SIMMONS: "I'M REALLY PISSED OFF AT THE MEDIA."

GENE SIMMONS ON THE MEDIA SPOILING THE SURPRISE:

(from Kissonline)

Kiss frontman Gene Simmons says the media is to blame for spoiling a surprise the band had in store for Oshawa, Ont.Earlier this year, Kiss asked fans around the world to go to their website and vote for their hometown to be included in the band's next big tour.

Oshawa finished first among all cities, but when the dates for the tour were announced this week, the Ontario city was left off the list.

Fans and politicians in Oshawa were outraged and Kiss eventually announced that it will play the city on Oct. 7.

But Simmons says the media stoked the flames of the angry fan backlash and ruined what was supposed to be a surprise.Simmons says the band had planned all along to launch its new album, "Sonic Boom," in the city, but was forced by the media to make the announcement early.

"I'm really pissed off at the media for creating this nonsense," Simmons told The Canadian Press in an interview.

"You know, here's the history of the way we do things: you treat everything and everybody special, and because of who and what Oshawa is, which is near and dear to our hearts, because (they) won the No. 1 spot above and beyond New York, L.A., Toronto, Vancouver, we wanted to do a huge campaign."

"(The media) never gave us a chance to treat Oshawa special."

Toronto, London, Ont., Montreal, Winnipeg, Saskatoon, Calgary and Vancouver have also been scheduled for tour dates.