Kiss essentially become Vtubers as they ditch live performances

The legendary rock band KISS has decided to escape the horrors of live tours, by taking a leaf out of the modern playbook as they stop in-person live tours.

Gene Simmons is 74 years old. He was 70 when they first started their last-ever tour. Now, he and the other members of the band are leaving the physical realm. As the band made its last exit, the audience was introduced to the next phase: they were going digital.

Four new digital avatars have been crafted for the band, who will now take the place of the living members on tour. This means that Kiss’ plans to hand over the reins to someone else have sort of come to pass.

A video titled “A New Era Begins”, shows Kiss being taken through the typical motion capture setup and filming. The result is a culmination of everything the band and brand have tried to reach since their 1974 debut. Simmons bears massive devil wings, while the other members adopt more subtle, but still flashy superpowers.

Kiss band members can finally retire as digital avatars take over

Fans were given a sneak preview of how these new digital tours will go, with some managing to upload the footage online. During the announcement at the show, lead singer Paul Stanley said:

“Your love, your power, has made us immortal.

“The new Kiss era starts now.”

The preview of the new show style was shown with the band playing “God Gave Rock ‘n’ Roll To You II”, while another video shot by a fan showed the new visual effects. These include transparent screens with massive visuals projected around the arena.

Kiss isn’t the first virtual band by any stretch, but the new move appears to be less in line with the Gorillaz and more in line with something like Hatsune Miku or a pre-recorded Vtuber concert. However, shows from places like Hololive are now mostly live, with in-crowd interaction.

While bands like Dethklok incorporate the fictional aspect with skits throughout the show, the music is played live by an in-person band. This move will presumably let the band of 70-year-olds “retire” at long last.