PAUL STANLEY: Last Time Singing ‘Rock And Roll All Nite’ At KISS’s Final Concert ‘Will Be Overwhelming’ 2023
In a new interview with Colombian radio station Radioacktiva, KISS frontman Paul Stanley was asked if he ever thinks about singing “Rock And Roll All Nite” for the last time in front of thousands of screaming fans at KISS’s final concert in December.
BLABBERMOUTH.NET reported his response: “Oh, very much so. As this tour draws to a finish, and it’s coming close—it seems to have gone on forever, this ‘finish Of The Road’ [tour], since we missed two years with the pandemic—I know that last night of singing will have so many mixed feelings. It will be joyful beyond my expectations. It’ll be overpowering. Will they cry? That’s a decent forecast.”
On March 1, SiriusXM’s “The Howard Stern Show” revealed KISS’s final two Madison Square Garden gigs in 2023.
KISS’s last North American tour begins in October in Texas and concludes at MSG on December 1 and 2.
Stanley told “The Howard Stern Show”: “December 1st and 2nd is Madison Square Garden. The band’s last two gigs. We’re concluding.
“Some people have kind of snickered and said, ‘This ‘End Of The Road’ tour has gone on for years.’ “COVID took two and a half years,” Paul said. “We would have finished. This concludes.
“When you come to see the show, it’s awesome,” he continued. “It’s the most high-tech show, yet it’s plainly a kick-ass rock and roll concert. It doesn’t loose its balls like Vegas. KISS on steroids.”
“Oh, I’m sure,” the 73-year-old bassist/vocalist stated when Howard Stern mentioned Gene Simmons’ prior statement that he would cry during KISS’s final show. I joke about’men don’t do that.’ I’ll cry like a nine-year-old girl whose foot is trodden on.
“KISS was born on 23rd street. “It’s only taken us 50 years to play the final shows 10 blocks away on 33rd street, which is Madison Square Garden,” he said.
KISS began its farewell tour in January 2019, but the COVID-19 epidemic halted it in 2020.
“End Of The Road” has been extended to late 2023 from July 17, 2021 in New York City. KISS performed “Detroit Rock City” on “America’s Got Talent” in September 2018 and announced the tour.
Stanley and Simmons are joined by guitarist Tommy Thayer (since 2002) and drummer Eric Singer (on and off since 1991).
In 2000, Stanley, Simmons, Peter Criss, and Ace Frehley’s 1973 band KISS embarked on their first “farewell” tour.
Stanley was recently questioned by Yahoo! entertainment music writer Lyndsey Parker if the farewell KISS show will be sad for him. “More than I know,” Paul answered. There’s going be some tears shed, for sure.
“Gene and I started this when I was 17 and he was 20, 21. 50 years afterwards. We’ve had exciting lives, families, and tremendous album and concert sales. It’s a major aspect of our life and identity. That last show is significant. It’ll hit harder than we expect. We know it’ll hit hard.”
Stanley remarked, “I really can’t say” if KISS’s “End Of The Road” tour’s last concert would be the band’s last or if they will play again in Las Vegas. However, it is the last regular concert or tour.
“It’s just time,” he said. It’s also time-consuming. We work hard physically. If I could perform in jeans and a t-shirt, I could easily add 10–15 years. Our sport is distinct. We’re athletes going about on stage with 30, 40, or more pounds of gear, so we can’t do that much longer. We’re unique.
“So, more shows or one-offs?” “I’m clueless,” Paul said. “But this is a real clear mindset that the touring days and doing those kind of shows, that’s over.”
Stanley informed Australia’s “Sunday Night” in early 2019 that “Rock And Roll All Nite” “has to be” KISS’s last encore at the “End Of The Road” tour’s finale. “That is the rock anthem that connects the world,” he said. It inspired numerous anthems. They weren’t real. “‘Rock And Roll All Nite And Party Every Day’ connects with people on many levels.”
Simmons told BUILD Series, “How do you not conclude with ‘Rock And Roll All Nite’? It’s likely we’ve played that song more than any other. ‘Aren’t you sick and tired of hearing that?’ The crowd’s noise and grease paint scent are unmatched. When you leave the stage and everyone’s excited, it’s like fire in the gut. You’re exhausted after a large event, yet you come up on stage and witness everyone’s excitement… We’ve seen everything. We’ve been there for decades, but when you see a 5-year-old kid in KISS makeup on his dad’s shoulders, next to his father… we’re badass people, so nothing touches us, but that stuff will leave a lump in your throat. Turn around briefly. It’s me. It’s music, but it’s generational and unites families.”
