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 All news should be considered an unconfirmed report unless verified, and all information published at KISS Asylum is attributed to the source from which it was received so that readers may judge the validity of the statements for themselves. All information is confirmed where possible, and all publication is governed by common sense.
Review: ACE FREHLEY In OklahomaFrom: KISSAsylum Posted: May 13, 2008 The Spaceman last landed in the OKC area in the year 2000, on his last tour with KISS, beofre that his last solo show was in 1994 at a club called Alcatraz, so, it's safe to say many area KISS/Ace fans were rejoicing at the mere news of the Jendell native’s return to the area. A merchandsie table was set up with 2 different shirts (one with an Ace card, one with the Rocket ride-backdrop art ($35 each), as well as a (fake) backstage pass ($20). After a few local openers, (the last being 36 Inches, who closed with "You Shook Me All Night Long"), the drum riser & back-line of stacks was un-covered. The backdrop wasn't used, as the venue was likely too small for it. After a brief intro, the band (consisting of Ace, guitarist-Derrek Hawkins, Bassist-Anthony Esposito & drummer Scott Coogan), took the stage & began with "Rip It Out". Frehley’s guitar volume was too low & he motioned someone to turn it up a few times during the song. Dynasty’ classic "Hard Times" came next. Derrek handled the rhythms on the verses letting Ace focus on singing, a line or 2 was missed but he at least didn’t repeat the same verse twice like on some recent youtube clips. By the end of 'Hard Times' the kinks seemed ironed out & during "Parasite" the sound was finally mixed right.
Another song from his 1978 solo album, "Snowblind", sounded better than ever, its ending morphed into "I Want You" with Ace vamping on the solo, into a verse/chorus that Scott sang (with a few Stanley-isms). Ace mentioned the next song being about entering a black hole, I was thinking 'Rocket Ride', as the rap was similar to the one on Live +1, however it lead to "Into The Void" (the newest song in the set). "Strange Ways" was another highlight with its solo being one of Frehley's greatest ever. A handful of Frehleys Comet cuts were played, "Rock Soldiers" (which got the crowd singing in the middle),"Breakout" (dedicated to ERIC CARR) & "Stranger In A Strange Land".
A new medley gathered "Torpedo Girl", "Speeding Back To My Baby", "5 Card Stud" & "Trouble Walkin'", with mainly a verse chorus of each, with 'Trouble Walkin'' being a bit longer (this takes the place of the cover song medley from early in the tour). Winding down the show were the staples like "New York Groove" (with the famous light up guitar & sing along), "2,000 Man" (noticeably out of tune, as Ace quickly changed his chording to playing the whole rhythm on the E & A strings only). Next up, he grabbed the smoker, told a variation of the story of getting shocked, & then went into "Dark Light", JUST KIDDING, it was into "Shock Me". The classic gave way to his world famous guitar solo, & the trademark smoking Les Paul, between a selection of familiar solo licks & parts of the Alive & Alive II solos, (absent were any movie theme type of stuff like Close Encounters, etc..). Set closer was "Rocket Ride", which has never sounded better.
The encore included "Deuce" (with the ending sway-choreography), "Love Her All I Can" (with the solos & drum fills nailed perfectly-it’s a Paul song, but Ace & Peter’s parts are what made it so cool), another Stanley song followed; "Love Gun", sung by Coogan, with the 2nd solo removed from the arrangement. Taking it home was the 1st KISS song Ace wrote, which he described as a ‘song I wrote in the Bronx’, "COLD GIN". From the opening toggle switch A note to the extended ending solo vamp; demonstrating that attitude, personality & feel sometimes outweighs technical ability. Again, throwing a curveball when the song ended by going into the outtro/closing solo of "Black Diamond", ending with the repeating A chord like KISS did when the risers went up. Ace then introduced his band & they all took a bow, before exiting the stage. |
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