2/22/08
Center Stage, Atlanta

On Friday February 22, I made the pilgrimage down to Atlanta to see legendary former Kiss guitarist and spaceman, Ace Frehley. When I arrived at Center Stage, in the heart of Atlanta, I was surprised by the length of the line to get into the venue. There were many loyal soldiers of the Kiss Army there to support one of the greatest guitarists of the 70's and 80's. Ace lit the way for many aspiring guitarists through his work with Kiss and in Frehley's Comet, and there are rumors of a new album to come.

When 8:00 p.m. rolled by, people started to be let into the CW Music Complex, and on to Center Stage in back. It's a small venue with nice surroundings. Many couches line the outside of the area and behind the doors was the stage in front of seating room for about 1,100. Since it was general admission, I proceeded to get a good place standing in front of the stage rather than sit. The closer to Ace, the better. By that time, I figured it wouldn't be long until Ace and his band hit the stage. It was 8:30 and the show started at 9:00. Well, I was wrong. Very. Very. Wrong.

The first opening band hit the stage on time at 9:00, so I figured they would only play about an hour, and I'd see Ace at 10:00, still not bad. This first band was called the Rock City Dropouts. They were a heavy mix of growling vocals and complex guitar riffs, and were ridiculously loud, the loudest band of the night, in fact. I was right about the hour playing time part, but another opening band came onto the stage. Super. The Trewds (I think that was their name) overstayed their welcome on stage, playing a much longer set than the Rock City Dropouts, and we Ace fans in the audience got anxious. I think the band could tell, after giving up on trying to persuade us to clap or sing along. Finally, at about 11:00, they left the stage and we all breathed a sigh of relief.

Nearly another 30 minutes rolled by (so much for the show starting at 9) but I wasn't complaining, and neither were the others We just wanted to see our favorite immigrant from the planet Jendell. Finally, there was an uproar as fog started to fill the stage and the announcer told us to welcome the "celestial one", Ace Frehley. He entered the stage to an explosion of applause and banged out the opening riff of the same song that opened his 1978 solo album with Kiss, "Rip It Out". The song was as tight as ever, even with his new band consisting of Derek Hawkins on rhythm guitar, Scot Coogan on drums and Anthony Esposito on bass and, of course, Ace's unique voice helped to move it along.

After their second song, "Hard Times" and after the person in back of me spilled his beer down the back of my jeans, Ace started off a heavy Kiss favorite: "Parasite"- one of the best songs of the night-as the crowd in the front of the stage got tighter and tighter. I was lucky enough to pick up one of Ace's guitar picks after a snatching frenzy with a couple of other people.

After the song, Ace welcomed the crowd and we responded warmly. He went on to talk about how he encountered a snow storm in Baltimore and had to de-ice a plane several times. He mentioned that the next song had something to do with snow, and before he could say the name of it, we all knew it was "Snowblind" another favorite from his Kiss solo album. This song was the first of the night to showcase the rest of the band's backing vocals. Near the end of the tune, it morphed into the heavy part of "I Want You" from Kiss' 1976 Rock and Roll Over album, and that was met with much applause.

After this, Scot Coogan beat out the familiar drum opening of "Rock Soldiers" the first song off of Ace's first real solo album, 1987's Frehley's Comet. It's a real life story told of his almost fatal 1983 car crash while intoxicated with Anton Fig. Anton drummed on Ace's solo Kiss album and a lot of his solo work to come. The song kept the audience captivated.

After the crowd had responded to the "If the devil wants to play his card game now.....what's the devil gonna do?" line of Rock Soldiers whenever he does it live (the answer being "He's gonna play without an Ace in his deck") Ace went ahead and dedicated his next song to Eric Carr, the second drummer for Kiss and the man who co-wrote his famous next song, "Breakout". This crowd-pleaser was the first song sung by the drummer Scot Coogan, and the first song on which Ace broke a string this tour he commented. This tune about a jailbreak and the next upbeat heavy song, "Shot Full of Rock" led up to a newer Ace-written Kiss classic, "Into The Void" off of Kiss' 1998 original lineup reunion album Psycho Circus. Although new, Ace must like it, because he's been playing and singing it ever since. This was followed by another Kiss song, "Strange Ways".

The band then dove into an exciting medley featuring songs such as "Torpedo Girl", "Speedin' Back To My Baby", "Five Card Stud" and "Trouble Walkin" respectively. Then Ace asked anyone if they watched the debates last night and laughed to himself. There were cries of "so and so is our future!" and "(expletive) so and so!", because as we all know, the place to discuss politics is at an Ace Frehley concert. After that hubbub, Ace went on to talk about his next song. He said, "This one, I named after a science fiction novel, it's called Stranger in a Strange Land." The song, however, contained some guitar difficulties, which Ace showed some frustration with. Luckily though, they were taken care of quickly and were barely noticeable.

Following "Stranger in a Strange Land", Ace went to the back of the stage to trade his signature 3-pick up cherry sunburst Les Paul for another Les Paul, this one being sleek and silver. A roadie flipped a switch and alternating lights lit on the axe, and Ace strummed the opening chords to the highest charting song off the Kiss solo albums (#13) "New York Groove." After this song , things became pretty rowdy and real tight up front, so I moved back about 5 feet, being the slight claustrophobe I am. This is when Ace pulled out one of his two signature songs, the first Kiss song to feature him on vocals, "Shock Me." He introduced it by telling the famous story of how it came to be written about the time he was electrocuted on stage with Kiss. During "Shock Me", Ace segued into one of his famous long guitar solos, and if you know Ace, you know what came next as he flicked a switch while he was soloing. An eerie sound that has come to be loved by fans, flowed out of the speakers as his top humbucker on his guitar began to glow brightly and billow out smoke everywhere as the crowd gave its biggest applause yet.

His breathtaking guitar solo ended, and he told us this would be the last song. The band started "Rocket Ride" and ended the show with it. Soon after though, fog filled the stage again and lasers shone briefly. Ace took the stage and asked if we wanted more. He said the next song was the song he played in 1973 with a crazy band he auditioned for, and we immediately knew it would be "Deuce" which was followed by "Love Her All I Can", then the band played the title track to Kiss' 1977 album "Love Gun" a guitar heavy fan favorite.

Finally following "Love Gun", Ace dove into his second signature song, the ever famous "Cold Gin" and it was met with hysterics. The performance of the song was spectacular even with rhythm guitarist Derek Hawkins breaking his low E string (which was fixed when a roadie brought him a new guitar). At the end of "Cold Gin" we were surprised by the inclusion of the outro to "Black Diamond" making it a memorable ending to a great concert. As the band left the stage a bluegrass recording of "Love Gun" was played for laughs. Although late, and preceded by opening bands that overstayed their welcome, this concert was killer, proving our favorite Jendellian has still got it in him.

Special thanks to Steed and Jeff Armistead of the Kiss Army.

-JJ Posway