Gene Simmons recently spoke about an unmasked KISS reunion.
In a recent interview with Kyle Meredith, Gene Simmons dropped a bombshell that KISS will perform unmasked at the “KISS Army Storms Vegas” event this November.
This three-day extravaganza, running from November 14th to 16th at Virgin Hotels Las Vegas, marks the band’s first appearance since their “End Of The Road” farewell tour, concluded at Madison Square Garden in December 2023. But don’t expect the usual pyrotechnics and face paint. Simmons made it clear:
“[The fans are] putting it on. The Kiss Army, in November, is a gathering of the tribes. They’re gonna take over the Virgin Hotel.
“We promised we’re not gonna go back out on tour, and we’re not,” he continued. “We’ll jump up and do some tunes. There’ll be friends, guests dropping in, question-and-answer [sessions] — just be close with the fans, because, clearly, without them I’d be asking the next person in line, ‘Would you like some fries with that?'”
After Meredith asked if there is “significance” in that Gene and his KISS bandmates are going to perform “unmasked” at the event, Simmons said:
“No. I mean, we toured during the ’90s from about… I’m trying to think of it… When we unmasked, it must have been actually in the ’80s, so we had a few records out, as members tended to change within the band. Ace [Frehley, original KISS guitarist] and Peter were in and out of the band three different times, if you can believe that. No other band would give anybody that many chances — nor does life, by the way. So, Ace and Peter, bless ’em, have been in and out of the band three times, and as we got new members, we thought, ‘Well, why don’t we take the makeup off?’ And in retrospect, it didn’t matter. People wanted the makeup and those songs. And you’re always too close to something and you think, ‘Well, these are the rules.’ But you formed a band not to have rules. So we toured successfully and had platinum records and all that stuff without makeup. As a matter of fact, I remember when Ozzy [Osbourne] wasn’t in [Black] Sabbath, we headlined a stadium in Buenos Aires, I think, and opening was Sabbath, and then lots of other bands whose names you’d recognize. But this was without makeup. So it’s been a… There was a song — I don’t remember — it was Paul Simon. What a what a crazy journey this has been. Unbelievable. 50 years where I got to wear more makeup and high heels than your mommy did.”
