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December 4, 2023

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Steel Panther prowled into Temple Live on Friday night to kick off their Winter Holidaze Tour.  Satchel joked that they piled into singer Michael Starr's mom's mini van and drove from LA to start their tour in Cleveland.

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For those unfamiliar, Steel Panther relives the best of the 80's "hair metal" bands with their looks, attitude and sound.  Playing original songs with mostly over the top lyrics about sex, drugs and rock and roll.  All done with tongue firmly planted in their cheek, however their musicianship and singing are all done at an extremely high level.

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If you are easily offended by these topics, this show is not for you.  However, if you have a "nothin' but a good time" attitude, this is a super fun show.

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The band kicked off the show with "Eyes of a Panther" and "Let Me Cum In."  Satchel and Michael Starr then spent the next ten minutes with on stage banter about Michael's mom and other assorted tales.

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Fans come to expect this type of juvenile banter, however it does go on a little to long for me at times.  I would much rather hear another song or two.

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A couple new songs in the set, "Friends With Benefits" and the nastologic and perhaps their best song "1987" fit in perfectly  with their other classic tunes like "Death To All But Metal."

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Michael brought up a pair of girls to the stage for the band to make up a song about them.  However, when he asked them their age and they both replied "17!" Starr was unsure what to do.  Stixx chimed in, "You know when you catch a small fish and it isn't quite ready, you have to throw it back."  Satchel pleaded, "The ago of consent in Ohio is 16, so they're fine."  Starr, using his better judgement asked the young ladies to leave and brought up another female from the front.  The forty-one year old was a much better choice to have each band member write a couple lines about her.

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Since it was a Christmas show, the mic stands and drum kit were adorned with white Christmas lights.  After the front row guest left, the band came out with Santa hats and promptly went into "The Stocking Song."

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The party came to a close with "Community Property" and the two song encore "Gloryhole" and "Catch the Hat."

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It was a great way to kick off the Holidaze.... 1980's style!

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Newcomers Moon Fever opened up the show.  The band suffered through some sound mix problems early on, but soldiered on until they were fixed. 

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The vocalist has some potential and overall the band isn't too bad.  However, the biggest disappoitment for me is that they clearly used backing tracks for piano, keys and backing vocals.  I am all about hearing a band totally live.  If you have a lot of songs with keyboards or piano, and this band did, then go hire a touring musician to play live and sing backup.

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Review and photos by Greg Drugan