The band KISS just played their last live show, but promised they’d be back as digital avatars.
The band concluded their “End of the Road” farewell tour in New York City at Madison Square Garden by revealing the new digital images onstage.
“We can be forever young and forever iconic by taking us to places we’ve never dreamed of before,” KISS bassist Gene Simmons said in an announcement video release over the weekend. “The technology is going to make Paul (Stanley) jump higher than he’s ever done before.”
The avatars were created by George Lucas’ visual effects company, Industrial Light and Magic, and Pophouse Entertainment. The digital versions of each musician were made using motion capture technology.
“Today, A New Era Begins. #KISSARMY, the end is only the beginning! KISS have been immortalized and reborn as avatars to rock forever. #KISSNEWERA,” the X post from the band’s official account said.
Today, A New Era Begins. #KISSARMY, the end is only the beginning!
KISS have been immortalized and reborn as avatars to rock forever. #KISSNEWERA
WATCH NOW https://t.co/Khudwx7cud pic.twitter.com/2jz7OOmKTj
— KISS (@kiss) December 3, 2023
“Kiss could have a concert in three cities in the same night across three different continents. That’s what you could do with this,” Pophouse CEO Per Sundin told the Associated Press.
Fans had mixed reactions on social media.
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“No thank you. We like real humans performing rock music,” one commenter said.
“Oh boy, we can pay even more money not to hear real people sing live,” another agreed.
A third account posted, “Scrap this plan and have Tommy and Eric lead a new band. This is…weird,” referring to lead guitarist Tommy Thayer and drummer Eric Singer.
Not everyone hated the idea, however. Some were open to seeing KISS perform as digital avatars.
“This new hologram project won’t be able to replicate the feel of an original live show, but I think it is a great idea for a show that keeps the legacy alive after the band is over,” one Instagram comment said.
KISS won’t be the first band to attempt to use this new technology to keep touring without going on the road. ABBA kicked off their “Voyage” virtual concert in 2022 in London using the same type of digital avatars created by Industrial Light and Magic.
Variety reviewer Mark Sutherland wrote of the ABBA show, “At first, the movements seem a little too jerky, the lines a little too obvious. But then, just as when you saw the initially-somewhat-unconvincing dinosaurs in ‘Jurassic Park’ for the first time, your eyes adjust, the willing suspension of disbelief kicks in, and they begin to feel like living, breathing musicians, rather than the product of 160 motion capture cameras and one billion computing hours by Industrial Light & Magic.”