Rock the Bayou - Day 4
Tuesday, September 2, 2008 at 08:57AM 
Rock the Bayou is now over and I'll be back in Ohio soon. On the last day of the festival I saw Bang Tango, Pretty Boy Floyd, Kix, Jackyl, Twisted Sister and Bret Michaels. In the effort of fairness, I will admit I did not watch the full sets of Bang Tango or Jackyl because I was pulled away.
There were not many people in attendance at all on the last day of the fest. In fact, I would guess this was the lightest day attendance-wise of the entire event. Sad considering Kix played and - as expected - owned the crowd.
Back to Pretty Boy Floyd. I've seen this band a whole lot of times. The set is about the same at each show, but that is true for a lot of bands. I was on stage at the beginning of the set and some guy (who I think was the production manager) kept yelling for the band to start - even though they were not tuned up correctly. I am not sure what the big rush was considering there was a giant TBA next on the lineup that was vacated by Firehouse and never filled. At any rate, Pretty Boy Floyd played "48 Hours," "Electric Boyz," "Only the Young," "Toast of the Town," "Rock n' Roll (Is Gonna Set the Night on Fire)" and more. The hundred or so people that actually came to watch the show seemed to enjoy themselves and there was a giant line at the merchandise booth right after the show. Later that day I saw a lot of people wearing Pretty Boy Floyd shirts, so I guess that means the band did good sales-wise.
Kix were my main band of the day. In fact, they were - along with Alice Cooper - my main band of the entire festival. People, Kix gave the best show you didn't see. I went on stage to watch Kix - and that was a toss-up. Would the sound be good? Would I be able to hear well? In the end, I think going to the wings was the right decision. My husband watched from both the stage and the pit and he said the performance was awesome from any angle. I believe him.
Now, let me say this: if you had tickets to Rock the Bayou and you didn't bother to show up for Kix, then you lost big. The crowd was small when the band first started to play, but people did fill in - still, more people should have watched the dirty boys from the underground. I don't get it. People get the rare opportunity to see a band that tours very little outside of the eastern seaboard and they blow it. At least Dee Snider and a lot of other musicians had the sense to watch Kix perform. Of the crowd that was there - not a single person was sitting.
The band played nearly the same set as they did at Rocklahoma. This included "Same Jane," "Hot Wire," "Cold Shower," "Sex," "The Itch," "Blow My Fuse," "Girl Money," "Don't Close Your Eyes" and a little longer version of "Yeah, Yeah, Yeah."
Now, at Rocklahoma, Kix played in the pouring rain. At Rock the Bayou, the outer bands of Hurricane Gustav threatened - but not for long. A few drops of rain and a little wind was all Kix had to deal with this time around.
Steve sounded really good yesterday. If I recall correctly, he did make one comment about the small crowd, but the band didn't ramp down their enthusiasm any because the attendance sucked. If anything, it seemed like Kix were actually playing harder to make an impression on those people that came out to watch. Hands down, Kix gave the best show of the day. Yes, they were better than Twisted Sister - and please believe they were about a million times better than Bret Michaels. Someone give these boys a headline spot. It's ridiculous for them to play at 4 in the damn afternoon.
Jesse James Dupree apparently fell and hurt his ribs just a couple days before Rock the Bayou. He was taped up under his customary black tank - and he was hurting. Jesse usually jumps around stage a lot - but yesterday he ramped it down for the sake of health. I give him much props for performing in extreme pain. You better believe that ten seconds after "The Lumberjack" Jesse was ready to leave. I don't blame him. For the record, the crowd did a fill in a little more for Jackyl - but not by much. It seemed like general admission was basically bare. At any rate, when Jesse cut up the stool with his chainsaw, the people down front wrestled for a piece of the wood. I'm not sure what you would do with a hunk of wood - but hey, at least these people are true fans.
Reader Comments (23)
Lucky you!!!!!
Kisses.
This was my first time seeing Twisted Sister and they were effing amazing! They delivered the goods with the songs that everyone knew(I Wanna Rock, etc.) plus some classics like Under the Blade.
I'm sad that the crowd wasn't bigger for the bands that played yesterday on Labor Day. They TOTALLY missed out!!!
HE NEEDS TO GO BACK TO POISON!
alice cooper shoulda' ended the whole event or poison not bret michaels!
3rd day looks the best besides bang tango
J
I guess Kix must be an east coast thing. We have never heard them on the radio and wouldnt know they existed if it werent for vh1 classic.. We were saying that other better bands should have gotten their nice time slot...
like i said taste is taste, but Kix....oh come on!
long live rock n roll
BG
No wonder he needs a reality show to find chicks!!! hahaha!!
LOSER!!!!
Not only did Bret rip him off, but the band basically stole everything KIX early on, not just Cowboy Bret. They took the goofy hat and sunglass routine with them in their Strip dayz, not to mention all the choreography. The only thing missing was the umbrella routing...guess Poison didn't have a "raine" song (sic) back then. Their first videos are virtually Poison music set to the KIX stage show.