Gene Simmons revealed that Kiss is prepping a career-spanning book spotlighting the band's legendary concert posters. Blabbermouth posted transcripts from Simmons chat on Facebook Live, and was pressed as to what new Kiss projects are now in the works, with Simmons explaining, “Here's one of the things I'm really excited about, is to put out a huge — we're working on the deal now — a huge coffee table book. I mean, as big as we can get it, and it's posters from 1973 until 2020. And these are original posters — Kiss posters from the very beginning.”
He went on to say, “It's interesting historically. When you go back, some of the bands we took out on their first tours. So you'll see Kiss with the faces, and you'll see little AC/DC. See KISS and little Rush; these are all bands we took out on their first tour. Bon Jovi, Motley Crue, Judas Priest, Iron Maiden, Scorpions — you name it — we took 'em on their first tour. Not because it's about, 'Hey, we know stuff.' We're fans too. When you hear something that's good, you say, 'Hey, that's kind of cool.'”
Simmons said that Kiss was always about putting on the best show for its fans — from top to tail: “If you have the power — somebody gave us a chance to get up there — carry it forward; pass it forward; give somebody else a chance to get up there. We weren't some of those a**holes who would pull down the volume when the opening act (is on). That's all nonsense. You wanna use all the lights and all the sound? Go for it. Just be as good as you can be, 'cause that makes the whole night better. And if fans love the whole night. . . Who wants a stinky band opening the show? C'mon.”
Paul Stanley says that Kiss prided itself in never throwing a slow pitch opening act on before them simply to make themselves look better: “I've never been a fan of bands who take on weak support to make them look good, or because they're not sure that they're up to the task. I always think that if you put on the great acts before us, then we go out there and have to prove why we deserve to be the headliner.”
Gene Simmons told us that a Kiss concert provides everything that good entertainment should: “It’s uplifting, there’s nothing negative — we don’t do political commentary. There are enough problems in the world without guys that wear more makeup and higher heels than your mom waxing poetic and prolific on all sorts of issues. They shouldn’t. We make you forget about the traffic jam, and the fight you had with your girlfriend, and, like all the other things, just ‘magic time’ — ‘electric church.'”
