It’s possible that no band has ever abused the whole retirement-tour gimmick more than KISS. Starting in 2000, the face-painted hard rock institution has already finished something like five farewell tours. These days, when a band like KISS announces a definitive end date, people tend to get skeptical. That said, there will eventually be a final KISS show. KISS can’t keep going forever. Paul Stanley is 71 years old. Gene Simmons is 73. Ace Frehley and Peter Criss are still kicking, but they haven’t been in the band in years. So when KISS say that they’re about to play their final shows, maybe they mean it this time.

Since the beginning of 2019, KISS have been on what they call their End Of The Road Tour. The pandemic obviously got in the way, but that tour — and the band itself — now apparently has an end date. As Loudwire reports, KISS made the announcement in a recent Howard Stern appearance: The final two shows of this tour will happen December 1 and 2 at Madison Square Garden. KISS started in New York in 1973, and they’ll end in New York a half-century later. Maybe. Sort of.

KISS have left themselves some wiggle room with this latest retirement tour. They’ve said that this is merely their last tour, which means they can still play one-offs, festivals, or even Vegas residencies. They can also just decide to tour again whenever they feel like making a whole bunch more money. There’s precedent. Before those dates at the Garden, Kiss will finish the latest South American, European, and North American legs of their tour, and they’ll also headline a night of the Sonic Temple Festival in Columbus. Then they’ll play the MSG shows, and then maybe Gene Simmons will have time to make some friends.