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| News Archive / March 1-15, 1999 | ||
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KISS NEWS IN EARLY MARCH 1999 | MARCH 16, 1999 |  |
| Disclaimer: Not necessarily all of the news as it appears on these pages is confirmed by or coming from official sources. As much as possible we try to avoid unsubstantial rumors, but KISS Kollector can not be held responsible for the validity of any of the information, nor do we accept responsibility for views expressed here by other people. | ||
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MARCH 15, 1999 |  |
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KISS rocks Holland like never before | |
| - From KISS Kollector, RH - | ||
Well, it's been a few days since KISS Kollector Online was last updated. Let's say we needed
some time to get a grip on ourselves, after KISS blasted through this part of Europe... Now
that they're at a safe distance (they play in Milan, Italy, tonight — some 1,000 miles
or 1,600 kilometers from Holland), we found a way to get back to the reality of everyday life.
;-)
So what has been going on? KISS played in Holland last Saturday and what a great show it was! For the first time since the reunion, the show was perfect and the band was in good shape as well. During the first reunion show in Holland (Rotterdam, December 1996) we saw a lot of things go wrong show-wise and back then the band didn't play too tight either. The 1997 Utrecht concert started out really, really well, but after the show had to be stopped for 45 minutes (due to a security problem in front of the stage), the spirit was gone, both with the audience and the band. Come back here tomorrow, to read how it was different this time around, when we review KISS show in Utrecht on March 13. 
A couple of days earlier, KISS Kollector visited some German shows as well. Like promised last
week, we bring you reviews of two more shows: the
March 8 Cologne show and the
March 9 Frankfurt show. Make
sure to check them out. Meanwhile today, all six Dutch national papers had a piece on the
concert in Utrecht. Five featured a review, of which two were accompanied by a photo. The
sixth paper (de Volkskrant) only carried a photograph of Gene and Paul. More on these
reviews tomorrow. For now, here are the headlines (in Dutch):
Algemeen Dagblad: "Guitarist KISS is vooral zielig" NRC Handelsblad: "Simmons steekt zijn 3-D-tong nog verder zaal in" Het Parool: "Hardrock Abba" De Telegraaf: "KISS beproeft recept" Trouw: Voor vaandeldraagers van de glitterrock tellen jaren niet" |
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KISS articles in Dutch newspapers | |
| - From KISS Kollector, JvP - | ||
| On Friday March 12 one of Holland's nationwide newspapers, de Volkskrant, ran an almost full page article on KISS. Seven photos accompanied the article, which consisted of an interview with KISS Kollector Fanclub and other fans, plus interviews with an editor of Holland's hard rock magazine Aardschok and the musical director of Holland's Radio 3FM nationwide pop music radio station. One day earlier, another nationwide newspaper ran an almost half-page article on KISS, which was basically an interview with KISS Kollector Fanclub. A big photo of Gene live in concert, was printed next to the article. Click here to check out pictures of both articles. | ||
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KISS cartoon animation in Cake's new video clip | |
| - From KISS Kollector, JvP - | ||
| The video for Cake's latest single Sheep Go To Heaven, from their album Prolonging The Magic, features 'KISS'. The clip is a cartoon animation and throughout the clip you can not only see the Cake band members as cartoon characters, but KISS cartoon characters appear a few times as well. | ||
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MARCH 11, 1999 | |
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Paul Stanley to star in The Phantom Of The Opera! | |
| - From KISS Kollector, RH - | ||
Some truly amazing news emerged today. Paul Stanley is gonna star in the world-famous musical
production The Phantom Of The Opera. He will put on the mask of 'The Phantom' eight
times a week, in a 10-week run, from May 25 until August 1, 1999. The production of The
Phantom that Paul will be part of, has been running for ten years at the Pantages Theatre
in Toronto, Canada. Paul has never made it a secret that Toronto is one of his favorite places
on this planet, so certainly won't mind staying there for a few months.
All kinds of questions arise of course. What happens to the Psycho Circus World Tour? Is Paul already planning a career for life after KISS? The tour will continue after the release of the Detroit Rock City movie in August. The band will first start the second US leg of the tour and plans on going to Asia in the fall. If this only is a one-off for Paul or if he plans a career in this direction, is really to early to tell. At the press conference in Toronto announcing the news (which Paul joined by phone from Germany), he only stated that he has been wanting to do this for ten years and that he thinks it is a big challenge. Ticket prices range from 33.50 to 75 Canadian dollars, if you buy your ticket before April 4. They can be ordered online from the Livent box office. To order by phone, call 416-872-2222 (groups of 20 or more should call 416-925-7466). Read all details currently available in these excerpts from articles that appeared on the Internet: "Toronto-based theatrical producer Livent announced today that its long-running production of Andrew Lloyd-Webber's The Phantom Of The Opera would leave Toronto's Pantages Theatre on September 26, 1999. With roughly six months to go before the show's 10th anniversary, the company also announced the signing of three performers who will don the mask. They are Canadian singing star René Simard, Canadian song-and-dance sensation Jeff Hyslop, and most surprisingly, Paul Stanley, the lead singer of the rock band KISS. Messrs. Simard and Hyslop attended the press conference, while Mr. Stanley made his introduction to the press via a long distance phone call. Paul said that he's wanted to play the role for ten years and hopes to introduce theater to a broader audience (...)." "(...) Andrew Lloyd Webber's mega-musical opened at the newly renovated vaudeville theatre on Yonge Street in downtown Toronto on September 20, 1989 and (...) it has since become the longest-running stage musical in the history of Canadian theatre. On April 16 the Toronto production will reach its 4,000th performance, surpassing most Broadway hits. Almost seven million tickets have been sold and box office revenues exceed $560 million. (...) While Phantom may be closing, it isn't going without one final gimmick. From April 2 until the 540-kilogram chandelier comes crashing down for the last time, three performers will put on the trademark white mask. René Simard, Quebec's youthful singing sensation in the 1970s, plays the tortured phantom from April 2 to May 23. (...) Exchanging his make-up for a disfigured face from May 25 to August 1, is Paul Stanley, lead singer in the rock group KISS. Speaking by phone from Germany, where the band is on tour, Stanley said he has always wanted to do the phantom and is grateful he was able to find a block of time. "It's a big challenge," he said. "I'm crossing lines into new territory." Ending Phantom's run will be Jeff Hyslop, who first played the role in 1992 (...)." For more information, check out the stories on these web pages: www.abcnews.go.com/wire/Entertainment/Reuters19990311_37.html www.canoe.ca/Theatre/mar11_phantom_cp.html www.digitalhit.com/byephantom.shtml |
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An in-depth look at the European Psycho Circus Tour | |
| - From KISS Kollector, RH - | ||
Today we continue our coverage of the European tour. KISS seems to be doing well over here,
maybe not as well as on the Alive/Worldwide 1996-1997 Tour, but if there is a difference, it's
hard to notice. Most arena's are full, if not sold out. Extra shows were added in Sweden and
Germany. Media coverage is growing in several countries and in Holland the commercial for the
March 13 show has started airing on national tv again, after a few weeks of absence.
The set list for the European shows is:Psycho Circus Shout It Out Loud Deuce Do You Love Me? Firehouse Shock Me Let Me Go, Rock 'N' Roll Calling Dr. Love Into The Void King Of The Night Time World God Of Thunder Within I Was Made For Lovin' You Love Gun 100,000 Years Rock And Roll All Nite The encores are: Beth Detroit Rock City Black Diamond That makes 19 songs in total, plus the solo spots, of course. We will start reviewing some German shows tomorrow. Right now, please let us take you back one week to the fifth European show in Gothenburg. The very detailed review that Jesper Brogaard wrote, may be a surprise to some of the fans that have criticized KISS for being predictable. It seems not every set list is the same this tour... and the band occasionally even throws in that extra twentieth song! And what about the opening of the show?! Read on, check out this great review of the KISS show in Gothenburg on March 4. |
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Four different covers for French magazine Hard Rock | |
| - From KISS Kollector, RH, special thanks to Tristan Glassey - | ||
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After the support for the KISS show in Paris on March 22 from Hard 'N' Heavy magazine
(also listed as one of the sponsors), another important rock magazine in France now pays tribute
to the 'Big Bisou'. The March issue of Hard Rock is really very special: four different
full color covers are available at the newsstands, each featuring a KISS member. There are
actually only two different versions of the magazine. One of them features Ace on the front
cover, while the back cover is a reverse front cover starring Paul. Gene and Peter are on the
other one. The covers are all really awesome.
In 1996, US music magazine Spin was the first publication to do four different covers with KISS for one issue. American magazine go figure! followed this great example last year. The French Hard Rock is the first magazine in Europe to do something similar. The whole idea is of course inspired by the covers of the 1978 KISS solo albums. In this special issue of Hard Rock the four members are interviewed in classic KISS style. The 8-page article also features a giveaway, in which ten (!) complete sets of KISS albums can be won. |
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MARCH 10, 1999 | |
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European tour news from the road | |
| - From KISS Kollector, JvP - | ||
Until we find the time to put full reviews on the site (these are busy days for KISS Kollector, with KISS in Europe), here are some quick updates on the European leg of the Psycho Circus Tour.
There's no real surprises, or it should be that the band doesn't use cherry pickers (hydraulic
lifts) this time. They have also cut back on the lighting show. As for the fireworks though,
there's lots more and also different fireworks than before. Compared to the very first show on
the Psycho Circus Tour (which KISS Kollector attended in Los Angeles last year), not only the
band has improved, but in particular the 3-D effects. During Detroit Rock City the
effects on the video screens include the much talked about KISS car, the Prowler, which goes up
in flames — pretty much along the lines of the song lyric.
Paul (who is wearing a brace around his left knee) still flies out over the crowd during Love Gun, to sing the song from a small platform in the middle of the venue. This time he also steps down from the platform behind the crash barriers, where he greets the fans and does some high fives with the fans standing closest to him. A great effect that has been added to the show, is Ace's spinning fireworks that ignite from the neck of his guitar during the guitar solo in Rock And Roll All Nite. As could be seen from the very first beginning of the tour, Peter's drum riser not only goes up into the air, but it also moves forward to the edge of the stage during his drum solo, where it hangs like a UFO. Peter has slightly changed his solo, which now also includes electronic pads. As for tour merchandise, there's no specific t-shirt for each and every city on this tour. Just a few general tour shirts, including one with an 'over all' print in black and white. The tour book says "World Tour 1998-1999" on the front and features some live photos from the US leg of the tour. KISSTORY II is not available at the merchandise stands, but you can still get KISSTORY (the first book) and also the tour edition action figures and a few other items. At the fan-organized KISS Expos (with special guest Bruce Kulick, who's sporting a cool goattee nowadays) , Eric Carr's Rockheads mini CD is available. Although it's only a 4-track album, it's a great addition to any KISS collection. On some songs Eric's voice sounds just like Gene's and the tunes are all very accessible and recognizable. KISS Kollector Online will bring you reviews of at least four shows in the coming days, so make sure you come back. For now, here's a reminder of the remaining KISS Expos, that are being held in some of the cities that KISS plays during the European tour: March 12: Konsul Hackfeld Haus (Birkenstrasse 34), Bremen, Germany March 13: Tivoli (Oude Gracht 245), Utrecht, Holland Check KISS Kollector Online's Psycho Tour section for a listing of the remaining 16 European shows. |
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Original KISS outfits at the Orlando Hard Rock Cafe | |
| - From KISS Kollector, JvP - | ||
As reported around the time of the Halloween concert at Dodger Stadium in Los Angeles, the Orlando Hard Rock Cafe purchased the costumes and instruments the band used on stage at Dodger
Stadium back on October 31, 1998. We now have a photo of those KISS items on display at the Hard
Rock Cafe in Orlando, Florida, as you can see here. Pictured on this shot are Peter's costume
and drum set, plus Ace's outfit. According to an employee of the Hard Rock Cafe, they had to pay
$250,000 to obtain the four original KISS costumes and instruments. Next week we'll show you
some more KISS memorabilia on display at the Orlando Hard Rock Cafe.
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MARCH 7, 1999 | |
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KISS in several hard rock polls in Holland | |
| - From KISS Kollector, JvP - | ||
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Holland's prestigious music magazine OOR runs a two page hard rock/heavy metal 'special'
in their new March 6 issue. It consists of 10 hard rock/heavy metal related polls. KISS can be
found in four of these polls. They're at No. 3 in the '10 most important hard rock acts' category
of which the Top 5 reads: 1. Led Zeppelin; 2. Deep Purple; 3. KISS; 4. The Sweet; 5. Queen. They're also at No. 3 in the 'Icons' category, the Top 5 of which is: 1. Status Quo; 2. Lemmy
(Motorhead); 3. KISS; 4. Angus Young (AC/DC); 5. Spinal Tap.
KISS is at No. 5 with the album Alive! in the category '10 crucial albums according to OOR readers' (they're not in the category '10 crucial albums' however, which probably has been selected by the magazine itself). Finally, they appear in the category '10 favorite acts according to OOR readers', at No. 7. The Top 5 of this category is: 1. Deep Purple; 2. Led Zeppelin; 3. Black Sabbath; 4. Ozzy Osbourne; 5. Queensryche. |
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Slower updates while KISS Kollector Online is on tour | |
| - From KISS Kollector, JvP - | ||
| In the next few days updates on the web site will be slower as KISS Kollector Online will be on the road following a few of KISS' European shows. So, please bare with us. Once we get back, you can expect detailed reviews of some concerts. | ||
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MARCH 4, 1999 | |
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KISS action figures even more successful than last year | |
| - From KISS Kollector, JvP - | ||
| More and more artists want to have action figures of themselves. Ozzy Osbourne, of the reunited Black Sabbath, is the latest rocker who has his own action figure. In the March 26 issue of Billboard magazine Sony Signatures' Joe Bongiovi talks about the toys. Part of the article reads as follows: ""Everyone of our artists wants to make a toy" says Joe Bongiovi, VP of music licensing and marketing at Sony Signatures. Among his clients is KISS, with its action figures by Todd McFarlane Toys a hit both as tour merchandise and in toy and gift stores. Last year's Psycho Circus collection has done even better than the initial line in 1997, says Bongiovi." | ||
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Gods of Metal '99 without KISS | |
| - From KISS Kollector, JvP, special thanks to Tristan Glassey - | ||
| Lately rumors had been going round that KISS might co-headline the two day Gods Of Metal '99 festival in Milan, Italy on June 5 and 6 along with Metallica. The latest issue of France's rock magazine RockSound reports that KISS won't play at Gods Of Metal '99 however. Metallica and several other bands, such as Slayer, Monster Magnet and Motorhead, are said to are amongst the acts that will perform on one of those days. | ||
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MARCH 2, 1999 | |
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KISS articles in several newspapers all over Holland | |
| - From KISS Kollector, JvP - | ||
Dutch newspaper Haagsche Courant ran a great article on KISS in their Thursday
February 25 issue. On the front page of the newspaper a small photo of Ace was printed
(see picture) next to the line: "KISS is back again and like they used to be".
On the front page of the paper's lifestyle section, called 'Vandaag de dag', a full
page full color story on KISS can be seen. It has a great promo shot of Paul, Gene,
Ace and Peter; and the cool thing is that the newspaper used an enlarged version of
the KISS logo that was especially designed for KISS Kollector Online's quarterly
KISS Kollector magazine (the one with the 1978 solo faces in the logo). The
article consists mainly an interview with yours truly, after a short explanation by
the interviewer of what KISS is all about. Click here
to see the actual article.
More stories like this can be expected in other Dutch newspapers in the coming days, as both Algemeen Dagblad (the second biggest paper in Holland) and de Volkskrant will have similar articles a few days before the concert in Holland on March 13. Both papers interviewed me today for these upcoming stories. Algemeen Dagblad will publish the article on March 11, while de Volkskrant will run the story on March 12. The former is also trying to get an interview with the band for the article, as the interviewer will attend the KISS show in Cologne, Germany on March 7. Furthermore, Holland's one and only hardrock magazine Aardschok is trying to have one of their photographers do a photo session with the band. Keep coming back here to find out if other Dutch magazines and/or newspapers are going to pay attention to KISS as well. |
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Is there too much to handle for KISS Kollector Online? | |
| - From KISS Kollector, JvP - | ||
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Although we still manage to update the KISS Kollector Online web site very regularly (almost
on a daily basis), particularly over the last few days most updates went online a few days
later than planned. There's so much news to report and therefore so many news updates are
being written every day, that sometimes it unfortunately takes a while until the news can
actually be read on these pages. Preparing everything takes its time, especially because we
try to put as many pictures online with the articles as possible.
Also, over the last few months we have been receiving so much e-mail (not to mention the letters and faxes the KISS Kollector Fanclub also receives outside of the digital world), that it takes quite some time to answer as much (e-)mail as possible. Obviously, this slows down the ability to update the web site. So, please bare with us and don't worry if you don't find your own news report (keep e-mailing them to kiss@animalize.com!) on the site that very same day... Every report, review or other message that we can use,will be find its way to a news update as soon as possible. If you don't receive a reply to your e-mail within a day, please be patient, instead of e-mailing a reminder every two days. Your voice will be heard, and we do get back to you whenever we can. Other than that, we can only say: rock and roll all nite and party every day! |
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MARCH 1, 1999 | |
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More concerts added in Germany | |
| - From KISS Kollector, JvP - | ||
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The European leg of the Psycho Circus World Tour kicked off last Friday in Helsinki, Finland.
Reportedly, the concert was sold out. Meanwhile, extra shows in Germany have been announced,
while in Holland almost 13,000 tickets of the approximately 16,000 available have been sold.
The two extra shows in Germany bring the total number of shows on the European leg of the Psycho
Circus Tour to 25. No less than nine of these shows are in Germany. It's safe to say that Germany
is the most KISS crazy European country, together with Sweden (four shows). The two concerts
were advertised late last week and already went on sale last Saturday. The dates are:
March 27: Westfalenhalle, Dortmund, Germany March 28: Ostseehalle, Kiel, Germany Check KISS Kollector Online's Psycho Tour section for a complete listing of all European and other tour dates. |
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Set list for the European Psycho Circus Tour | |
| - From KISS Kollector, JvP - | ||
Thanks to Antti Iiskola, we can now inform you what the set list for the opening show in Europe
was (and probably will be for the rest of the tour). In Helsinki, Finland, the band played the
following songs (not necessarily in the right order):
Psycho CircusShout It Out Loud Deuce King Of The Night Time World Shock Me Let Me Go, Rock And Roll Into The Void (guitar solo) Within (drum solo) Firehouse (fire breathing) Cold Gin God Of Thunder (blood spitting) 100,000 Years Do You Love Me? Calling Dr. Love I Was Made For Lovin' You Love Gun Rock And Roll All Nite Beth Detroit Rock City Black Diamond |
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ESP album to be released in Holland soon | |
| - From KISS Kollector, JvP - | ||
| The Lost And Spaced album, as recorded by ESP (Eric Singer Project) last year and available Stateside since early this year, will soon be released in Holland too. Suburban Marketing & Distribution (the same label that released UNION's debut album in Holland) will be putting ESP's album out soon. The Eric Singer Project consists of ex-KISS drummer Eric Singer, ex-KISS guitarist Bruce Kulick (now in UNION), ex-Ace Frehley bassist Karl Cochran and ex-Motley Crue singer John Corabi (now in UNION). The album contains ten awesome covers of classic rock songs (from classic rock bands such as Humble Pie, Deep Purple and Aerosmith), including KISS' Goin' Blind. But there's an even bigger link to KISS, as KISS' own Spaceman Ace Frehley makes a guest appearance on the last track, a cover of Jimi Hendrix' Foxy Lady. The CD has been recorded at Cheyenne Recording in Woodland Hills, California with the help of co-producer and engineer Curt Cuomo. | ||
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