ACE FREHLEY Scraps Fan Meet-And-Greets

Original KISS guitarist Ace Frehley appears to have abandoned the idea of taking part in fan meet-and-greets during his forthcoming European tour.

Says Ace: "As you know, we've been experimenting, as have other performers, with the idea of meeting and greeting my fans at the end of a concert.

"A few days ago [on May 22], we had such a meet-and-greet at my show in Nashville. While it was a good event, upon reflection, I have ideas which would make such meetings spectacular. I want this to be an incredible experience for my fans.

"Until I have time to perfect these meet-and-greets, I have decided not to have any on this European tour.

"I hope to have this in place by my next European tour. In the meantime, I hope to see all of you at my scheduled tour dates, which remain unchanged."

For a list of upcoming Ace Frehley shows, click here.

In a recent interview with Billboard, Frehley stated about his forthcoming solo album which is tentatively due before the end of the year "Basically, I'm trying to get back into the mindset I was in when I did my first solo record [1978's 'Ace Frehley']. That record seemed to have all the elements everybody liked a real cool instrumental, a hit single, some real heavy rockers, a nice variety of different genres of music."

Among his favorite new tracks are "A Little Below the Angels", hard-rocking "Pain in the Neck" and an instrumental called "Fractured Quantum", which is a follow-up to his previous instrumentals "Fractured Mirror" and "Fractured Too". Another favorite is "groove song" titled "Genghis Khan", which he likens in tone to LED ZEPPELIN's "Kashmir".

Frehley recently told MyrtleBeachOnline.com that he's shooting for 12 tracks on his next album, his first in 18 years. Studio work has spanned more than 6 months, and some of the songs go back 12 years.

Frehley is currently on the road fronting a band that features second guitarist Derek Hawkins, drummer Scot Coogan (ex-BRIDES OF DESTRUCTION) and bassist Anthony Esposito (ex-LYNCH MOB).

While they all contribute with vocals, most of the burden is on Frehley, who historically has been shy at the mike.

"To me, singing is a necessary evil," he said. "I consider myself a guitar player and a songwriter, and because I write these songs I gotta sing them. I remember last year when I was thinking about putting the band together, some people were saying, 'Ace, you should get a powerhouse frontman.' But a lot of these songs I've been singing for years, either solo or with KISS. What's this front guy going to do when I'm singing lead? Play a tambourine," he said, cracking up.

On how he has improved as a player:

"I think I'm a little more accurate and more focused. When I drink and perform, I was maybe a little more animated, but there were more clinkers and I played sloppier and stuff. I'm just more focused now and more in charge."

On the current state of rock music:

"There are some good bands out there, but some of the screaming stuff lacks melody. I mean, if I have to choose between the two, I'll take something where I can pick out the melody something where when you walk away from it, you can hum, something that will recirculate in your brain. Some of the best guitar solos are the slower ones. You can't really hum something when you're playing 3 million notes per second."

"I listen to a lot of the old stuff I used to listen to HENDRIX, ZEPPELIN, THE WHO, CREAM, JEFF BECK the stuff I grew up on. It still works today, whereas a lot of music when you play it today it really sounds really dated. A lot of the groups that influenced me, they still sound good."

Fan-filmed video footage of Ace Frehley performing in Mt. Clemens, Michigan on March 9, 2008 can be viewed below (courtesy of "74BlackDiamond74").

(Thanks: Asbjorn Slettemark / Pyro Rock Show, NRK P3)