Southern and blues rock were the prominent flavors on the stage at Jergel’s Rhythm Grille in Warrendale (north of Pittsburgh) during this rainy night in late March, as the 2024 edition of legendary southern rock force Molly Hatchet plus western PA blues rockers the Jukehouse Bombers and Lone Crow Rebellion provided a rowdy and rocking night.

The Jukehouse Bombers led off with a scorching set of their blues-rocking original songs. Singer, guitarist and harmonica man Jimmy Roach, his son Joe Roach on guitars and vocals, guitarist Kirsch, bassist Troy Laney and new man behind the drum kit Harry Rainey performed original songs off their CD’s, plus a few newer creations. Some of their songs this night included “Mountain Water,” “Soul Revival,” “When The Rooster Gets to Crowin’” (with a Led Zeppelin “When the Levee Breaks” midsection) and “Winding My Way Back Home.” The Jukehouse Bombers played with purpose, and you could tell this group was excited to be on the stage.

Lone Crow Rebellion followed with a strong set of their original blues rock numbers. Lead singer and guitarist Greg Long, bassist and singer Pete Horm, keyboardist, harmonica player and singer John Samanka, and drummer and singer Jason Sopic delivered smooth, steady hard-grooving numbers such as “No Shame,” “Orphan Boy Blues,” the title track from their new album “Coal Train Blues,” the hard-boogeying “The River,” “Sneakin’ Out,” a feisty take on Jimmy Reed’s “Big Boss Man” and “High Road Blues.” Also excited to be part of this bill, Lone Crow Rebellion delivered sharp musicianship and drew a good response from the Jergel’s audience.

The current incarnation of Molly Hatchet then lit up the house with a fiery and inspired set featuring many of the group’s essential classics. With all of the group’s original members deceased as of 2020, the current lineup of keyboardist John Galvin (the longest-tenured, joining the group in 1983), guitarist Bobby Ingram (who joined in 1987), bassist Tim Lindsey, drummer Shawn Beamer and singer Parker Lee stormed out the gate strong with early Molly Hatchet favorites like “Whiskey Man,” “Bounty Hunter,” “Gator Country” and “One Man’s Pleasure,” before breaking out the title track to the group’s 1996 album “Devil’s Canyon,” culminating in Shawn’s blistering drum solo. The group continued with “Beatin’ the Odds,” the 2010 number “I’m Gonna Live ‘Til I Die” and their new single “Firing Line,” which was dedicated to veterans and first responders. Their rendition of “Fall of the Peacemakers,” an instrumental take on Derek & the Dominoes’ “Layla” and their classic reworking of the Allman Brothers’ “Dreams I’ll Never See” provided the homestretch of the set, before the crowd demanded the encore – “Flirtin’ with Disaster.” This edition of Molly Hatchet honored their past legacy well, delivering the type of rowdiness and intensity that defined Molly Hatchet during their late 1970s and 80s heyday. Displaying his own gritty and fiery singing style on the Molly Hatchet catalog, young frontman Parker Lee provided a highlight moment when he told the crowd a childhood story about his father playing Molly Hatchet albums in his pickup truck, and young Parker absorbing and being influenced by those albums…leading to years later on this stage, as he gets to front the group. Parker encouraged the parents in the crowd to support their kids in their creative endeavors, because – as in his own case – “Dreams still happen.”

All three bands delivered strong performances that had the Jergel’s audience cheering from start to finish, and this show was well worth my roadtrip westward to experience!