* * *

It was hot, sweaty, loud, people pushing, people shoving and for a while there I thought for sure I'd be sustaining injuries by the time we got out of there; it was a great show, though, once it got started -- and we made it out intact.

Butch wanted to get as close to the stage as he could, so we decided to get to Bases Loaded by six o'clock. An hour before the doors were to open, it turned out that we probably could have gone a couple of hours later, and avoided a very long, hot wait. At $2.50 a beer, we couldn't afford to drink very much, but that was just as well because once we staked out our spot in that big metal barn, fighting our way out the door to a porta-potty and back would have defeated the purpose of getting there early.

I wonder how many people passed out from heat exhaustion. It was really hot and stuffy in there -- steamy, even. People were getting restless, and I was getting jostled around quite a bit. My feet were getting pretty tired by the time the first band, Wanted, finally got started at about nine; I never heard of them before, but I think they were pretty good except that the guitar could hardly be heard. At that point I was just glad the show had started.

When Wanted got done it took about half an hour -- a very long half hour -- for the next band, "Storm," to get set up, and the crowd again grew restless. Storm's been playing the Wausau area for around two decades now. I've seen them a couple of times before; it's nice to see such longevity in a local band. I will definitely have to make it a point to go see them again sometime. They rocked the house for half an hour or so and then we had to suffer through another barely bearable intermission. But, at last, standing ankle-deep in beer cans our wait was over, and well worth the wait it was.

I must, first of all, state that I wasn't really a Jackyl fan before this concert, but I am definitely going to buy their latest CD, Choice Cuts, which goes on sale next Tuesday. Sure, I've heard some of their songs on the radio but never felt the urge to buy one of their albums until now.

Lynyrd Skynyrd has long been one of my favorite bands, and Jackyl was largely inspired by them (my guess is that that's why they spelled Jackyl with a Y). They fall into that same "southern rock" category. When Lynyrd Skynyrd played here -- yes, they are touring again and, like Jackyl, even stopped here in little old Wausau --earlier this summer, they played so many of my favorite songs that I didn't even notice that they missed one. Even though Jackyl has plenty of their own material, they still covered a couple of Skynyrd tunes, including "Gimme Back My Bullets."

The lead singer for Jackyl, Jesse James Dupree, not only plays guitar; he is probably more well known for playing a chain saw. I thought for sure that, for safety concerns, there either would be no chain at all or a chain with no teeth on his two-stroke instrument, but he proved me wrong. "IT'S GOT A CHAIN!" Butch shouted into my ear when Jesse started it up to "Cut The Crap." Butch told me later that at the end of the next song, "The Lumberjack," Jesse set a wooden stool ablaze and then proceeded to cut up the stool with an obviously functional -- and loud -- implement. After leaving the stage briefly, Jesse and his gang came back out and played their cover of Grand Funk Railroad's "We're An American Band," which is the first track on Choice Cuts.

As Butch and I headed for the door when it was over, the room was filled with the sound of aluminum cans crushing under foot. After five hours in that hot-box, the rush for the door and the fresh air outside, although orderly, was greater than that to get in.

While it was a great test of one's endurance and stamina -- that which doesn't kill you only makes you stronger -- in the end, it was well worth it. An excellent performance, and only the beginning of their fifty day, one hundred show World Record Tour. If you get the chance, check 'em out. If you like hard rock and roll, you won't be disappointed.

Maybe next time they're in town we (KONTRA) will be able to open for them -- I can dream, can't I?