Gene Simmons to headline festival in his first performance post-Kiss
The Gene Simmons Band will headline Brazil’s Summer Breeze festival this April.
Credit: Kevin Mazur/Getty Images for Live Nation
December saw Kiss finally pull the plug on their 50-year-long reign of glam rock majesty – but that doesn’t mean we’ve seen the last of the Kiss gang.
While Gene Simmons may have strung up his glitzy dragon platform boots, he’s certainly not finished exerting his rock ‘n’ roll charms. Brazilian festival Summer Breeze recently unveiled its packed-out 2024 line-up on Instagram – and the Gene Simmons Band will be making an appearance.
Set to headline on 26 April, the Gene Simmons Band performance will mark the bassist’s first time performing following the end of Kiss’s four-year-long End Of The Road Tour.
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The headline set will also be the first time Simmons has toured solo since 2018. On the tour, Simmons knocked out a slew of iconic Kiss tracks, as well as covers of Chuck Berry, The Beatles and Little Richard, alongside material from his own pair of solo records.
According to Loudwire, the Gene Simmons Band line-up is set to include guitarists Brent Woods (Sebastian Bach, Vince Neil) and Zach Throne (Corey Taylor), along with drummer Brian Tichy (Whitesnake, Billy Idol, Foreigner).
Kiss closed off their farewell tour with a shocking announcement that their rocking and rolling would be immortalised in digital form – their digitised selves knocking out a triumphant encore of God Gave Rock And Roll To You II.
The Kiss avatars have been brought to life thanks to the same technology that created the ABBA Voyage experience. Pophouse Entertainment explained that its teams were working on curating “immersive, avatar-powered” concerts using Kiss’ ILM-created avatars, with help from Hollywood special effects team Industrial Light & Magic.
Speaking to an eager fan, Simmons explained that “about 200 million” dollars had been invested into refining the technology. While we’re yet to see how well placed those bucks will prove to be, we’re glad to hear that Simmons is still going to be performing live – even if he’s not decked out in his leather get up and hair raising make-up.