Rockpages.gr continue their KISS special feature with the 33rd interview of a KISS-related figure. This week, Spiro Papadatos, KISS' graphic designer/head of merchandising. Here's an excerpt:

Rockpages.gr: When you put on the make-up, you have a strong resemblance with Gene. Was there ever a time that you were close to replace him for a concert?

Spiro Papadatos: "No. Gene has never missed a show. But, there was this one time in 2000 when Ace thought it was going to happen. We were in Binghamton, New York for a show on the Farewell Tour. Paul, Ace and Peter were already at the gig and in the dressing room. Gene, who often travels separately, hadn't arrived yet because his flight out of New York City was delayed due to bad weather. At the time, I was KISS' merchandise manager and was working on the main concourse level of the arena when I got a call on my radio from someone who sounded a lot like Ace. The voice on the other end said, "Hey Spiro, get down here, you're playing tonight... I'm not getting ready until you start putting on makeup." I said, "Who is this?" It was hard to hear because of all the noise in the arena but it sounded like Ace or someone just trying to screw with me. 'It's Ace, come down to the dressing room, you're playing tonight!' I love Ace. I think he's a great guy, but the truth is, he was really spiraling out of control on his last KISS tour. Without getting into detail, it seemed that every day on that tour, he was getting into trouble or new "adventures". You really didn't know what to expect with Ace and this just seemed like another one of his pranks. So, I went down to the band's dressing room to find out what was going on. When I got there, Paul and Peter were sitting in front of their mirrors putting on their makeup. Ace was lying down on a couch. Gene wasn't around. I asked Ace if he called me on my radio. He said, 'Yeah, Gene's not here, you're playing with us tonight.' I remember thinking this had to be a joke so I just looked at him and kinda laughed and said, 'What? Says who?' He said, 'Me. Gene's not here so you need to start getting ready... you know all the songs, right?' I said, 'Yeah, but... where's Doc?' That's when I found out that Doc wasn't there either and Tommy, who was the band's road manager back then, was in LA editing 'The Last KISS' video. Suddenly, Peter walked over to our side of the room and said, 'Hey Ace, are you crazy? Paul is sitting right over there, he can hear everything you're saying.' I looked over at Paul, hoping he would shed some light on the situation but he wasn't paying any attention. He was getting ready for the show, business as usual. For a moment, the thought of actually playing with KISS entered my mind. I mean, doing a commercial or a TV show just wasn't the same as playing with the band in an actual live show. Was this really going to happen? I knew I could do it, I knew all the songs then I gave my head a shake and said, 'This is crazy. As much as I'd love to do this, I can't do anything unless I hear it from Doc, Paul or Gene. I have to go back to work' and I left the room. As I was walking down the hall, Gene, who had just arrived, was walking towards me making his way to the band's dressing room. He walked into the room, didn't say a word to anyone, sat down beside Paul and started putting on his makeup. Later that night, KISS was on stage, on time, as usual."

Read the full interview here.