Here are some photos from backstage at KISS' shows in Houston, Dallas and San Antonio last weekend.

Photos by Hab Haddad and Keith Leroux for KISSonline.

KISS' Hottest Show On Earth Tour continues this week with stops in Utah, Arizona and California.

September 22, 2010 Rio Tinto Stadium Sandy, UT

September 24, 2010 Cricket Pavilion Phoenix, AZ

September 25, 2010 California Speedway Fontana, CA

KISS IS EVERYWHERE!

Here's KISS in a commercial for the Swedish lottery. The lottery winner in the clip has spent his windfall on being able to hear KISS music wherever and whenever he wants!

Thanks to Niklas Olsson for sending KISSonline the clip!

The Iconic Band Truly Put on the Hottest Show on Earth!

By Eric Shirey

Photos by Roger Caldwell

Every KISS show is special for their fans. They can play their same songs over and over again in the same order and most would still not complain. After seeing KISS five times they never do the exact same thing on their different tours, but I've grown accustomed to hearing most of the same songs with just a couple of switch-ups on each one. So when a buddy of mine asked me what to expect while heading to the KISS concert in Frisco, TX at Pizza Hut Park, I told him "You'll hear all their hits. They put on the best rock show ever." He basically replied, "Well, they can't play my favorite song because the guys not even in the band anymore." Obviously, he was talking about "Beth." I quickly replied, "Yeah, that won't happen." THAT was my first big mistake of the night writing this "Hottest Show On The Earth" tour-stop off as just another KISS concert. These veterans of rock had most definitely done what they've always been known to do. Put in 110% for their fans and make the night as memorable as they can.

As their token black KISS curtain fell and the stage came to life, you could see drummer Eric Singer (The Catman) pounding away on his drums and you could hear guitars playing the opening lines of "Modern Day Delilah" from the band's new album Sonic Boom. However, Gene Simmons (The Demon), Paul Stanley (The Starchild), and Tommy Thayer (The Spaceman) were nowhere to be seen. Suddenly, from behind the drumset the three appear being lifted over the banging Catman and to the front of the stage where they took their token spots on the stage. This was my first hint that things were not going to be the same this evening.

By Matthew Keever

KISS
Cynthia Woods Mitchell Pavilion
September 17, 2010

There are those who say that KISS is dying. Fans have heard this before.

​Even before WWII, fathers sternly told their children that comic-book superheroes were not real, that the storylines were just fluff and that young boys' imaginations would eventually mature and merge someday with real life, that our comic books and our oh-so-perfect heroes would become a distant memory, just an adolescent phase like our love of popular music. And then everyone saw their imaginary superheroes walking across the stage, playing guitars and singing lyrics that were real and meant just for those of us who wanted to believe.

Our fathers were wrong.

KISS is either like going to church or going to the circus. Friday night the lights dimmed, the band was shown backstage walking toward the curtain via a giant screen, and when all went black, the entirety of the Woodlands heard (and chanted along to) KISS' signature entrance: "You wanted the best, you got the best. The hottest band in the world... KISS!"

Here's a photo of the Wounded Warriors check from KISS' Dallas show Saturday night. To date, KISS has raised $425,582.00 for the CSRA Wounded Warriors Care Project on the Hottest Show On Earth tour!

KISS is donating one dollar from every admission sold throughout the Hottest Show On Earth Tour to the CSRA Wounded Warriors Care Project.



Photo by Dean Snowden for KISSonline

Here are some photos from KISS' concert Saturday, September 18 at Pizza Hut Park in Frisco, TX.

Photos by Roger Caldwell

Here's KISS in front of the crowd at Pizza Hut Park in Frisco, Tx on Saturday night.

Photo by Dean Snowden for KISSonline.

By Mario Tarradell
Photo by Keith Leroux for KISSonline

FRISCO - The demon onstage was Gene Simmons, the blood-spewing, tongue-wagging bassist for iconic classic rock band KISS. Simmons and fellow KISS mates Paul Stanley (the Starchild), Eric Singer (the Catman) and Tommy Thayer (Space Ace) headlined Saturday's Rock'N the Park at Pizza Hut Park. The daylong festival attracted more than 12,000 fans.

Simmons had some competition from another demon, this one with a bleacher seat. Chris Hardt, 26, of Fort Worth was decked out in demon regalia - full makeup, 7-inch platform shoes, spiked-sleeve cape, everything. He posed for picture after picture.

"I've been a fan since I was 15," Hardt said before seeing KISS in concert a third time. "I love their music. The stage show is awesome. I haven't met them yet. But I want to."

It took Hardt an hour to put on the get-up, which he purchased from an official KISS costume website.

The original demon had his biggest moment before the audience, many of which were standing on the stadium's field, during his signature blood-spitting introduction to "I Love It Loud." That should've been the theme of the two-hour-plus show, which throbbed with relentless pyrotechnic explosions, billowing smoke, the sparkling black-and-platinum wardrobe, risers, hydraulics and a high cable that transported Stanley from the main stage to a small platform above the floor throng.

KISS is featured in the latest San Antonio Express News/Weekender. The band will be heating up the AT&T Center tonight. This will definitely be a great concert to attend. San Antonionians can "Rock and Roll All Night and Party Every Day," including Sundays!!!!

See you there!
Michael Aldana

LETTERS

Here's a fan-filmed clip of "I Was Made For Lovin' You" from Houston.

Check out the new commercial for the KISS Coffeehouse in Myrtle Beach, SC.

By Darryl Smyers
Photo by Keith Leroux

Tommy Thayer has played guitar in KISS since 2002, taking over for the departed Ace Frehley.

Thayer was involved in various bands before, even gaining the notice of Gene Simmons when Thayer was playing in a KISS tribute band. Soon after, Simmons offered Thayer a job as his assistant. And, when Frehley decided to leave Kiss, Thayer was the natural replacement.

But stepping directly into the space man character associated with Frehley proved troublesome. Fans who noticed the difference often heckled Thayer. Through it all, though, Thayer just keep playing guitar and playing his role. After time, few even notice the difference.

Now, after nearly a decade with Kiss, Thayer finally feels totally at home. And he took a few moments from a tour stop in California to talk about his integration within the band and a few interesting side notes that go along with being in Kiss.

On this tour, you are the one doing most of the interviews. Are you the sacrificial lamb to the media?

I am doing my share. You know, there are so many interviews that we really have to divide them up. But it does seem like I've done quite a few. Maybe it's because I am relatively new.

You are coming up on your 50th birthday. How old is too old to be dressing up and playing KISS?

You are never too old to be in KISS. The thing has become so multi-generational. The crowds at the shows are so diverse. You see teenagers and then people in their 20s, 30s and 40s. It's parents with their kids. And everyone is dressed up like KISS. It's Halloween every night. It is an experience that we put so much effort into, both in the music and the show itself. Just the pyrotechnics alone are incredible.

KISS is Coming to Frisco!

Frisco will play host to the greatest Rock band of the last 40 years. KISS will be the main performer of Rock N the Park at Pizza Hut Park.

The event will take place starting at 1:30pm and feature other bands such as Daughtry and Pat Green.

KISS has been a long time popular band as far back as the early 1970's. They are largely known for their costumes and KISS make-up.

KISS is one of the widest bands marketed, from clothes to diaper bags to art contests, KISS is a successful empire.

Frisco is excited to welcome them to our city! Rock N the Park is expected to be sell-out and should generate a enormous amount of revenue. This is by far the largest event to take place at Pizza Hut Park to date.

Here's a photo of the Wounded Warriors check from KISS' Houston show last night. To date, KISS has raised $405,308.00 for the CSRA Wounded Warriors Care Project on the Hottest Show On Earth tour!

KISS is donating one dollar from every admission sold throughout the Hottest Show On Earth Tour to the CSRA Wounded Warriors Care Project.



Photo by Dean Snowden for KISSonline