Excerpts from Gavin Cleaver's KISS Review
Photo by Mike Mezeul

"Detroit Rock City" and "Love Gun" still sound fresh, even this many years down the line, and Paul Stanley has lost none of his talent for entertaining and captivating an audience. The encore, "Rock And Roll All Night," was played to a backdrop of fire, confetti, fireworks and a devoted, screaming KISS Army. It was physically impossible not to sing along, even after nigh-on four hours of being outside and near enough flames to melt an iceberg. I fared a lot better than Gene Simmons, though. In his full armor and standing next to all the flames, he was dripping sweat from the moment he came on stage. This did not stop him mugging for the camera and putting his tongue out, surely only a nuclear apocalypse will stop that. It's unbelievable to think Simmons and Stanley are in their '60s.

Here's KISS with the Texas KISS Army at last night's show in San Antonio!

Photo by Dean Snowden for KISSOnline

Here's KISS with the SOLD OUT crowd at the Houston, Texas stop of 'THE TOUR!'

_{Photo by Dean Snowden for KISSOnline}

Here's the KISS Army at last night's show in Houston, Texas!


_{Photos by Keith Leroux for KISSOnline}

Here's the KISS Army celebrating at KISS' show in Louisville, Kentucky Wednesday night!


_{Photos by Keith Leroux for KISSOnline}

Here's KISS with the Alabama KISS Army at last night's concert in Pelham.

_{Photo by Dean Snowden for KISSOnline}

Kiss concert in Tampa brings out hardcore fans (and hard luck demon)

ABC Action News anchor John Thomas caught all the hot (and super-sweaty) action at Saturday's Motley Crue-Kiss throwdown at 1-800-Ask-Gary Amphitheatre in Tampa. Hunky meteorologist Bill Logan and camera star(child) Frank Barrera joined the fun -- and joined the mocking of Tampa Bay Times pop music critic Sean Daly, whose once-ferocious Demon makeup sooned turned into a horrific Rorschach test. We're not worthy, Gene Simmons!

By Marc Saltzman, Special for USA TODAY

Legendary rock group Kiss might open its shows with the classic Detroit Rock City, but you don't need to be in the Motor City— or even from the USA— to chat with the band in your mother tongue.

Launched in conjunction with the band's 40-city summer tour with Mötley Crüe, a new online tool called Kiss Social Hub (kissonline.com/socialhub) not only aggregates multiple social networks into one central platform (including Facebook, Twitter and Google+), but automatically translates text from 53 languages between fans and the band, in real time.

"For a group like us, an international audience is essential to continuing the growth and worldwide exposure of the rock experience we want to offer fans," Kiss bassist/vocalist Gene Simmons tells USA TODAY. "Connecting with them in their own language and familiar social networks makes the fan experience personal and direct, with no barriers of translation."

Here's KISS with the massive crowd at last night's concert in Tampa, Florida.

_{Photo by Dean Snowden for KISSOnline}

By Dave Hoekstra

Every cruise is a theater of moving parts.

It is a full deck of anticipation, laughter, stress and escape. By the end of a good cruise a sense of community exists.

Everything is in its place.

Of course, this is not lost on a transplant surgeon.

Dr. Alan Koffron of Birmingham, Michigan, was aboard the first Kiss Kruise, a four-day affair held last October. Also featuring hard rock mavens Skid Row and Chicago-based Bad City, the cruise tooled from Miami to the Bahamas and back.

Yes, it is that Kiss: "Rock ’n’ Roll All Nite," party every day, greasepaint makeup and the fire-spewing tongue of bassist and Family Jewels star Gene Simmons. Kiss has been around since 1973, when they were considered really scary.

"I'm a huge fan," Koffron says as the band plays an unplugged set on the Lido Deck of the 15-year-old Carnival Destiny as it pulled out of Miami. "But everywhere I go, everywhere I've been, I say, ‘I'm a Kiss fan'—they're like, ‘Really?' It invalidates you."

Here's the KISS Army celebrating at KISS' show in Charlotte!

_{Photos by Michael Edwards for KISSOnline}

By Eric Shirey, Yahoo! Contributor Network

The rock band KISS is no stranger to the comic book world. Ever since their debut appearance in 1977's issue #12 of Marvel's Howard the Duck monthly series, the Starchild, the Demon, the Spaceman, and the Catman have become not only rock stars but superheroes. The foursome has appeared in two magazine-format comics bookending their television movie exploits in "KISS Meets the Phantom of the Park." Since then, they've appeared in three different series published through Image Comics, Dark Horse Comics, and Platinum Studios. Let's not forget their latest appearance in Archie Comics.

IDW Publishing partnered with KISS to continue their adventures and expand on the mythology behind the band in their comic book form. They are no longer just four individuals given powers by talismans. They are supernatural forces who work for the Elder while embodying different individuals as they jump through time battling the Destroyer and his evil minions. The woman She serves as their "guardian angel" of sorts, mystically whispering suggestions in the ears of the Celestial (Spaceman).

In the first story arc of the new ongoing KISS title entitled "Dressed to Kill," the "four-who-become-one" come up against "Wicked" Lester McGhee, his thugs, and demon dogs in the gangster-occupied world of 1929 Chicago, Illinois. Our superheroes must find a way to stop the Destroyer's plans while simultaneously discovering how to use their mystical powers. The quest also takes them to a different dimension that holds unexpected dangers.

Here's the KISS Army celebrating last night at KISS' show in Atlanta!

_{Photos by Lisa Martini for KISSOnline.}

KISS Greatest Hits Vol. 1: The Marvel Years Comic is in stores today!

Click here to view a ten page preview of the issue!

By RAPHAEL CHESTANG

Legendary rock bands KISS and Motley Crue teamed up to help U.S. military veterans win the battle against unemployment, giving a $250,000 donation to Hire Our Heroes during a free concert in the D.C. area the night before launching The Tour.

"Without veterans, there's no tonight," said Paul Stanley. "There is no freedom. There is no rock 'n' roll without these people."

The collaboration with the hiring program came about after KISS and Motley Crue hired Military veteran Paul Jordan, who's been a rock 'n' roll fan since the age of four, to be a roadie for The Tour. Jordan admitted that he had "one of the greatest nights of [his] life" when he got to watch the rockers run through a full rehearsal on the stage that he helped put together.

"This is something that all companies should be doing -- reaching out," said Gene Simmons. "They don't want any charity; they don't want parades; no money. Just give them a chance to support their families."

So far, Hiring Our Heroes has helped more than 10,400 veterans and military spouses find employment.

"We are grateful and excited about the generous gift from KISS, and Motley Crue," said Lieutenant Colonel Kevin Schmiegel (Ret.), executive director of the U.S. Chamber's Hiring Our Heroes program. "This donation will allow us to hold hiring fairs around the country, as well as refine them to offer transition assistance workshops, ultimately helping us make even a greater difference on the critical issue of veteran and military spouse unemployment."