Kiss News

The Fans Speak! Check out these great comments from the KISS Army... the fans tell it like it is...And like it was!

Thanks to the KISS Army UK for these great letters! Keep them coming! We love to hear what you think.

Subject: THANKS
From: David on 05/05/2010

Hi Kiss I just wanted to say a huge thanks for the amazing show you put on in the NEC Birmingham. Simply fantastic, Download 2008 was amazing but this was by far the best gig I've ever been too. It's convinced me to go the Manchester concert on the 10th. I cant wait to see the show again, loved both Eric & Tommy the bazooka Eric was packing genius. Cya @ Manchester guys

Subject: KISS IN BIRMINGHAM
From: GREEK KISS ARMY on 05/05/2010

The Greek KISS Army was in the UK for many of the KISS shows... we were there in BIRMINGHAM!!! KISS has invaded Europe for sure. If someone thinks that he has seen KISS before... he must consider that thought again. KISS is reborn!!! Enjoy the video from the first song and the opening

Subject: AWESOME!!!!!
From: Rix Speed on 05/05/2010

Guys and Demon just watched u at Birmingham UK May 5th and the show was absolutely 110% awesome thanks for your supreme talent. we wanted the best and we got the best. Please don't leave it so long till you come back.

The Fans Speak! Check out these great comments from the KISS Army... the fans tell it like it is...And like it was!

Thanks to the KISS Army UK for these great letters! Keep them coming! We love to hear what you think.

Subject: THANKS
From: David on 05/05/2010

Hi Kiss I just wanted to say a huge thanks for the amazing show you put on in the NEC Birmingham. Simply fantastic, Download 2008 was amazing but this was by far the best gig I've ever been too. Its convinced me to go the Manchester concert on the 10th. I cant wait to see the show again, loved both Eric & Tommy the bazooka Eric was packing genius. Cya @ Manchester guys

Subject: KISS INTRO IN BIRMINGHAM
From: GREEK KISS ARMY on 05/05/2010

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CmG5J6mdG8U The Greek KISS Army was in the UK for many of the KISS shows... we were there in BIRMINGHAM!!! KISS has invaded Europe for sure. If someone thinks that he has seen KISS before... he must consider that thought again. KISS is reborn!!! Enjoy the video from the first song and the opening

Subject: AWESOME!!!!!
From: Rix Speed on 05/05/2010

Guys and Demon just watched u at Birmingham UK May 5th and the show was absolutely 110% awesome thanks for your supreme talent. we wanted the best and we got the best. Please don't leave it so long till you come back.

Subject: Birmingham Show
From: Louise Danks on 05/05/2010

Hey All. Thank you so much !! Just got back from the Birmingham show this was the first concert I have ever been too and what a show. You are all awesome in fact I think I will say that you are all the kings of awesomeness. From the pyros to the music it was all done so well. You all look as good as ever and can still work the stage sooooo well I do hope you do another Europe tour so that I can relive the amazing experience. Thank you KISS for giving me one of the most amazing experiences of my LIFE!!!!! I love you all. xx Louise xx P.S. Paul Stanley you are awesome I love you !!!!
I LUV U !!

Subject: My daughter's first ever gig!
From: Neil Priddey on 05/04/2010

Thank you KISS for a wonderful 1st night of your UK tour! I brought my 11 year old daughter to her first ever gig. Georgia has been a KISS fan for quite a few years and this show was one of her 11th birthday presents. Thank you for making it a wonderful show for her, myself and my partner, Lisa. I cannot begin to tell you how excited Georgia was during the day, but when you guys hit the stage, she was hysterical with joy! She was actually crying with happiness during the first few songs. You played all her favourites and made it an awesome first ever rock concert. I don't think she will ever see anything better! Needless to say, she hasn't stopped wearing her KISS t-shirt I bought at the gig. Thanks again, you guys are AWESOME!!! Cheers, Neil.

Subject: A Childs Dream Come True
From: Gavin Smith on 05/04/2010

A huge thank you for putting my son Tommy's picture on the front page of your website, he was so excited to see himself in the middle of the page. I've attached another pic of him in full make up, doing his "Demon" face, before we set off for the concert. Once again, thanks for an awesome night, Tommy will still be talking about this when he is my age, and is thoroughly convinced that Kiss are now his friends. You guys have replaced Batman and Superman as his heroes.

Subject: Sonic Booming in Shiny Sheff
From: Scott on 05/05/2010

Hi there KISS, We came to see y'all at Sheffield on Saturday and it was by far the greatest gig of my life. Me and my little brother got my other brother (who wasn't a fan of the band) the ticket for his birthday and we are pleased to say we converted him. He was as blown away as we were. My little sister and her partner came too. As you can see we got dressed to kill at my mum's house before we set off and are pleased we did because we kept popping up on your massive video screens. It was an awesome setlist with one great surprises so I'm coming again to see you at Manchester with my partner because it was so bloody good it would be a sin to miss. Worth every penny spent. Don't leave it so long next time. Long live KISS - thanks for a truly unforgettable night Scott x

Subject: Sheffield Arena
From: Richard Arnold on 05/04/2010

Just wanted to say that this was my first Kiss concert experience. I had quite high expectations (which I don't usually go to a concert with, just in case) and every one was met, and more. This was an awesome concert, and a fantastic experience. For any of the pretender bands out there, Kiss showed what a real rock 'n' roll show is all about. Easily the best way to spend a Saturday night. Thanks guys.

Subject: Sheffield 1/5/10
From: Shaz, Tasha,Elliott on 05/04/2010

Hi Guys just to say thanks for a fantastic nite at Sheffield Arena on Saturday 1st May 2010 on your opening Tour. My daughter and nephew thought it was fantastic. good luck with rest of your tour. Can't wait for next one BRILLIANT.


Subject: KISS LIVERPOOL
From: Paul Pearson on 05/05/2010

I would like to thank KISS for their great show last night in Liverpool! It was the best concert I've been to and KISS still remain the best live band ever they put on one hell of a show!

Subject: A massive THANKYOU!
From: Marie Brown on 05/05/2010

I came to see you at Sheffield on the 1st of may with my dad,step mum and brother and was absolutely blown away .I have grew up with your music and I was overwhelmed and amazed when you made that unforgettable entrance and made the experience that night so amazing! This was the first time I have seen you and hope one day I will come and see you again the ticket was a present from my dad and the best present ever. I wanted to say Thank you so so much for making that night one to always remember! Thanks again. love Marie xxx

Subject: KISS Liverpool - Thanks for a Great Meet and Greet
From: Richard and Ella Burnett on 05/05/2010

Just wanted to say thanks to KISS and Doc McGhee for an amazing experience at Liverpool. It was a really special night as my daughter Ella got to see her first concert at the age of 9 and meet the band as well, something I could only have dreamed of when I first saw KISS in 1980 at Deeside. The show was an awesome spectacle and I can't wait to do it all again in Manchester on Monday! Keep on Rocking! Richard

Subject: Sonic Boom concert at Sheffield
From: Irene on 05/05/2010

Fantastic concert on May 1st - first time been to see KISS concert - truly amazing performance - To be honest I've not been a KISS fan for long (only since Gene appeared on British TV in Rock School)and then I was hooked - I bought all your albums and lots of films and realized what a fantastic rock group you are. The gig was fantastic - still warm from the fire displays! - KISS are such professional musicians and play awesome live. Please, please, please play Sheffield again SOON!!!! Lots of luv from Irene x x x x

Subject: sheffield 2010
From: fletch on 05/05/2010

just a line to say thanks for the best show I've ever seen you guys play. caught you live first back in 83 and a few times since but this was by far the best show I've ever seen. my sister is immigrating and this was her going away present to the family, thanks for making it special.

Subject: Liverpool Wanted The Best.. Liverpool Got The Best!!!
From: Jen Mearns on 05/04/2010

Just got home from an absolutely amazing gig in Liverpool!! We queued for 7 hours to make sure that we got front row and it was so worth it. From the moment the show started the whole arena was rocking and it was amazing to be so close to the guys. We didn't think that anything would be better than the Islington gig but really, I have never had so much fun in my life. We took the same KISS ARMY UK banner that we took to Islington and threw it on the stage - here is a picture of Tommy and Paul holding it up which was amazing!!!!!! Hope you had a great time in Liverpool and hope to see you there again soon. Thank you for the best show ever, can't wait for Birmingham tomorrow. - Jen!

Subject: Liverpool 4th May 2010
From: Keith and Sue Smith on 05/04/2010

Just like to say thanks to all, one of the best concerts I have seen for a long time. KISS they are the ultimate performers and know how to put on a show, and most of all my wife enjoyed it too ! Regards, Keith and Sue ( Liverpool)

Subject: rocked and boomed Newcastle
From: Andy Fordham on 05/04/2010

30 years in the waiting. At long last I finally got to see, experience and live the dream and see the hottest show in the world (A KISS CONCERT). I have been in the British Army for many years but I have been in the KISS ARMY all my life, and will be till the day I die. For 30 years I never seemed to time it right to see KISS I was always on tours or out the country but that all changed on Sunday night in Newcastle. My dream and life time ambition came true, I can now say I was there. KISS I can't thank you enough for making that night so amazing I'm struggling to put into words how I feel and felt. the show just blew my away,From the first drum beat from Modern Day Delilah to that final power A chord of Rock and Roll All Nite I was captured. The stage show was out of this world, Paul Stanley just controlled, directed and had the audience eating out the palm of his hand. Gene Simmons dominated the stage ensuring nobody was missed, the guitar, singing and production enthralled everybody there, but for me I'll remember that night for the rest of my life. Make no doubt, all four members of KISS just played and made the best show anybody will ever see, and all I can say with a humble heart is THANK YOU KISS

Subject: Kiss at Sheffield!
From: Richard Booth on 05/04/2010

Fantastic show as always and the band seem to be tighter on stage than ever! Can't wait for the rest of the shows on this UK run! Brilliant!

By Peter Keevil

KISS are undergoing a bit of a renaissance of late and it's not undeserved as they have bravely issued a new, critically-acclaimed, album Sonic Boom, when they could have easily seen out their days milking a nostalgia circuit every few years. Having said that, much of tonight's 20-song, 2 hour plus show is built upon their awesome back catalogue.

But hey, with the greatest respect, we were only here for one band. And that band is of course the HOTTEST BAND IN THE WORLD...

Speaking of HOT, if their US accountants had realised the price of petrol over here I am sure the amount of live flame used would have been seriously cut-back. It was as if KISS were trying to single-handedly burn away the oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico such was the sheer amount of bombastic pyrotechnics used tonight.

This was a 'show' in every sense of the word; timed to perfection, with no room for ad-libbing, everyone knew what was expected of them in order to deliver. And deliver they did. This was quite possibly the best KISS show I have ever been to and there have been quite a few of my not inconsiderable years.By Peter Keevil

KISS are undergoing a bit of a renaissance of late and it's not undeserved as they have bravely issued a new, critically-acclaimed, album Sonic Boom, when they could have easily seen out their days milking a nostalgia circuit every few years. Having said that, much of tonight's 20-song, 2 hour plus show is built upon their awesome back catalogue.

But hey, with the greatest respect, we were only here for one band. And that band is of course the HOTTEST BAND IN THE WORLD...

Speaking of HOT, if their US accountants had realised the price of petrol over here I am sure the amount of live flame used would have been seriously cut-back. It was as if KISS were trying to single-handedly burn away the oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico such was the sheer amount of bombastic pyrotechnics used tonight.

This was a 'show' in every sense of the word; timed to perfection, with no room for ad-libbing, everyone knew what was expected of them in order to deliver. And deliver they did. This was quite possibly the best KISS show I have ever been to and there have been quite a few of my not inconsiderable years.

I already knew the set-list before turning up as it quite simply had to be the same running order as the first UK show in Sheffield, any deviation would caused insurmountable timing and choreography problems. Nothing went unplanned. The only time we saw a roadie on stage was to douse the flames of Gene's sword and fire-breathing histrionics. It was just perfection. Tommy Thayer knew exactly where to stand and when, launching canon-shots from his guitar high into the ceiling gantry. Eric Singer knew where to aim his firework bazooka in order to shoot down the dummy lighting rig. Gene gurgled his blood to perfection and when launched into the air on top of the lighting rig way up in the heights of the LG Arena there was no sense of danger; this is Gene - he lives and breathes it every day.

But despite the 'mechanics' of such a stage show, it was still oh so exciting. I mean, this was the same Starchild and Demon I knew as a young man. And forgive me die-hards but Tommy & Eric make such a better Spaceman and Catman than those 'other guys'. Tommy even sings 'Shock Me' now too.

KISS do have a new album to push and they manage to squeeze 3 tracks in between all the Klassics we have come to hear. Modern Day Delilah opens up the show, which incorporates the famous 3-man lift over the top of the drum riser. 2nd single Say Yeah was an obvious choice but I'm An Animal appeared the weaker of the three, there are stronger songs on Sonic.

Paul was up to his usual tricks to playing off one city against the others on the tour but endeared himself greatly when pronouncing 'Bir-ming-um' as we do instead of the typical US-drawl of 'Bir-ming-HAAAMMMM'.

All the KISS-tricks were utilised, nothing was left in the locker. Pyros, confetti bombs, fireworks aplenty, video screens, including the awesome back video wall, which was the full width of the stage and about 20 feet high. As well as the blood, of course, the mic-swinging, the flying-over-the-crowd trip out onto the central podium for Paul to sing, I Was Made For Lovin You... They left nothing to chance.

This was KISS doing what KISS do best - entertain!

And they can still lay claim to being the HOTTEST BAND IN THE WORLD... bar none!

KISS have never been a band to think small, but they have rediscovered the joys of working like a struggling club band. Richard Hodkinson meets a re-energised Gene Simmons and Paul Stanley

by Richard Hodkinson

KISS have never been a band to think small, but they have rediscovered the joys of working like a struggling club band. Richard Hodkinson meets a re-energised Gene Simmons and Paul Stanley

It's hard to remember a time when KISS - as a brand, as an image, as a logo - did not serve as a universal shorthand for rock'n'roll. Or at least for the excesses of rock'n'roll.

For 35 years lazy magazine editors have been able to reach into the archive for pictures of Gene Simmons breathing fire or Paul Stanley pouting outrageously and the point is made: this is what rock music looks like.

And it might be reasonable to suppose that the men themselves conform to this archetype; that the past four decades have been an exercise in barely diluted hedonism lit by a thousand flash bombs, peopled byKISS have never been a band to think small, but they have rediscovered the joys of working like a struggling club band. Richard Hodkinson meets a re-energised Gene Simmons and Paul Stanley

by Richard Hodkinson

KISS have never been a band to think small, but they have rediscovered the joys of working like a struggling club band. Richard Hodkinson meets a re-energised Gene Simmons and Paul Stanley

It's hard to remember a time when KISS - as a brand, as an image, as a logo - did not serve as a universal shorthand for rock'n'roll. Or at least for the excesses of rock'n'roll.

For 35 years lazy magazine editors have been able to reach into the archive for pictures of Gene Simmons breathing fire or Paul Stanley pouting outrageously and the point is made: this is what rock music looks like.

And it might be reasonable to suppose that the men themselves conform to this archetype; that the past four decades have been an exercise in barely diluted hedonism lit by a thousand flash bombs, peopled by a million groupies and financed by uncounted piles of dollar bills.

And so they have. But meeting Simmons and Stanley - the two remaining original members of the band they founded in 1973 - is an experience that many fans and most aspiring young bands would find mildly unsettling, because it quickly becomes clear that this is a duo driven by something other than the desire for fame and cash and Charlie. Whisper it gently, but the ethos that underpins the KISS success story is... the protestant work ethic. Go figure.

Several times our conversation moves back to the sacking of fellow original members Ace Frehley and Peter Criss, and when it does, what rankles is the former members' refusal to work hard enough, to deserve the privilege of what Simmons describes as becoming 'a kind of God walking the face of the Earth'. "Ace and Peter couldn't do it," he says, discussing the pair's drink and drug problems. "When they came back for the reunion tour in '95 - it's almost embarrassing to tell this story - but Tommy Thayer, who had been in a KISS tribute band, had to sit with Ace and teach him his own solos! Y'know, if you use for 30 years your brain is going to be mush..."

Stanley, too, is quick to reveal this frustration with former colleagues: "We were so limited with Peter and Ace because they couldn't learn new songs, so our set was the same year after year. People would ask 'why doesn't the set change more' and we'd go 'oh, the classic songs..' whatever. But the truth was we couldn't change it."

All this might be characterised as the kind of ungracious bitching that occurs whenever a band breaks up, but the relief felt by Simmons and Stanley to be rid of dead weight, and their enthusiasm for the current line up (completed by guitarist Thayer and drummer Eric Singer) is palpable. This is candour, it seems, not sour grapes.

The new album, Sonic Boom - their best since the early '80s - has seen a return to the writing and recording practices of their earliest work, and, by their own accounts, has been fun to make: "It's a lot to do with not having to babysit Ace and Peter. I'm sorry to say that as soon as they left the band, it became enjoyable again," says Simmons.

The band's last studio album was 1998's Psycho Circus which, despite a belting title track, was something of a curate's egg - good in parts. Fairly small parts, at that.

"The results of that album were a reflection of what went on in the studio," says Stanley. "Y'know, trying to make a KISS album when you don't have a KISS, making an album when you're in contact with attorneys more than the people who are supposed to be in the band doesn't make for great music." Members of the band were barely on speaking terms for Psycho Circus, practically phoning in their parts and demanding quotas of their own songs on the album: "And the problem with song quotas is that good songs get left out because you have to put on somebody else's crap," says Stanley.

The contrast with the recording process for Sonic Boom could not have been more marked: "The rehearsals were quick and the recordings - well, all the songs on Sonic Boom were, at the worst, second takes. We did one, I think, that was a third take and Eric was worried he'd lost the spontaneity...," says Stanley, clearly thrilled by what he describes as 'the spirit' of the new line-up. "The classic line-up was classic at one time," he says, "but there comes a point when you don't want to put Pele on the field anymore."

"Plus," says Simmons, "you have to be fit - what we do is exacting. If you're in the Stones, you can drink all night and then run around on stage OK. But we do two-and-a-half hours on 8-inch platform heels with armour and studs and 30-pounds of other stuff, blowing shit up, flying through the air... There are no female backing singers, no one backstage doubling us. It's exhausting, so if you've got members of the band who can't keep up - and we have in the past - let 'em stay home."

The new album was, for the first time in decades, written exclusively by the band's current members (and produced by Stanley). The results are great, so why had it been so long since Simmons and Stanley wrote as a team, given that the combination had worked so well through the band�s formative years? "Because we became big babies," says Stanley. "We became spoiled kids who wanted things our way. And Sonic Boom wasn't going to be about anyone getting their way - it was about making the best album we could make. I said to Gene that it was important that we write together, and he scratched his head and was a bit leery about it, but as soon as we began writing, it sounded like it was supposed to sound."

Simmons describes he and Stanley as 'two sides of the same coin', but, speaking to them in the incongruous setting of the cutesy Charlotte Street Hotel, it becomes obvious that, while they must have always shared a similar vision, the two men have contrasting, if complementary, personalities. Simmons speaks in expansive generalisations, making sweeping gestural statements that often - usually - diverge widely from the central subject. A discussion about Simon Cowell segues disorientingly into a monologue on mankind's atavistic inclination toward song, illustrated by the example of opposing sides singing Christmas carols together on the front line in 1914. An instinctive, unstoppable raconteur, he paints with the broadest possible brush, while Stanley, more thoughtful, at times quite guarded, addresses the detail.

A simple question - what is the best song you've ever written for the band? - elicits revealing responses from the duo (I interviewed them separately). Stanley thinks for a moment before answering ('Love Gun') before going on to justify his choice in some detail. Simmons, in contrast, seems bewildered to be asked the question. He is silent, by my count, for a full eight seconds. And eight seconds is a long time for Gene Simmons to remain silent. When he, at last, answers ('Deuce') his reason given is that the song has opened the band's show for decades. That means the fans like it. So it must be good. Art doesn't come into it - this is showbiz, folks.

Simmons is the soul of KISS, Stanley its musical intelligence, and everything is grounded in that unforgiving work ethic. And, listening to stories about the band's early days playing the New York club circuit, it seems it always has been. They've paid their dues: "One of the first shows we did was at South Edmonton College, or something," says Simmons, "filling in for someone who'd cancelled. And [the show] was in the lunchroom. There was no stage - they just put the lunch tables together and we put our amps on there and, of course, it collapsed. They were big amps..." So you turned up with the costumes, the whole show, to play an obscure student union? "Of course! It's KISS! It's not Fairport Convention, c'mon..."

A reputation for staging a more energetic live show that most made support slots difficult to come by at first, a problem that might have proved terminal for the band. "It's true we couldn't get on tours," says Simmons, "so we ended up on the strangest bills you could ever imagine. We opened for Savoy Brown and Argent and Manfred Mann, and we were not allowed to do encores - that was in our contract. But then, with Argent, we tried to squeeze in an encore because the audiences were going nuts - I'd be breathing fire, giving birth on stage, whatever the fuck we had to do, y'know? And when we tried to do the encore, our power would be pulled by Argent's road manager. One night, the third of fourth time we try it, we notice the power was still on, but we don't have any more songs to play, so we start the set again. And we get halfway through before we go off - thank you and goodnight. We found out later that Junior, our black road manager - a lot of our road crew at the time looked like Hell's Angels, because they were - had got the Argent road manager in a headlock and had locked him in a case at - I'm not supposed to say this - at knifepoint. The next show we were thrown off the tour..."

Success, when it came, came quickly, and the band progressed from falling off lunch tables in South Edmonton, to headlining major arenas within 18-months of releasing their debut album: "I remember," says Simmons, "we put the band together in New York City, on 10 East 23rd St, and Madison Square Garden was on 33rd St - ten streets, you could walk it - and I remember walking in the front doors, through the crowd (nobody looked at me twice), walking backstage, putting on the makeup and then walking up on stage and blowing the roof off. That was cool..."

The potential, though, was always there for a spectacular implosion - conflicting big egos, drink, drugs, and musical differences that lead to near break-ups, dalliances with disco, actual break-ups and eventually, the dreaded concept album. "Success just seemed to breed the worst in all of us," says Stanley. "Let's be honest, there were some guys in the band whose creativity was marginal anyway, and once they became slaves to sycophantic friends and drugs and alcohol - not only did they have nothing to offer, but they slowed the vehicle until it wasn't moving at all. And, also, Gene and I lost that hunger, that passion. It was something we had to re-find, and it took quite a while to get it."

Part of that recovery process involved losing the makeup and toning down the wardrobe (it could hardly have been toned up, now, could it?). Of the decision to unmask, Stanley says: "I wanted to do that because I kind of felt that we�d become�� a long pause here... "a parody of ourselves. We were a menagerie. Somebody would leave the band and, suddenly, we were five steps away from having Elephant Boy and Snail Man. It became silly, y'know, instead of our saying, 'this is what we started as, and this is how we'll continue', which is where we are now. When you have four figures that look that iconic, don't mess with them, y'know? Puppy boy.. man!"

I met the band the day before KISS played a rare one-off club show at the 800-capacity Islington Academy ("It's in a shopping mall? That's perfect for KISS!" said Simmons on being given the news of the venue's inauspicious location). On that north London stage, even from 20-feet away, the band look and sound utterly indistinguishable from their 1977 manifestation. No other band has aged so invisibly. The show is fantastic.

At least, the fans think it is fantastic. Critics have always been ambivalent at best, openly hostile more often. Doesn't that ever hurt, even a bit? "I'd rather know what 20,000 paying members of the audience think than one guy who may have his own reasons for liking or disliking us,' says Stanley. "Some of the most vehement negative reactions we've had should probably be worked off on a psychiatrist's couch, y'know? C'mon, we're just KISS, folks..."

Simmons answers the same question, typically, by pointing out the compensations of rock stardom, the perks not shared by those of us who only get to write about rock stardom: "Look, the Pope doesn't get groupies for Godssakes... I'm 60 and I can walk down the street and still... [a sweeping gesture of the arm to indicate the passing high-class totty of Charlotte Street] anything that moves. And if it doesn't move, we can work something out. What other job gives you that?"

Critics be damned, then. But with another huge arena tour about to kick off, can a band whose appeal lies so much in the physicality of the live show, perform like the KISS of 30 years ago?

"When we're on stage today," says Stanley, "we have to be not as we were, but as people remember us. When we first put together a show for the reunion tour [in 1995], we had to put together a show on a scale bigger than ever before, because that's how people remembered us." Because people expected the pyromaniac's wet dream that was the gatefold photo of the classic Alive II album? "Yeah, but if you look at that photo, there's only about a hundred lights - there's nothing up there. We did that photo during a sound check in San Diego. We went up on the lifts and they set everything off, every bomb, every pyro effect we had. So, did that ever happen in the show? No. But it's what people think they remember. And that's what we have to deliver every night."

But, as Stanley admits, the physical preparations for a tour are harder now he and Simmons are closing in on pensionable age. Both look fantastically fit up close, but there must be a temptation to call it a day, lie back, play with the kids, get fat, spend the money? "Y'know," says Simmons, "I could buy jewellery, watches, all that stuff. Do you see any of that on me? No. I'm having such a ball just being Gene Simmons. And� I'm my own biggest fan."

Kiss play Wembley Arena on 12 & 13 May.