Gene Simmons reckons the KISS avatar show will 'blow away' ABBA Voyage
Due to technological advances
Former KISS bassist Gene Simmons reckons the KISS avatar show will blow away ABBA Voyage thanks to continued advances in technology.
At the completion of their final show at Madison Square Garden on 2nd December 2023, KISS officially announced their new digital era by unveiling the avatars on the venue’s screens as the band's cover of ‘God Gave Rock and Roll to You’ played.
Swedish entertainment and music investment firm Pophouse, who is the founding investor in the ABBA Voyage show concert, purchased the KISS brand and catalogue in April 2024.
KISS have since revealed that the avatar development is still in its very early stages and the show won’t launch until 2027, and Gene Simmons believes that technology will have dramatically improved since the start of the ABBA Voyage virtual residency in London in May 2022.
“Well, you may have read or not, there’s a terrific company called Pophouse who are responsible for that ABBA avatar show outside of London, which has pulled millions of tickets, actually, and is quite a thing. But even that technology is now yesterday’s news,” Simmons told The Zak Kuhn Show.
Commenting on the KISS show, Simmons added: “I don’t know how to describe it, but so far we’re just calling it KISS avatars. It’ll be seen around the world.
“When you put on virtual glasses, you get a 360-degree experience. Wherever you turn your head, you’re in that universe; you’re in a parallel universe, if you will. You could be in the land of dinosaurs or falling off a cliff or you pick your head up to the sky and you see the sky. And you lower your chin, and you look like a chasm with your feet falling.
“So you actually believe, to the extent that you shut off your mind, that you’re actually in that world. Now imagine not wearing glasses and having that experience.”
Asked by the host if he believes KISS will “totally blow away” ABBA Voyage with their production, Simmons replied: “It already does.
“Technology, I’m sure you keep up with it, is growing by leaps and bounds… The future is here. AI now fixes itself and teaches itself. And so, the technology has advanced by leaps and bounds even where the ABBA show was.”
Rock stars unmasked, including KISS:
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Nameless Ghoul Aether unmasked
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Nameless Ghoul Fire unmasked
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John 5 unmasked
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Richie Sambora unmasked
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Slipknot’s Shawn ‘Clown’ Crahan unmasked
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Slipknot’s Mick Thomson unmasked
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Buckethead unmasked
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Slipknot’s Jay Weinberg unmasked
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Slipknot’s Sid Wilson unmasked
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Limp Bizkit’s Wes Borland unmasked and without makeup
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Slipknot’s Corey Taylor unmasked
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GWAR’s Blothar unmasked
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Slipknot’s Alessandro Venturella unmasked
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KISS’s Paul Stanley unmasked and without makeup
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Slipknot’s Jim Root unmasked
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Ex-Slipknot percussionist Chris Fehn unmasked
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KISS’s Gene Simmons unmasked and without makeup
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KISS’s Eric Singer unmasked and without makeup
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KISS’s Tommy Thayer unmasked and without makeup
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Ghost Nameless Ghoul unmasked
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Slipknot’s Tortilla Man unmasked
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