On April 27, 2002, we went to the Ace Frehley Birthday Bash in Hackensack, New Jersey. The event was hosted by Kissfanshop.com. To summarize the event, "It was a shocking experience."

We arrived at the Rothman Center at 1:30 P.M. The registration was scheduled to start at 1:00 P.M., however, it did not start until closer to 2:00 P.M. They were allowing groups of 15 or so in at a time. After approximately 3 hours waiting in line, we finally made it to the registration table. Just as I was handing my ticket to the staff, the local police department and fire department entered the hall. They made an announcement that there had been a bomb threat. The entire hall had to be evacuated. Anyone that was already inside was taken out a side door and waited in a large group to get back in. The people who were still waiting to get in (us), were made to go back outside while the police bomb dog searched the hall. Since I was not in the hall yet, I could not see where Ace was during the bomb threat. By the time everyone had evacuated the building, the entire line was screwed up. After the building was determined to be safe, everyone was allowed in. Once you entered the hall, there was a long line to have Ace autograph your item. There were balloons which said "Ace Frehley's Birthday Bash" along with birthday streamers. They handed you a party bag. The party bag had a pre-signed autographed picture of Ace, an Ace balloon, an Ace pencil, an Ace postcard and an Ace guitar pick. You could purchase an Ace bash t-shirt and poster but by the time we got in they had run out of shirts so we gave them our email addresses so they could let us know when more were available. Everyone was allowed to bring one item to have autographed. There was a sign on Ace's table which said additional autographs were $50 each, "perhaps in an attempt to prevent things from showing up on Ebay." There were 500 people at the party so it took hours for Ace to give everyone an autograph and a picture. There was a problem with the line up procedure. Some of the staff told everyone to get into line, while other staff would only allow you in line if the number on the back of your laminated pass was called. Once that snafu was cleared up, the line started moving "slowly". Ace was standing behind a table most of the time. He would sign your item then lean forward and you could have your photo taken with him. Ace looked good and I can tell you, signing and taking photos for hours on end, it was very tiring for him. Ace was signing autographs almost the entire time he was at the party. During the middle of the signing Ace held a question and answer session. He was on the stage and fans could ask him questions. Eddie Trunk hosted the question and answer session. There were a few questions asked and answered, however, there were a couple "shocking" ones. Someone asked him if he was in Kiss anymore and why did he not play at the 50th Anniversary of American Bandstand. At first Ace said that his daughter was sick and that he was also working on his studio. He said that he wrote to Dick Clark and apologized for not being there. When answering if he was still in Kiss, Ace gave a long explanation. He said basically that he came back to the band for the "Reunion Tour" and was told that was the last tour. Paul and Gene would tell him that they were only going to do one more tour or one more event so he would agree to do it. After that, another event was planned. Ace said that it never stopped. Ace then went into some very shocking statements. He accused Gene of ripping him off over and over. He said that Gene took credit for rewriting the song "Into the Void." Ace called Gene a liar (referring to the version of "Into the Void" on the box set). Ace went on and on about how bad Gene and Paul treat him. Ace was asked about a solo album and a solo tour. He said that he will have a solo album out this year (2002). Depending on sales, a tour will be scheduled this year also. He said the album will be the "quintessential album of all time." After the question and answer session was completed, Ace gave away an autographed guitar. When the lucky winner came up on stage, Ace autographed the guitar for him.

After the raffle for the guitar, Ace returned to sign more autographs. While he was at the autograph table, a large group of people started running over to a side door. Gene Simmons came walking into the party with his security. He walked straight over to Ace and handed him a birthday cake. I do not know what if anything Gene said but they shook hands. Gene turned around and walked directly out of the party with an even larger group of people following him.

ACE PARTY CONTINUED

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