Kiss

ORIGINALLY POSTED ON THE THIRD EDITION OF "THE BEAU ZONE" ON THE HARD ROCK HEROES WEBSITE FROM SEPTEMBER TO DECEMBER 2004.

Since Kiss is my favorite band, people ask me what my opinions are these days of the band "changing their minds" and carrying on with touring after the farewell tour and without Ace or Peter, but with "imposters" Tommy Thayer and Eric Singer wearing Ace and Peter's makeup. Here's the reason this is happening: This fits in with Gene's natural inclination for entrepreneurship and its' resulting extension towards today's phenomenon known as "branding." (Personally, I think branding is nothing new, it's just a fancy new name for the same old thing.) Kiss is no longer a band, Kiss is now a brand. Gene Simmons understands the concept of branding now, and he recognizes that Kiss had painted themselves into a corner with the reunion and now that they've done the farewell tour, and also with the various Peter and Ace contract problems, probably won't release any more albums of original music and will definitely have temporary or permanent replacement "members" in the original members' makeup and costumes. On the subject of the current tour, Paul said, "Consider this the first in a series of encores." I don't think one-off appearances should be counted, especially TV shows where they're only doing one or two songs. Plus I think Paul & Gene recognize original music from Kiss in makeup and costumes has run its' course. Psycho Circus was a deliberate attempt to construct "A Kiss Album." But they can't do that twice, and they know it. After their 70's albums, what's left? Changes in direction have proven to not work for the makeup version of this band. Personally, I would like to have seen Kiss call the farewell tour the "farewell to the makeup and costumes" tour, and then continue with the orignal lineup but wear whatever they want on stage and play whatever kind of music they wanted to on original albums. If Peter or Ace can't be there, whatever. The albums may remind us of The Beatles' White Album, but whatever. It would honestly be where these men's minds and hearts lie in 2004. But Gene would probably say, "But that's not Kiss." So Kiss becomes a brand; those four makeup designs, those particular songs, that particular show, and it's all reflected on the merchandise Gene puts out. As Gene says, one day there will be no original members in the band and it will really be like a carnival attraction. That would be so many years away, though, it's hard to connect that in the mind with the tribute bands. I can see the carnival attraction attracting, say, the teenagers and 20-somethings of 2043. But the tribute bands today play bars to dwindling audiences. They've burned themselves out. Gene would simply have to order them to cease and desist before Kiss (the corporation called Kiss) does their own "tribute band," that's all. The evolution of all that would certainly be interesting to those of us who live that long, that's for sure.