Sadly tonight we cannot go to France where the naked ladies dance as we are in Manchester on a Wednesday night and the strip club is on the other side of town.
Steel Panther’s return to the UK was nothing short of glamorous and profane. The band held nothing back with their insults towards themselves, other bands, and the crowd; it reminded me of the wild Xbox 360 online chat days from the late 2000s. If you’re not a fan of foul language, abuse, or nudity then this may not be your cup of tea. While their instrumental skills are impressive, their lyrics leave something to be desired and make it an adult only show.
Backing these eccentric individuals is the band Winger, who embodies the essence of glam rock with their original lineup still going strong after three decades. Winger put on an outstanding performance that was adored by fans. The audience showed immense support and enthusiasm for the band, particularly during their awe-inspiring guitar solos. While not a heavy metal group per se, some of Winger’s guitar work was so captivating it left listeners craving more.
Winger has recently made a huge comeback with their new album Seven and hits like ‘Seventeen’ and ‘Easy Come, Easy Go‘. I hope this marks another step towards continued success for the underdogs of the 80s in the classic rock industry. We need more music legends as time goes on.
Steel Panther are a fan favourite due to their spandex pants, glam hairstyles, potty mouth humour, and glam metal music. They opened up with ‘Eye of the Panther’, which was a high-energy hit. Michael Starr was brought onto the stage to celebrate his birthday, complete with cake-blowing.
The entertainment doesn’t cease with ‘Let Me Cum In,’ which features 10 minutes of pure verbal abuse between band members. Following this, they perform ‘Asian Hooker’ and introduce an Asian girl who appears nude on stage – a typical occurrence for the band. If you’re not fond of nudity or sexual jokes with crude humour, these shows may not be your cup of tea. Even I feel slightly uneasy about it. Nonetheless, their instrumental talent is unbeatable and Michael’s vocals are solid; it’s best to stick to listening to their albums if the explicit content makes you uncomfortable.
Moving forward with the show, they play other tracks such as ‘All I Want to do is F*ck Myself’ and ‘Friends with Benefits.’ They also engage in more banter among themselves, including new bassist Spyder who fills Lexi Foxx’s shoes quite well by fitting perfectly into the group dynamic and delivering witty comebacks that aren’t just aimed at Satchel.
Satchel led the crowd in a rousing rendition of “Happy Birthday” for Michael. The cake made another appearance and provided some comedic relief when it was revealed that it was also the birthday of one of the tech guys. The cake had been passed around so much that it seemed to have contracted an STD. Satchel wowed the audience with his solo and they continued on with their signature song, ‘Death to All But Metal.’ To balance out the raunchiness, they introduced a new track from their album called ‘1987,’ which evokes nostalgia for a time before my existence (since I wasn’t even a twinkle in my dad’s eye until ’92).
During a peculiar moment in the evening, Michael suddenly produced an acoustic guitar and Satchel beat me to the punchline of the ‘Wonderwall’ joke, which was quite amusing. Styx took over on keyboard duties while Satchel strummed away on his guitar and Spyder acted as our trusty lighter/phone light guy. I couldn’t quite figure out what that thing with all the bells was for, but it did remind me of The Lonely Island’s ‘Sax Man Song.’ As it was Michael’s birthday, he had the privilege of choosing a female volunteer from the audience to join us onstage for an impromptu song followed by ‘Girl From Oklahoma‘ with even more ladies joining in on stage. We concluded our performance by inviting all of the women in attendance up to dance along to ‘Party All Day,’ which seemed like a fitting end to such a lively show.
The encore for these attractive men is undoubtedly ‘Community Property’ and ‘Gloryhole,’ no Gloryholes were harmed during the show. This has been a truly surreal experience with varying opinions, but ultimately what counts is that the fans had a good time. The band’s stage presence is unmatched as they speak their minds without any censorship – it can get a bit risqué at times.
