Another farewell concert by Kiss on the books for St. Paul in February

The End of the Road Tour will roll on into 2020 and includes stops in Sioux City and Grand Forks.

November 5, 2019 at 10:48PM
(The Minnesota Star Tribune)
Gene Simmons' big head loomed behind Paul Stanley at Target Center in March. / Carlos Gonzalez, Star Tribune
Gene Simmons' big head loomed behind Paul Stanley at Target Center in March. / Carlos Gonzalez, Star Tribune (The Minnesota Star Tribune)

Kiss is coming back to Minnesota for a second "final show" next February.

The self-proclaimed Hottest Band in the World will once again play here during the coldest time of the year. A Feb. 24 date in St. Paul is listed on a 2020 tour itinerary revealed over the weekend on the band's Kiss Kruise.

St. Paul's Monday night show – presumably at Xcel Energy Center – will arrive almost exactly one year after the quartet played Target Center in Minneapolis, which was one of the first stops on the Rock and Roll Hall of Famers' much-ballyhooed End of the Road Tour. This second go-round will also include gigs in Sioux City (Feb. 21), Grand Forks (Feb. 22) and Lincoln, Neb. (Feb. 25). Look for ticket info to be announced soon.

That newly revealed, 75-city tour itinerary even includes a summer 2021 date in the band's native New York City, which could be some kind of absolute, for-real, no-lying, take-the-money-and-run, final farewell gig.

In a Star Tribune interview last February before the Target Center date, Kiss co-founder Paul Stanley hedged on declaring it their absolute last Minneapolis show; and technically, he and the guys aren't repeating themselves by playing across the river this time.

"This tour is like Mount Everest," Stanley said. "I'm just looking toward the top, looking at what it'll take to climb it. Beyond that, I can't say what's on the other side."

He spoke much more clearly when quelling rumors that original members Ace Frehley and Peter Criss might join the tour: "The idea of bringing back former members in any capacity — other than perhaps to show up as guests and do a song — misses the whole point. But that door is certainly open, if anybody wants to participate on that level."

Here's our review from the first local farewell show, and here's a little clip showing off the firepower behind the tour.

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about the writer

about the writer

Chris Riemenschneider

Critic / Reporter

Chris Riemenschneider has been covering the Twin Cities music scene since 2001, long enough for Prince to shout him out during "Play That Funky Music (White Boy)." The St. Paul native authored the book "First Avenue: Minnesota's Mainroom" and previously worked as a music critic at the Austin American-Statesman in Texas.

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