KISS Faces - Is It The Mask Or The Man?If you squint your eyes at TD Garden on Monday night, you might think you’re watching the original incarnation of KISS.
But founding members Ace Frehley and Peter Criss won’t be there. Both have once again been bounced from the iconic band, replaced by longtime subs Tommy Thayer (guitar) and Eric Singer (drums).
And for the first time in the band’s 30-year history, the two newer dudes will be donning the “spaceman” and “cat” makeup made famous by Frehley and Criss.
KISS blasphemy? Don’t tell that to ringleader Gene Simmons.
“It’s not Ace and Peter’s makeup,” he told the Herald matter-of-factly. “It’s our makeup. It’s like with the Yankees - the Yankees own number 7, not Mickey Mantle.”
It’s clear talking to Simmons, the merchandising mastermind of the rock ’n’ roll freight train, that he’s the boss. KISS, he explained from Detroit as the band prepared to launch its latest tour, is a business and the business is rocking. And the well-publicized booze and drug woes of Frehley and Criss were getting in the way of business.
“It doesn’t mean Ace and Peter weren’t important in the formation of KISS,” he said. “They certainly were. But if you can no longer give your ‘A’ game, you step aside. Or you get kicked out.”
Simmons said Criss continues to have substance-abuse issues. Frehley’s latest rock-bottom moment came at a KISS tribute show put on by Slash and Motley Crue’s Tommy Lee. Frehley, Simmons said, disappeared. He wasn’t found until 3 a.m., passed out backstage. Frehley, in recent interviews, says he is once again sober.
“Certainly the real lesson in rock is it’s a marathon,” Simmons said. “Not everybody is equipped to be able to deal with the pressures of being in one of the biggest bands in the world. Some succumb to the cliches of drugs and alcohol, and you have to kick their sorry asses out of the band.”
Despite issues with Frehley and Criss, Simmons and frontman Paul Stanley have pressed on, unleashing a new record, “Sonic Boom” - available Tuesday only at Wal-Mart - and launching what Simmons calls “the largest tour we’ve ever done.”
“There’s more technology and effects than we’ve ever crammed in,” Simmons said. “It’s difficult to believe.”
While the band has consistently sold out arenas and stadiums for the past four decades, there’s still one brass ring KISS has not been able to reach: induction into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. Nominated again this year, Simmons isn’t holding his breath.
“They’ll come around sooner or later,” he said. “There are critics’ bands who gain their strength from what a few guys with glasses have to say. Respectfully, we do our talking on stage.”
As for making “Sonic Boom” a Wal-Mart exclusive, Simmons - ever the modern-day P.T. Barnum - boasts that 4,000 of the big-box stores nationwide will have “KISS corners” selling the album and exclusive merchandise.
“It feels great,” he said. “Better than ever. Thirty-five years and thousands of concerts and thousands of licensed products later, we are clearly the juggernaut of rock licensing. No one touches us, Elvis and the Beatles combined. No other band can do what we do.”
But founding members Ace Frehley and Peter Criss won’t be there. Both have once again been bounced from the iconic band, replaced by longtime subs Tommy Thayer (guitar) and Eric Singer (drums).
And for the first time in the band’s 30-year history, the two newer dudes will be donning the “spaceman” and “cat” makeup made famous by Frehley and Criss.
KISS blasphemy? Don’t tell that to ringleader Gene Simmons.
“It’s not Ace and Peter’s makeup,” he told the Herald matter-of-factly. “It’s our makeup. It’s like with the Yankees - the Yankees own number 7, not Mickey Mantle.”
It’s clear talking to Simmons, the merchandising mastermind of the rock ’n’ roll freight train, that he’s the boss. KISS, he explained from Detroit as the band prepared to launch its latest tour, is a business and the business is rocking. And the well-publicized booze and drug woes of Frehley and Criss were getting in the way of business.
“It doesn’t mean Ace and Peter weren’t important in the formation of KISS,” he said. “They certainly were. But if you can no longer give your ‘A’ game, you step aside. Or you get kicked out.”
Simmons said Criss continues to have substance-abuse issues. Frehley’s latest rock-bottom moment came at a KISS tribute show put on by Slash and Motley Crue’s Tommy Lee. Frehley, Simmons said, disappeared. He wasn’t found until 3 a.m., passed out backstage. Frehley, in recent interviews, says he is once again sober.
“Certainly the real lesson in rock is it’s a marathon,” Simmons said. “Not everybody is equipped to be able to deal with the pressures of being in one of the biggest bands in the world. Some succumb to the cliches of drugs and alcohol, and you have to kick their sorry asses out of the band.”
Despite issues with Frehley and Criss, Simmons and frontman Paul Stanley have pressed on, unleashing a new record, “Sonic Boom” - available Tuesday only at Wal-Mart - and launching what Simmons calls “the largest tour we’ve ever done.”
“There’s more technology and effects than we’ve ever crammed in,” Simmons said. “It’s difficult to believe.”
While the band has consistently sold out arenas and stadiums for the past four decades, there’s still one brass ring KISS has not been able to reach: induction into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. Nominated again this year, Simmons isn’t holding his breath.
“They’ll come around sooner or later,” he said. “There are critics’ bands who gain their strength from what a few guys with glasses have to say. Respectfully, we do our talking on stage.”
As for making “Sonic Boom” a Wal-Mart exclusive, Simmons - ever the modern-day P.T. Barnum - boasts that 4,000 of the big-box stores nationwide will have “KISS corners” selling the album and exclusive merchandise.
“It feels great,” he said. “Better than ever. Thirty-five years and thousands of concerts and thousands of licensed products later, we are clearly the juggernaut of rock licensing. No one touches us, Elvis and the Beatles combined. No other band can do what we do.”
