Wexford Civic Center
Cadillac, Michigan
July 31, 2010
Website
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MR.SPEED to rock Indy/Cleveland KISS Expos!
01.30.2010 | MrSpeedOnline.com
The acclaimed tribute to KISS, MR.SPEED, will be an added attraction at two upcoming KISS expos. First, the band will perform at the Indianapolis KISS Expo on Sunday, March 21st along with very special guest Eric Singer. Eric will be on hand to sign autographs and take photos with fans. The event is celebrating the 35th Anniversary of the release of “Dressed to Kill”. MR.SPEED will perform the entire record from front to back during their performance. In addition, MR.SPEED will also be celebrating the triumphant release of KISS’ latest release “Sonic Boom”. The band will perform a selection of tracks from this modern day classic.
The following weekend MR.SPEED will be back home in Cleveland to celebrate the 35th Anniversary of “KISS ALIVE” at the 2010 Cleveland KISS Expo. The band will be performing the album in its entirety. The Cleveland Expo will take place on Sunday, March 28th and will feature special guest Bruce Kulick. Bruce will be on hand to sign autographs and take photos with fans throughout the day.
If KISS is your passion then make plans now. We’re proud to be involved with Kiss Army Warehouse at both of these great events. So grab a friend or bring the kids to be a part of something special. Expo room rates are available in each city so don’t miss out. We’ll see you all soon.
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MR.SPEED attends the 2009 OFEA Convention
11.15.2009 | MrSpeedOnline.com
We just returned home from our third trip to the OFEA Convention in Columbus, Ohio. The OFEA stands for The Ohio Festival and Events Association to which we are active members and have been for almost three years. Every year the association sets up camp on the outskirts of Columbus, Ohio for 2 days. This allows entertainers of all sorts to participate in a showcase and meet and greet with festival buyers from all over the state of Ohio. Each year that we have been a part of the event we are given the opportunity to set up a booth and promote our tribute to the best of our ability.
This year we unveiled our brand new promotional DVD as the main focal point of our booth. You can now view that DVD here on our home page. The DVD received rave reviews from buyers and fellow entertainers. In the past we took the approach that more was better but this year we stripped away some of the excess and kept things very simplistic. For two straight days we put on our outfits and did our best to impress as many buyers as possible that MR.SPEED is worth their time. This year was an amazing two days for us. We had interest from 17 different events and are looking at serious bookings with at least 6 annual festivals within the next few weeks. Many of the festival committees have winter meetings to discuss their plans for 2010 so the possibility of us hearing from a few more is very good as the grip of winter takes its hold on the north coast.
Below we’re pictured with Steve Cover from Columbus, Ohio. Steve is a strong supporter of MR.SPEED and does his very best to secure events for our band whenever possible. The other image is our booth at the event. Stay tuned to our “Tour” page for up to the minute details surrounding each and every performance that we confirm as our 2009 calendar year comes to a close.
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MR.SPEED PHOTO SHOOT
10.20.2009 | MrSpeedOnline.com
Last night we took part in another photo shoot. Once again our aim was to improve upon our promotional material as well as updating our web site. So we gathered at an undisclosed location with our good friend Karen Menyhart behind the lens.
The whole evening got off to a later than normal start due to an overturned tractor trailer on the freeway that all of us were using to get to the site. We really put Karen through her paces with this shoot. We all arrived by 6:30 PM and by 8:00 PM we were under way. Individual shots were the first order of business and they were then followed by the group images. We referenced many tour books and magazines to try and capture the look that we have all come to know and love.
To the right is a sample of what it looked like from behind the scenes. Three hours later we felt that we had captured a good number of images to use. In the end we’re hopeful that very soon you’ll see a fresh look to many of the pages here at our site. We hope that the time devoted to improving our image gives you, the fans, the sense that we really do care about paying tribute to the legend that is KISS.
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Fans welcome MR.SPEED to the Old Fashioned Days Festival
1,500 fans of all ages welcomed MR.SPEED to the 29th Annual Brunswick Old Fashioned Days Festival last night. A perfect setting in the Cleveland suburb saw one of the largest crowds in the festivals history rock and roll to the sounds of classic KISS for 2 hours. An intense energy filled the air surrounding the stage as fans both young and old sang in unison to their favorite songs. Early indications are that MR.SPEED will very possibly return to the event in 2010 based on last evenings performance. Check the “Gallery” page for live images of the band in action.
“MR.SPEED visits Cadillac to promo September Show”.
From 06.21.2009 | MrSpeedOnline.com
We just returned from our brief visit to Cadillac, MI. The trip was set up to help promote our upcoming show there this September. We met up with Jim Neff on Friday and went over our itinerary for the next day.
On Saturday we set about our whirlwind tour of the historic KISS town. First stop, McGuire’s Resort to set up and sound check for our acoustic show on Saturday night. From there we sped off to Cadillac High School
to tour the auditorium in which we’ll be performing on Saturday, September 26th. Once that was completed we were off once again to McGuire’s Resort to get into costumes and make-up for the filming of a local cable
ad and Cadillac News interview.
Both the interview and the commercial will run in advance of our show to alert fans that this is one event that they won’t want to miss.
All of this was great fun and meeting with the fans that turned out for our acoustic performance was inspirational to say the least.
We can’t thank Jim enough for his hospitality and generosity over the two days that we
were there. We’d also like to thank Kayla Kiley
from The Cadillac News for a great interview along with Eric Wotila for making us look good on film. Also the McGuire Family for the amazing accommodations. Lastly we would
like to thank Cadillac’s Mayor Bill Barnett for his generosity in supplying the PA for our show.
Mark your calendars and make plans now to get to Cadillac on September 26th for
“A Homecoming KISS”.
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“At last…MR.SPEED Unplugged from Chicago”.
From 10.19.2008 | MrSpeedOnline.com
Click
Here
to view the fan submitted video of our performance associated with the world premier of Paul Stanley’s “ONE LIVE KISS” DVD release. Thanks to the Andrews family for sending us their contribution. Enjoy!
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THANK YOU to everyone who participated in our Guest Bartending event
at P.J. McIntyres Irish Pub on Friday night.
Through the gifts of your time and donations, we were able to raise over $15,500 to support
the Barry Winovich Endowed Chair for ALS Research at the Cleveland Clinic.
With your generosity, we can continute to support the Cleveland Clinic
and its mission to identify the cause and cure for ALS.
Forever Grateful,
Barry Winovich and the Bright Side of the Road Foundation
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From
KISSONLINE.com
Here are a few photos from the Dayton KISS FAN FEST.
Though the event was billed as a KISS FEST, this one was all about Paul Stanley! Though not present, Paul was definitely there in spirit as several hundred fans enthusiastically celebrated the release of Paul's 'ONE LIVE KISS' DVD. Fans were treated to a Q&A with the film's director, Louis Antonelli, and a screening of the entire concert & additional unreleased footage from Paul's LIVE TO WIN Tour!
The day also featured two great performances from KISS Tribute bands - KIDS and MR. SPEED. KISS collectibles were on sale through out the event and everyone in attendance received a 'ONE LIVE KISS' laminate, guitar pick and over sized postcard.
Just another great day of celebrating with fellow members of the KISS Army!
The top and bottom photos were taken by Joe 'Big Dog' Frey for KOL. The middle photo of the bands, KIDS and MR. SPEED, was provided by Tony Nealeigh.
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The license plate: SHOCK ME
The car: 1999 Chevrolet Blazer.
The owner: Joe Hess, 33, bank employee, in his $1,200 custom-made Ace Frehley Kiss costume.
The reason: My sister bought me my first Kiss album, Love Gun, in 1978 when I was 4 years old, and I’ve been hooked ever since. I loved their whole mystique: The fact that you didn’t know who they were, the explosions, the fire, the blood, the catchy music and, of course, the toys: the Kiss dolls, the Kiss comic books, the Kiss lunch boxes.
Kiss consisted of four guys: Paul Stanley, Ace Frehley, Peter Criss and Gene Simmons. I always liked Ace. He had the coolest costume, and he had the best guitar solo in “Shock Me.” His guitar would start smoking as if it was on fire.
I was looking to start my own Kiss tribute band in “Established Kiss tribute band looking for Ace.” 2000. I put an ad in Scene that said, “Ace looking for Gene, Peter, Paul.” Diagonal to my ad was another ad: The name of the band was Mr. Speed. Mr. Speed is what we in the Kiss world
call an obscure song because most people don’t know it.
We do everything the way Kiss does. We have the lighted logo. We have the stack of Marshall amps. Our costumes are dead replicas of theirs. We have the smoke, the blood. We even use the same kind of makeup they do.
“Shock Me” was the first song I had to learn. It was kind of my identifying moment with the band. That’s why I put it on my license plate.
Most people mistake what SHOCK ME means. People driving by, they’ll flip me the bird and stuff like that. Like they want to see if they can shock me. A lot of people take it that way. They moon me.
Christopher Evans, Plain Dealer Reporter
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The Gibson Sound: A Night with Henry Juszkiewicz and Special Guest Ace Frehley
By invitation only Joe and I along with our wives Tina and Ann entered the building just before 6:00 PM. Very few fans had arrived by the time that we pushed our way through the revolving door and as we did we saw Ace himself ascending an escalator surrounded by security and a few Rock Hall employees. As we patiently waited in line to enter the main theater on the top floor of the hall Ace passed by us two more times still surrounded by the same entourage. Moments later we met up with a few friends that support our band and prepared ourselves for entrance into the theater.
say the least. But to be honest you could feel the suspense building because we knew that Ace was there so the atmosphere took on an almost pre-concert feel. His introduction was subdued to say the least but as he strolled on to the stage just after 8:00 PM we knew that we were experiencing something special once again. With his familiar black
shades and thin shoulder-length hair Ace took his place at the center of the stage. Visibly unsure of himself and quite uneasy with a regimented program Ace quickly took control and reminded everyone why he is so endearing to all of us as KISS fans. Being asked questions as to how he came up with some of the signature riffs for classic songs such as “Cold Gin” and “Shock Me” he simply replied that “he stole them”. That’s right, he stole them from the likes of The Who and Free. But just as he tipped his hat to those two bands in particular he also noted that his riffs have also been stolen by contemporary artists such as Buckcherry. For me the feeling in the room took on an almost comedic feel reminiscent of the “Tomorrow” interview from 1979. Ace seemed more at ease poking fun at the various questions that were being asked more than answering them directly. At one point we witnessed an instant classic Ace moment as he struggled with his posture on the stool to which he was sitting. He accidentally tugged on the chord that was plugged into his cherry sunburst Les Paul and dislodged an acoustic guitar from its stand. Everyone roared with laughter as the strings rang out their vibrations over top of the gasps from everyone in the crowd. Ace himself seemed unphased by the mishap and very lazily grappled with the guitar to put it back on the stand. Ace introduced a short video montage during the event that showcased film footage from his days with KISS as well as his more recent “Rocket Ride” tour from this year. All of the signature effects that he is known for were highlighted which got an immediate reaction from the crowd. He even treated us to a little history of how each of the effects came to be from the very earliest incarnation of the smoking guitar up to the rocket launching effect used back in 1996.
I wish that I could express for you just how incredible I feel today. It's the kind of feeling that I wish for all of you to experience at some point in your life. Last night I was given the opportunity to jam with Ace Frehley! So as the notes of our performance rang out Ace approached the stage to address and thank the crowd that had waited patiently to meet him. I could feel all of my senses really coming to the surface and my emotions were definitely on overload. It seemed as if time stood still as my memory conjured up years of trips to record stores and poster shops. The thousands of times that I've watched KISS videos and read interviews from Grooves, Hit Parader & Metal Edge magazine.
