Skip navigation
Favorites
Sign up to follow your favorites on all your devices.
Sign up

KISS finally gets another football gig

'Kiss' Performs in New Jersey

371734 05: Bass player Gene Simmons, lead guitarist Ace Frehley, and rhythm guitarist and vocalist Paul Stanley of the rock group ‘KISS’ perform live, June 27, 2000 at the Continental Airlines Arena in East Rutherford, New Jersey. (Photo by George De Sota/Liaison)

George De Sota

Back in Super Bowl XXXIII, the greatest rock band to ever don Kabuki makeup and blow stuff up was part of the on-field pre-game festivities. In recent years, my default vote for any opportunity for a musical act to appear in a football-related capacity has been KISS.

I’ve nominated them for multiple Super Bowl halftimes, but I’ve been routinely ignored. (Which is nothing new.) More recently, I lobbied aggressively for KISS to take over the NBC Sunday Night Football opening song from Faith Hill. In response, they asked me how I got this number and to please stop calling it.

Fortunately, someone in football is listening.

KISS will be a key part of the pre-Arena Bowl festivities, appearing at the Celebrity Gala on the Thursday night before the game and staging a concert the following evening.

It’s not quite what I’d envisioned, primarily since I can’t name more than two AFL teams or more than zero AFL players. Hopefully, they’ll collect their fee in cash, straight or otherwise.