Christian McPhate at The Dallas Observer recently caught up with KISS legend Paul Stanley at a press conference. An excerpt from the story is available below:

"What I remember of the first gig was that the commitment and conviction that the band had to itself in delivering what it believed was missing in music," Stanley said. "The focus, the sense of what we are and what we represent has never changed. It didn't matter whether we were playing for 20, 20,000 or 200,000 people. We are KISS. We started building a legacy at that very first show and it's never veered from that."
"Going out on our 40th anniversary tour," he continued, "is just a way to re-state who we are, put our eight-inch heels firmly back on the ground and let people know that the legend lives. Everything they heard remains true. This is a band unlike any other band and you only have to come see us to know it. When we started there were no shows like ours. Then it reached a point where many bands had 'KISS shows.' Any band with money can do a 'KISS show,' but no band can be KISS."

Go to this location for the complete story.

The clip below features KISS performing "King Of The Night Time World" at the opening show of their 40th Anniversary Tour in Salt Lake City, Utah. Filmed by Keith Leroux for KISSonline.com.

The KISS / Def Leppard tour will storm through 40-plus cities throughout North America kicked off on Monday, June 23rd in West Valley City, UT at the USANA Amphitheater.

Tour dates:

July

12 - Austin, TX - austin360 Amphitheater
13 - Dallas, TX - Gexa Energy Pavilion
15 - Cincinnati, OH - Riverbend Music Center
16 - Nashville, TN - Bridgestone Arena
18 - Atlanta, GA - Aaron's Amphitheater at Lakewood
19 - Charlotte, NC - PNC Music Pavilion
20 - Raleigh, NC - Walnut Creek Amphitheater
22 - West Palm Beach, FL - Cruzan Amphitheater
23 - Tampa, FL - MIDFLORIDA Credit Union Amphitheater
25 - Bristow, VA - Jiffy Lube Live
26 - Holmdel, NJ - PNC Bank Arts Center

August

1 - Mansfield, MA - Xfinity Center
2 - Atlantic City, NJ - Boardwalk Hall
3 - Camden, NJ - Susquehanna Bank Center
5 - Saratoga Springs, NY - Saratoga Performing Arts Center
6 - Wantagh, NY - Nikon at Jones Beach Theatre
8 - Virginia Beach, VA - Farm Bureau Live at Virginia Beach
9 - Scranton, PA - Toyota Pavilion at Montage Mountain
10 - Hartford, CT - The Xfinity Theatre
12 - Toronto, ON - Molson Canadian Amphitheatre
13 - Darien Center, NY - Darien Lake Performing Arts Center
15 - East Troy, WI - Alpine Valley Music Theater
16 - Tinley Park, IL - First Midwest Bank Amphitheatre
17 - Minneapolis, MN - Target Center**
20 - Des Moines, IA - Wells Fargo Arena**
22 - Noblesville, IN - Klipsch Music Center
23 - Clarkston, MI - DTE Energy Music Theatre
24 - Burgettstown, PA - First Niagara Pavilion
26 - Cuyahoga Falls, OH - Blossom Music Center
28 - Maryland Heights, MO - Verizon Wireless Amphitheater
29 - Tulsa, OK - BOK Center
31 - Houston, TX - Cynthia Woods Mitchell Pavilion

Check out 40 minutes of footage from the press conference announcing the tour below: