KISS On Letterman

KISS On Letterman

RollingStone.com

As you've probably heard by now, it's been a rough week for David Letterman. If the remedy for his personal and professional turmoil is a lick on the ear from the unhumanly long tongue of Gene Simmons, he was in luck yesterday. Kiss were the musical guest last night on the Late Show, transforming the Ed Sullivan Theatre into Madison Square Garden for five minutes with a performance of their Sonic Boom single "Modern Day Delilah."

"Our next guests are here to blow the roof off the dump, ladies and gentlemen," Letterman told the Late Show audience while introducing Kiss, whose Sonic Boom hit Walmarts across the country yesterday. The potential Rock and Roll Hall of Famers seemingly packed their entire stage show - including the pyrotechnics behind drummer Eric Singer - onto Letterman's tiny set, resulting in one of the most exciting Late Show performances in recent memory. And then came the lick: Simmons' massive tongue surprised Letterman as the host went to greet the band following their performance.

In case you missed the Late Show performance, Kiss will be back on late-night tonight after midnight when they perform a pair of tracks on Jimmy Kimmel Live!. The Kimmel performance was actually pre-recorded September 24th during a private warm-up show at Detroit's Cobo Arena, where 1,500 fans took part in a show that also doubled as a shoot for the "Modern Day Delilah" video.