On This Day in History

Written By Braddon S. Williams aka “The Concert Critic”

On this date in history, 11/29/2019, I saw Steel Panther for the 4th consecutive year.

The spandex clad comedic rockers brought their Heavy Metal Rules Tour to Indy’s Old National Centre’s Egyptian Room for an evening of fun and debauchery.

Opening the show was Snakeskin Cowboy, a local band who played a set of original material that was well received by the audience.

Next up was Stitched Up Heart, a Los Angeles band who used too much in the way of artificial ingredients, i.e. backing tracks, for my taste. Their singer was pretty and sparkly, and I guess their music was, too. They weren’t terrible, but they certainly didn’t do much to make me want to listen to them again, either. Coincidentally, the Indianapolis Ballet’s production of The Nutcracker was going on at the same time as Steel Panther’s performance in the adjacent Murat Theatre, and the boys wasted no time (and no opportunities) to make hilarious comments about the ballet.

I have noticed that every Steel Panther show follows a basic blueprint. The band comes out with a couple of songs, then go into about 10 minutes of their decidedly raunchy standup routine, followed by more tunes, more comedy, and eventually a bunch of happy women from the audience conducting an on stage dance party with the band.

Oh yes, and a lot of throwing and catching (and sometimes dropping) of singer Michael Starr’s various hats!

Somewhere in the middle of the show, guitarist Satchel provides a face melting display of guitar wizardry during his obligatory center stage guitar solo.

Bassist (and resident sex symbol) Lexxi Foxx got to do a Hair solo when Satchel and Starr brought out leaf blowers to send his outrageous locks into dramatic propulsion. And don’t forget the power ballads (usually at least one of which is sung directly to a hot babe from the audience).

On this night we were lucky to hear both Weenie Ride and Community Property, both played to perfection with the entire crowd joyously singing every word.

Steel Panther dropped 3 songs from their latest album, Heavy Metal Rules, the irresistibly catchy All I Wanna Do Is Fuck (Myself Tonight), I Ain’t Buying What You’re Selling, and Fuck Everybody.

The opener, Eyes Of A Panther was a fantastic way to start the show, and crowd favorites Asian Hooker, Let Me Cum In, Poontang Boomerang, and 17 Girls In A Row were all high energy explosions of fun.

The show ended with the headbanging, name dropping Death To All But Metal and then encored with Glory Hole.

Even though there is definitely a pattern to all this entertainment, no two Steel Panther shows are ever the same, and that is precisely why I will keep coming back for more.