Tuesday night on Main Street in Daytona Beach is a quiet stretch in a sleepy beach community. Hold on, IT’S BIKE WEEK! Throw that out the window and get ready to rock on the nation’s liveliest mile this week. Motorcycles lined the streets, people walking everywhere, and live music blearing from the side lots and establishments from 10:00am to 2:00am. Let’s not forget the roar of the steel ponies from their straight pipes hitting the gas down the road. It’s an adult festival atmosphere and everyone is on hand for a good time.
Julie and I started the day at The Full Moon Saloon’s side lot. On the stage was “Torn” an Ocala band that plays down and dirty rock n roll from Ozzy Osbourne, Stone Temple Pilots, Velvet Revolver, and even 1970’s classics from Joe Walsh! Not only are they fun to watch perform, but they are also exceptional musicians. The crazy thing about their show, just 10 hours after leaving the stage at Dirty Harrys down the street the night before, Torn who was scheduled at 2:30pm was asked to fill two shows as there was a cancellation or something. They were asked to fill the 6:00pm slot and as much as they talked about, they really didn’t show any fatigue on stage. Eddie Sweeney’s voice held steady for five hours and the band actually seemed to get stronger all the way until the end. It was a remarkable performance and the crowd’s cheering let them know just how much they appreciated it.
Setlist:
Thunderkiss 65
Gasoline
Heavy
Dirt Little
Would
Lola Montez
Turn Up The Radio
No More Tears
Evenflow
Slither
My Own Worst Enemy
Fly High Michelle
Perfect Strangers
Sex Type Thing
Nothing but a Good Time
Home Sweet Home
Wild Side
Rocky Mountain Way
Fuel
Band:
Eddie Sweeney – Lead Vocals
Pete Davitto – Guitar / Vocals
Tony “Motley” Collins – Bass / Vocals
Troy Parrish – Drums / Vocals
With the set being double in length we snuck away down the street to The Boot Hill Saloon. A band was starting soundcheck so we popped next door to Main Street Station when Greg Warren Band was hitting the stage at around 6:30pm. Greg Warren is usually a country artist, but the band was playing good time dance rock n roll and everyone in the joint was dancing. At the time of publishing, there were two stand-ins with Greg and I am sorry I didn’t get to identify those musicians.
To see where and when any bands are playing, AllMusicMagazine.com has launched their new page GoTonight to post all the bands, venues, and shows associated with Bike Week. Approximately 50 shows with most venues hosting two, three, four and sometimes five bands a day. Allow AllMusicMag.Com help you through the traffic and get where you want to be with our interactive mapping page!
Band:
Greg Warren – Guitar/Vocals
Ian Budha – Drums/Vocals
Tom O’Keefe – Guitar
Jahi Nelsen – Bass
We watched The Greg Warren Band for a bit at Main Street Station, but the real party was two blocks down the street at The Full Moon Saloon where we had been earlier. Daytona Beach’s hometown band, Diesel, was scheduled as the headliner at 8:00pm.
Immediately the tone was set by Ronny Rodriguez waving a Confederate flag attached to an American flag at the crowd proclaiming, “This is America!” Without getting into the debate about what northerners think, the crowd seem to understand Ronny’s message that tonight we are one with American pride. The second point was that he would not be censored by having his speech monitored and making him unable to express himself verbally by not being able to use certain words deemed forbidden, squashing his constitutional right to free speech. The fans were celebrating as Americans in Daytona Beach, Florida and he wanted to make sure everyone understood we live in a free country. Both Torn and Diesel praised Florida’s Governor Ron DeSantis for keeping Florida an open free state in this great union. Like I said, the tone was set, and it was time to rock and roll as Americans.
The audience had grown and as the band rocked harder so did the audience. It seemed like Ronny Rodriguez could have had the crowd do about whatever he asked. It has been years since I have seen a performer command a crowd like that from the stage. The crowd wasn’t more than a hundred, but the energy felt like thousands. Diesel is a hard-hitting Daytona Beach Band, and you could feel the hometown vibe!
Setlist:
Set 1 Set 2 Set 3
For You Break Stuff Zombie
Coachise Bad Girlfriend Figured You Out
Would Sound Of Madness Alive
Man In The Box Monsters Getting Away With Murder
Plush One Step Closer Prayer
Shoot to Thrill We Die Young Stupify
Enter Sandman Sober Brother
Hemorrhage Killing Shine
Absolute Zero Bodies Psychosocial
Wash it all Away Walk Falling Away
Lydia
My Name Is Human
Band:
Ronny Rodriguez – Vocals
Alex Randall – Guitar
Eric Schramm – Bass
Josh Lough – Drums
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Photographer and Editor/Founder of AllMusicMagazine.com. My love of live music has taken me to incredible experiences with the top bands of all time in stadium shows to the smallest venues with equally inspiring musicians. Using the medium of photography and my publication, these memories will last forever.
