Kiss News

Paul Stanley opens up about his tough childhood and living with a rare ear condition.

By Tess Nichol / New Zealand Herald

Baby Felix Taito will meet legendary rock band KISS tonight, and although the 7-month-old is too young to be a fan, the meeting will be a very special one.

Felix was born with microtia atresia, a hearing condition he shares with the band's frontman Paul Stanley.

Microtia atresia is a congenital defect where the outer ear has not fully developed and there is no ear canal. It affects only one in 10,000 children.

Felix's parents, Aucklanders Seleta and David Taito, started a social media campaign last week to try and get Felix to meet Stanley, in the hopes that having a photo of the pair would inspire their son as he faces the challenges posed by the condition.

After their story was picked up by the Herald, the Taitos managed to make their dream come true.

The band's promoters have arranged for the family to have a photo opportunity with the band tonight and Stanley himself has offered words of advice for Seleta and David.

"Children don't need a solution from you, what they need is your understanding," he said.

"Kids want to be heard, they want to be listened to. They're not always looking for you to solve problems."

Stanley said growing up with the condition had been hard for him. He still has almost no hearing in his right ear, although he has had cosmetic surgery to fix the appearance of his ear.

"Growing up, when you're different it's very difficult. Children are, well, they can be cruel but they can also be insensitive.

"In my case it was not easy. The hearing deficiency is horrible because you lose much of conversations and then in school, once you lose track of what's going on in a lesson, you're lost. So it was difficult."

He said the best thing the Taitos could do for Felix was have him get surgery as soon as possible, with a reputable doctor.

"There have been such huge strides in terms of reconstructive surgeries done on children. They didn't exist when I was a child and the quality of it now is phenomenal."

In New Zealand children with microtia cannot receive surgery until they are ten years old, but the Taitos hope to take Felix to the United States for the first of two operations when he is three.

Both surgeries will cost $120,000 so the couple have set up a Givealittle account in the hope they can raise the funds to make this happen.

Despite the condition, Stanley has pursued an incredibly successful career in the music industry, something which would remind Felix microtia wouldn't necessarily hold him back.

"A child needs to know it may be more difficult for them, but the outcome can be terrific," said Stanley.

Donate to Felix here.

Cameron Atfield / Brisbane Times and Sun-Herald

"You wanted the best, you got the best. The hottest band in the world � KISS!"

With that customary announcement, KISS are away, as they have been now for four decades.

After all, why tamper with a winning formula?
From the moment they open their Brisbane show with Detroit Rock City, KISS are on fire both figuratively and, thanks to pyrotechnics, occasionally literally.

It's an assault on all the senses � a tried and true formula that made KISS the biggest band in the world at the height of their fame.

They do what they do and they do it well.

This isn't artistry. There's no angst, there's no search for life's deeper meaning. They're not here to make a point.

KISS is here to entertain.

And few bands in the business can do it better.

Just like Spinal Tap, KISS sure know how to win over a local crowd.

"We've been to Perth," Paul Stanley says of the KISS tour so far, greeted with the booing one would expect.

Adelaide, Melbourne, Sydney (which attracts the most derision) and Newcastle all get the same treatment.

"Tonight, Brisbane, you can show us why you're number one!"

Those suckers at Shelbyville and Springfield ain't got nuthin' on us.

As they enter their fifth decade, KISS remains the epitome of glam rock excess. They're big, they're loud and they're brimming with self-confidence.

And despite only containing half of the original line-up, it's the essentially same band it was in the '70s.

Ace Frehley, and Peter Criss may have made way for Tommy Thayer and Eric Singer, but the Spaceman and Catman personas remain.

Of course, the driving force for KISS has always been Stanley, the Starchild, and the Demon himself, Gene Simmons.

Simmons and Stanley share front man duties throughout. Stanley flies over the audience, while Simmons breathes fire and spits blood.

The evening is a journey through the KISS back catalogue, including 2012's Hell or Hallelujah.

Stanley admits not everyone in the arena would be familiar with that tune, but he points out songs only become classic after many years, when they "age just like a fine wine".

As I said, brimming with self-confidence.

But it was the actual classics that had the crowd in raptures, particularly a memorable encore set.

Stanley sings Shandi as mobile phone torches sway in the stands � who needs cigarette lighters anyway?

But the final three songs almost lifted the roof.

Shout It Out Loud, I Was Made For Lovin' You and Rock and Roll All Nite is, simply, a hell of a way to round off a set.

As sexagenarians, it's of course possible KISS walked off a Brisbane stage for the last time on Tuesday night.

But, let's face it, it's odds-on they'll be back, with their KISS Army in tow.

If KISS can continue delivering shows like they did in Brisbane on Tuesday night, one can only hope their (actual) farewell tour is still many years away.

The smiles were broad as the house lights came and God Gave Rock 'N' Roll To You II played over the PA.

In a night of highlights, that was perhaps the one disappointment. After all, would have been great to hear Kiss's take on that Wyld Stallyns classic.

Before Tuesday night, the last time I saw KISS live was April 13, 2001.

The venue was Carrara Stadium on the Gold Coast and was billed as the final show of their farewell tour.

Standing there under the stars, one could not help but think how it was an odd venue choice to host the final show of one of America's biggest ever rock bands.

But, luckily for the army of make-up wearing fans who made the long trek to Boondall on Tuesday night, KISS are members of the John Farnham school of farewell tours.

Hopefully, KISS will have a longer shelf-life than the Brisbane Entertainment Centre.

The regular hellish experience of the Boondall car park traffic jam allows plenty of time to consider how nice it would be to be done with the the outer-suburban, swamp-occupying monstrosity of a venue once and for all.

Setlist:

    Detroit Rock City
    Deuce
    Psycho Circus
    Creatures of the Night
    I Love It Loud
    War Machine
    Do You Love Me
    Hell or Hallelujah
    Calling Dr Love
    Lick It Up
    God of Thunder
    Cold Gin
    Love Gun
    Black Diamond

Encore:

    Shandi
    Shout It Out Loud
    I Was Made for Lovin' You
    Rock and Roll All Nite

KISS IS EVERYWHERE!

Here's ‪‎KISS‬ on the front page of the ‪‎Newcastle‬ Herald!

Thank you, Brisbane! Amazing time tonight at the Brisbane Entertainment Centre.

The KISS ARMY Rocks!

Photo by Dean Snowden

CADILLAC, Mich. (WZZM) � A 4,300 pound granite monument commemorating the 40th anniversary of the Kiss concert at Cadillac High School was unveiled Saturday, capping a journey that began eight months earlier from the other side of the world.

The slab of black granite was shipped from India to Long Beach, Calif. before making the 1,860 mile journey to Patten Monument Co. in Comstock Park, Mich.

"It arrived in excellent condition, not a scratch,'' said Andrew Bolt, president of the 98-year-old business specializing in bronze and granite monuments quarried in the United States and across the world.

A laser engraver worked non-stop for four days etching the black slab, which measures 6 � feet tall by 5 feet wide and is bolted to a poured concrete slab. Etching took place Sept. 29 through Oct. 2 and the monument arrived in Cadillac last Thursday.

A crisp, clear Saturday morning provided the backdrop for the official unveiling attended by several hundred people � including nearly two dozen players from the storied 1975 Vikings football team. The slab sits on a corner of the high school's Veterans Memorial Stadium overlooking Lake Cadillac.

"Absolutely beautiful,'' said former Vikings assistant coach Jim Neff, who along with former head coach David Brines unveiled the monument as members of the Kiss tribute band Mr. Speed looked on. "It resembles a granite building.''

The $20,000 monument was financed by eight major civic and corporate sponsors, along with the Cadillac High School Class of 1976. It served as a backdrop for thousands of photos taken by legions who attended the Homecoming parade and the tribute band concert Saturday in the school gymnasium.

Neff, who organized the 40th anniversary event, kept information about the slab � including inscriptions, under wraps so it would be a surprise at Saturday's 11 a.m. unveiling. Even employees at Patten Monument Co. north of Grand Rapids were sworn to secrecy.

"It was OK on our part keeping it secret, we are kind of used to doing jobs that have unveiling dates,'' Bolt said. "And it's really exciting whenever we can do something that's outside of our normal product � this definitely qualifies.

"It's fun to be part of something that creates a real buzz and it makes me proud of the skill our employees put forth for the city of Cadillac,'' Bolt added. "When people think of granite, they don't think of an image that crisp.''

Crisp indeed.

One side has the band's iconic name and etched signatures of the four original Kiss members. There's also a 153-word summary of the band's connection to Cadillac High School and an iconic photo of the group posing on a city fire truck.

On the flip side are the words "Cadillac High � Kiss Loves You!'' surrounded by five photos from 40 years ago. The upper left and lower right corners lists the football team's win-loss record for the 1974 and 1975 seasons.

The team lost its first two games in 1974. Prior to the third game, Neff began playing Kiss music in the locker room and the Vikings went on to win its next seven games to become North Central Conference co-champs.

They started the 1975 season with a 3-2 record leading up to the Kiss concert. The Vikings beat Chippewa Hills on the weekend of the Kiss invasion. They went on to win the next four games and were again crowned North Central Conference co-champs.

The monument sits outside the fenced football field for easy access. The vista affords views of the high school football field from one side and Lake Cadillac on the other.

Visitors leaving town Monday stopped by the monument for a final round of photos, said Joy Vandrie, executive director of the Cadillac Area Visitors Bureau. "We are still having people from out-of-town getting their final pictures with the monument,'' Vandrie said. "How do you do a follow-up to such a glorious weekend?''

The monument is a super-sized replacement of a bronze plaque that read: "Kiss Loves You.'' The band gave it to the high school as a gift after its Oct. 9-10, 1975 appearance. The plaque was stolen from a wall outside the high school office within a year and has never been found.

"Its whereabouts remains a great mystery,'' Neff said. "Kiss fans have looked for this for ages.''

The Cadillac High School Class of 1976 replaced it five years ago; it's under glass and includes photos from the concert and the story behind the event.

Publicity about the 40th anniversary and tribute band concert brought thousands of visitors to Cadillac for the weekend. As estimated 1,800 people attended the tribute concert in the school gymnasium, Vandrie said.

"It was crazy; it was the biggest turnout for a Homecoming parade that I've ever seen,'' Neff said. "I had no idea how the town would go and my goodness � it was packed.''

Vandrie called the Kiss weekend a "phenomenal success,'' noting that about half of the concert tickets sold online were to people living outside of Cadillac.

"We had people here from other cities, other states,'' Vandrie said. "The fall colors were turning, the weather was excellent � it couldn't have been better.''

The Cadillac Area Visitors Bureau is putting together a video of the tribute weekend to forward to band members Gene Simmons and Paul Stanley, she said.

"They've been away for 40 years,'' Vandrie said. "We want to show them that Cadillac still loves Kiss and we want them back to see the monument.''

By JADE LAZAREVIC / Newcastle Herald

ICONIC rock band KISS unleashed a shot of pure rock�n�roll entertainment in Newcastle on Monday night.

The concert at Newcastle Entertainment Centre marked the band�s first performance in the Steel City as they tour across Australia this month as part of their 40th anniversary.

Opening with Detroit Rock City, the band delivered a sensory assault during the  theatrical two-hour performance which featured a huge mechanical spider prop, pyrotechnics and bassist Gene Simmons spitting fire into the air.

Confetti cannons showered the audience during the closing track Rock and Roll All Nite.

Other highlights of the set included the band�s hits Shout It Out Loud, Black Diamond and I Was Made For Loving You.

The final show on the Australian leg of the tour takes place in Brisbane on Tuesday night.

KISS is one of the most successful bands in rock history.

Since formed in New York City in 1973 by Simmons and frontman Paul Stanley, KISS has released 44 albums and sold more than 100 million records worldwide.

The band was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in April last year.

By GRANT SMITHIES / Stuff.co.nz

On the eve of his band's first New Zealand gig in seven years, Gene Simmons doesn't want to talk about music. Not really. He'd rather focus on his two favourite subjects: himself and money. Really, rock'n'roll was merely a way to make a star of the former and a mountain of the latter.

Not that I'm complaining. What better way to spend a fine spring afternoon than getting an economics lesson from this self-styled "God Of Thunder", best known as the blood-spitting, tongue-waggling bass player from Kiss.

"Hey, what can I say?" drawls Simmons, his accent as New York as a lox bagel, the voice deep as the Mariana Trench.

"I'm rich, and it's great! People say I'm a ruthless businessman, but in reality, capitalism is very good for the world. Even the most selfish rich asshole still creates jobs when he buys the private jet or builds a million square foot house. Capitalism benefits everybody, because that money gets spread around.

" My motto is work hard, play hard and love hard. The best way to sleep well and for food to taste good and for your woman to seem hot to you is to work your butt off. Really, anyone who wants to know how to make a serious success of their lives should read my new book."

The book in question has the excellent title ME, INC: Build an Army of One. Unleash your Inner Rock God. Win in Life and Business.

While some reviewers dismissed it as a rambling ego trip, The Wall Street Journal reckoned there was "wisdom on every page". Certainly, it looks like the kind of tome a trainee mogul might live by, with gilt-edged pages and a faux-leather cover. I imagine Simmons was aiming for some sort of "venture capitalist's family bible" vibe.

"Well, it's designed to look classy. If you're reading it on the toilet, you don't wanna bend the pages to mark your place, so there's a little ribbon for that," he says.

"The basic premise if that every decision you make in life either costs you money or makes you money.

"If you do nothing during the day other than lie around watching the footy, as you people call it, you're losing money, and life is short. A third of our life, we're asleep. Two weeks of the year, there are holidays. You spend another entire day each year tying your shoelaces, and another day farting and so on, and 104 days of every year are weekends, so you gotta make those other days count."

Hilarious and obnoxious in equal measure, Simmons would be great fun to have a beer with, if not for the fact that he doesn't drink. But you wouldn't want him running the world. I talked to him before a previous Kiss tour, to Wellington in 2008, and he put forward one simple solution to the complex social issues surrounding drug dealers, criminals and terrorists: a bullet.

"I'm sick of all this permissive society bullshit!" he said at the time. "Death is a wonderful cure for violent lunatics. Please! I don't want to find out what made you violent; I want to kill you! If a mad dog starts biting people, shoot him, for God's sake. Don't waste my time telling me why he's mean."

Today, Simmons is in a more playful mood. He goes way past our appointed interview time, cracking jokes, telling tall tales, dispensing bon mots about sex, money, power and marriage.

He's not too bothered whether people rate him as a bass player, but craves respect as a businessman. But why should people take business advice from a fire-breathing dude wearing demon make-up and a stainless steel codpiece? "Because I'm very rich, and if anyone understands how a brand works, it's me."

Evidence supports this assertion. Simmons is a global brand himself: besides playing music, he's an actor, a publisher, a writer, a TV producer. His projects have included a short-lived men's mag called Gene Simmons' Tongue, a cartoon series, a cable TV dating show, and reality shows Rock School and Gene Simmons' Family Jewels.

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