Todd Martens | L.A. Times

When Gene Simmons, leader of KISS Inc., spoke to Pop & Hiss early Friday about the grand re-opening of his El Segundo bar/restaurant Rock & Brews, he bragged that the establishment would allow customers to feel just a little bit like rock stars. Yet it soon became evident that the space couldn’t replicate all of the perks Simmons enjoys.

When a local police officer pulled over to place a ticket on the illegally parked motorcycle of a Rock & Brews employee, a trade was offered. Perhaps the ticket could be skipped, bar employees inferred, if a meet-and-greet with Simmons could be arranged? Moments later, a member of the El Segundo police force was posing for photos with the rock ‘n’ roll veteran. Please, said the officer, don’t photograph the badge, as department rules would then forbid him from placing the image on Facebook.

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Mike Jones | DC 101

Rabbi talks to Paul Stanley & Nikki Sixx – Weekends Blog | 93.3 WMMR

Steve Baltin | Rolling Stone

Kevin Winter

The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame’s 2012 induction ceremony will be held in Cleveland, Ohio on April 14th, and this year class includes Guns N’ Roses, the Beastie Boys and the Red Hot Chili Peppers. One band that won’t be there, however, is KISS, who haven’t been voted in since they first became eligible for induction in 1999 – a fact that still rankles the group’s lead singer, Gene Simmons.

“It’s become a joke,” Simmons told Rolling Stone at Wednesday’s press conference announcing his band’s joint summer tour with Mötley Crüe. “We’ve been thinking about it and the answer is simply, ‘We’ll just buy it and fire everybody.'”

While Simmons was joking, he does take serious issue with his band’s exclusion from the Hall of Fame, as well as what kinds of acts have been inducted. “In all seriousness for the fans, for something to be called Rock and Roll Hall of Fame is such an insult to Madonna, Blondie and Tone Loc. Who the fuck knows what other disco act is in there? It’s an insult to them because they don’t get to be in the ‘Dance Hall of Fame,’ because that’s what they do,” Simons says. “They’re legitimate dance, disco artists. They don’t belong in rock and roll.”

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Joe Lynch | Fuse

After KISS and Mötley Crüe announced their joint summer tour at a press conference, the iconic hard-rock bands sat down with Fuse to talk to us about their 40 date, head-banging extravaganza.

“We didn’t wanna just go out and do another tour, we wanted somebody out there sharing the stage with us who was going to blow it up and kick everybody in the nuts,” explained Gene Simmons.

“We played five shows together in 1982. KISS gave us our first tour. We sort of lost our virginity to these guys,” Nikki Sixx joked. “Actually we did lose our virginity to these guys, but that’s another story.”

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Fan-shot outtakes of Cold Gin and Shout it Out Loud that never aired from the mini-concert KISS performed last Tuesday. Thanks to Neil Gido for forwarding this to us.

CNN

Additional Jimmy Kimmel video:
A fan-shot video that shows more of the outtakes and interaction between the songs can be seen HERE. Another video from a distant angle is shown HERE.

KISS Starts their tour July 20 with Motley Crue. This will be a summer to remember! Tickets go on sale for all shows this Friday!

July 2012
20 – Jiffy Lube Live – Bristow, VA
21 – Farm Bureau Live – Virginia Beach, VA
22 – Time Warner Cable Music Pavilion – Raleigh, NC
24 – Aaron’s Amphitheater at Lakewood – Atlanta, GA
25 – Verizon Wireless Amphitheatre – Charlotte, NC
27 – Cruzan Amphitheatre – West Palm Beach, FL
28 – 1-800-ASK-GARY Amphitheater – Tampa, FL
31 – Oak Mountain Amphitheatre – Pelham, AL

August 2012
3 – Cynthia Woods Mitchell Pavilion – Woodlands, TX
4 – Gexa Energy Paviliion – Dallas, TX
7 – Hard Rock Casino Presents: The Pavilion – Albuquerque, NM
8 – Comfort Dental Amphitheater – Englewood, CO
10 – Ashley Furniture Home Store Pavilion – Phoenix, AZ
11 – Mandalay Bay Arena – Las Vegas, NV
12 – Cricket Wireless Amphitheatre – Chula Vista, CA
14 – Verizon Wireless Amphitheater – Irvine, CA
16 – Sleep Train Pavilion – Concord, CA
18 – White River Amphitheatre – Auburn, WA
19 – Sleep Country Amphitheater – Ridgefield, CT
24 – Rock Jam Grand – Junction, CO
26 – BOK Center – Tulsa, OK
27 – Verizon Wireless Amphitheatre – Maryland Heights, MO
29 – Minnesota State Fair – Minneapolis, MN
31 – Riverbend Music Center – Cincinnati, OH

September 2012
1 – Klipsch Music Center – Noblesville, IN
2 – First Niagara Pavilion – Burgettstown, PA
4 – Bridgestone Arena – Nashville, TN
5 – DTE Energy Music Theatre – Clarkston, MI
7 – First Midwest Bank Amphitheatre – Tinley Park, IL
8 – Alpine Valley Music Theater – East Troy, MI
11 – Allegan County Fair – Allegan, MI
12 – Blossom Music Center – Cuyahoga Falls, OH
13 – Molson Amphitheatre – Toronto, ON
15 – Darien Lake PAC – Darien Lake, NY
16 – Comcast Center – Mansfield, MA
18 – Toyota Pavilion – Scranton, PA
19 – Susquehanna Bank Center – Camden, NJ
21 – PNC Bank Arts Center – Holmdel, NJ
22 – Nikon at Jones Beach – Wantagh, NY
23 – Comcast Theater – Hartford, CT

Motley Crue joins KISS to announce THE TOUR!

@TheVinceNeil

“Tomorrow!! Tour Dates!!”, Vince Neil Tweeted today, along with this image below:

Keith Spera | The Times-Picayune

Danny Bourque

Veteran hard rock group Kiss will kick off “The Big Dance Concert Series” on Friday, March 30. The band last performed in New Orleans during the 2009 Voodoo Experience in City Park. Expect a set heavy on such favorites as “Rock ‘n’ Roll All Night,” “Detroit Rock City” and “Calling Dr. Love.”

The Black Keys, performing on Saturday March 31, are a natural choice: The NCAA is using the band’s “Gold on the Ceiling” as the theme music for the March Madness television promotional campaign. The Keys, consisting of guitarist/vocalist Dan Auerbach and drummer Patrick Carney, traffic in a raucous style of blues-derived rock ‘n’ roll. The success of the band’s current “El Camino” album confirmed the Keys’ transition from underground sensation to mainstream attraction, as did a recent appearance on the cover of Rolling Stone and a show at New York’s Madison Square Garden.

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KISSonline.com reminds us that KISS will be on Jimmy Kimmel TONIGHT, Tuesday, March 20, 2011!

As always, check local listings for time and channel.

Contact Music

MIKE SYPNIEWSKI

Former Kiss drummer Peter Criss has announced plans to open up about his wild past and cancer battle in a new memoir.

The rocker will team up with celebrated author Larry ‘Ratso’ Sloman to pen Makeup To Breakup, which is due to be released via publishing house Simon & Schuster’s imprint Scribner on 23 October.

He tells Artisan News, “I am so blessed that I am finally going to write my autobiography, and I hope you enjoy the ride. The best of all is I get to share my true feelings of my love for God, family, friends and fame. It’s been a wonderful life.”

And the musician promises to hold nothing back.

He adds, “It’s about my life. Of course, it’s about drugs, sex and rock and roll, but it’s about my parents, my growing up, getting through Brooklyn (New York), going through gangs, getting into drugs, getting out of them, getting through cancer. I’m four years free of cancer now. I’m doing great.”

Criss, who successfully fought off breast cancer in 2008, isn’t the only Kiss star to release a memoir this year – Paul Stanley and Gene Simmons have co-authored a tale about the group’s formation, called Nothin’ To Lose, which is slated to hit U.S. shelves this summer.

Peter Criss’s book Makeup to Breakup is available for pre-order at Amazon.com.

Peter Arquette | KISS Asylum

Gus Griesinger | Backstage Axxess

While BackstageAxxess.com took part in the recent opening of the Monster Mini Golf in Las Vegas, we chatted with Kiss legend Paul Stanley about the bands new venture. We also talked about the upcoming tour (It will be with Motley Crue even though Paul couldn’t officially confirm it at the time.) In addition, we also chatted about how the new CD “Monster” will be sold and a couple of other things Kiss.

It’s been 5 years too long since I personally chatted with Paul and he fought the the sun to do so. What a class act! Enjoy the chat with one of the greatest front man of all time; Kiss’ Paul Stanley!

Paul Stanley interview video.

KISSasylum

The long anticipated Peter Criss autobiography Makeup to Breakup is now available for pre-order on Amazon.com. Release date is set for October 23, 2012. Pre-order now and it will ship to you on the release date. Follow link below to Amazon.com for ordering info:

Makeup to Breakup, by Peter Criss at Amazon.com

Robin Leach | Las Vegas Sun

April 1 – Full make-up appearance at Country Music Awards
April 2 – Performance in New Orleans at NCAA Final Four game
April 9 – Performance on Dancing with the Stars
May – Filming of new KISS movie begins
May – Gene Simmons Family Jewels Season 9 begins
July 19  – Three month tour with Motley Crue

About to celebrate 40 years in rock and roll, Gene Simmons and Paul Stanley of KISS are legendary veterans of the music business, and they’re “Hotter Than Hell.” Actually, hotter than ever since forming in 1973 and in no way slowing down.

They rattled off just a few of the highlights of what’s ahead at the grand opening of KISS by Monster Mini Golf on Thursday afternoon:

*On April 1, in full makeup, they will be back in Las Vegas arriving on the red carpet in a Monster truck to present Best Vocal Group at the 47th Annual Academy of Country Music Awards at MGM Grand Garden Arena.

*On April 2, they’ll perform in New Orleans at the NCAA Final Four game.

*On April 9, they’ll perform two songs on the new season of “Dancing With the Stars” on ABC. (Don’t think Las Vegas resident Gladys Knight will samba to the songs.)

*In one month, they start filming a KISS movie with Mark Johnson of the “Narnia” films producing.

*In May, Season 9 of Gene’s “Family Jewels” begins and a 10th renewal looks definite for filming this fall for 2013.

*Their nearly three-month dual headline tour with Motley Crue starts July 19 and includes a stop here, as we reported in a Vegas DeLuxe interview with Motley Crue frontman Vince Neil.

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