It's hard to believe but it's 20 years ago today since I started KISSin' UK! Shortly after Donington in 1996 I was fed up of not being able to find any UK KISS news online, so I decided to try and do something about it. Back then we didn't even have the kissinuk.com domain, we were based at a Demon address which can still be seen over at the Wayback Machine.

I've been very lucky to be involved with the site for so long and I'm very grateful to everyone who has helped along the way, from people helping with articles, the forum, reviews, photos, competitions and lots more. Pretty sure 20 years now makes us the longest running KISS site under single ownership in the whole world!

Some special shout-outs go to:

• Everyone who has contributed and helped over the past 20 years, including Dan Bach, Daniel Hill (his NYC article is still to this day one of the most visited pages), Martin Wombwell, Nick Smith, Giorgio, all of Dressed To Kill, Terri Bey, all the forum Mods over the years, Darren Wells, Dino, Keith Leroux, Mike Brandvold and everyone else I've missed!
• All my family who have helped out through the years, especially my wife Wendy who wrote one of the first reviews on the site from the NEC show in 1996 (which was on her birthday, lucky her!). Plus my sister Michelle for running the show along with Dan Bach many years ago and my daughter & parents for putting up with my obsession.
• All the friends I've made on the way, KISS fans are without doubt the nicest people you can ever meet anywhere in the world.
• Every single member of KISS who have inspired me since I became a fan in 1991, Paul, Gene, Ace, Peter, Eric, Vinnie, Mark, Bruce, Eric & Tommy
• And of course everyone who has visited the site over the years.

Some highlights for me include being invited backstage, attending a backstage party, press conferences, meeting Gene & Shannon on The One Show, Gene's business talk, interviewing the late Mark St John, interviewing Peter and Ace, meeting Bruce and a whole lot more.

I have no idea how long I'll continue the site, but I'm enjoying it while it lasts. Cheers!

What a great start to a bank holiday weekend, KISS Rocks Vegas Blu-Ray and DVD are out today!

1. Detroit Rock City
2. Creatures of the Night
3. Psycho Circus
4. Parasite
5. War Machine
6. Tears are Falling
7. Deuce
8. Lick it Up
9. I Love it Loud
10. Hell or Hallelujah
11. God of Thunder
12. Do You Love Me?
13. Love Gun
14. Black Diamond
15. Shout it Out Loud
16. Rock and Roll All Night

Acoustic:
1. Comin’ Home
2. Plaster Caster
3. Hard Luck Woman
4. Christine Sixteen
5. Goin’ Blind
6. Love Her All I Can
7. Beth

Unfortunately I have just been informed that HeavyCon is no longer happening in October and will instead move to be part of Insomnia60 at the NEC. The date will change to 13th – 17th April 2017.

So far so good, however Gene has not yet been confirmed but they are working on it as we speak...

We were hoping to announce the winner of the competition on Saturday (our 20th birthday), sadly that won't be the case now but we are confident this will still go ahead if Gene confirms attendance.

The organiser of Insomnia60 have now issued the following statement:  

"Parallel Contemporary Music Ltd. will amalgamate elements of Heavycon in to the Insomnia60 gaming festival taking place over Easter 2017. As part of a partnership with Multiplay, rock fans will still experience the Vinyl Village, Rock stars sports cars, the Play Music Live sessions and more but will now also get to experience the thrill of Insomnia, the UK’s largest gaming festival. Insomnia features a huge line-up of gaming tournaments, main stage entertainment, a major retail exhibition and a whole host of gaming related zones and activities for all types of gamer, including both novice and professional, of any age."

Unbelievably it's 20 years today since KISS headlined Donington Monsters Of Rock as part of the reunion tour. Not only that but it was the first time we heard official confirmation of the '96 UK tour!

This show was the reason KISSin' UK started in the first place which means we must be approaching a big birthday too.....

A new KISS comic is coming in October from Dynamite Entertainment! You can read an interview with writer Amy Chu where she talks about her enthusiasm for the band and the new book here: http://tinyurl.com/z3scudb

Also check out the awesome covers below!

A few people have asked me about the HeavyCon competition - I've decided the results will be announced our 20th Birthday, so don't worry we haven't forgotten!

I'll still be accepting entries for another week or so, you can still enter here: https://www.kissinuk.com/cms/heavycon

Today would have been The Fox's 66th birthday, RIP Eric.

Unbelievably it's 4 years since KISS last played London for the one-off help For Heroes show. So many good memories of this show, from Detroit Rock City through to Rock & Roll All Nite (via Crazy Crazy Nights) followed by my first KISS back stage party! It was also preceded by a great launch for the Monster book at the Arts Club in London that I was lucky enough to attend.

There's a familiar face on the cover of the latest Big Issue, Gene is interviewed discussing "his family history - and his violent plans as Earth's 'benevolent' dictator". Make sure you pick it up from your local seller before Monday!