On December 21 and 22. 1973, Kiss returned to the Coventry, NY, for a pair of farewell shows. “Before we played Coventry,” Gene recalls, “Bill had brought a magician to one of our rehearsals. Bill said, ‘If we’re gonna do it, let’s take it all the way.’ And the magician taught me how to breathe fire.”
When Bill brought it up to the band and asked, “Which one of you guys doesn’t want to do it,!” every hand went up except for that of singer/bassist Gene Simmons. From that day forth, Simmons’ fire-breathing has been one of the band’s key live attractions and an essential part of the rock star’s image.
Only problem is, Simmons didn’t raise his hand by mistake, and never wanted to take on the dangerous stunt.
“I thought he said, ‘Which one of you guys wants to breathe fire?'” Simmons says in this oral history of the band’s early years. “I thought, f – – -, I don’t wanna breathe fire. It was a negative question and I forgot to raise my hand, so I was stuck.”
Photo from Georgia, July 17, 1974.
