Ace Frehley landed at Ohio Bike Week last Friday evening promoting his brand-new album, “10,000 VOLTS”! He brought a “super group” of musicians (Ryan Spencer Cook on bass, Jeremy Asbrock on guitar, and, Scot Coogan on drums.) with him for a great night of KISS classic songs, and two brand new ones (“Cherry Medicine” and “10,000 Volts”) from “10,000 VOLTS”.
Ace Frehley may not be as spry as he used to be, but he still knows how to please his fans. During his “smoking guitar” solo, his guitar literally had smoke coming out of it as he started it off with the “James Bond Theme.” He also brought out his “light up” guitar to brighten up the stage. He really seemed to be having a great time and was smiling during most of the show. Many times, during the show, he showed “props” to his bandmates with a fist pump thanking them for their incredible playing. This lineup has been with Ace Frehley for the past few years, and are all KISS fanatics.
Several times during the show, Ace made comments about two of his former bandmates in KISS saying that he was washed up. He was extremely proud and thanked the crowd for the success of “10,000 VOLTS”. In between songs, he made several t-shirt changes and even sported a Godzilla t-shirt. Let’s face it, Ace Frehley’s shows are usually the same “set list” of songs from his career with KISS and from his solo career. BUT no one cares. They all came to see Ace Frehley play those “ICONIC” songs. Towards the end of the show, Ace came to the front of the stage with a big red “Santa” bag, and, tossed out posters to those lucky enough to catch one. Out of all of the Ace Frehley concerts I have been to over the past few years, this one was one of my favorites. You could tell he was really proud of “10,000 VOLTS” and it was apparent in his performance.
I also would say that his band really pushed him into enjoying himself during the show. They were all tossing guitar pics at each other, and, Scot Coogan even batted a few away with his drum sticks! Each of them also took over lead vocals on a few songs which kind of made it just like KISS. Ryan Spencer Cook and Jeremy Asbrock (along with Philip Shouse) were in Gene Simmons band when he toured a few years ago. After that tour, the joined Ace Frehley on tour and have been with him for the last few years. They have their own band, Rock City Machine Co., who just released their debut album last summer. (About 20 minutes before Ace Frehley hit the stage, songs from the RCMC album were playing over the speaker system. I thought it was cool of Ace to give their music some exposure.)
For his 16-song set, you could hear the entire crowd singing along with him and “throwing the horns up”! I was doing so right along with them. KISS was my very first concert in 1978, and, I have been a fan ever since. I was 14 again during this Ace Frehley concert, as were most of the crowd. “Shock Me” indeed!
