Steel Panther 5.28.14
Stage AE, Pittsburgh, PA 5.28.14
The glory days of 80‘s Hair Metal returned to Pittsburgh tonight as Steel Panther stopped by in support of their new album, All You Can Eat. Future Villains started things off, and did a good job of warming up the already sizable crowd. Their straight-up rock-and-roll was a mix of covers and original material for their 45 minute set.
Steel Panther hit their stage with the song “Pussywhipped” from their latest album, and the crowd exploded. Sporting the spandex and big hair we all remember from the 80’s, they certainly pull off the look. (Some of the audience members dusted off their costumes of long ago as well - some with great success - others should have left them buried in the attic.) Their raunchy lyrics and comedic banter between songs glorifies the “sex, drugs and rock-and-roll” theme of the 80‘s. (For those that don’t know them, this is definitely not a PG rated show, and not for the easily offended. Best to leave the little ones at home.) They even managed to get several girls to flash the band, and the crowd, before they even started their third song. But this isn’t just a satirical look at a bygone era. These guys have real musical talent and could easily entertain the crowd without the comedy and costumes. Having seen them before, I was looking forward to enjoying the show after the first three songs in the pit. Unfortunately, we were told we would have to take our cameras back to our vehicles after shooting, and then we could come back. My vehicle didn’t have a place to conceal my gear, and I really didn’t want to leave it visible. Also, my foot was screaming after having been on it all night and walking more than I had for the previous month. (Some of you know I had a stress fracture in my foot recently (the second injury in less than a year) and was just out of the walking cast). I made the difficult decision of calling it a night. From all accounts, it was a fantastic show and I will eagerly await their next trip to our town.