Steel Panther: 11

Date: Sunday, March 26, 2023
City: Bloomington, IL
Venue: Castle Theater
Opening act(s): Tragedy, Crobot
Headlining act: Steel Panther

Tragedy Setlist:

Tragedy
I’m So Excited
Sweet Caroline
It’s Raining Men
You’re The One That I Want
How Deep Is Your Love?
Stayin’ Alive

Crobot Setlist:

Electrified
Dizzy
Golden
Chupacabra
The Necromancer
Gasoline
Holy Ghost
Low Life
Without Wings

Steel Panther Setlist:

Eyes Of A Panther
Let Me Cum In
Asian Hooker
All I Wanna Do Is Fuck (Myself Tonight)
The Burden Of Being Wonderful
Friends With Benefits
Death To All But Metal
1987
Ain’t Dead Yet
Girl From Oklahoma
Party All Day (Fuck All Night)
———————
Community Property
Gloryhole

Notes:

  • Eleventh Steel Panther show. First since Spyder became the official new bassist.
  • First time seeing “The Burden Of Being Wonderful,” “Friends With Benefits,” “1987,” and “Ain’t Dead Yet” live.
  • The band introductions before “Asian Hooker” included a snippet of Def Leppard’s “Photograph.”
  • Satchel played a guitar solo before “Death To All But Metal.”
  • The band played a snippet of Nirvana’s “Smells Like Teen Spirit” before “1987.”
  • Rather than bring a girl on stage, Steel Panther brought Crobot guitarist Craig Bishop on stage before “Girl From Oklahoma” and each member of the band sang a tiny snippet of a ‘made up’ song to him.
  • Show #4 at this venue; first since October 16, 2021.

Videos:

Review:

After 2020 disrupted the concert world (and world in general), I was able to catch Steel Panther not just once but twice in 2021: October 16 in Bloomington, IL and December 11 in St. Louis, MO. It wasn’t the first time I had seen them twice in one year (having also done so in 2012). But it was the shortest time in between shows. The good part is that both shows featured very different setlists. The bad part is that bassist Lexxi Foxx had left the band and each show had a different bassist.

In fact, I had a stretch of four shows featuring different people on bas.: December 9, 2018 in St. Louis featured Spyder as the temporary bassist while Lexxi was on ‘hiatus.’ Lexxi returned for the show in St. Louis on December 11, 2019, but would leave the band in July 2021. After he left, the band began auditioning new bassists and even took them out on tour for short runs.

My first Steel Panther show when the pandemic began to let up a bit was October 16, 2021 in Bloomington, IL. That show featured Rikki Dazzle as the temporary bassist. Less than two months later, on December 11, 2021, I saw the band in St. Louis and they now had Rikki Thrash on bass.

After all that, Steel Panther finally settled on Spyder as the official new bassist in September 2022. They hit the studio and released a new album, On The Prowl, in February 2023. The final album with Lexxi Foxx, 2019’s Heavy Metal Rules, was easily their weakest. Perhaps Spyder gave them a much needed boost of energy, as On The Prowl is very much a return to form album and I was looking forward to hearing tracks from it live.

My first opportunity for that would be at The Castle Theater in Bloomington.

It would be my fourth visit to the small venue, where I had previously seen Fuel twice (2012/2017) and Steel Panther once (2021). It’s not my favorite venue in terms of aesthetics and sound quality, but the convenience outweighs that. It’s a one hour drive to a city I’m very familiar with and has close, free parking. And if time allows, I can get some Potbelly for dinner before the show.

Which is exactly what my wife and I did.

After dinner, we headed over to the venue and parked in the lot right across the street. It fills up quickly, but if you get there early enough, you can snag a spot. Then we got in line to wait for the doors to open.

I’ve never been a big fan of general admission shows. I see their advantages when it comes to cost (sometimes) and crowd participation (again, sometimes). But I hate being crammed in, I hate the stress of hoping to secure a good spot, and I hate the difficulty in moving around for any reason. My dislike of GA has only gotten stronger as I’ve gotten older.

For my three previous shows at this venue, I wound up on the floor with decent views. I don’t believe the balcony had ever been open when I was there, so I could only look up at it longingly.

Much to my surprise, it was open for this show. I didn’t realize that until we had walked onto the floor of the venue, so after I suspected it was open, I told my wife to save our spot while I tried to get up there. When I was able to get up there to secure seats, I called her up.

Boom. Balcony SEATS with a great, unobstructed view. Now I like this venue even more.

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