Last night a buddy of mine, Donovan, had his band Blue Meridian opening for Metal Skool [oh I mean Steel Panther] at the Key Club. It’s always cool to have a connection to a show. Actually I know a few of the cats in Metal Skool too. I hadn’t seen it in a couple of years. So it was well worth the effort to get down to the Key Club and check it out. Donovan has a real gentle power. His band sounded really good last night.
The fun began shortly after Pearl (daughter of Meatloaf) finished her set. If you’ve not ever experienced the bravery of the metal of Steel Panther then you get skool’d. Pre show the audience was packing in pretty tight at the front of the stage. A camera man came out to film the festivities of the female portion of the audience. My friend Aubrey who is a fine fiddle player and unknown to the world of metal was taken by surprise when girls started taking their tops off on camera. Of course the guys in the audience were cheering.
Then came the explosion of Steel Panther. Performing hits from the yesteryear of the metal days. As Michael Starr’s jacket says, death to all but metal. Hamming it up for the audience with a good dose of comedy and some brilliant playing makes for a real good time. What helps even more is the audience members with more fame than yours truly. Last night Benj from Good Charlotte was there along with Sully from Godsmack, Scott Ian from Anthrax, DJ Ashba, and the guitarist from Fall Out Boy. Of course when the boys of Steel Panther know someone is in the audience they get them on stage to play along.
For the all star jam last night it was all of them up on stage doing Tush by ZZ Top. The star of the event was DJ Ashba. Unfortunately Benj, and Fall Out Dude (on bass) didn’t know the tune. It was still fun to watch though. Lots of funny quips by Satchel baggin on audience goers and talking metal trash. it was a fun time.
Which is why I decided to pull out a little metal for today’s blog. Iron Maiden likely doesn’t need an introduction if you know anything about metal. They are like Metallica in that they are the grandfathers of metal along with Metallica. Big guitars, soaring vocals, gothic themes, pounding rhythms based around guitar riffs… it’s what metal is all about.
As was referenced several times last night by Satchel… Only The Good Die Young. Or rather metal shall live forever. Go get your maiden on. And if you’re in hollywood on a monday night, see Steel Panther.