Grabbing a Piece of KISStory
Oh, come on! You think KISS is gonna chill now after 27 years . . . those four relentlessly bad boys of rock, twisted Kabuki clowns in silver boots with 7-inch heels, a heavy metal band so thunderous that even its name screams overkill?
And speaking of overkill . . . consider the likely prices for high-end items the band will auction off next week in a theater at Paramount Studios in Hollywood. A set of four costumes from the group’s 1998-’99 Psycho Circus Tour, displayed on life-size KISS mannequins with silver-and-black snakeskin leather boots, is expected to fetch about $150,000.
Compare that with, say, a recent auction of two letters written by President Lincoln, which brought in a total of . . . $104,000.
Well, history is history, if you believe KISS’s own news release, which describes “KISS: The Auction” “nothing short of KISStoric.”
“At the end of the day,” said KISS founding member Gene Simmons, 50, “the only choices we have are letting the costumes gather dust in some museum, where people have to line up to see it, or some rock ‘n’ roll hall of fame. If KISS is the quintessential American band--of the people, by the people, for the people--why shouldn’t people be able to buy a slice of KISS? . . . It’s a celebration.”
Never underestimate the self-importance of a group that throws around terms like KISS-tianity and promotes its own extensive line of brand-name merchandise, including thong underwear and shot glasses.
Simmons said he’s not a bit melancholy about selling off his gear. He, along with guitarist Paul Stanley, had toyed for a while with the idea of an auction to coincide with “KISS: The Farewell Tour.” (And since the band is scheduled to be on the East Coast, only halfway through that sold-out series of concerts, they do not plan to attend the auction.)
In a telephone interview, Simmons refused to say whether he was holding back any keepsakes for himself or putting everything up for bid.
Suggested starting bids are as low as $100 for a drum pad used on stage by former drummer Eric Carr, who died of cancer in 1991. Dozens of items are in the $400-$600 range, including a ’98 “ink pen on paper design drawing” by Paul Stanley of his concepts for the Psycho Circus Tour (actually, it’s his scribbles and notes on yellow legal paper, but the pages are matted and framed!). The 187-page color catalog costs $75 for a hard-cover version or $35 for a soft-bound copy.
And what will Simmons do with his share of the money?
“Put it in my pocket, of course,” he said, adding that “whatever I do, individually, for charity is certainly never going to be advertised.”
KISS is a proven brand name, having built up a fanatic fan base since 1973, despite a consistent thrashing by rock critics for what has been called its cartoonish persona and screaming, cliched heavy metal drone. The group, which has sold more than 80 million albums worldwide, has been a top concert attraction. Although the band’s touring days will end later this year, the group may live on through different means, including, possibly, a theme park and Las Vegas casino, Simmons said.
Some fans, who don’t want to accept that the band’s touring days will end this year, are sad about what the auction symbolizes, said Steve Stierwalt , founder of the KISS Freaks Web site, https://www.fandom.com/kiss/.
“KISS fans are kind of caught in between,” said Stierwalt, 30, an Internet consultant in Indianapolis. “They’re pretty excited to get things that KISS actually used, or they know that this means the end of the band.”
Stierwalt expects the most popular items to be the band’s equipment and costumes; none of the members’ buckets o’ makeup will be sold because they were concerned that fans might be tempted to use the products past the expiration dates.
Fans from around the world are expected to fly in for the auction, said Stierwalt, who plans to bid for items via the Internet.
But he worries that he and other KISS junkies won’t have much of a chance.
“It’s being held in Los Angeles,” he said. “There are a lot of celebrities there who are KISS fans. I think you’ll be bidding against people with quite a bit of money. I think it’ll be difficult for hard-core fans to get what they want.”
Auction previews are scheduled Friday through Sunday at Butterfields Auctioneers in L.A. (The preregistration deadline for all bidders--whether they plan to participate in person, by phone or online--is 1 p.m. June 22.) Butterfields, which is working in conjunction with Greg Manning Auctions, expects a “multimillion-dollar sale” for the nearly 1,000 lots.
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Information: Butterfields, (323) 850-7500, Ext. 3550 (https://www.butterfields.com/KISS), or Greg Manning Auctions, (973) 882-0004 (https://www.gregmanning.com).
