I Kissthe glam rock band, recently concluded their tour End of the Road with a farewell concert at Madison Square Garden in New York City last Friday. This event marks the end of a long and illustrious journey that has lasted well four years. Despite several promises of farewell tour in the past, this could be the final time. Never Kiss don’t want to leave fans alone: they want to become “completely virtual” so they launched their own digital avatars, to make the band “immortal”.
Kiss, the band presents digital avatars to become “immortal”
Kiss closed their show at Madison Square Garden with their best-known song: Rock and Roll All Nite. But shortly after they announced that the “night of rock” will last forever, thanks to technology.
After the last deal, the members of Kiss disappeared in a spectacular explosion of fire and smoke. As the smoke cleared, the lights dimmed and The silhouettes of four figures appeared on the screen behind the stage: the new ones digital avatars by Kiss.
Kiss, the real ones
The singer and guitarist Paul Stanley proclaimed: “Kiss army, your love and support have made us immortal. The new era of Kiss begins now. Oh yeah!”. You can see the effect in this fan-shot video.
Through translucent screens, onto which images of the band were projected, Kiss created a futuristic atmosphere more suited to Blade Runner than a rock concert. Then, as The Verge explains, the avatar of Kiss entertained the audience with a performance, ultimately leaving an iconic vision of the four avatars under the stylized Kiss logo and the superimposed phrase “A NEW ERA BEGINS”.
A new era for music (?)
This “new era” uses new digital avatars to let bands and artists sing who want to enjoy a well-deserved retirement. The company responsible for the show, Pophouse Entertainmenthas already had success with digital avatars of ABBA in his show ABBA Travel. Kiss seems to be next. Pophouse Entertainment said it will stage immersive concerts using the avatarcreating a partnership with avatar creati da Industrial Light & Magic by Kiss.
The transition towards the use of digital avatars it’s not surprising, especially considering the large earnings potential. The shows of the ABBA avatar they grossed an average of 2 million dollars a weekwhile the video concert of theEras Tour has accumulated more than 250 million dollars in sales worldwide. This earning potential is an opportunity that Kiss and their avatar they could exploit extensively in their future.
What remains to be seen is whether fans will prefer to see avatars of the originals, rather than Kiss cover bands. The difference lies in what is meant by “live music“.