I went to a great show on Monday, 5th November, at Nottingham’s Rock City.
I heard Steel Panther on Planet Rock last year, when just about the only song of theirs that can be played in public without upsetting people was aired. So I kept a lookout for them touring. I wasn’t disappointed.
Steel Panther is variously described under such genres as glam rock, comedy rock, heavy metal, and hair metal. If I was going to add my own description I’d class them as a very adult version of The Darkness, and by that I mean you wouldn’t want your granny to see them and – if you were a decent parent – your kids, either.
They come from California and released their debut album Feel The Steel in 2009. From what I’d been picking up myself, they were getting rave reviews and I wanted to see them live. Apparently, tickets sold out almost immediately for the Rock City gig and several of their upcoming UK shows are also sold out.
The band members have suitably glam names – Michael Starr (vocals), Lexxi Foxxx (bass), Satchel (guitar), and Stix Zadinia (drums) – and are huge posers. Lexxi Foxxx reminds me a bit of Marilyn from the 80s pop scene (in looks), and he spent the evening with a sequinned hand-mirror fixing his hair. The others were just really in-your-face.
All four of them are brilliant musicians – Satchel’s guitar solo, which involved him playing drums at the same time, was fantastic to watch, and included classic riffs from the likes of Iron Maiden and Black Sabbath. But they’re also great comedians and experts at manipulating the crowd.
After the first song they spent about 10 minutes telling jokes. I had to laugh when Starr suddenly pointed and shouted “Hey, boobies out” as some of the girls started lifting their shirts. Apparently this is par for the course at their shows. There were frequent periods of jokes and other talking, but it didn’t ruin the show in any way.
I laughed again when Starr climbed on to the top drum step, made as if to jump off, then stepped down one or two, jumped, and fell over (all choreographed). The others walked over to him, looked down, and said “he’s all right, he’s all right”. Then Satchel shouted “who wants to see him jump off the top f—— step”?” He promptly did it with the splits, and properly this time. The whole show was filled with stuff like this, in between brilliant rock songs and consummate showmanship.
If you don’t mind swearing, suggestive lyrics, and over-the-top showmanship, you’ve just got to get to one of Steel Panther’s shows.