Paul Stanley Reluctant To KISS Play In Sphere Las Vegas

JAKARTA - Paul Stanley expressed his skepticism about the possibility of Kiss holding a concert in the Sphere arena, Las Vegas. He felt that the futuristic stage would shrink the true essence of KISS as a band he judged to always appear bigger than life.

The vocalist and guitarist of Kiss feels the idea of appearing on Sphere has become a world sensation less attractive to him.

"Since Sphere opened, people will say to us, 'You guys are very suitable for Sphere.' I'm actually not very sure about the idea, because KISS is always about being bigger than life, and in Sphere, the band looks like a stamp," Stanley said, in a question and answer session at the KISS Kruise: Landlocked In Vegas, quoted by Blabbermouth, Tuesday, November 18.

The 73-year-old musician argues that the focus on Sphere is too focused on a giant screen that is stunning than the band's own stage action, so he even feels the straight stage is not too important.

"For me, I don't think you even need a live band there," he said. "People watch the screen, what's amazing is 'what's programmed, the content, it's amazing, but I want the band to be important. You forget that there's a band on that small stage, so I'm not too sure how we're going to do it."

On the other hand, Stanley provided a glimmer of hope for fans by confirming Kiss's serious efforts to return to holding a KISS Kruise-like event.

"We are doing our best to get the ship for next year," he said, hinting that annual fan events might continue.

Regarding the setlist, Stanley firmly defended Kiss's decision to rarely perform "deep cuts" or old, less popular songs. He called the songs only attractive to a small number of fans and often made concerts boring.

He also shared his experience while watching a big band that only played "deep cuts."

"It was the most boring thing I've ever seen in my entire life," Stanley said frankly. "To be honest, the reason those songs are 'deep' is because they're not popular, and they're not that good. Are we going to get rid of 'Detroit Rock City'? Are we eliminating 'Love Gun'? Did we lose 'God Of Thunder' to play songs (the less known ones)?"

At the end of the session, Stanley gave a surprise that would make fans excited. He mentioned that there is a new musical material that is being worked on.

"You didn't hear it from me, but yes, there is some new material (which is being worked on)," he said.

"I think you will be very excited and surprised," concluded Paul Stanley.