Steel Panther brought their “Lower The Bar” Tour to the Rapids Theater in Niagara Falls last Wednesday. To say that a Steel Panther show is good rock ‘n roll would be an understatement. It’s great rock ‘n roll. The crowd filed in dressed in neon wigs and lots of spandex and leather. Their age ranged from young teens to senior citizens and they were anticipating a night full of head pounding, hair raising, and frequent sexy jokes.
Steel Panther delivered. From the opening notes of “Eyes of a Panther” this glam-comedy-rock band put on a great show. Much has been said over the years about how their music is a parody of hair bands from the ’80s and ’90s. There is no doubt after seeing them that they can play with the best, and make you laugh at the same time.
“Tiger Woods” and “Fat Girl” followed with front men Michael Starr (vocals), Satchel (guitar), and Lexxi Foxx (bass) showing some extra rock star type poses on stage for the front row photographers. These guys know where the cameras are and they make sure to play up to them. The crowd played along and screamed the lyrics to every song. At times, Starr just stopped singing and let the crowd finish the line. “Asian Hooker” saw them pick a young asian girl out of the crowd and bring her up onstage so Starr could sing to her. Hilarity ensued as Starr struck out and could not get her to respond to him. Turns out she did not speak English very well and Starr ended up getting laughs out of fellow band members and the crowd for his dilemma.
Satchel brought down the house with an extended guitar solo at the end of “Poontang Boomerang” which included obligatory riffs from “Smoke on the Water” and “Sweet Child ‘o Mine.” Being a talented guitar player and a comedian is something not all musicians can do and he pulls it off with ease. I should mention bassist Lexxi Foxx checked his lipstick and hair in a small mirror as he came back onstage after Satchel’s solo. In fact, Foxx checked his lipstick and hair quite often, as a true glam-rock bassist would do during a 2 hour show (insert smiley face here).
Another crowd search brought a young girl onstage to sing “Girl From Oklahoma.” To the surprise of the band, she belted out the salty lyrics like a true fan despite being only 16 and with her father in the crowd looking on.
The crowd (well the men, at least) enjoyed “17 Girls in a Row” where the stage was flooded with girls, some who bared their assets to the crowd with no shame at all. Fun times continued with “Glory Hole” and “Death to All but Metal” as the show ended on a high note with the band making sure to thank everyone, including the Armed Services, Police, Veterans, Road Crew, and finally, the audience.
An encore of “Community Property” and “Party All Day” brought the night to a close and left the crowd screaming for more. Steel Panther will surely be back with more of their unique show. One question that came to this reviewer’s mind is “How long can they continue to do this?” An appropriate answer would be, “As long as they want to”.
Setlist:
Eyes of a Panther
Tiger Woods
Fat Girl
That’s when You Came In
Poontang Boomerang
-Guitar Solo-
Anything Goes
Girl From Oklahoma
17 Girls in a Row
Glory Hole
Death to All But Metal
ENCORE:
Community Property
Party All Day (F*ck All Night)
Setlist
Eyes of a Panther
Tiger Woods
Fat Girl
That’s when You Came In
Poontang Boomerang
-Guitar Solo-
Anything Goes
Girl From Oklahoma
17 Girls in a Row
Glory Hole
Death to All But Metal
Encore:
Community Property
Party All Day (F*ck All Night)
We would like to thank Marc Violino from the Rapids Theatre for his assistance in obtaining the credentials to review the show.
