IS IT A BIRD...IS IT A PLANE!?

Eric Singer is enjoying life as the drummer for Kiss By Tim Parsons, Lake Tahoe Action Photo provided by Chuck Garric Kiss drummer Eric Singer, left, also plays in Alice Cooper’s band with South Lake Tahoe native Chuck Garric. Eric Singer describes Kiss as “rock meets Barnum and Bailey’s Circus,” making it his ideal band. “I always liked the entertainer-type drummers,” said Singer, who first joined Kiss in 1991. “For me, I feel Kiss is the perfect band as a musician, a performer and an entertainer.” Singer wears the cat-face makeup, which began with original drummer Peter Criss, who came up with idea because he said he has nine lives. The long-tongued bassist Gene Simmons is the Demon with bat wings, guitarist Paul Stanley the Starchild, and former guitarist Ace Frehley was the Spaceman. Singer enjoys wearing the makeup: “It allows you to let loose and be whoever you want to be,” he said. “It’s almost like when Superman would put on the cape or Batman would put on the mask. In some way...

Text by: excerpted (ie: borrowed) from Classic Rock's web site . Really blurry photos by: Me (left) The sheer excitement got to me...sorry!. Classic Rock has just returned from the Download Festival - and here's our quickfire reaction to Friday's proceedings: * Black Tide - Unfortunately we missed these Miami metal upstarts due to the car park being 186 miles away from the arena. Sorry, chaps! * Stone Gods - Strange to watch them on the Tuborg stage while standing on Tarmac (that's us, not the band). Tarmac (presumably part of the Donington race-way) is a rubbish surface for an outdoor fest. We want grass - or, at the very least, mud. Nevertheless these (mostly) ex-Darkness dudes acquitted themselves well, and overcame the absence of drummer Ed Graham with aplomb. (Graham was taken ill three days ago; his last-minute replacement was Robin Goodridge. Is this the same Goodridge who used to be the tub-thumper in Bush? Answers on a postcard, please.) Richie Edwards stil...

Taken from: GUITAR MAGAZINE GERMANY Annihilator's Jeff Waters interviews KISS' Tommy Thayer Jeff: First off, for those who may not be familiar with the history of Tommy Thayer, or think that you are just a relatively new replacement or fill-in for Ace Frehley, please tell us about your extensive resume; not just your accomplishments in Black and Blue, but also with your being an integral part of the KISS family for an amazing 14 years. Tommy: Going back to Black and Blue in the 80's, for people that don't know, we moved to Los Angeles in early 1983 from Portland, where we started out. Quiet Riot and Motley Crue were starting to do well and we just knew that, since we were writing our own stuff, that LA would be the best place for us to be. Within 6 months, we had a record deal; John Kalodner signed us at Geffen Records and envisioned us as being the American Def Leppard. We put out 4 records for Geffen through the 80's up to 1990 and did moder...

Music Preview: Ace Frehley kisses his old band goodbye with no regrets Thursday, May 01, 2008 By Scott Mervis, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette Ace Frehley: "I wake up every morning and thank God I'm alive, 'cause there were a lot of times where I almost didn't make it."Let's just cut to the juicy part and then work backward. How does Ace Frehley feel about seeing someone, namely Tommy Thayer, strutting around the stage with Kiss wearing the Space Ace get-up with the silver stars on the eyes? "It is what it is," he says on the phone, sounding like one of Tony's boys on "The Sopranos." "From what I read on the Internet, the fans aren't too happy about it. I don't want to go there ..." he pauses, then adds, "Am I crazy about it? Nah, not really. It is what it is." Rather than donning his patented Kiss outfit and playing to thousands of screaming fans with explosions going off behind him, the 57-year-old Frehley will pla...

I WAS THERE! Far left of the stage just behind the barrier! What a straight ahead down to earth ballsy rock n roll party we had! The videos don't really do it justice, the place was drenched in sweat and the audience was wild, singing along (listen to us, we rocked), punching the air and chanting for Ace...even before he came on stage. Nights like these are rare and this one was the best I've had in years! The set list: Rip It Out/Hard Times/Parasite/Snowblind segue into I Want You/Rock Soldiers/Breakout/Into The Void/Strangeways/Medley inc: Torpedo Girl, Speedin' Back To My Baby, Five Card Stud, Trouble Walkin' End of Medley/Stranger in a Strange Land/New York Groove/2,000 Man/Shock Me/Rocket Ride/Deuce/Lover Her All I Can/Love Gun/Cold Gin (with outro to Black Diamond tacked on at the end)

AND IT WAS GOOD! By elmokeep (Photo by KISSUNMASKED II from the KISSFAQ here ) It had topped nearly 40 degrees in Melbourne this Grand Prix Sunday. And the rev-heads who’d been standing in the pelting sun and drinking beer all day were surprisingly sedate as they waited, chatting amiably, for KISS as little kids in Starchild make up ran in between their parent’s legs. The speaker stacks jumped suddenly in volume, as the Who’s ‘Won’t Get Fooled Again’ blared over the crowd. You could feel it thumping through the ground, it’s a throwdown if ever there was one. The giant black, KISS emblazoned flag dropped to hide the stage, and you knew they were behind there, the hottest band in the world! KIIIIIIIIIIIISS!! Hey! Fireworks! The flag drops and the band have hit the stage with ‘Deuce’, and close-ups on Gene Simmons face show that he is already blinking sweat and greasepaint out of his eyes. It’s hot in the crowd; onstage under lights, surrounded by flames, wearing several extra kilos of s...

EUROPEAN LEG OF KISS' ALIVE 35 WORLD TOUR IS A HUGE SUCCESS! With immediate sellouts, second shows being added and talk of extending the tour, the European leg of the KISS Alive 35 World Tour is on it's way to being the most successful KISS tour of Europe EVER including The Reunion Tour! Pictured is the just approved KISS ALIVE 35 World Tour Logo. FINLAND AND NORWAY SHOWS SOLD OUT! KISS' Helsinki, Finland and Oslo, Norway Shows are SOLD OUT! All 13,000 tickets for the Helsinki Show sold out in only 7 minutes!

KISS SELL OUT STOCKHOLM, SWEDEN STADIUM! Looks like Stockholm is ready to rock! Fans snapped up all 32,500 tickets for KISS' Stockholm Olympic Stadium show in under 20 minutes!