KISS IS EVERYWHERE!

As fans already know, KISS is featured on New Mexico's scratch-off lottery tickets. Check out the state's Mega Millions tickets - they feature a KISS logo too!

Thanks to Andy Moyen for sending the image to KISSonline.

A conversation with the Kiss icon, who'll bring The Hottest Show on Earth to NEPA

by Nikki M. Mascali
Staff Writer

Fans don't go to Kiss shows to hear an agenda. They don't go to find out who they should vote for in the next election or to hear the band's opinion on an oil spill.

"We don't talk about acid rain or who's going to save the whales or what political party you should vote for - we don't care about that. Most people yawn when they start to hear that," bassist/vocalist Gene Simmons told the Weekender from Los Angeles where the band was recording "Venus and Mars" for an upcoming Paul McCartney tribute album.

"Next time I want to find out about acid rain and the rainforest, I hope it's not from a rock star. In the same way, I don't want to find out from a scientist what other song I should put in the set, so I think rock stars should shut up, get up on stage and do what they're designed to do - otherwise, you're not qualified to tie my shoelaces."

Actually, there is something on Kiss' show agenda: To give its legion of fans the greatest show on the planet. A Kiss concert is an extravagant display of pyrotechnics, elaborate costumes and face paint, Simmons' blood spitting, Simmons and vocalist/guitarist Paul Stanley flying through the air and music that has sold more than 100 million albums worldwide since the mid-1970s.

By Jill Cataldo for KISSonline

On August 9th, KISS blew up the Indiana State Fair. (And that's no understatement. Anyone who was there can attest to the enormous amount of pyro and post-concert fireworks that lit up Indianapolis last night.) Now, some people initially seemed surprised when KISS released its summer tour schedule, peppered with state fair dates among traditional amphitheaters. How would the state fair shows play out for KISS?

No worries. KISS owned the state fair.

And why shouldn't they? One of the deepest-enmeshed traditions in our country is the annual state fair. A fair offers a slice of everything American, and you can find it all at the state fair -- from cows, pigs and horses to vegetable-growing competitions; from corn dogs and midway barkers to carnival rides and entertainment for the masses. And as far as entertainment's concerned, what act can possibly lay claim to being the most iconic and most American of them all? KISS.

In a recent interview, drummer Eric Singer stated "KISS has become a part of the fabric of Americana," and nowhere was that more evident than last night in Indianapolis, with more than 18,000 fans packing the Hoosier Lottery grandstand area in anticipation of the hottest show on the Earth. In fact, the demand was so high for seats in Indy that the grandstand was oversold, releasing obstructed-view seats that they don't normally sell to the public. Like baseball, apple pie and lemonade, KISS is America.

Each night, KISS presents a check with the running tally donated to the Wounded Warriors Project and leads the audience in the Pledge of Allegiance to salute our troops. Here's a clip from last night's show in Indianapolis.

Check out these clips of "Beth" and "Lick it Up" from Monday night's show in Indianapolis!

Story by Hali McGrath SoundSpike Photo Editor

Few bands can boast the kind of brand recognition that KISS enjoys. After nearly four decades, the original glam band of hard rock has amassed such a huge following that the title of KISS Army, given to their fans all those years ago, now seems quite prophetic.

Founding members Gene Simmons and Paul Stanley currently are joined by Tommy Thayer and Eric Singer, who now fill the platform boots of original band members Ace Frehley and Peter Criss. The quartet is touring the U.S. through the end of September, after which they will do a brief stint south of the border.

This weekend KISS is in New York State; Friday (8/13) they'll appear at the Darien Lake Performing Arts Center near Buffalo, and Saturday (8/14) at Nikon at Jones Beach in Wantagh. SoundSpike contributing photographer Mary Ouellette attended their show at The Comcast Center near Boston this past Saturday, and here are some of her best shots.

By Jeffrey Ougler

Some howled.

Others pounced.

Packs of critics and Kiss fans were far from content with Eric Singer's having - they would contend - the temerity to take on Peter Criss's Catman character, previously solely portrayed by the flamboyant rock band's original drummer. Even the late Eric Carr, the first to replace Criss in the early 1980s, didn't go that far; he was the Fox until the makeup-clad rockers dispensed with the war paint for a spell.

The mere mention of such cynics these days still brings Singer's claws out - a bit.

The accomplished drummer - he's also beat the skins for the likes of Alice Cooper and Black Sabbath - contends he's become very comfortable in his cat skin, so to speak, since putting it on in 2001.

"I'm totally fine with it. . . . I mean it's like all things in life," Singer said recently from his L.A. home.

"(In sports) people can love your team, and there's going to be people on the other side of the country that hate your team.

"No, I don't have an issue at all, and I know you can't make everybody happy.

Singer said he's confident many initial wounds have healed.

By Jeff Miers

It would not be an exaggeration to suggest that when thousands of kids heard the 1975 Kiss concert double-disc "Alive!," they decided there and then that they wanted to be rock stars.

Such was the power of this dark mass of an album, so indelible its post-British Invasion guitar attack and pop-based hooks, so urgent and menacing its pace and attack.

To say nothing of the album cover itself. Here was a band of aliens, a garish collection of superheroes, each with his own fully developed persona: a tongue-curling demon wielding his bass guitar as if it were an extension of a rather threatening libido; a tripped-out spaceman tethered to the earthly plane only by the weight of the Gibson Les Paul strapped across his midriff; and a cat-like creature locked behind a massive drum kit, sticks raised above his head as if in some ancient, ritualistic gesture.

Access Hollywood catches up with KISS on the road to talk about their Hottest Show on Earth Tour! In the second clip, Paul Stanley applies makeup to host Maria Menounos, turning her into her rock alter-ego.

Boston Herald:

No matter how you feel about flagrant commercialization or style over substance, you would have to be the most elitist, humorless, stuck-up music snob in the galaxy to not enjoy a KISS concert.

Though only two of the original members from the iconic '70s rock institution remain with the quartet, KISS can't be accused of sticking around past their expiration date. They’ve never had a good reason to fold, and they shouldn't ever have stopped wearing face paint during a shameful phase in the '80s and '90s. Dressed up like Kabuki warriors with a sadomasochistic streak, KISS embody a certain element of childlike magic and wonder. It's like seeing rock 'n''roll's answer to the Justice League, preening and posturing in all their hammy glory.

Philadelphia Inquirer:

Watching kids and grown-ups alike lose their minds as Kiss performed the have-a-good-time-all-the-time anthems "Shout It Out Loud" and "Rock and Roll All Nite" during the encore of their two-hours-plus show Friday at the Susquehanna Bank Center, it was obvious why those songs have endured 35 years. They're both a perfectly choreographed storm of bombast, bubblegum, and escapism.

Indy Star:

The Indiana State Fair -- by definition an exposition -- embraced a new level of spectacle when Kiss played the Grandstand on Monday night. A packed house saw the sideshow legends of rock 'n' roll trot out signature tricks across a two-hour show.

Photos by Keith Leroux for KISSonline.

KISS IS EVERYWHERE!

Check out this ad for Universe Radio,featuring Gene's makeup. The ad recently ran in one of the biggest South American newspapers, "El Mercurio."

Thanks to Stephanie Berasain for sending the image to KISSonline.

The KISS ARMY Members-Only ticket presale for the KISS Mexico shows will take place today at 11AM. Premium KISS ARMY Members will have access to Members-Only tickets...these are among the best available tickets at the show.

September 28, 2010 Teatro Banamex Monterrey, Mexico
September 30, 2010 Sports Palace Mexico City, Mexico
October 2, 2010 Arena V.F.G. Guadalajara, Mexico

Presale starts: Tuesday, August 10 @ 11AM (local venue time)
Presale ends: Tuesday, August 10 @ 8PM (local venue time)

If you are a Premium KISS ARMY Member: LOGIN NOW and visit the tour page to get your unique code to access the presale.

IMPORTANT NOTE: Once logged in, fan club members should view the note above the tour grid on the tour page for further information on these presales.

If you are not a current Premium Member of the KISS ARMY and would like to participate in the Minnesota Pre-sale: JOIN NOW

Here's a photo of the Wounded Warriors check at KISS' Boston-area show Saturday night. KISS has raised $91,321.00 for the CSRA Wounded Warriors Care Project so far on the Hottest Show On Earth tour!

KISS is donating one dollar from every admission sold throughout the Hottest Show On Earth Tour to CSRA Wounded Warriors Care Project.

Photo by Dean Snowden for KISSOnline.

Here's KISS in front of a packed Comcast Center Saturday night in Mansfield!

Photo by Dean Snowden for KISSonline.

Here are a few shots from Saturday night's show taken by KISS Army members during the concert with the KISS LIVE SHARE app!