Former KISS guitarist Bruce Kulick recently discussed why he stands by calling the final KISS show “a missed opportunity,” sharing his thoughts during an appearance on Beardo and Weirdo.
When asked about his comments regarding the farewell show at Madison Square Garden and how he carefully expressed that it should have been handled differently, Kulick explained his perspective and how Gene Simmons and Paul Stanley reacted.
“I mean, to me, I just called it a missed opportunity,” Kulick said. “And you know, of course, this show is incredible, no matter, you know, if they want to make it a special show, which they outside of the Avatar thing at the ending, which was still, it was great to hear.”
He went on to explain that he did not receive any negative backlash from his former bandmates for his comments.
“But I had to say it was a missed opportunity,” he continued. “And thank God I didn’t really get a phone call or angry email from Gene and Paul.”
Kulick also discussed his transparency with them, particularly when dealing with online clickbait.
“And I’m real transparent with them,” Kulick added. “I remember some clickbait that came up not that long ago that they totally turned it upside down. You know how popular that is. These people are terrible. You know, they do with AI. They make your face look like you’re going to kill somebody. And I actually, you know, I wrote Paul and I just said, ‘Look, if you see this article, it’s not what I said cuz they’re just trying to make controversy.’ And he appreciated it. And of course, how much clickbait has he seen, you know.”
He concluded by reflecting on his current relationship with Simmons and Stanley.
“And really to me, you know, Gene and Paul are very comfortable as to where they are now, even though they’re not, you know, running that huge machine because they they sold it, yet they’re still, you know, everywhere they go, they’re still KISS, Gene Simmons and Paul Stanley’s KISS,” Kulick said. “But I really do like that I can just be, you know, I can be myself and explain it and I have that good relationship with them.”
Kulick’s remarks connect to a moment that has been discussed by KISS fans and former members for years now, and the circumstances surrounding that final weekend help explain why his words still carry weight.
KISS played its final two live concerts of the End of the Road farewell tour at Madison Square Garden on December 1 and 2, 2023, culminating a half century of performing. The review noted that the band “will live on indefinitely as digitized avatars,” with the avatars appearing on the arena screens moments after the live set concluded.
The last performances were delivered by founding members Gene Simmons and Paul Stanley alongside longtime guitarist Tommy Thayer and drummer Eric Singer. No former members of the band were brought out to share the stage, which is the point Kulick and many fans returned to when they described the night as a missed opportunity for closure.
The closing moment itself was built around the avatar reveal, and Paul Stanley addressed the crowd as the transition happened. Stanley shouted, “KISS army! Your love, your power, has made us immortal,” before the new digital versions of the band performed “God Gave Rock and Roll to You.” The same report noted that the avatars were created by Pophouse Entertainment, the company co-founded by ABBA’s Björn Ulvaeus that is behind the ABBA Voyage shows.
The digital KISS was being developed with Industrial Light & Magic, and Pophouse would go on to produce “immersive, avatar-powered” concerts featuring the virtual band. That arrangement was part of a broader deal in which KISS sold its music catalog, brand name, and likeness rights to Pophouse Entertainment, meaning the band’s future as a performing entity was effectively handed over at the same time the real members walked off stage.
For Kulick, who played lead guitar in KISS from 1984 to 1996 during the band’s non-makeup era, the decision to end the night with avatars rather than with the people who had been part of the band’s history is what made the farewell feel incomplete. His willingness to say so publicly, and his direct communication with Simmons and Stanley afterward, is the reason the comments have stayed in circulation among the KISS fanbase.
