The Emperor Has a Story to Tell: Richie Scarlet Brings His Ace Frehley Celebration to Crazy Uncle Mike's

By Joanie Cox

There are tribute bands, and then there's what Richie Scarlet is doing. The difference matters, and Scarlet wants you to know it.

"It's definitely not a tribute," the guitarist known as the Emperor of Rock 'n' Roll says plainly. "I'm not playing note for note." What he is doing is something far more personal, more layered, and frankly more interesting: assembling some of the most storied names from Ace Frehley's orbit to tell the real story of the Space Ace's life in music through the songs, and through the memories.

On May 2nd, the Richie Scarlet Band brings its Celebration of the Life in Music of Ace Frehley to Crazy Uncle Mike's in Boca Raton, and if you think you know what to expect, you probably don't.

The Band That Lived It

Scarlet has pulled together a lineup that doesn't just know Frehley's music. They lived it. Drummer Steve "Budgie" Werner, who toured extensively with Ace, goes back even further with Scarlet himself, having played on Richie's first record, Wise Guy from New York. "Just getting together for the show reminds me how much I enjoy playing with him," Scarlet says. "He's just a great drummer. Killer drummer." Bass guitarist Andy Rice also has history with Ace, and special guest Tod Howarth, who appeared on the first two or three Frehley's Comet records, brings an authenticity to the proceedings that simply can't be manufactured.

These aren't guys who studied the records. They made them.

More Than a Set List

The show draws heavily from Frehley's remarkable solo catalog, including songs Scarlet co-wrote with Ace himself: Lost in Limbo, Shot Full of Rock, Too Young to Die. "I haven't performed these songs myself, personally, in quite a while," Scarlet admits. "It'll be nice to relive those tunes." But the evening goes beyond the songs. Between numbers, Scarlet and Howarth will share firsthand stories including moments from the studio, the road, the wild and irreplaceable universe that surrounded Ace Frehley at his peak. It's part concert, part oral history, and completely one of a kind.

And yes, Scarlet has promised to share at least one genuine Spinal Tap moment from his years with Ace, a story so perfectly rock and roll that he's saving it for the stage. Consider yourself warned, and consider yourself very much invited.

For Scarlet, the emotional stakes are sky-high. Ace passed away in October, and his friend still wrestles with the loss. "I haven't fully accepted that he's not here," he says quietly. "There was nobody ever like Ace Frehley. Never met anybody like him in my life." He pauses. "He was just this prankster, a super funny man, and really didn't take all the admiration that seriously. He was just a kid from the Bronx." Scarlet grew up in the Bronx too. They were, in a lot of ways, cut from the same cloth.

"I feel like going out and playing his songs just makes me feel good," he adds. "I think he'd be smiling down to see Todd and Budgie and Andy and myself doing a set in tribute to him."

The Emperor Gets His Name

And about that title, the Emperor of Rock 'n' Roll. Ace gave it to him, as it happens.

"We got done writing maybe Shot Full of Rock together," Scarlet recalls with a laugh, "and he said to me, 'Man, Elvis is the King, but you're the Emperor.' That was many, many years ago. I never took it seriously, but it spread." These days, when interviewers ask what it's like to carry that distinction, Scarlet has a ready answer: "It's always better than being known as the jerk-off of rock and roll. I'll take Emperor any day!” Scarlet says with a smile. 

A Night Full of Surprises

The set won't be all Ace, either. True to Scarlet's wide-ranging career, the evening will also feature a handful of Mountain classics. Frehley himself covered the band's Never in

My Life on Origins Vol. 2, along with some of Richie's own material. And in a moment that promises to be genuinely electric, JD Danner, the powerhouse vocalist who caught Scarlet's attention after he spotted her commanding a stadium crowd.

“I saw a video of her singing and I thought she was fantastic,” Scarlett said. Danner will join him onstage for a scorching run through Jefferson Airplane's White Rabbit. "I play the melody on guitar, locked right into her voice," Scarlet says. "Instead of just playing the chords." 

Picture that for a moment. “I’m looking forward to meeting her and her band,” Scarlet said. 

Before Scarlet and company take the stage, the night kicks off with the JD Danner Band, featuring Pedro Riera on lead guitar, Fernando Santomaggio on bass, and Howard Goldberg on drums. If you've never caught this South Florida outfit live, consider this your perfect introduction, and if you have, you already know to get there early.

The late, great John Regan, bassist on the early Frehley's Comet records and a giant of the New York rock scene, will also be honored in spirit throughout the evening. "He'll be there," Scarlet says simply. "John Regan will be there."

Don't Miss It

This is not a nostalgia act. This is a living, breathing piece of rock and roll history, presented by people who helped make it, honoring a man who deserved far more mornings on this Earth than he got.

Crazy Uncle Mike's. May 2nd. The Richie Scarlet Band. Get your tickets now at eventbrite.com. The Emperor is coming. Don't be late.

After Crazy Uncle Mike’s the tour will continue to Stet’s Bar in Fort Myers May 8, Philly Down South in Stuart May 9 and May 10 at Jack Rabbits in Jacksonville.