I grew up a bit of a Kiss fan, but it wasn't until High School that my friends and I really got in to them. Then by the time the reunion tour hit town, I became a full-fledged member of the Kiss Army and Ace Frehley was king. As I got more in to playing guitar, learning and jamming along to Kiss songs was paramount to improving my fledging abilities. But also, they were an absolute blast! I even started watching old live footage and mimicking Ace's on stage choreography, then trying it out while jamming on my own at home. Because that is what makes life great.
When we met with a record producer back in 2002, he asked me my thoughts on a whole bunch of stuff and I simply replied "So long as I get to go on stage and act like Ace Frehley, I'm happy". I was never the best guitarist or even tried to be; I just wanted to be able to play like Ace and attempt to be as cool. But nobody was as cool when playing the guitar.
Back in 2015, the day after my 35th birthday, I had the opportunity to go see Ace live in concert - and attend a meet and greet. I took along an old magazine from around 1998 in the hopes he could sign the fold-out poster of Ace with his Les Paul. His reaction was something like "What the hell is this?" and then he showed it to his bodyguard, both enjoying how cool it was, before signing the poster and the cover. Then I gave him a birthday card (it was his birthday 2 days later) and told him how much of an influence he had been on me. I know he heard that stuff all the time, and I'm sure he did not care at all, but it honestly was one of the coolest moments being able to talk to someone that I considered a massive guitar hero. Then he and his band absolutely tore the house down and it was awesome. And loud!
For some reason, I had been thinking that this day would come - and I had been dreading it. I was hoping I might get the opportunity to see him in concert again, maybe attend another meet and greet before he was gone. But sadly, that was not to be.
The original Spaceman has now left us to return to his home planet. This one may have been his temporary home, but he made our world a better place with his music and influence. Here's to you, Ace!
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