Gene Simmons Rumored to Appear With Thee Rock N' Roll Residency Tonight

Last spring, there was good news for fans of classic hard rock and the community that had emerged around Thee Rock N' Roll Residency, the popular Tuesday night tribute that routinely hosts surprise appearances by legends like Alice Cooper. Noise complaints effectively squeezed the Rez out of its home on the roundabout near Music Row (the former Dan McGuinness Irish Pub which later became Harp & Fiddle and then TailGate Beer), but the show would go on. Beginning in May, the Residency set up shop in more accommodating digs at Mercy Lounge.

There was another component to that news: Residency founders Jeremy Asbrock and Phillip Shouse and their bandmates were hired by KISS co-founder Gene Simmons, The Demon himself, to be his band on a tour. When the question of Simmons possibly paying a visit to a Residency show came up, it didn't seem that far-fetched. "If we ever get Gene Simmons in, he'd be in and out immediately," Shouse told Joseph Hudak, regarding Mercy Lounge's semi-private greenroom entrance. "He won't even have to keep the driver waiting."

Tonight, they may get to test out that escape plan. A note has flown over the Cream's transom to the effect that Simmons will make a guest appearance at Tuesday's show. There's been no official confirmation, but you'll note that the start time of the show has been pushed back to 9 p.m. And, well, there's the odd hint or two that the Rez crew has dropped via social media.

Simmons has long embraced being the man with the palpable hubris — something which you have to have at least some of to craft over-the-top but basically harmless rock ’n' roll spectacle. If his 2002 interview with Fresh Air's Terry Gross wasn't enough evidence that he doesn't know when to quit, recent events show he hasn't learned much. A visit to Fox News in November to promote his book On Power ended with bursting into a staff meeting, during which he pulled up his shirt, made lewd comments and bopped some staffers on the head with his book. Two women accused him of sexual harassment, earning him a lifetime ban from the network. Simmons issued an apology, of sorts, saying that reports were "highly exaggerated and misleading."

Thee Rock N' Roll Residency is a great thing, using rock to bring generations of fans together, with frequent appearances by high-profile special guests. I have a harder time recommending Simmons, who's built the later part of his career on being offensive in ways that are difficult to see as constructive.