Steel Panther is currently on the road on their re-erection tour. They made a stop at the Fillmore last night and played in front of a packed crowd. You can tell the band was so incredibly happy to be back playing in front of audiences. And this one was the biggest crowds of the tour so far. There was supposed to be an opening act, but they cancelled last minute due to bus troubles and could not get to the venue. Which allowed Steel Panther to play a longer set.
For those of you not familiar with Steel Panther, they are one of the greatest bands out there playing live right now in 2022. But they’re very misunderstood by some people. The reason they matter so much to rock and roll is because they bring a special experience unlike any other rock band on tour today. It’s funny they have a fierce following of loyal fans that “get it”. However, they have a group of people, mostly musicians, who despise them. They don’t seem to see the incredible level of talent in this band. All they see in their eyes is a mocking of the 1980s hair metal bands and they don’t like it. Its sad to me to see how some of these musicians seem to think they are above this. When they are just bitter to see the success of Steel Panther. Those people take themselves way to seriously. My advice to them is keep singing their songs and playing to 100 people a night that bought one of their records 35 years ago. I will be down the street at the Steel Panther show!
If you lived through the 1980’s with all those bands, then you know that towards the end of that period, the band’s became more and more ridiculous. It got to the point where the record labels, like they always do, ruin it for everybody by trying to sign every single band that they might be able to squeeze a top ten hit out of. Therefore, Nirvana coming out in flannel singing Smells Like Teen Spirit, completely crushed the hair metal music scene. I loved everything about that era of music and the freedom that it promoted. But it had gotten to the point where it needed to die. Why not kill it off in one fell swoop, with the wave of grunge bands coming out of Seattle?
What many fans of that music failed to see was that the grunge scene was just as heavy if not heavier than the hair metal era. Many couldn’t look past it to hear the music because all they saw was the flannel. Steel Panther embodies all that was great in the hair band era, but they do it with catchy songs and a lot of humor. It’s funny how some of the musicians of that era have come out and taken shots at the band publicly. Maybe Steel Panther hits a little bit too close to home for comfort for some of them. Perhaps it’s time for some of them, to take a good long look in the mirror. Maybe they’re offended because Steel Panther projects back at them some of the stupidity from that era. It’s just like when the movie, This is Spinal Tap came out. There were a lot of bands who thought that movie was about them.
Steel Panther have something special going on with their audience. The music is nonpolitical, raunchy to some but, to others it’s pure joy. Many of their songs if you were to change the lyrics ever so slightly could have been hits in the 1980s. There is no denying the amount of talent that’s in this band and the ability to write very catchy songs. One of the many reasons Steel Panther matters so much to rock and roll is, the joy they bring to their fans. Seeing them play live is unlike seeing any other band in my opinion. Just look around at all the happy faces in the crowd. I’m not saying that doesn’t happen at many other concerts, but the Steel Panther concerts are special. Plus, they thanked the audience several times for supporting them and for spending their hard-earned money to buy a ticket to the show. Perhaps some may think that’s corny. I for one really appreciate it when bands talk to the audience and show gratitude for the support.
For those of you that are Steel Panther fans that are reading this you already understand what I’m trying to say. As they say, let the haters hate! Steel Panther is currently finishing up a new album so they should have that out sometime soon. They played a wide variety of songs last night including “Gloryhole”, “Asian Hooker”, “Death to All but Metal”, “Let Me Cum In”, “17 Girls in a Row”, and “Community Property”. They mentioned “Gangbang at the Old Folks Home” but didn’t play it which was a bummer. But the did play and Ozzy Osborne cover, “Crazy Train”. In the past I have seen them cover other bands like Van Halen, and they are amazing at it.
I truly don’t understand how you can like heavy metal and not love this band for everything that they represent. To me that is music, fun, comedy, and happiness. How can anyone argue with that?
