Gene Simmons is swiftly entering his post-Kiss era.
Brazilian rock festival Summer Breeze announced the lineup Wednesday for its three-day festival in April with the Gene Simmons Band headlining the three-day event, the self-proclaimed God of Thunder’s first performance since Kiss’ final concert.
“Gene Simmons’ new solo band will be the surprise attraction of the second edition of Summer Breeze Open Air Brasil,” the festival wrote on Facebook. The Gene Simmons band will perform on April 26.
The Kiss frontman last performed with the solo group in 2018 with a different lineup of musicians, but this new iteration includes guitarists Brent Woods and Zach Throne, along with drummer Brian Tichy.
Kiss — last comprising Simmons, Paul Stanley, Eric Singer, and Tommy Thayer — performed its final show at Madison Square Garden in early December. “The end of the road is the beginning of another road,” Stanley told the crowd before the last bows. “We’re not going anywhere. You’ll see us in all different things all the time. We’ll see you in your dreams.”
During the concert, the group said that it would live on as avatars in a digital version of the band, though that “new era” won’t arrive until 2027. “50 years is a long time, and what the future holds is in the making,” Kiss said in their latest promotional video trumpeting their digital forms. “A show is coming.”
According to Blabbermouth, Pophouse CEO Per Sundin said that the company is still in the process of figuring out how best to use the avatars, which are enormous, fire-breathing versions of the Kiss members in full regalia. “Is it a Kiss concert in the future? Is it a rock opera? Is it a musical? A story, an adventure? These four individuals already have superpowers. We want to be as open as possible,” Sundin said.
Stanley has in-person art exhibits planned for late February, while Thayer told Guitar World he wasn’t “ready to retire yet,” adding, “I have ideas and certainly options on the table. I’m not thinking of continuing to play in another band or that sort of thing – that doesn’t appeal to me. But I look forward to an exciting future, working hard and being a part of good things going forward.”
