For long-time lovers of KISS, last night at Madison Square Garden was a moment they’d dreaded for years, ever since the long-running End of the Road Tour began on 31st January 2019 at the Rogers Arena in Vancouver. KISS – Gene Simmons, Paul Stanley, Eric Singer and Tommy Thayer – ended over half a century of live performances with God Gave Rock ‘n’ Roll To You, left the stage….and then the big surprise of the night. Their characters of Demon, the Starchild, Catman and Spaceman arrived as avatars, announcing to the world that their human counterparts may have finished their time in the make-up, but KISS would live on in much the same way that ABBA returned in ABBA Voyage. Once again, ILM were part of the magic that has allowed KISS to live on, and while the exact time and place of this new era has yet to be unmasked, one thing’s for sure; KISS are ready to Rock and Roll All Night.
As midnight neared in Madison Square Garden, the ascending minor chords of the group’s final encore—“God Gave Rock n’ Roll To You”—drifted up into the rafters, the New York City night, and to the home audiences paying $39.99 on Pay-per-view. The heavens, too. Five decades of heavy metal and heavy makeup, after all, were about to end.
And then came the holographic rapture.
Luminous and levitating, the members of KISS ascended. Not those earthly forms known as Gene Simmons, Paul Stanley, and the “newbies” Eric Singer and Tommy Thayer; they’d vanished, presumably backstage. It was time for their avatars—Demon, the Starchild, Catman, and Spaceman—to take over the performance as colossal figures that, through a combination of LED screen projection, lasers, and heavy metal smoke and pyrotechnics, appeared three dimensional and much larger than life.
Demon, now 8 feet tall, sprouted wings. Starchild’s fingertips crackled with pink lightning. And the group, having shuffled off their AARP-eligible mortal coils, entertained those who had, like them, put their faith in loud guitars.
