Steel Panther with support from Gus G and DJ Matt Stocks – The Academy Manchester 11th February 2019

I was really excited to have the opportunity to shoot these guys… I predict a fun night was to be on the cards!

Kicking off the night was DJ Matt Stocks, instead of an actual band. He delivered a full set of classic rock tracks from the 90’s to warm up the crowd for the main act. Following the many singalong nostalgia session from Matt came Gus G a heavy metal guitarist who also plays in the band Firewind. He is a phenomenal guitarist and has been known as the god of riffs, I can see why! Supporting his latest release Fearless he plays long solos and rips his way across the frets leaving the crowd in awe of his talent. Bassist Dennis Ward and drummer Johan Nunez join Gus in solid support to make this a fantastic all around memorable performance.

Another 40 mins session from DJ Matt Stocks warmed up the crowd some more to even louder singing and chants from the crowd “We want Steel Panther!”

Opening to a crowd eruption – enter Steel Panther. Here they come, the 4 spandex clad lads full of glamour and whit. They break into ‘Eyes of a Panther’ straight away followed shortly by ‘Goin in the backdoor’. Lexxi Foxx with his mirror and randomly applying lippy, Michael Starr leading with the profane and hilarious lyrics and Satchel with his cheesy solo’s sure made the party get into full swing. Aside from their own songs, the set included covers from The Kinks, Motley Crue, Van Halen and Ozzy Osborne. Drummer Stix even paid homage to Def Leppard’s Rick Allen with a solo with one arm tucked into his shirt! Plenty of banter was to be had as fun was poked at each other in the band, and also at the crowd getting everyone joining in the fun. They certainly kicked ass and are fantastic musicians. What a great show and a lot of fun to shoot being up close and personal to them was even better.

Steel Panther certainly brought Hollywood to the neighbourhood with their Sunset Strip Live Tour and proved that they are still crazy motherf*****s who are going to continue to party on dudes!