Many artists spend their whole lives touring. After all, making music doesn’t necessarily come with a 401k and a retirement plan. Consequently, they have to perform deep into their careers, even when they’re far past their physical prime. As long as they still know how to put on a show, it’ll still work out. Only a good handful of artists are successful enough where they can finally retire and coast off the residuals of their success.
KISS was one of those bands, highly successful for decades until they finally decided to hang it up for good after their End of the Road World Tour. Now, they’re sharing a behind-the-scenes look at what happened on their documentary, premiering November 19th on their website.
Still, they want the KISS iconography and band to continue even when they’re too old to keep the spirit alive. Consequently, they shared their intentions to create an avatar show to keep their likeness going even when they’ve hung it up.
“It’s about the four persons, the four characters,” Paul Stanley told Billboard. “It’s a timeless thing, so I totally get those four going on. I can get older, but he [Stanley’s Starchild character] won’t.”
It’s not as if the band wasn’t interested in performing still. But according to Gene Simmons, all the band members decided they didn’t want to look like a husk of themselves. Consequently, their world tour was them leaving the game before the game fully left them.
KISS Knew Exactly When It Was Time to Get Off The Stage
“We’ve seen bands that wait too long to get off the road and it’s sad,” Gene Simmons added. “I didn’t want to become fat, bloated, naked Elvis on the bathroom floor. So you have to know when to get off the stage as KISS. But that doesn’t mean (the band) has to end.”
Because they were hanging it up, they didn’t mind allowing DJ Viola, the film’s director, to get a full, unabashed look at them behind the scenes.
“For 50 years, KISS has been protective of what happens behind the curtain. Everyone says they want to show the ‘warts and all,’ but very few actually mean it,” Viola said. “This time, the band opened that curtain completely. What you discover is that beneath all the makeup, pyro and spectacle is an unwavering commitment to giving their fans the greatest show possible. After 50 years, that dedication hasn’t diminished one bit.”
Photo by Chris Sweda/Chicago Tribune/Tribune News Service via Getty Images
The post Legendary Rock Band Admits They Quit Touring Because They Didn’t Want to End Up Like ‘Fat, Bloated, Naked Elvis’ appeared first on VICE.
