Poison and Jackyl
April 29, 2017
Charlotte, NC
PNC Music Pavilion
Reviewed by Joseph Hett
Poison And Jackyl Give Charlotte A Good Time
The summer concert season has officially started at the PNC Music Pavilion in Charlotte, NC with Poison and Jackyl on Saturday night. This show will hopefully set a trend for more rocking shows at the venue in the near future.
Jackyl, led by energetic frontman Jesse James Dupree, came out with the amps cranked up all of the way for “Blast Off” and “My Moonshine Kicks Your Cocaine’s Ass.”
Dupree’s mic had a rope swinging from it. It swung from side to side as he ran around the stage. Also his mic stand 
was an actual shotgun, more to come on this later. Jackyl’s backdrop had their logo and the years 1992-2017 (their 25th anniversary).
Dupree starting singing an a cappella version of “Down On Me.” The band then joined in while the crowd was head banging. It was very loud; confetti fell down from the rafters – confetti left up there from last concert season. Jackyl was officially knocking the dust off.
Dupree mentioned that current country is garbage (a truthful statement). He then played a new twangy drinking song titled “Just Because I’m Drunk.”
Definitive Jackyl songs continued with “I Stand Alone” (dedicated to Charlotte’s classic rock channel 99.7), “When Will It Rain” and “Dirty Little Mind.”
The last song had to be the one and only “The Lumberjack.” A chainsaw was handed to Dupree as he cranked it up and throttled it to the max. He cut a wooden stool to showcase that it was the real deal. He played the hell of the chainsaw solo. A little girl was even brought up onstage to join in on the action. After the conclusion of the epic tune, Dupree raised his mic stand up in the air and pulled the trigger to fire off a blank shotgun shell.
Jackyl put on a powerful show. Jesse James Dupree is once heck of a character. He was humorous and rocking all night long. What a way to kick off a Saturday night.
This was the second show for Poison’s XXX Tour, celebrating their 30th anniversary with their first headlining tour in over a decade. They guaranteed to play all of the hits and that’s exactly what they did. All four original members (Bret Michaels, C.C. DeVille, Rikki Rockett, Bobby Dall) were on their A-game for this tremendous show.
They came out to the Poison classic “Look What The Cat Dragged In” to a rambunctious amphitheatre filled with fans. They continued with “Ride The Wind” and the anthem “Talk Dirty To Me.”
Poison enjoys playing cover songs that influenced them in their youth. That‘s why they featured three covers with “We’re An American Band,” “Your Mama Don’t Dance” and the encore to come later.
Michaels brought out his acoustic guitar for “Something To Believe In.” Michaels dedicated the song to the troops. He mentioned that they were filming this for a special occasion. He put on his custom made cowboy hat and directed everyone to raise up their phones to light up the venue.
Deville came out next to perform an amazing guitar solo. He got everyone in a frenzy with his blazing licks. He even threw in a little bit of Van Halen’s “Eruption.”
Michaels announced that they were going to play the “hits” the rest of the evening. They then cranked out 1990’s “Unskinny Bop.”
Rockett, a recent cancer survivor, showcased his skills on the drum kit for an extended solo. Bassist Dall joined in towards the end and played the Pink Panther theme.
Michaels brought out his acoustic guitar again and started strumming “Every Rose Has Its Thorn.” A sea of camera phones rose up to film Poison doing probably their most famous song.
They closed the set out with the classic “Nothin’ But A Good Time.” They came back out for the encore and performed “Rock And Roll All Nite” by Kiss.
What a way to kick off the summer concert season with these amazing bands. Originally Extreme was on the bill, but they had to pull out at the last minute due to a health issue. Even a band short, this was an amazing show. Hopefully there are more shows like this one that will grace that stage soon.