Date: Friday, May 3, 2024
City: Bloomington, IL
Venue: The Castle Theater
Opening act(s): Stitched Up Heart
Headlining act: Steel Panther
Stitched Up Heart Setlist:
To The Wolves
Lost
Possess Me
My Demon
The Architect
Finally Free
Conquer And Divide
Immortal
Steel Panther Setlist:
Eyes Of A Panther
Tomorrow Night
Just Like Tiger Woods
Asian Hooker
Friends With Benefits
Death To All But Metal
1987
Ain’t Dead Yet
Weenie Ride
17 Girls In A Row
Party Like Tomorrow Is The End Of The World
———————
Gloryhole
Notes:
- Twelfth Steel Panther show. Second time seeing openers Stitched Up Heart.
- First time seeing “Tomorrow Night” since December 15, 2015 (show #5).
- First time seeing “Just Like Tiger Woods” since December 11, 2021 (show #10).
- First time seeing “Weenie Ride” since October 16, 2021 (show #9).
- First time seeing “Just Like Tiger Woods” since December 11, 2021 (show #10).
- First time seeing “Party Like Tomorrow Is The End Of The World” since October 16, 2021 (show #9).
- The band introductions before “Just Like Tiger Woods” included snippets of Poison’s “Nothin’ But A Good Time” and Def Leppard’s “Photograph.”
- Satchel played a guitar solo before “Death To All But Metal.”
- A girl named Morgan was brought on stage before “Weenie Ride” and each member of the band sang a tiny snippet of a ‘made up’ song to her.
- First show missing “Community Property.”
- Number of ever-present songs drops to two.
- Tied with October 16, 2021 (show #9) for the shortest set by song total with 12.
- Show #5 at this venue; first since March 26, 2023.
Videos:
Review:
Ever since I became a fan of Steel Panther back in 2011, they’ve been a near-annual presence on my concert itinerary. The only years since that I’ve not seen them live are 2017, 2020, and 2022.
Some years made up for that though, as I was able to see them multiple times in 2012 and 2021. I was actually supposed to see them twice in 2023, but real life stepped in and resulted in me not making it to their show at The Factory in St. Louis, MO on December 17, 2023.
Thankfully Steel Panther announced a show even closer, as they would be returning to The Castle Theatre in Bloomington for the third time.
My wife treated me to tickets and off we went.
The band is still on tour in support of their 2023 return to form album On The Prowl, though it doesn’t seem like much of that album has been performed live. I cheated with this show and looked at the set ahead of time. There were differences from the prior time I had seen them (at this very same venue on March 26, 2023), but the ‘new’ songs remained the same. That was a bit of a bummer, as “Is My Dick Enough?” deserves to see the stage. But at least an old favorite that I hadn’t seen in years would be returning.
We arrived at the venue around 6:20 after a quick GPS incident and got in line. Doors opened at 7:00 and we made our way into the fully general admission theater. I wanted to score balcony seats like I had for my prior visit here and thankfully was able to do so.
The Castle Theatre is a neat little venue, though the sound isn’t the greatest and I hate the GA aspect of it. I’ve been on the floor for most of my shows there, either because the balcony wasn’t open or I just didn’t secure a spot in time. But now that I’m 37, I’m even more opposed to standing all goddamn night so getting there early enough for a seat is a must. Even if the seat is just a stool and still leaves me with back pain at the end of the night.
Last year’s show unfortunately had two openers. Tonight thankfully had only one, and it was a band that we had seen open for Steel Panther once before (on December 11, 2019): Stitched Up Heart. The familiarity was not a good thing, as I remembered being doubtful of how much the singer was actually singing and even had doubts about the guitar and/or bass being live.
It was quickly apparent that nothing had changed in the last five years. Well, I guess a little had changed. The singer now had black hair instead of blond. And at times it was clear she was singing on top of a track instead of just lip-syncing. Although I’m not sure if that’s because her vocal was coming through the mic or that it was just a small & quiet enough venue that I could just hear her actual voice all the way up in the balcony.
The music was dreadful, made worse by how blatant the miming was. I can’t speak for the bassist (who looked like one of CC DeVille’s illegitimate children) or guitar player (who looked like Oren from Parks & Rec), but at least the drummer was going to town.
The venue and the shitty sound mix combined so that I could really only hear drums and fake vocals for most of their set. At least until they got out of sync at one point and I could hear a full musical track playing in the background. So it wasn’t that the singer was just singing over a vocal track, a full band recording was actually playing underneath them.
Between this and Catch Your Breath (in March), I just can’t deal with these younger artists blatantly miming. It’s all over concerts, it’s all over TV like SNL… The world apparently owes Ashley Simpson an apology.
Thankfully they were only on for a half hour or so. Then it was changeover time.
Steel Panther took the stage around 9:00 with their most common opener “Eyes Of A Panther.” Then came the highlight of the night, “Tomorrow Night.” That has always been one of my favorites and I hadn’t seen it live since way back on December 15, 2015. So it was a welcome return.
As usual, band introductions followed. Michael’s introduction included a segment of Poison’s “Nothin’ But A Good Time” while Stix’s once again included a bit of Def Leppard’s “Photograph.” And while I’m always happy to see a salute to my favorite band, this bit and its associated jokes have been present for too long.
The intro break lasted around 10 minutes. A Steel Panther performance is a comedy show as much as it is a concert, so that’s not unusual… But I can’t help but notice how the number of actual songs performed has dropped over the years. More on that later.
“Just Like Tiger Woods” got us back into concert mode. Then came the old classic “Asian Hooker” and new classic “Friends With Benefits,” which is one of the best songs on On The Prowl.
Satchel once again did his guitar solo, once again being a standard solo rather than the ‘hair solo’ that features riffs of classic rock mega hits. And that led right into the band’s signature tune, “Death To All But Metal,” being played much earlier than usual.
Steel Panther stripped things down, with Michael Starr once again strapping on a guitar for a performance of “Ain’t Dead Yet.” I like seeing new and different stuff, but I do not consider this to be a highlight from On The Prowl and I’m not sure why it remains in the set list after a year.
As always, a female audience member was brought on stage to be serenaded by each of the band members. With this being my 12th Steel Panther show, I’m quite familiar with the bits and am now starting to pick up on the similarity in these ‘impromptu’ songs sung to audience members. But it still does allow for different, random things to happen, so it’s always an enjoyable bit.
Another set change occurred next, as “Girl From Oklahoma” was swapped out for “Weenie Ride.” Which I did not mind, as I’ve seen the latter less often than the former.
17ish girls were brought on stage for “17 Girls In A Row,” which returned after a one show rest. Then “Party Like Tomorrow Is The End Of The World” returned after a two show rest.
Then the band took an encore break for a rest.
And then they returned to once again close things out with “Gloryhole.”
So it was another solid show from Steel Panther. Being my 12th show, I have to admit things do feel a bit on the stale side now. The shows are always fun, don’t get me wrong. But the jokes and songs used to evolve over time. Right now, it feels like a lot of the between song banter has been unchanged since 2018 or so.
Making things worse is the fact that the set once again included just 12 songs, tying the record low previously set on October 16, 2021. My first six Steel Panther shows featured between 14 and 16 songs each, averaging an even 15. My second six Steel Panther shows have teetered between 12 and 14 songs, with the average being 12.8.
Honestly, I’d rather have more songs than banter. Especially now that the band’s discography has tripled in size compared to when I first started listening to them.
But it is what it is. A fun time and an escape from reality. As long as they are coming around on convenient dates at convenient places, I’ll continue to check them out.
Links:
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