Steel Panther at The Midland Theatre, Kansas City MO (27 March 2025)

STEEL PANTHER TOUR DATES

The Steel is still real, and we feel it, fifteen years later–

Comedic LA glam metal rockers Steel Panther are back on the road with their live extravaganza- this time are celebrating fifteen years of their first full-length that started it all, Feel The Steel (Universal Records).

Why fifteen years? – because they can, and it features additional tracks and photos and has been called according to the band, “The greatest heavy metal album of all time*” (*= according to the people of Guam), so that’s reason enough.

They stopped in Kansas City towards the end of their most recent tour leg, for a downtown show at The Midland Theatre- an upgrade in size and scale since their last local appearance, just a year ago in February.

We do feel bad for the scheduled openers- Seattle rockers Moon Fever, who the headliners have taken on tour with them three times (including last year’s show at The Truman that we caught), who all came down with an extreme bout of food poisoning following the Oklahoma City show that forced a last-minute cancellation of the KC show, and also their final tour stop in Dubuque, IA the following night.

Their full-length “Forever Sleep” is out now and we were looking forward to hearing some of the new songs, coupled with their high-energy stage presence, but all was not meant to be on this night. We’ll blame OKC (and/or maybe Steel Panther’s own “Girl from Oklahoma”) for the malaise and hope they’re healthy and back on the road again soon.

As for Steel Panther, the boys were in rare form as usual for their hundred-minute set – rocking the crowd, full of laugh out loud double-entendre one liners, and giving the audience a fun bang-for-their-buck evening of over-the-top entertainment.

This show was a bit different than in previous years in the clubs in that it was all ages, and a good amount of the venue floor was seated/reserved. Odd for a SP show (and if a movie, the show would rate a “R” just for language), but we appreciated the band’s effort to broaden their audience and bring their “death to all but metal” mantra to more of the masses.

The setlist of course, centered around the seminal (huh huh) first album, but not in any order, and was not complete in playing all the tracks. That thought may irk fans of other bands, but SP has made a good living playing what they want, when they want, all with a wink and a smile, so not hearing songs like “Stripper Girl” or “Hell’s on Fire” was ok (though I would have loved “Party All Day” to find a place in there).

Longtime fans got a special treat following the opening “Eyes of a Panther” and 2011’s “It Won’t Suck Itself” as Michael Starr and guitarist Satchel revved up a EVH guitar riff and continued it into playing half of Van Halen’s “Panama”. We’ve been seeing the pair live since their days in VH Tribute band, The Atomic Punks, so it was a real joy to see how dead-on they can still play a VH classic.

‘Bassist Spyder was introduced as the ‘new guy’ even though he’s been around over two years and acclimated himself to the audience by tossing out free candy (that may or may not have been spiked) and drummer Stix Zadinia took some friendly ribbing before showcasing his Rick Allen impersonation (the Def Leppard drummer), which opened the door for more jokes.

Hands went in the air (in a certain configuration) for “The Shocker” and Satchel showed off his formidable guitars skills which included riffs from Iron Maiden, Metallica, G ‘n R, Sabbath and more, in addition to his own. This is part of why the band has lasted and have been as successful as they are- they write good (and also hilarious) songs, and can perform as well or better, than any ‘more serious’ bands of the genre.

“Girl from Oklahoma” brought up Abby chosen from the audience to be serenaded by the band and then a bevy of females crowded the stage for a dance party on “17 Girls in a Row”. The main set would end with the band’s signature hit and the beginning track from Feel The Steel, “Death to All but Metal.”

Starr was impressed that a fan up front had not one, but two of the band’s drumheads adorned with the band’s “Glory Hole” graphic and the foursome ended the evening with their 2014 hit (with lyrics we won’t be quoting, haha) and hats of all kinds, being tossed around from stagehands to band members. Warning that no one was going home until each caught a hat, hats were snagged by guitar necks and drumsticks, one by one as the band said goodnight.

Though we’re celebrating fifteen years of Feel the Steel, Steel Panther (in its various incarnations) has actually been around for twenty-five and the ‘joke’ still remains very fresh, so we’ll look forward to rocking and laughing again with them soon.

All Photos by JASON DOMINGUES (click on any image to enlarge and to see in full)