BLACK DIAMOND ON THE ROAD
BLACK
DIAMOND
JAPAN 1996
The flight. The streets. A stage on the runway.
A trip remembered in Benny’s own words.
01 / JAPAN, 1996
“What a great
world it is.”
Black Diamond goes to Japan.
A KISS tribute band, a camcorder, and photographs of the people and places along the way. Thirty years later, Benny tells the story.
“What a great culture. What great food. What great people and what great fans of music of any kind.”
Recorded in 2026 · Remembering 1996
02 / JAPAN, 1996
How we
got there.
Before the stage,
someone made it happen.
Benny begins with the booking relationship that brought the trip together. His acknowledgment returns at the end of the recording.
03 / JAPAN, 1996
Wine on
the plane.
“And you can see a young me drinking wine on the plane.”
The cockpit visits. Smoking in the back. A very different time to be aboard a 747—remembered here in Benny’s voice.
The films are companions to the story. Starting one pauses the narration; you can return to Benny at any time.
04 / JAPAN, 1996
Japan,
between shows.
Away from the makeup.
Out in the world.
Street crossings, a train carriage, shop signs, a vending machine and a food stall. A visual interlude—not a reconstructed day-by-day itinerary.
96
Not just the show.
The things you stop
and point a camera at.
05 / JAPAN, 1996
Okinawa.
A stage on
the runway.
“We actually worked
for the U.S. Navy.”
Benny remembers the festival, the aircraft beside the stage, and an entrance he thinks involved walking along a wing.
BEFORE THE LIGHTS
The other side
of the camera.
Preparation, visitors and the people around the show survive alongside the nighttime footage.
06 / JAPAN, 1996
The people
who stayed
with us.
“They made dolls for us.
You know, they brought us gifts.”
Then there were the shirts. And the audience Benny remembers stretching across the runway. His crowd estimate stays a recollection, not a verified attendance figure.
A name carried home on a T-shirt.
FACES FROM THE TRIP
Not an audience.
People.
Every supplied photograph has a place here. Individual identities and precise locations are not inferred from faces.
07 / JAPAN, 1996
Back to good
old America.
“Just a wonderful experience.
Never forgotten it.”
Benny remembers a few shows, the food, the people—and closes by thanking the person who made the trip possible.
THE STORY, IN HIS OWN WORDS
Listen. Read. Return.
Complete narration, with timestamp navigation. “[unclear]” marks speech awaiting confirmation; the original recording remains the authority.
Full accessible transcript 3:25
Black Diamond goes to Japan. What can I tell you? If you ever had a chance to get to Japan, even just as a tourist, do it.
What a great world it is. What a great culture. What great food. What great people and what great fans of music of any kind.
There's still Tower Records there, believe it or not, today, which is 2026. But we were there in 1996.
[unclear]
Booking person, a wonderful human being named [unclear], was responsible [unclear] putting this
together for us. And she became a friend of mine through some of the other deals that I was doing
in companies at the time I was growing. But in this collage here, you'll see there's some video
of us touring around. Some of it was shot by [unclear]. [unclear] was Gene Simmons at the time.
and you can see a young me drinking wine on the plane.
It was a time when you could go visit the 747 cockpit. People were still smoking in the back.
Then you can see us when we got to Japan. It was Okinawa where we played the big show.
And we actually worked for the U.S. Navy. We actually weren't employed by anybody from Japan to play for Japanese.
So it was much easier to do the processing to get us there because we're still playing for
American company, which is kind of how it was. One of the highlights was playing the
[unclear] Flight Line Festival in Okinawa. They set up the stage on a runway where the big
planes come down on all the military planes. They brought two planes to put on each side of our
stage. There's some video footage.
[unclear] of it. And I think we got to the stage by walking on the wing
and they turned the lights on, you know, all our kiss makeup, all our regalia. And I think that's how
we started the show. It was wild. You can see by the audience and you can see all the people
that are there. And the fans after the show, you know, [unclear], they made dolls for us.
You know, they brought us gifts. I mean, it was really something else. The Japanese,
of course, could attend the show as well. As you can see, is a pretty mixed
crowd. We had some of the military [unclear], they made T-shirts with [unclear] on the back,
the name of the band at the time. And just a wonderful experience. Never forgotten it. Still remember
what it felt like. Even just look out there and play. I think we were playing to a lot of people.
There was like probably 15, 20,000 people there. It was as far as I could see was just people
on the runway. And just a really wild.
atmosphere to be in. Food was great. Like I said, people were fantastic. We played a few shows
over there. And it was back to good old America. So enjoy the photos. Enjoy the funny videos. Enjoy the funny
videos, especially what we did on the plane. You definitely don't see that anymore. And thanks to Shelley
[unclear], because without her, none of that would have ever happened.
Original photographs and recordings are the historical record. The theatrical environments are newly created scenic artwork, not depictions of the actual venues. Uncertain speech is marked [unclear]; no unverified names have been supplied.