Photo and story by Tina Hagerling
Excerpted from Denver Post

Kiss tour all over the world, but Las Vegas might just be the perfect place to see them. That is, if you're looking for a seamless night of surreal spectacle, over-the-top showmanship and enough pyrotechnics to singe the eyebrows right off your face. A stop at the intimate Pearl at the Palms Concert Theater last Saturday was the latest for the band, and since Denver wasn't on the tour radar, I decided to drop in at the Palms Casino to catch the action.

Kiss exploded onto the stage and started hamming it up and working the crowd in the only way the self-appointed "hottest band in the world" could. Bassist Gene Simmons and vocalist Paul Stanley, the two band constants through the years, were decked out in the usual garb and makeup that has accompanied them through a good portion of the past three decades.

KISS is featured on the cover of the latest issue of SPARK magazine #12/2009 from the Czech Republic.

Thanks to our German friend Marcel Mueller for sending the image to KOL.

KISS is on cover of the latest Spanish edition of Metal Hammer magazine. The issue features a four page interview with Paul Stanley and a two page review from KISS' Detroit concert.

Thanks to Javier Rueda for sending the image to KOL.

Story and photo by Scott McDonald
Excerpted from San Diego News Network

My introduction to the unstoppable force of nature that is KISS came in the form of a dubious confirmation. While she previously had her suspicions, my grandmother's fears were cemented by both neighbors and friends at church, when they told her that KISS was indeed an acronym for "Kings (or Knights) In Satan's Service."

My parents were understanding, but after being relayed this information, I was out of luck. They pulled the plug on my incessant, week-long campaign for the funds to purchase the KISS comics I wanted so desperately and seemingly everyone else in my third grade class had acquired.

I immediately went into super-stealth mode. Under the guise of "hanging out," I spent time at the loose-parenting confines of my next-door neighbor Todd, playing with Gene Simmons and Ace Frehley dolls, listening to "Destroyer" on his record player and watching their movie "KISS Meets The Phantom of the Park" on TV.

Years later, and long after they'd dispelled the acronym theory as silliness, my parents watched me and three high-school friends drive to the San Diego Sports Arena to see a KISS show in 1988. They were touring on "Smashes, Thrashes, and Hits," a compilation that included the cheesy single "Let's Put the X in Sex." It was a decent show, but they played without make-up or costuming and it was far from the full KISS experience.

Story and photos by Erik Kabik
Excerpted from Vegas News

The KISS Alive 35 2009 North American tour made its stop at The Pearl Concert Theater inside Palms Casino Resort on Saturday, November 28, 2009. Celebrating 35 years of rocking the world like no other, KISS treated their fans to a set of some of rock's greatest hits, including Rock and Roll All Nite and Detroit Rock City, as well as songs from the band's new album Sonic Boom.

Our thanks to Las Vegas photographer Erik Kabik for these great photos and special report:

I first saw KISS in 1977 at The Capital Center in Landover, Maryland when I was 6 years old. They were the first band that I became a true fan of. I joined the KISS Army, bought the lunchbox, The KISS dolls, posters, all that stuff. I got my parents to take me to see them in 1977 and then again in 1979 in my full Gene Simmons makeup. I saw a lot of music during those years, as I grew up in the rock and roll world seeing mostly my parents' music (they took me to see all of their shows), but KISS was my show and the one band I made them take me to see when I was a kid.

Being a serious music collector and following bands of many genres for the past 32 years, KISS holds that place as the first real big one that got me. I found other music that hit me deeper and transformed my view of music and the world later, but those four dudes in makeup, breathing fire and pounding out ear splitting rock anthems, was about the coolest thing for a young boy growing up in the 1970's.

On Saturday night, KISS packed its giant stage show into The Pearl, a 2500-seat theater in Las Vegas' Palms Casino and Resort. Check out these pictures!

Photos by Al Soluri for KISSonline.

Check out these great fan-filmed video clips of "Rock and Roll All Nite" and "Love Gun" from KISS's show at the Pearl!

Here are some photos taken of KISS Army members at the California shows over the past week!

Photos by Hiro Shiga for KISSonline.

Our local newspaper, the Indiana Post Tribune, had a story about a man named Greg Hajduk who celebrates his first kiss with his wife every year in a special way, for 34 years now. Here's a photo from the paper showing how he surprised her one year!

Marie

LETTERS

By John Katsilometes
Excerpted from Las Vegas Sun

Paul Stanley said something profound at Pearl Theater at the Palms on Saturday night. It was a pointed comment explaining his lack of onstage profundity.

"If you think a rock and roll band is going to solve the world's problems, you're in the wrong damn place!" he shouted to the sudience. Then the band attacked a robust little number called, "Rock and Roll all Nite."

Solving world hunger or global warning or any of the world's ills is not the objective of KISS, glowered the grease-painted 57-year-old rock icon, whose work attire remains an ensemble of tight black Spandex pants stamped with silver stalls, tall silver heels and a sparkled black vest exposing ample swarthiness.

Stanley's point is well-taken. KISS has never been about anything but rockin' out, escaping from whatever stress reality presents. That's one reason for the fantastic onstage alter-egos - to get away from it all. Some have a stiff drink to knock the edge off; others dial up "Rock and Roll Over."

Check out these incredible photos of Paul airborne during Friday night's show at the San Diego Sports Arena!

Photos by Hiro Shiga for KISSonline.

KISS's concert at Los Angeles' Staples Center was a momentous event in KISStory, as it was also the first KISS show broadcast live to a worldwide audience on the Internet! Check out "Deuce," "Lick It Up," and "Love Gun!"

By Pennman
Excerpted from The Amplifier
Photo by KISSonline

The house was a-rockin' at the Sommet Center (Nashville) as Kiss held court. I think the word of the night was "LOUD" as the amps and PAs were turned up to the max. If you're the type who wants more than just an aural experience at a rock show, this was the place to be. As in the past, Kiss provided plenty of excitement for the eyes as well as the ears. Lights, smoke, pyrotechnics, harnesses (allowing Gene & Paul to fly), big screens, and confetti machines were all employed during the show. All the stops were pulled in this extravaganza. There are only a handful of acts I can think of these days that put on such a stage spectacle; Alice Cooper, Trans-Siberian Orchestra, The Tubes, AC/DC. None demand more of your full-blown attention as Kiss.

Before the show, I checked out the merchandise stands. Kiss is still the master of marketing as they have been for decades. The atmosphere was more like a carnival than a concert.

Here's an article excerpt from the Australasian Lighting Industry Association trade publication about KISS's Lighting Director, Motley! Motley discusses working with the band, the current stage setup, and many other behind-the-scenes tech details.
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Lighting Production News: Motley on the Road with KISS

If any of you are wondering why you haven't seen Australia's renown lighting crew chief Motley recently, it's because he's been living a childhood dream - working for KISS!

"I filled in for Bryan Hartley (KISS's long time Lighting Director)on some KISS shows in the USA and Europe (07 & 08) after doing the Paul Stanley tour as Lighting Director in Australia," Motley explained. "Bryan was / is busy with Aerosmith and Trans Siberian Orchestra so Patrick Whitley sent an email, "Need KISS LD, what you up to for 18 months off and on?". My reply: "touring with KISS, I guess!"

Just want you guys to know that there was a fine Kiss moment in tonight's episode of Swedish Idol when Erik Gronwall performed "Shout it out Loud" before a sold-out Malmoe Arena of 12,000.

Take care and please get on a plane to Sweden for another great show! That will be my 10th Kiss concert.

Stefan Eriksson, Karlstad, Sweden

LETTERS