Kiss News

09/14/2016

SAN MANUEL INDIAN BINGO & CASINO JOINS FORCES WITH PAUL STANLEY AND GENE SIMMONS OF KISS TO OPEN ROCK & BREWS

State-of-the-Art Rock-Inspired Restaurant to Immerse Guests in the Ultimate Rock & Roll Experience

As part of its commitment to �All Thrill,� San Manuel Indian Bingo & Casino have partnered with legendary Rock & Roll Hall of Famers Paul Stanley and Gene Simmons of KISS, famed restauranteur/hotelier Michael Zislis, and concert industry veterans Dave and Dell Furano to introduce a first-of-its-kind Rock & Brews� restaurant at the casino.

Slated to open in October 2016, the 225 seat, 5,500 square foot Rock & Brews promises to immerse guests in a multi-sensory rock and roll dining and entertainment experience like none other. The atmosphere in the restaurant will literally change with every song as it chronicles nearly seven decades of rock history through rare and unseen photographs and video footage. More than 1,000 songs - from Elvis to Nirvana - will be presented with high definition, state-of-the-art Technomedia special effects, including LED light panels on the ceiling and the walls inside and outside of the restaurant.

San Manuel Band of Mission Indians Chairwoman Lynn Valbuena said, �The addition of Rock and Brews to San Manuel Indian Bingo & Casino is yet another step in our journey to provide the very best food and entertainment venues in Southern California.�

The San Manuel Indian Bingo & Casino location is the first casino location for Rock & Brews, and the brand�s ninth restaurant in California and 19th in the United States and Mexico.

�We are very excited that the San Manuel Band of Mission Indians has invited us to become a part of their thriving casino and its continued efforts to provide guests with quality dining and entertainment options,� said Stanley and Simmons in a joint statement. �We are confident that guests from near and far will find this exciting, new, state-of-the-art Rock & Brews experience to be a delicious and enjoyable part of their casino visit.�

The new Rock & Brews will feature affordable, quality American comfort foods prepared with superior, locally-sourced, fresh ingredients, including a broad selection of appetizers, salads, pizzas, burgers, entrees, and desserts prepared to the brand�s precise quality standards. The full bar, which will serve both the restaurant and the adjacent casino, will highlight more than 35 craft and international beers, with an emphasis on local craft brewers.

�We are really bringing All Thrill to a whole new level!� stated San Manuel Indian Bingo & Casino General Manager, Loren Gill. �In the last 18 months we have renovated several areas of our facility and improved our service levels in our on-going pursuit to provide the very best casino entertainment in the region. The recent renovation of The Pines Modern Steakhouse, along with the addition of Rock & Brews makes San Manuel an even more exciting dining destination.�
Rock & Brews will also feature live performances on an integrated stage, along with a full calendar of special events. Guests will also have the opportunity to purchase t-shirts and other great Rock & Brews merchandise.

Grand opening activities hosted by Stanley and Simmons will take place prior to the end of the year benefitting veterans and active military.    

For more information, please visit www.sanmanuel.com or www.rockandbrews.com.

ABOUT SAN MANUEL INDIAN BINGO & CASINO

San Manuel Indian Bingo and Casino is Southern California�s one-stop destination for entertainment and fun. The casino is just 70 minutes from downtown Los Angeles and a short drive from LA-Ontario International Airport. Guests enjoy 3,700 of the latest slots, live poker and Vegas-style blackjack, high-limit gaming, high-limit stakes bingo, incredible entertainment, sumptuous dining and generous player�s reward program. Owned and operated by the San Manuel Band of Mission Indians, the casino has been providing fun and excitement since 1986. Since that time, players have received over $2 billion in cash, prizes and giveaways, making any visit to San Manuel an exciting and memorable experience. For more information on San Manuel Indian Bingo and Casino, please visit their Web site at www.sanmanuel.com or call 800-359-2464.

ABOUT ROCK & BREWS

Rock & Brews is a one-of-a-kind, rock-inspired restaurant and entertainment concept designed to engage people of all ages with quality comfort food and local favorites, a broad selection of craft and international beers, and an energized environment that is reminiscent of being at a family-friendly music event.  The first Rock & Brews opened near Los Angeles International Airport in Southern California in April of 2012.  Each location boasts a rock-inspired environment showcasing a �Great Wall of Rock,� iconic rock art, concert trusses and lighting and multiple flat screens sharing some of the greatest rock concert moments of all time.  The brand offers several concepts suitable for free-standing, airport, sports and entertainment, and casino (concept within a concept) venues.  For more information, please visit www.rockandbrews.com.

 

09/11/2016

LET US ALL REMEMBER September 11, 2001

Let us all remember the innocent victims of the World Trade Center and Pentagon attacks. 15 years ago, that carnage unified this country more than ever behind the principles of individual freedoms this country was founded on. We still stand united in our pledge that those whose doctrines are based on the extermination of all who do not believe as they do, must fail and will fall.
 

09/10/2016

KISS goodbye: �Freedom to Rock� tour makes final stop in WV Tonight

By  Bill Lynch / www.wvgazettemail.com

After nearly 40 shows, the rock band KISS�s �Freedom to Rock� tour comes to a close Saturday night at Big Sandy Superstore Arena in Huntington.

Paul Stanley (The Starchild) said it�s been a good tour.

�The response has been phenomenal,� he said. �Fans are saying it�s the best show they�ve seen, the best the band has been � and interestingly, critics seem to agree, which is suspicious, but I�ll take it.�

The �Freedom to Rock� tour, Stanley said, has been about delivering on the legend and legacy of KISS, while spotlighting the U.S. military.

�The people who make it all possible,� he said.

Stanley promised it would be a show like no other, though acknowledged people may have seen shows similar to it.

�It�s well known that KISS DNA is in the shows of most bands,� the singer said.

09/10/2016

Music Review: KISS at the Richmond Coliseum

BY HAYS DAVIS / Richmond Times Dispatch

Photo by Keith Leroux

With an enthusiastic crowd sprinkled with impressive displays of KISS makeup and platform boots to honor their heroes, this was hardly an audience of naysayers. Plenty of of parents arrived with children - potential new KISS Army recruits. �KISS � the next generation!� Stanley declared when a young girl in KISS makeup joined him onstage to assist on guitar.

Launching with a killer opening punch of �Detroit Rock City� and �Deuce,� the band appeared amid towers of flame and sparks. It had been many years since KISS last lit up the Coliseum, and longtime fans were treated with a set that was heavy on beloved early material. Half of the 1976 �Destroyer� album was performed, along with several from their pre-breakthrough releases, with �Cold Gin� and �Black Diamond� still sounding as powerful as they did on 1975�s �Alive.�

�How about something from 1983? Some of you weren�t even born in 1983!� Stanley said before �Lick It Up.� One of several strong post-�70s tunes, the song morphed gradually into a bit of The Who�s �Won�t Get Fooled Again� under a spray of laser lights. Later in the set, there were roars of approval as the large stage screens gave bassist Gene Simmons some fire-breathing, blood-spitting close-ups.

As with other stops on their U.S. tour, KISS had hired military personnel to serve locally as roadies, and they were invited onstage for acknowledgment.

�I want you to remember something,� Stanley said. �Patriotism is always cool.�

Richmond mayor Dwight Jones then appeared and presented KISS with a key to the city for their philanthropic efforts, during which Simmons sneaked up and kissed the cheek of a female military staff member.

After an instrumental �Star Spangled Banner,� KISS brought the house down properly with �Rock and Roll All Nite.� Stanley and Simmons, at 64 and 67 years old,  sang as strong as ever throughout the night. And with drummer Eric Singer, 58, and lead guitarist Tommy Thayer, 55, now being seasoned vets, KISS is still quite a live force, four decades from the release of their debut album. With their ever-present makeup, they were still KISS after all these years.

With members previously involved with later incarnations of notable acts including Motley Crue, Whitesnake, and Thin Lizzy, opener The Dead Daisies set the tone just right for the headliner. A cover of �Fortunate Son� was a crowd pleaser, with a nod offered to the military from singer John Corabi.

But their originals were all arena-size, even minus columns of fire.

Contact Hays Davis at [email protected].

09/09/2016

KISS brings its Freedom to Rock Tour to the Richmond Coliseum Tonight

By HAYS DAVIS / Richmond Times Dispatch

After decades in makeup and surrounded by flames onstage in one of the most enduring bands of all time, Gene Simmons of KISS still views his job with the enthusiasm of a fan.

�There are bands that are great studio bands: Steely Dan and Pink Floyd,� Simmons said. �Really great bands that reach their prime in the studio. That�s not what we do. What we do, it�s much more of a live band.�

KISS, which will roar into the Richmond Coliseum tonight - Friday, Sept. 9, has always been best onstage, Simmons said. After the first three studio albums failed to catch on commercially, 1975�s �Alive!� captured the concert experience on vinyl. Going gold, the album�s live version of �Rock and Roll All Nite� became KISS� first hit single, and a phenomenon was born.

�It�s like anthems at football stadiums; if you play the anthem in a recording studio without 50,000 people yelling in the background, it ain�t the same thing,� he said. �So, the songs really don�t come alive in the way we imagine it until and if and when we play those songs in front of an audience.�

On the current �Freedom to Rock� tour, the band is honoring the military by making someone a �Roadie for the Day.� For the Richmond concert, Army National Guard Staff Sgt. Warren Wright and Marine Corps Gunnery Sgt. James Puckett have been selected by Hiring Our Heroes and Vet Tix to serve as roadies for the band.

Wright will attend the concert as part of Hiring Our Heroes� �Roadie for a Day� program, and Puckett will attend as part of Vet Tix�s �Hero�s Wish Program.�

During the concert, there will be a five-minute tribute to the military, in collaboration with local government and military leaders.

Eligible Richmond-area veterans and service members received free tickets to the show given away through the national nonprofit Vet Tix.

�We love America and we have no problem wearing our hearts in our sleeves. Draping ourselves in the American flag? You bet � we are. And to take it a step further, the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, the United States government and KISS have teamed up to make sure that at every single one of our shows we�re giving jobs to vets.�

Along with Simmons on bass and vocals, the band currently includes singer-rhythm guitarist and co-founder (with Simmons) Paul Stanley, drummer Eric Singer and lead guitarist Tommy Thayer. As KISS puts Richmond on its radar, Simmons sees the concerts as events that are not only the spectacle that fans have come to expect but also now can be cross-generational family experiences.

�When I was growing up, rock and roll was the thing � rock bands, like the Stones � that separated their fans from their parents: �All that noise.� And now it�s come really full circle, where the parents can take their kids and, in some cases, their grandkids, because we�ve been around 42 years and share something that is special, as far as we�re concerned,� Simmons said.

�Our idea is to make you forget about the traffic jam and about the fight that you had with your girlfriend, or �I forgot to tie my shoelaces.� Whatever it is that bothers you in life, our time is magic time. We�re going to blow the roof off the place and make you forget about all that stuff.�

09/08/2016

Video: I LOVE IT LOUD FROM KISS ROCKS VEGAS

Eagle Rock Entertainment unleashes KISS Rocks Vegas on DVD+CD ($21.98), Blu-ray+CD ($26.98), DVD+2LP ($39.98), and Deluxe Edition DVD+Blu-ray+2CD ($79.98) in store now!

Captured in the midst of their 40th Anniversary World Tour, the Rock and Roll Hall of Famers sonically shook Vegas during their residency at The Joint at Hard Rock Hotel and Casino in November 2014. This Sin City set sizzles with KISS classics from across their 44 album legacy: �Rock And Roll All Night,� �Detroit Rock City,� �Shout It Out Loud,� �Love Gun,� and more. As a bonus feature, Kiss Rocks Vegas includes a seven-song acoustic set. Punctuated with pyrotechnics galore, the film presents the fire, electricity, and one-of-a-kind rock experience that earned KISS over 100 million sales globally.

The Deluxe Edition of KISS Rocks Vegas is presented as a hardcover package with a 12X12 book, boasting photos from the show and an exclusive CD.

�We Rocked and Vegas Rolled ! This was Epic In Your Face KISS ! We got Up close and personal, I think Rock and Roll fans will really enjoy this spectacle that only KISS can deliver.� - Paul Stanley
 
�KaBOOM! We blew up the Joint at The Hard Rock in Vegas like never before. We are very proud of this and know that you will be blown away as well.� -Gene Simmons

TRACK LISTING:

1. DETROIT ROCK CITY
2. CREATURES OF THE NIGHT
3. PSYCHO CIRCUS
4. PARASITE
5. WAR MACHINE
6. TEARS ARE FALLING
7. DEUCE
8. LICK IT UP
9. I LOVE IT LOUD
10. HELL OR HALLELUJA & TOMMY SOLO
11. GOD OF THUNDER
12. DO YOU LOVE ME
13. LOVE GUN
14. BLACK DIAMOND
15. SHOUT IT OUT LOUD
16. ROCK AND ROLL ALL NIGHT

Acoustic Set:

1. Coming Home
2. Plaster Caster
3. Hard Luck Woman
4. Christine Sixteen
5. Goin' Blind
6. Love Her All I Can
7. Beth

09/08/2016

Rock Legend Gene Simmons on KISS, First KISSes, and Big Dreams

KISS co-founder Gene Simmons may seem larger than life, but like his colleague Paul Stanley, the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame inductee seems more like an old friend once the conversation starts rolling. I was thrilled to catch up with Simmons for my podcast Whine At 9, as the band launched their new multimedia project KISS Rocks Vegas and prepared to take the stage in yet another city on their Freedom to Rock Tour.

Listen to Nancy�s interviews with Gene Simmons and Paul Stanley on iTunes.

Gene Simmons couldn�t be happier as KISS (Gene Simmons, Paul Stanley, Tommy Thayer, Eric Singer) celebrates another successful decade in rock. �I�m proud to say the Recording Industry Association validated that KISS is America�s No. 1 Gold Record Award-winning group of all time in all group categories�We outsell the Beatles and Elvis combined in licensing and merchandising. Nobody touches us. We have the KISS cruise, the KISS golf course, the KISS limo service and even an LA KISS football team�restaurant chain, film company�but everything we do is an extension of a philosophy�self-imposed, and that is that the fans are the bosses and we just work here.�

KISS may be notorious for igniting fan enthusiasm, but the fans are the fuel for the KISS work ethic. �We�ve always been about giving the fans more,� explains Simmons. �And anything we do is an extension for the live show. And so here we are doing yet another tour 42 years on.�

But has time and experience altered the thrill of stepping on stage for Simmons? �It is different,� admits the rock and reality star. �You�ll never forget your first kiss. You know your heart pounds in anticipation and all that. And your first anything are pivotal points in your life, but that doesn�t mean that when you kiss somebody later on after you�ve kissed more than a few times�doesn�t mean that it isn�t still a thrill. But it�s different. We know more. We�re in charge. The band has never sounded better.�

CLICK HERE to read the rest of the interview.
 

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