Paul Stanley Claims KISS Avatar Show Will Make the Sphere Look Like a “Popcorn Fart”

On December 2, 2023, KISS took the stage at Madison Square Garden for one last concert. Marking the end of an era, Paul Stanley and Gene Simmons looked out over the crowd, remembering a legacy that started back in the early 1970s. But just because KISS was done touring didn’t mean they were done entertaining. Announcing the upcoming KISS avatar show, Stanley promised that it was going to “blow people away.” 

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When it comes to promoting, marketing, and product placement, no band does or did it better than KISS. Taking the brand international, the band embraced the future of technology with a new avatar version of their famed concert. Following in the footsteps of ABBA’s Voyage show, many fans shared their criticism of the idea. 

With the new concert experience expected to kick off in 2027, Stanley offered an update on the show, insisting, “This avatar show that’s going to be in Vegas is gonna blow everybody’s minds. It’s not like what some people have called holograms and all this kind of experimental and kitschy stuff. This is seeing us.”

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KISS Concert Will Make The Sphere Look Like A “Popcorn Fart”

Hearing the criticism, Stanley hoped to silence the backlash next year. “This is as real as I am, and I think it’s gonna just blow people away. And it extends the band that much further. There’s no reason for us to live within the boundaries of other rock bands. They live within those boundaries because that’s all they can be. And it’s great, but we are not that — we’re KISS.”

Add his voice to the ongoing conversation, Simmons reiterated that the show was going to blow people away. He even suggested it would be better than watching a concert at the Las Vegas Sphere. “We’re gonna blow your socks off in a way multiple times more exciting than the Sphere. People who go to Vegas to see a show in the Sphere are awed by the massive scale of everything. There’s nothing wrong with the Sphere, [but] I’ll go out on a limb and make sure people understand this [the KISS avatars] is gonna make that seem like popcorn fart. It’ll be mind-blowing.”

Although the band’s touring days may be over, KISS clearly isn’t ready to fade into the background. With KISS always pushing the limits of spectacle and innovation, the upcoming avatar show could prove that the band’s legacy is far from over.

(Photo by Kevin Mazur/Getty Images for Live Nation)