The Aces at Summit Music Hall
Summit Music Hall, Denver, CO | November 29th, 2025
Written by Maddie Browning | Cover image via @theaces on Instagram
The Aces know how to have fun.
Their most recent and fourth studio album, “Gold Star Baby,” is a tribute to disco and queer joy. It’s laced with sultry melodies, vibrant baselines, sapphic love and lust, and campy, meta interludes. (“The Girls Interlude” is a one-sided phone conversation of a fan inviting a friend to The Aces’ concert and worrying about her ex being there.)
The alt-pop band is composed of sisters Cristal Ramirez (lead vocals and guitar) and Alisa Ramirez (drums), as well as childhood friends Katie Henderson (lead guitar and vocals) and McKenna Petty (bass). The band started playing together in 2008 in Provo, Utah. Their music revolves around queer identity, mental health, and relationships.
The Aces performed at Summit Music Hall in Denver on Nov. 29. Gold lights shone on stage as “Welcome to Gold Star Baby” kicked off the show. A radio announcer's voice introduced “Gold Star Baby” as a nightclub where audience members could “meet the love of your life or love of your night.”
The performance was packed with danceable tracks that had audience members swaying and side-stepping all night long. Cristal Ramirez looked effortlessly cool in aviators and a black leather vest as she sang the groovy, self-assured song “Jealous,” lightly thrusting into the mic stand. The band members were expertly connected as only a group playing together for the past 17 years could be. Petty and Henderson bounced to the beat, and Alisa Ramirez passionately played as she smiled at the crowd.
The Aces maintained the energy, dancing on stage and quickly moving from one song to the next. They played “New Emotion” off their 2020 record “Under My Influence,” exploring the overwhelming and confusing feelings of wanting to transition from friends to lovers.
“Denver, where are my gold star babies?” Cristal Ramirez asked before the band played their latest album’s title track. It’s a reference to a gold star lesbian — someone who has only ever slept with women — as well as a “gold star baby” being someone who is a perfect fit. The band and audience rocked out as Cristal Ramirez remarked, “You don’t have to be a lesbian to sing it, Denver.”
“This might be a little premature, but you might be my favorite crowd of the whole tour,” she added after the song finished.
“Always Get This Way” felt very The 1975 with bright synths and pounding drums. Cristal Ramirez unleashed crisp vocals with a husky edge. “I always get this way/ At night, I do/ If you could find it in your heart not to tear me apart/ You’d be so kind,” she sang.
The Aces played the catchy, electro-pop song “Don’t Freak” before the angsty, young heartbreak-fueled track “Kelly.”
One of my favorite songs was “I Can Break Your Heart Too.” I love the guitar loop and the way the lyrics trace the disorientation of a lover giving mixed signals. It’s about reclaiming the power in an ultimately petty way.
“Set it up to break me down/ You don’t want me, then you want me now/ But you can’t have your cake and eat it too/ My life isn’t always about you/ I can break your heart too,” Cristal Ramirez sang.
While some of The Aces’ songs started to blend together, the band has a clear grasp over developing sticky melodies that you can’t help but dance to.
They engaged the audience in cute moments in between songs like a best dressed competition, where they awarded two girls with boas and took shots with them onstage.
The band also asked the audience for tea — meaning gossip, not to be confused with the warm beverage — and garnered a hilarious story from someone in the crowd. The person rattled off terrible things their ex did after a breakup, including smashing their guitar, cutting up their driver’s license, and cutting out the front pockets of all of their jeans. The last one is so hilariously random and inconvenient.
Another standout was “She Likes Me,” a track infused with Latin rhythms about getting the girl everyone wants. Colorful lights burst through the venue as audience members danced and sang along.
“It’s that time of night when things are about to get a little sexy,” Alisa Ramirez announced. The band led the audience in movements and sounds to perform on cue during “The Magic,” which is what they call sex appeal. “They know we got it, we got the magic (ah-ooh),” Cristal Ramirez sang.
The Aces definitely had the magic and brought pop-rock joy to the Denver queer community and their favorite allies.
