Review & photos by Andrew Bansal
August 13th 2014, The Viper Room, West Hollywood CA: Over the past couple of years, Sunset Strip legends Steel Panther have become a global phenomenon, a much larger entity than the band that toiled in West Hollywood clubs week after week for more than a decade. But last night they took it back to the roots, back to where it all started for them under the name Danger Kitty, as they participated in the Viper Room’s 21st anniversary celebration week with a very special show, as Jam Prancer.
But before we got to that, doors opened at 8:45 and at 9:30 we were treated to an opening act, none other than Viper Room regulars Future Villains, who played the same stage merely three nights ago. I honestly wasn’t expecting to get into this show and thus getting to see Future Villains twice in such a short duration was a surprise. They played the same exact 7-song, 30-minute set from Sunday night, but in contrast to that show, things didn’t really begin on the smoothest note for the Los Angeles hard rock quintet. Apparently they didn’t get much of a soundcheck and as a result their sound wasn’t dialed in whatsoever, the first three songs of the set coming across as a giant wash of cacophonous nothingness. I was getting a bad feeling about it and was genuinely afraid that this audience would think the band sucks and that I’m an idiot for writing a glowing review of their Sunday night gig.
But thankfully, the sound was finally set straight on the fourth song “Toast To The Damned”, and Future Villains were able to present the fullest extent of themselves as a live band, rocking the crowd with their instant-impact jams, fronted by Dusty Bo’s crisp vocals and layered with excellent musicianship by his four band mates. ‘Toast …’ was my favorite item of the set on this occasion. Future Villains salvaged their performance from a bad start to redeem themselves as worthy openers for this show and a band capable of representing LA hard rock for a long time to come.
Future Villains links: website | facebook | twitter | instagram
Set List:
01. Sweet Little Evil
02. Bullets In The Wind
03. If You Want Blood (AC/DC cover)
04. Toast To The Damned
05. Devil In Her Bones
06. Reject
07. Down The Drain Blues
During the 40-minute intermission, the Viper Room got jam-packed and by now the show was a very obvious sellout. My frustration knew no bounds as I involuntarily tortured my ears and brain with two of the most overrated and overplayed metal songs of all time (‘Enter Sandman’ and ‘Walk’) when they blared on the PA in that sequence just as I waited for the curtain engulfing the headline act to be unfurled, but despair soon turned into delight as the quartet of Satchel, Michael Starr, Lexxi and Stix appeared, for the very first time as Jam Prancer.
Contrary to the Steel Panther show I’ve been accustomed to experiencing ever since I first saw them in 2010, Jam Prancer played an all-covers 8-song set comprising bombastic renditions of some of their favorite 80s rock/metal tunes, with a Steel Panther song thrown in for good measure in the latter half of the set, and the most notable difference, no chicks on stage. The songs were excellently chosen and even for this Viper Room crowd which was extremely quiet and non-participant in comparison to typical Panther crowds at the Key Club and House Of Blues, these songs were easy to enjoy. Besides, their standup comedy routine was as unabatedly vulgar as ever. “Great to be back at the Viper after more than 10 years. Still smells like BO and wet pussy, just like we remember it!” said Michael Starr before proceeding on to take the absolute mickey out of Dayle Gloria, the woman behind all things rock at the Viper Room over the years.
But, as a shameless (early) Bon Jovi fan, the fact that they played Livin’ On A Prayer in the set undoubtedly made my night and I sang my heart out. With the imminent free Bon Jovi tribute show in Pershing Square tonight the timing for this couldn’t have been more perfect, and I’ll most definitely be listening to the first three Bon Jovi albums on repeat all day today. The Twisted Sister, Van Halen, GNR and Ratt covers were delicious as well, and the set would have achieved perfection if they hadn’t included Def Leppard’s ‘Pour Some Sugar On Me’ which made me yell out a loud NO with a thousand Os as that song pretty much the worst thing ever in the history of worst things, in my very humble and harmless opinion.
The dudes in the band seemed to be having a blast going full circle after all these years and playing only covers, and perhaps Jam Prancer can transcend beyond a mere one-off moniker into something that occurs at the Viper Room on a recurring basis almost as a parallel universe kind of thing while Steel Panther still carries on playing their own material in much larger venues all over the world.
As Steel Panther now prepare themselves for their next endeavor, a North American tour with metal gods Judas Priest, I can’t help but think about the time in late 2010 when I hated this band, the manner in which they swayed me to the other side over subsequent years, and the strong possibility of the same happening to any and every Steel Panther hater out there. So, if you’re attending any of the Judas Priest shows (which as a North America-based reader of this website you should be), get there early to catch Steel Panther. As for Jam Prancer, us hometown fans certainly hope for more shows, and on that note, we thank the two bands and the Viper Room for an electric night.
Check out more photos from the show below and view them here for the downloadable versions or if you’re on a non-Flash device:
Jam Prancer links: facebook | twitter
Steel Panther links: website | facebook | twitter | instagram
Set List:
01. Down Boys (Warrant)
02. Round & Round (Ratt)
03. We’re Not Gonna Take It (Twisted Sister)
04. Runnin’ With The Devil (Van Halen)
05. Livin’ On A Prayer (Bon Jovi)
06. Girl From Oklahoma (Steel Panther)
07. Paradise City (Guns ‘N Roses)
08. Pour Some Sugar On Me (Def Leppard)
Judas Priest/Steel Panther tour dates:
10/01 – Rochester, NY – Main Street Armory
10/03 – Hammond, IN – The Venue at Horseshoe Casino
10/04 – Louisville, KY – Louder Than Life Fest at Champions
10/09 – Brooklyn, NY – Barclays
10/10 – Atlantic City, NJ – Harrah’s
10/11 – Mashantucket, CT – MGM Grand Theater at Foxwood’s
10/14 – Lowell, MA – Tsongas Center at UMass
10/15 – Allentown, PA – PPL Center
10/17 – East Rutherford, NJ – Izod Center
10/19 – Detroit, MI – Fox Theatre
10/24 – Baltimore, MD – Pier Six Pavilion
10/28 – Duluth, GA – The Arena at Gwinnett Center
10/30 – Hollywood, FL – Hard Rock Live Arena
11/06 – Allen, TX – Allen Event Center
11/07 – Austin, TX – FunFunFun Fest
11/10 – Los Angeles, CA – Nokia Theatre
11/12 – Phoenix, AZ – Jobing Arena
11/13 – Highland, CA – San Manuel Casino
11/14 – Las Vegas, NV – The Pearl
11/16 – San Jose, CA – City National Civic
11/18 – Salt Lake City, UT – Maverik Center
The Viper Room links: website | facebook | twitter | instagram