‘There’s a lot of rocking still in us’: Kiss kicks off 40th year with series of dates in Australia

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Kiss’ return to Australia in the first concerts of their 40th year together had Gene Simmons reminiscing about a long-ago tour with local legends AC/DC, featuring original frontman Bon Scott before his death in 1980.

“I saw them in a small club in LA,” Simmons tennews.com.au, in the attached video interview. “I said ‘good, good band.’ The lights would go out, and this little guy on the stage was still going even when the lights were out. We went to get a bite after the show, and I remember Angus Young smiling — and there were no teeth in the front. The poor guy couldn’t eat. So, I bought him some hot dogs and beans, which were his favorite things.”

At this point, fellow band co-founder Paul Stanley interjects: “Then you chewed it up for him, and fed him like a bird!,” with laughs all around.

Angus and his brother Malcolm Young formed AC/DC in 1973, adding Scott a year later. The frontman who passed away, however, just as the band was coming into superstardom with the release of 1979’s Highway to Hell. AC/DC subsequently added Brian Johnson, and released Back in Black and then For Those About to Rock We Salute You in 1980-81, their two biggest-selling projects ever.

Kiss, meanwhile, started the same year, and continues with only Simmons and Stanley from the original quartet. Tommy Thayer and Eric Singer are playing guitar and drums, respectively, during this on-going anniversary tour — which continues in Australia through March, then heads to Europe.

As for continuing for another four decades, Simmons is good bit more circumspect: “I don’t think there’s 40, but we’re not ready to hang it up yet. There’s a lot of rocking still in us.”

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