Does BRUCE KULICK Think KISS Avatar Show Will Be A Success? 'I Wouldn't Count It Out', He Says

In a new interview with Loaded Radio, former KISS guitarist Bruce Kulick was asked if he thinks the upcoming KISS avatar show is going to do well. He responded (as transcribed by BLABBERMOUTH.NET): "I hate to ever count out the capabilities of creative minds with a lot of money and means. If you think about what the makeup characters represent, I've seen it in a comic book form. There were fanzines even that were drawing them. I was even included, not as necessarily a makeup person, but you know what I mean. 'THE BEATLES meet KISS, 'Asylum'-era KISS,' stuff like that. But there's something about technology that they have all these really great people who I know the way… I don't know much about the company that bought them, but I know they were very successful for the group ABBA. So will they be able to recreate that success for KISS? I say don't count them out, but I don't know what the public will think.

"I think there'll always be a certain part of the fans that needs something organic, just like maybe the CD will never go away, vinyl will never go away, cassettes will never go away," he continued. "Like maybe KISS live in person or even a tribute band to KISS live and in person still would feel maybe more than an incredible avatar performance. But that doesn't mean that this couldn't be something wildly successful. I just wouldn't count it out.

"There's lots of criticisms — I see people saying 'not interesting', 'can't wait' — but we know it's years off now. Years," Kulick added. "And I'm glad that they're recognizing that to do this right, it might take a lot of years. And let's see what the future holds for bringing people together in an environment to see KISS put on a show like no other. Who knows? But again, I can't fault them for trying that. 'Cause they clearly didn't wanna go the route of, 'We're gonna find the best tribute band ever and put them out.' The official KISS that isn't KISS, but they're all approved. And I know that there were reputable TV shows and producers that saw that as an opportunity for KISS, and they didn't bite. And I respect that, that they didn't choose it, but I could definitely see how that could have gone that route too. And they chose not to."

The technology being used for the KISS avatars, originally developed for ABBA's "Voyage" show in London, will allow KISS to stay "on the road" in retirement.

The KISS avatars were created by Industrial Light & Magic (ILM) and were financed and produced by the Swedish company Pophouse Entertainment, which is behind "ABBA Voyage".

Using cutting-edge technology, Pophouse Entertainment Group, which was founded by ABBA's Björn Ulvaeus, will create digital versions of KISS. The project was previewed at the final KISS concert in New York in December 2023.

In September, Paul Stanley was asked by Billboard's "Behind The Setlist" podcast about the reports that the KISS avatar show will debut in 2027 in Las Vegas. Paul said: "What I can tell you is that the technology that's being used, which is a furthering of the technology used on the ABBA show, has to be installed and basically a building has to be built around it. So this isn't something where you're in Kansas City today, and tomorrow you fly with your projector to do it. It demands an arena, so to speak that's really solely used for a show like this. But it's not something that can play on Wednesdays and Thursdays or Saturdays and Sundays, and then something else is in there during the week."

In an interview with TMZ, Gene Simmons defended KISS's plans for an avatar concert similar to ABBA's with digital versions of the group.

"A.I. [artificial intelligence] is here to stay," he said. "Technology is here to stay. And you either join in and try to adapt and try to figure out how that works with you or you're just yesterday's news in a very real way.

"Truthfully, KISS has stopped touring," he continued. "We will never tour as KISS again. However, the end is also the beginning. We're gonna do things that will blow your socks off. But we couldn't do this without our new best friends for life Pophouse. They're really remarkable people."

When the interviewer asked if fans will embrace the concept of a concert that is A.I.-driven and consists of nothing but holograms, Gene said: "It's not just, 'Okay, they're gonna show up on stage just like they did before, but it's holograms. No. That's an archaic term. Technology has advanced so far, you won't believe it.

"We spent some time at George Lucas's place and did motion capture stuff secretly," he continued. "We didn't talk to anybody — media or anything — about it, because we wanted this to be like nothing anybody's ever seen. And I will tell you, if you've seen the ABBA show in London, which is phenomenal, this is gonna be beyond anything you've ever seen.

"So the future is here, and with our friends at Pophouse, who are visionaries, we're gonna be doing things that no band and no musical — nobody's ever done before," Gene added. "Our events are going to be multi, I wanna say multidimensional. You just won't believe your eyes. Things are gonna be so much larger than life in front of you. You won't believe it. We've already seen the first fragments of that. It's just jaw-droppingly amazing."

As part of the partnership, Pophouse will create digital versions of KISS that will allow the band and their unique personas to live forever. The project, already underway, was previewed at the final KISS show in Madison Square Garden, New York on December 2, 2023, when, to the audience's surprise, KISS avatars closed the night with a rendition of "God Gave Rock And Roll To You" (resulting in international headlines). Through a magical combination of cutting-edge technology and unrivalled creativity, Pophouse will bring the full, authentic KISS experience to both existing and new fans for years to come. The avatar show is planned to launch in 2027.