Bassist Duff McKagan (LOADED, VELVET REVOLVER, ex-GUNS N' ROSES) has written a new blog for Seattle Weekly's Reverb. An excerpt can be read below:

"Last month, I got a call to do some gigs in South America - which, as I've said many times before, is a kick-ass place to play - with a mishmash of musicians: Glenn Hughes of DEEP PURPLE, Joe Elliott of DEF LEPPARD, Billy Duffy of THE CULT, GN'R's Gilby Clarke and Matt Sorum, Mike Inez from ALICE IN CHAINS, Ed Roland of COLLECTIVE SOUL, Sebastian Bach, BILLY IDOL's Steve Stevens, and yes ...Gene Simmons of KISS.

I'd never played with the KISS guys. They didn't have guys like me play on their records, and they don't do side projects. That's OK too, of course.

Here it was, in South America, finally a chance to see THE Gene "God of Thunder" Simmons in action. But would he be cool to travel with? Would he see right through all my rock bluster and into my teenage geekdom? Would I be shooshed or made small by the dude who I dressed up as for Halloween in sixth grade? I hoped for the best as we boarded the plane in Los Angeles bound for Paraguay.

Long-distance air travel with a ton of people shoved together can really "thin out the pack." You can see into the soul of a man on an 18-hour flight. As some got tired and cranky after fuel stops in San Salvador and Lima, Mr. Simmons just settled in, as if being stuck in a metal tube with strangers were a common everyday experience. I suppose it probably is for him and his wife Shannon. They told jokes and stories -- and wrestled. For me, this initial experience provided a first look at how this guy would lead by calm example on this whole trip. I like that stuff.

Backstage, at the second gig in Buenos Aires, Sebastian Bach plugged in his iPod to a rather large boombox, and cranked up some BOZ SCAGGS, and then some SLY AND THE FAMILY STONE. Gene Simmons suddenly appeared, and started dancing . . . really well. He did some disco dancing, the "mashed potato," the "twist," the "hustle," and some good ol' stripper dancing. We all stood rather agape at this spectacle. The God of Thunder has real and bona fide SOUL. What the?"

Read the entire column here.