WANT TO GO?
What: Kiss' the Freedom to Rock Tour with the Dead Daisies
Where: Nutter Center, 3640 Colonel Glenn Hwy., Fairborn
When: 7:30 p.m. Monday, Aug. 22
Cost: $39.50, $89.50, $125
More info: 937-775-4789 | www.nuttercenter.com
Artist info: www.kissonline.com
Like many musicians, Gene Simmons says he originally got into rock music to meet girls. As a member of Kiss for more than 40 years, he doesn’t have trouble meeting women but he remains driven to rock and roll all night and party every day as he famously sang on the band’s 1975 album, “Dressed to Kill.”
“There’s a magic that happens on stage that you can’t find anywhere else,” Simmons said recently, speaking in advance of Kiss’ performance at the Nutter Center in Fairborn on Monday, Aug. 22. “I get to wear more makeup and high heels than your mommy and we have a ball. We plays songs, blow stuff up and make a complete spectacle out of ourselves.
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“We get paid for that, which is fine, but we also try to give back,” he continued. “We teamed up with the US Chamber of Commerce this tour. We’re hiring local vets. We give them a check and we honor them and they help our road crew put on the greatest show on Earth.”
Simmons is also doing charity events on nights off from the tour.
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“I hosted a private charity event last night,” he said. “We raised a lot of money to feed children and women in Africa. We have a day off tomorrow but I’m hosting another charity event. We’ve already raised $1-million for that.”
For the current Freedom to Rock Tour, Kiss is playing smaller markets they missed on recent outings.
“This tour ignores all the big cities like New York, L.A. and Chicago,” Simmons said. “We’re not doing any of that. This is 40 cities that normally don’t get headlines but that’s where we started so we’re giving back. We’re bringing the full, gigantic stage show and making sure you don’t have to get in the car and drive hours to one of the bigger cities to see Kiss.”
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The Freedom to Rock Tour ends in September but Simmons still has plenty of other projects to focus on.
“I have so much going on,” he said. “My film company Erebus just finished our first feature, ‘Temple.’ It’s got Anne Heche, Wesley Snipes and lots of other people. We have a restaurant chain, Rock & Brews, a football team, the LA Kiss, a golf course at the Rio Hotel in Las Vegas and the Kiss cruise.
“There’s just so much,” Simmons added. “There’s no rest for the wicked but, you know, do something while you’re alive. What are you going to do, just watch ‘I Love Lucy’ reruns and wait to die?”
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