A new era begins: Kiss announce that they're continuing as avatars

(Image credit: Kiss)

After 13 legs and 1767 days, Kiss's final tour is finally over. It began the best part of five years ago with a show at the Rogers Arena in Vancouver, Canada, on January 31, 2019. And now the Kiss have played their final ever show, pulling 20,000 members of the Kiss Army to Madison Square Garden in New York for one final pyrotechnic blow-out.

Of course, Kiss activity was always going to continue in some way, shape or form, and Gene Simmons has hinted as much. "I’m totally open to that idea," he told Rolling Stone earlier this month. "Why not pass the baton, pass the crown to four new, young people who are deserving?"

Well now we know: a countdown clock on Kiss's official website has just expired, and Kiss have revealed that they're continuing as avatars, following in the footsteps of the hugely successful Abba Voyage show in London, in which the four members of the Swedish pop icons perform a greatest hits set as lifelike 3D projections.

Fans who register at KissOnline are able to watch a short film entitled A New Era Begins, which shows a little behind-the-scenes detail, while thunder crashes, and band mainstays Gene Simmons and Paul Stanley hint at what's to come.

"The future is so exciting," says Simmons, while Stanley adds, "We can live on, eternally!"

A second film shows how the avatars were made, while a third features a conversation between Kiss and representatives of Pophouse (the Swedish company behind the Abba show) and George Lucas's visual effects company Industrial Light & Magic.

"On December 2nd 2023, Kiss, as we know them, performed their final ever concert," the final film begins. "But behind the scenes, a new venture was unfolding."

Live dates from the avatar version of Kiss have yet to be announced.

Online Editor at Louder/Classic Rock magazine since 2014. 40 years in music industry, online for 27. Also bylines for: Metal Hammer, Prog Magazine, The Word Magazine, The Guardian, The New Statesman, Saga, Music365. Former Head of Music at Xfm Radio, A&R at Fiction Records, early blogger, ex-roadie, published author. Once appeared in a Cure video dressed as a cowboy, and thinks any situation can be improved by the introduction of cats. Favourite Serbian trumpeter: Dejan Petrović.