Jackyl to Perform at APlex in Alpena on Friday

Don Monti was looking for a way to support children and veterans in the area. He came upon a free show in Indiana put on by the rock band Jackyl.

Four years later after a couple calls, Jackyl will perform at the APlex on Friday night. Tickets for the show have already sold out, and all proceeds go towards local charities in the area.

“I literally just called their agent and just started asking, ‘hey, what about possibly bringing this to town?’ and that was where we originally came up with the idea, and that was in 2019, so it’s been a while to do it, COVID kind of shut it down, we had it locked in a couple times but then dates didn’t work and things like that, it took a little while to get things happening,” said Monti.

The biggest hurdle, Monti felt, was finding a venue to host a big show like this. Now that they have one with the APlex, the Jackyl concert can serve as a kind of trial run for more shows in the future.

“This kind of sets a benchmark and lets people know that there is a market for this here, there just isn’t an outlet,” said Monti. “A lot of people from here will travel downstate to see bands because there’s nothing available to them.”

They want this show to be a large scale production, and so far, the process of setting up the massive stage and preparing the venue has been considerably frictionless.

“I called the stage company; I told them what I need,” said Monti. “He gave me a quote, he came up, boom. Hour and a half, he had eight guys, he had the stage set up ready to go, I paid him, he’s all done, he’s out of the picture. Come Monday, he’s going to come back and take it down. Tim and his crew came right in; this is an everything and the kitchen sink kind of thing, but this is a national production, so people are going to see a big show.”

Monti is looking forward to the show that Jackyl will put on, and knows that it’s happening for a good cause.

“You can do anything if you do it for the right reason and our reason is right on the wall, and it’s in our children’s eyes is the best way I can put that,” said Monti. “So that’s what I’m looking for and I’m hoping everybody has a great night tomorrow and I think everybody will do just fine. Come on out and have a great time.”

Doors open at 6pm on Friday, and Jackyl will take the stage for a crowd of 1100 people at 9pm.