After 50 Years in the Music Business, Rock Legends Kiss, are ready to wipe off their iconic face paint and bid their audience farewell. In 1973, in New York City, 2 guys by the name of Gene Simmons and Paul Stanley, wanted to start a band that they never saw onstage. They then went on to recruit original drummer Peter Criss, and original lead guitarist Ace Frehley. A year later in 1974 they released their self-titled first album, and by 1977/78, Kiss became the biggest thing on the planet. The band would then go on to have a career that would span 5 decades, selling over 75 Million albums worldwide.
In January of 2019, Kiss kicked off their “End Of The Road World Tour”, a tour which has lasted 4 years and has played multiple continents around the world. In March of 2023, Kiss announced that their last concerts ever would be at Madison Square Garden in New York City, taking place on December 1st and December 2nd. Ending their long 50 year career in the place where it all started. In addition to that, in honor of the band’s 50th Anniversary, they announced the final 50 shows in many cities in the U.S and Canada all coming to an end in New York.
The day arrived December 2nd, 2023, New York City, back where it all started. Kiss was ready to take the stage for the final time marking an end to their long 50 year career. Before the show started they allowed people to go into a certain section of Madison Square Garden to get early merch, including an array of shirts, sweatshirts, hats, etc The opening band was, Amber Wild which is Paul Stanley’s son, Evan Stanley’s band.
After the opening act, it was time for Kiss to take the stage. The band blasted onto the stage with “Detroit Rock City” kicking off their show with incredible pyrotechnics and visuals. Throughout the rest of the night the band played a lot of their timeless classics such as “Shout It Out Loud”, “Heaven’s On Fire”, “Love Gun”, “I Was Made For Loving You”, and ending the night with “Rock And Roll All Nite”.
Kiss as a touring band may be over but after the show was over they made an announcement that shocked multiple people. They announced that they will still be around as Digital Avatars bringing in a new era of Kiss. It is now unclear as to what the band is going to do with these avatars, whether they are going to tour or do any other projects that involve the avatars.
As far as my experience goes, being at the final Kiss show is something that is going to last a lifetime. Getting to witness all of the bands live theatrics and getting to see them play all of their classics for the final time was an incredible experience and is something that you had to be there to witness.My favorite part of the show would be the pyrotechnics because the minute they went off you felt the heat from them. I give this a 10/10.
