With the crowd waiting at the gates, KISS postponed its concert Thursday evening at the Pavilion at Star Lake.
According to a statement from the band, “Tonight’s KISS show at The Pavilion at Star Lake in Burgettstown, PA is unfortunately postponed due to Paul Stanley testing positive for COVID. More information about show dates will be made available ASAP. Everyone on the entire tour, both band and crew, are fully vaccinated. The band and their crew have operated in a bubble independently to safeguard everyone as much as possible at each show and in between shows. The tour also has a COVID safety protocol officer on staff full-time that is ensuring everyone is closely following all CDC guidelines.”
The news comes just a week after KISS performed in Bangor at the Darling’s Waterfront Pavilion on Aug. 19. At the time, Stanley was not showing any symptoms of COVID-19, and according to Waterfront Concerts President Alex Gray, band members isolated themselves from local crew members, so none had any direct contact with the performers.
A fan who was at the soundcheck told the PG that Stanley was not on stage with the band.
In response to rumors online that he’d had a heart ailment, Stanley tweeted that he was “fine” and “not in ICU.”
Later, he tweeted, “A Full Press Release Will Be Issued Shortly about upcoming KISS shows. I had been sick with flu-like symptoms and was tested repeatedly and was negative. As of late this afternoon I tested positive. The crew, staff and band have all tested negative once again. More to follow.”
KISS — whose frontmen Gene Simmons and Stanley are 72 and 69, respectively — is on an extended farewell tour that began in 2019.
In terms of rescheduling, KISS is set to take the tour to the West Coast on Sept. 9 and then veer Southeast to finish this leg of the U.S. tour in Tampa on Oct. 8.
A similar situation happened with the band at the Civic Arena in April 1986, on the Asylum Tour, when fans approaching the gates were told that a transformer had knocked out power to the venue.
Story by Scott Mervis, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. BDN writer Emily Burnham contributed to this report.