The launch date for KISS’ Las Vegas avatar shows has been revealed, and it looks like the shows will include “new songs”.
At the final show of their farewell tour in Madison Square Garden in December 2023, the band shared that their “new era” would involve live shows where they would be replaced by their digital avatars. The holograms also debuted at that gig, where they performed ‘God Gave Rock And Roll To You’ after the real band left the stage.
Shortly afterwards, Gene Simmons said that the avatars would “get better” after a less-than-enthusiastic public response, and he said that “about 200 million” dollars was being invested in the technology.
Production on the shows will be overseen by Pophouse Entertainment, the company behind ABBA’s acclaimed ‘Voyage’ show, which has pioneered the digital avatar technology and recently celebrated welcoming its four millionth visitor in London.
Now, in an interview with Pollstar Magazine, Simmons and Paul Stanley have said the show is tentatively scheduled to launch in Las Vegas in 2028. It will be Pophouse’s first US-based show.
Simmons said: “It’s going to be the iconic face personas, the Demon, the Starchild and so on. Who you want to place into that line-up is up to you.”
Responding to a question about what songs will be included, Stanley said it will “have all the classics through the years and some surprises”, while Simmons added that “you’re gonna get all that stuff, and also new songs” which have been ”written by us”.
It marks a slight delay from the timeline the band had initially suggested was possible. Not long after the Madison Square Garden debut, KISS shared a teaser clip that teased when fans would be able to see their avatars perform. “50 years is a long time, and what the future holds is in the making,” the caption read, with the video adding: “2027 a show is coming.”
In November 2024, Stanley said the show would be like “Cirque Du Soleil meets Star Wars and a KISS concert”, claiming the avatars will look “identical” to them.
In other news, last month, ex-KISS guitarist Vinnie Vincent defending selling his new album “in master format only” for $2million, just months after selling a limited-edition single for $225.
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