[LIVE REVIEW] STEEL PANTHER Bring Sex, Spandex And Heavy Metal To London’s Kentish Town

Steel Panther kick off their set at the o2 Forum, Kentish Town

Just over a week ago I was at Wembley, surrounded by 90,000 emos belting out the Black Parade tracklist. Tonight, I've swapped the black shirts and marching band uniforms for tight spandex and copious amounts of hairspray (not literally - you can stop trying to picture that in your head). Following a last minute invite, I've found myself at the o2 Forum in London's Kentish Town, for the opening night of STEEL PANTHER's "Twenty Twenty S£x" UK tour.

Let's see what I've got myself in for.

The planned main support, Kelsey Karter and the Heroines, have unfortunately had to pull out of tonight's show due to Canadian wildfires affecting flights, leaving BLACK SONIC PEARLS as the sole opener of the night.

Black Sonic Pearls are tonight's opening act

The jumping starts early as vocalist Arseniy Borodin directs the crowd, frequently showing gratitude and amazement at playing in the city. The hard rock edge makes for a good opener to a band like Steel Panther, even slipping in a rocked up cover of Michael Jackson's 'Earth Song', but beyond that I found myself wanting more. Perhaps too "straight faced" and serious for the more sleazy, no holds barred headliner, even with Borodin giving his finest Snake Plissken look (sans eyepatch).

Arseniy Borodin: Escape from New York

A triumphant cheer as their large backdrop covers the stage, and it isn't long before STEEL PANTHER take the stage. Leopard print? Check. Multicoloured spandex? Check. Stripper poles and dancers? Also check.

The next hour and a half or so is a riotous blast of hair metal and all things glam, the band rattling through hits including 'Eyes of a Panther' and 'Death to All but Metal.' At one point, frontman Michael Starr claims they've been voted 'Top 175 heavy metal bands to play in London this month.'

Steel Panther's Michael Starr

There's dick talk. There's cocaine talk. The sleaze is filthily sleazy. Any sense of subtlelty was left three tube stops down. Asian fans are brought on to the stage during 'Asian Hooker', and Starr invites any female member of the audience to come up for '17 Girls in a Row'. It's incredibly on the nose, but the band lean into it so perfectly it's hard not to laugh at it all. Everyone here tonight is fully on board with it.

At one point, the music shifts focus to an audience member, Claudia. Starr sits her down on the stage, and then each member of the band tries to serenade her (to varying levels of success). It's around this point the set starts to lull a bit. Luckily, main set closer 'Party Like Tomorrow Is the End of the World' delivers, and the crowd is having just as much fun as those on stage.

Steel Panther at o2 Forum Kentish Town

It's easy to see this as a gimmick, and it's easy to see why people dismiss them because of this. However, the musicianship and showmanship is tight, a great throwback to the era of hair and glam metal, and makes for an entertaining show. Its cracks only start to appear when stretched to a full headlining set, a few too many gaps between songs for a bit of sex talk. There can only be so much banterous chit chat about who fucked who's mum first before the novelty begins to wear off.