Latest UK News

Wow, we only 1 weeks notice but last night KISS blew us all away at the smallest KISS show in full make-up we're ever likely to see. The show lasted around 80 minutes and had a setlist very similar to the recent American tour, but don't panic yet, Paul did say that a new set list would be coming on the tour in May.

It was amazing seeing them so close up, they sounded great (despite the rumours to the contrary, I thought Paul's voice was good), played 2 songs from Sonic Boom and done their very best to bring their huge show to a tiny stage. The KISS logo at the back of the stage practically took up the entire stage!

This show was primarily a PR exercise to show the media what to expect in May, it was a low key introduction (no You Wanted The Best...) with the guys walking on stage and breaking into Modern Day Delilah, followed by Cold Gin which was when the party really got started. The other Sonic Boom song was Say Yeah, which really does sound great live, with the whole audience getting behind it.

Throughout the show all 4 guys were on top form, although Gene did seem to be struggling a little at times (almost foaming at the mouth towards the end!), during RARAN I think the co2 used to blow the confetti around really got to him. When they came back on for the encore I heard Gene say to Paul "only one" which meant that Deuce, Shout It Out Loud and Lick It Up were dropped, I think the small venue, co2 & lack of fans blowing his way was getting to Gene. Even still, this was one of the most memorable 80 minutes of KISS ever!

Spotted having a good time were the Appletons (both massive KISS fans, Paul was having fun flirting with them both!), super-fan Iain Lee and Noel Fielding.

Overall a fantastic night never to be repeated. Seeing such a big KISS show on a tiny stage was surreal, I for one can't wait until May.

Full set list:

Modern Day Delilah
Cold Gin
Let Me Go Rock & Roll
Say Yeah
Dr Love
Got To Choose
I Love It Loud
100,000 Years
Love Gun
Black Diamond
Rock & Roll All Nite
Detroit Rock City

Press Release:
Intimate UK Club Show in March 2010 in advance of the “Sonic Boom Over Europe: From The Beginning To The Boom” European Tour May / June 2010

Rock legends KISS are set to bring their new “Sonic Boom Over Europe: From the Beginning To the Boom” tour to Europe in Summer 2010.

In advance of the full European tour, KISS will play a special one-off club show at London’s O2 Academy Islington on 2nd March 2010. With just 500 tickets available to the public, this show is a rare chance for fans to see one of the world’s biggest bands in an intimate venue.

Says KISS frontman Paul Stanley: “We thought this was the perfect opportunity to do something a bit crazy. With all the buzz about our upcoming tour, we thought, let’s come to London, strip it down, turn it up and blow the roof off the O2 Academy. What better way to say ‘thank you’ to our most devoted fans than to pummel them?” 

Very Limited Tickets will be available from www.livenation.co.uk from 12.00 midday tomorrow Wednesday 24 Feb 2010.

With multiple dates across Europe, the “Sonic Boom Over Europe: From The Beginning To The Boom” is set to be THE rock event of 2010, building on the incredible success of the 2009 “Sonic Boom” album.

There's a 4 page full colour KISS special in the latest issue of LOADED magazine, it's the issue with Ronnie Wood's ex, Katia, on the front.

Thanks to Tucker for the info.

Volume 3 of the fantasic KISSology seriest gets it's UK release tomorrow. This volume focuses on perhaps my favourite era of the band, 1992-2000. It includes not only the Revenge, Reunion, Psycho Circus and Farewell tours but also an extended version of MTV Unplugged with Spit, Hard Luck Woman and God Of Thunder. There are several versions of the bonus disc available, you need to shop around to see which one is for you (Play & HMV have different versions).

Full contents is as follows:-

Disc One

The Palace Of Auburn Hills, Detroit, USA - 27 Nov 1992

1) Creatures Of The Night
2) Deuce
3) I Just Wanna
4) Unholy
5) Parasite
6) Heaven's On Fire

Further proving my point that there is a closet KISS fan editing news.bbc.co.uk, there have been 2 KISS stories this week. First is the attached picture which appeared on the "Big Picture" section. The second was the article below:

From: BBC News

GIG MEMENTOES
Kiss fans who saw the rock band on their 2009 US tour had the chance to take the show home with them in their back pockets when they walked out of the venue. 
 
Kiss have made hundreds of thousands of dollars from instant USB recordings.
"We do a multi-track recording of each night and make the recording available on a USB drive right at the end of the show," says Gerrit Schumann from German company Music Networx, which makes the recordings.

"We have USB duplicators that do it pretty much automatically at the venue. We stop recording about half an hour before the end of the show and include a download code, with which the fan can then download the encores and remaining 30 minutes online."

Each stick cost about $20 and an artist will get anywhere between 20-50% of the price, he says. With around 1,000 sticks sold a night at 58 dates last year, that adds up to several hundreds of thousands of dollars for Kiss.

They will do it all again for their European tour this year, where they will also introduce an instant download-to-mobile option.

Kiss, already the masters of music merchandise, are also selling meet-and-greet gig packages for £905 per person in the UK.

Thanks to Dan Bach, I have 12 classic KISS albums on vinyl to give away. All you have to do is answer a couple of questions and a tie breaker on what KISS means to you in 2010.  This is an ideal opportunity for someone new to KISS to expand or start their collection of classic KISS vinyl - it includes classics such as Alive!, Destroyer and Love Gun.

As well as the albums Dan has also included some colour photocopies of some of the items that used to be given away with classic KISS albums, such as the Love Gun toy gun and the masks from the solo albums.

Click here to enter the competition!

Here's an excusive thanks to Matt, it's the full round-up of KISS albums by Gene and Paul that cover a lot more albums than were published in The Sun. Matt spent 4 hours in total with Gene & Paul doing his interview!

Kiss (1974) - Gene: I no longer had to work for a living. I went on salary, I made 75 dollars a week and I became the richest person in the world. Not only was I in a band, doing everything I wanted, I was getting paid $75 a week! Favourite track: Deuce.

Hotter Than Hell (1974) - Paul: Difficult second album? No, we were all piss and vinegar at that stage - “If you’d didn’t like the first album, here’s another!” We were releasing them every eight months. Favourite track: Hotter Than Hell.

Dressed To Kill (1975) - Gene: It was produced by Neil Bogart, our record company president, who couldn’t produce. We started attracting lots of groupies around this time. Mostly, I remember lots of girls. Favourite track: Two Timer.

Alive! (1975) - Paul: A sonic souvenir of the live show. Was it enhanced? You bet! Who wants to hear a guitar string break every time they put on a song? One week it was gold, the next it was platinum. Our rollercoaster ride had begun.