From Dubai to the world: rockers Kiss live-streamed concert starts new year in explosive fashion

The group plays all their hits for the few on the ground at Atlantis, The Palm and the many online

Kiss performed on New Year’s Eve 2020 at Atlantis The Palm, Dubai. All photos: Pawan Singh / The National

The American rockers put on a record-breaking live stream show in Dubai

The show was streamed to a global audience of two million people

It also broke two Guinness World Records – highest flame projection in a music concert and for most flame projections launched simultaneously in a music concert

Kiss are currently on their final End of the Road world tour

The tour consists of 240 shows spanning locations in the US as well as across Europe and Asia

The tour, which began in Vancouver, Canada in 2019, is meant to celebrate the group's 40-plus years in the business

The End of the Road tour is set to conclude in New York's Madison Square Garden in December

The band’s line-up includes two original members, Paul Stanley and Gene Simmons, along with drummer Eric Singer and guitarist Tommy Thayer

Some of the band's biggest hits include I Was Made for Lovin’ You, Rock and Roll All Nite, Detroit Rock City and Heaven’s on Fire

Kiss's greatest hits set in Dubai in 2020 featured more than $1 million worth of pyrotechnics

Kiss has rung in New Year's Eve in Dubai in roaring fashion.

In one of the most spectacular rock shows to take place in the UAE, a select number of fans at Atlantis, The Palm joined a global audience online to see the legendary rockers deliver an eye-popping gig.

While the term "explosive" is hackneyed when it comes to rock shows, Kiss is the real deal.

Columns of fire and startling fireworks lit up the night sky to signal the arrival of the four-piece group.

Only they did not arrive from the side of the stage.

Startled audience members had to look up to see the group descend on to chrome hydraulic stages that spewed flames while the thunderous roar of Led Zeppelin's Rock and Roll played on truck-sized speakers.

Dressed in their famous uniforms that include Kabuki-like black and white make-up and silver-studded leather jackets and pants, the group wasted no time, getting stuck into the killer opening combo of Detroit Rock City and Shout it Out Loud from their classic 1976 album Destroyer.

The nine months away from the stage did not leave the band rusty by any means.

Paul Stanley's highly underrated vocals were in fine wailing form in Shout it Out Loud, while the tongue-curling Gene Simmons was all swagger as he waved his bass around like an axe and delivering guttural vocals in the groove-laden Deuce.

While the pandemic may have robbed the band of a packed arena, they did a great job of acknowledging the intimate crowd at the grounds while knowing countless fans online were playing air guitars around the world.

Fun, delirious and defiant, Kiss gave us the glorious 2020 send-off we truly needed.