Rock music has been part of my life for many years now. I started playing bass guitar after being inspired mainly by Rush’s Geddy Lee (musical talent) and KISS bassist Gene Simmons(the show) when I was teenager in the 1970s. In my mind, what separated Kiss from the rest of the bands out there was their image and their show. At the time, no one took individual band member personas and combined them into a collective unit quite like Kiss. Their shows were a magnet for both the rockers and people looking for a spectacle beyond the music. The fan loyalty with this band is remarkable even today. After the addition of Neil Peart, Rush primarily attracted musicians who were mesmerized by their musicianship. I have never met a rock bassist that was not influenced at least at some level by Geddy Lee.
My high school/early college years in the 1980s saw the rise of hard rock/metal music. Many of these bands had one foot planted on both sides of the musicianship and spectacle fence. The rise of the music video provided an avenue for bands to exploit both their visual and auditory strengths to the masses. I still remember the early Ozzy videos that accentuated Randy Rhoads ground breaking classical influenced guitar work with Ozzy’s mysterious and shocking persona in a staged theatrical presentation. Following that road blazed by Kiss, 80s Metal bands brought these staged theatrics to their live shows. Elaborate light shows, explosions, fog and smoke, hair flailing, spandex pants, beautiful women, and makeup and some times even creatures were common elements in hard rock/metal band live shows and videos. Not convinced? Just ask “Eddie” from Iron Maiden. I saw this metal band explosion from the ground up when I worked as a roadie for a couple of NC bands and as a DJ at a rock club in Rocky Mount, NC. Sidewinder, Nantucket, Pegasus Roxx, PG-13, Quadra Nixx, Avalanche, Cirkus, Driver, Lexx Luthor, Maxx Warrior, NightWatch, Subway were some of the NC metal bar bands that I remember from back in the day.
Recently, the Jackyl band made a stop at Lincoln Theatre. The band features charismatic lead singer Jesse James Dupree. Some people may know him from the TV show Full Throttle Saloon or from the Jackyl band that has been around for over 20 years now. I remember him from his pre-Jackyl and TV star days when he was a lead singer for both Pegasus Roxx and PG-13 bands back in the day. These bands were on rotation at the rock club and we used to hang out at sound checks and after the shows. 
As a Raleigh musician and band photographer, my connection to Jesse gave me an addition reason to grab the camera and head to the show. This was the first time I saw the Jackyl band and Jesse still had the showmanship and front man skills that I remember from his pre-Jackyl days. He can sure bond with and incite enthusiasm from the crowd. After the show, I asked Jesse if he remembered those pre-Jackyl days when we hung out and his response with a smile of his face was “Damn, that was a long time ago!”
Here are some of my favorite images from the show.
Jesse James Dupree having a toast with the crowd during the Raleigh Jackyl show. 
Guitarist Jeff Worley added excitement to the Jackyl show.
Bend that note Jeff!
Rock and Roll is hard work! Sometimes people lose their heads.
As a bass player myself, I need to make sure bassist Roman Glick gets some blog love.
Drummer Chris Worley hard at work! 
Chris drummed his face off! 
In 1992, the Jackyl self-titled debut album contained a song called “The Lumberjack” that Jesse made famous with his chainsaw solo. This is one of the Jackyl trademarks.
Jackyl ended the show with a bang! Apparently Jeff knew this was coming!
The entire Jackyl photo set from the Lincoln Theatre show can be found in the Jackyl Web Gallery and more live music photography on the Steve Jackle Photography gallery web site.
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