Kiss News

Thanks to Dale Kemp for sharing his wonderful KISS story with KISSOnline!

Where: Ft McMurray, AB, Canada
When: July 2, 2011
What: KISS

I have to share one of the Greatest Weekends of my Life!!

A few months ago, I heard KISS were planning a LOST CITIES TOUR. and it was stopping in Ft McMurray, AB much to my surprise! Thought this would be a great chance to ask my two boys (Alex 9 & Dylan 5) if they would like to go to a KISS show. They both said �sure�!

Next step, ask them if they would like to dress up! Dylan thought it would be great to go as Gene while Alex opted for no dress up whatsoever (at 9 apparently its �embarrassing� lol). It was all fine by me�go with the flow!

Then I saw the chance to take home Paul�s Smashed Guitar! I have been front and center hoping to take that guitar home from every KISS show I have been to including Edmonton, Calgary, Vancouver, Auckland N.Z., and several shows in Australia. Add the chance to sit down with the Starchild one on one and it was the opportunity of a lifetime!

I debated the cost versus the experience I�d get � for about five minutes � then the Universe said �DO IT !!�Thanks to Dale Kemp for sharing his wonderful KISS story with KISSOnline!

Where: Ft McMurray, AB, Canada
When: July 2, 2011
What: KISS

I have to share one of the Greatest Weekends of my Life!!

A few months ago, I heard KISS were planning a LOST CITIES TOUR. and it was stopping in Ft McMurray, AB much to my surprise! Thought this would be a great chance to ask my two boys (Alex 9 & Dylan 5) if they would like to go to a KISS show. They both said �sure�!

Next step, ask them if they would like to dress up! Dylan thought it would be great to go as Gene while Alex opted for no dress up whatsoever (at 9 apparently its �embarrassing� lol). It was all fine by me�go with the flow!

Then I saw the chance to take home Paul�s Smashed Guitar! I have been front and center hoping to take that guitar home from every KISS show I have been to including Edmonton, Calgary, Vancouver, Auckland N.Z., and several shows in Australia. Add the chance to sit down with the Starchild one on one and it was the opportunity of a lifetime!

I debated the cost versus the experience I�d get � for about five minutes � then the Universe said �DO IT !!�

So, I locked it up and spent the next month brimming with anticipation!

Finally, the day of the show came. Not only did my boys come along on the 5 hour drive north from Edmonton�but I convinced a total of 12 family & friends to make the trek with me!

We arrived to the Hotel and started getting everyone ready�.running around putting make-up on 4 people can get hectic. Once everyone was dressed and made up, we walked the 1.1km to the MacDonald Island Park (A large Outdoor park with a new Recreation Complex). Once there and the rest of our group were in line and ready to secure some nice spots up front�was time for us to go meet Dean for the M&G passes.

First we decided to go for a walk as the Boys really wanted to see The GENE AXE/FAMILY JEWELS Tour Bus. The KISS Sound Check begun as we got there and the great group from RECKLESS (Pub Here in Ft Mac) wanted some pictures with Dylan�then we were invited onto the Bus by Paul Hayeland to take some pics with the Axe Bass that was auctioned off for charity that night. A very cool experience and Paul even had a chance to try and sell me a Punisher! THANKS PAUL! Look forward to seeing you again soon!

Then, off to meet Dean Snowden for the M&G Gear�and hopefully catch up with Francis (Paul�s Guitar Tech). All went well�Dylan was a trooper, stopped for about 300 Photos without complaining (And Alex came up with the idea of charging $1 per photo, that they could split! LOL).

Finally at about 8:30pm, Francis called and we met him backstage. We whisked through the Band M&G area and straight to the dressing room area. I could not believe I was standing right near the �Superman� curtain, behind which the Make-Up Ritual happens!! Francis took us into the band hospitality room and presented us with the guitar while he went to see if Paul was ready.

About 2 minutes later�in walks PAUL STANLEY in full costume and standing 7� Tall. My boys were speechless. Paul pulled up a chair and started talking to Dylan first. Asking him what he wanted to be when he grows up (a vet) and asking him where he got his costume. I think Dylan convinced Paul to get his next costume online as well�! Then it was Alex�s turn, Paul complemented him on his KISS ARMY shirt and made him feel quite proud of his attire! Paul and the boys then made bets with each other about how many pieces the guitar would break into. It was agreed that 3 pieces would be the best! We then all took some pictures with Paul and the Guitar! A highly recommended experience!!

Dylan could not wait to see that thing gets SMASHED at the end of the show�.he sat up on my shoulders for two solid hours! When �Rock n Roll All Nite� started�we knew it wasn�t far away. Francis handed the Washburn to Paul�and to center stage he went. When the time came to sacrifice that instrument, Paul gave it one final kiss�and with a wall of fire as a background�down in came! Paul picked up the 3 PIECES and turned to us and pointed the neck at us �THAT�S FOR YOU�.

After the show Francis brought over the Guitar signed �To Dale, Alex & Dylan�, Paul�s stage used set-list and some picks thrown in for good measure! A BIG THANKS to FRANCIS for making the occasion so comfortable, I hope you get to share something like this with your Boys!

At the end of the evening we went home with: 2 Personally Band signed Drumheads, 2 Sets of �Drumsticks� (Thanks Eric), 22 Guitar Picks, 500 Pictures and 1 Broken Guitar !!!

But to see your Boys enjoy themselves at their first KISS Show and pumping the Simmons Fingers into the air for every song and tell you �THAT WAS THE MOST AMAZING EXPERIENCE OF MY LIFE DAD!!!�
THAT�makes it all worthwhile. I would do it again in a heartbeat�..
BIG THANKS TO EVENTS WOOD BUFFALO (Misty) for bring KISS to Ft McMurray, GENE SIMMONS, PAUL STANLEY, ERIC SINGER, TOMMY THAYER, FRANCIS, DEAN SNOWDEN, JILL, KEITH LEROUX, DOC McGhee, ALEX & DYLAN�..and to TIFFANY (for understanding xxx)

KISS opens Mountain Laurel Center Wednesday

By Josh McAuliffe (Staff Writer)

After a four-year hiatus, live music will return to the Mountain Laurel Pocono Mountains Performing Arts Center this week. And what better band to rechristen the place than the kings of rock music showmanship, the one and only KISS.

Wednesday night, Gene Simmons and his fellow face-painted icons will play the first show at the Bushkill amphitheater since 2007. From there, the venue will host comic Larry the Cable Guy, ZZ Top, the Beach Boys with Frankie Valli and the Four Seasons and the Monkees.

Those in attendance will be among the last fans to see KISS for some time, as the band is finishing up the final leg of a two-and-a-half-year world tour, one that made a stop at Toyota Pavilion at Montage Mountain last summer.

"When KISS comes to town, it's like the circus is coming to town. It's a must-see," said the band's lead guitarist, Tommy Thayer, during a recent phone interview. "It's something you have to see at least once in your life."

While the tour might be wrapping up, the band is as busy as ever these days. They're recording tracks for their next studio album, the first since 2009's "Sonic Boom," putting the final touches on the fourth volume of their DVD history, "Kissology," and gearing up for the first KISS Kruise, in which the band will spend a week sailing the Caribbean with their most devoted fans.

"We're going to turn the KISS Army into the KISS Navy. We're going to turn that cruise ship into a battleship," cracked Mr. Thayer, who joined the band in 2002, when original lead guitarist Ace Frehley departed for the second time.KISS opens Mountain Laurel Center Wednesday

By Josh McAuliffe (Staff Writer)

After a four-year hiatus, live music will return to the Mountain Laurel Pocono Mountains Performing Arts Center this week. And what better band to rechristen the place than the kings of rock music showmanship, the one and only KISS.

Wednesday night, Gene Simmons and his fellow face-painted icons will play the first show at the Bushkill amphitheater since 2007. From there, the venue will host comic Larry the Cable Guy, ZZ Top, the Beach Boys with Frankie Valli and the Four Seasons and the Monkees.

Those in attendance will be among the last fans to see KISS for some time, as the band is finishing up the final leg of a two-and-a-half-year world tour, one that made a stop at Toyota Pavilion at Montage Mountain last summer.

"When KISS comes to town, it's like the circus is coming to town. It's a must-see," said the band's lead guitarist, Tommy Thayer, during a recent phone interview. "It's something you have to see at least once in your life."

While the tour might be wrapping up, the band is as busy as ever these days. They're recording tracks for their next studio album, the first since 2009's "Sonic Boom," putting the final touches on the fourth volume of their DVD history, "Kissology," and gearing up for the first KISS Kruise, in which the band will spend a week sailing the Caribbean with their most devoted fans.

"We're going to turn the KISS Army into the KISS Navy. We're going to turn that cruise ship into a battleship," cracked Mr. Thayer, who joined the band in 2002, when original lead guitarist Ace Frehley departed for the second time.

Mr. Thayer was in his teens when KISS mania was at its zenith in the mid-1970s. Like most of his peers, he couldn't get enough of the band's makeup and pyro-laden theatrics.

A decade or so later, Mr. Thayer was playing guitar with the hard rock band Black 'N Blue when it was invited to open for KISS. "That was a thrill," he said.

During that period, Mr. Thayer built up a good rapport with Mr. Simmons and fellow KISS co-founder Paul Stanley. Following Black 'N Blue's breakup in the late '80s, KISS hired him to take on a number of tasks, from editing videos to playing guitar at rehearsals.

When Mr. Frehley and original drummer Peter Criss returned to the band in 1996, it was up to Mr. Thayer to help Mr. Frehley re-learn his guitar parts.

Six years later, Mr. Frehley departed, which opened the door for Mr. Thayer to take over the band's signature "Spaceman" role.

"It was a little bit of a mind blower," he said. "I felt very gratified and fortunate to be in that position. But at the same time, I had to put my nose to the grindstone."

"Being in KISS elevates you to a whole other level of performance," he continued. "What's great about this band is that the four members all love what they do. ... There's a fire burning every night, literally and figuratively. We want to put on the most fiery and bombastic show possible."

Contact the writer: [email protected]

If you go

What: KISS

Where: Mountain Laurel Pocono Mountains Performing Arts Center, Bushkill

When: Wednesday, 8 p.m.

Details: Tickets are $39 to $115 and can be purchased online at www.mtlaurelpac.com, or by calling 800-745-3000.

By David Newel

In the Photo: Members of iconic rock group Kiss, Gene Simmons, Tommy Thayer, Paul Stanley and Eric Singer (back) were the headliners at this past weekend�s Salmon Festival in Grand Falls-Windsor. More than 20,000 fans endured a driving rain that started just prior to the band�s two-hour show.

Rock icons Kiss, including founding members Gene Simmons and Paul Stanley, did not disappoint throngs of fans that converged on Grand Falls-Windsor for this year�s Salmon Festival concert Saturday night.

After opening acts Fefe Dobson, The Orchestra, Down With Webster and Smashmouth played under sunny skies, clouds moved in as if on cue, but the crowd�s enthusiasm shone through.

The headliners, known for their outlandish makeup and costumes and spectacular pyrotechnics, performed many of their hits, including �Shout It Out Loud,� �Detroit Rock City,� and �Beth�.

Grand Falls-Windsor Mayor Al Hawkins said the event was huge for the town.

�Grand Falls-Windsor is a concert centre,� he said. �We are pretty happy. When you look at the amount of money people will leave in the town, we are happy.�By David Newel

Rock icons Kiss, including founding members Gene Simmons and Paul Stanley, did not disappoint throngs of fans that converged on Grand Falls-Windsor for this year�s Salmon Festival concert Saturday night.

After opening acts Fefe Dobson, The Orchestra, Down With Webster and Smashmouth played under sunny skies, clouds moved in as if on cue, but the crowd�s enthusiasm shone through.

The headliners, known for their outlandish makeup and costumes and spectacular pyrotechnics, performed many of their hits, including �Shout It Out Loud,� �Detroit Rock City,� and �Beth�.

Grand Falls-Windsor Mayor Al Hawkins said the event was huge for the town.

�Grand Falls-Windsor is a concert centre,� he said. �We are pretty happy. When you look at the amount of money people will leave in the town, we are happy.�

Simmons� partner, Newfoundland-born Shannon Tweed, with whom he stars in their reality television show, �Gene Simmons Family Jewels�, accompanied him to the event.

While official numbers are not yet known, estimates put the crowd in excess of 20,000. Visitors to the town more than doubled its population overnight, and hotel rooms in the central Newfoundland region have been sold out since the event was announced several months ago.

Police reported no major incidents as of the end of the concert, either at the Centennial Field venue or in Grand Falls-Windsor itself, however overwhelming demand for product in the beer garden at one point in the evening required intervention by security staff and RCMP.

More major acts are expected for Salmon Festivals in the coming years, as the town council in Grand Falls-Windsor recently signed a five-year contract with Moncton-based SRO Entertainment to co-ordinate the event.

KISS 'changed the live concert experience,' Gene Simmons says

by John J. Moser

KISS, with Gene Simmons in front, plays Mountain Laurel Performing Arts Center on July 13

With the rock band KISS coming to Mountain Laurel Performing Arts Center in Bushkill, Pike County, on July 13, fans have quite a show to look forward to, the band�s demon-faced bassist, Gene Simmons, says.

�What you have to look forward to is KISS,� Simmons said in a recent telephone interview. �And if that doesn�t say it all. I mean, we�re the ones who changed the live concert experience, period.�

There�s little argument that, with the emergence of KISS in the mid 1970s, concerts expanded from exclusively musical to a show experience. With its members wearing painted faces and costumes, fire breathing and shooting, Simmons spitting blood and more, KISS clearly changed the concert paradigm.

�Absolutely,� Simmons says. �Basically we strapped our boot heels down � our platform boot heels down � and said, �You paid a lot of money for this concert, you deserve more than me sitting with an acoustic guitar on a Persian carpet and lighting incense.�

�So whether you see Gaga or McCartney or anybody else live, and they�re using pyro and effects, where do you think that comes from � The Oak Ridge Boys?�

Simmons promises a similar experience when KISS hits the stage at Mountain Laurel.

For someone who has spent most of his 38-year musical career covered in a demon costume and Kabuki makeup, Gene Simmons is exposing his innermost self an awful lot these days.KISS 'changed the live concert experience,' Gene Simmons says

by John J. Moser

KISS, with Gene Simmons in front, plays Mountain Laurel Performing Arts Center on July 13

With the rock band KISS coming to Mountain Laurel Performing Arts Center in Bushkill, Pike County, on July 13, fans have quite a show to look forward to, the band�s demon-faced bassist, Gene Simmons, says.

�What you have to look forward to is KISS,� Simmons said in a recent telephone interview. �And if that doesn�t say it all. I mean, we�re the ones who changed the live concert experience, period.�

There�s little argument that, with the emergence of KISS in the mid 1970s, concerts expanded from exclusively musical to a show experience. With its members wearing painted faces and costumes, fire breathing and shooting, Simmons spitting blood and more, KISS clearly changed the concert paradigm.

�Absolutely,� Simmons says. �Basically we strapped our boot heels down � our platform boot heels down � and said, �You paid a lot of money for this concert, you deserve more than me sitting with an acoustic guitar on a Persian carpet and lighting incense.�

�So whether you see Gaga or McCartney or anybody else live, and they�re using pyro and effects, where do you think that comes from � The Oak Ridge Boys?�

Simmons promises a similar experience when KISS hits the stage at Mountain Laurel.

For someone who has spent most of his 38-year musical career covered in a demon costume and Kabuki makeup, Gene Simmons is exposing his innermost self an awful lot these days.

Not only is Simmons, the bassist for the rock group KISS, starring in a reality TV show chronicling his struggling relationship with longtime live-in Shannon Tweed and his coming to terms of the death of his father, but KISS is working on what will be its second studio album in two years, after an 11-year recording hiatus.

And after completing a 2 1/2-year world tour just last year, KISS is back out on a summer jaunt that brings it to Mountain Laurel Performing Arts Center in Bushkill on July 13. The band kicks off a summer concert season for the venue that has been dormant for four years.

So why is rock's God of Thunder suddenly putting himself out there in so many ways?

"Why do it? Why do anything?" Simmons, now approaching 61, says in a telephone call from the road. "I mean, if you have enough money and enough anything, what are you going to do? Just sit on your thumb and wait to die?"

Perhaps the most surprising of Simmons' activities this summer is the sixth season of "Family Jewels," the A&E Networkl reality show that stars Simmons, Tweed and their children, Nick and Sophie.

The season premiered last month with an episode in which Tweed, after seeing a photo of the famously womanizing Simmons with two women on his arms, becomes fed up and leaves him. In later episodes (six of the eight have now aired), they reconcile and go through counseling.

Simmons swears the story wasn't created or enhanced for television� despite the fact that, with the added promotion of Tweed angrily walking out of an interview on CNN's "Joy Behar Show," it had one of its largest viewing audiences.

"Yeah, I don't care," Simmons says. "I mean, that's fine, but if you're gonna ruin your life to get ratings, that's not a good idea. I don't care about that."

He says his relationship with Tweed remains "touch and go."

"What happens when you cut yourself and it bleeds? Does it heal right away, or does it sometimes get infected and get worse?" Simmons says.

"Women are basically living with Jekyll and Hyde when it comes to men. Men are always on their best behavior for women, and they don't really get to see what's under the skin. 'Cause what's under the skin is testosterone. And the tendency of guys is to do all kinds of stuff that [ticks] off women. And so when they really peel off the outer skin of the snake, they get the snake. And that's not easy to take."

Asked how, now that he's back on tour, he deals with women approaching him sexually (Simmons has often claimed he's had sex with 5,000 women), he replies with a sign, "I try to be a good boy."

"It ain't easy," he says. "How about if you're on a strict diet, no sugar, no carbs, and every time you go to sleep, you go to sleep in a bakery? And you smell the cinnamon and the sugar and the chocolate � you smell it; it's all around you. Yeah � it's really tough. You're not even going out to clubs looking for it. It knocks on your door and scratches outside your door throughout the night."

The reality show this season also showed Simmons break down into tears at the grave of his father, whom Simmons hadn't seen since he left the family 54 years ago, when Simmons was a boy.

"It was actually good for me because, you know, guys aren't introspective," Simmons says of the episode. "You know, we get up, we're hungry, we eat. You don't really confront issues that are still with you. I mean, my father ran out on us when I was about 7 and I never looked back � never went back to Israel or anything. � But that doesn't mean it's not in there and it was good to confront that."

Easier these days is confronting work with KISS, Simmons says.

The band went through an unsettled decade that saw its fortunes wane. In 1997, Simmons and group co-founder/vocalist Paul Stanley reunited with original guitarist Ace Frehley and drummer Peter Criss and had a successful reunion tour. But then Frehley and Criss left again.

The current lineup that includes drummer Eric Singer and guitarist Tommy Thayer has now been together seven years � the longest continuous lineup of KISS ever.

In 2009 KISS released "Sonic Boom," which gave the band its highest-charting disc ever (No. 2 on Billboard).

Now the band is eight songs � about halfway � into a follow-up to "Sonic Boom," Simmons says.

"Very exciting, real meat-and-potatoes rock album," Simmons says. "No ballads, no outside writers." He says the record should be done by the end of August, but won't be released until KISS does another full tour.

Rather than renewed creativity, Simmons says the recent burst of recording can be attributed to simple hard work.

Rock and Roll (genre) "The creative element, it says, basically, 'Shut up, turn off the TV and sit down and work,' " Simmons says. "The idea that you're sitting around waiting for inspiration to hit you is the lazy man's way out. You know, people who write books do it like a 9-to-5. They get in front of their computer or their typewriter, whatever they use, and they sit there � put in the time."

In addition to the new record, KISS has another compilation video album, "KISSology IV," due out next year � "We're almost done with that," Simmons says � and what he says will be a 52-pound hardcover "art" book.

In addition, The Hub channel has a KISS TV show for children coming up, Archie and IDW comic companies each has a series of KISS books coming out, and a KISS golf course is opening in Las Vegas, Simmons says. "More stuff than you can imagine."

And two weeks after the Mountain Laurel show, Simmons will bare even more of his family jewels when he, Tweed and their children do a full-family stage show in Vancouver, Canada.

"I do speaking engagements, usually for corporate entities and entrepreneurs, and there's a lot of demand to meet Shannon, Nick and Sophie," he says. "So we're going to be doing at least one."

With so much public attention and so many projects, if it seems that Simmons is speeding up rather than slowing down � well, he says that's as it should be.

"That's what you should do in a race," he says. "Life is a marathon. Cruise, and then as you see the finish line, speed up. You don't want to slow down.

"I'm in really good shape; we work hard. You know, it would be easier to be in The Stones, respectfully, or U2 � both very successful bands � 'cause all you have to do is strum your guitar. Try to be on 8-inch platform heels for two hours and fly through the air and spit fire and do all that stuff. It's physically exhausting."

www.ticketmaster.com.

Kiss guitarist Tommy Thayer discusses new album, replacing Ace Frehley and inaugural Kiss Kruise

By Dustin Schoof | The Express-Times The Express-Times

Tommy Thayer says he is still considered the "new guy" in Kiss � despite having worked with the band for more than two decades.

"I've been so much involved with Kiss and (singer/guitarist) Paul (Stanley) and (singer/bassist) Gene (Simmons) so many years, we're talking 25 years, there's a repertoire there already. For me to start as the new lead guitarist was actually a kind of natural, easy transition because we knew each other so well," Thayer says over the phone. "It wasn't like there was a learning curve there."

Before replacing founding member Ace Frehley as the band's lead guitarist in 2002, Thayer co-wrote two songs for Kiss' 1989 studio album, "Hot in the Shade."Kiss guitarist Tommy Thayer discusses new album, replacing Ace Frehley and inaugural Kiss Kruise

By Dustin Schoof | The Express-Times The Express-Times

Tommy Thayer says he is still considered the "new guy" in Kiss � despite having worked with the band for more than two decades.

"I've been so much involved with Kiss and (singer/guitarist) Paul (Stanley) and (singer/bassist) Gene (Simmons) so many years, we're talking 25 years, there's a repertoire there already. For me to start as the new lead guitarist was actually a kind of natural, easy transition because we knew each other so well," Thayer says over the phone. "It wasn't like there was a learning curve there."

Before replacing founding member Ace Frehley as the band's lead guitarist in 2002, Thayer co-wrote two songs for Kiss' 1989 studio album, "Hot in the Shade." He continued to work with the band behind-the-scenes until getting the go ahead to don the Spaceman regalia after Frehley's departure, although the decision was met with backlash by some longtime Kiss fans.

But Thayer isn't concerned with criticism. He says he's just doing his best to make the Spaceman character his own.

"The biggest step was replacing one of the great guitar players of our time who has influenced so many people. Those are big shoes to fill," Thayer says. "The biggest challenge walking into that situation and succeeding was that good things take time. Getting in there and trying to fill the role he played and play the parts as well or even try and do it better ... it slowly becomes a little more me and just being the Spaceman, it's been quite a process. There have been so many amazing fans who have been so supportive and honest about letting me know I'm doing a great job and to keep it up."

Kiss is currently on the final leg of their "Hottest Show on Earth Tour," before they return to the studio to complete their follow-up to 2009's "Sonic Boom." The group performs Wednesday night at Mountain Laurel Pocono Performing Arts Center in Bushkill, Pa.

"The band is good. The last several years, the last two or three years, we've been on fire out there," Thayer says.

Thayer says the songs on the next album, which he says should be in stores by early 2012, will be "more riff-oriented" and will be slightly heavier than those on "Sonic Boom."

"It's going phenomenally," Thayer says of the recording process. "We've been in the studio for several weeks. We've cut eight songs already. I've heard Paul and Gene. This is definitely some of the best stuff Kiss has ever recorded."

Thayer says recording the new album, officially his second as a member of the band, has allowed him to branch out and put his own spin on the vintage Kiss sound.

"The idea was to create a classic Kiss record going back to the roots of the early records and really try and capture that vibe. I think we did and then some," Thayer says of "Sonic Boom." "I slowly wanted to put a little Tommy Thayer in there. I think on this record, we're taking it to the next step."

He adds, "We're spending a lot of time making sure it sounds like a great Kiss record."

In addition to a new album and a fourth "KISSology" DVD set ("It's going to be an amazing package. It's hefty," Thayer says of the collection), Kiss is gearing up for its inaugural Kiss Kruise, which will set sail in October. The cruise will feature a full-blown Kiss performance, Thayer says, as well as acoustic renditions of the band's biggest hits.

"The battle plan is exactly the same: pummel and deafen and blow it up," Thayer says, with a laugh. "We're not going to sink the ship, but we're going to do some devastation ... This will be a great and very unique experience for the consummate KISS fan."

Thayer, who played the role of Spaceman in the Kiss tribute band Cold Gin before meeting Simmons and Stanley in the late 1980s, says it's still surreal to play the part on stage with his heroes.

"It was kind of an out of body experience," says of his first show with the band, a private performance in Jamaica. "It's something I might have dreamed about, you almost have to pinch yourself remind to you that it's really happening. The enormity of a band like Kiss, to be suddenly in that position, is a once in a lifetime (opportunity). I never imagined it would have happened, especially to someone like me, who grew up a fan of theirs ... it's an unbelievable experience."

***

Rock and roll all night

Kiss performs Wednesday night at Mountain Laurel Pocono Performing Arts Center in Bushkill, Pa.

Tickets cost $59-$115.

For more information, visit www.mtlaurelpac.com .