The world-famous Jergel’s club in Warrendale, PA, just north of Pittsburgh, felt like 1988 all over again as Space Frehley (Ace Frehley/KISS tribute) and That Arena Rock Show brought the house down.
Space Frehley – That Arena Rock Show Rock
Jergel’s Rhythm Grille, Warrendale – 17 April 2026
Words And Photography: Jim Balentine
An evening filled with famous anthems had the capacity crowd jumping up and down, singing until they were hoarse, and left hot, sweaty, and fulfilled, as the 3-hour show was all killer and no filler.
Space Frehley
Space Frehley, based out of Pittsburgh, have two former members of the KISS tribute Deuce, and the musician who plays the late Ace Frehley looks just like the Space Ace in clothing, boots, glasses, hair, goatee and even the famous Gibson Les Pauls, which even smoked as the original did.
The band began in early 2025, as there were virtually no Ace solo tribute bands out playing anywhere in the US. As Space Frehley had been a lifelong fan of Ace and KISS, he wanted to pay homage to the hottest band in the world by portraying his hero.
After the untimely death of Ace Frehley in October of 2025, they were unsure about wanting to continue. But with the approval of Ace’s road manager and other associates, and the support of the fans, the decision was made to move forward and honour Ace’s legacy and his music, both with KISS and in his solo work.
In the opening slot tonight, they decided to play the more popular Ace songs from the KISS era to please the masses and were successful in doing that.
The licks, the solos, the banter onstage, all brought back timeless memories for all the Ace fans.
The band is growing in popularity and will co-headline a show in Youngstown, Ohio, on 9 May. So look for all Ace and KISS popular and rare songs, including Ace’s solo material.
That Arena Rock Show
That Arena Rock Show, based out of Cincinnati, Ohio, returned and hit it out of the ballpark. The band recreates certain groups from the ’80s in costume or with guitars over a two-hour set.
There are no ballads, but the set is filled with straight-on Hair Metal. That is, if you want to call it that. That would drive Metallica mad. Tonight saw tracks from the days of going to major arenas to see all the MTV-era bands.
The band feeds off the audience, and the audience feeds off the band. That Arena Rock Show plays in your face and jumps all around, even jumping over each other, and as they move along, the feeling gets stronger.
This is no sit-down crowd. As the band performs, fists and hands are in the air, and they jump up and down to the music. When the band ends, there is a mutual feeling of “Wow, that was awesome!”
And the costume changes. This is changing roles, not just clothes, and we also get guest appearances from Garth Algar and Wayne Campbell, as well as Beavis and Butthead.
If you did not know the songs that were played Friday night, you are definitely not an ’80s Metalhead.
We had everything from Metallica, Twisted Sister, AC/DC, and Mötley Crüe to Def Leppard, Van Halen and yes, even Bon Jovi. This writer would have loved to have heard some KISS from the ’80s, but, alas, you can’t please everyone all the time.
The band is on tour now, and there are plenty of videos on their YouTube channel. Please check them out, see them live and revel in those feelings of the ’80s, when arena rock reigned supreme.
