Steel Panther: On The Prowl World Tour - Brisbane Review

Los Angeles based glam metal band, Steel Panther, recently brought their ‘On The Prowl’ world tour to five Australian cities. The band is most well known for their indecent and profane lyrics and hilarious stage manner as they parody the glam metal lifestyle from the 1980’s. The band started out in 2000 and were known as ‘Metal Skool’, where they covered famous hair metal songs weekly in a local venue known as the Viper Room before adopting the name Steel Panther in 2008 and signing to Republic Records to record their, at the time, new album ‘Feel The Steel’ which was released in June of 2009. Over the years, their career continued to bloom with the group releasing album after album with each containing more offensive and profanity filled lyrics than the last. In 2021, the band said goodbye to their former bass player ‘Lexxi Foxx’ (real name, Travis Haley) as he wished to pursue other endeavours in life and was replaced with their current bass player ‘Spyder’ (Joe Lester) in mid-2022. I had the incredible opportunity to photograph Steel Panther at their Brisbane show at The Fortitude Music Hall on October 24th, which happened to be my 20th birthday! It was an amazing ‘present’ and I’m very grateful to TEG Live and to The Fortitude Music Hall for having me and to Charlotte who made this happen. And of course, thank you Steel Panther for an amazing show! With the thank you’s out of the way, let’s continue on with the review!

Steel Panther's Australian shows were opened by Mötley Crüe guitarist, John 5, who the band jokingly referred to him as 'the guy they got because Vince Neil was too expensive.' While Vince is a great vocalist, John's guitar skills were absolutely unmatched as he managed to capture the undivided attention of the audience during a 45 minute set with guitar alone, later being joined by his drummer and bassist but with the main focus remaining on the guitar. He opened his set with two 'John 5 and the Creatures' songs titled 'Season of the Witch' and 'Que Pasa' which captivated the crowd with his complex guitar licks and comfortable stage presence. John played the guitar as if he were singing it, which I have personally seen very few people be able to do, and being able to watch his expertise in action only added to the live experience.

John 5 continued his set with an instrumental cover of 'Crazy Little Thing Called Love' by Queen, in which the audience immediately started singing along to, but not nearly as loud as they'd sing along to his next cover of 'Smells Like Teen Spirit' by Nirvana. His use of harmonics and musical knowledge really helped to fill out the song as he played both the vocal melody and guitar simultaneously. The audience sang along loudly, harmonising with the melody being played on John's guitar, which was a very beautiful sight to both hear and behold. John continued with his set and continued to play a multitude of Mötley Crüe's biggest hits, but not before warming up the audience and further teasing the crowd by playing the intro to 'Walk' by Pantera and 'Thunder Kiss 65' by White Zombie before stopping abruptly and playing the intro to Live Wire, in which the audience erupted in applause and roared with excitement. He followed up with fan favourite hits from Mötley Crüe titled 'Too Fast For Love' and 'Shout At The Devil'. With each song being sung louder than the last by the excited concertgoers, he wrapped up his set with two of the bands biggest hits 'Dr. Feelgood' and 'Kickstart My Heart' before swiftly exiting the stage as quickly as he arrived.

It's safe to say that John 5 left an amazing impression on everybody and more than succeeded in getting the crowd reared up and ready for the lewd yet hilarious performance of the act to come, Steel Panther.

After a half an hour wait, the members of Steel Panther entered the stage one by one at around 8:45pm and quickly got into position before exploding into their opening song of the night 'Eyes Of A Panther' which is a song of theirs that everyone has heard at least once since its release in 2009 on their album 'Feel the Steel'. The song recently had a resurgence in popular media in May of 2023 after the band members auditioned for the hit TV show 'America's Got Talent' with said song. They made it all the way through to the semi-finals before being disqualified, however they quickly became a household name thanks to the show which in turn brought more publicity for the band and introducing their group to a new generation of listeners to their shock value style of performance. They quickly followed up their show with the crassly titled tune 'Let Me Cum In', in which I'm sure needs no explaining as the title says it all. Around this time, audience members began waving around an array of adult toys in the air which was truly a sight to behold in itself!

WARNING: This article features adult themes that may not be suitable for viewers under 18. Viewer discretion is advised.

Once they finished up up the second song of the night, the lead singer, Michael Starr, began making comedic conversation with his fellow band members with audience inclusion. The twenty minute long charade combined Steel Panther's outlandish comedy style with audience interaction, making each show they perform completely unique from the last. If you know Steel Panther, you'd know that it didn't take long whatsoever for them to convince a female audience member to take her top off and show off her bare chest, receiving praise from the guitarist, Satchel as well as the rowdy crowd.

The chemistry between the members made for absolutely hilarious banter between them, poking fun about each other in an almost twelve year old fashion, which is what made the interactions between these grown men even funnier. Michael came down to the front of the stage while Satchel and Spyder were spouting insults at each other and introduced himself to me and two other photographers in the photo pit, thanking each of us for our work and for supporting the show. It felt nice for to be recognised for our work, especially considering photographers tend to fade into the background, and it

only added to the appeal of the of the performance as well as giving me a newfound respect for the band. Not long after this, the band played their third, and one of their most infamous songs, 'Asian Hooker', which again, I'm sure needs no introduction. Their stage presence during the performance was hilarious, with Satchel and Spyder running circles around Michael and making pelvic thrusting motions towards the audience. At one point, Satchel took off his guitar while Michael introduced the band and began flicking his tongue up and down the side of the guitar's body. At this point, the third song had ended and I was instructed to leave the photo pit to watch the rest of the show, which I will now review using the star rating system below!

Venue: ★★★★★

The venue in which the band played was the Fortitude Music Hall, located in the heart of Fortitude Valley, Brisbane. Personally, I could not think of a better venue for these guys to have played in. The venue was at full capacity, but still easily manoeuvrable to watch the show from different angles. The inclusion of a photo pit was absolutely wonderful as it allowed me to capture the first parts of the show without blocking the view for any members in the audience as well as allowing me to experiment more with angles and lighting without the risk of getting tossed around in the crowd. From the point of view of a concertgoer, the venue was absolutely perfect as no matter where you were located inside, you could still see each angle of the performance perfectly, meaning you were definitely getting your money's worth for the show. All in all, the venue choice was perfect ad receives a full star rating from me.

Performance: ★★★★★

This is the part of the review where things get fun, and the part I've been looking forward to writing about the most! The performance that Steel Panther put on was without a doubt unlike anything I have ever seen. From Satchel the guitarist putting the headstock of his guitar in the sparkling pyrotechnics, to girls throwing their bras and panties onto the stage for the members to simulate dirty acts with. It was absolutely hilarious listening to their commentary which ranged from egging on audience members to throw adult sex toys on stage, to throwing a slew of insults at each other and their mothers, essentially pushing the boundaries of what would be morally acceptable in everyday life. However, if you've been to a Steel Panther show then you would know to leave your morals at the front door, because they have absolutely no place at one of their gigs. At one point, Michael caught a bright pink strap-on that a fan had thrown onto the stage, which Satchel immediately snatched from his hands and stuck it to the body of his guitar, playing the next song and purposefully bouncing it around and making crude gestures towards it in between guitar parts.

Towards the end of the set, they played their song '17 Girls In A Row', where they brought out a plethora of girls onto the stage wearing borderline no clothing, some only using masking tape to cover their nipples. The members and girls alike had a field day with this, stimulating sexual acts on the stage as well as some of the girls stripping clothes off as the song progressed which was shocking to watch, turning the show into something very cabaret-like. After the girls had exited, they brought a female audience member on stage so that Michael could serenade her with 'Community Property', which is essentially a love song about how Michael's heart belongs to the girl, but his 'member' is community property causing the girl to laugh with embarrassment as she sat on stage being sung to, which I'm sure was a highlight of her night! Steel Panther have mastered the art of fusing comedy with music, and while they are completely crude and unorthodox, I believe they are a band that needs to be on everyone's bucket list. Despite being a bunch of dudes in their 50's and 60's, they have the showmanship, performance quality, and stamina of 20 year olds, and they certainly make the show unlike anything else you would have seen in the past!

Overall Experience: ★★★★★

Overall, my experience at Steel Panther's live show was unlike anything else I have ever seen. It was unique, fun, and absolutely beyond hilarious. I Ioved every single aspect of the show from the dirty jokes, to the stage presence, even down to the interactions between the band themselves and the crowd. The quick wit fused together with the bands comedic hits from over the years are absolutely second to none and was without a doubt one of the most confronting and hilarious shows I have attended. I would highly recommend a Steel Panther show no matter where you come from or what type of music you like, because these guys will have you on the floor laughing in one way or another. All in all, Steel Panther gets full ratings from me!

Gallery

Satchel of Steel Panther

Photographed by Jazmin Wilkins

John 5 opening for Steel Panther

Photographed by Jazmin Wilkins

Spyder, Michael, and Satchel of Steel Panther

Photographed by Jazmin Wilkins