In this episode, Rich Kosak from the KISS tribute band Mr. Speed returns to the show to talk about his experiences at the recent "KISS Kruise: Land-Locked in Vegas" event (Nov 14-16, 2025) at Virgin Hotels Las Vegas. He talks about the negotiations related to performing at the event, the event related challenges his band faced during the weekend, how they kept the performances fresh for multiple shows, and future plans for Mr. Speed. We began the conversation with a quick discussion about Kennedy Center Honors Award.

In this month's episode, we talk about the passing of original KISS guitarist, Ace Frehley. We also take the opportunity to discuss our top ten Ace songs, inspired by the Rolling Stone article 10 Essential Ace Frehley Songs. In typical Ages of Rock fashion, we each put our own spin on our lists. We also discussing the evolution of Ace's playing style across different albums. Before we began our lists, Bill shared his recent Halloween experience where he displayed a Gene Simmons blow-up figure and purchased a limited edition reissue of the Dressed to Kill album, which came with a large poster and was shipped in a thick foam box. We discussed the quality of record packaging, with Dennis mentioning a rare Asia album that was also well-packaged. We discussed concert tickets, with Dennis sharing his recent purchase of Foo Fighters tickets for an upcoming show in Nashville. Allen recounted his cover band's Halloween performance at Bokeh Lounge and showed a photo of his costume.

"Hey, I heard you missed us. WE'RE BACK!" Starting with this episode, we plan to resume producing one podcast episode per month instead of dropping random episodes like we've been doing. 2025 has been the craziest year. Anyway, Bill came up with the idea for this episode. We each picked two albums for everyone to listen to and give their thought on. In typical Ages of Rock fashion, we laugh, poke fun at each other, and give our not so humble opinions on each other's picks. We also take a few minutes to talk about recent happenings in the worlds of Ace Frehley, Rush, Vinnie Vincent, and more.

In this episode, we catch up on recent events including Allen's finds while cleaning out his mother-in-law's house, Dennis' new guitar, and their various music equipment acquisitions. They share detailed accounts of recent and upcoming concerts they've attended or plan to attend, including performances by Men at Work, Christopher Cross, Toto, Rod Stewart, Cheap Trick, and Queensrÿche, with special mention of Bill's experience at the Sphere in Las Vegas. We conclude the episode by discussing KISS's upcoming Kennedy Center Honor induction and analyzing interesting statistics about KISS band members' touring history.

In this episode we discussed the passing of Ozzy Osbourne and the "Back to the Beginning" charity concert, which raised approximately $180-190 million for three charities. We ran thru the list of bands and artists who participated in the show and our thoughts of their performances.

Our condolences go out to Ozzy's family and friends.

In the final interview of the 2025 ROCKNPOD series, Allen talks with Christopher Williams, drummer for the bands Accept and Elegant Weapons. They start out discussing their past experiences at ROCKNPOD events, recalling noisy moments and humorous incidents. Christopher shares updates about his wife Ainsley, a solo artist who recently released a new single "The Beast is Coming." Christopher talks about his skills in woodworking and welding, including building custom furniture, cabinetry, and drumstick displays and mentions creating custom drum racks and launching a new company called Kick Logos, which offers custom graphics and logos for drummers. They also discuss a scent called "Rock and Roll On" created by Christopher and Ainsley, aimed at rock fans who want to smell good.

Bob Chiapardi discusses his role in marketing within the rock and metal music industry through his company, Concrete Marketing, which is known for promoting major bands like Metallica and Armored Saint, and has expanded into publicity, radio, and publishing with Foundations Magazine. Bob shares anecdotes about managing safety at events, including a story about Yngwie Malmsteen causing a fire alarm with pyro effects. Recently, Bob has shifted focus from marketing to producing music documentaries, including a three-part series on Steve Cropper, a legendary guitarist and producer associated with Stax Records and many classic hits.

Bill kicks off the morning of ROCKNPOD 2025 talking to members of Lost Circus. They recently debuted their new single UNINVITED, which is an Alanis Morissette cover. The video for this single was directed by Calico Cooper.

Don Higgins and his twin brother Ron are music enthusiasts and authors of "The Biggest Big Hair Book of Metal Trivia," a trivia book focused on hard rock and metal music. The book combines multiple-choice trivia questions with stories about their experiences and encounters in the music world, making it accessible even to those unfamiliar with the genre.