Where to start this post?
Thirteen months ago, KISS (an American rock band that I’m a big fan of) played some shows in Japan.
My friend and I saw their 2013 October 20th show. (I wrote a post with photos here about it).
I have seen KISS in concert many times, actually…and it’s always been a great show!
Well, it’s been officially announced that KISS are returning to Japan in about three months!
KISS Japan Tour 2015 flyer
The Japan tour dates are:
2015 Feb 23 – Nagoya
2015 Feb 25 – Osaka
2015 Feb 26 – Hiroshima
2015 Feb 28 – Sendai
2015 Mar 3 – Tokyo (at the Tokyo Dome)
A surprising fact about the March 3rd date at the Tokyo Dome is that KISS will have the Japanese band “Momoiro Clover Z” as the opening act.
First of all, many concerts in Japan have no opening act at all. KISS almost never does for their shows in Japan.
But more surprising is that this band, Momoiro Clover Z, though popular in Japan…is a J-pop band!
They have, though, played at “OzzFest Japan” last spring (which I saw). I was surprised that they were at OzzFest…and now I’m surprised again that they’ll be sharing a stage with KISS!
Momoiro Clover Z have also collaborated with heavy metal guitarist Marty Friedman (who lives in Tokyo) on one song, and on another with heavy metal guitarist Yngwie Malmsteen.
And now, Momoiro Clover Z and KISS will not only sharing a bill at the Tokyo Dome…but the two bands will be releasing a collaboration song on 2015 January 28th.
This song featuring American hard rock band KISS and Japanese pop band Momoiro Clover will be released internationally on i-tunes…and on two CDs in Japan (an official KISS CD and a Momoiro-Clover one).
KISS with Japanese pop band “Momoiro-Clover Z”
Tokyo Five 
Can i know this tshirt limited edition?
Because i have one pcs
LikeLike
Sorry…I’m not sure about a “limited edition“ t-shirt.
(What is “one pcs”?)
LikeLike
That artwork is really cool. It’s somewhat reminiscent of the Hotter Than Hell cover, I think.
LikeLike
Yes, both this flyer and the Hotter Than Hell album cover are based on Japanese ukiyoe poster style. KISS has also used this style for their Alive II backstage passes on the Japan dates of that world tour.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Very cool, I did not know that!
LikeLiked by 1 person
Well, I didn’t know it either until I came to Japan.
I also didn’t know what the “Chikara” symbol that KISS uses (and I use as my avatar) meant (or even how it was pronounced) until I came to Japan.
LikeLike
You a KISS fan? You collect?
LikeLike
>You a KISS fan?
Yes.
>You collect?
I have a collection…but I don’t worry about trying to collect everything because that’s impossible!
LikeLike
In the past years I was always away when KISS was performing thus leaving me still without the KISS experience.
Do they come to Japan often? Many bands do not really do well tours in Europe as there are too many cities they would have to visit and in case they do visit it is jst in a few locations which are for half the population too hard to reach :p
LikeLike
You should come to Tokyo early next March … then you can see an excellent KISS show!
At their peak in the ’70s, KISS came here every year. Then not again until only once in the late 80s.
And after they put their make-up back on in mid-90s, they have come to Japan for every tour except Psycho Circus.
They’ve done a few “Japan only” tours as well.
They also have about six Japan-only albums (counting the upcoming single I mention in this post).
LikeLiked by 1 person
Seems that KISS has a pretty solid fan base in Japan, but then again Japan alone has already more people and possible fans than many European countries combined. It looks like there are more and more reasons to visit Japan, perhaps combining a trip with a concert 🙂
LikeLiked by 1 person
Yes, there are many reasons to visit Japan. If you came to Tokyo, you’d have a very enjoyable time, I’m sure!
LikeLike