Gene Simmons had an interesting dilemma: what do you do when you're 74 and your 50 year-old band has called it quits after a four-year farewell tour, and you've sold your catalogue and IP?
Do you sit around counting your money with your Playmate of the Year wife?
Do you go on a tropical vacation and take a deep, congratulatory breath and enjoy the riches being part of one of the most iconic rock bands in history?
God no. That's how people die.
You strap on your bass, leave the facepaint at home, and strike out on the road playing many of the songs of your past and a few you've always loved.
The Gene Simmons Band is on the road and their first stop was at Rock and Brews, one of the restaurants he and his Kiss partner Paul Stanley launched in 2012 that has grown to 23 locations including two at Los Angeles' LAX airport.
The venue Gene rocked was their newest one that not only boasts a huge stage but also a casino.
Trading in 8-inch platforms for white sneakers, Simmons played bass alongside the dual guitar attack of Brent Woods (Sebastian Bach, Vince Neil) and Zach Throne (Corey Taylor), and drummer Brian Tichy (Whitesnake, Foreigner).
14 of the 18 songs were Kiss classics, opening with "Deuce" and closing with "Rock and Roll All Nite," vocals were split up among the band with impressive chops from Throne and even the drummer Tichy.
Did they sound like Kiss? Sure.
Would anyone mistake them for Kiss? Not at all.
The point might just to be satisfied celebrating a dozen or so great classic rock shows.
“There are no rules, which is my favorite thing in life. Anything is bound to happen,” Simmons told the press before the show, which was free. “I may jump off the stage and get into the audience. We may pull some folks out of the audience. You want to sing ‘I Was Made For Lovin’ You’? Here's the mic. Good luck.”
While that didn't happen, they did rock the Motorhead classic "Ace of Spades" (although there should have been a roadie adjust Tichy's mic so it points down as a tribute to Lemmy.
Probably the nicest moment was when Gene called Kiss guitarist Tommy Thayer up to play a pair of tunes they've rocked for the last 22 years. That's right, the "new guy" in Kiss was there for 22 years.
Thayer earned that spot, he cleaned Gene's gutters, he painted Paul's house, he filled in when needed and even helped out at the Kiss Convention before he was named the official lead guitarist of the band in 2002.
Simmons and Thayer go back further than that. In the '80s Simmons produced the last two LPs for Thayer's band, Black 'n Blue. He not only added fresh licks to the Kiss sound but he co-wrote a bunch of songs on their later albums.
It's not surprising he would be in the front row of this warm-up show and ready to rock when called: that's literally how he got the gig.
But wait, Tommy Thayer and Gene Simmons? Does that mean Kiss is getting back together?
“My hand on the Bible,” he told Rolling Stone last year as the Kiss Farewell Tour was winding down, "and I should know because my people wrote that book. In fact, my people also wrote the follow-up book, the New Testament. And so I’ll say right here, right now, my hand on the Bible, it will be the final Kiss-in-makeup appearance.”
In that case, if you want to see Gene and these fine musicians playing mostly Kiss songs, you're going to have to make it down to Brazil tonight or Europe this summer and get ready to sing along. Tickets available on Gene's website.
April
26 - Summer Breeze Open Air Festival - Sao Paulo, Brazil
July
27 - Kuopiorock Festival - Kuopio, Finland
29 - Dalhalla Amphitheatre - Rattvik, Sweden
31 - Liseberg Amusement Park - Gothenburg, Sweden
August
2 - Wacken Open Air Festival - Wacken, Germany
4 - Ronda - Utrecht, Holland
6 - Turbinenhalle - Oberhausen, Germany
8 - den Atelier - Luxembourg, Luxembourg
9 - Nirwana Tuinfeest - Lierop, Netherlands
11 - Alcatraz Festival - Kortrijk, Belgium
13 - Porta Ferrada Festival, Guixols Arena - Sant Feliu de Guíxols, Spain
14 - La Riviera - Madrid, Spain
16 - Cinzella Festival, Ex Capannone Montecatini - Taranto, Brindisi, Italy
