Hard Rock Live, located in the confines of City Walk, the nightlife area of Universal Studios, Orlando, Florida was the location of the latest stop on the “10,000 Volts Tour”. Ace Frehley brings his band in support of his latest album, 10,000 Volts which was released February 23, 2024. Opening the show was the local Orlando band, Sick Dogs which formed in 2017. Getting into City Walk was more difficult than most nights. The line to go through the security checkpoint was backed up almost into the parking garage. But the line was slow-moving and orderly.
The daily rain had held off and the temperature was in the low nineties with a bit of humidity. It was sticky and the volume of bodies lined up to enter into the park added to the discomfort. But once inside, it was clear sailing to the Hard Rock Live to see the show. The venue had had assigned seating floor with general admission standing room only along the sides. When Sick Dogs finally took the stage about fifteen minutes past the scheduled show time, the chairs were only about three-quarters filled, and thus the reason for the delay as the crowd was still flowing in.
Sick Dogs’ show was about 30 minutes long and they were loud but very good as the two-piece band played just hardcore rock and roll. Their show was refreshing and the perfect start to a great evening. The fans were here to see the original lead guitarist and vocalist of the band Kiss. Let’s face it, they were here to see The Spaceman! It didn’t matter who was opening the show, but Sick Dogs got the crowd’s attention and they were well received.
Band:
Ryan Rawtone – Lead Vocals/ Bass Guitar
Patrick O’Neal – Drums
While waiting for the stage light to come on, I heard in the back of my head, “You wanted the best, and you got the best!“, but that night, Kiss was not the main act, it was founding member and past lead guitarist, Ace Frehley on his solo tour. The band strode on stage and waited for the man of the hour Ace Frehley. Right away, Ace started the show with two songs from the legendary band, “Shock Me” and “Shout It Out Loud.” Two members of the current band, Jeremy Asbrock and Ryan Cook have years of experience playing with Ace and are also members of The Gene Simmons band. The set consisted of 10 songs by Kiss out of the 16-song show, with the last five being Kiss Hits.
The highlight of the show was Ace’s guitar solo, with the rest of the band off stage, Ace played a montage of great guitar riffs from Jimmy Page to Jimi Hendrix. His solo was sandwiched in the middle of the last five Kiss songs. The most memorable for the crowd was Ace Frehley’s “Smoking Pickup Guitar“, a part of his stage repertoire for the past 50 years. It was truly a sight to behold, with smoke billowing from his custom Gibson Les Paul as he moved about the stage.
The show ended with the Kiss song “Deuce”, and the band left the stage. The audience went crazy as they hadn’t gotten the full Kiss experience that they had come for. After about a minute and a half, Ace and the band came out and really put the cherry on top of the performance with a heartfelt rendition of “Rock and Roll All Nite.”
I believe everyone left satisfied having had a great rock and roll experience even without Spaceman’s makeup!
Band:
Ace Frehley – Lead guitar, vocals
Scot Coogan – Drums, vocals
Jeremy Asbrock – Guitar, vocals
Ryan Cook – Bass, vocals
Setlist:
1.Shock Me (KISS song)
2. Shout It Out Loud (KISS song)
3. Cherry Medicine
4. Rock Soldiers (Frehley’s Comet song)
5. Love Gun (KISS song)
6. Rocket Ride (KISS song)
7. 10,000 Volts
8. Parasite (KISS song)
9. New York Groove (Russ Ballard cover)
10. Rip It Out
11. Detroit Rock City (KISS song)
12. Cold Gin (KISS song)
13. Ace Frehley Guitar Solo
14. Strange Ways (KISS song)
15. Deuce (KISS song)
Encore:
16. Rock and Roll All Nite (KISS song)
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Photographer and Editor/Founder of AllMusicMagazine.com. My love of live music has taken me to incredible experiences with the top bands of all time in stadium shows to the smallest venues with equally inspiring musicians. Using the medium of photography and my publication, these memories will last forever.