KISS Members Attend Florida Screening Of 'Symphony' DVD

Ivette M. Yee of South Florida Sun-Sentinel reports that "KISS members Gene Simmons, Peter Criss and Tommy Thayer appeared at Royal Palm Beach Stadium 18 theater [Tuesday night, September 9] to watch 'Kiss Symphony', a documentary film that captures the band in concert with the Melbourne Symphony Orchestra in Australia in February. The band will be headlining a concert with AEROSMITH on Friday at the Sound Advice Amphitheatre west of West Palm Beach.

"But 176 die-hard fans couldn't wait.

" 'I chased down the [radio station] van to get tickets,' said Alfred Grittner, 37, clad in a KISS shirt, black bandana and fierce boots Simmons might wear. 'When I was a kid I wasn't allowed to go see KISS because my father was strict. I've been making up for it ever since.'

"The band has one of the most well-known followings in rock 'n' roll history. The film, which includes fans, shows the meticulous preparation and collaboration KISS underwent in its first performance with a symphony.

" 'This was an orchestra used to playing Mozart, Schubert and Beethoven, and here they were playing 'Gods of Thunder' and yet it was so right,' guitarist and front man Paul Stanley says in the film.

" 'Kiss Symphony' is playing in select theaters across the country and also has been released on CD, 'Kiss Symphony: Alive IV'.

"Henry Carlton, 7, posed as 'The Starchild', Stanley's masked moniker, on Tuesday night, and was one of the few KISS face-painters in the crowd.

"Other fans clutched worn LPs, glossy photos and CDs for the rockers to sign.

" 'We're doing this for our fans,' Simmons said. 'The best feeling is looking out into the crowd during a concert and seeing all the KISS crazies. And the irony is we've never gotten to check ourselves out. Now we can.'

"The band took the middle row in the movie theater, munching on popcorn and passing the huge tubs to people in the next row. A pleasant Simmons shared sugar-coated nuts." Read more.