Lock up your daughters and get your spandex pants at the ready, Steel Panther are back in Manchester to play two sold out dates of their current UK tour. For those who haven’t caught on, Steel Panther are in fact a parody band, whose personas reflect the 1980s metal lifestyle. Titled the ‘All You Can Eat’ tour, expect lewd jokes your mum would hate, ludicrous wigs and even thongs available from the merch stand. The varied line-up has attracted all ages and backgrounds tonight. The crowd is a blur of leather, leopard print and drag makeup as fans buy their drinks and wait for the first band to start.
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| Michael Starr: Photo by Louisa Sou |
Up next are Reggae Metal band Skindred, best known for their exceptional live performances. Vocalist Benji Webbe parades on stage pimped out in a fur coat and shades before launching into first song ‘Kill the Power.’ Webbe knows how to pump up the crowd, the vast majority singing along in no time. Acclaimed tracks ‘Nobody,’ ‘Ratrace’ and ‘Pressure’ are played, sending the venue into chaos. The strong ten song set is finalised with hit track ‘Warning,’ where fans are expected to take off an item of clothing and spin in the air, aka ‘The Newport Helicopter’. With no other bands sounding quite like it, Skindred are absolutely the best choice of support for a gig like this.
It’s the moment we have been waiting for. Entering the stage, silhouetted behind a massive white curtain, Steel Panther launch straight into ‘Pussywhipped.’ The curtain falls to reveal velvet podiums on the side stage, an extra stage for the drums with stairs aligning the sides and a huge TV screen – the perfect set for small people.
Steel Panther’s live shows boast a combination of sex, tongue in cheek humour, drugs, hair spray and massive riffs. Let’s just say that subtlety is not the bands forte, as funnies between Satchel, Lexxi and Michael Starr rebound back and forth. They stay in character throughout, conversing about shagging groupies and getting high. Needless to say it is merely skin deep and they do not take anything too seriously, especially themselves. Vocalist Starr shows off his remarkable vocal range throughout the set. He puts on an almighty performance, strolling about on stage, entertaining the crowd by portraying the perfect rock and roll douchebag. The show is comedy in its entirety from vein bassist, Lexxi Foxx reapplying his lip gloss after every song to the bands very own audience focused ‘cum cam,’ (A camera on a stick with a dildo for a handle.) Extra entertainment is provided by the huge TV, which switches between montages of the crowd, humorous slideshows and music videos deemed too inappropriate for daytime TV. Overall, it gives off an almighty stadium like vibe. The band do their very best to push boundaries and it seems to be working.
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| Lexxi Fox: Photo by Louisa Sou |
Classics such as ‘Death to All but Metal,’ ‘Asian Hooker’ and ‘Fat Girl’ are played and a couple of newer tracks are thrown into the mix. Renowned for their explicit lyrics, the band compiles an acoustic mix including a song about Kanye West and accompanied by none other than Elton John’s grand piano…of course. The encore comes in the form of ‘rock ballad,‘ 'Community Property’ before closing with‘Party All Day.’ Overall, the entire set is exaggerated, well-rehearsed and extremely pansexual. If you ever get a chance to see this band then do so, you’ll regret it if you don’t.
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| Satchel: Photo By Louisa Sou
Set list
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2. Party Like Tomorrow Is the End of the World
3. Fat Girl (Thar She Blows)
4. Tomorrow Night
5. The Shocker
6. Hair Solo
(Lexxi Foxx)
7. 17 Girls in a Row
8. Gloryhole
9. If I Was the King
10. Guitar Solo
(Satchel)
11. Ten Strikes You're Out
12. Kanye
(with Stix Zadinia on grand piano)
13. Weenie Ride
14. Stripper Girl
15. Why Can't You Trust Me
16. Girl From Oklahoma
17. Gangbang at the Old Folks Home
18. Asian Hooker
19. Death to All but Metal
20. Encore:
20. Community Property
21. Party All Day (Fuck All Night)
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