THIS MONOPOLY GAME HAS MANY PERSONAL TITLES IN THE SQUARES THAT WERE MONUMENTAL IN KISS CIRCLES UP TO THAT TIME.  BILL WAS VERY CREATIVE IN DESIGNING A GREAT GIFT FOR THE BAND.  SOME OF THE SQUARES ARE:

Read the rest and see the pictures
[Comments]

July 14, 2008
KISS SONGS FEATURED RHAPSODY IN ROCK SHOW"
(from kissonfire.blogspot.com)
The Swedish mainstream artist Robert Wells recently had the opening show for his traditional annual summer tour of Sweden called 'Rhapsody In Rock'.
This package tour contains some of the biggest names in Swedish mainstream music.
This year the last number of the main set is - believe it or not - a Kiss medley.
The female vocalists Charlotte Perelli ( Once a winner of the eurovision song contest ), Sofia Källgren and LaGaylia Frazier are doing I Was Made For Loving You, Detroit Rock City, Rock N Roll All Nite, God Gave Rock N Roll To You and Heaven's On Fire together with Robert Wells and the orchestra.
The tour will continue over Sweden all summer.

Robert Wells the chief and founder of Rhapsody In Rock attended the sold out KISS show at Stockholms Stadion (33.000) and had a fantastic time.
[Comments]

July 14, 2008
"I'M GONNA MARRY VINNIE VINCENT" PLAY IS A HIT IN SWEDEN
(from Blabbermouth.net)
According to the Swedish newspaper Norrländska Socialdemokraten, a theater play called "I'm Gonna Marry Vinnie Vincent" is playing to full houses in the north of Sweden in a city called Haparanda. The play centers around five 40-something former rockers chicks who reunite in an attempt to recapture the feeling they had during the early '80s when KISS was at the height of its success.

When the play starts, 25 years has passed since the girls last met. Now time has taken its toll and Jessica — whose "first love" was one-time KISS guitarist Vinnie Vincent — is bitterly divorced from her rich ex-husband Per who left her for a younger woman.

Jessica devises a plan to steal her ex-husband's money and go to the USA to meet her teen love Vinnie Vincent.

"I'm gonna marry Vinnie Vincent," Jessica cries and stretches her arms towards the sky.

For more information on the play (in Swedish), visit the Norrländska Socialdemokraten web site.
[Comments]

July 14, 2008
ACE AT ROCKLAHOMA
Here are some clips from Ace's appearance at the Rocklahoma festival:
Rock Soldiers
Parasite
[Comments]

July 13, 2008
KISS IN THE PRESS
Kiss are on the cover of the new edition of the "Good Times" magazine.

[Comments]

July 13, 2008
PHOTO ALBUM & FORUM
If you haven't checked out the Photo Album in a while, think about it and take some time, because there have been a lot of great amazing photos uploaded recently, making it a total of over 12.000 photos! Rare ones, old ones, great ones, everything you can imagine. You will find photos of never before seen '70s pics without make-up, amazing old pictures and more. Here are just some examples:


Click here to see more great recents pics from the Photo Album.

Needless to say you'll find also plenty of pictures there from the Alive 35 Tour as well.
If you own any great photos and you want to share them with us, you are welcome to upload it in the Photo Gallery.

Also check out the Kiss Forum with its 8.300 members from over 80 countries from Angola to Jamaica, from Sudan to Columbia who have posted already amlost a quater of a million posts within' the last four years. If you got any news to share about the band, you are welcome to post it there.
[Comments]

July 12, 2008
GENE INTERVIEW
Click here to hear an interview with Gene promoting his new book on Q104.3.
[Comments]

July 11, 2008
KISS IN THE PRESS
Kiss are on the cover of the Italian magazine "Raro" (Nr. 201, July 2008).

[Comments]

July 11, 2008
GENE PROMOTING HIS NEW BOOK
Gene is doing a promotional Tour to promote his new book "Ladies of the night". On his website www.genesimmons.com you can see two interviews with him from US-TV-shows.
[Comments]

July 9, 2008
NEWS FROM ACE
(from www.eddietrunk.com)
Ace is now off the road as far as touring. He explained to me that he simply could not focus on getting his record done, getting a website launched, and other things, while touring. His plan is to do the Rocklahoma gig, then spend the Fall getting the CD finally done, with another run of dates end of the year or early next year. Ace also said he had a blast playing recently with Pearl Jam at MSG and he hopes his next run of shows can be bigger places maybe as a special guest. The festivals in Europe were also really cool he said, and he did not see Kiss or any of the members when they both played the Download Festival (they were on different days). Ace sent me a few photos from Sweden and the UK which I will post on the site.
[Comments]

July 8, 2008
A CLEANED-UP ACE FREHLEY RECEIVES VINDICATION FOR HIS POST-KISS CAREER
(from spinner.com)
Once upon a time, Ace Frehley stood atop the hard-rock guitar-player mountain, delivering thunderous riffs on Kiss staples such as 'Calling Dr. Love,' 'Strutter' and 'Detroit Rock City,' songs that helped lead the makeup-wearing quartet to '70s rock-god status. But while Gene Simmons created a business empire that rivaled Disney in merchandising, Frehley went the way of so many '70s rock stars, namely into drugs and drink. It was a point that reached home a few years ago when Simmons started saying publicly he wouldn't work with Frehley again because of the substance abuse.

Today, though, having completed a successful tour, currently working on a new album and being feted by a new generation of guitar slingers, Frehley is getting some sweet vindication. The "Space Ace" talked to Spinner about the wild ways of his past, his own guitar heroes and a recently resurfaced memory of being a roadie for Jimi Hendrix.

Why are people still picking up on the music 30 years after you started?

I don't completely understand it, but I know in a lot of those guitar solos and other stuff I did I put my heart and soul into it. So maybe that somehow comes through the speakers.

How old were you when you started playing guitar?

I was 13, and actually my brother and sister both played folk guitar, they were, like, folkies back in the hippie days and they were doing Peter, Paul and Mary songs and folk songs, they both played the piano and I was going, "Get me out of here!" And a friend of mine bought, like, a $25 Japanese electric guitar with a little amp with, like, a six-inch speaker. And I had been fooling around with my brother's acoustic, but acoustic didn't really do it for me. When I plugged in this electric guitar, put the amp on 10 and then just hit a note, it was like love at first sight. I was hooked, and from age 13 on it's been a love affair with me and the electric guitar ever since.

Who were the guitarists that turned you on?

Keith Richards and the Stones were big. Then, of course, you get the whole English invasion with the Beatles and a little later on Jimi Hendrix, Eric Clapton, Cream, the Who, huge influence. I never considered Pete Townshend a brilliant lead guitarist per se, but when it comes to chords I learned how to play rhythm guitar from Townshend. I listened to his chord work because it's just brilliant.

What are some of your favorite guitar moments in your own work?

That solo in 'Strange Ways,' 'Fractured Mirror,' I was just listening to that the other day. We were trying to work it up for the show, we were gonna do that and 'Ozone,' but I think we're gonna hold off on that until the next tour cause I don't wanna do it unless it's perfect. I'm not that good at critiquing my own work, I'd rather let other people do it. What do you think?

One song I just fell in love with recently, even though it's not a guitar song, is 'Hard Luck Woman.'

That's a good song. 'Calling Dr. Love' is a good song. I'm trying to remember the guitar solo 'cause I just can't hear it in my head. 'God of Thunder' I did a really cool solo on that. Gene was good with me in the studio. He used to like give me ideas. He'd go, "Ace, do the dinosaur bend here and then do something fast and then do this melodic thing." He'd help pull them out of me, 'cause back in those days I wasn't always present, even though I was there [laughs].

Do you have any stories from when you weren't there and present?

I was lucky enough, I don't know if that is the right word, but I was lucky enough to get drunk with Alice [Cooper] before he got sober [laughs]. It was hysterical 'cause I got invited to this birthday party and Alice was sitting at this table. I was on one side of him and Paul Stanley was on the other side. Paul wasn't drinking at the time, and, of course, I was a complete drunk and so was Alice, so we got along famously, and Paul was completely on a different level than me and Alice. But I think Alice got sober real soon after that.

You got to interact with a lot of people like Alice. Were there any moments that stood out to you as a music fan?

It's funny, I recently recalled a memory where I actually roadied for Jimi Hendrix's last New York appearance when I was, like, 18 or 19 at the Randall's Island concert. I had forgotten about it for years and I'm trying to find footage from that concert because I was on the side of the stage in lemon yellow hot pants and a black T-shirt with a snakeskin scar on it and I had hair down to my waist [laughs]. I ended up sneaking backstage because I looked like a rock star. I'm walking backstage and I was observing, it was like a festival and I was watching the guys in the band coming in and out and in those days they didn't have laminates or anything so I was just looking at the way the rock stars walked in and out to watch the other groups. I just looked at the guy like I was somebody and he just assumed I was in some band. And then I'm backstage mingling, I'm hanging out with Steppenwolf, Jethro Tull, Grand Funk Railroad, and finally somebody said, "Who is that guy?" What band is he in?" Somebody came up to me and said, "Who are you?" I said, "I'm nobody [laughs]." In those days they were different. They said, "Well, can you do anything?" I said, "Yeah." He said, "Can you set up drums? Can you tune guitar?" I said, "Yeah, I can do anything." Next thing I know I'm setting up Mitch Mitchell's drums for Hendrix. It was so surreal.

There's the thing of being the music fan turned into the artist, but you never lose that fandom.

No, you never do. It's just that I know how much I enjoy my privacy, so I never like to impose on other stars. I never go after people cause I know how much I don't like to be bothered when I don't like to be bothered. And a lot of the guys, Hendrix is gone...I never bumped into Clapton, at least not that I remember. I never met Beck. It's just one of those things where our paths never crossed.

Who the producer on the record you're working on now?

Me. It's a good cross-section of Ace Frehley heavy rock. It's more like the first CD I did with 'New York Groove' than maybe some of the more recent albums I put out 'cause I'm singing lead on all the songs and I wrote all the songs. So it's more of an Ace record.

How excited are you to have this record coming out and be on tour?

It's really an exciting time for me because for so many years people I worked with in the past maybe kind of bad-mouthed me and said I was screwed up on drugs and alcohol and couldn't function or this, that and the other thing; I was undependable. And that's just not the case today. So it's a good feeling to be able to come out and take care of business on the road and be clean and sober, show up on time and do interviews and have a great time, which kind of dispels all the negativity that's been laid down before me.

Do you feel vindicated by the album and tour?

I hope so, I hope that happens because for a long time I was missing in action [laughs]. And it's just nice to be back, it's nice to be cognizant of what's going on around me and reclaim my rock 'n' roll throne.

It's interesting you put it that way because I was at the Dimebag Darrell tribute show at House of Blues in L.A. and you could see from the interaction with the younger guitarists the respect they have for you. Are there any guitarists you've gotten that response from or seen your influence in them?

Yeah, John 5 is a good friend of mine. Obviously, Dimebag Darrell was a good friend of mine. I spent a weekend with him and his girlfriend at his place in Atlanta a couple of years before that incident happened. I never really thought about how many people I influenced, but I know it's been a lot. I probably would've practiced more if I knew that today back then [laughs]. But other than that it's something I don't ponder; today I focus on the now and the future. Life's good. I'm just happy to be alive. A couple of times I almost checked out.

Do you talk to the guys in Kiss anymore?

Yeah, Gene called me in November of last year and invited me to do his television show. I was just too busy. I speak to Paul every so often, three or four times a year. And I spoke to Peter in October. So we all keep in touch.

But at this point is the solo stuff what you want to be doing?

I like doing my own stuff simply because I'm in control of my destiny for the most part. Whenever I work with Kiss, Paul and Gene, especially Gene, are such control freaks they push my buttons because they make these stupid decisions without checking with me and it always makes me crazy. They got all that crazy merchandising; next thing I know we're selling caskets.

What was the craziest thing you ever saw your face on?

I don't know -- toilet paper, maybe [laughs]. You're killing me.

Any last words?

I just want to thank all the fans who've supported me over the years. I got the best fans in the world, and you won't be disappointed with the new record, trust me. I need to be vindicated [laughs].
[Comments]

July 6, 2008
JOHN LISSAUER
(from rockpages.gr)
We continue our year-long KISS special article with the 13th interview with a KISS-related figure.

This week we publish an interview with John Lissauer, the string-conductor of Peter Criss’ “Out of Control”! Here’s an excerpt:

Rockpages.gr:
describe to us a typical day in the studio
John Lissauer: Well I remember (though it's a bit vague after all these years) going over the scores with David. I'm sure we discussed things like: The phrasing, dynamics and articulations of the string ensemble, whether we would "double-track" the strings (I think we did), and the general "sound" we were going for. Then, under Leanne's direction, the studio was set up, along with the podium and talk-back Mic for the conductor. We chose the microphones, both "near" and "distant" for the strings, checked all the headphones as well as the rough-mix playback of the tracks. Then....we recorded everything.

Feel free to use it in your site. You can find the whole interview on:

http://www.rockpages.gr/kissspecial2008/13-JohnLissauer-en.htm
[Comments]

July 5, 2008
GREAT FAN STORY
(from Gerasimos K./Greece)
Well my story with KISS is as follows:
Last year, I met Eric Singer in an Alice Cooper preshow party. I went to him and introduced myself and we had a very cool chat about drums (I am a drummer too), watches (I like watches too), music etc. He gave me his personal e-mail, so 1 day after A.C. show in Athens, I sent him a "well done" message there and he came back with a coffee invitation n his hotel lobby, something I accepted right away! We sat about 1,5 H and had a great time. finally, we swaped watches, it was like a new friendship came to life.
After that, we had a communication via e-mails. I have to say, he is a very cool and welcome person and he appreciate other peoples "coolness".
Well, when KISS launched Europe this year for the ALIVE35 tour, I went to vienna for my first KISS show. Eric knew I would be there and he came up with a great present for me. A backstage VIP pass (it was valid for all the european concerts of this tour). So, I lived this - once in a lifetime- experience.
KISS in Athens. Band stayed here for 1 week. 2 hours after the show, Eric called me (we had each others tel. numbers) and asked me if I could be an Athens guide for him and his girlfriend. I happily accepted. so, next day, me, Eric, his girlfriend and Tommy's brother went to Acropolis and did some nice sightseeing. After that, Paul and wife, Tommy and girlfriend, McGhee and wife and some other guys came to Acropolis. I didn't expect that. I was 1 greek guy, with the 3/4 of KISS (Gene was busy) and KISS' managerial team. They asked me to join them for dinner!!!!!!!!!!!! I was living a dream. ....My favorite band for the last 28 years (now I am 38) was so cool with a simple fan like me.
So, we went to a great Athens restaurant in the to of a hill in the middle of the city. The view was astonishing while the sunset painted the city in red in front of our eyes. Paul was in a big enthusiasm. As you can imagine it was the dinner of my life.

Album powered by ComBoost - Voir diaporamas : pleine page - grand ecran

[Comments]

July 5, 2008
JAPANESE BEST OF CD TRACK LISTING
According to Barks the track listing of the new Japanese "Kiss Best - Kissology" CD is as follows:
01 DEUCE
02 DETROIT ROCK CITY
03 I WAS MADE FOR LOVIN’ YOU
04 LOVE GUN
05 ROCK AND ROLL ALL NITE
06 I LOVE IT LOUD
07 BLACK DIAMOND
08 LICK IT UP
09 CHRISTINE SIXTEEN
10 DO YOU LOVE ME
11 HEAVEN’S ON FIRE
12 CALLING DR.LOVE
13 SHOUT IT OUT LOUD
14 FOREVER
15 HOTTER THAN HELL
[Comments]

July 4, 2008
GENE SIMMONS RELEASES NEW BOOK
Gene Simmons releases a new book called "Ladies of the night". Official release date is July 8th, 2008.

Gene will do in store appearances to sign the book in New York and in Los Angeles:

Los Angeles Signing info:

Date: July 8th
Time: 7:00 p.m.
Location: BORDERS BOOKS
1360 Westwood Blvd
Westwood, CA 90024

New York Signing info:

Date: July 11th
Time:12:30 p.m.
Location: BARNES & NOBLE
555 Fifth Ave (46th Street)
New York, NY 10011
[Comments]

July 4, 2008
KISS IN SPANGDAHLEM
Click here to see a report about Kiss' visit at the US Air Base in Spangdahlem. Thanks to Fred Koopmann for the info.
[Comments]

July 3, 2008
MEET & GREETS
Around 450 fans met Kiss in Europe at the meet & greet... for 875 Euros. Some went twice or even more often!

Here are some pictures from our Forum Users who met Kiss:

Some people got their photo also signed afterwards...



Of course you can find a lot more photos from the meet & greets in the Forum.
[Comments]

July 3, 2008
NEW KISS BEST OF CD COMING OUT IN JAPAN
A new Best of CD "Kiss Best - Kissology" is scheduled for a realease on August 27, 2008 in Japan. A limited edition comes with an extra DVD. Supposedly it includes the new versions of the songs that the band recently re-recorded.

Here is the description:
Latest greatest hits album from KISS featuring complete new recordings of the tracks on the album! Limited edition includes bonus DVD with live footage from KISS's 1977 performance at the Budokan (taken from the "Kissology VOl. 1-3" DVDs) plus bonus KISS original sticker (subject to change). *Unless otherwise indicated, DVDs are region-2 encoded (Japan, Europe, and Middle East), and carry no subtitles.
[Comments]

July 2, 2008
GRASPOP TV REPORT
Click here to see a TV Report from Kiss at the Graspop Festival from Belgian TV.
[Comments]

July 2, 2008
ALIVE 35 TOUR STATISTICS
Here are the statistics for the Alive 35 Tour:

16.03.2008: Melbourne (Albert Park) ca. 65.000 attendance/no meet & greet
18.03.2008: Brisbane (Entertainment Centre) ca. 12.000 attendance/no meet & greet
20.03.2008: Sydney (Acer Arena) ca. 9.500 attendance/no meet & greet
22.03.2008: Wellington (Westpac stadium) ca. 24.000 attendance/no meet & greet
09.05.2008: Oberhausen (Arena) ca. 12.500 attendance (sold out)/23 at meet & greet
11.05.2008: Munich (Olympiahalle) ca. 10.000 attendance (sold out)/34 at meet & greet
12.05.2008: Vienna (Stadthalle) ca. 10.500 attendance/18 at meet & greet
13.05.2008: Verona (Arena) ca. 13.000 attendance (sold out)/60 at meet & greet
16.05.2008: Sofia (Akamenik stadium) ca. 15.000 attendance/4 at meet & greet
18.05.2008: Athens (Terra Vibe) ca. 8.000 attendance/6 at meet & greet
22.05.2008: Riga (Arena) ca. 9.000 attendance/1 at meet & greet
24.05.2008: Moscow (Olympissky) ca. 15.000 attendance/15 bei meet & greet
26.05.2008: St. Petersburg (New Arena) ca. 8.000 attendance/no meet & greet
27.05.2008: Helsinki (Hartwall Arena) ca. 11.200 attendance (sold out)/7 at meet & greet
28.05.2008: Helsinki (Hartwall Arena) ca. 11.200 attendance (sold out)/14 at meet & greet
30.05.2008: Stockholm (Olympic Stadium) ca. 32.500 attendance (sold out)/23 at meet & greet
31.05.2008: Oslo (Valhall) ca. 12.800 attendance (sold out)/60 at meet & greet
01.06.2008: Bergen (Koengen) ca. 17.000 attendance/38 at meet & greet
03.06.2008: Copenhagen (Forum) ca. 9.000 attendance/25 at meet & greet
04.06.2008: Hamburg (Color Line Arena) ca. 10.000 attendance/16 at meet & greet
06.06.2008: Prag (O2 Arena) ca. 18.000 attendance (sold out)/20 at meet & greet
09.06.2008: Berlin (Velodrom) ca. 9.000 attendance/31 at meet & greet
10.06.2008: Mannheim (SAP Arena) ca. 9.000 attendance/16 at meet & greet
11.06.2008: Oberhausen (Arena) ca. 7.500 attendance/24 at meet & greet
13.06.2008: Donington ca. 55.000 attendance/15 at meet & greet
15.06.2008: Arrows Rock Festival ca. 27.500 attendance/18 at meet & greet
17.06.2008: Paris (Bercy) ca. 11.000 attendance/83 at meet & greet
18.06.2008: Stuttgart (Schleyerhalle) ca. 11.500 attendance/14 at meet & greet
21.06.2008: Bilbao (Kobetamendi) ca. 30.000 attendance/23 at meet & greet
23.06.2008: Zürich (Hallenstadion) ca. 12.500 attendance/20 at meet & greet
24.06.2008: Milano (Datch Forum) ca. 8.000 attendance/25 at meet & greet
26.06.2008: Luxembourg (Rockhal) ca. 6.500 attendance (sold out)/11 at meet & greet
27.06.2008: Nürnberg (Arena) ca. 7.500 attendance/21 at meet & greet
28.06.2008: Dessel (Festival Park) ca. 50.000 attendance/no meet & greet

At 34 concerts Kiss played for about 579.200 people (average: 17.035), 448 people at the meet & greet.

Europe only: 30 shows/468.700 attendance (average: 15.623).
Europa only excluding festivals: 26 shows/306.200 attendance (average: 11.777)
9 shows were sold out, almost all others were close to a sell-out.
Financially spoken this was the most successful Tour ever. Ticket-prices have never been that high (average about 70 Euros/US $ 100,-). Also there was a high attendance at the shows. Additionally the meet & greet, Instant live CDs, and the merchandise (although merchandise sales must have been a lot higher on the Reunion Tour).

Kiss will play a few selected shows in the summer in the USA, most likely followed by a South American Tour and possibly an US-Tour in early 2009.
Kiiss already announced to be back in Europe next year.
[Comments]

July 2, 2008
ERIC SINGER BACK IN EUROPE
Eric Singer will play his next concert very soon in Europe on July 6th, 2008, but this time with Alice Cooper. Check out all his tourdates on his website http://www.eric-singer.com. Tickets for the 2 German concerts in July are available here.
[Comments]

July 2, 2008
PHOTOS FROM BILBAO
Here you can see some great photos from Bilbao, Spain:
http://www.denaflows.com/Gallery/Kiss/index.html
[Comments]

July 2, 2008
SIX MORE ADDED TO VINNIE VINCENT TRIBUTE ALBUM
(from Split Screen Entertainment)
Six additional musicians have been confirmed for the upcoming tribute album "KISS MY ANKH: A Tribute To Vinnie Vincent."

Guitarist/keyboardist Paul LaPlaca (Zandelle, Z02, Chris Caffery solo band) has been tapped to contribute a dark interpretation of the foreboding Kiss track "Unholy." Chris Caffery himself (Savatage, Trans Siberian Orchestra) will perform the guitar solo with drums provided by Dennis Leeflang (Sun Caged, Epica, Bumblefoot solo band). Penned by Vinnie Vincent and Gene Simmons, the song is one of three Vincent co-writes to appear on Kiss' "Revenge" album from 1992, nearly a decade after his departure from the band.

Also confirmed for the tribute is a new recording of the Vinnie Vincent Invasion anthem "Boyz Are Gonna Rock" by Mike Weeks, guitarist on the most recent solo album by original Invasion vocalist Robert Fleischman. Joining Weeks on the track are former Nitro bassist T.J. Racer and drummer Andre LaBelle, who appeared alongside Fleischman on the unreleased third Vinnie Vincent album "Guitars from Hell."

The abovementioned join the previously announced Steve Brown (Trixter, Stereo Fallout), whose acoustic rendition of the Paul Stanley/Vinnie Vincent composition "A Million To One" recently premiered on Eddie Trunk's nationally syndicated Friday Night Rocks radio program. Also appearing on the tribute are former Adler's Appetite vocalist Sheldon Tarsha, former Alice Cooper guitarist Ryan Roxie, former Altaria bassist Marko Pukkila and current White Lion drummer Troy Patrick Farrell, who have collaborated on a new recording of the Vinnie Vincent Invasion power ballad "That Time of Year." Samples of both songs are available at the official "KISS MY ANKH" MySpace page.

Though Vinnie Vincent himself has not released any new material in over a decade, "KISS MY ANKH" will pay tribute to the undeniable musical legacy of the former Kiss guitarist. Vinnie's compositions are widely regarded as a highlight of the Kiss catalog and remain a staple of the live Kiss set list. Included on the tribute will be selections from the three Kiss albums to which Vinnie contributed, as well as the two albums he released with the Vinnie Vincent Invasion. Additional artists and track listings will be announced as they are confirmed. Further details can be found at the SplitScreen Entertainment website.

"KISS MY ANKH: A Tribute To Vinnie Vincent" is scheduled for a Summer 2008 release.
[Comments]