Steel Panther are a phenomenon.
They are, for all intents and purposes, a comedy rock band, yet they have supported the likes of Guns N’ Roses, Def Leppard and Motley Crüe – the very bands their act makes fun of – and are currently in the midst of a sell-out UK tour, naturally entitled the Spreading The Disease (STD) tour.
The Hollywood rockers, set to release their third album All You Can Eat on April 1, treated a sold-out Manchester Apollo to their comedy rock which fires on all cylinders.
Behind all the hair metal tropes and rock n’ roll lifestyle parody, however, is a supremely talented four-piece.
The fact of the matter is that, with their third record on the horizon, the joke would have worn thin by this point if the band weren’t talented enough to back it all up.
That the LA quartet sold out Sunday’s show at the Manchester Apollo gives some indication of their standing in the metal world and of their popularity on these shores.
With a big screen behind them, Steel Panther roar onto the Apollo stage with the double hit of Eyes of a Panther and Tomorrow Night, both note perfect. The intentionally-lengthy conclusion to the second song gives the crowd some indication of what kind of show they’re in for.
“The best and loudest crowd is always here in Manchester,” shouts guitarist Satchel, before typically-confused bassist Lexxi Foxx notes, “You said the same thing when we were in London.”
Few bands, parody or not, could get away with a near-10-minute introduction of all the band members but Steel Panther, with singer Michael Starr and Satchel’s hilarious back and forth enough rivalling any comedy double act, have the crowd in the palm of their hands.
Besides the usual jokes about drugs and women, there is also a short song about Manchester, frequent digs at last night’s show in Wolverhampton and a risqué joke about Lostprophets.
Subtlety is not this band’s forte but it matters little when the gags land so well.
Along the way the audience is informed that Michael Starr lost his virginity at the age of 9, Lexxi has had plastic surgery in order to look especially good for this show and Stix Zadinia is “the best drummer in our band.”
Later, Satchel spots a 12-year-old kid in the audience and notes how ‘bitchin’ it is that a parent would bring their child to a Steel Panther show and says he sees it as his, and the rest of the band’s duty, to educate the child on proper drug use.
Songs Asian Hooker and Turn Out The Lights create a party atmosphere inside the Apollo and new song Gloryhole gets a favourable response from the Manchester crowd before Michael Starr invites about 30 women from the audience onto the stage. The scene is as crazy as you might imagine, with all the ladies eager to dance with the charismatic frontman.
A tremendous Gold Digging Whore, dedicated to the female guests, follows and proves one of the highlights of the evening.
The knowingly long and self-indulgent guitar solo from Satchel continues to play on some of the embarrassing hair metal tropes of the 1980s, but also goes to demonstrate just how talented a guitarist this man actually is. An Eddie Van Halen-inspired tapping section is absolutely stunning.
Lexxi Foxxx, eager to get in on the act, follows this with a ‘hair solo’.
The vain bass player, who has spent the set frequently checking his appearance in a stage-side mirror, delivers a two-note bass solo (“He’s stupid, that’s why he plays bass. There’s four strings on that thing and he only uses two of them!”) with the accompaniment of Starr and Satchel blowing his hair like a wind machine.
The 75-minute set flies by an,d before you know it, Steel Panther are playing their ’last song’, hit Death To All But Metal, which includes a funny lyric video on the big screen and the word ‘DEATH’ pasted over photos of popstars including Justin Bieber and Miley Cyrus.
The band’s encore is as thrilling as the rest of the show, taking in Community Property, 17 Girls In A Row and Party All Night.
Ballad Community Property, proves to be the standout moment of the evening, with the packed crowd indulging in a Michael Starr-led sing-along so thunderous, the band – beneath all their bluster – look genuinely taken aback.
As the likes of Motley Crüe disband, Steel Panther continue to go from strength to strength.
If tonight’s show is any indication, it won’t be long before the Californians are returning to make the Manchester Arena their own.
Image courtesy of SteelPantherVEVO via Youtube, with thanks
