I would like to share my special moment playing with KISS at the acoustic set in Sao Paulo 11-17-2012. Since I was young that was my dream and last Saturday it came true!

Best Regards,

Eduardo A. Mendes
Brazilian Kiss Army

LETTERS

Excerpted from a review by Terri Bey.Terri currently blogs for CamelClutchBlog.com

I will give my overall impression of KISS’ newest album. I have been a fan since 1977. I have my personal favorite albums (“Rock and Roll Over, ” “Destroyer,” “Love Gun,” “Alive.”). I also have my least favorite albums(“(Music from) The Elder, “UnMasked,” “Carnival of Souls”). I have some albums that were just mediocre (“Gene Simmons Solo,” “Crazy Nights”).

That being said, I absolutely LOVE “Monster.” I can not stop listening to it. I would put it in the FUN category. I find the album enjoyable from beginning to end. There is not one bad song on it. From the opener, “Hell or Hallelujah” to the closing number, ” Last Chance,” KISS has knocked this beauty out of the park.

I will be reviewing the CD track by track, so here we go.

“Hell or Hallelujah” (P.Stanley)

This is the opening song. It is a hard rocking song about just going for what you want in life despite of whatever obstacles are in front of you. When it was released as a single prior to the CD’s release, I just fell in love with the song. It has a very upbeat rhythm which reminds one of the song, “Train Kept A Rollin.’” The vocals by Paul and Gene are awesome, and I love drummer Eric Singer on this tune. Tommy Thayer does some good lead guitar work as well.

Due to strong ticket pre-sales, a second KISS Melbourne show is being added to the KISS MONSTER Australian Tour! The new show will take place on March 6th.

General public ticket for all KISS Australian shows will go on sale this Thursday, November 22.

KISS MONSTER AUSTRALIAN TOUR 2013:

Feb 28th – Perth - Perth Arena
March 3rd – Adelaide - Clipsal 500 V8 Supercar
March 5th – Melbourne - Etihad Stadium
March 6th – Melbourne - Etihad Stadium
March 9th – Sydney - All Phones Arena
March 12th – Brisbane - Brisbane Entertainment Centre
March 16th – Mackay- Virgin Australia Stadium

For additional information on KISS' Australian MONSTER Tour, visit www.themonstertour.com.

By David Shalom
Translated from Portuguese for KISSonline by Jill Cataldo

The presence of children at Arena Anhembi in Sao Paulo this Saturday is evidence that rock music reaches people of all ages. Children, sharing their knowledge of the band's career, celebrated the first KISS show of their lives.

David Ferreira, age 10, started to like KISS when he received his first Playstation and went on to play "Guitar Hero." He said his passion for the band began with the song "Rock And Roll All Nite," but he also talked about one of the new works: "another song that I enjoy is 'Hell or Hallelujah,' but I quite like anything."

David's mother, Patricia Flores, 33, helped the boy get to the show. "I have never seen KISS, but he asked to come, I liked the idea and came here," she said, alongside her boyfriend, Caio Santa Cruz, 26, a journalist.

One of the most anticipated moments of the show was Paul Stanley's flight over the crowd during the song "Love Gun." Arthur Slivinkis, 12, who was accompanied by his uncle, Joshua Domitian, 36, and his brother, Yuri, stressed: "We love Kiss. Like since childhood. My brother influenced me. I'm hoping Paul Stanley flies over the people here."

Gabriel Ferreira, 9, cited what most want children want to see at the show: "I want to see Gene Simmons spitting fire and blood." He was accompanied by his father, Roberto Martins Faris, 40, a sales manager, his mother, Simone Cristina Ferreitra Faris, 36, and his sister, Mariana Ferreira Faris, age 13. Also excited, Roberto said: "I came in 2009 alone, but the children were very young so I promised that if KISS came back, I would bring them." Mariana already commented: "I've heard them from when I was young. At home, it's all rock."

KISS licensee Rock Custom Drums is releasing a series of KISS 3D snare drums. Each drum of art is 6.5"x15"x18" in size. Hoops and shells are made of wood. The top mylar is 10MM and completely hand painted. Shells are custom airbrushed painted and clear coated. Each snare produces professional studio quality sound. A certificate of authenticity is included with each snare drum.

Visit http://www.rockcustomdrums.com/ for more info.

In Argentina - Musimundo Stores (a big CD seller) has this fantastic KISS MONSTER display! Good job Universal. Monster is in the 20 top sellers in Musimundo, too!

Thanks,
Martin Zamorano - KISSFEVER Argentina

LETTERS

By Russell Hall

For a long time, beginning in 1999, Paul Stanley wasn’t sure Kiss would make another studio album. Worse, he wasn’t sure he wanted to. Ironically, it was the making of the previous year’s Psycho Circus—the much-ballyhooed record that featured original members Peter Criss and Ace Frehley reunited with Kiss founders Stanley and Gene Simmons—that put Stanley in that frame of mind. As he tells it, Criss and Frehley were recalcitrant participants, at best.

“What we learned is that you can’t make a great Kiss album without Kiss,” he says. “When there are two people in the studio working, and two who are refusing to come in, or who have their attorneys on the phone all the time, that’s not a good situation. Psycho Circus was interesting in the sense that it made me never want to go back into the studio, and at the same time, I felt I’ll be damned if that was going to be the last album we made. The band, during the reunion period, went south pretty quickly. It was something we managed to keep alive in much the same way a paramedic might keep a stroke victim from dying.”

To say Stanley and Simmons have kept Kiss alive is an understatement. Since the group’s 1974 self-titled debut, Kiss has released 20 studio albums, 10 live records and 13 compilation discs. Including solo records, they’ve been awarded 28 gold albums, more than any American rock group. Worldwide album sales are colossal—more than 100 million.

KISS will bring their MONSTER Tour to the O2 Arena in Prague on June 14, 2013! A KISS ARMY Fan Club members-only pre-sale takes place now through 8:00 a.m. Friday, November 23rd.

Premium KISS ARMY Members LOGIN at http://www.kissonline.com/service/login to view the special instructions at the top of the tour page to access the pre-sale.

If you are not a premium member of the KISS Army and would like to participate in this pre-sale, JOIN NOW!

KISS by Monster Mini Golf is hosting the annual "KISS hunger Goodbye" Drive this Tuesday!

FOX5 Vegas - KVVU

By Paulo Maurício Costa
Photo by Paulo Maurício Costa
Translated from Portuguese for KISSonline by Jill Cataldo

- At its Rio concert, KISS pleases fans and does justice to the mythology of the group
- Show at HSBC Arena ended the band's South American tour in Brazil.
- The 1:40 concert was opened by hit "Detroit Rock City"

On the eve of turning 40 years old, the American hard rock band KISS ended its "Monster" tour in Brazil on Sunday night, the 18th, at HSBC Arena, in Barra da Tijuca, Rio's western zone.

Gene Simmons (bass and vocals), Paul Stanley (guitar and vocals)- the two remnants of the original lineup founded in 1973- Eric Singer (drums) and Tommy Thayer (guitar), were ornamented both by makeup and pyrotechnics, gave the public what they wanted, bellowing hits from around the world in more than 100 million copies and some songs from their latest disc in a show that lasted about one hour, 40 minutes.

Opening night band and rock icon Viper took the stage at 8:00 pm (when many people with faces painted in homage to their American iIdols were still in lines outside) and played competently for 30 minutes.

Then, a devilish and theatrical ghost train, a locomotive, a brand licensed over some 3,000 products, settled into the HSBC Arena on schedule, at 9:00 pm with the sound of guitars and explosions. Then KISS – except for Singer, already seated on drums in the background – appeared on a platform that brought the musicians down slowly to the ground. "Hi, Rio!" was followed by the first chords of "Detroit Rock City", followed by another of the band's hits, "Shout It Out Loud".

By David Shalom
Photo by Léo Patel
Translated from Portuguese for KISSonline by Jill Cataldo

I resisted the temptation to stick out my tongue to Marina Tavares, age 10, who was hanging onto her father's waist on Saturday night. Wearing the makeup of KISS bassist Gene Simmons, the girl became a small attraction in Anhembi Arena, where the band performed with a live broadcast on Terra. "If I had charged $1 for each person who asked to take her picture, it would have paid for my ticket," quipped Chris Tavares, age 35. "In the VIP area, eh?", replied the girl in a high voice.

"It was really cool. The best day of my life! When they came out on stage, I was thrilled, "said Marina, restlessly swinging her arms and legs without stopping, just minutes after the end of the concert. "Rock and Roll All Nite (the song that closed the set list), was very beautiful because everyone sang."

Due to her short stature, the girl had a little help to see her first concert by the American quartet. Good thing her father was there! "She was up on my shoulders the whole show. She saw everything. For sure, better than I did," he said.

Here's KISS with an enormous crowd in Sao Paulo, Brazil last night!



Photo by Dean Snowden for KISSonline.

By Osmar Paul
Photo by Léo Patel
Translated from Portuguese for KISSonline by Jill Cataldo

With only 10 minutes past the scheduled start time -different from two hours late in Porto Alegre - KISS opened its show in Sao Paulo this Saturday as expected: with fires, crazed screams from the public, and hits to spare. Right off the bat, the band began their parade of hits with the song "Detroit Rock City," followed by "Shout It Out Loud," as the band greeted the crowded chorus of Anhembi. The show, which took place at Arena Anhembi, was broadcast live by Terra through the platform Live Music Rocks.

"São Paulo! How are you all? Today we will have a rock 'n' roll party! This evening you are part of our family," KISS vocalist Paul Stanley said soon after the show's second song, to the delight of 25 thousand fans present at Arena Anhembi. A good master of ceremonies, he complimented the crowd. "We were in Argentina and Chile, but you guys are number one," the singer said, before launching into "Calling Dr. Love."

"Hell or Hallelujah" from the band's latest album, "Monster," released this year, came right in and was also well received by the public. They followed with "Hotter Than Hell" and "I Love It Loud," long loved by fans, in which bassist Gene Simmons took over the vocals. Stanley then led the crowd to call for guitarist Tommy Thayer, who sang the next song, "Outta This World."

Excerpts from story by Osmar Paul
Photo by Léo Patel
Translated from Portuguese for KISSonline by Jill Cataldo

The class began at 9:30pm this Saturday the 17th The class was packed with 25 thousand students, thirsty for rock. The teachers were punctual. Masters of ceremonies with almost 40 years of experience, the members of KISS had difficulty controlling the rowdy, noisy class assembled in Anhembi in Sao Paulo.

With the responsibility to present followers everything that a rock spectacle must have, Paul Stanley, Gene Simmons, Eric Singer and Tommy Thayer prepared a playful lesson. The first chapter of the lesson came with "Detroit Rock City." Various themes of rock were presented: fire eating, fireworks, high resolution screens, columns of amplifiers, and of course the legendary masks of The Starchild, The Demon, The Spaceman and Catman. In catharsis, the audience alternated indecisively between hysterical cries ande welcoming their heroes by singing verses of the song from "Destroyer," 1976.

"We have been in Argentina, Chile ...," said Paul Stanley. Hearing the boos, he knew perfectly well what he was doing. "But you, São Paulo. You are number one," he continued. However much the phrase might sound cliche and leave you with the feeling of "you say that to everyone,", who cares? The audience goes crazy. Beer glasses fly and bathe fans' faces wearing elaborate makeup which will never remain pristine throughout the concert. Again: who cares?

Visto Livre
Translated from Portuguese for KISSonline by Jill Cataldo

Paul Stanley, guitarist and vocalist of KISS, will fly at HSBC Arena in Barra da Tijuca, on Sunday, November 18th. He will cross the entire length of the runway, soaring over the public. During the show, fans of the band will be given a show featuring a lot of blood, smoke and pyrotechnics. Since its formation in 1973, KISS has sold more than 100 million albums.

Among the requirements made to HSBC Arena's production department, KISS, which has won 24 gold records, requested 60 carbonic gas siphon tanks, 14 propane tanks, at least 10 fire extinguishers, four medical oxygen tanks and half a ton of dry ice.

Additional KISS requirements:

Fire extinguishers
A minimum of 8 fire extinguishers CO2, 15-20 lbs
Two fire extinguishers, pressurized 0 H2O

Oxygen Requirements
4 5lb. medicinal oxygen tanks, complete with all the necessary attachments (hoses, regulators, masks, on/off key)

Gas requirements
co² siphon tanks 60 of 50-60 lbs (200 or 300 cubic feet)
14 20lb. propane tanks (BBQ style)

Dry Ice
Half a ton of dry ice slices; Or blocks. No pellets, please.
Deliver via large commercial refrigerators in walkways