STEEL PANTHER / CROBOT / TRAGEDY

3/14/23

Rams Head Live

Baltimore, MD

Steel Panther Set List:  Eyes of a Panther, Let Me Cum In, Asian Hooker, All I Wanna Do Is Fuck (Myself Tonight), The Burden of Being Wonderful, Party Like Tomorrow Is the End of the World, Guitar Solo, Death to All but Metal, 1987, Ain’t Dead Yet, Girl From Oklahoma, Never Too Late (To Get Some Pussy Tonight), Party All Day (Fuck All Night), ENCORE:  Community Property, Glory Hole

 
Crobot Set List:  Electrified, Dizzy, Livin’ On the Streets, Golden, The Necromancer, Holy Ghost, Drown, Gasoline, Low Life, Without Wings

Tragedy Set List:  Tragedy, Gimme! Gimme! Gimme! (A Man After Midnight), Sweet Caroline, It’s Raining Men, You’re the One That I Want, How Deep Is Your Love?, Stayin’ Alive

Steel Panther started in 2000 as a hair metal comedy show in California.  The bands original name was Metal Shop and that eventually evolved into Metal Skool.  Early in the bands career they appeared in a Discover Card commercial under the band name “Danger Kitty” and was also on the Drew Carey Show as themselves.  

 Steel Panther are a comedy/parody metal band that somehow evolved into a “real” band that have released six full length records.  The bands current release is “On The Prowl” and the band are on the road in support of it.  One major change with this tour is their new bassist, Spyder.  Original bassist Lexxi Foxx left in 2021 and his replacement, Spyder adds a new energy, style, and sound to the Steel Panther brand.  Spyder is a strong player and far less glam than Lexxi.  What you realize with the member change is that Steel Panther IS Michael Starr and Satchel.  Those 2 carry the show and are the sound of the band.  Starr’s vocals are inspired by Vince Neil, David Lee Roth, and Stephen Pearcy but if I’m being honest with you, he’s a better singer than all three.  Satchel is a passionate player and his lead guitar work is second to none while his rhythm playing is both melodic and chunky.  

 
This show line up was unique because each band brought a distinct style and sound to the bill while only one band, Crobot, was a truly all original band.  Tragedy is a heavy metal tribute to 70’s disco and Steel Panther are a hair metal parody; Crobot brought their original music to the table and their style is equal parts Rage Against the Machine meets Soundgarden.  

Tragedy opened the show at 7:30 PM with a song ironically called “Tragedy”.  In 2021 the band signed a worldwide record deal with Napalm Records.  Mo’Royce Peterson (Guitar/vocals) is the founding and only original member since the bands inception.  Tragedy have performed several times at Rams Head Live in Baltimore through the years and each time their line up was slightly different.  The current version of Tragedy is tight and sonically they are a weird mix of 70’s disco, thrash metal, and cheesy hair metal.  The best way I can explain that statement is by telling you about a unique mash-up they performed, a split cover of “Reign in Blood” by Slayer mixed with “It’s Raining Men”.  

Tragedy are a fun band to witness onstage and their while their music works well on cd/record they are best experienced live onstage because their disco balls are swinging as they rip through metal styled disco songs.  

 
Crobot are from Pottsville, Pennsylvania and formed in 2011; Brandon Yeagley (vocals) and Chris Bishop (guitar) are the primary/original members.  Bassist Tim Peugh is the bands most recent member and joined in 2021.  Drummer Dan Ryan has been with the band since 2017.  Their latest release is “Feel This” and was released on June 3, 2022.  Crobot’s live show as developed through the years; the band started out just taking the stage and letting the music do the talking but over the last few tours they have added more theatrics to their stage show.  When the band toured with GWAR in 2022 lead singer Brandon Yeagley took the stage by breaking out of a giant dinosaur egg and when they played in Baltimore Brandon was mock killed onstage by a GWAR member.

Crobot sounded amazing and their energy has always been set to full power.  Brandon took the stage strapped to a fake electric chair; behind him was a large devil head that had light up eyes and spit smoke from its mouth.  Crobot thanked Baltimore for always supporting the band and commented that they were from Pennsylvania and always made it a point to play Maryland because Maryland and 98 Rock was always good to them.

At the merch table all Steel Panther shirts were $40 and signed drum heads were $70.  Steel Panther’s stage featured a huge backdrop that displayed the artwork for “On The Prowl”.  Michael Starr wore a white hat randomly throughout the night and would toss it to members of the audience as if were a frisbee and they would toss it back to him.  The hat would eventually become part of the encore because their ritual was to toss it between the entire band and if one member missed the hat they had to start the game all over until each member caught it successfully without dropping it.  

Cancel Culture had no place at this Steel Panther show because every single thing the band said onstage went against the grain and was 100% politically incorrect.  Several of the bands “Routines” were standard like when Satchell commented that they were bringing diversity back to heavy metal because there were black people in the crowd.  Satchell eventually commented that they had “Boyz 2 Men” in the crowd after spotting a few black guys in attendance.  

Satchell told the crowd that there was a special guest in the crowd and pointed to an older gentleman with a long beard and identified him as Billy Gibbons from ZZ Top.  Clearly, this was NOT Billy Gibbons but the band carried on the joke for 1/2 of their set and even performed a partial cover of “La Grange”.   

Michael Starr commented at one point that he had sex with former Ratt drummer Bobby Blotzer and that the drummer was great at going “Round & Round” on his manhood while always coming “Back For More”.  The Ratt references were not lost on this crowd as they all laughed.

 
“The Burden of Being Wonderful” was a deep cut that got performed and actually showed a very different side to the band.

 
A male fan in the front row held up a sign asking the band to let him sing “Party All Day” with them.  The band made fun of the guy’s sign but did eventually allow him to come onstage and sing the song with them.  

 The Encore consisted of “Community Property” and “Glory Hole” along with an extended hat toss session between the band and the crowd. 

 
Steel Panther made a frigid Tuesday night in Baltimore feel like a HOT Saturday night!