Steel Panther – Glasgow – O2 Academy - Monday 9 March 2015
Having first heard of Steel Panther a number of years back when holidaying in Vegas, I have now caught the band live on a few occasions. Each time the show and sleaze is ramped up a level and each time the numbers in attendance appear to swell with both male and female attendance and participation a feature of their highly entertaining shows.
Tonight the act are supported by the Lounge Kittens and Skindred and having met lead singer Benji Webbe last year it is a night i have been looking forward to for some time. The Kittens open the night and are not just great to listen to but also look sizzling in their poison ivy esq outfits.
Having first heard of Steel Panther a number of years back when holidaying in Vegas, I have now caught the band live on a few occasions. Each time the show and sleaze is ramped up a level and each time the numbers in attendance appear to swell with both male and female attendance and participation a feature of their highly entertaining shows.
Tonight the act are supported by the Lounge Kittens and Skindred and having met lead singer Benji Webbe last year it is a night i have been looking forward to for some time. The Kittens open the night and are not just great to listen to but also look sizzling in their poison ivy esq outfits.
Led by Benji, Skindred take it up a and deliver a powerful performance with tracks from their 2014 album Kill The Power going down a storm with the Glasgow crowd. There are many in the crowd who appear to be here tonight see and hear Skindred and sing along word-for-word as Benji commands the stage from start to finish. The energy levels are intense and I am taken aback by the powerful and charismatic performance by Benji and his band and this sets the night up perfectly for the sleaziest act of the planet to follow!
Steel Panther are a band who you can always rely on to put on a show! To the uninitiated, I would describe them as a high energy mash up of the 'hair metal' bands eminating from Hollywoods 'Sunset Strip' during the 1980,s. Think Poison , Motley Crue, Ratt,Van Halen etc.The bands 3 albums to date contain a collection of power ballads, stadium rockers and innuendo filled rock staples which would rival any of their predecessors.
The show kicks off with two tracks from the latest album and straight away it is apparent that the audience knows almost every word to the newer material. Audience participation is always high on the agenda at a Steel Panther gig. It starts off with a level of 'dressing up' only rivalled at 'The Rocky Horror Show' and continues with the audience being fully utilised as backing singers at various points in the show.
The next hour sees the band power through a pretty even mix of the second album Balls Out and latest album All You Can Eat whilst debut album Feel Th Steel makes up most of the closing stages of the show including the encore. Satire is the order of the day, and whilst it would be fair to say that the band skirt the line between parody and pantomime, it should not detract from the fact , that underneath the spandex and big hair lurks an accomplished rock band.These guys are slick! Although I have no doubt that most of the interaction between the band themselves and with the audience ,is heavily scripted - no one cares! It is part of the show. Whether it is Satchel (Guitarist) on the mike telling a girl in the front row , what he is planning to do to her after the show, or whether it is Michael Starr(singer) proclaiming that Glasgow is his favourite show - The audience lap it up!
Notable highlights include numerous girls revealing their boobies, a girl being plucked from the audience to dance on stage to 'Asian Hooker' and a young lad called Ben being invited on to play drums with the band on 'Eyes of a Panther' . This is what a Steel Panther Show is all about.As the show comes to a climax, singer Michael Starr tells the audience to take car driving home as it is a week night after all and that everyone should do a line to wake them up!
If, after reading this, you still needed help to sum up the band - then take the drummers name - Stix Zadinia. Think about that one for a second ;-)!
Words: Des Ross / Bazza Mills
Twitter: @bazzamills
The show kicks off with two tracks from the latest album and straight away it is apparent that the audience knows almost every word to the newer material. Audience participation is always high on the agenda at a Steel Panther gig. It starts off with a level of 'dressing up' only rivalled at 'The Rocky Horror Show' and continues with the audience being fully utilised as backing singers at various points in the show.
The next hour sees the band power through a pretty even mix of the second album Balls Out and latest album All You Can Eat whilst debut album Feel Th Steel makes up most of the closing stages of the show including the encore. Satire is the order of the day, and whilst it would be fair to say that the band skirt the line between parody and pantomime, it should not detract from the fact , that underneath the spandex and big hair lurks an accomplished rock band.These guys are slick! Although I have no doubt that most of the interaction between the band themselves and with the audience ,is heavily scripted - no one cares! It is part of the show. Whether it is Satchel (Guitarist) on the mike telling a girl in the front row , what he is planning to do to her after the show, or whether it is Michael Starr(singer) proclaiming that Glasgow is his favourite show - The audience lap it up!
Notable highlights include numerous girls revealing their boobies, a girl being plucked from the audience to dance on stage to 'Asian Hooker' and a young lad called Ben being invited on to play drums with the band on 'Eyes of a Panther' . This is what a Steel Panther Show is all about.As the show comes to a climax, singer Michael Starr tells the audience to take car driving home as it is a week night after all and that everyone should do a line to wake them up!
If, after reading this, you still needed help to sum up the band - then take the drummers name - Stix Zadinia. Think about that one for a second ;-)!
Words: Des Ross / Bazza Mills
Twitter: @bazzamills