Peter Arquette | KISSasylum.com
Former KISS guitarist Ace Frehley celebrated the 40th anniversary of his acclaimed solo debut by performing the album for the first time in its entirety on the final day of the New Jersey Kiss Expo 2018, which took place December 7-9 at the Hilton Parsippany in Parsippany, New Jersey.
His setlist was as follows:
01. Rip It Out
02. Speedin’ Back To My Baby
03. Snowblind
04. Ozone
05. What’s On Your Mind?
06. New York Groove
07. I’m In Need Of Love
08. Wiped-Out
09. Fractured Mirror
Other guests that appeared at the event included Lita Ford, Bobby Rock (VINNIE VINCENT INVASION, NELSON), Lydia Criss and artist Ken Kelly (“Destroyer”, “Love Gun”).
Co-produced with frequent KISS collaborator Eddie Kramer, “Ace Frehley” is widely hailed as the best of the four KISS solo albums released simultaneously in 1978. It peaked at No. 26 on the Billboard 200 and outsold the solo efforts of his three bandmates.
Regarding how the decision to perform all of “Ace Frehley” came about, the guitarist told BUILD Series: “It came from the people putting the event together and some of the people who work for me. They all said it would be a great idea, and I said, ‘Yeah, I think it would be,’ so we’re going to make it happen.”
In addition to a trio of songs (“Snow Blind”, “Ozone”, “Wiped-Out”) that reflect Frehley‘s extracurricular interests at the time, the album includes a cover of HELLO‘s 1975 song “New York Groove”, which reached No. 13 on the Billboard Hot 100 singles chart and remains a staple of the guitarist’s live performances today.