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Setlist
Gene Simmons Band Tour Dates
10/15/17 Loud Park Festival Tokyo, Japan
10/17/17 Osaka Zepp Osaka 10/21/17 Festival Scream Bolivia 2017 10/24/17 Buenos Aires Buenos Aires, Argentina 10/26/17 Teatro Cariola Chile 10/28/17 Northside Festival Monterrey, Mexico 10/30/17 Pepsi Centre Mexico City 11/11/17 Rhode Island Comic Con Rhode Island 11/12/17 Rhode Island Comic Con Rhode Island 11/17/17 Austin Wizard World Con Austin, TX 11/18/17 Austin Wizard World Con Austin, TX 02/16/18 Lynn Theater Lynn, MA Read More
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The classic rock equivalent of baseball’s All-Star Game took place fittingly, at a minor-league ball park for a great cause, and featured a little KISSstory in the making, to boot—
KISS bassist Gene Simmons headlined The Children Matter: Hurricane Benefit Concert at the home of the St. Paul Saints baseball team, CHS Field, a benefit concert to support the victims of recent hurricanes which also featured the all-star line-up of Don Felder (former lead guitarist of The Eagles), Cheap Trick, The Jayhawks and Flipp.
With just a week to go before the show, egos were put aside and fences were mended as former KISS bandmate Ace Frehley was a surprising add-on to the bill, making this the first time in over sixteen years that the pair has shared the same stage and performed together.
All proceeds from the concert went towards MATTER's relief efforts for hurricane relief in partnership with their on-ground partners. MATTER will send and distribute MATTERbox Meals Kits, sanitation supplies, contamination prevention supplies and more, to the over 100,000 children and families affected and displaced by the recent storms. The Children Matter is a collaborative initiative created by Simmons and the nonprofit on the simple belief that the lives of children matter, regardless of race, income, gender, religion, or location.
The concert was well-run, acoustically sound (more summer concerts at this venue, please) and started a bit ahead of its scheduled time, as The Jayhawks took the stage for a brief 22 min. opening mini-set (all sets were abbreviated due to the limited time and number of acts). Gary Louris and co. seemed in fine form, going through a quick set of hits and happy to be involved in the show, with ‘Waiting for the Sun’ nicely stretched with on a slinky groove worthy of Petty and the Heartbreakers.
Locally resurrected band Flipp was next, revving up the audience and the volume, with a short set of two-decade old favorites that made the band a name on as a homegrown favorite in 1995-2003. “It’s a beautiful day, people, let’s do this thing!” singer Brynn Arens yelled, hair slightly more white and without face makeup, but dressed in a Joker-esque black and white striped suit he was known for.
With new member Less Able Paul, the band crunched through its twenty-minute set with charting single ‘Freak’ retaining the energy of the original and Arens recruited an audience member (named Beth, cue the Kiss references) on stage to try and play guitar to close out with ‘Half a Brain’.
Ringmaster Gene Simmons came out following, to not only to explain the aim of the night’s benefit but to also introduce Cheap Trick, in perhaps their shortest set in years. Playing just thirty-minutes, the band turned up the energy with singer Robin Zander in familiar white jacket and police cap and guitarist Rick Nielsen throwing picks out to the crowd by the handful.
The foursome managed to work in several of their hits, even working in a drum solo by drummer Daxx Neilsen on a ten-minute ‘Gonna Raise Hell’, anchored by the steady bass of Tom Petersson. “Thanks to Gene Simmons for all the talent they brought here tonight… including ourselves, of course!”, the elder Neilsen quipped.
Former Eagles guitarist Don Felder made the most of his three-song, eighteen minute set by bringing out members of Cheap Trick to help out, beginning with Zander guesting on The Eagles’ ‘Take it Easy’. “Anybody here like the blues?” Felder asked as he brought out Rick Neilsen to play on a smoking cover of SRV’s ‘Pride and Joy’ then switched to his familiar double-neck guitar for the closing ‘Hotel California’, a song he wrote the music for.
Gene Simmons has always been smart enough to surround himself with gifted players and the current incarnation of The Gene Simmons Band is no exception, which features guitarist Phil Shouse (Rodney Atkins, John Corabi, Lipstick), drummer Jarred Pope (Thee Rock N Roll Residency), guitarist/bassist Jeremy Asbrock (The Shazam, John Corabi) and guitarist Ryan Cook (Hair Of The Dog) and their hour-long headlining set was an axe shredding tour-de-force peppered with plenty of Kiss songs.
Drummer Pope stepped off the drum kit so Logan “Robot” Gladden could take over for a couple songs, “how old are you?” Simmons asked, “Thirteen”, Gladden replied, “That’s good… I’m 113”, Simmons answered. Simmons then brought up ten ladies to dance along to 1976’s ‘Do You Love Me’ and a couple rarities were played including 1979’s ‘Charisma’ (“the #1 song in Mexico… who knows why?” Simmons mentioned) and 1978’s ‘Radioactive’, the lone single released from the Kiss bassist’s first solo album.
“Tonight is a very special night” Simmons said “let’s hear it for Ace Frehley!” and the crowd roared to see the reunion that fans have been waiting sixteen years for. Simmons generously gave the stage to Frehley for a trio of songs written by the Space Ace beginning with 1974’s ‘Parasite’, which also showed that his guitar chops haven’t rusted.
Signature Ace songs ‘Cold Gin’ and ‘Shock Me’ followed, fitting again like a familiar glove and with fans beaming to see the pair playing these classic songs together again. “I got electrocuted in Lakeland, FL… 1977, I think… I wrote a song about it” Frehley said, the crunchy guitar riffs doing the rest of the talking. And to close the show, Simmons invited thirty more people on stage (though more came up) for the closing party of ‘Rock and Roll All Nite’, including the “Kiss Kids”, four grade schoolers in full makeup.
With talk of any future band reunions being completely dismissed both by Simmons and Paul Stanley separately, this may have been the one rare occurrence to see Gene Simmons and Ace Frehley play together one last time, in the name of charity. For at least this night, not only did the music matter, but the children mattered as well, as all was put aside for a good cause.
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The Jayhawks |
The Jayhawks |
Flipp |
Flipp |
Flipp |
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Cheap Trick |
Cheap Trick |
Cheap Trick |
Cheap Trick |
Cheap Trick |
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Don Felder with Rick Neilsen |
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Don Felder |
Don Felder, with Robin Zander |
Don Felder |
Setlist |
Gene Simmons |
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Gene Simmons at The Children Matter Benefit, St. Paul (20 Sept 2017) |
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Gene Simmons |
Gene Simmons with Ace Frehley |
Gene Simmons with Ace Frehley |
Gene Simmons with Ace Frehley |
Gene Simmons with Ace Frehley |
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Gene Simmons at The Children Matter Benefit, St. Paul (20 Sept 2017) |
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