Steel Panther sinks their teeth into Richmond!

Photos and Review by: Jamie LeBlanc

Lineup: BRKN Love, Steel Panther

Venue: The National, Richmond, VA

Date: July 20, 2023

If you’ve never heard of Steel Panther, you may not be alone, but you’ll also need to fix that! The night opened up with our friends from the great white north BRKN Love! Growing up, the bands main influences were Led Zeppelin and Soundgarden. This can be heard especially when lead singer Justin Benlolos brings out his earth shaking vocals. As they played through their set I could hear the fans stating “wow these guys are the openers” “holy *radio edit* they are incredible” and ” OMG THEYRE PLAYING WAR PIGS”. While bands don’t normally check their Spotify listener count, I’m sure they’ll notice a boost from RVA next time they look in.

By 8:30 it was time to bring out the GLAM! Steel Panther “roared” onto the stage with their new hit song “Eye of the Panther”. From the very first lyric sung you could tell the LA based quartet were REAL performers. Jumping around, kicking, and running from side to side on stage, concert goers were going to get the FULL SP experience. New fans were brought into the fact quick that while the band musical and vocal talents are up there with the best, their lyrics and show are also comedy based! With songs like “Let Me Cum In” “Friends with Benefits” “Death to All But Metal” and ” All I Wanna Do is F^%& (Myself Tonight)” that fact was quickly learned by newbies. In a politically correct world, Steel Panther finds a way to sing these songs, joking about things like the life of a rock star, cocaine, and dancers in a way that doesn’t come across as offensive, but funny. Whether you’re into 80s Glam bands or not, you HAVE to respect the fact they can go an entire night and leave fans not just rocking out, but laughing.