Ace Frehley noticed during the reunion show that Tommy Thayer was playing KISS solos wrong.
“It is true that Tommy had to show me some of those old parts when I came back for the reunion,” the guitarist revealed in a new interview with Guitar Player. “You’ve got to realize that there’s songs that Paul and Gene [Simmons] wanted me to perform that I hadn’t played in 10 or 15 years.”
He continued, “Tommy’s like an encyclopedia, and he knows how to play the right notes. But Tommy was funny. When I played certain solos, I played them at a different position on the neck than he thought I did. He would go, ‘Wow, that’s surprising!'”
Frehley then shared his response to Thayer, “I’d go, ‘Well, Tommy, I’m just not a schooled musician, so I play things where I feel like playing them!’ And it surprised him because he thought I’d played them at a different position on the neck.”
“As it turned out, he wasn’t playing them correctly, either. I thought it was funny, and so did he [laughs],” Ace added in the rest of his interview.
Thayer joined KISS in 1994 to help with their book and other projects. He managed tours and worked on their video releases. In 2002, he filled in for Frehley and wore the Spaceman makeup for the first time. He became the official lead guitarist in 2003.
“He’s a good guy and deserves a break. He’s not me, but he was never going to be me. In a lot of ways, his task was impossible,” Ace previously told Rock Candy Magazine about Thayer replacing him in KISS.
“I’ve never had a guitar lesson. I was born with a certain technique that many people, namely Tommy Thayer, can’t duplicate,” Frehley also said in another chat. “And with Tommy, yeah… that’s over now. It’s back to the breadline for him!”
Frehley is set to perform at Belterra Resort & Casino on March 8.
