Japanese star wanted to honor the band that once helped him through a difficult time.
Legendary rock band Kiss are currently making their way through the Japan leg of their End of the Road World Tour, slated as their last tour ever. And the Japanese regiment of the Kiss army showed up in droves to see their electric show one last time.
At their 11 December show in Tokyo Dome, Kiss played through several of their greatest hits including “Detroit Rock City” and “I Was Made For Lovin’ You,” and closed with “Black Diamond,” a symbolic song for Japan since it was covered by X Japan drummer and all-around world-class celebrity Yoshiki on the 1994 tribute album Kiss My Ass.
However, when the song ended and Kiss left the stage, the audience had no idea what they were in for as an encore. Paul Stanley later emerged on stage and declared, “Today is a very special day for us. We’re going to play with our close friend and Japan’s leading rock star, Yoshiki!”
The crowd naturally erupted as Yoshiki took a seat at the piano for a collaborative rendition of Kiss’ most famous ballad “Beth” with Eric Singer on vocals.
Following that, Yoshiki replaced Singer on drums to close the show with Kiss’ party-anthem “Rock And Roll All Nite.”
Yoshiki has often credited Kiss as an influence, especially as he was struggling with depression after the loss of his father when he was young. Through their music he could learn how to channel his own negativity through music and overcome it, resulting in the young Yoshiki taking up classical piano and the drums.
Now, many years after Kiss helped open the door of rock for a young boy in a far-away country, he was able to repay them by performing with them on their last world tour.
Even though the replacement Catman is out of the bag, everyone planning to attend the Kiss show in Kyocera Dome in Osaka on 17 December will still be in for quite a treat, as Yoshiki plans to stop by there as well.
Tickets are still available for that show, so fans of Yoshiki and Kiss ought to consider joining in on this monumentally unholy union of two rock giants set to take place again. It promises to be hotter than hell, and possibly even hotter than Kiss spicy tomato buns.
Source: PR Times, Kiss – End of the Road Tour
Images: PR Times
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