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 Photo: Davey Rintala
The faithful don their Kiss merch and make their way to The Tivoli, where the band’s former guitarist Ace Frehley is holding court. Firstly, Sydney band L.U.S.T. do their schtick, which appears to be Ramones as interpreted by Sunset Strip hags. Covering drugs, booze and boobs in the first three songs, this is music so dumb the headliner sounds like Leonard Cohen by comparison.
If you’re going to play big, stupid rock & roll, you may as well do it properly. Which is what Ace Frehley proceeds to do. Let’s eliminate the negative first up – although Ace is the coolest person to ever play in Kiss, he’s never been a great singer … and he’s rubbish tonight, his vocals frequently off-key (that’s when he can actually be arsed to sing a line all the way through). Combined with messy sound that’s little more than a cacophonous shriek by the final encore, in most people’s hands this show would have fallen apart.
But this shit somehow doesn’t matter when Ace Frehley is your captain. As axemen go, he’ll never be Eddie Van Halen, but the frenetic solos immediately transport us to the Kiss Alive glory days (we even get the smokin’ guitar!). A quick walk to the mezzanine level reveals his trademark knock-kneed stance is still in place, the silver platform space shoes replaced with cowboy boots and skin-tight black Levi’s. And the set list? All killer, no filler. Combining Ace-penned Kiss classics (Rocket Ride, Parasite, Strange Ways, Hard Times) with solo highlights (Rip It Up, Rock Soldiers, a sing along New York Groove), he also leads his band through Kiss standards Deuce, Love Gun and hard rock Motown anthem Shout It Out Loud. Tracks from his new album Anomaly, particularly a great version of Sister, stand strong next to the vintage stuff. He also teases us Kiss geeks by playing the riff from Music From The Elder’s Dark Night, before admitting his band doesn’t know it. Keeping the mood euphoric with a fearsome rendition of Cold Gin, the Spaceman leaves us smilin’.
MATT THROWER
1. Written by Bruce, on 07-04-2010 09:17
It's a shame you didn't enjoy the support act L.U.S.T. they're one of the kickass Australian bands coming through the ranks.
I grabbed their CD on the night and it hasn't left my truck. I blame L.U.S.T. for all my speeding tickets |
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