When KISS appeared in the 88th Annual Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade in 2014 it was anything but what the band was promised. Ultimately, the group known for putting on the most dazzling live shows in the business were dwarfed by parade floats of cartoon characters and led by two less-than-enthused escorts carrying a laughably small introductory sign, which made for one gigantic Spinal Tap-like moment.
No strangers to missteps and commercial flops, it was another infamous moment for “The Hottest Band in the World.” KISS made no attempt to hide their discontent after the 2014 parade appearance, though the “Starchild” Paul Stanley appears to be able to look back on the day with a laugh.
With Thanksgiving just a day away, Stanley recollected the event in a Twitter post, where he shared one of the most revealing photos taken throughout that day. The rock legend wrote, “We showed up at the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade after being shown sketches of a HUGE float and told we would be surrounded by 100 baton twirlers in KISS makeup. Instead we got THIS!!! An SUV with a U-Haul attached and two unimpressed escorts. HA! HA! HA! Look how happy we are!”
Additional photos seen below offer various perspectives from the parade. Despite the lackluster setup, KISS still did manage to pull off some light pyrotechnic effects as they lip synched (expectedly — it’s a televised parade, not a controlled concert setting) to “Rock and Roll All Nite.”
There’s also a pretty big reason KISS got bumped from what they were initially promised down to the meager 25-foot stage being pulled by a truck…
“The worst thing we did was we played the Macy’s Day Parade,” said KISS manager Doc McGhee during a Q&A session on the ninth annual KISS Kruise (via Ultimate Classic Rock). “We were supposed to be on the Gibson float, which was this huge float. So, it was great; it’s just like KISS. Well, the night before we found out that they wanted Paul to play Gibson [guitars], and he doesn’t play Gibsons – because he plays Washburns. So, we couldn’t go on the float. They go, ‘Oh, we have another float for you.'”
McGhee continued, “So, we get there, and [the new float] is literally like, 25 feet long with two microphones on it. We looked like the shittiest thing on the Macy’s Day Parade. When I saw it I went, ‘Ohhhh, this is how you get fired.’ That was just a horrible time.”
Michael Stewart, Getty Images
The day after the parade appearance, Stanley voiced his disgust on Twitter, stating, “Bluntly, we were screwed over & misled by the exec in charge of Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade. We ALL deserved better.”
As seen further down the page, on the heels of KISS as they made their way through the streets of New York City was a massive float depicting Finn and Jake, the lead characters from the Cartoon Network animated TV show, Adventure Time.
Photos: KISS at the 88th Annual Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade in 2014
The 15 Most Expensive Guitars of All Time
