KISS Avatar-Based Show To Launch In Las Vegas In 2028; 'New Songs' To Be Included
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In a cover story for the May 2026 issue of Pollstar magazine, KISS leaders Paul Stanley and Gene Simmons discussed the upcoming avatar-based KISS show, which is tentatively scheduled to launch in Las Vegas in 2028. The as-yet unnamed KISS experience will be the first major entry into the U.S. market for Pophouse Entertainment, the Sweden-based music investment firm co-founded by ABBA's Björn Ulvaeus.
Launched in 2014, Pophouse, which is behind "ABBA Voyage", closed its debut fund, Pophouse Fund I, in March 2025, raising over $1.3 billion to invest in music catalogs and IP. KISS's deal with Pophouse, reported to be worth over $300 million, saw the company acquire the band's song catalog, name, image and likeness rights — including their iconic face paint designs — and their artist share of master recordings and publishing rights.
Asked by Pollstar writer Katherine Turman which eras of KISS will be represented in the avatar show, the current lineup or the original lineup, Simmons: said: "It's going to be the iconic face personas, The Demon, the Starchild, and so on. Who you want to place into that lineup is up to you." As for which songs will be included in the show, Stanley said: "We will have all the classics through the years and some surprises." Simmons added: "You're gonna get all that stuff, and also new songs."
After Turman asked for clarification as to which "new" songs will make an appearance, Gene said: "Exactly what that means, written by us. We have songs done."
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 on December 2, 2023 were not as grounded in reality as ABBA's digital replicas. Instead, according to BBC News, the KISS avatars that were previewed at Madison Square Garden band appeared as fantasy-based superheroes who are eight feet tall, breathing fire and shooting electricity from their fingers, while floating above the audience.
Pophouse CEO Jessica Koravos told Pollstar: "What the crowd got to see at MSG was an early prototype of the KISS avatar concept. A lot has evolved since then — both in terms of creative concept for the show and avatar technology. We are now deep in development with a top-flight creative team headed by Thierry Coup — the team was on set last week testing out pyro effects against a new generation of LED screens to make sure we max out the KISS signature flame throwing. The show concept is a crazy 4D roller coaster ride through the hits, the comic book worlds and personas of KISS."
KISS will reportedly become the first American band to go fully virtual and stage its own avatar show.
Back in December 2023, Simmons said that "about 200 million" dollars was being invested into the KISS avatar show.
This past March, Stanley praised the much-anticipated KISS avatar show, telling Rock Of Nations With Dave Kinchen And Shane McEachern: "This avatar show that's going to be in Vegas is gonna blow everybody's minds. It's not like what some people have called holograms and all this kind of experimental and kitschy stuff. This is seeing us. This is as real as I am, and I think it's gonna just blow people away. And it extends the band that much further.
"There's no reason for us to live within the boundaries of other rock bands," Paul added. "They live within those boundaries because that's all they can be. And it's great, but we are not that — we're KISS."
(Source: www.blabbermouth.net)
