To feed my curiosity of the happenings of what would become a historic performance, I had to rely on coverage from the rock magazines of the time ( Metal Edge), as well as Canada’s music video channel, Much Music. I learned there were a few surprises from the show, but none bigger than the eventual reunion with original guitarist Ace Frehley and drummer Peter Criss. Living in Canada, I didn’t subscribe to MTV, and the internet was in its infancy. But KISS? Unplugged? Could they pull it off? I could imagine a few songs that would translate to acoustic versions, but not their big thumping arena anthems. It was also the year that KISS took the stage at Sony Studios in New York City for MTV’s Unplugged Series. I was 22 at the time and living in Toronto where KISS would frequently make stops. I was a fan of and purchased previous performances from the Unplugged era including Pearl Jam, Stone Temple Pilots, and probably the most successful one of them all – Nirvana’s performance. Kendall Jenner and Patrick Mahomes were born, and drinks at a bar were $2.50. show, Criss destroyed his drum kit and appeared to be relieved that he was now free from the band’s confines.The year is 1995. Two months later, at the end of the tour’s final U.S. In August 2000, Frehley came so close to missing a show that the band was forced to reveal its fallback – that crewman Tommy Thayer (who’s said to have contributed to Psycho Circus) had been fitted for his own version of Frehley’s Spaceman outfit and was ready to stand in at any moment due to the original guitarist’s increasing unreliability during the tour.Īrriving 20 minutes before showtime, and seeing Thayer ready to go on, Frehley didn’t seem to take the hint that he’d become replaceable. I run a management company, not the Red Cross. This was the third tour with the same set list."Įven manager Doc McGhee had ordered Stanley and Simmons to make changes, telling them, “These guys are just terrible. We were stuck in a rut musically as well - basically playing the same 17 songs we'd taught them for the initial reunion. "I bought into the idea that this really was it. “I was angry at Peter and Ace for being disrespectful toward everything we had accomplished and everything the fans were giving us," he explained. In his 2014 memoir Face the Music: A Life Exposed, he claimed that the lead duo “spent all of our energy trying to coax Peter and Ace out of their hotel rooms” during the tour. It seems that, for Stanley at least, it was already too late. With the tension becoming unbearable, Stanley and Simmons responded by announcing the Kiss farewell tour of 2000. I just wasn't invited to any of the sessions." The reason I'm not on any of the songs is because I wasn't asked to be on them. "When you hear Paul and Gene talk about it, it's like I didn't show up. The situation, naturally, left Frehley and Criss frustrated, with Criss observing later that Simmons and Stanley "were offering us $850,000 each not to play!" “I wasn't invited to the studio," Frehley said in 2014. It was later revealed that Frehley and Criss had contributed to only three tracks in the studio, after producer Bruce Fairbairn decided that they didn’t “cut it as players.” In fact, all four members played together on only “Into the Void,” often regarded as the LP’s highlight.
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