Kiss News

You wanted it? YOU GOT IT! The KISS Kruise V sail away show will be UNMASKED AND ELECTRIC!!!!! Will you be joining us this Halloween? With only 75 cabins left, it's now or never!

www.TheKISSKruise.com

Crews Partners With Paul Stanley and Gene Simmons To Open Second Airport Location of Rock-Inspired Restaurant

Today, Crews, a premier retailer and food and beverage operator at top airports, announced plans to open a second Rock & Brews at LAX.  The rock-inspired restaurant founded by Paul Stanley and Gene Simmons of KISS will open to travelers in the fourth quarter of this year as part of the $508 million overhaul of Terminal 1 that is being spearheaded by Southwest Airlines in partnership with Los Angeles World Airports (LAWA) and Westfield. The first Rock & Brews at LAX opened in Terminal 5 in October 2013, and in 2014 generated record sales.

�We are thrilled to add a little rock style excitement to the travel experience of Southwest Airlines guests in Terminal 1,� said Stanley and Simmons in a joint statement.  �It is an honor to partner with Crews, Southwest Airlines, Westfield and Los Angeles World Airports to make this happen.�

Rock & Brews is a family-friendly restaurant and entertainment concept that offers quality American comfort food and a full bar with a broad selection of craft beers in an engaging environment that celebrates classic rock and roll and encourages a multigenerational sense of community.

�Rock & Brews has proven to be a highly popular brand at LAX,� said Gina Marie Lindsey, Executive Director of Los Angeles World Airports.  �The brand is a perfect fit for the planned changes at Terminal 1 and we are confident that travelers will be surprised and delighted by the restaurant�s alluring combination of great food, great drinks and great rock and roll.�

Rock & Brews debuted in 2012 with its first restaurant in El Segundo, California.  Today, the brand has 10 locations in the United States and Mexico and is poised for thoughtful expansion worldwide with freestanding restaurants, sports and entertainment venues, and airport concepts.

�We are proud to bring Rock & Brews to Terminal 1,� said Robert Crews, president and CEO of Crews.  �The brand is exciting, and a stop into Rock & Brews is the perfect way for departing and arriving guests to celebrate their travels.�

Rock & Brews will offer both dine in or �Grab and Go� service.  Guests with time to spare can take a seat, select from an array of signature dishes including various breakfast items, salads, pizzas, sandwiches, burgers and entr�es, as well as a broad range of craft beers, while enjoying the rock-inspired environment.  For travelers on the run, Rock & Brews� �Grab and Go� allows guests to take a rockin� meal with them on their flights.   

Rock & Brews at Terminal 1 will be open from 5 a.m. to 11 p.m. daily. 

Rock & Brews is also currently developing restaurants in Phoenix, Arizona; Dallas, Texas; Buena Park, CA; Downey, CA; and Orlando, Florida, among other locations.

Thanks to Chris Hoffman for sharing his early KISS art with us! Great work!

Here's a behind the scenes look at the collaboration between KISS and Momoiro Clover Z.

The KISS vs. Momoiro Clover Z single is available in two versions now -"Momoclo Edition" and "KISS Edition" -  via iTunes in 120 countries.

KISS will return to Japan with five concerts in February / March 2015!

KISS Japan Tour Dates:

Feb 23 - Nippon Gaishi Hall - Nagoya
Feb 25 - Osaka Castle Hall - Osaka
Feb 26 - Hiroshima Sun Plaza - Hiroshima
Feb 28 - Sekisui Heim Super Arena - Sendai
Mar 3 - Tokyo Dome - Tokyo

Momoiro Clover Z will be special guests at the Tokyo Dome show only.

An online ticket pre-order will begin Tuesday, November 18th on e+. Visit http://udo.jp for full details.

Thanks to  Canna and Naoki for sharing the these photos with KISS!

On Feb 21st, Japan's Crossbeat Magazine will release a special KISS edition!

Thanks to Tokyo Five for sharing the image with us!

by Mike McPadden

From their earliest tours onward, Kiss�s Paul Stanley and Gene Simmons prided themselves on selecting their opening acts. So for all the shock and awe properly heaped upon Kiss for their larger-than-lust, louder-than-life concert spectaculars, one aspect that gets overlooked is the group�s peerless skill as talent scouts.

As with each live performance�s (in)famous costumes, sets, fire, blood, lasers, thunder, lightning, robotics, and earth-shattering amplification, Kiss understood straight away that the first special effect to either grab or lose an audience immediately would be the musical act that kicked off any given night�s proceedings.

So for thirty-one tours over the course of forty years, Kiss has broken dynamic new talents to their massive, ferociously loyal fans that now spans multiple generations. The number of Kiss openers who became world-class headliners themselves is astonishing. Here�s a chronological look back at fifteen of the biggest and the best.

Rush � 1975

1975 was a crucial year for both Kiss and Rush, so it was fortuitous for the two decidedly unique entities to come together.

Kiss struggled on the brink of extinction until the September release of their mega-platinum mainstream breakthrough album, Alive! Rush transformed as drummer Neil Peart took the lyrical reigns and the group issued the two albums that set the boilerplate for their superstardom to come: Fly by Night and Caress of Steel.

As a result, the Dressed to Kill tour began in 3,000 to 5,000 seat venues and, about sixty shows later, the bands were playing arenas. One thing that didn�t change, however, was the difference in how Kiss and Rush unwound backstage after the show.

Both groups still affectionately remember Kiss exploding into full superstar bacchanal mode while Rush would quietly slink off back to the hotel, maybe smoke a little weed, and watch TV.

�It was always a crazy scene,� Alex Lifeson said. �They�d plaster us with cream pies, there was always some sort of surprise lurking around a corner! And certainly, there were some fun nights � parties and things like that. They lived a little more of a �rock �n� roll lifestyle� than we did.

Blue Öyster Cult � 1976

On December 31, 1973, Kiss officially debuted for music industry professionals by opened for Blue Öyster Cult at the New York Academy of Music. Gene Simmons, for the first but certainly not last time, accidentally wrapped up his fire-breathing stunt by setting his hair ablaze.

With their shared hardscrabble, ethnic New York backgrounds and inherent otherworldly weirdness, Kiss and BÖC made an instantly fitting pair. After Alive! hit and Destroyer conquered the world in 1976, Kiss happily hit the road with Blue Öyster Cult, just in time for the Long Island extraterrestrials to score their own instant classic monster anthem, �Don�t Fear the Reaper.�

Scorpions � 1976

The now half-century-long saga of Germany�s Scorpions begins with the group as hard rockers that struggled from 1965 Berlin onward before finally taking flight among power metal�s mightiest titans in the mid-�70s.

Perhaps seeing how courting controversy had worked for Kiss, Scorpions issued their next-level-launching album Virgin Killer with an original cover image far more shocking than anything Gene ever barfed up on stage (do NOT do an image search at work� or at home� or anywhere). The ploy paid off, but only because the music on the LP itself packed such a Teutonic wallop while also being fun to stomp along to at a party.

Scorpions charged forward on the Kiss rails for the Destroyer tour, a pivotal moment in why fans worldwide still know and adore these groups as powerfully as they did all those decades ago.

CLICK HERE to read the rest of the story at VH1.com