On Wednesday, AMC premieres “4th and Loud,” a reality series focusing on the Los Angeles KISS (or LA KISS, as the logo renders it), an expansion team of the resurgent Arena Football League, playing out of the Honda Center in Anaheim, Calif., in Orange County, just south of Los Angeles.
The men behind it all are KISS bandmates Gene Simmons and Paul Stanley, who have taken their outrageous rock ‘n’ roll persona and transferred it to an indoor gridiron.
Fans attending an LA KISS game might see motorcycle stunts, girls dancing in cages above the field and pyrotechnics. Simmons told Breitbart News in July that his inspiration for the 3-D experience first came from his years as a teacher.
“You gotta liven it up, I would urge,” he says, “because I used to be a sixth-grade teacher — you gotta change the way you’re doing it. The time that kids spend the most energy really focusing is when the teacher would bring in the screen and show a movie or a video, because there’s music and visuals and stuff, instead of, ‘In 1492 …’
“So, what we’re trying to do is give people an experience, not just a football game. You get the football, and then you’re going to get an experience. Our athletic dancers are going to be running into the stands and getting you things. Some of our sports-team guys are running to the stands.
“We throw footballs to the fans. After the game, our guys, who are actually on the field being battered, they don’t go home. They’re right there on the field. You can run up, take photos, whatever you want.”
When asked about his personal football history, Simmons said, “You live in America, football is a part of life, even if you’re not a football fan. It’s difficult not to pay attention to the big stories and the big personalities, especially the Super Bowl. So, we like to think that every game is like a Super Bowl.
“Because, when you take a look at it, the Super Bowl is a better football experience than all the other games. You’ve got halftime; you’ve got fireworks, rock bands. It’s the most interesting.
“Why can’t we do Super Bowl every game?”
Although he wouldn’t admit to being a bigger football fan now that he’s a team owner, Simmons says, “I’m an LA KISS fan. Mommy is the biggest fan of her own child. It’s full-contact; there’s no quarter given. So when they’re coming at you, you get banged up pretty good.”
His pitch to a college-football player thinking of trying out for the LA KISS is, “You can try out for us, but you grades had better be good, and I don’t want to see a police record.”
As previously reported by Breitbart News, Simmons would love to lure Tim Tebow as his QB.
“We can make you a bigger star than the NFL can,” Simmons said. “We’re on KCAL, CBS Sports, ESPN and a reality show on AMC. No sports team of any kind has ever had that kind of coverage. Nobody touches us. We can do things; we can give you the platform that you never had. We’ve got to win.”
The most recent AFL season ended in late July, and the LA KISS had three wins and 15 losses.
“We just started,” Simmons says. “You were a baby once, you were born, and then you started walking and running. Oh, you mean you fell down at the beginning? But you got up.”
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