By Andrew Bansal
August 3rd 2015, House Of Blues Sunset Strip, West Hollywood CA: The Sunset Strip has been treated to a plethora of great live entertainment in recent history, and despite what old-timers fixated on the glory days of the 80s might keep saying, it has been far from ‘dead’. The House Of Blues has stood tall as the Strip’s premier club for the past 21 years, hosting all varieties of hard rock and heavy metal through this period, and is now closing its doors. Last night, the venue held its final show at this location, and taking into consideration the number of times Steel Panther has rocked this stage with consistent success, it was only appropriate for the Los Angeles parody glam kings to play the final show here. The show was not only sold out in advance but was streamed live all over the world. It was a fitting farewell party glittered with metal, comedy, tits, and some of Hollywood’s most loved and hated celebrity guest performers.
The atmosphere was typically festive, the booze was flowing, and the audience was ready for one last Steel Panther show on this stage. At 10:45, the band came out all guns blazing with arguably their best song, ‘Eyes Of A Panther’, and proceeded to play a 15-song set dominated by the band’s debut album ‘Feel The Steel’, with selections from the other two albums as well as the usual dosage of covers, for which they brought on a number of guests. Most of these were people that had jammed with Steel Panther on multiple occasions in the past, and it made sense for them to be a part of this show. Nuno Bettencourt was the standout among them all, and the band’s rendition of Van Halen’s ‘You Really Got Me’ with him on guitar was one of the musical highlights of the show. Then there were the usual suspects Joey Fatone, Dane Cook and Billy Ray Cyrus, along with an appearance by members of the band Ninja Sex Party. ‘Panama’ with Dane Cook on vocals was surprisingly great, but the biggest surprise of them all was the appearance of Billy Ray Cyrus’ daughter.
As soon as singer Michael Starr and guitarist Satchel pointed out Miley Cyrus in the crowd, people standing near her turned into paparazzi and she was being photographed non-stop. She stood there while her dad performed ‘Rebel Yell’ on stage, but then the band insisted she joined them for Def Leppard’s ‘Pour Some Sugar On Me’. She somehow made it through the crowd and got up. In all honesty, I have no reason to hate her because I do not listen to her music or keep track of her activities, and instead I would rather shower my hatred on certain metal bands that are grossly overrated and do not deserve any album or ticket sales, and even before that, I would concentrate my hatred on the song she was up there for. Her participation did not alter the impact in any way whatsoever, positive or negative.
Aside from that, and Ron Jeremy’s cringeworthy cameo, this Steel Panther show was enjoyable from start to finish, complete with lengthy doses of stand-up comedy and crowd banter, and some of the greatest pairs of tits ever seen. Besides, during ‘Gloryhole’, the audience was showered with blow-up dolls that were released from the ceiling, and those who caught them got something to take home as a souvenir. Staying true to human nature, people who did not attend are already coming up with all kinds of reasons for why they were glad to not be in attendance, but it was an undoubtedly entertaining evening, and being there certainly beats watching it on a TV, computer or cellphone screen. Watching a band on a screen does not come close to being at their concert. Never has, never will. The idea of watching a live stream is not very metal at all, and I have no doubt in my mind that I would not have watched this stream even if I was not at the show.
At the start of the show, I actually took my earplugs to soak in the House Of Blues Sunset Strip one last time, and to get a true feel of just how loud Steel Panther and their audience can be. It’s a good thing that this place is closing, because the decibel levels were powerful enough to shatter its very foundations. Steel Panther proved once again that despite playing a similiar kind of show for a number of years now, they still have what it takes to maintain their entertainment value for first-timers and repeat attendees alike, and for that reason their fan-base will continue to outnumber the horde of haters.
With that, we said goodbye to the House Of Blues Sunset Strip. Los Angeles will have a House Of Blues soon enough at a new location, but as for this establishment on the Sunset Strip, a lot of history was created within a 21-year span, and it will be remembered solely for the good times.
Set List:
01. Eyes Of A Panther
02. Tomorrow Night
03. Fat Girl
04. Party Like Tomorrow Is the End of the World
05. Asian Hooker
06. You Really Got Me (w/ Nuno Bettencourt)
07. 17 Girls In A Row
08. Gloryhole
09. Girl From Oklahoma (w/ Joey Fatone)
10. Community Property (w/ Joey Fatone)
11. Party All Day (w/ Ninja Sex Party)
12. Panama (w/ Dane Cook)
13. Rebel Yell (w/ Billy Ray Cyrus)
14. Pour Some Sugar On Me (w/ Miley Cyrus & Billy Ray Cyrus)
15. Death To All But Metal