Gene Simmons and Paul Stanley have mooted a tentative launch date for the band's $200 million avatar show as Simmons names the one pop culture icon that can rival the band's “iconic imagery.”
The band brought the four-year End of the Road World to a grand finale at Madison Square Garden in New York City on December 2, 2023, and though they have and will continue to perform at Kiss fan events, the band looks to be staying true to their word that the tour really was the end of the road of the band as we know it.
The caveat, of course, is that they're readying a new, immersive era in the Kiss saga. They've teamed up with Pophouse, the team behind the ABBA Voyage avatar concerts. And this being Kiss, they think it will be bigger and better than what the Swedes could muster, which has contributed over £2 billion to the British economy since launching in 2022.
Article continues belowThe production doesn't have a catchy title yet, but Simmons and Stanley, speaking to Pollstar, are already raising expectations.
“Show is not the right word,” Simmons says. “When you are parachuting into a volcano, I wouldn't call it a show. These are semantics.”
The band first revealed their avatar plans at their final show, but Simmons was left responding to kickback, promising fans that the avatars would “look better” (via NME) than the first showing would come opening night, with around $200 million set to be invested in total. Looking at the figures ABBA Voyage has generated, it's easy to see why money is being thrown at it.
Simmons also remained coy when asked which era and lineup of the band – they’ve had many – would be represented, saying: “It’s going to be the iconic face personas, The Demon, the Starchild, and so on. Who you want to place into that lineup is up to you.”
“We will have all the classics through the years and some surprises,” Stanley said of the show’s protracted setlist. "And also new songs… written by us,” Simmons adds. “We have songs done.”
“Kiss always wanted to be and is, perhaps, the most recognizable iconic imagery, certainly in pop culture,” he states. “There’s Mickey Mouse; there are one or two iconic visual images on the planet.
“If one of the guys in U2, like the drummer, walked down the street, one or two people might say, ‘Oh, you’re the drummer.’ It’s undeniable that if any of the four Kiss faces walk down the street, you get a crowd. In any country in the world.”
They’re looking to launch the show in Las Vegas in 2028.
