The Gene Simmons Band is Coming to Bossier City, and He Wants You On Stage With Him

The iconic co-founder of KISS is bringing his solo project to the Margaritaville Resort Casino in Bossier City...stripping away the stadium pyrotechnics for a direct rock experience. This tour focuses on the musical legacy of the "Demon" without the heavy makeup or standard KISS theatrics. Fans can expect a raw setlist featuring deep cuts and classic anthems delivered in an intimate venue setting.

Fans Invited To Perform On Stage With Gene Simmons

A unique highlight of this tour is the level of crowd participation. Simmons is known for inviting audience members on stage to sing or play instruments during the performance...effectively turning fans into part of the band.

Local guitarists and drummers should be prepared for the call to join the show. Those who know the lyrics to their favorite tracks may also find themselves under the spotlight with the legendary bassist.

Exclusive Gene Simmons Interview Insights

Recently I had a chance to sit down with Gene Simmons to talk about the differences between his solo band, and KISS. We also talked about his history with Van Halen, and a little about the first KISS tour that came through Shreveport. Here's that interview:

Greg Atoms: First thing a lot of people are asking, what exactly is The Gene Simmons Band? This isn't KISS...so what are they getting themselves into with The Gene Simmons Band?

Gene Simmons: Oh, I it's, it's an awful lot of fun. It's my favorite thing. You know, I've been there, done that and all that stuff. It's a chance for me to just, you know, not worry about big stages and jets and 60 people on the crew, and just have an awful lot of fun.

So literally, it's the given, give and take. Somebody can scream out, hey, why don't you do "Sunshine of Your Love" by Cream, and boom. I look at the guys, and we just break into it. It's much more, relationship wise. And literally...in KISS, I couldn't bring anybody up on stage, because if you step the wrong place, you might catch fire or blow up. So the stage, the KISS stage, was always not a safe place, you know, for people to be, and if you step in the wrong place. But with our little band, I get a chance to, you know, bring folks up on stage, join them on the fun. It's very 'I'm part of you. You're part of me.' It's an awful lot of fun.

And by the way, if people haven't heard about two years back is a company called Pop house, which bought kiss and infused, oh, I don't know, as much as a billion dollars into it. We're building all kinds of new I can't be too specific about it, but if you've ever heard about the sphere in Las Vegas, this new thing we're doing is going to leave that in the dust. It's coming out in a year half. I can't talk much about it, but it'll blow your socks off. It's unbelievable. There's also a motion picture coming with McG, who directed Charlie's Angels, and you know, all kinds of other fun stuff. And cartoon shows, and theme parks. A lot of fun coming, but I don't want to be off... So we stopped touring. KISS is no longer touring, but that doesn't keep me off stage. I have too much fun.

Atoms: So with that, you mentioned that somebody could yell out the name of a song, and you guys might just play it. Is this an atmosphere where, even though it's not KISS, they're still going to hear a KISS song or two?

Gene Simmons:Yeah, we'll play your favorite stuff, but we'll also play chestnut stuff that people have been asking for that KISS has never played, you know, off the KISS stuff. And long time ago, in '77 I discovered a band called Van Halen.

Yes, Matilda, I discovered Van Halen. You can Google it.

So I took the guys in the studio, when I signed them, and produced their first 24 track demo, which was about 15 songs. One of the tunes was called "House of Pain". But it's not the same "House of Pain" that Van Halen actually released. It's a different one, and in my estimation, the steam roller of all Van Halen song. But for some strange reason, they never put it out. Well, we do that live, and you'll see what I mean. It just knocks your socks off.

Atoms: That's actually huge for us here in Shreveport, because for a long time, Eddie Van Halen's second home was effectively Shreveport, when he was with Valerie Bertinelli, whose family was here.

Gene Simmons: I heard that! Yeah.

Atoms: I did see a story where Eddie Van Halen attempted to join KISS at one time. Is that a real thing?

Gene Simmons: Yeah, it's true. Eddie and Dave were not getting along. It's in '82, and we were working on 'Creatures of the Night', and Eddie called me and said, 'I got to talk to you' and I said, 'Sure, come on down' Go have a bite across the street from the studio. And he said, 'I can't. I can't take Roth anymore. I'm gonna leave the band'. I said, 'You're out of your mind. You can't, you can't. You gotta. Whether it's marriage or friendships or especially being in a band, there are always going to be problems, personality conflicts. You got to just stick with it. It'll work out whether members change or leave or so don't leave the band. If you want to have a solo career. Go have a solo career, but don't break up the band. It's special.'

He wanted to join KISS. He said, 'Why did I can't Why can't I join you guys?' I said, 'Because Eddie, you're going to eat up all the oxygen. There won't be any room for anybody else.' He wisely stayed with the band. And of course, you know, stayed with the band until the end, the sad end.

Atoms: I know that you can't name a specific date, like you probably can't remember a specific concert, but in 1976 you came through Shreveport, played the Hirsch on the Destroyer tour, and the person who was opening for you was some guy named Bob Seger. Do you happen to remember, maybe not that show, but that leg of the tour. What do you remember about touring with Bob Seger?

Gene Simmons: Well, at the time, Bob had never had a gold record, and we were fans, you know, the way we picked the opening axes, we had to like them. So we gave the following bands their very first tour. AC/DC, yep, this little band out of Australia. Nobody cared about, we liked it. We said, this is happening. AC/DC...Rush's first tour. Bon Jovi, Motley Crue, Judas Priest, Iron Maiden, Cheap Trick.

If we liked the band, they came out on tour...and we always liked Seger. All the way back, you know, to the early days "Kathmandu" and, you know, all the other stuff. And even though it was a case of strange bedfellows, it wasn't, you know, straight out ballsy rock. We just liked the tunes. He had this kind of rock and roll soul. So we took Bob out, and during that tour, Bob got his first gold record called 'Live Bullet', and Bob sent me a gold record as a kind of a memento of it. That was a proud moment, and he was nice enough to appear on my solo record. He sang with me on a song I wrote called "Radioactive".

Atoms: Anything else fans should be ready for?

Gene Simmons: The other thing is, if anybody out there can sing, let us know. We may pull you up on stage. If you can play an instrument, but you got to know some of the tunes. And you yell out, 'Hey, I can play, and I want to get up' and play "Parasite". Okay, we'll have extra guitars. We'll pull you up. You can YouTube and see that. We've done this before, and it's an awful lot of fun. Main thing is it's loose. Everybody has a great time...

How To Get Tickets To See Gene Simmons In Bossier City

The Gene Simmons Band performs at Margaritaville's Paradise Theater on Saturday, February 21, 2026. This is a 21-and-over event with doors scheduled to open at 7:00pm, for an 8:00pm showtime.

Tickets are currently on sale through the venue box office and major digital retailers. Fans can secure their entry and view the seating chart by visiting the official ticketing site.