Kiss News

KISS UNLEASHES WORLD�S FIRST GLOBALLY SOCIAL FAN HUB THROUGH ORTSBO

Engaging with users of every major social network, the KISS Army will converge in one all-inclusive social music destination, making 40 City Tour with Motley Crüe a World-Wide, Social Experience

Legendary rock band KISS (www.kissonline.com) has tapped Ortsbo (www.ortsbo.com), the world�s leading real-time experiential communications platform, to create the first globally social fan engagement platform, broadcasting fan communications worldwide for the band�s 40-city summer tour with Motley Crüe. Reaching fans in 53 languages, the platform will aggregate more than 17 social networks in a central platform at [link], with instant translation and real-time integration to Facebook, Twitter, Google+, YouTube, Flickr, Vevo, and more. The launch will effectively transform in-venue fan engagement during a live music performance into a global, social and merchandising experience.

A world first in music & fan communications, Ortsbo�s revolutionary multilingual social network aggregator will enable the tour�s on-site team, concert-goers, KISS members and fans worldwide to converse across language barriers, continents and all the top social networks. Built to transform the way audiences, musicians and staffers share live and static entertainment experiences, the new hub will serve as a global base for KISS fans, tour attendees and viewers around the world. Gathering data and statistic in real-time, the service will also collect invaluable information on its back end for further refinement, development and perfection of the platform while creating unprecedented, niche audience information for advertisers and marketers to potentially tap as well.KISS UNLEASHES WORLD�S FIRST GLOBALLY SOCIAL FAN HUB THROUGH ORTSBO

Engaging with users of every major social network, the KISS Army will converge in one all-inclusive social music destination, making 40 City Tour with Motley Crüe a World-Wide, Social Experience

Legendary rock band KISS (www.kissonline.com) has tapped Ortsbo (www.ortsbo.com), the world�s leading real-time experiential communications platform, to create the first globally social fan engagement platform, broadcasting fan communications worldwide for the band�s 40-city summer tour with Motley Crüe. Reaching fans in 53 languages, the platform will aggregate more than 17 social networks in a central platform at [link], with instant translation and real-time integration to Facebook, Twitter, Google+, YouTube, Flickr, Vevo, and more. The launch will effectively transform in-venue fan engagement during a live music performance into a global, social and merchandising experience.

A world first in music & fan communications, Ortsbo�s revolutionary multilingual social network aggregator will enable the tour�s on-site team, concert-goers, KISS members and fans worldwide to converse across language barriers, continents and all the top social networks. Built to transform the way audiences, musicians and staffers share live and static entertainment experiences, the new hub will serve as a global base for KISS fans, tour attendees and viewers around the world. Gathering data and statistic in real-time, the service will also collect invaluable information on its back end for further refinement, development and perfection of the platform while creating unprecedented, niche audience information for advertisers and marketers to potentially tap as well.

Combining all forms of multimedia, chat and e-commerce, users can share photos, video, text, tweets, links and purchase merchandise in one all-inclusive portal, in the language of their choice. The ultimate international experience for music and concerts, Ortsbo�s platform will centralize the global fan base of one of the most-renowned rock bands for a new experiment in defining a social music experience. The full experience will intend to create a heightened fan loyalty coupled with a game-ified communication experience in one powerful online home.

�We�re giving our fans a more powerful and meaningful way to communicate and engage with us while on tour. Every member of the KISS Army brings pride and power we share and with Ortsbo�s technology we can reach anyone, anywhere, in any language through one single place on the web,� said Paul Stanley of KISS. �No matter where our fans are or what native language they speak, now all of them can be part of the tour plus purchase tour merchandise through one easy platform.�

�This unrivaled approach to combining more than a dozen social networks, real-time translation of 53 languages and fans of KISS around their summer tour with Motley Crüe may set a new standard in socially-powered music fandom,� said David Lucatch, CEO of Ortsbo. �We are proud to elevate the sharing and socializing of music fans � the strongest form of emotionally-empowered communications � to a level never seen before.�

In addition to the hub, Live Nation has been tapped as a partner to power fan shops and merchandise sites with Ortsbo translation technology, bringing a gambit of must-have KISS items to a global audience in their native tongues. This end of the program enables globalized merchandising opportunities and expanded revenue opportunities for other partners, manufacturers, providers and more.

By Adrian Thrills

Kiss frontman Paul Stanley has had joint trouble � and not the kind you�d expect in a rock �n� roll man. After 40 years teetering around the stage in 8in platform heels, it�s his hips (and knees and shoulders) that have had it.

Stanley and his bandmates have sold 100 million albums since they first daubed their faces with black and white warpaint in 1973, and he has paid the price with two hip replacement ops.

�I�m a bionic man and I�ve earned every scar,� the 60-year-old singer and guitarist says proudly. �My doctors are sports specialists, as my injuries are the same as those that affect [American] footballers.

'My knees have been surgically reassembled and I�ve had work done on my shoulders.

�But I�m in better shape than ever. The engine�s been serviced and I�m good for another 50,000 miles.�

Kiss are one of rock�s great survivors, as well known for their comic-book stage personas and garish costumes as their music, while their gigs are renowned for fire-breathing stunts and eye-popping special effects.

But they attribute their staying power to a more old-fashioned virtue: hard graft.

�Four decades ago, a bunch of knuckleheads from New York got together,� says bassist Gene Simmons.

�The four of us had an epiphany: let�s put together the band we�ve never seen on stage. So we did it, and we�re still here.

�Back then, there were no shortcuts. There was no internet or cable TV. You had to take your case directly to the people by playing live, and we do the same today. We�re the real deal.�

Or as real as anyone sporting face paint, Spandex leggings and glitter wedges for their day job can be.

The bullish 62-year-old adds: �If you are a member of U2 or Coldplay, you put on your jeans and T-shirt and play. Those bands are great, but they don�t have to sweat.

�We spend two hours putting on make-up. Then we run around for two hours in platform shoes. I spit fire and fly up to the rafters.�
By Adrian Thrills

Kiss frontman Paul Stanley has had joint trouble � and not the kind you�d expect in a rock �n� roll man. After 40 years teetering around the stage in 8in platform heels, it�s his hips (and knees and shoulders) that have had it.

Stanley and his bandmates have sold 100 million albums since they first daubed their faces with black and white warpaint in 1973, and he has paid the price with two hip replacement ops.

�I�m a bionic man and I�ve earned every scar,� the 60-year-old singer and guitarist says proudly. �My doctors are sports specialists, as my injuries are the same as those that affect [American] footballers.

'My knees have been surgically reassembled and I�ve had work done on my shoulders.

�But I�m in better shape than ever. The engine�s been serviced and I�m good for another 50,000 miles.�

Kiss are one of rock�s great survivors, as well known for their comic-book stage personas and garish costumes as their music, while their gigs are renowned for fire-breathing stunts and eye-popping special effects.

But they attribute their staying power to a more old-fashioned virtue: hard graft.

�Four decades ago, a bunch of knuckleheads from New York got together,� says bassist Gene Simmons.

�The four of us had an epiphany: let�s put together the band we�ve never seen on stage. So we did it, and we�re still here.

�Back then, there were no shortcuts. There was no internet or cable TV. You had to take your case directly to the people by playing live, and we do the same today. We�re the real deal.�

Or as real as anyone sporting face paint, Spandex leggings and glitter wedges for their day job can be.

The bullish 62-year-old adds: �If you are a member of U2 or Coldplay, you put on your jeans and T-shirt and play. Those bands are great, but they don�t have to sweat.

�We spend two hours putting on make-up. Then we run around for two hours in platform shoes. I spit fire and fly up to the rafters.�
Founder members Stanley and Simmons are in London to launch a wave of Kiss activity. First, there is a new single, Hell Or Hallelujah.

On the horizon is a 20th studio album, Monster, plus a ten-hour DVD, Kissology Volume 4. And Stanley is happy to be here. �I�m an Anglophile,� he says. �Rock �n� roll started in the States, but the Brits turned it into something brilliant.�

There is also the aptly named Kiss Monster Book being released. Limited to 1,000 copies worldwide, the hand-bound tome stands 3ft high and 5ft wide when open, and will set you back £2,500.

But then, Kiss have never been a band for half measures. Simmons, who lives in California with his wife, erotic film star Shannon Tweed and their two children, Nick, 23, and Sophie, 20, once claimed he had slept with 4,600 women since the band began.

�That figure�s about right,� he says, face deadpan. I can�t tell if he�s being tongue in cheek � but I hope not, given that he is the proud possessor of the longest tongue in rock (one rumour had it that he had a cow�s tongue surgically grafted on to his own). �I�ve behaved like a horny teenage boy all my life, but, at some point, we all grow up. Love wasn�t something I thought seriously about before, but I love my wife.

�I have a magic woman in Shannon, and she has stuck by me � through all my indiscretions � for 29 years.�

Kiss set their sights on world domination early. In their infancy, they avoided New York�s elitist rock clubs to focus on the music mainstream.

To some, they are the height of rock kitsch, their pyrotechnics a mere marketing trick (Gene once accidently set his hair alight while spitting flammable liquid at a torch).

�If people say we�re a gimmick, I won�t argue,� he replies. �But then so was Jerry Lee Lewis when he played piano with his feet, and Elvis when he shook his hips.�

Paul begs to differ. �If we were just a gimmick, we wouldn�t have lasted 40 years.�

Kiss�s two other founder members, Peter Criss and Ace Frehley, have not played with the band since a mid-Nineties reunion, but the group�s current line-up, with drummer Eric Singer and lead guitarist Tommy Thayer, has been together for a decade.

So, how long will they keep rocking? Paul says: �We�re still in the middle of an amazing ride. But there will come a time when we say enough is enough. Then we�ll throw down the gauntlet, and somebody else will pick it up.�

Hell Or Hallelujah and the Kiss Monster Book are out now.

By Andrew Leahey

Friday night marks the official launch of Kiss� summer tour, a mammoth cross-country jaunt in support of the band�s upcoming album, �Monster.�

Talk to a local veteran, however, and he�ll tell you that the real tour started on Thursday evening, when Kiss staged a private show for 1,600 members of the U.S. military.

�We owe so much to the brave men and women who voluntarily put on that uniform and go to places where people don�t like them,� Gene Simmons explained earlier this week, several hours before he and his three band mates � Paul Stanley, Eric Singer and Tommy Thayer � paid a visit to patients at Walter Reed National Military Medical Center.

�The vets that we�ve met never ask for praise, glory or money,� he added. �They just want to re-enter society and get a job. We do these all-vet shows to show our appreciation, because what they do for us is beyond comprehension.�

Kiss have a long history of paying tribute to vets on both sides of the Atlantic. Earlier this summer, the guys staged a small show in London to benefit the British troops, and their 2011 tour featured a recitation of the Pledge of Allegiance during each concert.By Andrew Leahey

Friday night marks the official launch of Kiss� summer tour, a mammoth cross-country jaunt in support of the band�s upcoming album, �Monster.�

Talk to a local veteran, however, and he�ll tell you that the real tour started on Thursday evening, when Kiss staged a private show for 1,600 members of the U.S. military.

�We owe so much to the brave men and women who voluntarily put on that uniform and go to places where people don�t like them,� Gene Simmons explained earlier this week, several hours before he and his three band mates � Paul Stanley, Eric Singer and Tommy Thayer � paid a visit to patients at Walter Reed National Military Medical Center.

�The vets that we�ve met never ask for praise, glory or money,� he added. �They just want to re-enter society and get a job. We do these all-vet shows to show our appreciation, because what they do for us is beyond comprehension.�

Kiss have a long history of paying tribute to vets on both sides of the Atlantic. Earlier this summer, the guys staged a small show in London to benefit the British troops, and their 2011 tour featured a recitation of the Pledge of Allegiance during each concert.

�We used to stop every single show in the middle,� Mr. Simmons remembered, �and hoist the Stars and Stripes before saying the Pledge of Allegiance, right there in the middle of the concert. Very cornball, very not cool, but I don�t care. Sometimes, you gotta flush cool down the toilet and just arch your back and stand proudly, realizing that you�re living in the greatest country on the face of the planet.�

For the upcoming tour, the band has some additional tricks up its sleeve. For starters, Motley Crue will co-headline every show. The two groups have been friends since 1982, back when Kiss handpicked a relatively unknown Motley Crue as the opening act for the �Creatures of the Night� tour.

�They were loud, proud kids from the street, which was exactly what we wanted,� Mr. Simmons recalled. �You want the opening act to come up there and challenge you. What�s the use of being the world champion boxer if the guy who�s in the ring with you isn�t gonna give you a run for your money?�

�If they challenge you,� he continued, �it makes you a better fighter, and it makes for a better fight. That�s why we take great pride in the bands we�ve brought on tour with us. They�re always able to stand on their own two legs � and then we come out and crush them.�

To crush Motley Crue�s elaborate stage show, Kiss will fill their own performances with �more firepower than most Third World countries.� Fans can also expect plenty of pyrotechnics and Kiss classics, as well as the new single �Hell or Hallelujah.�

�With all due respect to everyone else,� Mr. Simmons said, �when you see fireworks going off at a McCartney show, where do you think he got that from? Gerry and the Pacemakers? We are the masters of bells and whistles, and we are going to leave the audience exhausted at the end of every show.�

Being a member of Kiss sounds a little exhausting in its own right. Before every performance, the guys spend an average of two hours in the dressing room, applying makeup and strapping 45 pounds of armored costumery onto their bodies. Once showtime hits, they move around the stage on 8-inch platform shoes.

�If that�s not enough,� added Mr. Simmons, �I fly up to the top of the light system at the speed of eight feet per second, Paul flies over to the soundboard over the heads of the audience, Tommy levitates up into the air, Eric�s entire drum kit levitates up into the air, and that doesn�t count the entire band�s descent from the heavens before the first song even begins.

�It�s physically exhausting, but I�ll tell you, there�s nothing as satisfying. Because when you see that you�re not the only one who�s drenched in sweat � that the audience is just as wiped out as you � there�s something else happening beyond the usual, �OK, this is my next song.� �