Kiss & Surprise

A little town called Oshawa in Canada thought they were in for a surprise visit from KISS but ended up getting dissed.

KISS ran a contest back in April and asked their fans to vote for their hometown to be included in the band’s upcoming tour, with the top vote getter getting a concert in their town. Oshawa topped the list, but when the list of the “KISS Alive 35″ concert dates/cities was released this week, Oshawa was nowhere to be found.

The band was asked why Oshawa was dissed and the KISS camp responded that the town was skipped for “logistical reasons“, and a rep added that they would still “get something special”.

Of course, major media coverage and angry fans ensued, which forced KISS to announce that they are in fact playing in Oshawa on October 7th.

Oshawa mayor John Gray was contacted by KISS’ manager, informing him of the performance. Gray said:

“Details are still a little sketchy. I’m ecstatic. This is an opportunity to have Oshawa shine — we have a great facility we want to show visitors our city.”

The concert was planned all along, and KISS had wanted to surprise the town. Simmons said:

“Because of who and what Oshawa is – which is near and dear to our hearts because (they) won the No. 1 spot above and beyond New York, L.A., Toronto, Vancouver – we wanted to do a huge campaign and literally premiere Sonic Boom, our new album, Oct. 7 in Oshawa.”

Simmons has voiced his anger at the media since the KISS & surprise for Oshawa was foiled.