Guitarist Bruce Kulick reflected on getting the chance to jam with other former Kiss axemen, Vinnie Vincent and Ace Frehley, revealing what was special about this occasion.
Although Ace is the original one, Kisstory praises all the guitar players and other musicians who joined Gene Simmons and Paul Stanley throughout the years. Bruce played an important role, providing lead parts on several classic albums during his time in the lineup between the mid-1980s and the mid-1990s.
However, getting Bruce, Ace, and Vinnie on the stage is something else, and that exact thing happened back in 2022. While interviewing Bruce Kulick late last year, we took a moment to ask him about the occasion and what the performance was like.
You played with Vinnie Vincent and Ace Frehley in 2022 as part of Creatures Fest. How was that experience, and would you ever work with Vinnie again?
“I had a lot of high hopes. First of all, the concept of the Holy Trinity, put on by that promoter, was really fascinating, because you got Ace, Vinnie, myself. Now, Vinnie being the Howard Hughes, that was my quote with Rolling Stone ages ago, which was pretty true, actually coming out and being visible again… yeah, he did it at one event, like a year or two earlier or something, but not to the exposure that this event would offer him.”
“And the promoter was very tight with him and gave him every opportunity to really have, like a showcase ‘Vinnie Vincent day.’ The tank [a replica of part of the ‘Creatures of the Night’ and ‘Lick It Up’ tours] is built, which, believe me, the promoter had other reasons for that. He’s also in a tribute band. He could use it. But the tank is certainly more related to Vinnie than Ace or I, even though it’s iconic Kiss staging from Lick It Up, and with Eric Carr being gone, so who’s going to enjoy that other than a tribute band or Vinnie Vincent?”
“So I had no clue that the tank would be rolled out. Vinnie would be on the top, and then I’m over here, and then Ace would follow me. It also was understood. I worked with the guy who worked on the music as part of the backing tracks that we’d have a drummer, and there’d be a bass player, and somebody that would sing. And suddenly, there is no drummer. And it’s just tracks. I knew the guy who was working with Vinnie, and I liked him, and I knew he was professional, so I could vouch when Ace said, like, ‘What the hell is going on? Where’s the drummer?’ And I’m like, ‘I don’t know. But all we have is this track. I know the track works, but what do you want to do?'”
“We were both in a weird situation, you know, get all ‘rock star stomping feet and attitude’ about it, or give the fans what they want, and let it be what it’s going to be. And I always tend to take the high road and try not to focus on anything that… You lied to me! It was supposed to be this!’ You know what I mean? Because I just don’t see the end results, helping the situation.”
“So, we made a pact. Ace was like, ‘If you’re going to do it, I’m going to do it, but I’m only going to do it because you’re going to do it.’ It was like, this funny kumbaya with Ace, that I that I did bond with him. And I said, ‘But we’re just doing it for the fans. I mean, no one’s going to control the narrative here.’ Vinnie wanted to, and in a sense, unfortunately, he did. But it was for the fans. So, we’re going to go out there.”
“And it was hard because there is no drummer to look at going like, ‘I’m ready count it off, 123.’ So there was those ‘snafus,’ shall I say. And it’s questionable how much Vinnie really played or didn’t. I ran into him on the way to the stage, and I asked him. I said, ‘Are you taking the high part here, or the low?’ Because I knew that what the tracks are supposed to be like, and he was being extra, extra like, ‘Whatever you want to do, this is your moment.’ I’m like, ‘That’s a funny way to try to defuse me, if I had any anger.’ And I don’t like to carry any anger.”
“So I was just like, ‘Alright, well, I like doing the…’ I forget if I told him it was the high or the low, you go to the other one. So I just told him. ‘This is all about you guys.’ But they’re all out there, it’s the Vinnie Vincent day! I get it that the three of us will be there. He knew how to be politically correct at a moment when he was actually pulling some strings with how that was going to go. But ultimately we pulled it off.”
“The weirdest thing was, sadly that at the very end, unfortunately, and this happens sometimes, especially when you don’t have your whole road crew and stuff, where Ace’s amp went down. I’m sure that the speaker cable came out. And then suddenly, I’m the only one really playing at the end of ‘Cold Gin.’ And they didn’t want video. Some people snuck video, of course, but Vinnie put the word out there. They didn’t want it filmed. The lighting was intentionally, I called it ‘Star Trek Voyager Blue Borg Look’ or something. It was very weird. And the next thing I know, it sounded like I was the only one playing with the drums and the bass. So, it was a surreal experience. It was. And that being said, I don’t wish anything against Vinnie, but I don’t have any interest in really trying to work with him in any capacity.”
Did Vinnie appreciate you wearing a bandana with Egyptian crosses on it?
“That was definitely planned by me. I’ve been wearing these headband things since, really, 2000, when I started to perform with Grand Funk and a lot of outdoor gigs: there’s no way I need my hair flying all over the place. And it’s not what it was from, y’know, 1980, 1990, right? But I remember finding those headscarf things, [which is] very hard. They’re Indian cotton, and no one really sells them anymore. It’s kind of weird, but they were very popular on Melrose Avenue in Los Angeles. So, I remember saying to Lisa, my wife, ‘I don’t wear this anhk one very often,’ partially because it was something connected to Vinnie and Kiss.”
“But as you know, it wasn’t created that way. That’s a symbol, just like I have the Yin Yang one, and I have some skulls, and I have pirate-looking ones. But I said, ‘At the Holy Trinity gig, I’ll wear it. And I did point to it. I mean, it wasn’t hard for Vinnie to see it. He’s like, up on the top of the tank, and I gave him a little thumbs up. I mean, again, we showed it’s that respect, that even when you know, if you’re debating someone and you’re politicians, you know you should always come out and shake hands.”
“I mean, even though you hate the other person and you don’t want him to win, it’s just… they probably shake in a gunfight, back in the day. Or these ultimate fighters, and they’re just going to kill each other as soon as the bell rings, right? So we’re all kind to each other. But I pointed it out to Vinnie. Ace was very cool with everything, and we posed with Vinnie. And Vinnie, actually one thing I did want to mention is he knew all about my wife and I during the pandemic, we were working on these pancake sites, you know, ‘Kulick’s pancake recipes.’ He knew all about it. He loved it! It was so funny. And I’m thinking, ‘Alright, so that’s what he’s doing? He’s making pancakes at home from my wife’s recipes?'”
“But the ankh was obviously a tip of the hat to him, and what that represented from his era in Kiss, because it does have value. There are certain fans that love it. And at some point I knew there would be a fan that would ask me about it. And sure enough, it’s proudly in this guy on the East Coast in his collection now, and I’m very happy for that.”
“We all got to sign, in fact, the guitar that I played. I remember people getting excited, ‘Do you want to sell that?’ And all three of the guys wound up signing it: myself, Ace and Vinnie, which is really cool. So, to me, I always try to keep the respect of all eras, all the artists, everybody in the band high. And I think that event did really, it was a special one. I mean, nothing like that may happen again, but I’m just glad that the people there, they had their opinions. They were vocal about it in many ways. But it was certainly a fascinating footnote in ‘Kisstory,’ no doubt.”