KISS recently played their final concert ever, but singer-bassist Gene Simmons is not ready to quit performing quite yet.
Simmons has booked a date with his solo project, Gene Simmons Band, at the Brazil edition of the Summer Breeze festival on April 26th in São Paulo. It’s the first post-KISS activity from any of the remaining band members, and the announcement comes just over a month after KISS retired from performing in human, non-avatar form after two concerts at Madison Square Garden.
Simmons’ solo band last played in 2018 and typically runs through a setlist comprised of Simmons-penned KISS material and deep cuts. The band’s current lineup is rounded out by guitarists Brent Woods (Wildside, Sebastian Bach) and Zach Throne (Corey Taylor) and drummer Brian Tichy (Billy Idol, Whitesnake, Lynch Mob).
For Simmons, the solo shows have offered a more intimate setting — and one where he can dig deep into KISS’ songbook.
“Doing these smaller concert halls, which hold a thousand to three thousand people, means they get filled up by real diehard fans,” Simmons told the Chicago Sun-Times in 2018. “They don’t want to hear the ‘same old, same old.’ They want to hear nuggets, as they say. It’s a hoot for me because I’ve never really had a chance to do this stuff live. It’s been a lot of fun.”
The festival appearance implies that Simmons could take his solo act on the road and continue to be an outlet for KISS’ music until the launch of the avatar version of the band in 2027. Fans can also catch founding KISS guitarist Ace Frehley on his 2024 tour.
Other acts playing the Summer Breeze fest, which takes place April 26th-28th, include Mercyful Fate, Anthrax, Within Temptation, Sebastian Bach, and more. See the full lineup in the poster below.