Blog Entry, 6.28.08 Columbia Station Homecoming Festival – Ohio It’s true when they say “you live & you learn”. As the days of summer now slowly unfold we find ourselves hitting our stride with many outdoor festival-style events. Yesterday was one such animal. I want to take this opportunity to give you all a little more insight into what it takes to hit the road with MR.SPEED. This particular event began negotiations last November. So as the seven months saw seasons change and the contracts signed we finally saw the day arrive. Lately the weather has been a major factor here in the Cleveland area and you must contend with it when you’re performing outdoors. But we are constantly amazed at how little people that purchase our band realize what goes in to putting our show together at each event. I seriously think that when they come to see us they see the final product but don’t realize everything that goes into putting it all together. So we now know that when we sell the band that we need to approach buyers with a clearer sense of what it will take to bring the show in. To make a long story really short we had to contend with a “battle of the bands” competition yesterday in addition to intermittent rain showers. Each band was given a 30-minute set with 15 minutes to change over between them. They had at least 10 bands. The competition started at 12:30 PM. Our performance time was scheduled for 8:30 PM. You do the math. All of this didn’t end until 7:00 PM and we hadn’t even unloaded our trailers. We were asked to wait until the entire competition was over before we could begin setting up the show which on average takes 90-minutes. On top of that we have 90-minutes for make-up and costumes. Because we knew that people were there to see us we put the pedal to the medal and rose above the situation. We ended up going on shortly after 9:30 PM and only cut two songs from the 20-song set. I really don’t mean to sound ungrateful or conceited in any way but the fans don’t understand why we’re late and in the end people might assume that’s how we do things. Many of you know that couldn’t be further from the truth. The show itself was a good show. The crowd was full of energy and seemed to really enjoy our performance. Once again we played it close to the vest. Nothing obscure was added to the set list and everyone seemed very content with that. All of the classics were there for fans of all ranks to enjoy. An old friend of the band came out who happens to be a local photographer and he graciously took approximately 200 photos of us. He’s done work for Ted Nugent and Sammy Hagar to name a few. He’s promised me the photos this coming week and I’m sure that a few of them will find their way on to our site for you to enjoy. We had a chance to meet with a few of them after the show as we posed for photos and signed a few souvenirs. We’re already looking ahead to next week’s event in New Philadelphia having played there twice in the past. We know that things will be run a lot smoother and aside from the “Best Legs Competition” we won’t need to contend with a shotgun start to our show. Those of you that came to see us last night, thank you. You passion and patience made our performance worthwhile. We hope that you have a renewed sense of pride in being a KISS fan and we do look forward to seeing you once again throughout the year. Please keep us in your hearts as we will keep you in ours. Blog Entry, 6.13.08 Avon Heritage Duct Tape Festival – Avon, Ohio If you believe in superstition then maybe playing on Friday the 13th would be a problem for you. Everything that date conjures up in your mind could stop you from following your heart but not for us. Sure we knew the legend that is Friday the 13th but to us it was just another opportunity to take our show on the road and celebrate the music of KISS. The ever present threat of rain wasn’t going to dampen our spirits and we knew come hell or high water we were going to do what we set out to do. The stage was set and the fans were arriving by the car loads as evening set in on the festival grounds last night. What a great way to start the weekend. As we completed our sound check things suddenly took a turn for the worse as the wind began to swirl around the stage and blue skies gave way to clouds of dark gray. Weather reports were coming in and we were told this was just a passing shower and it would all be over in 20 minutes. Well, an hour and a half later the rain was still coming down and we were running out of time to prepare for our stage time of 8:30 PM. So I met with our contact for the festival and discussed the plan if in fact the rain would not let up. As the two of us were talking a random fan approached us and asked “are you guys gonna jam tonight”? As my attention fixed on the unshaven face of this fan that had already endured 90 minutes of Mother Nature’s bad side I realized why I was there. The decision was made…the show must go on. Tina and Ann made final preparations to the stage as we huddled in the trailer that was on site to act as our dressing room. Time was of the essence and we pulled it off like true professionals. As we emerged from the trailer shortly after 8:30 PM with the rain still coming down we used our boot boxes to shield ourselves as we made our way across the muddy field to the stage. Now you didn’t really think that we were going to wear our boots through the mud did you? For a brief moment I didn’t hear the sound of the rain hitting my boot box as those that remained to watch us perform broke out in cheers as they noticed us making our way to the stage. Reserved as usual the fans that had stayed remained a safe distance from the stage but as we launched into “Detroit Rock City” we motioned for them to move closer and so they did. Almost immediately the rain had stopped as if by some small miracle from the rock and roll heavens. Fans young and old with hair clinging to their faces pounded their fists in the air to the opening three songs which also included “Shout It Out Loud” and “Deuce”. It’s amazing to me when I look out in the crowd and see how what we do seems to lift the spirits of those in attendance. Here you had a smaller than expected crowd that would not let anything stand in the way of them getting what they came for. Shouts of song titles rang out through the sticky nighttime air. The kids in the front row were wearing KISS hats and t-shirts and staring at us as if we were the legends themselves. The vibe was real and the emotion between the stage and the crowd was as true as one could hope it to be. All of the usual tricks were in tow. Joe’s guitar smoked during “Shock Me” and Rob’s blood splattered the stage during the intro to “God Of Thunder”. A hush fell over the grounds as I drew the crowd in for the beginning of “Black Diamond”. Before we knew it the show was coming to an end. Of course the crowd wanted us to continue but we all knew that we would have to stop at some point. Almost two hours after it all began the rain was no longer a factor and what became apparent was that through it all we all shared a common bond for a short time that would no doubt leave a lasting impression on all of us. I had heard that this festival had never seen rain in its history and that this year’s weather was a first. They had also never seen MR.SPEED and there is no doubt that Friday the 13th put its mark on the Duct Tape Festival for 2008 that will be talked about for some time to come. Blog Entry, 6.08.08 The Sly Fox in N.Olmsted, Ohio Summer has officially arrived and that means another trip to The Sly Fox in N.Olmsted, Ohio. This place has pretty much become our “unofficial” club of choice here in Cleveland. Typically we have great crowds that are enthusiastic and loud to say the least. However, with the sunny, hot weather also comes many other things to do. That becomes one of the pitfalls of playing clubs during the warm weather months. We arrived later than usual and this was on purpose. We are not able to sound check prior to 9:00 PM due to neighboring businesses complaining about the noise that disturbs them prior to closing. So we roll in and set up and then wait patiently to do our thing. You got to love this place. For as great as the crowds are the uneven stage with torn carpeting and the beer room in which we get dressed and do our make up are stuff of legend. This is the kind of place that I always feel builds character and makes us appreciate more room and bigger stages when we get them. We always manage to do our sound check with most of our make up already on. So this gives the early fans a rare glimpse into the whole proceedings on the day of a show. Most people show up and see the finished product is what I’m getting at. We hit the stage close to 10:30 PM. Club shows require us to add a few more songs to the show in order to satisfy the time requirements that are “bar time”. Most of the classic standards remain. Once again we opened with “Detroit Rock City” but we added “Rip It Out” early on just to shake things up. To be honest we weren’t having a very good show. It seems as though each performance finds one of us losing their way and then I feel that the integrity of the show is compromised. You’ll hear musician’s say that you can’t have a good show every time but I disagree. I know that you can. We forged onward and found the response from the crowd a little less raucous than normal. Mainly because most of the people there had never seen us before. On one hand that’s a good thing. We hope that they’ll come to see us again and bring a friend. One fan that has been following us for a few years now is Milan. He is always good for wanting to hear a seldom played song from the KISS catalog. He called us this past Thursday as Joe and I participated in a local college radio station’s 18-hour KISS marathon. He requested to hear “Magic Touch” at the Sly Fox and it’s hard to say no to such a request. So that became the lone standout during the show Saturday night from the vault of seldom heard KISS tracks. I’m sure that he approved and it’s always great to play something so off the charts. By the time the evening drew to a close the crowd had relaxed enough to let their hair down. They were singing and clapping along to “God Of Thunder”, “Black Diamond” and “Rock And Roll All Nite”. This wasn’t one of our better shows but in the end we didn’t leave anything in the tank and those that were there accepted another dose of classic KISS…MR.SPEED-style. Blog Entry, 5.31.08 Benefit for Monica’s Kids This gig was one of a special nature for the band. Most do not know the story behind it and that’s on purpose. If you care that much to know you can pull Rob aside and ask him at one of our shows. But just to simplify things for you this show happened because of an unfortunate and untimely event that brought lots of people together to share in the memory of one. Reminiscent of a seventies-style high school with the ghosts of countless wedding receptions before us we found ourselves on the second floor of the Alpon Hall in Brooklyn, Ohio. Not sure of what we were walking into we were quite pleased with the place and it seemed to suit those that attended the performance just fine. Usually we don’t find ourselves climbing a flight of stairs to load-in but that’s just what we did this afternoon. Scenarios like these make you appreciate the venues where walking in the back door seems like a luxury. There was plenty of room and we had our show set up in no time. We looked at this show as a laid back kind of gig and took a less than structured approach to the set list throughout the night. We did however manage to add a never before played tune that I will mention in a bit. With the lack of privacy for make-up and pre-show prep with headed back to Joe’s house right around 7:00 PM. Rob stayed behind because his other band “Third Round” was playing an hour long set in front of our performance. I’ve seen them before and they’re good for the bar circuit when you want a loose version of a current song that’s filling the airwaves of FM stations across the county. We arrived back at the hall shortly after 9:00 PM. There were countless raffles taking place and the alcohol was definitely flowing. But everyone seemed to be having a good time. We hit the stage right around 9:30 PM and launched into “Detroit Rock City”. A few faces in the crowd were familiar including Matt and Kris who had traveled in from Toledo to see us again. It almost felt as if the crowd didn’t quite know how to respond but after a few more songs and I’m sure a few more drinks things really seemed to kick into a higher gear. We didn’t quite stick to normal structure for this show as I mentioned earlier but that was ok. Some of the crowd favorites seemed to be “New York Groove” and “Lick It Up”. But one fan who has seen us off and on over the years requested that we try a track off of Love Gun. So Rob had asked that we give it a shot. That song turned out to be “Almost Human”. Never before have we played that song in a “live” setting. Most of the people in attendance really didn’t react the way that we would have wanted but I think we got the point across to Charlie after all these years. I’m not sure if we’ll keep that one in the set list from show to show but it doesn’t hurt to have it in the bag if needed. Before we realized that our 90-minute set was up it seemed like we just got there. The whole event needed to be wrapped up by 11:30 PM so we closed in true KISS fashion with “Rock And Roll All Nite” which had those still left letting it all out on the dance floor. I feel pretty confident that this was not one of our better shows but for what it was I believe that we gave everyone another dose of classic KISS that may have them coming out to see us at least once more before the summer is over. Let’s just wait and see… Blog Entry, 5.23.08 Rock the Lock - Akron, Ohio Our second trip to downtown Akron brought cooler temperatures than we all expected but it didn’t stop us from bringing the KISS once again. We rolled into Lock 3 Park right around 2:00 PM and had everything set up before 4:00 PM. The sound and local crew were exceptionally helpful which added to the overall feel of this amazing venue. This is truly one of if not the best places that we’ll play all year. We finished our sound check shortly after 5:00 PM and took advantage of a little downtime to watch “The Nightmare”, a tribute to Alice Cooper set up and sound check as well. They are a good bunch of guys that really enjoy what they do and they have a good vibe for everything “Alice”. After a quick bite to eat we met up in the dressing room which was every bit of top notch that we could hope for. It’s not every day that we have it so comfortable to be able to prepare ourselves for a performance but the Akron Civic Theater is as good as it can get for us. In just over an hour we were ready to go so we spent a little time joking with one another and warming up before we made our way to the stage. A good size crowd had gathered and daylight was slowly giving way to dusk as we met with a few fans on the side of the stage. T.K. O’Grady from WONE stopped by to meet with us and extend his continued support of our tribute. They are the main sponsors of the event and they do an incredible job promoting each weeks show on the air. As I mentioned earlier the weather threatened to do one of a number of things throughout the day on Friday but by the time we hit the stage at 8:30 PM things had calmed down and it turned out to be a cool but beautiful night. I did feel a chill in my bones as we launched into “Detroit Rock City” but by the time we were halfway through the song I had forgotten about the cool air and I was warming right up. The sound on stage was awesome and Woodsy’s from Akron did a fantastic job helping us to sound as close to the real thing as we could. The crowd was good at the start but before long was so much better than we anticipated. Their enthusiasm and response to each song seemed to get better as we went along. Even the very young were singing along to all of the songs. For us as entertainers that’s amazing to see. The new generation of music fans that are able to come out and be a part of such a great event. This set list was almost exactly the same as the week before in Chicago. We sacrificed a few of the songs like “Room Service” and “Rocket Ride” replaced them with “Lick It Up” and “Nothin’ To Lose”. We were scheduled to perform two one-hour sets with a 10 minute break in between for a contest give away. Songs such as “Heaven’s On Fire”, “Shock Me” and “God Of Thunder” seemed to be exactly what the crowd was hungry for. Joe’s smoking guitar electrified the crowd while Rob’s blood-spitting routine had the young fans in the front row screaming with appreciation. One of the highlights was during “Beth” as Criss brought his 11 year old daughter Jaime out to sit on his lap during the last verse. She had celebrated her birthday the day before and Criss wanted to give her a special gift. We were all touched by this show of affection and he even had the crowd wish her “Happy Birthday” after the song ended. I made sure that those in attendance were aware that we were all a part of a special event and that the Memorial Day celebration is just that…a celebration of the opportunity that we all have as a result of the commitment that our service men and women continue to make on our behalf. It is because of their dedication that we are able to get together with each other and enjoy each others company for a few hours listening to music that we all love. We’ve really begun to hit a stride with our shows and want to thank each and every one of you that continue to come out and support us. We’ll look forward to seeing you all again very soon. Together we’re all “Keeping Classic KISS ALIVE!” Blog Entry, 5.20.08 Arcada - St. Charles, Illinios Hello again everyone! It's good to be back. I realize that it's been two days since our return from the Chicago area but life took precedence over art. Now that I've got a little time I thought that I would let you know how our trip was. With this being our third trip to Chicago in as many years we decided to spend a few extra days taking in the sights and sounds of this magnificent city. We arrived early on Thursday afternoon and checked into our hotel which was very near the Midway Airport. Within an hours time we were on our way into downtown Chicago. Tina and I took in the Shedd Aquarium while Joe and Ann stopped by the Art Institute to view numerous originals by Van Gogh and Dali among others. That evening we tried desparately to catch the playoff game between Pittsburgh and Philidelphia in the hotel bar. It wasn't the easiest of things to do and after pounding a round of alcoholic beverages we made our way across the parking lot to Friday's for a late dinner and a view of the game on one of their multiple televisions. The next morning Tina and I awoke earlier than the rest so we made good use of the hotel gym and met up with the others soon after. Once again we made our way into the city only this time we planned to take a guided tour of the city's landmarks on a double-decker bus.This is really the way to go. We jumped off at numerous sites around town and even made time for lunch at The Cheesecake Factory. All in all it was a great day that was capped off by a visit from a friend of Ann's who now lives in Chicago. Saturday morning arrived and it was time to meet up with Rob and Criss for our hour long commute into St.Charles. The Arcada is a great place to play. It was built in 1926 and has a tremendous charm about it. You can feel the history in the halls as you make your way around. We commenced our load-in and began to set up the show well in advance of our scheduled time. But you know how rock and roll can get...before you knew it we were running behind and it wasn't really our fault. Early indications were that the show wasn't selling very well but we remained optimistic. We grabbed a late lunch and then began the make-up process. I had arranged an interview with a local cable station prior to the show and also allowed them access to film the entire show with two cameras. If it turns out as cool as I hope it too it should be something that we'll eventually add to our site. If not the whole thing at least a song or two. We were set to begin right around 8:00 PM and we did just that. Much to our surprise the crowd was better than we expected. And they were ready! From the very first song they were into everything that we were doing. I really felt as though my vocals were in great shape that night and overall we sounded pretty good. Don't really look for anything out of the ordinary from our set list. The most outside the box that we got was "Room Service" which to be honest didn't seem to get the reaction that we were hoping for. Everything else was pretty much straightforward. All the hits. But you really can't go wrong with that. Combined with the lighting and the sound I felt that we gave those that were there a better than average performance by my standards. I've been known to be a little harsh at times though. If you go on to Youtube you can see clips from "Black Diamond" and "Beth". They were submitted by James Strebel. He made the trip from Wisconsin to film the show and has put those two clips up for viewing. I would much rather see something a little better but my hands are tied. We had invited our friends Keith and Steve from Kiss Army Warehouse to join us at the show to sell KISS merchandise so it was great to see them and it was an extra treat for the fans to be able to buy merchandise exclusive to the current KISS tour at our show. Lou Antonelli was there as well. He actually lives fairly close to the theater and he told me that he had been talking up MR.SPEED while he was in Europe recently covering the KISS tour. After grabbing two tourbooks myself and taking numerous photos with fans after the show we began the load-out process. This took us until just about midnight and we were back in our hotel rooms right around 12:30 AM. We tried to grab a bite to eat but everything was closed by that time. I haven't had a chance to speak with the promoter since we returned home but I am anxious to find out his thoughts on the whole evening. I felt that things went very well. By the way, you'll never guess who showed up at the show? Carmine Appice! For those of you who may not be aware he played on "Take Me Away (together as one) on Paul's '78 solo album. It was weird how I noticed him. One of the doors swung open at the back of the hall and a guy walked through resembling him. I thought "man, that guy looks just like Carmine Appice". And sure enough it ended up being him. He was also a founding member of Vanilla Fudge and played for many years with Rod Stewart. He was actually in town for a drum clinic that was being held not too far away. Criss spent some time there on Sunday before traveling home. Criss ended up meeting Bun E. Carlos from Cheap Trick! How cool is that? Well, that's about it for our trip to Chicago. I'm sure that we'll be invited back and we'll be only too glad to accept the invitation. See you all this Friday in Akron as we Rock The Lock! Blog Entry, 4.20.08 Gatorz - Toledo, Ohio Hello everyone! We just got back from our second trip to Gatorz in Toledo, OH. and what a night! We thought that our first trip last October was a great time but man were we in for a surprise. Over 400 rabid fans showed up to officially kick off our "Rise To It" tour in bombastic style. First of all, Gatorz is a great place for rock 'n roll. The staff are very professional and they make what we do much easier as they take great pride in their work. Plus the sound and lighting are the best that we get no matter where we go. We rolled into town just about 3:00 PM. Criss and Rob showed up a little later and we put the finishing touches on our stage show with the crew from the club. The stage here is every bit as big as a stage that you would see a national act perform on which really adds to the overall appeal to the venue. We grabbed a quick pre-show meal and made time to catch the opening band perform a few cover songs which borrowed heavily from the Black Sabbath catalog. Before we realized the time we were on our way to the dressing room to prepare for the task at hand. Even after a 6 week lay off everyone seemed to be in good spirits as they applied their make-up. We made our way to the stage and filmed a surprise that we hope will find its way on to our web site before too long. I couldn't believe it when I walked up on stage and saw the amount of people that had come out for our show. And they were LOUD! There was no discriminating in age either. There were older fans rocking with very young fans and everyone was completely in to what we were doing. These are the kinds of crowds that make what we do a blast. You can feel the energy pulsing in the room and it makes for a very special kind of excitement that you just can't find in a lot of things. We stayed pretty close to the hip with our set for the show working in many of the classics that everyone loves to hear. Our 90-minute set steamrolled effortlessly from one song to another. We even managed to add "Strutter" a little more than half way through for an over-zealous fan that insisted that we play it. The only downfall to the entire night was when Joe's amp suddenly and without warning cut out on him just before "Rock And Roll All Nite". Thankfully he made through to the very last song and for a few minutes it seemed as though I was back in the '80's on "Solid Gold". Does anyone even remember that show? Fortunately for us I know the solo to the song so we really didn't miss a beat and to be honest not even our crew knew that there was a problem until we told them afterwards. Criss added a few different rhythms to his drum solo which even caught us by surprise. Overall the entire show was action packed and those that came out were definitely part of a great night for local tribute rock. As the task of the load-out took every last ounce of energy that we had left I met with the manager of the club and he was thrilled with the turnout. We chatted briefly about our return date which looks like it will be sometime late in the fall. It really doens' t matter to us...as long as we go back we're sure to have a rock 'n roll party in Toledo that's for sure. Thanks to everyone that came out. Next stop...Slim & Chubby's!