AFL announces grand final entertainment headline act

The AFL has announced the headline act for the grand final after being blindsided by Crowded House’s decision to pull the pin.

Members of rock band Kiss.

There has been mixed reaction across social media after the AFL confirmed iconic US rockers KISS will headline the 2023 grand final entertainment.

The league was last month forced to scramble after Crowded House officially pulled out 54 days out from the season finale.

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It was widely reported the AFL had pivoted to lure KISS to play the MCG gig while the band is in the middle of a global tour.

AFL commercial operations boss Kylie Rogers said in a statement: “KISS will bring the energy and their trademark showmanship to Grand Final Day and put on a great, great show for the 100,000 fans at the ‘G and millions watching around the country.

“Their reputation speaks for itself, they are responsible for some of the best live shows in music history and we know Gene, Paul, Eric and Tommy will absolutely rock the MCG pre-game.”

Members of rock band Kiss.

The band said in a generic statement released by the league: “We cannot wait to create rock’n’roll history playing at the iconic MCG in Melbourne for one last time.

“We’re absolutely thrilled to be to be performing in front of 100,000 footy fans at the biggest and best sporting event in the country! Be ready to ROCK as we’ll be coming full throttle into the ‘G. See you for that One Day in September!”

Last year, Robbie Williams earned widespread acclaim for his performance on grand final day, when Geelong thrashed the Sydney Swans.

The Killers, Ed Sheeran, Birds of Tokyo and Jimmy Barnes have been some of the better performances over the last decade.

Meat Loaf and an appearance by Angry Anderson in a Batmobile are among those events not recalled quite so fondly.

Comments across social media suggested there are plenty of fans who aren’t happy with Monday’s announcement.

I’ve been a kiss fan for 20 years and seen them 3 times. Unfortunately this has meatloaf 2.0 written all over it

— Mark🇦🇺🏈🏀⚽️🎾🎮🎧🍷 (@MarkMania21) September 3, 2023

One fan posted on Twitter the grand final “will need a wheelchair friendly stage”.

Another wrote the announcement showed “there are savage bogans in charge of the AFL”.

One fan replied to an AFL Twitter post by writing: “All we need now is a Collingwood vs Carlton Grand Final a la 1979 and 1981 when Kiss were at their peak in Australia”.

The Rock N Roll Hall of Famers have released 44 albums and sold more than 100 million albums worldwide. KISS is currently touring as part of their global “End of the World” tour.