A Glimpse Inside WAR MACHINE by Julian Gill!

[00:00:00]The quietest intro of 2026.

[00:00:09]>> [music] >> I think you'll have fun and I won't disappoint you.

[00:00:21]>> [music] [music] >> Hello fellow Kiss fans. Welcome to It's All For You Demon. Celebrating the fun of being a Kiss fan. And tonight, we are celebrating the fun of being a Kiss fan, but we're also kind of just talking life. And this has been one of those weeks where life just kind of beats you down every single day.

[00:00:58]There's also a positive to it. So, we're going to talk about that. If that is not your bag, which I get, it's not everyone's bag, skip on the hot face cuz we will talk Kiss fun and we will talk Kiss fun tonight when we talk War Machine by Julian Gill. But, I do want to talk about what went down this week for me.

[00:01:17]It was pretty big and uh >> [crying] [laughter] >> You can't You can't make this stuff up.

[00:01:27]It was pretty big and had a pretty big impact on my life. So, Tuesday evening 4:00-ish Amazon guy came and I I was awaiting an Amazon package. And I opened up the door to get it and Pretzel Boy darted out.

[00:01:45]Ran. He would not stop running. And by the time I noticed he was gone, he was up my driveway on the street. Our neighborhood is kind of like a country neighborhood in the middle.

[00:02:03]All right.

[00:02:04]Bob Ross, our neighborhood is like a country neighborhood in the middle of Kansas City. It feels like the country.

[00:02:11]You pull off the main road into our neighborhood, it feels like you're in the country.

[00:02:16]Well, Pretzel Boy was running out of the country into the city and he ran onto the busiest outer road we have, and there was traffic both lanes, six to seven cars deep on each [music] side, and he was running and dodging cars, and I'm my fat ass is trying to run behind him.

[00:02:40]And I am running. I'm running faster than I ever ran in [music] my life, and I'm just like screaming his name and like, [music] "Please stop. Please, just stop." And people are honking, and it's scaring him, and and I'm just watching him get further and further and further away [music] from me on this busy road, further into Kansas City, into a horrible like four-lane busy busy road section. [music] And at that point, I'm like, "I have to stop chasing him, and I have to go get my car." And so, I turn to go into my neighborhood running still, and I'm just watching him run towards the busiest part of town, and I'm like, "Fuck.

[00:03:25]>> [music] >> Fuck."

[00:03:28]And I run home, and I get in my car, and I take off, and I I go up the road that he was running, and I pull into busiest shopping center area that he would have ran into, and I'm driving around with my windows down screaming, "Pretzel, [music] Pretzel Boy, Pretzel."

[00:03:45]And I can't find him. I head back home, and I take off running again back up to the [music] road that he originally ran on.

[00:03:52]And at this point, I'm like, I'm just looking for a body, you know?

[00:03:56]And so, I run that entire road, and I run past [music] where I turned to go get my car, and I keep running, and I'm I'm just scanning both sides of the road looking for a body. Couldn't find [music] it. I don't know what to do. I can't keep running, so I was like, go get your car again. So, I turned around, and I run back home, and I'm running down our main road running past the pond, and I remember there were two ducks, like mallards, sitting [music] on the side of the road right by the water. And I said to them, I said, if you if you see my boy, send him home.

[00:04:32]And I'm [music] I'm running back up to my road, and I'm texting my wife.

[00:04:37]I said, he's gone. There's [music] There's nothing we can do. I was just thinking like, [ __ ] [music] This can't happen again. Pee-wee last summer, Sh- Shane this February. [music] I was like, no way, man. Not Not in May.

[00:04:55]We've only had this guy a a month. Just celebrated his birthday on Monday, >> [music] >> May 11th. And this is happening Tuesday.

[00:05:03]And I was like, [ __ ] I've I've lost him.

[00:05:07]He's gone. Came back home, and I went to check on Strutter Boy, cuz I don't even know where he is at this point. Like, I don't even remember shutting the door.

[00:05:17]Everything was like a blur, and it was like time froze, [music] and it was like every step I took to run, it felt like I was in quicksand, and like everything just stopped. Like, the entire [music] world stopped, and there were just my thoughts.

[00:05:32]And I I saw Strutter Boy, and I took him out back, and Pretzel Boy is standing outside the fence. How he got there is beyond [music] me, because he was running so far away from our house towards [music] the shopping center area and it was at that moment I finally got him inside. He was scared to death.

[00:05:57]Finally got him inside and I'm like sitting on the couch hyperventilating my fat ass is about to die cuz I just ran more than I've ever ran in my life and uh I had a I don't want to call it a voice but I had words in my head.

[00:06:25]Quiet intro, busy video.

[00:06:29]I had words in my head that just said, "What you think is [music] impossible is not."

[00:06:35]I don't know where they came from. I'm not a religious person. [music] I do consider myself a spiritual person, but I don't know who said that or where those words came from. It just immediately reminded me of one of my favorite Matthew McConaughey quotes.

[00:06:48]He's graced my life with opportunities that I know are not of my hand or any other human hand. And I >> [applause] >> I didn't hear the voice this one. I am so thankful to have him back. Divine intervention brought him back. I There is no way.

[00:07:08]I don't I have no idea.

[00:07:10]You know?

[00:07:12]I know people will just say, "Well, dogs know the way home." I He is a a feral dog that's scared of his shadow. So, I don't know.

[00:07:21]And he was in such [music] traffic. All cars honking.

[00:07:25]I have no idea how he came back and I'm I'm very grateful for it. [music] And those words that popped in my head, "What you think is impossible is not."

[00:07:34][music] I don't know where those came from, but it's a very good reminder to you whatever you're going through, what you think is impossible is not because he came back.

[00:07:46]I don't know how.

[00:07:48]There was a moment walking home where I was like, you know, >> [music] >> God, universe, whoever, just let someone text me and say I found your dog, he's been hit. [music] Please, just let somebody text me so I have closure, so I'm not going to bed tonight in the dark wondering where he's at. So, what you think is impossible is not. And I'm also going through, you know, a lot of questions in my own life, and I think maybe this is a good lesson for me to carry forward because [music] I'm like, you know what? [ __ ] it.

[00:08:21]Whatever comes at me, I'm surrounded by guardian angels, probably named Delmar, Peewee, and Shandy.

[00:08:30]>> [music] >> I'm surrounded by guardian angels that flopped this boy out of thin air back at my house.

[00:08:39]So, you can't [ __ ] with me.

[00:08:40]Nothing's going to hurt me now, you know? And I know I'm protected, and I know I'm guided, and I know I'm directed, and I know all of you are.

[00:08:48]It's not religious.

[00:08:49]>> [music] >> It's just you just have to trust life that everything's going to work out for you.

[00:08:55]Good, better, best. I was at my [music] bottom.

[00:08:58]Emotionally, physically, yes, I was at my bottom because I was about to die, but emotionally, I was at my bottom. I was just like, this can't be happening.

[00:09:08]And then what I thought was impossible was not.

[00:09:14]Well, life lesson that I learned this week, maybe you can take it, maybe you're facing something that that can help with. Sorry to bring this down to a cringey self-help thing, but man, it was a miracle. And we used to call Strutter miracle boy, but now I'm calling Pretzel miracle boy, so that's a little of my life. You know, it's [music] not all KISS, it's dogs.

[00:09:39]So, it's dogs and life and fun and you guys and me and it's Wax Night.

[00:09:45]So, let's wax. [music] Let's hot face.

[00:09:50]>> [music] [music] >> Our hot face this week, I had to think about it cuz it's been a hell of a week.

[00:10:07]I need a new copy of Crazy Nights on CD.

[00:10:11]I was listening to Crazy Nights the other night in my Turn On the Night skips cuz it's my Crazy Nights from when I was 14. So, thinking about getting a remaster.

[00:10:21]I know we've gone we've talked going down that rabbit hole. I don't know if I need >> [sighs] >> every Yeah, I do. It'll be a fun collection to just nitpick every now and then.

[00:10:32]When all you see are Slayer forever things and you get down because everything Slayer forever prices, you can go buy a $10 CD off eBay. I think I'm going to do that.

[00:10:42]Crazy Nights remaster. I'm coming to get you. Tonight, a buddy Brian from The Life of Brian on YouTube. Cool KISS channel, very fun.

[00:10:53]He found some crazy stuff in the wild.

[00:10:55]You got to check that out the other day.

[00:10:57]Crazy.

[00:10:58]Never found anything in the wild like that, but we're talking foreign pressings that he found. So, go check that video out. I'll link him below.

[00:11:05]I'll even link that video. Go check that out. He sent a package and he asked me if I got it and I said, "No, I'm waiting till Friday to open it." So, we're going to open it tonight. Sorry if I didn't respond right away, Brian. I was still probably in shock from Miracle Boy's ordeal. But, let's check this out. It's a little package from Brian.

[00:11:28]This is awesome. He made a uh This is [ __ ] cool. He made a large Marge solo album for me. Even put Large Marge's name up there [laughter] in the top. That is That is pretty freaking badass, man. Thank you for that. Brian's getting crafty on Saturday night craft nights, as well.

[00:11:52]And this is cool. I love Bucky's, and he said this is like a passport sticker.

[00:11:57]You can have a Bucky's passport book and little stickers to all the Bucky's you visit. I don't understand this new trend on social media to hate Bucky's all of a sudden. Like these influencers will walk in Bucky's, like these highfalutin girls, and they'll walk into Bucky's and like be like all put off by it. Bucky's is freaking awesome. It's like Kiss opened a convenience store, and everything's Bucky.

[00:12:23]It's freaking cool. And then, we have part of the record. He said the record was trashed, and I salvaged what I could. Check that out. This would be a fun coaster on the bar. Dude, thank you so much. That is awesome.

[00:12:38]Larmar on the Gene Simmons solo album. That warms my heart. Thank you, Brian. Leave your hot faces below.

[00:12:46]A twax war machine.

[00:12:50]>> [music] >> Now, I'm not going to show everything about the war machine book. I am going to show my favorite parts, because I don't want to ruin them for you. This is a brand new book. It's worth you buying, and it's pretty freaking cool. First thing I'm going to note is I love the fact that his earlier album-related book, Odyssey, about The Elder, started off with the Unmasked Tour, and how much of a disaster the Unmasked Tour was. And it blew my mind how much the Australian hype was marketed. They were very popular over there, but it had a lot to do with the marketing of it as well and how it was spun. Because when I watched Inner Sanctum as a teenager, I was like, "Holy crap, they are just absolutely huge." But you read this intro to this book and you realize KISS was in the toilet. I believe there was a quote in this book that I love.

[00:13:50]Something about even as the Concord left Australia, KISS was hemorrhaging money hand over fist. And I was like, "Wow."

[00:13:59]Cuz you watch those clips and you're like, "Man, they're on top of the world." And really, they weren't and they were coming back to a country that didn't give a crap anymore.

[00:14:10]So, enter War Machine, the 10th Anniversary Tour 1982 and '83 from Julian Gill. I bought the hard cover.

[00:14:20]This is available in paperback and hard cover. I bought the hard cover because I love the cover artwork by Claudio Bergamin. My goodness.

[00:14:30]This is absolutely amazing and my favorite part are the little touches of the Elder door and the destroyed disco ball at the bottom. I love Peter's cat Tom back there.

[00:14:45]And then there's Ace's Gibson kind of in the swamp.

[00:14:50]So, it's almost like well, it's very much like this is the past. The past remnants of this great band are gone and forgotten. And now this beast has arisen from the darkened forest. I mean, it is so freaking cool. Gene looks amazing.

[00:15:10]They all do. Like this is such a wonderful piece of art. I had to buy the hardback and it feels like an elementary school book.

[00:15:24]It really does. It feels like a book that you would have in elementary school and that just kind of warmed my heart, made me feel like I was headed to hall school with the coolest book ever. And I love this book. And I love the detail Julian goes into all the time. And the cool thing about this is it's not just a book you read, it's like a scrapbook and a book. And he talks about the Rick James album cover featuring the Ace space that we have here. I always like to collect any album that is a KISS spin-off and keep it next to the album it's a spin-off of. So this is by Creatures of the Night, much like Bachman-Turner Overdrive.

[00:16:07]Rock and Roll Nights is also by Creatures of the Night. So there you go.

[00:16:11]A little doohickey about Rick James. And you got to love any chapter named Stormy Seas. You know you're in for fun. And this is what I love about Julian's books. He did the same thing with the Unmasked book.

[00:16:24]This is feels almost like a Creatures of the Night box set book. I'm going to go ahead and say a smidge better than the Creatures of the Night box set book because it has fun stuff like this, like a like a tape cover and like documents.

[00:16:38]Very cool stuff that you just dive into and find something new every time you read it. How amazing is that ad? I have never seen that ad before in my life.

[00:16:51]Some Peter Criss fun because of course that was big news. Ace and the DeLorean.

[00:16:57]I mean, this is good stuff. And then it just goes chronological into dates. And so you can follow everything from you know, the planning of the tour, the actual tour.

[00:17:12]This is just amazing stuff. And like I bought the Unmasked book and I loved it because again you discover something new every day.

[00:17:24]These are toilet books, people. You get your toilet book out of here and I won't jump over this counter and punch you in the brain. Not that they're bad, but just something you grab in your hand on the can, they're never getting up. Yeah, I can't do it.

[00:17:42]>> I can't do it, man. He's lazy. He's been on there for like 18 20 hours. He can't even walk let alone hop off the can.

[00:17:47]>> I'm going to have to stick around here and help him. And I'm not going to show you too much more because this book is meant for you to enjoy. Boom. Boom.

[00:17:58]I seriously cannot recommend this book enough and I'm just going to end with Kansas City, March 1st, Municipal Auditorium, Wax Night's own Todd Cooper's very first KISS show.

[00:18:13]And he remembers I know for a fact I love to talk to him about this story. He remembers sitting in his seat and looking over the guy's shoulder in front of him and noticing that in the tour book it's not Ace and he was just kind of dumbfounded and didn't know did Ace change his makeup? What's going on here?

[00:18:33]I know Todd's going to buy this because Creatures changed his life and it's a fun little read.

[00:18:40]Lots of Kansas City newspaper clippings, stories. Man, this thing is so good.

[00:18:47]Get this book. It's on Amazon in paperback and hardback. I cannot recommend it enough. Julian, another ball out of the park. Claudio, chef's kiss on this cover.

[00:19:03]Great stuff.

[00:19:05]And the great stuff over here. Shredded stuff on the floor.

[00:19:11]Be good to your babies. Spay microchip.

[00:19:13]Take care. Be safe. Thank you for hanging with us and waxing a little rock and roll nostalgia with us here in the Wax Night house.

[00:19:24]I don't have anything creatures of the night.

[00:19:27]But I have two creatures of the night here.

[00:19:30]And on the right, I'm thankful to the powers that be that you are back with us. I love you, boy. I love you, boy.

[00:19:40]I love all of you. Thank you for watching.

[00:19:43]We'll talk to you soon.

[00:19:50]>> [music] [music] [music] >> I said we'll have fun >> [music] >> and I won't disappoint.

[00:20:17]>> [music] [music] [music] [music] [music]