Myrtle Beach—They came from as far away as Poland to see their idols Tuesday night at Broadway at the Beach.
Hundreds of fans lined up hours early for a chance to briefly meet Gene Simmons and Paul Stanley from the legendary rock band KISS.
The occasion was the grand opening of the new KISS Coffeehouse—the first such venture licensed by
the group.
The line to meet the two rock stars began forming Monday night at the Broadway at the Beach location.
Jimmy Gallimore and his daughter Amber got in line early Tuesday morning.
They had driven five and a half hours from Galax, Virginia, just to be at the grand opening and perhaps meet Simmons and Stanley.
They weathered heavy downpours and lightning Tuesday afternoon to keep their place in line.
Gallimore said he has seen KISS in concert 18 times and 14-year-old Amber said she had been to three KISS concerts.
Both, like most of the hundreds in line, were wearing their favorite KISS T-shirts. Dad Jimmy pulled up a
sleeve showing a KISS tattoo on his arm.
"We've been planning this trip since we first heard about the coffeehouse coming here," Gallimore said.
"I've been a KISS fan since the first time I heard them. And my daughter became a fan on her own without my insisting on it."
Dad and daughter said getting to meet Simmons and Stanley will be the biggest thrill of their lifetimes.
Patrick Power of Greenville concurred, showing his KISS tattoo as well.
"KISS fans are the most loyal in the world," Power said. "We're just as loyal if not more than Elvis fans."
At a press conference held just before the line of fans moved through the coffeehouse to meet their idols, Stanley said Myrtle Beach was chosen because of its reputation as a party town and a fun place
to be. He said other entertainment-oriented cities in the U.S. as well as Japan were being considered for future coffeehouse locations.
Simmons said having highly-caffeinated coffee along with desserts seemed a natural for KISS.
"What better way to get the party going," Simmons said. "And for those that don't want that much caffeine, they can get the unplugged version, which means decaffeinated."
One young fan traveled all the way from his native country of Poland to attend the grand opening.
He said his whole life centered around KISS. Once his story came to light to the folks at the
coffeehouse, he was allowed to introduce the two stars to the press.
He said he was moving to Myrtle Beach just to be close to something so closely related to KISS.
