What a great night at Canton South Performing Arts Center! Over 400 strong came out to support this stop on our BLACK DIAMOND tour. A great night was had by all celebrating all things KISS and money was raised to further support the efforts of the PAC.Thank you to all who supported this event.
Photos by Angie Hattery and Susan Torok.
MR.SPEED is bringing its 30th Anniversary BLACK DIAMOND TOUR to Canton South High School's Performing Arts Center for one night! Get your tickets now to celebrate all things KISS with MR.SPEED!
Don't miss MR.SPEED on Saturday, March 16, 2024 at Canton South High School's Performing Arts Center!
Photo Credit: Gabe Fedor/Riffster Productions
Over the past 3 days we divided our time up between a rehearsal, a lengthy recording session and a day long video/photo shoot. It was time for us to update our marketing materials and properly promote the 30th Anniversary of our band and these events were set up to do just that.
On Friday night we got together at Rich's place in Alliance, Ohio for our first rehearsal. We dusted the rust off of quite a few new songs that we plan to include in our new set list this year, one of which may not be that big of a surprise in "War Machine" from CREATURES OF THE NIGHT. On Saturday we moved to Custom Audio Mutation studios in Akron, Ohio to rerecord two KISS classics in "Detroit Rock City" and "Shout It Out Loud". We'll put the finishing touches on those tracks over the next week or so. Lastly, we once again utilized the grand space that is the Lorain Palace Theater to set up and conduct our new promo video shoot. This gave us the chance to incorporate all of the stage antics that you expect to see from us and that we like to deliver with each and every show. This was the longest of the three days as we arrived at 9:00/AM for load-in and didn't close the trailer door after load-out until 8:00/PM!
We are all extremely proud of the hard work, effort and overall result from the time that we spent together. We do believe that when this project is completed that we will have a visual souvenir of who & what MR.SPEED is that we can all be proud of. Enjoy this collage of photos taken over the past 3 days that show you what it was like to be in MR.SPEED for the weekend.
See you all soon...
Rich, Mark, Rich & Shane
Happy New Year all you rockers! We've got a hot ticket link for you to grab your seats right now for our March 16, 2024 show in Canton, Ohio. Here are all the details that you need and we'll look forward to seeing you at Canton South High School!
We posed (5) questions to Shane recently to get inside the mind of our new "Demon" and this is what he had to say.
Q1. Let's start with an easy question, tell us what your favorite KISS album is?
A. That's easy, the one that started it all for me was LOVE GUN.
Q2. Okay, so of all the Gene Simmons tracks in the bands history which one happens to be your favorite?
A. For me it's a bit outside the box but I'm going to say "We Are One" from PSYCHO CIRCUS.
Q3. How many times have you seen KISS in concert and do you have a particular show that you enjoyed above all the rest?
A. I've seen the band 21 times in concert and without question my favorite experience was the final 2 nights at Madison Square Garden. I also loved the HOT IN THE SHADE Tour in 1990. I loved the stage, the set list and Eric Carr's drum solo.
Q4. Do you have a favorite piece of KISS memorabilia that you'd like to tell us about?
A. That's a tough one but I'm going to say my Ace Frehley Mego Doll for a multitude of reasons.
Q5. Lastly, what does it mean to be a part of MR.SPEED?
A. As a KISS Tribute artist to me it means that I've made it. This is the big leagues and there is no one bigger than MR.SPEED. I have always viewed MR.SPEED as the gold standard of KISS Tribute bands so for me this is very exciting and surreal at the same time. It feels like just yesterday that I messaged Rich (who I had not met yet) to tell him how great I thought MR.SPEED was and how impressed I was with what he created. Now I am part of that. It was an honor to have been asked to join this family and I'm going to make sure that the MR.SPEED fans get a "Demon" that they can be proud of.
Ever evolving, never compromising please allow us to introduce to you our "Demon" Shane Smith.
Shane brings a renewed thunder to our KISS Tribute and to YOU our fans. He's lurking in the darkness, he's haunting your every dream...
Thank you. That's the first thing that comes to mind as I sit here and try to think of what I want to say to all you who have been on this incredible journey with me since I started with Mr Speed back in 2021. I didn't know what to expect; I just knew that I was the guy coming in after a guy that was considered by many, (myself included), a bit of a legend in the KISS tribute world and I assumed that I was probably going to be hated by most/if not all of the Mr Speed fans who had grown accustomed to him being their particular Demon of choice. Thankfully I couldn't have been further off the mark with that assumption. Sure there may have been a few hold outs but overall you all welcomed me with open arms from the first minute I played my first Mr Speed show at JD Legends in Franklin OH amidst a looming tornado warning that almost shut down the show.😨 🌪.
Mr Speed is a well oiled machine that demands that you be at your best at all times. This is something that I loved most about being in this band. They are professionalism at its finest in my opinion and I am so proud to have been a part of their amazing legacy. From knowing my musical parts, to building my own costume, to even building the Unmasked stage that we used throughout our 2023 tour; Being in that band constantly made me want to push myself to be better because I knew that the other guys in the band was absolutely always going to be bringing their 100% A-game each and every time we stepped out on that stage and I never wanted to be the one who was not carrying my end of the load. I will miss these guys dearly and I am so blessed to continue considering them my friends, and brothers in rock.
Sadly my time as a member of Mr Speed has come to an end. Obligations with my work and family has made it necessary for me to step away to focus on those things in 2024 making it impossible for me to commit to another busy tour schedule with this amazing band.
Rich Kosak; thank you so much for bringing me into this crazy adventure. You always did right by me and I will be forever grateful to you for giving me that call that got my chapter in this band started. I learned so much from the time we spent together, and I had a blast singing harmonies with you.
Mark Hermanson; We joked around all the time that we were brothers from another mother, but it really does feel like I've known you my whole life. Same age, same length of time in the tribute business, grew up on the same shows; I loved being around you man and I will absolutely miss jamming (and sharing my buffet table) with you.
Rich Hattery; Dude you're awesome and I am so glad I got to spend a year jamming with you from one end of the country to the other. Beyond music I also felt a kinship to you through our love of building things and cobbling stuff together. You're an awesome guy and I will definitely miss you and Angie tremendously.
Many people don't realize that backstage is crazy when you're running a KISS show on the level that Mr Speed does and I can't say thank you enough to Tina Kosak for everything she does behind the scenes that nobody knows about. Tina is the hardest working member of the Mr Speed family and I appreciate everything she did for me to quite literally keep my costume and gimmicks together on numerous occasions when I needed her most. You're amazing and I can't say thank you enough. Even though they're not with the band anymore I'd also like to thank Paula, Devon, and the amazing Catman Quinton Kufahl for your part in making this adventure so special.
Being in this band has provided me with some the most special memories of my life; the amazing venues, the awesome people, the surreal photo shoot with Mark Weiss, the honor of meeting JD Neff, the California trip, and most notably for me; the show we played at Freedom Hall in Johnson City. It's all been awesome and I can say with full confidence and sincerity that I wouldn't change a minute of it. Even the long 10 hour drives at 3:am in the morning; I will miss everything about the Mr Speed experience. This was an opportunity of a lifetime and I'm so glad and thankful that I got to be a part of it. I never say never and I fully leave the door open to walking on stage with these guys again in the future if they ever need me as long as I am available to do it.
But for now I say goodbye Mr Speed army; it was an honor and a pleasure to be your fire breathing, blood spitting Demon.
God bless, and Rock on
Mike Collins
