Gene Simmons reflects on retiring KISS, a DIY tour, working with George Lucas, more ahead of Niagara Falls show
BUFFALO, N.Y. (WIVB) -- Though Gene Simmons retired his "The Demon" persona following KISS's "End of the Road Tour," he's not quite done with the stage. The Gene Simmons Band is following a different path on the road of rock and roll, and on May 15, their tour will be stopping by Fallsview Casino's OLG Stage. Simmons spoke with WIVB via Zoom last week about the upcoming show.
"I thought I'd be fine -- half a century of touring, that's plenty," Simmons said. "Because I've got other stuff that I do: a restaurant chain, and a film company, and I do sodas and wines and things like that. There's enough on the plate. I didn't think I'd miss the stage. It's just -- there's something that happens on that stage you can't buy in a supermarket, that magic."
Simmons referred to hanging up the boots, as well as the armor and the makeup, as "a complex combination of emotions." He said he has an enormous sense of pride for having changed the face of live performances -- from Paul McCartney shows to wrestling matches.
"KISS has been around half a century, touring the world, and literally changing the face of live events," he said. "If you go to wrestling matches and you see fireworks and things levitate, where do you think they got that from, Kenny G? Or Air Supply?"
He said the band set out to do things differently, taking no prisoners and embracing all the theatrics. He added that he doesn't care about receiving credit for any of it, but is happy to see fans of all kinds of shows get their money's worth, seeing heightened performances onstage.
"Almost all of us, whoever does this popular music thing, can't read or write music in the first place, never went to music school, have no idea what we're doing," he said. "We just fumble our way through it and somehow, you sort of let your ears and your eyes do the talking."
Simmons promised a looser show with Gene Simmons Band, "a collection of rogues," who he described as "killers" and "multi-instrumentalists who can all sing lead, and they do." Because the band has a looser structure, with no manager and no roadies, Simmons said they can do things KISS could never do.
"[We] literally pull fans up onstage from the audience. If you can sing or play, I'm going to pull you up. No rules," he said. "I may pull 30 fans up onstage to sing 'Kumbaya,' 'I Love It Loud,' or anything. Can't do that with KISS. You step in the wrong place and your ass is toast, literally, it would be life-threatening."
He said almost no two shows are alike, but said they tend to do a few songs he wrote that were never released by KISS, a different version of Van Halen's "House of Pain," and a cover of Motörhead's "Ace of Spades."
"KISS is, 'I'm going to show off all the stuff and see the heavens shake,'" he said. "Gene Simmons Band is more like: your favorite band is rehearsing in a garage, you hear it, and then the garage door opens and you get a chance to kind of surround the band and be part of the fun. Much more informal."
He described the behind-the-scenes of it all as very old-school, "meat and potatoes style," with the band tuning their own instruments and adjusting their own sound, rather than having a crew to help out.
Though the Gene Simmons Band hasn't hired any roadies, they do have a "Roadie for a Day" opportunity, where, for $12,495, one to two fans per show can hang out with the band for the entire day, with plenty of merch included, a signed Gene Simmons setlist and KISS rehearsal-used bass, backstage access, and more. They also get to bring a plus one. Simmons attributed the high cost to insurance.
"This is not for everybody and it ain't cheap," Simmons said. "It's also a different world than what I grew up in. Nowadays, if you get a papercut... everybody gets sued."
He described the experience as being like going behind the curtain of the Wizard of Oz.
Perhaps similar to his "Wizard of Oz" metaphor, Simmons and the rest of KISS are working on a hologram show, akin to the "ABBA Voyage" show that debuted a few years ago. The show will be produced by the same company as the ABBA show, Pophouse, which also purchased the rights to KISS's music last year.
The KISS avatars were developed by George Lucas' Industrial Light & Magic (ILM), where the band has already recorded motion capture. Simmons said that Pophouse is investing "truckloads" of money into making this the ultimate fan experience.
"[It's] beyond anything that you've ever seen or experienced," he said, describing it as being in another world, as if you were wearing a VR headset, but also being able to experience reality at the same time.
He also recalled a humorous story of when George Lucas "stole" the nanny he had hired, as Lucas was looking for a very educated and impressive nanny for his kids, and Simmons' nanny Tawny was very reputable. Simmons said Lucas offered her own house on his property with two acres of land and financial security for life.
"I couldn't stand in the way of that, so Tawny moved up there, got married there, and when [my son] Nick was a little putz, we flew up to attend the wedding," he said.
He recalled another full circle moment from his life, giving a eulogy for Chuck Berry at his funeral, after Berry was the first music he had heard after coming to America as a child in the 1950s.
"I never imagined when I came to America as an 8½-year-old kid that, as a grown-up, I'd be doing the eulogy for [the man behind] the first music I heard," he said.
The Gene Simmons band show will take the stage at 8 p.m. on May 15 on Fallsview's OLG Stage. He spoke on his connection to the Niagara Falls area through one of his business ventures.
Simmons' soda company, Gene Simmons MoneyBag Soda, bottles its products in Niagara Falls, N.Y. Simmons was honored with the dedication of Gene Simmons Boulevard in the city and a Key to the City of Niagara Falls last year.
"I don't know why, but I showed up," he said. "By the way, I don't know how long that street sign is going to stay up there... after I left, I don't know if that sign is still going to be up there because... things happen."
Tickets to Simmons' Fallsview show are available at this link.