So Erin and I took Gene Longcrier to the Ace Frehley concert in Oklahoma City on Saturday.

We arrived early, around 4 or 5 p.m., I think, and Ace was just going through the sound check with the stage door open, so we stood outside and watched the sound check. Erin went to get some food for dinner and while she was gone, Ace and his band walked outside and headed to the bus, during which time Gene and I got to meet Ace and his drummer.

A little history here: Ace Frehley is the reason I started playing guitar. So meeting him was a real treat, and the concert, well, it was tons better than I expected it to be. I actually went to the concert expecting it to suck. I mean, Ace is old, and in the past, he’s been known to put on ... less than stellar shows.

We ended up in the front row, about two feet from the stage.

Rev Jones

Opening up for Ace was a local band, Rev Jones. I had never heard of them. Apparently, Rev Jones was Fuel’s bass guitarist, but I had no idea. All I know is I saw some guy with his entire head shaved except for a few dreadlocks at the top. And I thought, “Oh shit. This is going to suck.”

Man, was I wrong. Not only does he make the dreadlocks turn into a helicopter by spinning his head around as he plays, Rev is an incredibly talented bass guitar player, and one of the most entertaining stage performers I’ve seen in a long time.

I’m not a huge fan of the type of music he was playing, but I have to tell you, I was impressed as hell at his talent. Gene, who is the bass player in my band, may have actually shot a few drops into his pants. He was clearly impressed with a band whose lead instrument was the bass guitar. Not only that, but Rev plays some serious hardware. The basses he plays (I looked them up online) run anywhere from $4,500 to $8,000, and he has two of them.

It was at that point that I realized my hearing might not survive the night.

36 inches

After Rev Jones, Oklahoma City’s 36 inches took the stage. The guitar player who had played in Rev Jones’s band was also playing with 36 inches, but he was far more prominent in 36 inches. Clearly an Eddie Van Halen fan, he played a Van Halen model Peavy guitar through a 5150 Van Halen-style amplifier.

The singer was very energetic, jumping around the stage and screaming his head off. Overall, the band wasn’t as bombastic as Rev Jones, but they were clearly in their element, and they played everything they played well. Their job as an opener was to get the crowd worked up for the headliner, and they did an appreciable job of that, ending the set with “Shook Me All Nite” by AC/DC.

During that song, the singer was poking the microphone out to audience members to sing along. He aimed the microphone at me and I sang the chorus, after which he gave me a “holy fuck” look and continued on to someone else.

After the show, while Ace’s people were setting up his gear, the singer came to unplug something and said, “Man, you can sing like a motherfucker! I was thinking to myself, ‘this guy must be in a band.’” I thanked him and returned the compliment, and I only mention it here because it’s my blog and I like it when people compliment me.

Erin was duly impressed, which makes me even happier. Me, me, me.

Ace Frehley

The thing that strikes you first is that Ace’s band is young and energetic. The bass player has a passing resemblance to Nikki Sixx of Motley Crue, the drummer is incredibly good and sings some of the older Kiss stuff quite well, and the rhythm guitarist is a clear crowd pleaser.

Ace, of course, is Ace. He’ll probably always be Ace, and that means he plays the rock-solid lead guitar, sings the songs he wrote and has a guitar that belches smoke. Speaking of which, he did it right in front of me, two or three feet away. I just happened to have my camera recording video.

Erin, who had never seen Ace before, was duly impressed. It wasn’t that the solo was so incredible so much as it clearly charged the crowd up. The smell of the smoke was pungent, but it just added to the vibe.

Speaking of smoke, the stuff coming from his guitar wasn’t the only smoke. Taking pictures was very difficult because smoke machines were running the entire time he was on stage. The smoke reacted to camera flashes and made taking flash pictures impossible. That left no-flash pictures, which meant it was very tough to get non-blurry shots. I was about a foot away from being able to touch the performers, so I couldn’t have had a better position, but the photos really didn’t turn out well.

Ace performed just about every song from his original Kiss solo album, and most of the good ones from Frehley’s Comet, and then he went on to perform a lot of old Kiss standards, including “Shock Me,” “Cold Gin,” “Deuce” and even “Love Gun.”

The younger guys in the band automatically seemed to lend themselves to heavier interpretations of the classic songs. Ace’s songs were always heavier than the rest of the guys in Kiss, but now, they’re even heavier, with a cranked-up bass and a seriously in-your-fucking-face bass drum that just make you have to move with the songs. Some of them, if re-released with this new sound, would become hits today.

The drummer told me and Gene that Ace has an album about 80 percent completed, which means we could see it this year. If he releases it with that same feel, it may be a surprise hit.

“Do you remember ‘Hotter than Hell,’” Ace asked the audience, referring to Kiss’ second album, released in 1974. “Well, it feels like that in here now.”

And then he played “Parasite,” from that album, heavier, darker, more driving than it was on the album, with vocals by the drummer that Kiss just wishes they could have gotten on their version of the song.

Now, if only our ears would stop ringing.

On the way home, Erin said, “I have a whole new respect for Ace Frehley,” which made the whole trip worth it to me.

In the end, I expected the concert to suck. It didn’t.

I expected Ace to be the same old drugged-out guy who did half-ass shows. He wasn’t.

I expected Erin to hate it. She didn’t.

Ace is back, and I hear he’s opening for Kiss this summer. They should watch out, because if the same Ace shows up to their shows as the one who put on this weekend’s show, Kiss may just find themselves slinking off the stage in embarrassment.

Because this Ace will wipe the stage with Kiss.