Review & photos by Andrew Bansal
April 21st 2014, The Whisky-A-Go-Go, West Hollywood CA: Season 3 of AXS TV’s “World’s Greatest Tribute Bands” series of live broadcasts found its home at the Whisky-A-Go-Go and treated LA locals and national television-viewing audiences with some mighty fine tribute acts, not only from Los Angeles but from various other parts of the country as well. To bring the season to an aptly emphatic finish, Cleveland, Ohio-based KISS tribute band Mr. Speed descended upon the Sunset Strip. There was much fanfare and anticipation surrounding the event, as Los Angeles’ KISS army lined up early outside the venue, and a face-paint artist did rounds to get this crowd ready for the show. The ‘LA KISS’ girls also donned the red carpet to take photos with fans. It was truly a festive atmosphere, very much symbolic of a KISS-related event, and all was in readiness for AXS TV and host Katie Daryl to give their audience nationwide one more final hour of live music entertainment this season.
Mr. Speed appeared on stage in meticulously accurate KISS makeup and costumes, and began their 13-song tribute to KISS with ‘Detroit Rock City’, following it with some of the band’s most loved classics plus a surprisingly deep cut ‘New York Groove’. But the most unexpected item of the set in my opinion was the inclusion of ‘I Was Made For Loving You’, a song that proudly represents the infamous KISS disco era. Most if not all KISS fans either hate that era or are too afraid to admit that they like it, and it was audacious on Mr. Speed’s part to play that song. I couldn’t help but sing along to it, with no consideration whatsoever for what the KISS fans in my vicinity would think of me. But besides, the set list was well-chosen and served its purpose for a nationally televised tribute to KISS, and performance-wise, it initially took a couple of songs for Mr. Speed to get completely comfortable with the stage, the surroundings and the blinding spotlight of live television, but once that happened, they expressed themselves fully. By looking and sounding almost exactly like mid to late-70s KISS, complete with the stage mannerisms of the respective original members, Mr. Speed provided this audience a great throwback.
The LA KISS girls joined Mr. Speed on stage for ‘Rock And Roll All Nite’, following which they closed out the show with an encore performance of ‘Strutter’ and brought this season of AXS TV tributes to a fitting conclusion. Host Katie Daryl announced that she and her AXS TV team will be back with Season 4 this fall, much to the delight of the audience.
Overall, Mr. Speed’s performance and presentation shed light on everything that’s great about a live KISS show, and their inclusion on the AXS TV tribute series comes as no surprise at all. Here’s to the next season, with many more incredible tribute bands to look forward to.
Check out a full photo gallery featuring Mr. Speed, Katie Daryl and the LA KISS girls below (view it here if you’re on a non-Flash device):
Visit Mr. Speed on the web:
MrSpeedOnline.com
facebook.com/MrSpeedOnline
twitter.com/MrSpeedKISSTrib
Set List:
01. Detroit Rock City
02. Deuce
03. Shout It Out Loud
04. Calling Dr. Love
05. New York Groove
06. I Love It Loud
07. I Was Made For Loving You
08. God Of Thunder
09. Black Diamond
10. Lick It Up
11. Love Gun
12. Rock And Roll All Nite (w/ LA KISS girls on stage)
13. Strutter
Visit the Whisky-A-Go-Go on the web:
WhiskyAGoGo.com
facebook.com/theWhiskyAGoGo
twitter.com/theWhiskyAGoGo
instagram.com/theWhiskyAGoGo
Visit AXS TV on the web:
AXS.TV
facebook.com/AXSTV
twitter.com/AXSTV
instagram.com/AXSTV
Visit Katie Daryl on the web:
facebook.com/Katie.Daryl
twitter.com/KatieDaryl