Photo: Press
Steel Panther are an American band that have cornered the market in glam rock 1980s style live music parody.
They thrive on exaggerating the stage personae of the bands of that era and take their homage to a whole new level with some very profane lyrics. Yet many will listen to their songs and dance along until the words sink in.
The band have been active since 1999 and proved to be a huge success.February 2017 will see them release new album Lower The Bar.
According to singer Michael Starr we can expect. “A great fun record that shows that we have no intention of changing our style. We see how it works and no one wants us to change our formula. Most of (Lower The Bar) was written by Satchel (guitarist) and he usually does that after sex, so the songs were written in the back of the tour bus.”
He continued. “Obviously most of the tracks are about sex and partying. But we do have some twists in there too. ‘Walk of Shame’ is a good one as we all have been there and know what that term means. We also have plans to tour, it just depends whether in is as a headliner of as support. Our shows with Judas Priest a few years were amazing, but we did have some interesting stuff thrown at us by the crowd. The good news was we left with some new followers.”
The band are also working on a fake reality show based on them which will see them on tour, performing live and include behind the scenes footage.
Steel Panther had the longest running weekly Monday night show on Hollywood’s Sunset Strip from 1999 to 2014. Starting at Johnny Depp’s Viper Room and progressing to The Roxy Theatre, The Key Club and The House of Blues.
With such popularity came touring and the band had to give up their residency.
The band went through a few name changes (Metal Shop, Metal Skool) before opting for Steel Panther and quickly adopted their unique 1980s style and mannerisms.
Their sets comprised of ‘hair metal’ covers and that led into parodies of those styles and sounds.
The group may be shocking to some and wonderful to many, but they do pull in the crowds and have been embraced by the rock community.
Their albums have sold very well and beat off some of the rock industry’s finest. They have supported such bands as Guns ‘n’ Roses, Def Leppard and Motley Crue amongst others.
Steel Panther have sold out tours across the globe to date and recent UK shows have been very successful.
Their lyrics may seem offensive and indeed can be, but the band give it their all and you soon forget that aspect of their act.
This is a band who now their fan base and give them what they want, plus they live the rock and roll lifestyle we all wish we could. ‘Lower The Bar’ will be released in February 2017.
