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Ace Frehley
Voodoo Lounge
at Harrah’s Casino
Kansas City, Missouri
March 31, 2008
By Chris
Murphy
Setlist:
Rip It Out | Hard Times | Parasite | Snowblind/I Want You | Rock
Soldiers | Breakout | Into The Void | Strange Ways | Medley:
Torpedo Girl/Speedin' Back To My Baby/ Five Card Stud/ Trouble
Walkin' | Stranger In A Strange Land | New York Groove | Shock
Me | Rocket Ride | Fractured Mirror
Encore:
Deuce | Love Her All I Can | Love Gun | Cold Gin | Black Diamond
Legendary Kiss guitarist Ace
Frehley made a stop in Kansas City at the Voodoo Lounge on March
31, 2008. Ace is nearing the end of his first solo tour since
1995 and has been pleasing audiences with not only his solo
songs and Kiss songs he sang lead on but also several other Kiss
classics that showcase his axe skills. Ace, with a new album in
the works, has been playing to positive reviews since October
and seems to have conquered the demons (drugs, alcohol) that
have cost him too many years of performing.
Even though the show wasn’t
sold out, there was a long line outside the venue as opening
band The Trews started their set. The doormen were only letting
a few people in at a time and must have been trying to create a
buzz about the show as the venue didn’t fill up until midway
through their set. The Canadian band performed a strong set
with a Black Crowes’ vibe and was well-received by the
audience. There was really no need for the doormen to attempt
create a buzz for this show though as you could feel the
excitement throughout the venue. The crowd was clearly there to
pay homage to Ace and celebrate the music of Kiss. There were
all types of fans in the attendance, from people wearing Kiss
t-shirts that were last worn 30 pounds ago to a couple guys who
looked like they just got off work at the office to a girl in
full Ace costume and makeup from the Dynasty era. She
had probably twenty people come and take a picture with her and
for good reason, her outfit was perfect and nicer than most
tribute band’s outfits. There were fans holding up CD’s,
albums, and even an 8-track during the show. One guy kept
screaming the debut Kiss album he had was the first ever sold in
Kansas City. He was lucky enough to get it signed by Ace after
the encore.
Kiss has played the Kansas City
area several times since their reunion and return to makeup in
1994. They performed a solid show in 1996 on their first
reunion tour, returned in 2000 on the Psycho Circus tour in very
impressive fashion, and again in 2003 in a very disappointing
co-headlining set with Aerosmith. The fact that Ace had been
replaced by Tommy Thayer at the latter show could explain the
lackluster performance that night. Even now, Ace and Kiss seem
to still be heading in different directions, with Ace working on
a solo album of new material and Kiss embarking on yet another
tour with two replacement players.
Ace and his band (Anthony
Esposito on bass, Derrek Hawkins on guitar, and Scot Coogan on
drums) put on a great show and were on from the first song
through the encore. The setlist consisted of songs from all
periods of Ace’s career both with Kiss and as a solo artist.
Ace led off with “Rip It Out,”
the first of four songs off his first solo record Ace Frehley.
That album was the best selling and only album with a top 40 hit
(“New York Groove”) of the four solo albums the members of Kiss
released in 1978. Next up were three Kiss songs “Hard Times,”
“Parasite,” and “Snowblind,” which featured a portion of “I Want
You” at the end. At this point, the crowd knew any song from
the Kiss catalog was possible to hear, even songs Ace did not
sing lead on or write.
On several occasions throughout
the night Ace happily passed lead singing duties on to other
members of his band. Next Ace tapped his second album
Frehley’s Comet for two songs, the sing-along “Rock
Soldiers” and “Breakout.” Ace then introduced “Into the Void”
from Psycho Circus as the last song he wrote with Kiss.
While most considered that album sub-par, I thought “Into the
Void” was one of the stronger cuts and it was very good live.
The crowd responded well to the song also.
After “Strange Ways,” featuring
Esposito on vocals, came a medley of four songs. The medley led
off with about a minute of “Torpedo Girl,” the song that partly
inspired the artwork for the current tour (along with “Rocket
Ride”). The medley was anchored by one of my favorite solo Ace
songs “Trouble Walkin’.” While around half the song was played
I would really have liked to hear the full version. Next up was
“Stranger in a Strange Land,” another Frehley’s Comet cut
which Ace said was titled after Robert Heinlein’s book of the
same name that he read in junior high. Ace followed this up
with three songs that were easily the best part of the show.
During “New York Groove” Ace
played a guitar with strobe lights and had everyone singing
along. This song was the highlight of night for me. In most
concerts during the tour Ace has played “2,000 Man” from the
Kiss album Dynasty next. However, he decided to scratch
the song and went right into the song I had been waiting for,
“Shock Me,” complete with the solo from Kiss Alive II and
a smoking guitar. He introduced it as the song he wrote after
nearly getting electrocuted onstage. The smoking guitar was the
only glitch of the night as he had trouble switching from his
regular guitar to the one that smoked. The crowd didn’t care
though; they had just gotten to hear the solo from “Shock Me,”
complete with Coogan shouting “Ace Frehley, lead guitar, Shock
Me” at the end, reprising Paul Stanley’s role on Alive II.
Ace wasn’t done as he ripped into “Rocket Ride,” the song some
consider to be the strongest of the five studio songs from
Alive II.
After that blistering
three-song barrage, Ace finished up the regular set with another
song from his first solo album “Fractured Mirror.” The crowd
immediately started cheering in hopes of more. Ace would not
disappoint and after a few minutes came back out and completed
the night with four Kiss songs. First up was “Duece,” which Ace
noted was the first Kiss song he ever learned. The entire band
even performed Kiss’s trademark synchronized back and forth sway
and head shaking towards the end of the song. This was followed
by “Love Her All I Can” from Dressed to Kill, the weakest
song in the encore. Unfortunately, after this song one fan
decided it would be a good time to try to crowd surf, eventually
landing on and injuring an unsuspecting girl in the front. He
was arrested and the girl was taken to paramedics and put in a
neck brace. This was the only notable incident of the night as
the crowd for the most part was there to hear Ace perform the
songs they grew up loving. Ace and the band finished the night
with two Kiss classics, “Love Gun,” featuring Coogan on vocals,
and “Cold Gin.” Both songs were excellent recreations of the
original songs and provided a perfect end to the concert.
As the show finished, some fans
started to filter out of the venue but an even greater number
stayed to show their appreciation to Ace and the band for
putting on a show to remember. Ace was grateful, waving to the
crowd and even signing a few albums that had waved throughout
the show. |
