Kiss, the iconic rock band known for hits such as Beth, Rock and Roll All Nite, God Gave Rock And Roll To You, and I Was Made For Lovin’ You, to name a few, recently played their last ever live music concert in human form at New York’s Madison Square Garden.
They also announced that they had immortalised themselves in digital form as avatars to ensure their performances will live on long after they are gone. However, the announcement has received mixed reactions among fans. Let’s dive straight in to learn more about what this actually means.
What does it mean that Kiss have immortalised themselves as digital avatars?
In short, it means that Kiss fans from across the globe will be able to watch Kiss members Gene Simmons, Tommy Thayer, Paul Stanley, and Eric Singer for generations to come at live concerts, but instead of seeing them in human form, they will appear as holograms.
A similar thing has already happened with Abba, Michael Jackson, Tupac, Frank Zappa, Roy Orbison, and several others. While some have said they look forward to seeing the Kiss band members as digital avatars, others have Tweeted and said they will not be going to watch ‘cartoons’ and have no interest in seeing them in this form.
Is it the first time Kiss have appeared in digital form?
No, it isn’t the first time Kiss have appeared in digital form. They appeared in a cartoon called KISS Meets the Phantom of the Park, which aired once on NBC over forty years ago (October 1978).
Some of you may have also seen them or heard them being referenced in several other iconic animated television series, such as The Simpsons, Family Guy, and South Park.
There’s also a feature-rich online casino slot machine called Kiss: Reels of Rock. This popular online slot was made by a multi-award-winning online casino software provider called Play’n GO, which has also developed several other Heavy Metal/Rock and Roll-themed slots, such as: Twisted Sister; ZZ Top: Roadside Riches; Def Leppard: Hysteria; Alice Cooper and the Tome of Madness; and Lordi: Reel Monsters. Other similar online slots from Play’n GO in this same series are Annihilator, House of Doom (1 and 2), Black Mamba, Sabaton, Helloween, Mötley Crüe, Saxon, and HammerFall, to name a few.
To play these slots in the free-play or real-money from a smartphone, desktop, laptop, or tablet at a fully licensed and regulated iGaming site, you must be of legal age in your country, which is 18 in most countries, 19 in Canada, and 21 in certain US states.
Why did Kiss go digital with these new Avatars?
According to lead vocalist Paul Stanley, it’s so the rock band Kiss can live on eternally. He believes Kiss is bigger than the band members and deserves to be immortalised. There’s that and the fact the band will still be able to make money despite not having to be physically present on the stage.
Some say the avatars represent the band members well, and others have said that Gene Simmons and Paul Stanley do not like their human counterparts in the slightest.
The avatars have been designed to mimic the band member’s facial expressions, mannerisms, and body movements they usually make on stage to make the experience as authentic as possible for the audience.
It may take a while before we find out how successful the digital form of Kiss will become. If it’s successful, we will likely see even more ageing rock stars and bands doing the same thing with their brands. We will just have to wait and see.
