Last night, heavy metal southern rockers Jackyl raised some much-needed hell at Bruce Rossmeyer’s Destination Daytona in Ormond Beach, the first time the band had shared the stage together in well over half a year according to lead singer/madman Jesse James Dupree. And judging by the size – and enthusiasm – of the rowdy crowd on hand, they were definitely more than welcomed to do so.
Tampa rockers Stonegrey opened the festivities with their ’90s-tinged styles and sounds. As soon as the band took stage, it was apparent everyone in the audience was in for a good time, as the the band’s lead singer almost immediately produced a bull horn. Covers and original tracks (and hopefully I get all of the titles correct here) like Lynyrd Skynyrd’s “Saturday Night Special,” “What Are we Fighting For?,” “Walk Away,” Led Zeppelin’s “Dazed and Confused,” and “Take Me Down” were just some of the notable songs the band had to offer.
The mighty Jackyl (which, in addition to Dupree, also consists of original members/brothers Jeff and Chris Worley on guitar and drums, and former Brother Cane bassist Roman Glick) quickly took stage afterwards (as they have many times before for Bike Week) with relentless energy, opening with “Blast Off” and breaking out such fan favorites as “Down on Me” early on in their set. Not long after, the band brought out and honored a 97-year-old World War II vet on stage, which quickly prompted chants of “USA!” from the patriotic crowd. A couple more tracks in the form of “Push Comes to Shove” (from the extremely underrated album of the same name) and “Just Because I’m Drunk” followed before the music was paused once more for a brief contest that saw a Harley wheeled out on stage, and one lucky contestant walk off the stage with a trip to Sturgis.
Once the band got back to business, it was an onslaught of fan favorites (along with a quick verse of AC/DC’s “Back in Black” thrown in there for good measure) from the band’s 1992 self-titled debut album, including “I Stand Alone” (famously remembered for its music video which saw the group performing in front of a Georgia Kmart), “When Will It Rain,” “Dirty Little Mind,” “Redneck Punk,” and “She Loves My Cock” (the very song that saw said first album removed from Kmart stores nationwide, and caused Jackyl to shoot said video outside of one in response).
And finally, frontman Dupree brought out his trademark chainsaw to do some damage on a wooden stool for their performance of “The Lumberjack.” After thoroughly dismantling it with his saw, Dupree continued to set it on fire, before finally smashing what was left of it on stage. The band then went out with one last literal “bang,” as Dupree picked up a custom built mic stand with a shotgun attached to it, and fired off a round above the audience. At that point, it seemed like the only fitting ending to an already wild show.
