Kiss played an acoustic set in Lake Oswego, Ore., last night (Sept. 15) that helped raise some serious dough that will go towards the construction of a military museum.
The band, without their signature makeup, played a 14-song set that featured classics like "Calling Dr. Love," "Shout It Out Loud," "Beth," and "Rock and Roll All Nite," the Oregonian originally reported. In collaboration with the Historical Outreach Foundation, Kiss raised $1 million with the concert, $20,000 coming from an auctioned guitar that Paul Stanley had been playing since 1989. The museum will be named after guitarist Tommy Thayer's father, Brigadier General James B. Thayer, who helped free prisoners of Nazi concentration camps during World War II. Bassist Gene Simmons' mother was held in a camp during the war, and she may have even been saved by the war hero herself.
"A museum is a living history book, because young people today and the future generations can't just read books or watch it on video because it's unemotional," Simmons told the Oregon newspaper. "Going into a building and seeing remnants, vestiges of what it all means just cuts out all the sound and images on the outside world, lets you focus a little bit and makes you understand that this is real life and death stuff, and America exists, as far as I'm concerned, as the last bastion of hope for all of humanity on all of Planet Earth."
Simmons continued by stating the importance of servicemen and women. "It really is about the men and women of the military that make my life and your life possible," he said. "There's chaos in the world. If you go to the Middle East, there are people... 'evil,' is a good word. Forget about different religious beliefs or political views; there is evil in the world. People are being beheaded today, not in some medieval time."
Recently, former Kiss guitarist Ace Frehley slammed Thayer, saying he's "just a guy up there copying me and trying to move like me and trying to sing like me and trying to play like me."
