KISS guitarist and vocalist Paul Stanley discussed his adjustment to life after the band’s “End Of The Road” farewell tour, which concluded over a year ago, during a recent appearance on the debut episode of the “Stories To Tell With Richard Marx” podcast.
“There are people who are touring constantly because they’re empty and because they need that audience positive response. Years ago for me, probably decades ago, that may have been the case,” Stanley said (as transcribed by Blabbermouth). “At this point, it’s been incredibly gratifying. The last tour was just a chance to really take in how valuable and how much this meant to me. But I couldn’t keep doing it any more than Michael Jordan could.
“I’ve always been more than a musician or performer — I’ve been an athlete — and you realize that you can only do that so long. I’ve been blessed to do it into my 70s, which if you told me that 50 years ago, I’d say you’re out of your mind. So, yeah, I miss it, but I don’t crave it. I think the people who really crave it are the ones who don’t find other means for gratification either from other people or self-gratification, whether it’s, for me, painting or my family or friends.
“I think ultimately, hopefully, I would hope that most people find that in life, at some point, you start to narrow down what’s really important,” he continued. “And ultimately, what’s important is family, friends and how you feel about yourself. You face yourself every day when those crowds aren’t there. It doesn’t matter whether there’s 20,000 or 100,000 people, if you don’t like who you see in the mirror, it’s kind of meaningless.
“Dopamine and endorphins, that’s human-produced h*roin,” Stanley added. “And, sure, it’s addicting. I think I’ve just come to some sort of terms with — I don’t wanna say settling, but at least realizing that you can’t do that forever. And I hate to draw the analogy, but people who are in AA or any of those groups, you realize that you need to stop, you need to put that behind you. And then it’s a matter of how you fill your time. I’ve seen people who went from drugs to becoming workout junkies. So you need to find something. And you also need to understand that it’s never going to match the high. It can’t.”
Stanley also discussed how he’s come to terms with never touring again, saying: “To do shows where there’s that kind of love and gratitude from an audience, well, guess what? It’s love and gratitude from me. And that’s that reciprocity takes it to a whole different level. And will anything ever replace that? No. I have the memories of it. And is there a void? Of course. That’s life.
“It’s actually been a year, December 2nd [of 2023, since we played the final KISS show]. So, I was actually in New York this [last] year on December 1st and 2nd and passed the [Madison Square] Garden on both of those nights we had been playing [the year before]. And, yeah, there’s something almost feeling like a fantasy, like an out-of-body experience. You’re looking at something and it’s hard to relate to that you were there. I look at videos of me on stage a year and a half ago and I go, ‘Wow.’ And I also have to go, ‘That’s not gonna happen again.’”
Regarding KISS‘s decision to cease touring, Paul explained: “I remember Gene [Simmons] and I talking about it years ago. You have to remember that COVID and the pandemic put a two-year break. We started the last tour before COVID. And then, all of a sudden, it’s, like, ‘Well, wait a minute. We’re not done. And we’re getting older. So the clock is ticking.’
“We just came to the decision quite naturally that we need to decide when it ends rather than just have it peter out,” he added. “That wouldn’t be KISS-like, to finish a tour and never go back out. For us, it was a matter of going around the world and sharing that one last night or nights with either the people who’ve known us for decades or new people. And hopefully what we did was left a memory that justified that connection and adulation that people had for us. And also kind of not only validated us to them, but also kind of became — once upon a time there was a band. And that’s what KISS is. Like it or not, KISS is mythical. And that was the idea, was to leave it on a legendary note. But also to intellectually decide something is gonna come to an end and actually deal with that that day was years away because we had a worldwide tour.’
On December 2, 2023, KISS performed the final concert of their “End Of The Road” farewell tour at Madison Square Garden in New York City.
In a fall 2023 interview with Rolling Stone, band’s bassist and vocalist Gene Simmons emphasized that the band’s final performance on the “End Of The Road” tour would indeed mark their last show.
“My hand on the Bible,” he said. “And I should know because my people wrote that book. In fact, my people also wrote the follow-up book, the New Testament. And so I’ll say right here, right now, my hand on the Bible, it will be the final KISS-in-makeup appearance.”
Addressing KISS‘ decision to retire at this point, Simmons explained: “It has nothing to do with ticket sales or anything. It has to do with Mother Nature. And at a certain point, you have to understand that it’s going to be a point of diminishing returns because of the kind of band we are. I wear seven-inch platform dragon boots, each weighs as much as a light bowling ball, armor, studs, leather, all that stuff, and that weighs about 40 pounds in total. And I got to spit fire, and fly through the air, and all that, and you got to do it for two hours.”
Source: metaladdicts.com
