Ultimate Classic Rock — Kiss lost a year of their End of the Road farewell tour due to the pandemic, but Paul Stanley says a new End is in sight.
“I believe strongly by the beginning of 2023 we will be finished,” he tells UCR. And he’s adamant there will be no reconsideration, even for fans asking for more. “It’s a different time than we had pondered
in the past,” Stanley contends. While some of those previous pseudo goodbyes reflected inner-band dynamics, the Starchild says this true end is a simple matter of “physical reality.”
“The fact is that, physically, it’s incredibly demanding to do what we do,” Stanley explains. “Look, we played [recently] in Austin, an outdoor show, 100 percent humidity. We’re running around for two-plus hours, not only with guitars, but I’ve got 30-plus pounds of gear on. There’s a point where you go, ‘You know what? This is more challenge than I want.” And I only want to do it as long as I can do it smiling.
“There’s really no thought about changing our minds. It has nothing to do with personalities in the band or tensions or a difference of opinion or musicality. It’s purely practical. You can play beat the clock, but ultimately the clock wins.”
The final Kiss show, which was originally set to take place on July 17, 2021, is now expected to happen in late 2022 and will be in the band’s birthplace. “It seems only natural to be in New York,” Stanley says. “That is where the band started, and that was really the background for the band getting together and writing these songs and played loft parties and played clubs starting with an audience of probably 10 people. It seems we should go full circle.”
There is a question of whether Kiss will be joined by former members on that final night. Onetime guitarists Ace Frehley and Bruce Kulick have both expressed interest, but Stanley says “honestly, we haven’t’ really thought that far down the road. We’re having a ball. The show is everything that I would like to see the band history culminate in. In one way or another, every night all the former band members are represented by the songs we’re doing. We’re hitting all eras for the band, and I salute everybody who’s been in the band and champion not only their participation but their contribution. As to where that will lead, I have no idea.”
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