On December 3, 2023, the “End of the Road” Kiss’ farewell tour ended in New York City. The tour included 251 concerts and is supposed to be the end of 50 years of band history. The hard rock band marched one last time for their final concert at Madison Square Garden. Kiss recently announced that they would now continue to operate virtually.
Ace Frehley, founding member and former lead guitarist, had special words about the event. In an interview, he said he was happy that Kiss’ farewell tour was finally over – and accused his former colleagues of trying to mislead fans about his departure in 2002.
Fans didn’t know about Frehley’s exit
In an interview on “Trunk Nation” on Dec. 2, Frehley said he spent many years explaining to people that he was no longer a Kiss member. This, he claimed, was due to the deliberate strategy of Gene Simmons and Paul Stanley.
“A lot of Kiss fans aren’t the smartest people in the world, while Ace fans are smart,” he told Eddie Trunk on the show. “Just a few years ago I was getting calls from people asking for Kiss tickets. And I said, ‘Do you know I’m not in the band anymore?’ And a lot of people didn’t even know.”
Frehley left Kiss in 1982 and returned to the band from 1996 to 2002. After his final departure in 2002, Tommy Thayer took over as lead guitarist. Frehley: “The second time I left the band, they kind of buried it and didn’t do a big press release about it…Tommy wore my makeup and they just wanted people to think. ‘Maybe it was still Ace Frehley‘.”
“I’m glad it will be over in a few days”
He reported that he recently watched a Kiss show on YouTube, but he wasn’t impressed with it. “I think the fans love the show, but now with the vocals… I mean, I couldn’t believe it. Paul Stanley played “Love Gun.” He wrote this song and doesn’t even sing the choruses. It was like he was dancing around on this platform. (…), it’s like me performing ‘Shock Me’ and not singing it!”
The interview took place before Kiss’ announcement of virtual avatars. Ace Frehley apparently didn’t know about the announcement of a “new era”, but was clear that it wouldn’t be the final end of the band. “I don’t understand it, I don’t want to understand it,” he said of how the farewell tour went. “And I’m glad it will be over in a few days.”