Live Reviews : Steel Panther & The Art @ Festival Hall, Melbourne 07/10/2012

Live photos available in our gallery

It’s not often that you walk through the streets to a gig and bear witness to a sea of spandex, lycra, and wigs and hear guys and girls arguing the merits of “gold-digging whores” and “Asian hookers” and debating the merits of the “shocker”. Then again it’s not every day that Steel Panther are in town playing their own headlining show.

On the way to the venue it was evident that half the crowd was there for the music, and half the crowd was there for the stage show and banter. By the end of the night all the crowd would at least be united in the singular thought that regardless of their intentions everyone was going to leave thoroughly entertained.

Melbourne again re-affirmed its status as Australia’s premier rock/metal audience well before Steel Panther even hit Australian shores. Tonight’s show was sold out in record time (an or two from memory) forcing promoters to move it from the Palace to the much bigger Festival Hall……which duly sold out just as quick. Had a second show been added in Melbourne this too would have sold out going on the reaction in the lead up to this gig. This speaks volumes of the Melbourne audiences but more importantly also highlights just how popular Steel Panther has become all over the land.

Sydney-based band The Art kicked off proceedings tonight. Harkening back to the hard/glam rock of the early eighties, this band reminded me a lot of early era LA Guns and bands like Vain. I hadn’t heard too much about this band in the lead up to tonight’s show and to be honest, they were always up against it opening for a band like Steel Panther. The songs were fine but for a crowd that wanted to see a stage show, they were a slight let down especially when the heckling crowd got to the singer who started firing off insults back to the crowd. Probably NOT the best way to win over a crowd to be honest. A bigger-name, more well known band might have fared better but at the end of the day any band opening for Steel Panther is really cannon fodder unless they are brilliant and sadly “The Art” weren’t tonight.

Normally changeovers are pretty boring but Steel Panther and the Melbourne crowd started the party early blasting metal classics by Judas Priest, Iron Maiden, and Cinderella over the PA at full volume. Hell even Autograph got a nod….Nice! After the short change over the house lights dimmed and it was timed for Steel Panther!  It was game-on when the intro track “In The Future” off their latest record “Balls Out” started proceedings and a night that one would soon not forget. The band burst straight into “Supersonic Sex Machine”. This was a perfect introduction to a Panther gig and really set the tone for the rest of the night. To say the band was on fire would be an understatement. Having seen them twice in the past doing shortened sets, Steel Panther are really in their element when they have a full set to rip through.

Next up was “Tomorrow Night” which is fast becoming a fan favorite judging from the audience reaction tonight. At times the crowd drowned out the PA system which is no mean feat given the venue. The opening two songs really set the scene for the night. This was going to be a night a guitar pyrotechnics from Satchel and every cliché rock move known to man. Michael Starr sounded pitch-perfect throughout and Stixx Zadinia along with Lexxi Foxxx were on song all night too. This was Steel Panther at the top of their game. However, along with being a great band a lot of the crowd was also their for the between-song banter which we got our first taste of after “Tomorrow Night” by way of the band introductions. Michael Starr and Satchel definitely lead the way in being the main culprits when it comes to speaking between songs. There was some real comedy gold on show tonight from both but it was Lexxi and his random one-liners that got the best reaction from the crowd. Even though the stage is choreographed for the main part, it is so well-rehearsed that it seems spontaneous. Who knows maybe it was.

“Fat Girl (Thar She Blows)” was up next. This was the first real sing-along for the night and the Melbourne crowd didn’t fail to disappoint Michael Starr in his calls to join in. This was also the first song of the night where another Steel Panther tradition was observed, namely audience members flashing their boobs at the band upon request. I should preface that by saying it was “mostly” women doing it but there was also a bloke that got in on the act too. Next up was the song that got the biggest reaction for the night. The band ripped into “Asian Hooker” and Festival Hall lost its shit! I never thought I’d see a mosh pit at a Steel Panther gig but during “Asian Hooker” the crowd in front of the stage did exactly that. In fact, there were parts during the song that the band was barely audible over the crowd and you could tell the band were enjoying it just as much as the audience.

This pretty much continued for the rest of the night where we were treated to modern-day Panther classics like “Turn Out The Lights” and “Just Like Tiger Woods”. The band only really let up for the one-two combination of “If You Really Really Love Me” and “Girl From Oklahoma”. “The Shocker” is right up there with “Asian Hooker” as the song that got the biggest reaction during the night. Of course, no Steel Panther gig would be complete with a bevy of beauties on stage and some of Melbourne’s finest dancers and “adult actresses” joined the band and some crowd members on stage during “Party All Day”. I think it was that song…Does it really matter? Did any guy in the crowd care what song it was? NO! All we know it that it was a killer song but didn’t know which way to look on stage as every square inch was either covered by girls dancing, making out, or practically raping a band member.

One of the highlights of the night was Satchel’s guitar solo.  This is the part of the show where Satchel summoned his inner George Lynch and Eddie Van Halen. He ripped out every 80’s guitar trick he could possibly fit into the slot complete with his rendition of “Flight of the wounded bumble-bee” and finished it off with his own party trick where he jumped behind the drum kit and accompanied himself on the bass drum through a selection of classic riffs from Iron Maiden, Black Sabbath, Metallica, Deep Purple and Judas Priest.

The rest of the night continued to be one big rock n roll party with both the band and the crowd feeding off each others energy. The riffs continued to fly thick and fast from the stage and boobs were coming out just as fast from the crowd. When all was said and done and the final notes of “17 Girls In A Row” rang out, the crowd and band were both one exhausted sweaty bunch…just the way a Steel Panther gig should be!

Special mention and kudos should also go to the bands backline and front-of house  crew. The band sounded fantastic and crystal clear all night. Every band member could be perfectly heard throughout the whole night which is a huge accomplishment to the sound  guys especially at a venue like Festival Hall which isn’t always kind (acoustically) to many bands but the panther crew pulled it off easily. Also, Steel Panther has one of the best lighting systems I have seen at a gig in quite a while. Every part of every song seemed to have a lighting theme to go with it. I don’t know if that was intentional or not  but it worked really well and added a lot to the show as a whole.

In summing up, this was a gig where everyone from the band, to the crowd, to the crew, to the promoters and venue staff (who were getting into it) all bought their A-game and made it a night that anyone that was there would not soon forget.The only request from me would be for a second / third / fourth Steel show next time around because once is definitely not enough when it comes to a Steel Panther show especially in a town with a crowd like this!

For anyone deciding if they should go to any of the remaining dates (if there are still tickets available) don’t waste any time…Beg / borrow / steal / whatever it takes and get down to one of these shows as this is going to be a show that will be hard to top!

SETLIST
In the Future
Supersonic Sex Machine
Tomorrow Night
Fat Girl (Thar She Blows)
Asian Hooker
Turn Out the Lights
Just Like Tiger Woods
If You Really, Really Love Me
Girl From Oklahoma
The Shocker
Guitar Solo
That’s What Girls Are For
La Grange Snippet (ZZ Top cover)
Party All Day (Fuck All Night)
Death to All But Metal

ENCORE
Community Property
Eyes of a Panther
17 Girls in a Row

Photos by Anwar Rizk