Gene Simmons is offering rock 'n' roll fans the chance of a lifetime on his upcoming solo tour: For just $12,495, they can be his roadie and personal assistant at a gig (concert ticket not included, but you do get a bass out of the deal). Around the time JoJo Siwa launched a similar initiative, the KISS co-founder defended his personal roadie promotion with the following argument: As a kid he'd always wondered what the rock-star life was like behind the scenes, and nobody has ever tried something like this before, so why not see how it goes? That line of reasoning, however, does not address the experience's exorbitant price.
Simmons discussed the financial aspect of the Personal Assistant/Band Roadie Experience in a new interview with Carl Craft of 95.9 The Rat in Point Pleasant, NJ, blaming the high price point on insurance costs. Here's how he explained it, as transcribed by Blabbermouth:
Here's the deal: when I was a kid and I went to see [Jimi] Hendrix or somebody, of course I enjoyed the show and really got off on it — we talked about it forever and stuff — but I didn't know what it was like. What's the beginning of the day like? What's it like to sit and have breakfast or lunch with my favorite rock stars, and then get in the limo, go to the gig, set up the drums, do soundcheck and then be on stage with your video, 'cause nowadays everything's on video. You can't take a poop without a camera coming in under the stall. And then you get pulled up on stage to sing along with them. Now, having said that, we only do one roadie for a day per show. And I'll tell you why — because nowadays everything is so litigious. That's a big word, like gymnasium. That means everybody sues everybody for no reason. So if you get a paper cut, somebody gets sued. And that's just the way life is here in America — much more in California, by the way. It's crazy out here. So, I can't even, if I wanted to, bring out do roadie for a day with 10, 20, 30, as many people [as we would like]. So we do one, because the insurance costs for that are astronomical. And so this ain't cheap. It's not for everybody. And for that one person, you do have to pay premium numbers. That's just life.
Simmons later added, "Somebody has a bad experience and they sue you and it costs you hundreds of thousands of dollars. You need insurance for everything. Do you have a car? You've got insurance. Everything in life, apparently… In fact, you buy anything — a tool — they give you insurance. Would you like the one-year or three-year? Everything's insured." You can see the interview below.
