KISS’s Twice-Postponed Concert In West Palm Beach To Finally Take Place In September

KISS‘s concert at iTHINK Financial Amphitheatre in West Palm Beach, Florida, which was originally scheduled for October 8, 2021 and was then postponed to November 5, 2021 “due to ongoing weather issues,” will finally take place on September 21, 2022. All previously purchased tickets will be honored for the new date. More information will be e-mailed to ticketholders directly.

The original West Palm Beach show was postponed when weather reportedly started to deteriorate around 7:30 p.m. on the day of the gig. Officials asked the crowds occupying the amphitheater’s hill to seek shelter in the covered area of the venue or even their cars as the tropical storm was about to get serious. Heavy rains and lightning continued for another two and half hours, and around 10:00 p.m., the four members of KISS came up on stage to announce the show postponement. Frontman Paul Stanley told the audience: “This is not what we expected. And it wouldn’t be fair to the rest of the people who are showing up.”

Last October, Stanley said that the final concert of the “End Of The Road” tour will likely happen by early 2023.

KISS launched its farewell trek in January 2019 but was forced to put it on hold in 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

“End Of The Road” was originally scheduled to conclude on July 17, 2021 in New York City but has since been extended to at least the end of 2022. The trek was announced in September 2018 following a KISS performance of the band’s classic song “Detroit Rock City” on “America’s Got Talent”.

“I believe strongly by the beginning of 2023 we will be finished,” Stanley told Ultimate Classic Rock in an interview, adding that “it seems only natural [for the final show] to be in New York. That is where the band started, and that was really the background for the band getting together and writing these songs and played loft parties and played clubs starting with an audience of probably 10 people,” he said. “It seems we should go full circle.”

Stanley went on to say that unlike KISS‘s 2000-2001 tour, which was also supposed to be its last, “End Of The Road” will truly be the last time KISS performs live. “It’s a different time than we had pondered [farewell tours] in the past,” Stanley explained. “The fact is that, physically, it’s incredibly demanding to do what we do. Look, we played [recently] in Austin, an outdoor show, 100 percent humidity. We’re running around for two-plus hours, not only with guitars, but I’ve got 30-plus pounds of gear on. There’s a point where you go, ‘You know what? This is more challenge than I want.’ And I only want to do it as long as I can do it smiling.

“There’s really no thought about changing our minds,” he continued. “It has nothing to do with personalities in the band or tensions or a difference of opinion or musicality. It’s purely practical. You can play beat the clock, but ultimately the clock wins.”

KISS‘s current lineup consists of original members Stanley and bassist/vocalist Gene Simmons, alongside later band additions, guitarist Tommy Thayer (since 2002) and drummer Eric Singer (on and off since 1991).

Formed in 1973 by Stanley, Simmons, drummer Peter Criss and lead guitarist Ace Frehley, KISS‘s first “farewell” tour in 2000 was the last to feature the group’s original lineup.