KISS’ final show ever took place at Madison Square Garden on Saturday night (December 1st). At the end of the concert, after the actual band played its last song, fans witnessed a one-song performance of “God Gave Rock and Roll to You” by digital KISS avatars.
A press release shortly followed, explaining that a “new era of KISS” is upon us, and that the band is “marking the end of its physical existence by crossing into the digital world.” The plan is for avatars of KISS to “perform to fans for decades to come.”
The KISS avatars were created by George Lucas’ visual effects company Industrial Light & Magic using motion-capture technology involving the band members themselves. The forthcoming KISS avatar shows will be in partnership with Pophouse Entertainment Group, the Swedish company behind the recent virtual ABBA Voyage production in London.
“We can be forever young and forever iconic by taking us to places we’ve never dreamed of before,” explained KISS’ Gene Simmons. “The technology is going to make Paul [Stanley] jump higher than he’s ever done before.”
Stanley added, “What we’ve accomplished has been amazing, but it’s not enough. The band deserves to live on because the band is bigger than we are … It’s exciting for us to go the next step and see KISS immortalized. I mean, we’ve spent 50 years building it to this point. And by working with ILM and working with Pophouse, we’re all sharing this vision of taking KISS to a completely different level beyond being just a music band. And we’ve always thought of ourselves as more than just a music band.”
As of now, no KISS avatar shows have been announced. Video footage of the sneak peek at the end of KISS’ Madison Square Garden concert can be seen below, along with a promo video and an image of Simmons creating his avatar in a motion capture suit.
Stay tuned for Heavy Consequence‘s full recap and photos of KISS’ final show ever at Madison Square Garden.