11/14: ACE FREHLEY TOUR KICK OFF REPORT
Hosted the kickoff of the Ace Frehley Space Invader tour in NJ last night. If you followed on Twitter I did song for song coverage and posted a ton of photos. Also posted a few on my FB. Like most tour kickoffs there were a few technical issues during the show but it wasn’t really a huge deal and Ace had fun with it. He is also working in a new band and I think after a couple shows under their belt things should be very tight. This band really is great! Richie Scarlett back in the fold is a huge addition. I always loved Richie’s playing, performance, voice and attitude on stage and he is a perfect wing man for Ace. Their two Les Paul’s sounded amazing all night and there was some cool dual guitar stuff as well. Scot Coogan also is a great re-addition to the band. He is a killer drummer and has a phenomenal voice which enables Ace to play many Kiss/Paul Stanley vocal era songs that he was a part of like “Love Gun”, “King Of The Nightime World” and others. Hearing Scot belt these out was really pretty awesome, especially when you consider how well he plays at the same time! Ace is only doing Kiss material he played on and was a part of and it sounded great with Scot singing. New bassist Chris Wyse sang lead on Strange Ways and he is a great player and rounds out what is a killer band with all able to sing lead. Because of the technical issues the nearly 2 hour set was trimmed and Deuce and Detroit Rock City were not played, but Ace told me he will toy with the set as he goes. 3 songs from Trouble Walkin were in the set including opener Lost In Limbo and two from the post Kiss debut (Rock Soldiers and Breakout which was dedicated to Eric Carr who co-wrote it). Nothing from Second Sighting or Anomaly. Cold Gin was the set closer. I posted a photo of the set list on my FB. I know there has been an outcry from some fans for deeper obscure Ace / Kiss tunes liked Dark Light, etc. He may very well work some of that up as he goes. But the simple truth is with any band playing deep tracks live it makes about 10% of the crowd happy and loses everyone else, so there must be balance. Trust me, I LOVE deep tracks from bands and I’m burned on the usual hits. But the huge majority are not. One example is when Ace played Too Young To Die, a great track I love from Trouble Walkin. About 80% of the crowd had no clue. It is a balance every band has to deal with. The major amount of people buying tickets just don’t know the deep stuff. So that’s why you get Kiss hits scattered in with the solo hits and deep tracks. Four songs from the new album were in the set, the title track, Toys, Gimme A Feelin and Change, although Change was scrapped due to a tuning issue (like I said, first night mess ups). As I walked with Ace to the stage to intro him he said “oh shit, I forgot to put Rip It Out in”! So no doubt that will be added very soon. The plan is for Ace to do the announced dates, then break for the holidays, then do more US shows and European festivals next year. I hope this band sticks together and enough people come out to support this tour and have it make sense and grow. It really was a fun, raw, loud rock show that was loud and punchy and loaded with a great variety of Ace/Kiss classics. All confirmed dates at www.acefrehley.com I’ll be at the second night at BB Kings in NYC. Win tickets to those shows in ET’s Box Office on this site.
I guess I’m part of the 10% that hopes they keep, 2 Young 2 Die, in the set list when I see them at BB Kings next week. Would be nice to hear, Calling to You and Dark Light as well.
Calling To You would be great but I think it’s too much of a Todd Howarth song.
as long as we’re going deep, how ’bout “take me to the city?” great song!
Great suggestion Elliot. Glad to hear you are still going deep
Hi Eddie,
I know I am a bit late but still would like to add my two cents to the (sorry for citing Mr. Simmons) “obscure songs” issue.
First of all, I totally agree that it is easier to make the crowd go wild when you play “the classics” and maybe you’re right when you claim that a song like “2 Young 2 Die” won’t “wake up” everybody. Still, I think that a great song will always work, even if not immediately. Think about how many people do not own or have ever heard of “The Elder” or “Second Sighting”. Now, I believe that many of the attendants who don’t know “Dark Light” or “Insane” would at least try to get information about those songs AFTER the concert because these are simply great tunes (on a personal note, I believe that “Insane” could be a a great opener for an Ace Frehley gig). In other words, if the gig was an overall great experience, people will want to know more about those songs they heard for the first time (and maybe even buy some of that stuff).
And here it is, the basic “Ace problem”: The only “classics” people (precisely, the majority you are speaking of) personally connect him with might be “Shock Me”, “New York Groove” and maybe “2000 Man”, “Rip it Out” or “Rock Soldiers” (as you’ll see I am talking about songs he is known for as a lead vocalist, not those like “Cold Gin” that he wrote but didn’t originally sing).
So my point is: An Ace solo set list will ALWAYS contain, and fairly enough, songs that some people don’t know, which means the real treat would not be WHICH songs to choose, but HOW to mix them with the classics to get a great combination done! That is what actually happens with EVERY band that has a strong catalog in their cases and then going out to promote new material. At least, I don’t know of people who go to see AC/DC or Metallica just because of their latest album and not because of “Highway to Hell” or “Seek and Destroy”.
I remember seeing KISS in Germany when they appeared for the “Alive-35”-tour (yes I HAVE seen them play wihtout Ace, still I’d prefer the real deal). You all might remember that during that tour, KISS played the “Alive!”-Album in its entirety and only added some classcis like “Love Gun” or “Shout it Out Loud” as encores. So what happened? Most European fans did not have a clue about the first more or less 60 minutes of the concert given that they are not that much into the early stuff, maybe except for songs like “Deuce” or (of course) “Rock and Roll All Nite”. KISS really took off over here during the “Dynasty” and “Unmasked” era. I remember Paul Stanley trying his best to keep the crowd alive, but it wasn’t until the encores when the good vibes took over.
So that’s what I am trying to say: You can easily put a couple of lost songs in your set, but you’ll have to make a good mix. And, by the way, some people pay more attention when a song is announced like “we have never played this one, but you’ll like it” or “when haven’t done this one in more than 20 years” and so on.
One last point: If “Shot Full of Rock” works and “2 Young…” doesn’t in the same concert, it is proof enough for what I am saying given that they are from the same album and might have more or less the same status regarding their “common fame”. It simply comes to the fact that “Shot” is a far better song, at least for live performance.
Sorry, it’s gotten a bit Long.
Greetings from Germany! Hope to see Ace next year!
I can’t tell you how many times I have bought something because I heard it at a show. I really believe that is part of the business’ problem. Over the last 15 years it is impossible to find any store (if you’re lucky to find them) that carries anyone’s back catalogue.
What is the chicken and the egg is debatable, but bands do not play much outside what casual ticket buyer already own, and there are groups out there that have more compilations to their name than regular albums.
Did Gebert or McAdams get on the list at B.B.’s? Ace in Germany…..does he still collect ’44 Reichstag flags and stuff? I only got a few flags. Any chance in Philly at the con Criss is at on the 21st? Highrollahs are ratfinks.
Wow, you’re a class act Lee (eye roll).
Dana from EddieTrunk.com
Dana…. Lee is lonely, angry and his world is a mess. The only outlet he has left is to prove to the rest of us how intelligent he is. And it is meatballs like Lee that always standout…..
Exactly!!! Like I said the before he’ll complain about casinos but yet all he dose is talk about kiss in veges 2014! Knowing the jackass he is he probably thinks veterans day is for the kiss army!
Dana, you must love the cast of characters on here! ; )
I would infer that Aerosmith played “Kings and Queens” for two reasons: 1) For their own enjoyment. Bands must get sick of playing their hits over and over again. They put those songs in the set just to keep themselves in the game. This also holds for new material. 2) To gauge who in the audience are their hardcore fans, and connect with them.