Review & Photography by:  Diane Fleischman

I have to admit, I’ve never seen a KISS tribute band before, and after Friday night’s concert at Musikfest Cafe, Mr. Speed did not disappoint.  Mr. Speed, noted as the best KISS tribute band in the world, goes well beyond the hype. Sure, I may have nothing to compare them to, except the real band KISS, but Mr. Speed puts on one heck of a good time for all in attendance.

The Musikfest Cafe was full of KISS fans, there was hardly an empty seat in the house. The crowd was not limited to fans that grew up with KISS music, not surprising, there were fans there of all ages, the youngest under 10 years old, and these kids knew all the words to the songs and sang them back to the band.  Pretty impressive, and kudos to Mom and Dad for raising your kids on these great classics.

What makes Mr. Speed so great is they authentically sound and act with the same mannerisms as KISS. There was no shortage of hits performed, “Dr Love”,  “Shandi”, “Shock Me”, “I Was Made for Loving You”,  “Love Gun”, “Back in the New York Groove”, “Shout it Out Loud”, and “I Love it Loud” were just some of the songs performed.  Feeling the energy of the music, they encouraged everyone to get out of their chairs and dance along, and by the time they got to the show’s closer, “Rock and Roll All Nite” everyone was on their feet, dancing away.

Mr Speed’s last performance at Musikfest Cafe was back in 2019. Since then, it’s almost a brand-new band on this tour.  Rich Kosak, frontman, hales from Pittsburgh, PA, and now resides in Ohio. Drummer, Rich Hattery is also an Ohio resident, bassist, Mike Collins is from Kentucky, and guitarist, Mark Hermansen is from Kansas. As their tour continues, they will be back in Pennsylvania on September 16 in Wilkes Barre.  Mr Speed has dedicated their lives to playing KISS music, and for fans of all ages, it is a great concert, not worth missing.