10. May, 1976: Kiss does photo sessions in London

On 10. May, 1976, Kiss did photo sessions at different locations in London. Photos were taken at Heathrow Airport, Buckingham Palace, Westminster Bridge and the London streets. This was the start of the European “The Spirit of ’76/Destroyer” tour, and although they had revealed the new “Destroyer” costumes as early as 13. January 1976, they used the old “Alive!” costumes – probably because the full “Destroyer” stage show wouldn’t have been able to squeeze into the smaller European venues. (Photo by Barry Levine.)

Gene Simmons:
“In 1976 Kiss went over to Europe for a major tour. We arrived at Heathrow Airport in London and came off the plane in full makeup. The press was all over us, and we drove around to all the sights and had pictures taken for the magazines. I was in awe, because it was England, the home of the Beatles. It was like a pilgrimage to Mecca.”
– “Kiss & Makeup” by Gene Simmons

Paul Stanley:
“In May 1976, we jetted off to England for a two-month European tour. To me, England represented the musical holy land. Everything I loved came from there. We even had two nights booked at the Hammersmith Odeon, in London, where so many of my favorite bands had played legendary gigs.
But nearly as soon as we landed, I hated it. We had become a big band in the United States. In England and the rest of Europe, we had to prove ourselves all over again. We were back at square one – nobodies. Thank God for the fans. As we had seen back home when we started out, the fans in England were also rabid in their dedication to us. On the other hand, the food was horrible and the transportation archaic. The people who ran things were very stodgy. Merchants x perverse pride in the fact that you couldn’t get dry cleaning back for a week. There was no air conditioning, and, if you pleaded, they might begrudgingly put one lone ice cube in a drink for you. These things were badges of honor to the older guard of the British Empire.
But the hotel policies represented the biggest sore spot. They made it virtually impossible to take female guests to your room. You had to sign them in, and they had to leave by 10 P.M. And the staff enforced the rules.
Trouble taking girls to our rooms was a much bigger problem than the food. I could go without food, but I couldn’t go without a steady diet of wild and willing women. That was absolutely essential.
Ace bought knives all along the European tour, and on the way home he taped a bunch of them to the inside of his Marshall cabinets to sneak them into the country. It pissed me off – if they were found, all our gear would be impounded. But it was par for the course for Ace. Once, on a domestic flight, our tour manager’s bags had been searched, and a stolen hotel phone was found. The tour manager hadn’t put it in there. Ace also stashed drugs in the bags or pockets of crew members – without their knowledge – so he wasn’t on the hook if they were found. Ace was all about Ace, regardless of the cost to anyone else.”
– “Face the music: A Life Exposed” by Paul Stanley.