Nestled amidst the rolling hills of East Tennessee, Freedom Hall Civic Center in Johnson City has played host to some of the biggest names in rock and roll. Since 1974, nearly everyone from Elvis to Ozzy has plied their wares there, with several generations of fans coming of musical age within its walls. Rocktropolis 2024, featuring a headlining performance from Rock And Roll Hall Of Famer Ace Frehley, proved to be a more than worthy celebration and continuation of this history, Scotty Austin of Saving Abel kickstarted the evening’s festivities with a rollicking, high-octane set.
Guided by freewheeling adrenaline, Austin was in fine voice and schtick, working the crowd like the seasoned pro he is and leading his group through songs by Trash The Brand as well as covers of works by Pink Floyd and Billy Idol. Recent Vinnie VincentInvasion recruit and local hero Faysal Scott Smile commandeered the band for a run through KISS’ “All Hell’s Breakin’ Loose,” and Austin wrapped his raucous performance with a crowd-pleasing version of “Rebel Yell.” It wasn’t perfect, but it was damn sure close enough for rock and roll and it was a whole load of fun.
Josey Scott’s set was as tight as Austin’s was loose, with his road-hardened band ripping through a chunk of the Saliva catalogue with a well-honed energy and precision. On hits like “Ladies and Gentlemen,” “Always,” and the singalong “Hero,” Scott reminded why he was regarded one of the era’s most compelling performers, mixing hip-hop swagger with pure rock power into a potent, pungent potion. I had forgotten just how many of those songs I knew; by the time the one-two punch of “Click Click Boom” and “Your Disease” brought the show to a close, I was thinking that maybe Scott/Saliva is the rap-metal Collective Soul; one of those bands that manages to remain unsung while having a literal ton of hits.
So many glam metal frontmen tried to walk the diamond path laid by David Lee Roth, perhaps none more purely and successfully than Sebastian Bach. Rock n’ roll lifer Bach, who for the past thirty-five years has somehow stayed in his early-to-mid 20s, is an eternal showman and a perpetual dervish; from the moment he stomped on stage to the strains of his most recent single “What Do I Got To Lose?,” the hard rock icon owned the crowd, many of whom over the next hour or so seemed to have been transported back a few decades themselves. With a few exceptions from his fantastic new album Child Within The Man, the setlist was dominated by tunes from Skid Row’s first two albums, from the bawdy “Big Guns” to the epic “18 & Life,” the sultry sleaze of “Monkey Business” to the near-thrash of “Slave To The Grind.” The three-piece backing unit (which includes Bach’s son Paris on drums) ably provided a rock-solid platform for the strutting, sparkling, mic-whipping Bach to perform his magic act, the audience remaining enthralled all the way through the set-ending “Youth Gone Wild.” As a kid, I remember reading (probably in RIP magazine) that Sebastian Bach had been genetically engineered to be a rock star; judging from what I saw at Rocktropolis, the experiment continues to be a rousing success.
Greasepaint and pyro budgets aside, for a full five decades now, Ace Frehley‘s calling cards have remained largely unchanged: a Les Paul slung low and cranked high and an insouciant, staggering swagger that places him squarely in the House of Keith alongside his contemporaries Perry and Thunders. Both were on full display as Frehley and his band, introduced by VIP meet & greet guest Bobbie Brown, roared through a set of KISS classics, with a few chestnuts from his solo career sprinkled in for good measure. With the opening salvo of “Shock Me” into “Deuce” the Rock Soldiers were called to attention, and for the next hour or so the guitar legend led them delightedly through their paces, bridging the 70s (“Parasite,” “Shout It Out Loud”) and the 80s (“Rock Soldiers”) all the way to today (both “Cherry Medicine” and the title cut from his most recent album 10,000 Volts). Ace has assembled an absolutely stellar group of players, with Ryan Cook (bass), Jeremy Asbrock (guitar), and Scot Coogan (drums) each contributing spot-on vocals and elite musicianship while still putting on one hell of a rock show; their version of “New York Groove” was the best I’ve ever heard.. Of course there was the smoking guitar solo during “Cold Gin” (featuring snippets of “Communication Breakdown,” “Smoke On The Water,” and the James Bond theme, among others), and the evening ended exactly the way you’d hope it would: a spirited romp through “Rock And Roll All Nite,” with Sebastian Bach and Josey Scott joining in on backing vocals. No tapes, no tracks, no tricks, at 73 years old Ace Frehley delivered an unadulterated blast of solid rock that left the throngs fully satisfied, which is more than I can say for some acts a third his age.
