Kiss makes faces and music for charity

WEST SACRAMENTO, Calif., May 30 (UPI) -- Going for charity over shock, the flamboyant band Kiss toned down its act somewhat for a California benefit, bassist Gene Simmons said.

"We have families and tables and glass," Simmons, 61, said at Raley Field in West Sacramento, where the band played a rare dinner concert Sunday. "We don't want people to have heart attacks and fall on their dinner."

Kiss was in town for Walk 'N Rock for Kids, a morning walk followed by a concert staged by the Hope Productions Foundation to support children's charities, The Sacramento Bee reported.

Also on display were four Mini Cooper Countryman cars, painted to match the rockers' faces and put up for auction on eBay to fund UNICEF aid to children in Japan.

Having licensed about 3,000 items over its 38 years, the band is now rolling out the Kiss Kasket, a black coffin made of, naturally, heavy metal.

"Kisstianity" will outlive the band, Simmons said. "To think that something can't exist without you, that you are indispensable, is delusional to the extreme."