Ace Frehely wears BathroomWall - a better picture

A better picture of Ace Frehley wearing his Dr Keith T-shirt

Ace Frehley... Yes, THE Ace Frehley wears BathroomWall

ACE FUCKING FREHLEY is wearing a BathroomWall T-shirt. One of the guys that made me fall in love with rock n' roll is standing centre stage as guest of all-star rock n' roll jam band, Camp Freddy and he, the man that gave Kiss a heart and soul; the man that set an entirely new standard for stage craft and performance; the guitarist 100% responsible for all of Kiss' finest moments (Love It Loud excepted); the space man that influenced a whole generation of guitarists is WEARING a Keith Richards Dr Keith's Rock N' Roll Pharmacy T-shirt that I designed. Rock N' Roll All Nite. Do You Love Me? Too right I do Ace.... YOU RULE.

On stage with Ace are Camp Freddy, which tonight are Matt Sorum (Velvet Revolver, The Cult & Guns N' Roses), Steve Stevens (loads of people, but most famous as Billy Idol's guitarist), Chris Chaney (Jane's Addiction), Billy Morrisson (The Cult, Ginger Wildheart's solo band).

It’s okay to get the blues

June and July have so many gigs and festivals that it can be hard to keep up to date with everyone that is playing and sometimes there can be some cracking gigs that slip by un-noticed. One such tour at the moment which may not be getting the column inches compared to the others but is sure to be a great night out is the BB King and John Mayall tour. It’s hard to think of too many Blues guitarists with more experience and talent than Mayall and if there is, they’ve definitely worked with or been influenced by these two. When a guitar player has a name for his axe, you know its something special and there isn’t a more famously named guitar than BB Kings ‘Lucille’. It may be a woman’s name but the name just conjures up tremendous licks and driving rhythms and King still rocks out, regardless of his age.
Of course, John Mayall is no slouch either and when you think of Mayall, its hard not to think about Eric Clapton and all the other amazing names who featured in its line-up. With the exception of The Byrds or The Yardbirds, it’s hard to think of a band that had more famous names than the Bluesbreakers and even if you are unfamiliar with the music, you’ll instantly know some of the star turns who used the band as a stepping stone to even greater things. Eric Clapton cut his teeth there and then took bassist Jack Bruce to form Cream alongside Ginger Baker. Cream were probably the first ever supergroup and vied with The Jimi Hendrix Experience for the role of most scintillating rock trio of all time.
Cream owe a lot to the Bluesbreakers but so do Fleetwood Mac, especially their original main man Peter Green. Green may not have made it to the bands most commercial era but his early playing gave the band a huge cult following and very quickly made them a major name in the late 1960s gig scene. Fleetwood Mac also took John McVie from the Bluesbreakers, further emphaising the role of Mayall in the British rock scene and if that wasn’t enough, they also produced a key guitarist for the Rolling Stones.
Okay, it wasn’t Brian Jones or Keith Richards but Mick Taylor was a major part of the Stones early 70s sound, which remains many peoples favourite era as it was the time when the band really gelled and produced a run of great albums. Mick Jagger may believe its all due to his vocals and struts but there was so much more to the Stones than his big lips.
So the proof of the Blues pudding is in the eating but even if you don’t like the Bluesbreakers, the songs and styles of so many more acts will be channelled during the shows. Whether it’s the old devil at the crossroads authentic blues styles of people like Robert Johnson or Lead Belly or the later, electrified stomp of Howling Wolf or John Lee Hooker, there’s a style of blues music to appeal to everyone. All of which goes to show, there is no age barrier to great Blues music and there is something major to get your teeth into this week.

Who will be your Summer influence?

Its time for summer and as well as great times drinking with your mates, its time for the summer festivals and what better way to celebrate than combining them both and living up to some rock n roll excess? If you want to raise the bar when it comes to living up to the rock n roll maxim then you only have to look as far as Keith Richards. Okay, he may be Johnny Depp’s dad in the Pirates of the Caribbean films but who else would you want to take health tips from? If even half of the rumours about Richards are true, the one where around time of Exile On Main Street he got his blood transfused every few years to clean himself out is a particular favourite, then that’s more than good enough for most people. Whether its the sneering dismissal of men who don’t smoke the same brand of cigarettes as himself in the lyrics to Satisfaction or the fact that he has put up with Mick Jaggers preening and silly dancing for all these years, there really is no better role model than Keith Richards.
Although to be fair to Keefy, his excesses have usually focused on drink and drinks, with Mick, Marianne and a Mars Bar adding the sexuality to Rolling Stones story so if you want to get your rocks off, perhaps you need to look somewhere else for tips. And lets face it, if you want to learn, learn from the best and when it comes to groupie loving, it doesn’t get any better than Led Zeppelin. If Mick and Marianne got up to some funny food fun with chocolate, God knows what the Zeppelin boys were up to that fish on their American tour. When you’re camping at a festival this summer, you may not be able to get your hands on any fresh fish to follow their lead but that shouldn’t stop you trying your luck.
It says so much about Led Zeppelin that in an industry where sex is at the centre of everything that they manage to stand out from their peers so much and with the reunion show reigniting interest in the band for a whole new generation of fans, they have probably never been cooler. Your tent in the mud may not be the same as the legendary Starship from the 1970s American tours but if you want to build your own stairway to heaven, there is no better inspiration than Jimmy Page, Robert Plant, John Paul Jones or John ‘Bonzo’ Bonham.
Bonzo may be gone but is definitely not forgotten, much like his fellow sticksman and hellraiser, The Who's Keith Moon. Not too many people can go toe to toe or drink to drink with Oliver Reed or could dismantle a hotel room in 5 minutes flat, let alone drive a Rolls Royce into a swimming pool so the legend of the Moon lives on. If you want to rock out to the maximum this summer, signal your intentions from the start by taking your lead from some of rock n roll’s hardest living heroes.