Kiss has announced its first live concert since the pandemic shutdowns put the band's 'End of the Road' tour on hold early this year.

The point? To bid goodbye to the worst year this century with an explosive display of pyrotechnics and rock 'n' roll.

The 'Kiss 2020 Goodbye' concert will take place on New Year's Eve in Dubai at the Atlantis resort. The band, which had previously stated that it would not resume its tour until there is a COVID-19 vaccine or cure, says the concert will feature a socially-distanced audience of several thousand and will be filmed by 50 cameras and livestreamed for fans across the world.

Kiss has guaranteed a spectacle like none other, including a 250-foot stage and the biggest-ever pyrotechnics display in history, for which the band hopes to set a Guinness World Record.

Tickets to view the livestream start at $39, but there are VIP packages as well, plus a special offer available for fans with tickets to the postponed 'End of the Road' tour. Get details on all ticketing options here.

"The best way to shut everybody up and get everybody to enjoy life right now is to make a big resounding noise and shake the heavens with some pyro," bassist Gene Simmons told Rolling Stone in a new interview. "We play big. There's not a lot of subtlety in what we do."

But if decades of playing with fire have taught Kiss anything, it's that just blowing things up on a whim can easily subvert the music. Simmons suggested that the 'Kiss 2020 Goodbye' show would be tightly coordinated in all aspect.

The show's director Dan Catullo confirmed the band's $10 million investment in the concert, adding that pyro alone accounts for nearly a tenth of that cost, while COVID compliance for the show's 400 workers will cost another $750,000 at least.

Frontman Paul Stanley has long urged fans to follow all the necessary COVID-19 safety precautions. He says the band is practicing what it's been preaching, and COVID safety is as big a point of emphasis as creating the fire.

"We're taking all the protocols needed," Stanley explained. "Obviously, the first thing we had to say was, 'Can we pull this off safely?' and we're making sure we're doing that."

Catullo's team will undergo an estimated 6,000 coronavirus tests leading up to the production. Crews will be split into isolated 25-person units, and each crewmember will be outfitted with a chipped wristband to monitor their movement in case of any potential outbreaks.

The band members will travel to Dubai in separate private cabins and only meet in person for rehearsals.

While Kiss could have saved a fortune by doing a smaller-scale show in Los Angeles, Stanley said that just isn't the Kiss way.

"For us, size matters," he said. "We don't have to reinvent the wheel; we invented it and it runs real well. We're just making sure it's on a scale and a size that does justice, not only to the situation we're in, but that it makes the people watching at home feel like they're a part of it."

Kiss's 'End of the Road' farewell tour dates have mostly been rescheduled in 2021, in hopes that a coronavirus vaccine will become widely available.

Photo: Getty Images

K.C. Wheeler

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