Original KISS guitarist Ace Frehley recently called out Paul Stanley for allegedly using pre-recorded tracks during the band’s performances. The 71-year-old Frehley touched upon Paul’s supposed dependency on backing tapes during his concert Saturday night (June 11) at the Palladium in New York City.
Ace Frehley opens up on the allegations
Prior to launching into the KISS classic “Detroit Rock City” with his solo band, Frehley told the crowd: “This song’s a great song written by Mr. Paul Stanley. By the way, we don’t use tapes. Anyway, this one’s about a city in the Midwest on Lake Michigan. It’s called ‘Detroit Rock City’.”
Ace’s comments came less than a week after a rare “mistake” by KISS drummer Eric Singer during the band’s concert in Antwerp, Belgium revealed what some fans are saying is proof that KISS is using pre-recorded tracks during its performances.
Several Kiss fans who attended the group’s June 6 show at Sportpaleis have shared video of Kiss kicking off the set with “Detroit Rock City”, the classic song that has consistently served as the live opener for the band’s live performances in recent years.
At the end of the track, Singer, who has played with Kiss on and off since 1991, apparently “forgets to rest for a measure,” according to YouTube commenter Austin Ogonoski, “instead continuing to play the standard beat for two additional measures. “ After “Eric realizes he messes up,” he “begins the drumroll/breakdown a measure late,” which “means Paul’s [Stanley] vocal track is out of sync with what the band is actually playing,” Austin explained. “Paul’s track plays ‘Everybody’s gonna leave their SEAT,’ completely out of sync with the song and when nobody is at a mic.”
Another YouTube user, Jochem Blaauw, who shared video of the “Detroit Rock City” performance shot from a different angle, simply wrote in the clip’s description: “Show opening of the Antwerpen show 2022. Eric’s rare mistake at 5:05 makes even more interesting.” He also commented on another video of the same song, writing: “Great quality. Curious about Eric’s rare mistake at 5:09 and Paul’s ‘singing’ right after…”
Ever since KISS’s “End Of The Road” trek launched in late January 2019, there has been persistent online chatter about Paul allegedly singing to a backing tape. The speculation began from the fact that Stanley had been struggling to hit the high notes in many of the band’s classic songs for a number of years.
