Steel Panther

September 13, 2024

Augusta, GA

Miller Theater

Review by Joseph Hett

Steel Panther Melts Faces In Augusta

The legendary comedic glam metal band Steel Panther stopped in Augusta at the Miller Theater on Friday night. Spandex and big hair were plentiful along with references to sex, drugs and rock-n-roll for this momentous show. Singer Michael Starr, guitarist Satchel, drummer Stix and bassist Spyder would go on to crank it to 11 to everyone’s delight.

After walking out on stage to the soft “Sailing” by Christopher Cross, things soon got hard when Steel Panther started up “Goin’ in the Backdoor.” They kept things heavy with the catchy “Fat Girl (Thar She Blows).”

Members of the reserved seat audience quickly made the historic theater feel like a rock club by making their way to an impromptu standing room pit in front of the stage.

After welcoming everyone out, Satchel took notice of a youngster out front: “By the way there is a kid in the f*cking front row tonight. I expect this kid to scream so f*cking loud that he has a sore throat and he can’t go to f*cking school for two f*cking weeks…Because we are bringing heavy metal back for the kids!”

Satchel also seemed excited to be playing Augusta for the first time: “This is f*cking awesome. Very excited to be playing Augusta for the first time. I play golf, and when I was a kid had dreams of going to Augusta and actually playing in the Masters.” Speaking of golf, this would have been the perfect night to perform their classic “Just Like Tiger Woods,” but unfortunately they did not.

After Stix performed an impersonation of Def Leppard drummer Rick Allen, Steel Panther launched into “Party All Day (F*ck All Night)” and then “All I Wanna Do Is F*ck (Myself Tonight).”

Starr and Satchel bickered with each other throughout the evening. Who would have known that Jane’s Addiction was doing it too at the same time, but for real.

After “Friends With Benefits,” Satchel performed an out of this world guitar solo. The rest of the band came out for “Turn Out the Lights” and “Pooontang Boomerang.”

It was now time for the traditional Steel Panther segment of bringing a young lady out from the crowd on stage for each band member to sing an impromptu song to. The very eager Allie was chosen and seated front and center. Since she was well-abreast of the task at hand, she quickly earned her backstage pass. They also performed the acoustic ballad “Girl From Oklahoma” for Allie and a friend she later brought up. More girls were invited onstage for the riffing “17 Girls in a Row.”

They closed the set with the fan-favorites “Community Property” and “Death to All but Metal.”

Back for the encore, they let loose with “Gloryhole” to close out the show.

It was shocking when it was announced that Steel Panther was going to play in Augusta, since this market mainly attracts country and R&B acts. If you love the glory days of heavy metal and glam metal, then a Steel Panther show is the place for you. These run of shows wrapped up the final leg of the “On The Prowl” World Tour. Steel Panther has a single SoCal date in mid-October and then a run of dates in Australia. The “Feel the Steel” 15^th Anniversary Tour marks their return to the States in November and December.