Starting this Wednesday at 10PM is a brand new series of Gene Simmons' I Love It Loud on BBC Radio 2. The last series was well worth listening to and covered off a lot of Gene's early influences. Episode 1 is titled "Rock You Like A Hurricane", the BBC press release is below.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b07dbkkl

"The Demon of Rock is back - Gene Simmons presents a new series of I Love It Loud on BBC Radio 2.

Gene Simmons, co founder of the most successful recording rock band in America - KISS - returns to Radio 2 to play more of the music that 'makes my blood boil', Classic Rock.

In this episode, Gene features tracks artists such as Ozzy Osbourne, Rush, Van Halen, and Grand Funk Railroad.

He also has fun with a new feature 'Gene Splicing' where he mashes up hard rock and heavy metal covers of old standards, such as punker Joey Ramones' version of Louis Armstrong's What a Wonderful World.

Throughout the series Gene recollects personal encounters with the artists featured, sometimes as a colleague like when he discovered Van Halen and produced their first demo and sometimes as a fan."

It's not too late to get your KISS Rocks Vegas cinema tickets to see highlights from the Vegas residency back in 2014. It's showing at many cinemas across the UK this Wednesday (25th May), you can find out more here:

http://www.kissmycinema.com/cinemas/

The current full list of UK cinemas are:-
Basingstoke - Odeon
Belfast - Odeon
Birmingham B/Way Plaza Odeon - Dolby Atmos
Birmingham Star City - Vue
Blackpool - Odeon
Bournemouth - Odeon
Brighton - Odeon
Bristol Cribbs - Vue
Cardiff - Odeon
Cheshire Oaks - Vue
Coventry - Odeon
Derby - Odeon
Dudley - Odeon
Dundee - Odeon
Dunfermline - Odeon
Edinburgh Lothian Rd - Odeon
Edinburgh Omni - Vue
Gateshead - Vue - Dolby Atmos
Glasgow Braehead - Odeon
Hatfield - Odeon
Huddersfield - Odeon
Hull - Odeon
Kilmarnock - Odeon
Kingston - Odeon
Leeds Bradford - Odeon
Leeds Light - Vue
Leicester - Odeon
Lincoln - Odeon
Liverpool One - Odeon
London E15 - Vue
London NW1 - Odeon
London SE10 - Odeon
London W12 - Vue
London WC2 - Odeon
London WC2 - Vue
Maidenhead - Odeon
Maidstone - Odeon
Manchester Print - Odeon
Mansfield - Odeon
Milton Keynes Stadium - Odeon - Dolby Atmos
Newcastle Silverlinks - Odeon
Norwich - Odeon
Orpington - Odeon - Dolby Atmos
Oxford George - Odeon
Plymouth - Vue
Portsmouth - Vue
Reading - Vue
Sheffield - Odeon
Southampton - Odeon
Southend - Odeon
Stoke - Odeon
Swansea - Odeon
Swansea - Vue
Tamworth - Odeon
Taunton - Odeon
Telford - Odeon
Warrington - Odeon
Worcester - Odeon
Wrexham - Odeon

After 26 years, awesome UK KISS Tribute Dressed to Kill will be saying goodbye to club shows later this month. They have however promised that one-off special shows will still take place, such as headlining the Wannasee Festival in Penrith in August. Please support them if you can, the shows are as follows:-

Friday 27th May - River Rooms, Stourbridge
Saturday 28th May - The Diamond, Sutton In Ashfield

https://www.facebook.com/kisstributeuk/

Happy 65th Birthday to Ace Frehley! What better way to celebrate than releasing a video for Fire and Water featuring Paul Stanley from the excellent Origins album.

Reminder that Ace Frehley's new covers album gets a US and UK release tomorrow. It will be available for download and also in CD and vinyl gatefold formats. Ace has just released a preview of Fire and Water with Paul on vocals today (below) and a video has also just been produced featuring Ace & Paul back together at last!

  1. White Room (Cream)
  2. Street Fighting Man (Rolling Stones)
  3. Spanish Castle Magic (Jimi Hendrix)
  4. Fire and Water (Free)
  5. Emerald (Thin Lizzy)
  6. Bring It On Home (Led Zeppelin)
  7. Wild Thing (Troggs)
  8. Parasite (Kiss)
  9. Magic Carpet Ride (Steppenwolf)
  10. Cold Gin (Kiss)
  11. Till The End Of The Day (Kinks)
  12. Rock N Roll Hell (Kiss)

ROCK ICONS PAUL STANLEY and DON FELDER formerly of THE EAGLES to appear at ROCK AND ROLL FANTASY CAMPS 20TH ANNIVERSARY CELEBRATION in LOS ANGELES, JUNE 23-26,  2016

Over the course of four music filled days, attendees will be placed into bands led by rock star counselors including Rudy Sarzo (Quiet Riot, Whitesnake), Vinny Appice (Dio, Black Sabbath) and many more. Musicians will hone their stage presence, learn to play some of classic rock’s greatest songs, get tips on playing as a band and hear stories of life on the road from their rock star counselors. Attendees will also attend master classes and jams rooms with these renowned musicians and then perform live with their band in front of a packed house at the infamous Whisky A Go Go on the Sunset Strip.

For more than 30 years, Paul Stanley has reigned supreme as one of the single-most recognizable front men in the history of rock and roll. Stanley single-handedly penned such rock and roll anthems as "Love Gun," "God of Thunder", "Black Diamond" and wrote the timeless celebratory battle cry "I Want To Rock and Roll All Night And Party Everyday". He was the golden throat that throttled "Detroit Rock City," the charismatic swagger behind "I Was Made For Lovin’ You," and stripped of makeup, was the unmasked troubadour that breathed vocal life into the ballads "Reason to Live," "Forever" and "Every Time I Look At You." Stanley designed and created the iconic KISS logo which 40 years on remains universally recognized as one of the greatest logos of the 20th century.

As the headliner at Rock and Roll Fantasy Camp, attendees will jam with Stanley at the Rock and Roll Fantasy Camp facility, as well as at the legendary Whisky A Go Go on the Sunset Strip in Hollywood.

There's a nice article about the growth of themes cruises over on the BBC website, almost completely dedicated to the KISS Kruise!

"Every autumn Kiss hire a huge cruise liner to sail around the Caribbean for a week with 2,300 of their diehard fans. This year will be their sixth voyage, or Kiss Kruise VI.

The band perform two shows on the ship, and fans get to meet and hang out with the four band members.

There are 13 bars on board, plus 12 restaurants, a swimming pool, a gym, a spa, a casino, an indoor theatre and a tattoo parlour for getting a new Kiss ink work."

Read the whole article here. Thanks to Nige for the info.

Thanks to HeavyCon we have an amazing Meet & Greet with Gene Simmons for 2 people to give away to help us celebrate our forthcoming 20th birthday!

Not only that but the winner will also receive 2 gold tickets for the 1st October worth £130 each. This will also allow you to gain access into TeamRock enclosure with other artists to meet throughout the day.

For full instructions please visit https://www.kissinuk.com/cms/heavycon

Happy 40th Birthday to KISS Destroyer! Never has an album had so many amazing tracks that still sound great so many years later, without doubt KISS and Bob Ezrin at their best.

Detroit Rock City - King of the Night Time World - God of Thunder

Great Expectations - Flaming Youth - Sweet Pain - Shout It Out Loud

Beth - Do You Love Me? - Sweet Pain