Inner City Surfers play their largest show (photos)

The Sault's prodigal sons, The Inner City Surfers, returned home to end their North American tour on a high note Saturday night, opening for Jackyl and Slaughter at the Steelback Centre.

And although it was the largest venue our boys have ever played in, the concert's attendance was unfortunately a Steelback Centre record low at around 600 people.

The empty seats had no influence on any of the band's performances, however, each seizing the opportunity to enjoy the intimate vibe.

Despite a few nerves prior to show time, The Surfers opened with a bit more energy, a little less tomfoolery and a lot less nudity than their typical bar gig.

Bass player Brad Lacell did manage to pull off a stunning Michael Jackson impersonation as the band jammed Beat It in the middle of one of their fan favourites, The Quest, to finish off the set.

Slaughter was next up and let loose a barrage of hard rock and power ballads that included Up All Night and Fly To The Angels.

At 43 years old, front man Mark Slaughter looks and sounds as good as he did when the band's debut release Stick It To Ya went double platinum in 1990.

Vivacious and charismatic, he was all teeth for the length of Slaughter's set, much to the delight of the crowd's female population.

Bringing in a bit of the South to the Steelback Centre to close the night off, Georgia's Jackyl was loud, rude, crude and funny as all get out.

Did I mention they were loud?

Between anecdotes, cigarettes and swigs from Jack Daniels, beer and Crown Royal, which front man Jesse James Dupree graciously shared with the audience, the band had the crowd's fists pumping and heads thrashing.

"We don't care if we play to 1 or 100,000. We're here to party," Dupree told the audience.

As the band played through the set list, I was surprised at how many songs I had forgotten about, including Dirty Little Mind, Down On Me and She Loves My C*ck.

But the song that everyone wanted to hear was held to the bitter end.

Dupree pulled out his chain saw to perform The Lumberjack as the final song of Jackyl's encore.

This is probably a good thing.

After sawing a wooden stool in half, which sprayed sawdust and chain saw smoke over a good portion of the audience, and spitting beer over the front row, many of us in attendance were in dire need of a shower.

Their performance was as energetic and entertaining as Motley Crue's 2006 sold out Sault Ste. Marie appearance.

Presented by Hitman Productions, the show was far from disappointing aside from the lack of attendance.

Hitman Productions operator Stephane Guindon is confident that his next ambitious endeavour, Skid Row with LA Guns, Revolver, Black Mollies and others at Runway Park on June 28, will be a whopping success.