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On June 27 and 28, A&E will air director D.J. Viola’s two-part documentary film KISStory as part of the network’s Biography series.  The four-hour documentary aims to become the definitive chronicle of KISS’ roughly 50-year history and features interviews with Gene Simmons, Paul Stanley, Tommy Thayer, Eric Singer, producer Bob Ezrin, manager Doc McGhee, and famous fans including Dave Grohl and Tom Morello.  (No word on whether founding members Ace Frehley and Peter Criss were interviewed for the series.)  In anticipation of the film event, the band will inaugurate a new “bootleg series” from UMe on June 11.

Off the Soundboard: Tokyo 2001, available in 2-CD or 3-LP formats, presents the band’s performance at the Tokyo Dome on March 13, 2001 with the line-up of Simmons, Stanley, Frehley, and Singer.  The 21 songs on the release don’t hint at the backstage drama that was then consuming the band on their farewell tour.  (Long story short: it wasn’t farewell after all, but did prove to be a goodbye to the original line-up of Simmons, Stanley, Frehley, and Criss.  KISS embarked in 2019 on the End of the Road World Tour.  Said to be the band’s final “final tour,” it was interrupted by the COVID-19 pandemic and is scheduled to resume in August 2021.)

The U.S. leg of the farewell tour concluded on October 7, 2000 in Charleston, South Carolina.  During the show, Peter Criss made his feelings clear by destroying his drum kit.  When the tour resumed in 2001, Eric Singer had taken his place.  (Singer’s first stint in the band was 1991-1996 when he replaced the late Eric Carr who had himself replaced Criss in 1980.  Criss would make one last return to KISS between 2002 and 2004.)  Ace Frehley next departed in 2002, leaving Simmons and Stanley as the only members of the group to have continuously played since the very beginning.

Off the Soundboard: Tokyo 2001 has every song performed that night at the Tokyo Dome including “Detroit Rock City,” “Shout It Out Loud,” “Calling Dr. Love,” “Love Gun,” the chart-topping “Psycho Circus,” and climactic one-two punch of “I Was Made for Lovin’ You” and “Rock and Roll All Nite.”  Both the 2-CD release and 3-LP black vinyl release appear to be packaged in simple, bootleg-style sleeves.

This release follows Paul Stanley’s recent solo album Now and Then, his first project as Paul Stanley’s Soul Station.  With its assortment of classic Motown and Philadelphia soul standards, it offered Stanley a chance to showcase another side of his talent.  Look for Kiss’ Off the Soundboard: Tokyo 2001 from UMe on June 11, and tune in to A&E Biography: KISStory beginning June 27 on the cable network.

KISS, Off the Soundboard: Tokyo 2001 (UMe B0033122-02, 2021)

2CD: Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada
2LP: Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada

Disc 1

1. Detroit Rock City
2. Deuce
3. Shout It Out Loud
4. Talk to Me
5. I Love It Loud
6. Firehouse
7. Do You Love Me
8. Calling Dr. Love
9. Heaven’s on Fire
10. Let Me Go Rock & Roll
11. Shock Me/Guitar Solo
12. Psycho Circus

Disc 2

1. Lick It Up/Bass Solo
2. God of Thunder/Drum Solo
3. Cold Gin
4. 100,000 Years
5. Love Gun
6. I Still Love You
7. Black Diamond
8. I Was Made for Lovin’ You
9. Rock and Roll All Nite

All tracks recorded live at the Tokyo Dome, Tokyo, Japan – 3/13/2001