NEW YORK CNN –
Members of KISS played the final show of their farewell tour on Saturday evening – but the band isn’t quite finished performing yet.
The legendary American rock band concluded their “End of the Road” tour with a final concert, the highlight of their 50-year tour, at Madison Square Garden in New York.
Founders Paul Stanley and Gene Simmons, along with guitarist Tommy Thayer and drummer Eric Singer, took the stage and played classics like “I Love It Loud” and “Beth.”
At the end of the show, the musicians left the stage – and their digital avatars took their places to perform “God Gave Rock And Roll To You”.
The band also released a video on their official YouTube channel showing the musicians wearing the motion capture suits they used to create the digital avatars, as well as the avatars themselves breathing fire and performing.
“The band deserves to live on because it’s bigger than us,” says frontman Paul Stanley in the video.
According to a company press release, the avatars were created through a partnership with Pophouse Entertainment Group. The Swedish company says KISS is the first U.S. band to adopt the digital models.
“The band’s transformation into avatars will ensure their immortality while pushing the boundaries of rock ‘n’ roll performance, as KISS have done throughout their career to date,” the press release states. Pophouse also said that KISS ” will continue to appear digitally for decades to come.
According to the press release, the avatars were created by the visual effects company Industrial Light & Magic, founded by George Lucas.
“We can be forever young and forever iconic by taking ourselves to places we’ve never dreamed of before,” Gene Simmons said, according to the press release. “The technology will make Paul jump higher than ever before.”
KISS follows the Swedish band ABBA, which has held its own concerts with digital avatars. Pophouse says it has worked with ABBA as well as Avicii and Swedish House Mafia.