KISS have performed their last ever show as humans at Madison Square Garden – here’s how the night went.
The band embarked on the final show of their ‘End of the Road’ farewell tour, where they unveiled that it would be their last outing as a band in human form. KISS instead announced that they will continue in the future as virtual avatars by the end of the show – read below for more details on their Madison Square Garden affair.
After a giant curtain dropped to reveal the band playing from huge suspended platforms from the roof, KISS kicked the night off with ‘Detroit Rock City’.
The band then treated fans to plenty of jaw-dropping moments; Gene Simmons breathed fire whilst performing ‘I Love It Loud’. Meanwhile, the bassist also spat blood during a solo in ‘Makin’ Love’, and guitarist Thommy Thayer and frontman Paul Stanley duelled against each other.
The night also saw Stanley zip-line about the giant crowd to another stage, where he performed ‘I Was Made For Lovin’ You’ and ‘Black Diamond’.
It was the encore that saw the biggest shock of the night, where KISS played three songs. They began with ‘Beth’, where drummer Eric Singer took to a grand piano and was elevated above the stage to sing the track. Then, the band performed ‘Do You Love Me’, ended with a stream of balloons that poured from the top of the stadium.
But it was ‘Rock and Roll All Nite’ which held the biggest surprise of the night. Not only were there classic fireworks and pyrotechnics (and a Stanley guitar smash), he finished the night by saying: “We’re not going anywhere, you’ll see us in all different things, all the time. See you in your dreams. We love you, goodnight.”
The quartet walked off stage to usher in the new KISS era: a virtual band.
Finally, the night truly ended on ‘God Gave Rock and Roll to You II’, performed by virtual avatars of the band. The avatars were made by George Lucas’ SFX company, Industrial Light & Magic. They were also made in collaboration with Pophouse Entertainment Group, which was co-founded by ABBA‘s Björn Ulvaeus.
Check out the full setlist below as well as photos from the night:
Setlist:
Detroit Rock City
Shout It Out Loud
Deuce
War Machine
Heaven’s on Fire
I Love It Loud
Say Yeah
Cold Gin
Guitar Solo
Lick It Up
Calling Dr. Love
Makin’ Love
Psycho Circus
Drum Solo
100,000 Years
Bass Solo
God of Thunder
Love Gun
I Was Made for Lovin’ You
Black Diamond
Encore:
Beth
Do You Love Me
Rock and Roll All Nite
(God Gave Rock and Roll to You II — performed by KISS avatars)
In other KISS news, Paul Stanley recently opened up about the illness that forced the band to cancel three recent shows.
Three of the band’s gigs had to be pulled after Stanley came down with the flu. They resumed the tour at the weekend in Indianapolis once he had fully recovered.
During the pre-show soundcheck and Q&A session, Stanley revealed the extent of just how serious his condition was. “I’ve done shows with cracked ribs, I’ve done shows with a 102 [degree] fever,” said Stanley. “I was wondering if it was my time.”