Bruce Kulick, who played on five albums and countless shows with KISS in the past reflected on his era during a recent interview with Loaded Radio.
While speaking of the band’s decision to move forward with Tommy Thayer instead of him following Ace Frehley’s second departure, the guitarist revealed, “There were one or two things that KISS did — not a concert, even though once Ace was almost not gonna make it and they made Tommy get the outfit on. [He had a] similar build — tall and thin — and Ace made it to the show. But there were a couple of other things they needed to do.”
“I believe ‘That ’70s Show’—when they were taping, Ace didn’t show up. ’Tommy, get the outfit on.’ And then I think there was a private gig, too, that no one would really know about — one of those things where you go to an island and play for some rich people. And Ace wouldn’t go.”
Kulick, who was part of KISS’s no-makeup era, never wore the signature stage makeup or adopted an onstage persona. So, he believes bringing in Thayer to replace Frehley after his final departure in 2002 was a better idea.
“If they ever had a thought of me, I think they would have known that that probably would have been a lot harder,” the guitarist noted. “Tommy was younger, there already, if you know what I mean, working with them. And Tommy, not everybody knows that he was in a tribute band for fun at times called Cold Gin as Ace Frehley.”
Kulick added that he wouldn’t want to rejoin KISS under Frehley’s Spaceman persona as it would overshadow his own era by forcing him to play more like the original guitarist. Still, he was disappointed when Gene Simmons and Paul Stanley didn’t ask him back for the band’s farewell last year.
Talking to VRP Rocks last October, Kulick admitted, “I was disappointed that I wasn’t involved, but I didn’t expect to be involved. I never got the vibe. I didn’t know about the avatars, okay? That was a very last minute where I only heard a little peep about something unusual happening on the last night.”
“I really wish they would have mentioned all the other players, all the other very important influential people in their career but it was their show, their choice. Not mine,” he continued.
“I know the fans were as well. I got so much feedback that they didn’t understand that but it was truly the last show and they are concentrating in a very big way in this next era of KISS which would be this avatar.”
KISS is now preparing to continue performing through digital avatars as part of a $200 million project developed with Pophouse and Industrial Light & Magic. Stanley believes these virtual shows are shaping up to be better than the ABBA concerts in London.