The night started at 8:00 pm on the dot with local boys Trixter (who have opened every show I've ever seen here...granted, only two so far) rockin the house right. They had plenty of friends in the audience and I thought rocked harder, had a heavier edge, than when I had seen them in the past.
They did about 45 minutes playing a solid mix of some newer, like "Machine" of their 2012 album "New Audio Machine" to some classics like "Line of Fire", the opening track off their 1988 self titled debut. Of course they played the hits as well - "One in a Million" and ending with "Give It To Me Good"
They had a great time and joked with the audience, welcoming them to a private VIP show referencing the low turn out for the show. It was odd..a Saturday night and a great rock show but there were maybe 200 people in attendance. New Jersey usually comes out for the hard rock, I don't know what was going on this night. The upside is everyone got to move up close and both Trixter and Jackyl played like they were playing to an arena full of friends.
When the set ended I looked down and saw one of lead singer Pete Loran's guitar pics at my seat...sweet...and wouldn't be my only souvenir from the night.
Bergen PAC is an old school theatre with a bar out in the snazzy lobby. Trixter hung out there meeting and greeting fans and taking pics right after their set. Oddly they had no merchandise for sale. Good show and it wouldn't surprise me if I end up seeing them again in April when Kix is playing, they always seem to get these shows.
But Paul you ask...what about the ass kickers you spoke of early on?
It was one of those shows where I was a bit too busy rockin' out (and taking photos...you may notice there is a ridiculous amount of photos in this post - click on them to super size them) to write down the exact setlist in the exact order but it went something like this...
The opened with "My Moonshine Kicks Your Cocaine's Ass" and we definitely had "Screwdriver" pretty soon after and "Down on Me" was the first of many songs off their classic self titled album. While these do get the biggest reactions of the night, Jackyl is one of those bands that never stopped making albums and they all pretty much kick ass.
A nice surprise was when they busted out a cover of the Allman Brothers Band's "Midnight Rider" during which they kicked southern rock ass as the audience sang along.
"Mental Masturbation" was in there too but the second half of the set was almost all first album goodness..."I Stand Alone"..."When Will It Rain"..."Dirty Little Mind" into "Better Than Chicken" off 2012's "Best In Show". If you have to ask what could possibly be better than chicken, well I gotta say you should go over to ITunes and download it and find out as lead singer Jesse James Dupree preaches truths like no other.
Then we got "Redneck Punk" and "She Loves My Cock" and suddenly we saw the chainsaw and new it was time for "The Lumberjack." As always Jesse's stool would not survive and would go home in pieces to member's of the audience. While that was not my souvenir, early in the set guitarist Jeff Worley was playing guitar with a drumstick he got from drummer Chris Worley and tossed it to me when done...nice! Bassist Roman Glick rounded out the four piece ass kicking machine.
Jesse announced on stage that the band would be going out to the merchandise table in the lobby to sign autographs, take photos and shake hands with everyone. Five minutes after they left the stage, there they were. Very cool indeed.
AUTOGRAPH CONTEST: I even got an extra one of the 8" x 10" photos I took from when I saw them at M3 last year signed for MostPeopleAreBlank's first ever giveaway. If you are reading this between September 16 to September 23, 2014, click here to go to our Facebook page. All you have to do to enter is Follow our Facebook page (If you haven't already) AND like this review on that page. On September 24th I'll look at all the people who did both those things and randomly pick one winner. One entry per facebook account. I'll post the winner's name on the page and contact the winner via facebook messenger and you can let me know where to mail your photo. No cost to you at all. We'll see how this goes and I'll make this a new feature if people dig it.
I guess that's about it..the boys kicked ass, I hope they come back soon. Go Follow the Facebook page to follow our posts (and in addition like this review post on our Facebook as well to enter the signed 8"x10" contest). Enjoy all the photos below and feel free to comment and share (If you want to use any photos in your blog or article feel free, just give us photo credit and let us know where you post it so we can share the link as well.) As always Rock on and Enjoy!
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