April 2, 2022

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Ace Frehley, the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame Kiss guitarist brought a hard rockin' solo show to the beautiful Robins Theatre on Friday night.

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Hundreds of Kiss fanatics were down front, rocking out with their favorite guitarist and Ace and his crack backing band did not disappoint.

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Opening the show with "Rip It Out" from his 1978 solo record, Ace and the boys were off and running.

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Of course, plenty of Kiss hit songs were played like "Strutter," "Detroit Rock City" and "Shock Me."  But it was the deep cuts that the long time fans wanted to hear:  "Parasite," "Hard Times" and "Strange Ways" fit the bill for those Kiss enthusiasts.  

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Frehley is out supporting his Origins Vol. 2 record that pays homage to some of his musical influences.  The band played "Emerald" by Thin Lizzy, Mountain's "Never In My Life" and Led Zeppelin's "Good Times Bad Times" throughout the set.

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Ace also played a great version of "Rock Soldiers" from the Frehely's Comet lp, even though he forgot the second verse of the song.  He shrugged it off like David Lee Roth and said, "I forgot the fucking words."​

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For "New York Groove," perhaps his most known solo tune, Frehley broke out his LED Les Paul that lit up through out the song.

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It wouldn't be an Ace Frehley show if the Hall of Fame guitarist didn't take an extended solo.  He brought out another Les Paul that had smoke coming out of it as he played.  It was great to see the originator of that trick still perform it instead of an imposter.

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"Cold Gin," a song that Ace said he brought to the band when he was twenty-four.  He noted that he played the riff for Gene and Paul and they both liked it, so then it became a drinking song.

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After exiting the stage for a brief moment, the tight five piece band came back to close the show with "Deuce." 

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It was a very fun show to see.  The band was great and it looked like everyone was having a good time both on stage and in the audience.

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The Michael Weber Show warmed up the audience with a high energy thirty minute set of originals and a couple of cover songs.  Weber is all over the stage, wailing on his big Gibson.  He was very infectious and the crowd really bought into his act.  

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His closing number was an awesome rendition of "Maggot Brain" where he just tore into his instrument and poured everything he had into the song.

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This young Akron native is going places for sure.  Check him out the next time he plays in your area.

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Review and photos by Greg Drugan

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