LIVE: Ace Frehley, Melbourne – 2 May, 2015

LIVE: Ace Frehley, Melbourne – 2 May, 2015
The Forum, Melbourne – Saturday, 2 May, 2015
Reviewed by Shayne McGowan

I am definitely a fan of Ace Frehley, and I knew that I had to go to this gig, but it’s safe to say that I wasn’t sure what to expect. We all know Aces story, and that he can be a little, for lack of a better term, inconsistent. Upon arriving at The Forum, I was told that Ace was currently late for the meet and greets. I wasn’t there for that, so it didn’t bother me, but I found myself wondering if that was going to set the tone for the night. It’s not for me to talk about Ace being late for the meet and greet session, and it ended up having no effect on my night at all, so I’ll move on…

The first opening band was Whitchgrinder from Sydney. I had not heard any of their music previously, but they wowed me to the point where I now own their CD. They are a great band musically and are certainly worthy of sharing the stage with an icon like Ace Frehley, even if they were probably a little too heavy to be fully appreciated by the crowd.

Graveyard Rockstars took to the stage next. I recently interviewed frontman Ash Rothschild, and had been heavily spinning their debut album, so I was quite excited to see them perform. Again, they are probably a little too heavy for the majority of Aces crowd, but they absolutely owned that large stage, sounded great, and looked legitimately stoked to be playing. If you haven’t had the chance to see Graveyard Rockstars live yet, I suggest you do so as soon as possible.

The one and only Ace Frehley took to the stage (on time!) to close the night, and showcased his one of a kind sense of humour by giving the Melbourne crowd a “Hello Brisbane”. I thought it was a mistake until Ace burst out in his trademark laugh, and let us in on the joke. He seemed to be enjoying himself in a big way. His playing is on point, his vocals sounded awesome, and his band featuring Richie Scarlet, Chris Wyse and Scot Coogan is absolutely phenomenal.

The set list is a mix of solo Ace tunes and KISS classics as expected, however, I honestly could have done with less KISS and more Ace. The crowd eats it up regardless, singing along to every word of every song, and cheering loudly in between. There is no greater crowd reaction for the night, than when Ace gives us his trademark smoking guitar solo toward the end of the set. After the encore, I’m several drinks deep, and head home with a huge smile on my face.

Set List:
Rocket Ride
Gimme a Feeling
Toys
Parasite
Snowblind
Love Gun
Breakout
Space Invader
King of the Night Time World
Strutter
2000 Man
Rock Soldiers
Bass Solo
Strange Ways
Talk to Me
New York Groove
2 Young 2 Die
Shock Me
Ace Guitar Solo
Rip It Out
Detroit Rock City
Deuce.

Category: Live Reviews