KISS Navy,
Watch your mailboxes! Welcome packets for the KISS Kruise IV have been sent, and Kruisers from the USA will be receiving their luggage tags, laminates and lanyards shortly.
International Kruisers can pick their welcome packs up on-board the ship on embarkation day.
Under 30 days until we rock at sea again!
Make sure to check out the latest LA KISS auctions at http://www.ebay.com/usr/lakissfootball now!
Game worn LA KISS Jerseys signed by Paul and Gene as well as an official game worn helmet are up now. Profits benefit VetTix - http://www.vettix.org/
Hey KISS Navy! Check out the great new KISS Kruise IV gear that will be sold on board the upcoming Kruise! Pictured are the KISS flip flops, key chain, sun glasses, koozie, tote bag and bandana.
By Adam Freeman / http://www.playboy.com/articles/playboy-library-kiss-alive
We are not going to debate the music of KISS. If you love it, nothing I say will convince you otherwise; if you hate it, nothing I can say will make you reconsider.
Maybe.
Let�s talk facts: Forty-plus-year career. Over 100 million albums sold. Rock n� Roll Hall of Fame (albeit begrudgingly) Inductees. The industry and music elitists may not take them seriously, but a few million fans beg to differ. Sure, Pearl Jam is a hell of a band, but they don�t have their own army.
KISS rose from the ashes of Wicked Lester, a Jethro Tull-tinged prog-rock band led by Paul Stanley and Gene Simmons. Realizing they were good but not great, Stanley and Simmons severed ties with Epic Records and set out with one goal in mind � create the rock band they had never seen, but wished they did. Stripping down their sound, abandoning the jazz flute and Hammond organ and bringing lead guitarist Ace Frehley and drummer Peter Criss into the fold, they focused on louder guitars and catchier melodies.
Deconstructing the early success of the Beatles Stanley and Simmons modeled themselves on the Fab Four formula: Four distinct personalities, twin lead singers (the rhythm guitarist and bassist) who occasionally gave the others time to shine singing songs that perfectly fit their well crafted personas. A few Wicked Lester holdovers, such as �She,� remained in the set, albeit barely recognizable as played through the new KISS locomotive.
Between February 1974 and March 1975 KISS released three albums � KISS, Hotter Than Hell, Dressed to Kill � all to mediocre sales. But their live shows were quickly becoming a thing of legend. You�ve seen the makeup and the fire and the blood. You know what I�m talking about. Alive! functions as a greatest hits of those first three albums and shows exactly how prolific the band was in their early days.
Released in September of �75 (making it four albums in less than two years), *Alive! *was recorded at the behest of their modest but growing fan base, which complained their first three records did not come close to capturing the sound of their live shows. Recorded in Detroit, Cleveland, New Jersey and Ohio, Alive! would peak at #9, chart for a whopping 110 weeks and launch international KISSteria.
People may have come for the KISS spectacle, but they were staying for the music: �Deuce,� �Strutter,� �Hotter Than Hell,� �Cold Gin,� �Fire House,� �Rock And Roll All Nite�: They all sound as good blasting out of your car today as they did then.
This was the album that converted much of rock royalty: From Kurt Cobain, Dave Grohl, Soundgarden�s Kim Thayil and Anthrax to Garth Brooks, Taylor Swift and Lady GaGa (whose most prized possession is a pair of 8� boots given to her by Paul Stanley) � the KISS Army spans the musical horizon.
There may not be a �Stairway to Heaven� on Alive! and that�s just fine. KISS isn�t about changing the world: KISS is about enjoying it while you�re here.
Watch 4th and Loud tonight at 10|9c on AMC TV.
Gene Simmons sits down for an in-depth discussion with award-winning newsman Dan Rather for a special edition of THE BIG INTERVIEW, on Tuesday, September 30, at 8pE/5pP.
By Leslie Collins / Kansas City Business Journal
Traveling across the country on tour, the members of KISS tasted plenty of terrible food.
At the time, it was difficult to find a restaurant open late at night, and when it was, the food had been sitting there for hours.
"Fresh is something we don't often talk about, but there's nothing like fresh food," KISS frontman Gene Simmons said.
Simmons was in Overland Park on Sunday and Monday to visit his Rock & Brews restaurant, which he founded with Paul Stanley of KISS, restaurateur Michael Zislis and concert industry veterans Dave and Dell Furano.
Despite a packed schedule, Stanley and Simmons play an active role in the Rock & Brews restaurants. Both participate in owners meetings, receive daily sales reports and are involved in restaurant design and the music platform. Simmons focuses on business development and growth, and Stanley focuses on menu items.
"It really is division of labor," Simmons said. "You don't want to do something you're not qualified to do. I'm not the guy that knows the ingredients that goes into everything. It's really a team (effort). The real credit goes to the people who roll up their sleeves and every day make sure the food is spectacular and the people who greet you and take care of you and make your experience spectacular."
Rock & Brews prides itself on freshly made food and never uses frozen beef, an unusual quest in the restaurant business, said Kirk Williams, regional franchise partner for Kansas, Missouri, Nebraska, Oklahoma and Colorado.
More than the food, however, it's about the atmosphere. Rock 'n' roll greats are plastered on the walls, classic rock music videos and concert footage plays on big screen TVs, there's a full-service bar, a small play area for children, and pets are welcome in a patio area. Patrons also can watch their favorite local sports team on TV.
"It's not just a food establishment; it's an environment," Simmons said. "We want an experience, not 'Let's just have a burger.' If you want a burger, go to McDonald's."
Four decades on tour has influenced the way Simmons views the Rock & Brews concept, which now has eight U.S. locations. Just like his music fans are the "bosses," so are the patrons of Rock & Brews. Without the patrons, "we're nobody," he said.
"It is always about giving people more bang for the buck," Simmons said. "We try to bring elements of what KISS does and continues to do across the world, which is always to give people more."
Expansion plans
Williams said he's already looking for a second Kansas City-area location and added that the Overland Park location is doing well. Rock & Brews owners want to add restaurants worldwide but will focus on "responsible growth," Williams said.
Asked how many restaurants they plan to open in the next one to five years, Simmons said it's best not to focus on numbers.
"That's not the way to do it," Simmons said. "We want to go one step at a time and make sure the quality is there. You're only as good as your partner. You don't want to open up something from far away if you don't know who has skin in the game, who has roots in the local community, who cares about the local community and hires locally. The last thing we want to do is open too many and have any one of them not do well. ... The best advertising we can do is to make our bosses happy."
The countdown continues to the 2014 edition of Hell & Heaven Metal Fest and its organizers have confirmed that KISS will bring its massive Monster stage to Mexico for the first time!
"KISS has very high technical requirements, with which we have never dealt with before. Traveling with a staff of 162 people and 100 tons of equipment. This is going to be the very first time KISS� Monster stage comes to Mexico, the massive structure that looks like a spider. This version is revised and expanded," said Javier Castaneda in an interview with the newspaper Reforma.
KISS headlines the Hell & Heaven Metal Fest on Saturday, October 25 at the Autrodromo Hermanos Rodriguez. Over 60 thousand fans are expected.
