Here's KISS in front of a packed Riverbend Music Center last night in Cincinnati!

Photo by Dean Snowden for KISSonline.

KISS kicks off tour to help wounded warriors

By ELOISE OGDEN

When fair-goers packed the new grandstand for the KISS concert last Saturday night at the North Dakota State Fair, they also were helping military members returning from war who have been wounded.

Minot was the second stop for the rock group's 32-city North American "The Hottest Show on Earth" tour.

Cheyenne Frontier Days in Cheyenne, Wyo., was the first stop, the night before Minot, where KISS kicked off donating $1 from every concert ticket sold to go to Central Savannah River Area Wounded Warrior Care Project in Augusta, Ga. The tour ends in Fontana, Calif., Sept. 25.

The KISS concert in Cheyenne had a total attendance of 16,715 people and $15,884 will go to the Wounded Warrior Care Project, Cheyenne Frontier Days officials said.

Laurie Ott, of Augusta, executive director of the CRSA Wounded Warrior Care Project, hearing the number of tickets sold at the State Fair's KISS show, said, "That's just incredible." KISS also reportedly played to record-breaking crowds in Cheyenne.

New members keep band rocking and rolling all night

By John J. Moser, OF THE MORNING CALL

Four years ago, when Kiss frontman and co-founder Paul Stanley was promoting his first solo disc in 28 years and first solo tour ever, he said in an interview that slipping sales and flagging interest in any Kiss music besides the hits made him doubt the band would ever again record a new album.

It had already been eight years since Kiss recorded "Psycho Circus," the first disc featuring the band's original members in nearly 20 years, amid a five-year reunion tour that brought Stanley and co-founder Gene Simmons back together with former members Ace Frehley and Peter Criss.

Fast-forward to today.

Kiss not only recorded a new album, "Sonic Boom," in 2009, but it became the group's highest-charting disc ever, reaching No. 2 on Billboard's albums chart.

And now the group is two years into a tour to celebrate the 35th anniversary of its breakthrough disc, 1975's "Alive," which gave the band its first Top 10 album, as well as its first hit, "Rock and Roll All Night."

Here are some photos taken before KISS' show last night in Pittsburgh.

KISS returns to Mexico for the first time since 2004 with three scheduled shows this fall!

Sept 28 Monterey, Mexico - Teatro Banamex
Sept 30 Mexico City, Mexico - Sports Palace
Oct 2 Guadalajara, Mexico - 3 De Marzo Stadium

Stay tuned to KISSOnline for details on the KISS Army presale.

Maria Menounos' Rockin' KISS Makeover

It's all smiles when KISS rock stars Gene Simmons and Paul Stanley make their way onto the set of Access Hollywood for an interview with Maria Menounos in Burbank, Calif., on July 19, 2010

By Scott Mervis, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette
Photo by John Heller/Post-Gazette

When Kiss announced a summer tour that would allow four kids in free with an adult lawn ticket, it was natural to envision a circus-like atmosphere with Kiss toy booths dotting the hillside and vendors selling glowsticks that every kid would have to have.

Gene Simmons did after all learn a few things from Ringling Brothers.

That's not the way it was though Thursday night for the second local Kiss show in eight months. There were more little ones than usual in Kiss T-shirts and painted faces, but the band didn't go all Wiggles on us.

Thirty-six years in, the fab four played a typically hard-hitting and explosive Kiss show with all the requisite pyrotechnic thrills and an expanded set that blew well past the usual 11 p.m. curfew.

It did not start, like so many Kiss shows, with The Demon singing the first line of "Deuce": "Get up, and get your grandma outta here!" Grandma, after all, may have been buying the $40 shirt. Plus, Kiss has relevancy and a newish album to sell, so it kicked things off with the "Sonic Boom" single "Modern Day Delilah."

Here's KISS bowing before a wild Pittsburgh crowd last night!

Photo by Dean Snowden for KISSonline.

Here's KISS with Doc McGhee holding a check for $8,795.00 for the CSRA Wounded Warriors project last night at the Pittsburgh show! KISS is donating one dollar from every admission sold throughout the Hottest Show On Earth Tour to CSRA Wounded Warriors.

Photo by Dean Snowden for KISSOnline.

Check out these fan photos taken during last night's Pittsburgh KISS concert!

Check out the KISS Army at KISS' Pittsbugh-area show last night!

Here are some more great shots of fans from last night's show in the Pittsburgh area!

Posted By: Amy Harris

The Hottest Show on Earth tour which kicked off July 23 in Cheyenne, Wyoming and will be hitting Cincinnati Friday, July 30 at Riverbend Music Center. The boy are back with a tour that is bigger than ever and they are attracting whole new generations of fans.

We caught up with Ohio native, Eric Singer aka "CATMAN", drummer for the infamous band, to discuss local sports and the show on Friday.

CB: First question, how do you feel about Lebron leaving?
Eric: I get asked that obvious question a lot because everyone knows I am from Cleveland. We are all in a business. I am in the music business and he is in business as well for himself. I just tell people that there are good ways and not so good way to do these things. I think the way he chose is not the best way and not a good choice. He is trying to market himself and be his own brand like Jordan and he has been pretty successful. The best analogy is like you go on national TV and tell your wife that you are going to divorce her and that you found a new girl in Miami. He should not have done that. He should have done it like a typical announcement through an agent. I read that when Michael Jordon decided to re-up his contract with the Bulls that he just sent them a fax to tell them. He didn't go through some big announcement and make a big deal about it. I believe he knew well in advance and did not just decide that day like he said he did, but I guess only he knows. I am not saying it is a disloyalty thing because he was a free agent. It was just the way that he did it was not appropriate.

Guitarist Thayer aces KISS' 'Spaceman' role

By Paul Clark

The classic metal band Kiss will play tonight at Riverbend, featuring founding members Gene Simmons and Paul Stanley along with drummer Eric Singer and lead guitarist Tommy Thayer. We talked last week with Thayer, who replaced Ace Frehley eight years ago as the band's "Spaceman" character.

Question: You came to Kiss by way of the band Black 'n Blue and after playing with a Kiss tribute band, and you actually started with Kiss as a kind of "Man Friday", is that correct?

Answer: All of the above. I'd been with Black 'n Blue in the '80s, and we were lucky enough to open for Kiss. The relationship evolved from there, through all the ups and downs.

* Take our KISS quiz

Q: You're a better musician than Ace is - do you think beneath all the face paint you've carved out your own identity?

A: When I came in, in 2002, I had big shoes to fill. Ace had a legacy and really helped established what Kiss was. It's a slow process, but I'm the guy now.

Live music portal simfy live is back in North America with KISS on The Hottest Show on Earth Tour 2010. The band has partnered up with simfy live once again to record their complete tour.

The Hottest Show on Earth will trek through arenas and amphitheaters throughout the United States and Canada. simfy live features high-quality live audio recordings (320 kbit/s MP3) of this very tour. All live audio recordings are available on a 2-CD DigiPak or a KISS USB flash drive. Get them at the venue or order them online.

Buy KISS Hottest Show On Earth Live Recordings