific instance where a journalist asked him: “How’s it feel to be on the Titanic?”
“I remember thinking, ‘Nobody [else] is going to decide when this is over,’ and that’s enough of a reason for it to continue — to show those pr*cks that we decide how long this is going to go on,” Stanley said. “What mattered to me was KISS, and if somebody wasn’t bailing water and the ship was sinking… I just worked that much harder, because I love the band, and the most important thing to me was to see the band survive.”
While Stanley remained non-committal about future live performances, stating: “We haven’t talked about it… What we’ll do at this point? I have no idea,” Simmons promised that the brand has a massive future ahead.
“Despite the fact that some of you think that this is the sunset, I promise you, this is the beginning,” Simmons declared. “This is the caterpillar that’s going to become the beautiful butterfly. We’ve seen plans for the future, and it will blow your mind.”
Ogorthul: Immersed in the bone-shattering world of death metal and beyond. I’m here to excavate the latest news, reviews, and interviews from the extreme metal scene for you.
