The Kiss My Ass Tour was a concert tour by American rock band Kiss. It was the last tour to feature drummer Eric Singer as a member until 2004, and the last tour with guitarist Bruce Kulick.
Background
Kiss opened the tour with a performance at the WWBZ 103.5 Blazefest in Villa Park.[1] In late August and early September 1994, Kiss toured South America as headliners on the touring Monsters of Rock festival alongside Slayer and Black Sabbath.[2][3]
Following the Monsters of Rock tour, the band toured Japan in January 1995 on their own, and in February 1995 they toured Australia for the first time since 1980. During the Japan leg, the band had established the "Kiss Aid Save The City Fund", raising more than $10,000 for the survivors of the Great Hanshin earthquake in Kobe, Japan.[4] The tour featured props like the Sphinx which returned from the Hot in the Shade Tour, fireworks, lasers, strippers and the giant logo with the band's name.[2] During this tour, Kiss would also go on to host a tour of "Kiss conventions"[5] at various hotels and convention centers to do what other fan-created Kiss conventions had done before.[6][7] Following the tour, there was an exclusive performance in which the band performed an acoustic set on MTV for their live album Kiss Unplugged, joined by Ace Frehley and Peter Criss.[8]
In the tour program for the band's final tour, Stanley reflected on the tour:
Doing MTV Unplugged was not really to prove anything to anybody or win converts. It really was us, maybe for ourselves, showing how good these songs are. We did them during the Kiss conventions. So many of those songs were written on acoustic guitars; they were written in a much more simple fashion than they're played. The philosophy has always been, "if it doesn't sound good on one guitar it's a shitty song."[9]
Setlist
This is an example setlist performed at a show, but may not represent the majority of the shows on this tour.[10]
^ abWeiss, Brett (2016). Encyclopedia of Kiss: Music, Personnel, Events and Related Subjects. Jefferson, North Carolina: McFarland & Company, Inc. p. 110. ISBN9781476625409.
^Weiss, Brett (2016). Encyclopedia of Kiss: Music, Personnel, Events and Related Subjects. Jefferson, North Carolina: McFarland & Company, Inc. p. 207. ISBN9781476625409.
^Sherman, Dale (2012). KISS FAQ: All That's Left to Know About the Hottest Band in the Land. Montclair, NJ: Backbeat Books. ISBN9781617131271.
^(2019). End of the Road World Tour Program, pg. 28.
^ abcdefGooch, Curt; Suhs, Jeff (2002). Kiss Alive Forever: The Complete Touring History. New York: Billboard Books. ISBN0-8230-8322-5.
Sources
Gooch, Curt; Suhs, Jeff (2002). Kiss Alive Forever: The Complete Touring History. New York: Billboard Books. ISBN0-8230-8322-5.
Weiss, Brett (2016). Encyclopedia of Kiss: Music, Personnel, Events and Related Subjects. Jefferson, North Carolina: McFarland & Company, Inc. ISBN9781476625409.