GENE SIMMONS Says KISS Avatars Will ‘Get Better’: ‘They’re Spending 200 Million To Take It To The Next Level’

Gene Simmons says that “about 200 million” dollars is being invested into the KISS avatar show.

The technology being used for the KISS avatars, originally developed for ABBA‘s “Voyage” show in London, will allow KISS to stay “on the road” in retirement.

The KISS avatars were created by Industrial Light & Magic (ILM) and were financed and produced by the Swedish company Pophouse Entertainment, which is behind “ABBA Voyage”.

Simmons addressed the KISS avatars while meeting with fans at Electric Lady studios in New York City over a three-day period following the band’s final-ever concert at Madison Square Garden on December 2.

While signing the very last bass guitar he ever played on stage with KISS for one fan, Gene asked him (see video below): “How did those avatars look when you first saw them? They’re gonna get better, that animated stuff.” When the fan responded that the avatars looked “absolutely amazing” in the announcement video, Gene continued: “There’s so much being planned, even beyond my comprehension. But they’re spending, oh, about 200 million [dollars] to take it to the next level.” The fan then told Gene that he and his family saw the Michael Jackson show in Las Vegas that revolves around the use of a hologram and that they thought “it was amazing.” The fan added that a friend of his saw the ABBA show in London and that he said “it was just incredible.” Gene concurred, saying that he was impressed with how the ABBA show features really accurately modeled 3D versions of real people. “You can’t tell if they’re there, right there, like that,” Simmons said.

Unlike the “ABBA Voyage” show, which recreates a 1970s-era ABBA concert in a custom-built London arena, KISS‘s avatars that appeared at the band’s final concert in New York earlier this month will not be as grounded in reality as ABBA‘s digital replicas. According to BBC News, the KISS avatars will see the band appear as fantasy-based superheroes who are eight feet tall, breathing fire and shooting electricity from their fingers, while floating above the audience.

No details have been announced yet for KISS‘s plan with the band’s avatars. “We’re going to figure it out after the tour,” Pophouse CEO Per Sundin said prior to the final show at Madison Square Garden. “Is it a KISS concert in the future? Is it a rock opera? Is it a musical? A story, an adventure? These four individuals already have superpowers. We want to be as open as possible.”

The avatars will now be available for live shows around the world and in digital online settings, which some people collectively refer to as the metaverse.

KISS will reportedly become the first American band to go fully virtual and stage its own avatar show.

JOCOUP Creative, an experiential design firm co-founded by former Universal Creative director Thierry Coup and BRC and Universal Creative alumni Johanna “Jojo” Atilano, is also involved in the project. Coup has been announced as creative director of the KISS avatar show.