LIVE: STEEL PANTHER – Perth, 22 May, 2018

LIVE: STEEL PANTHER – Perth, 22 May, 2018
The Astor Theatre, Mt Lawley, Perth, Western Australia
Reviewed by Karl Infirri
Photography by Michael Farnell

Glam Metal is my favorite genre. Many years ago I found myself as a fairly sad human being that never really wanted to do anything… then I discovered bands like Motley Crue, Poison, Cinderella and RATT. That music made me really start believing that life could be a party, life could be fun. By embracing the genre and what it stood for, I went on to change the way I dressed drastically. I felt sexier and a hell of a lot more confident. I felt more myself than I ever had before. Steel Panther may parody this genre for comedic purposes, but in this day in age that’s the only way it can be taken seriously.

Steel Panther were formed in 2000 in Los Angeles, California, and after 18 years of hard work, the comedic hair metal foursome have found themselves in a position that I think many of the ‘80s glam metal bands would wish they could be in today.

At the Astor Theater in Mt Lawley, Steel Panther packed the house, and the people were ready for the kind of party that only Steel Panther can provide. This party was going to be a mix of their own songs and a set of the most famous songs of the Sunset Strip.

The band exploded onto the stage with the ever popular Eyes Of A Panther, and the audience were eating up every second of it. They followed it up with the track Goin’ In The Backdoor off their new album Lower The Bar, and it was pretty refreshing to hear everyone in the crowd know the words to a song off a new album. It tells you a lot about where Steel Panther are at in terms of their popularity: their fans actually buy the new albums and learn the words to the songs!

Following this was, no kidding, about 15 minutes of banter between the band and the crowd. Unfortunately I’m unable to repeat a lot of what was said, but what I can say is this… when I see Steel Panther play, I actually think I’m more excited to hear them talk to the crowd than play. I love hearing them play their music but the banter just makes me laugh so hard. It’s so entertaining and when you can see a band having fun, the people have fun too!

Asian Hooker and Just Like Tiger Woods were next and are the usual crowd favourites, making the crowd laugh hard at the fun and ridiculously over the top lyrics. After a few more tracks they invited a girl on stage to sit in a chair to be made fun of and lead vocalist Michael Starr sang to her their classic song Girl From Oklahoma. Her proud boyfriend in the crowd made it well known he was the boyfriend which made him an easy target for lead guitarist Satchel to tell him of what a big mistake he made bringing her to a Steel Panther show because… well, you know what.

The unpredictability of what the boys are going to say is really a big part of what makes the show what it is. Every show will be different because circumstances will be different, people they tease will be different, their jokes will be different. They’re very quick witted, and they make being in Steel Panther look like a non-stop party.

Community Property was next followed by Death To All but Metal. Damn this was a good show already and they could have probably ended it here and everybody would have been satisfied. But they weren’t done yet, of course.

The covers they performed really were selected perfectly. One thing we all know about people who are a little bit inebriated is that if they hear a song they love at the height of their inebriation – they lose their MINDS, which is exactly what happened when Steel Panther tore into Motley Crue’s Kickstart My Heart. Follow that up with Scorpions Rock You Like A Hurricane and Van Halen’s Jump and the venue came unglued.

My personal highlight of the night was Michael Starrs impression of Ozzy Osbourne during Crazy Train. The mannerisms were perfect, the look on his face, the clapping. Everyone was laughing so hard and loving every second of it.

Satchel pulled off a ball tearing guitar solo to the delight of the audience, and followed it up with GNR’s Sweet Child O Mine. They then invited any girls in the crowd if they wanted to come on stage.

I think this section made my night even better because my friends Julia, Ashley and Abbie were on stage rocking out with the band and 20-odd other lovely young ladies. Bon Jovi’s Livin On A Prayer and Def Leppard’s Pour Some Sugar On Me were the perfect soundtrack for the wild girls on stage bustin’ a move. Mad props to Julia for her hair whipping headbanging, Abbie for being up there on crutches, and Ashley for getting in the spirit of the evening and smacking Satchel’s butt.

The night was winding down at this point as Steel Panther played us one more cover, of Poison’s Nothing But A Good Time, garnering some crazy reactions.

The band came out for an encore of Party All Day which ended the show in absolute triumph. This was my fourth time seeing Steel Panther play and I think it was the best show of the four.

Steel Panther may focus their style on a genre that many people consider passe, but they couldn’t be more relevant, and the genre couldn’t be more necessary in today’s world. The world needs a few more smiles, to not take itself so seriously, and remember that life should be fun – when Steel Panther come to town, it is.

Setlist:
Eyes of a Panther
Goin’ in the Backdoor
Asian Hooker
Just Like Tiger Woods
Poontang Boomerang
17 Girls in a Row
Girl From Oklahoma
Community Property
Death to All but Metal

Kickstart My Heart
Rock You Like a Hurricane
Jump
Crazy Train
Guitar Solo
Sweet Child of Mine
Livin’ on a Prayer
Pour Some Sugar on Me
Nothing but a good time

Encore:
Party All Day (Fuck All Night)

Category: Live Reviews, Photo Galleries