TOMMY THAYER On KISS's Final Concert: 'I Thought It Was A Fantastic Night'

December 3, 2023

KISS guitarist Tommy Thayer has reflected on the band's final performance, which took place last night (Saturday, December 2) at Madison Square Garden in New York City. Speaking to Allison Hagendorf in a short post-show interview for PPV.com, he said: "I thought it was a fantastic night. I felt really good about it. This is a celebration. But most importantly, this is Gene [Simmons, KISS bassist/vocalist] and Paul's [Stanley, KISS guitarist/vocalist] night. This has been their baby for 50 years, and I think everybody was really feeling that. I mean, it's KISS and everything too, of course, but this is about Gene and Paul tonight. This is their encore and their night."

Thayer went on to say that he got "emotional" at the end of the night. "I saw a lot of people out there with tears in their eyes," he said. "Gosh, Sebastian Bach [former SKID ROW singer], I saw him about ten rows out [in the audience]. He was bawling his eyes out. But it's an emotional night. I mean, KISS has been such a big part of everybody's lives for almost 50 years now. It is very emotional, very meaningful."

KISS's final concert at Madison Square Garden lasted two hours and 15 minutes and saw the legendary rockers perform to 20,000 fans at the second show of a two-night stand. After the set-closing "Rock And Roll All Nite", a message was displayed on the video screens, "A new KISS era starts now", and digital avatars of the four members of KISS appeared, playing the band's anthem "God Gave Rock And Roll To You". The announcement signaled that from here on out, KISS will perform as digital avatars.

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

A short video was released last night showing the members of KISS hooked up to the motion capture technology that helped generate their avatars.

The avatars will now be available for live shows around the world and in digital online settings, which some people collectively refer to as the metaverse.

KISS will reportedly become the first American band to go fully virtual and stage its own avatar show.

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