Original KISS guitarist Ace Frehley brings smoking guitar work to Riviera Theatre

NORTH TONAWANDA — In some ways it felt like deja vu walking through the doors of the Riviera Theatre.

Hundreds of fans adorning KISS t-shirts began to shuffle into the venue and into their seats Wednesday evening to see an original member of the band perform – just as they did on Monday.

Local members of the KISS Army were treated with the second of two performances by an original member of the band at the venue in a three-day span.

The only difference, however, was the original KISS member who was performing on the theater’s stage.

Wednesday’s near-capacity crowd at The West Herr Riviera Theatre sported many of the same faces in the audience, this time to see guitarist Ace Frehley, only a couple days following a performance by his former bandmate, bassist Gene Simmons.

Frehley made no mention on stage about how his former KISS bandmate performed on the stage approximately 48 hours prior. However, he did appear to return the favor by playing a well-placed snippet of “God of Thunder,” a song originally sung by Simmons, before breaking into his 1978 Billboard top 20 hit “New York Groove.”

The two former band members overlapped on five total songs including the Frehley-penned tunes “Parasite” and “Cold Gin.” Both similarly ended their sets with “Rock and Roll All Nite.”

Overall, this setlist from Frehley featured a respectable mix of KISS hits and fan favorites along with some of his solo material.

Hitting the stage sporting his now signature shades and dark blue nail polish, Frehley’s stage prowess and blistering guitar licks appeared to be firing on all cylinders as good as ever with the show-opening song "Shock Me."

While Frehley is not a renowned vocalist by any stretch, he carried his own performance with his fervent and memorable guitar solos throughout the 16-song, 90-minute set.

Behind him was a band of equally energetic and seasoned musicians, who also took turns splitting lead vocals with Frehley on several songs.

Perhaps the most resounding and memorable performance from his current bandmate’s respective turns at the mic was when drummer Scot Coogan tackled lead vocals on the KISS classic “Love Gun.”

“You’re only as good as the band behind you,” Frehley remarked.

Following a performance of “10,000 Volts,” the title track from his most recently released studio effort, Frehley promised fans in the audience a pair of new, previously unreleased songs would be included on a new deluxe edition of the album, which he said is expected to be released “by Christmas.”

Undoubtedly, the peak of the show was Frehley’s guitar solo following “Cold Gin” which featured his trademark smoking guitar — a staple of his performances since his days with KISS.

Numerous fans watched with eager anticipation, with cell phones in hand, to watch and capture the moment smoke began billowing from the neck pickup of his Gibson Les Paul.

However, as Frehley noted, the solo itself is a little bit different each time he plays it.

“I never play the solo the exact same but that’s what’s fun about it, the spontaneity,” he said on stage.