Thursday – June 7 was STEEL PANTHER-day for me. I came running to the festival area early in the afternoon like I had rocket-fuel up my ass. I had ONE thing on my mind: Being FIRST in line for Satchel’s signing session in the guitar-tent.

It was actually a wonderful, liberating feeling knowing that I could just go there and blend, fit in, be a FAN. It’s so simple to be a fan, and act like one. Haven’t done that in years. I can’t remember the last time I asked anyone for an autograph for instance – unless it was for somebody else. 

So, I stood there, with my pink Steel Panther-hoodie (the blinking one, check this video of it) maybe an hour before the signing. But it was also because I liked to hang in that particular “guitar-tent”, they were nice in there and it wasn’t as crazy crowded as the rest of the festival.

As I was standing there, a tall guy with a notepad and a pen walked in and started babbling like a machine – asking if I would like to be in a photo cause they were doing this report about fans at Sweden Rock Festival and blah-blah-blah…. I just looked at him and smiled – and tried to getactual eye-contact. When I didn’t succeed, I just stopped him, waved in his face and said: “Uh – HELLOOO Pär!” 

It was a former colleague from the newspaper where I got my very first job, Kvällsposten. I was 18 back then. And here I was, 24 years later – STILL being the crazy metal chick that he once got to know. :-) Only, thanks to Kvällsposten, that gave me my first break, I’ve met everyone and their mother since then.

He finally stopped and took a look at me – and went: “Oh…! It’s YOU!”

I got in the photo he needed for his report, and went straight back to the Satchel signing-line. 

They started playing Steel Panther songs and I gave Vera my camera, asked her to take a few pics if she got a chance.

I don’t know what I was doing or looking at, but before I realized it – Satchel was “in da house”!

He smiled that BIG WHITE smile, and immediately went: “Wait a minute.. I know you from somewhere, right….?” 

Instead of informing him that he saw me only two days before in Dortmund, Germany – I replied that I did the Steel Panther-interview in Copenhagen. 
He was just incredibly sweet, one of those people with a positive energy that you like, instantly. Not only is he a hot dude, but he just has a very cool attitude. And he wasn’t “acting” Satchel too much, he was… pretty normal. Well – until he was about to sign my Steel Panther-hoodie, that is…

I made the mistake of replying “Whatever you want!” to his question: “What would you like me to write on this?” 

So, of course – I ended up with THIS!

I also brought the pick that Suuded had managed to catch for us both at the Dortmund-show, that said:

Handed it over to Satchel and said that I wasn’t about to RETURN it, as instructed – however, I WOULD like him to SIGN it for me, cause it will make a nice little souvenir from the Dortmund-gig. :-)

Got an autograph for Suuded as well. I have to admit that the guy is incredibly charismatic. I guess they all are (the other guys in Steel Panther) in their different ways, I just like Satchel’s cheeky, extrovert style a lot. :-) No wonder people all over the planet are fallng for these guys!

 

I stuck around for a few minutes, enough to see some guy’s round belly get signed and whatever else – you can find those pix on the FB-page: www.facebook.com/intherearviewmirror or here.

Then I had to run to the backstage/VIP-area, because it was time for the Steel Panther PRESS CONFERENCE. And as you all know – that is far from what you would expect from any other press conference. :)

 

I didn’t get in the front row for a change – because I know that anything can happen, and you don’t want to be too close when it happens, lol! Poor girl in the front who wasn’t aware of that – you’ll see in the video. ;)

After the press conference (which you would actually need a few minutes to get back to NORMALITY from…!) I had a dilemma.

Cause the press conference schedule looked like this – Sebastian Bach was up next, and I didn’t want to miss THAT…

At the same time, I didn’t want to miss Steel Panther’s gig either. So I decided to stick around and see if Baz showed up on time. If he didn’t, I would leave. If he DID show up on time, I would stay for a few minutes, then go see Steel Panther.

I got the best of both worlds. Baz was right on time (only a few minutes late…) and the press conference didn’t take long, so I managed to see both. Woo-hoo!

[Photos by Henrik Hansson]

The show was great, I LOVE those guys, they bring THE PARTY wherever they go, you can’t stop smiling! I’m laughing, singing, jumping, smiling – feeling GREAT when Steel Panther is in town! The only thing that pisses me off is when I read bad reviews written by people who LACK all those qualities – a sense of humor, the ability to have fun, write good music and not take themselves too seriously. 

Like Skid Row once said when they wrote “Get The Fuck Out“: “Fuck you if you can’t take a joke“. 
I was exhilarated after that whole day, Steel Panther is a FEEL GOOD kind of band. It’s impossible to be in a bad mood after either meeting them or seeing one of their shows!

Booked a bunch of SP-gig trips for this fall, can’t wait to see them again in a few months, that will be all the refueling I need to make it through a dark and gloomy, Swedish fall. :-)

And, kind of like I did with the Firewind-tour, there will be a separate Steel Panther tour-blog when it’s time to “hit the road”! http://steelpanthertour.posterous.com/ (there’s nothing up there yet – but there will be, after the first European show that I’m going to). Looking forward to it.