BRAMAN, OK – January 2017 – Legendary Rock & Roll Hall of Fame KISS members, Gene Simmons and Paul Stanley, made their way from the Ponca City Airport to the small community of Braman, Oklahoma on a blustery and cold Thursday afternoon. Organizers of the event had a heated tent constructed next to the Southwind Casino Kanza just off of I-35. A Rock & Brews catering van welcomed invitees as they entered the venue.
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BuzzHead Radio made its way up I-35 to cover the announcement of the Casino Resort that will be located only 70 miles from Enid. A casino, hotel and destination resort with an event center that close could be a big draw for local residents but could also pull sales tax and entertainment away from the Enid community.
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Media members received media passes, free food catered by Rock & Brews and drinks. The event began with Kaw tribal members getting a quick meet and greet that kicked off as soon as the rockers arrived in Braman. Next there were introductions of Kaw Nation dignitaries including Kaw Nation Chairwoman Jacque Secondine Hensley and several others.
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Other partners in the development were introduced and then Gene Simmons and Paul Stanley entered the stage to the KISS anthem, “Rock’n Roll All Night.” Stanley spoke first and said, “We’ll be pulling people from Tulsa, from Wichita, from Oklahoma City, points beyond, there is no place that we’d rather be for this first KISS Rock & Brews Kaw Nation Casino and Resort than right here. We’re going to shake things up, we’re going to do it our way, we’re going to do it a way you’re going to be proud of, and we’re all going to have a big celebration in a year.”
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Simmons then took to the microphone and reminded the audience, “We are proud to be in a band that is America’s number one gold record award winning group of all time, in all categories.” He also stressed, “Rock & Brews really ain’t about us, it really is about right here, right now about the Kaw Nation, about Kaw Gaming, Inc.”
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After a bit of ceremony the development partners stepped outside for the groundbreaking in front of a large visual of the Rock & Brews Casino Resort. Simmons said, “People are going to come here from all over the world.”
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Simmons and Stanley then took questions and conducted interviews with the media. Asked about locating in Braman, Simmons answered, “You don’t know how big … this is going to become. You’ve got to remember, Las Vegas was desert once upon a time. Now 44 million people come into Las Vegas every year. If we get 1/100th of that coming here, it’s going to be an explosion.”
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I asked about how the partnership began. Simmons explained to me that the Kaw Nation had been guests at the San Manuel casino, where there was a Rock & Brews restaurant and saw the way that everyone was treated. This led to a meeting between the two entities.
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Simmons told me, “We just connected as people first. First you connect as people, great business has to do with great people wanting to be with each other then the business takes care of itself. So it started with people and it should. It’ll always begin and end with people.”
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Rock & Brews is a one-of-a-kind restaurant and entertainment concept designed to engage people of all ages with quality comfort food, a broad selection of international and craft beers and an energized, family friendly, concert environment.
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Part of my interview with Gene Simmons. We apologize for the sound quality.
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