DETROIT (Michigan News Source) – The American rock band, KISS, who rose to prominence in the mid-1970s, will be performing at the Little Caesars Arena on October 20th in Detroit to kick off their “End of the Road Tour” which is supposed to be their last official tour. It’s anyone’s guess if this is really their final final tour since they had a “farewell” tour in both 2000 and 2001.
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Tickets became available on Monday, April 3rd with pre-sales for their fans called the “KISS Army.” The rest of the tickets will go on sale to the general public on Friday, April 7th through Ticketmaster at 10 a.m.
The band has cultivated a cult-like following over the years with their face paint makeup and costumes, taking on the personae of comic book-style characters. They also caught the attention of fans with what Wikipedia calls their “shock rock-style live performances which featured fire-breathing, blood-spitting, smoking guitars, shooting rockets, levitating drum kits, and pyrotechnics.”
KISS was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2014 and in the 50 years that the band has been around, the lineup has changed with 71-year-old Paul Stanley (vocals, rhythm guitar) and 73-year-old Gene Simmons (vocals, bass) remaining the only consistent members. In addition to the two original rockers, the current lineup includes youngsters 62-year-old Tommy Thayer (guitarist) and 64-year-old Eric Singer (drummer).
The tour, produced by Live Nation, is sure to include hits like “Rock and Roll All Night” and “Detroit Rock City” which was the opening track of the KISS 1976 release “Destroyer.”
Other Detroit connections, according to the Detroit News, include the 1999 comedy film “Detroit Rock City” that follows four KISS fans from Cleveland on their way to see the band play Cobo Arena and features cameos from the members of KISS. Their 1975 live album “Alive” was also partially recorded in the Motor City and the album’s back cover features a photo of the band playing at Cobo that same year. In addition to that, KISS kicked off their reunion tour at Tiger Stadium in 1996 in front of about 40K fans.
KISS will also be seen on Netflix in 2024. According to the band’s manager, Doc McGhee, it’s a biopic film titled “Shout It Out Loud” about the band’s first four years. McGhee says, “We’re just starting it now. We’ve already sold it, (the deal is) already done, we have a director. That’s moving along and that’ll come in ’24.”
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The End of the Road Tour ends with a two-day show in NYC where it all began for the band. They’ll perform in December at the Madison Square Garden.
If this is indeed the final farewell show, it will be the end of an era for one of the best-selling bands of all time and a quiet life for the older band members who don’t know much about a life sans-KISS.
As Gene Simmons once said, “When you are a rock star in front of 20,000 people, you receive instant gratification. A rock star on tour is a king in his domain.”
The ruling of that domain only has about eight more months to go.
