Live Review: Steel Panther, Black Stone Cherry

A Steel Panther gig is two parts rock'n'roll and one part '80s hair metal cosplay. Unlike most of the band, there were very few punters donning their best spandex and wigs who successfully pulled it off. Middle-aged men channelled their inner David Lee Roth for the party that is Steel Panther.

Opening for any band at the top of their game is a daunting task, let alone the likes of Steel Panther, but Kentucky natives Black Stone Cherry more than proved their worth, entertaining those who turned up early with their heavy Southern American rock.

But Thursday night at Metro City belonged to the Sunset Strip's real bad boys, Steel Panther. The band got the party started in scintillating fashion with a triple threat of Eyes Of A Panther, Tomorrow Night and Fat Girl (Thar She Blows) and were met huge cheers of approval from the crowd. The band as a whole may be unique but there's nothing unique in their humour. To really appreciate the next few minutes of banter between frontman Michael Starr and guitarist Satchel, you just had to channel your inner 14-year-old pubescent schoolboy, with cringeworthy jokes featuring punch lines that included cocks, vaginas and anal sex, all received in fits of laughter by the mainly male crowd. However, Steel Panther's strength is in their music, so with each very talented member of the band mocking bass player Lexxi Foxx, followed by various dick jokes about the man behind the kit (Stix Zadinia — geddit?) more than one punter was heard muttering "just play a fucking song".

When the music started again it was a set of old favourites with a few tracks from their latest release, All You Can Eat, thrown in for good measure. At one point 17 young ladies crowded onto stage with the band, a pretty obvious set up for crowd favourite 17 Girls In A Row. The highlight of the set had nothing to do with silly gimmicks but came in the form of an incredible guitar solo from Satchel. Cheekily incorporating riffs from classics including Master Of Puppets and Sweet Child 'O Mine, it reached peak cool with the only metal version of Advance Australia Fair you're ever likely to hear.

Steel Panther always deliver the goods and this show was no different.