Tagged: Steel Panther
You wanted the best – you got STEEL PANTHER!
I had an absolutely perfect day here in Manchester, UK, yesterday. Arrived around 10 in the morning and had the whole day to enjoy the sunshine and the many happenings, markets and fairs down in the city center.
There was music everywhere, everything from karaoke (a little girl was singing, I remember her having a wonderful voice – hopefully a future star!) acrobats, dancers, street art and walking soda cups. Anything you could imagine. There was BBQ’ing and it smelled so good, food from everywhere, cajun, indian, traditional… And home made cupcakes. Too bad I’m on a low carb diet, or I would have tried a few of those, they looked delicious.
My feet and my back were killing me after the hours of walking, I just went back to the hotel for 10 minutes to get some rest, then walked off to O2, Apollo. There was already a line, 3,5 hours before doors even opened.
What I don’t like about O2 though, is that so called “priority guests”-line. People who BUY their way in, they get in before everybody else and can choose their spots. So all the other people who have been standing there all day freezing their asses off, getting tired just as much as anyone else, gets to stare at somebody’s back instead.
I ended up behind two teenage girls who were giggling and talking the WHOLE time, except for when they were updating their Facebook-statuses of course, or texting…
Anyway, the hours spent out there in the cold were still worth it. At least as soon as the opening act Falling Red got off the stage. The difference between Steel Panther and bands like Falling Red is that at least Steel Panther is doing it as a JOKE, as a parody of what the glam and sleaze era was all about.
Falling Red IS the kind of band that they are joking about. When they started shouting about who in the audience was a sex addict or a drug/alcohol addict, as if it was something cool to scream a “yes” to that bullshit, I just thought “please get off the fucking stage you beehived Motley Crue wannabe losers”…
If they meant it as a joke as well, it just wasn’t made the right way, come on, it’s not the 80’s anymore.
But if I erase those 30 minutes of the show out of my head (believe me, it won’t take long) and move on to the Steel Panther show…
Steel Panther is – hands down – the BEST live band there is, anywhere, right now. They take ALL the elements that makes a great show, mix them all together and put a label on it that says STEEL PANTHER. Absolutely fucking AMAZING.
You get great music, played by extremely talented musicians (a fact that tends to be overlooked because of the parody label) you get four guys who are working their asses off on stage with their poses and their moves, oh, and they’re hot too.
There’s the 80’s outfits, the smoke, lasers, confetti…! It’s like Christmas and New Year’s all on one. And on top of all that, the icing on the cake – the jokes. You get to laugh too. There is no better entertainment package anywhere right now. They are doing this so right, and they’re leading their crowd into a mass psychosis pretty much.. :))
Chicks go to their shows, PLANNING to show their tits. One of them had painted something on her boobs last night, and tried everything to get noticed by the “titty cam” – and was the happiest girl in the world when she got up on stage and could lift up her home-made shirt “look everyone, I’ve got boobies!”. Well it’s just bizarre sometimes to watch the whole spectacle.
The only downside is that when you’ve seen Steel Panther a few times, some of the jokes tend to get a bit…old. :) That’s just because you’ve heard them before so it’s more like “yeah yeah, Michael is 65 years old and had a hip replacement and takes Viagra – gotcha”.
Other than that – I love this band. I will definitely travel again to see them, because it’s the one band where you simply can’t go wrong – you’re guaranteed to have a great time!
Thanks – again – Steel Panther!
[Photos here: www.facebook.com/intherearviewmirror]
[More VIDEOS here: http://lita77777.posterous.com/community-asian-fat-tiger-woods-or-something ]
AMAZING PERFORMERS – the best of the best Pt 2 (BANDS)
CONTINUED FROM PART ONE: AMAZING PERFORMERS – the best of the best
Then, of course, there are the BANDS that create live-magic on stage (not just individual musicians, but as a whole)……..
AC/DC – the ultimate live band! Wherever they go, there will be PHAR-TEY!
Skid Row (1989-1995) PURE energy, if you weren’t fortunate enough to experience it, words or videos can never do this band justice….!
Steel Panther . the best of all worlds! You’re having a good time from the word go, they sound good, they look good, they are funny and great musicians, what’s not to like?! I LOVE this band!
Iron Maiden – Oh, boy! If you ever wondered what a real LIVE experience IS, go see Iron Maiden!
Def Leppard (-2006) God knows how many gigs they’ve played in their lifetime, obviously they were the BEST at what they did for many, many years.
Quireboys (London Quireboys) – I still regard their show at Pumpehuset in Copenhagen, 1990 as one of the BEST live gigs I’ve seen in my life!
There was something magic about this band that is hard to describe, but it was as genuine as it gets, I remember us all leaving the club that night with sweat running down our smiling faces and sore muscles from all the jumping. Absolutely unbelievable.
Mötley Crüe – THE number one live act for two decades. They had all the props, the party songs, the cool glittery stage outfits, bombs, fireworks, glitter, strippers, Nikki Sixx…! The WORKS. Then something happened – I haven’t seen them do one decent gig after 1999. But when they were good – they were the BEST.
So – which ones would be on YOUR list?
Bang Your Head festival 2012 – recap
Bang Your Head-weekend in Balingen, Germany, is over. It’s been two interesting days. Part one has been published in the Firewind-blog here.
It’s not every day that you see Venom in the catering or Cronos walking around in his stage outfit in broad daylight (or have the dressing room across from the ladies room for that matter).
Swedish sleaze/glammers Crash Diet were like glued to their chairs in the backstage area all day on Friday. The only time they moved was when it started pissing down in the evening, and theyhad to move inside. After that, they didn’t move from the catering tent until god knows when. When I left after Venom on Friday night, they were still sitting there.
I forgot that Elize Ryd from Amaranthe was with Kamelot. She walked into the catering as well, right after Kamelot finished their set, being very particular with what was on the menu and what she could eat. :)
Another piece of entertainment was seeing a few half-naked musicians both days when going to and from the ladies room (not my fault it was in the dressing room area, lol…!).Some guys who were working at the indoors-stage were staying at the same hotel as Anett and me and one morning, at breakfast I heard them talking, in German (I can pick up on a lot of German as long as they don’t speak too fast or at the same time). One guy was somewhat upset about what had taken place the night before.
– I couldn’t believe it…! Four girls in the front row called EXODUS singer to come over, and when he went there, ALL FOUR of them FLASHED their tits in his face! What the fuck! This is a THRASH-concert, it’s not a fuckin’ STEEL PANTHER-show!
I don’t think I’ve ever heard a guy complain about chicks flashing their boobs, but this guy certainly didn’t like it, lol! :-)
I could enjoy listening to a “private show” on the stage right after Firewind, when Armored Saint‘s singer John Bush was warming up. Usually you hear singers warm up with scales, but he was singing at the top of his lungs, as if he was already on stage. Pretty cool. :)
Walked into the indoors arena on Friday afternoon, as they had signing sessions there during the day. Arch Enemy had a looooong line of fans standing in line to meet “Barbie of death” Angela Gossow and the guys.
Some fans were so taken by the situation that they just stood there like paralyzed staring at Angela and wouldn’t move. There were cameras and people everywhere. I left, couldn’t see much but could establish that the band was as popular off stage as onstage. :)
When Thin Lizzy hit the stage, it was raining again. The festivals this year have been haunted by bad weather. Ricky Warwick walked out on the runway, fearless of the rain and stated: Here’s the deal. YOU get wet – WE get wet! He stood by his word.
It was guitarist Damon Johnson‘s birthday that day and he looked like a happy kid in a candy store when looking out over the crowd. :-) Excellent show!
[Birthday child]
Went to the VIP tent after Thin Lizzy because the rain kept getting worse. But shortly after there was a loud bang and it was the beginning of Venom’s show. The rain was really pissing down at this point. When I came to the stage I was surprised – it was almost empty. I could easily walk to the front of the stage. There were fireworks and fire and god knows what else in Venom’s show but… the crowds were gone.
DAY 2. (Axxis, Primal Fear, Primordial, Sabaton, Gotthard, Pain)……….. coming up.
STEEL PANTHER-day at Sweden Rock
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.
Graspop-here I come! :-)
It’s a little bit frustrating when you have so many things to tell – photos, memories, videos, all that, to share – and you just don’t have time…! :-(
It’s been work, work, work this week, you get home feeling totally beat, pass out early almost every day…
But I have everything in my head – I just need the time, peace and quiet to write it all down. Soon – when I have a whole weekend without any other obligations, there will be tons of shit on here!
Tomorrow it’s time for GRASPOP METAL MEETING in Belgium! Three days of non-stop rock, lots of great acts – and my “family” Jon Oliva’s Pain. So looking forward to all of that. Vera is joining me this time too, at least Saturday and Sunday. Then I haven’t planned anything until July when I’m off to Thessaloniki, Greece again to see Firewind. :-)
So – the Satchel-story and the day when we spent all day on somebody’s stage (Ugly Kid Joe‘s, Motorhead’s, Twisted Sister‘s….) hanging with Hell’s Angels and what not – all that will end up here eventually.
Just stick around. :-)
Belgium, here I come!
From one of the many Jon Oliva-shows I’ve been “paparazzi-ing” – ProgPower Atlanta, 2008 – featuring Zak Stevens (Savatage/Circle II Circle) :
IN THE REARVIEW MIRROR 