This past weekend, New York hosted the final show of rock band Kiss's farewell tour, concluding with a gesture that will guarantee their digital legacy.
As they finished their performance at Madison Square Garden, the band was replaced by floating avatars who began playing the popular song God Gave Rock 'n' Roll to You.
The technology, initially created for the Abba Voyage show, will facilitate a retirement traveling lifestyle for them.
Gene Simmons declared that the band would remain "forever young and forever iconic".
Paul Stanley, the singer, noted: "What we have earned has been incredible, but it's not enough. The group is more important than us, and it should endure."
We are thrilled to proceed and witness Kiss being remembered for eternity.
Industrial Light & Magic, a special effects company owned by George Lucas, designed the avatars. The funding for them was provided by Pophouse Entertainment, a conglomerate owned jointly by Björn Ulvaeus of Abba.
The companies had worked together previously on the Abba Voyage show. This show reconstructs an Abba gig as it was in the 1970s, in a London venue specifically designed for the purpose. It generates an estimated revenue of £2m a week.
Yet, Kiss's avatars appear to be more distant from reality than the digital replicas made by Abba. During their show in New York, the characters featured were 8 feet in height, and were seen exhaling fire and hurling electricity from their hands while hovering above the spectators.
Pophouse CEO Per Sundin stated that the four people have already been endowed with superpowers and they are working to be as transparent as they can.
Characters in the digital realm were made from information acquired when the band donned motion capture outfits during the course of this year.
Kiss have yet to reveal what their intentions are regarding the avatars.
Sundin declared, "Once the tour is over, we'll know better what the next step is. Is it a show by Kiss? A rock musical? Maybe a musical drama? Or perhaps a narrative journey?"
Famous for their ostentatious makeup and energetic live shows, Kiss achieved massive success as one of the top arena rock bands of the 1970s and 80s.
Among their popular songs are Rock And Roll All Nite, Black Diamond, I Was Made For Lovin' You, and Crazy Crazy Nights.
In 2001, they carried out their first farewell tour, yet they have repeatedly gone back to touring - the current formation includes creators Stanley and Simmons in addition to guitarist Tommy Thayer and drummer Eric Singer.
It is unlikely that Peter Criss and Ace Frehley, both former members, will join the avatar shows.
Simmons, aged 74, speculated last summer that Kiss could go on to do things beyond their final performance, even ideas that he hadn't imagined.
The suggestion was to bring in a new group of musicians to don the appropriate costumes and perform the iconic hits of Kiss.
He stated that he had no objections to four deserving twenty-year-olds reapplying their cosmetics and concealing their identities.
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