You better lock up your daughters (and mothers and probably grandmothers too), because California’s greatest export is coming back to the Mitten once again. With not one, but three shows in less than a week, Michigan will be rocked to its core when the Winter Holidaze Tour blows through the state like a blizzard of guitar riffs, raunchy lyrics, and enough hair metal to make you think it’s 1987 all over again!
Kicking off the Michigan dates, the quartet hits Grand Rapids to start the holiday season off with a bang by headlining 97.9 WGRDs Gingle Ball holiday party at GLC Live at 20 Monroe on Dec 2nd. Following that, Steel Panther will bring their guitars, drums, hair, and antics to the World famous Machine Shop for back to back shows on Dec 5th and 6th.
Fronted by Michael Starr the band has been around for over two decades. With Satchel on guitar, Stix Zadinia on the drums and Spyder (who replaced Lexi Foxx in 2018) on the bass these four continue living the rock and roll dream with the recent release of their sixth studio album, On The Prowl. Following a successful appearance on the hit show America’s Got Talent, the band brought their music (albeit an edited version) to primetime TV getting them more recognition and fans and most likely a whole new class of groupies all at the same time.
This band is not for everyone. The easily offended and uptight crowd might just want to stay home, but anyone that’s down for a good time, you don’t want to miss this tour. Drummer extraordinaire, Stix, took time out of his day to talk with Moshpit Nation about love, war, politics and Shakira. Ok, maybe not, but we did talk about Shakira!
When asked what his favorite part about being on the road Stix replied, “The fact that I get to go play rock and roll and make people happy is the best part of the job. Living out of a suitcase isn’t easy but as far as jobs go it is pretty amazing to get to do what we do and you got to feel lucky! It’s hard for me to pick our favorite venues or memories from particular cities because when you tour as much as we do, life is just like one big tour.”
Stix went on to describe some of the special things the fans can expect this time around as Steel Panther brings their flare back thru The Great Lake state once again. “We are going to be bringing live tigers this time around, with a petting zoo with goats outside. Our coat check will also be a goat so if you plan on checking a coat plan on it maybe being eaten. There will be a Panther rock show inside and goat petting zoo outside, fun for the whole family. Later we will feed the tigers with the goats.” Stix promises. When I asked if I’d be able to possibly ride a tiger Stix also promised to bring a saddle just for me!
Now Steel Panther may not be “everyone’s cup of tea” as Stix puts it, but you cannot deny the talent or the showmanship the band brings to their music. The recent appearance on AGT is case in point proving that Steel Panther can succeed even on a family program. “It was a great experience, and it made a difference in the awareness and visibility of the band. That was the whole reason we went on the show. We wanted to get into peoples living rooms that might have never heard of us and it worked. We are such a do it yourself band, if we had gone on to win it would have been a weird thing because we wouldn’t have wanted to give our business away because we love the fact that we do it ourselves.” Anyone watching the performance saw the band had the audience and the judges eating out of their hand with a somewhat tame version of Eyes of a Panther off the On The Prowlalbum. They made it thru the auditions and into the next round giving millions a taste of what many of us have already grown to love over the years.
Stix accurately describes Steel Panther as “If Motley Crue and Andrew Dice Clay had a four headed baby. Even if we’re not your cup of tea, it is a whole bunch of other people’s cup of tea and it’s our cup of tea. I’m not going to try to change your mind if you don’t dig it but you can’t argue that it’s bad. It can not be your thing, for example Shakira is not my cup of tea. I don’t like that type of music but I recognize that she is talented and really great at what she does but it’s just not my jam. If you grade us on the performance level and the ability level and song construction level it’s good shit even if you don’t like it.” I’m not exactly sure what the name of that particular tea would be but you will not find it on the shelves at your local supermarket so you better get your ass to the show to find out for yourself!
If you’ve never seen Steel Panther live, now is your chance and if you already have, you probably already have tickets to go back again. Stix encourages people to come check out the show. “Don’t miss it because it will be fun. It will be a pure escape from the mundane and the day to day stuff. It’s going to be a hoot! Come to a Steel Panther show and get your nether regions rocked!”
You can catch them on 12/2 at GLC Live in Grand Rapids and on 12/5 and 12/6 in Flint at the Machine Shop. Info on tickets and VIP packages can be found at www.steelpanther.com. Be sure to follow on IG @steelpanther and @stixzadinia
By Brian D. Benn
