{"id":10954,"date":"2013-03-11T05:00:17","date_gmt":"2013-03-11T09:00:17","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/southeastofheaven.com\/?p=10954"},"modified":"2013-03-14T19:51:35","modified_gmt":"2013-03-14T23:51:35","slug":"learning-a-little-from-steel-panther","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.southeastofheaven.com\/?p=10954","title":{"rendered":"Learning a Little From Steel Panther"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"Steel_Panther_Hole_Patrol_Artwork\"<\/a>Just recently I was perusing through my Facebook news feed over a cup of coffee and I saw yet another post promoting the return of Steel Panther to Atlanta.\u00a0 For $22.50\u00a0 at the Tabernacle (which holds about 2400 people), you too can see Steel Panther; a joke band \u00a0with a shtick of parodying the image and performances of hair metal bands (think Warrant, Poison, LA Guns) and asinine songs like \u201cIt Won\u2019t Suck Itself\u201d, \u201cEatin\u2019 Aint Cheatin\u2019\u201d, and \u201cAsian Hooker.\u201d\u00a0 This whole concept just somewhat infuriated me and had me rolling my eyes.\u00a0 How can a band that is basically a joke go out there and fill up large scale venues while bands who are playing from their hearts and trying hard to do \u201creal\u201d music be struggling to play in tiny, shitty clubs?\u00a0 Bands like Holy Grail, Gypsyhawk, 3 Inches of Blood, and even classic acts like Doro Pesch are out there working their asses off to play tiny dives to sometimes small audiences.\u00a0 Why would people give their money to go see a joke when they could go see and support something that isn\u2019t?\u00a0 Well, after a recent conversation with my buddy and some reflection on my own, I figured out the answer.<\/p>\n

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So there are two sides to this \u201cjoke band\u201d concept.\u00a0\u00a0 First, from the listener\/audience perspective, I need to put myself in that position and remember that this isn\u2019t a new concept.\u00a0 The first band that comes to mind is Spinal Tap. Those guys are probably one of the first \u201cjoke bands\u201d and I fucking love that band.\u00a0 I loved the silliness of songs like \u201cBig Bottom\u201d, \u201cSex Farm\u201d, and \u201cMajesty of Rock\u201d so why bust on Steel Panther?\u00a0 Well, it\u2019s because I just had a moment where I forgot that sometimes people need an escape from reality.\u00a0 People don\u2019t always want be faced with the \u201creal\u201d or the \u201cserious\u201d side of music.\u00a0 I guess it could be equated with the same concept of going to the movies or reading books.\u00a0 Why do people read fluffy fantasy books or go see comedy, sci-fi, and\/or fantasy movies?\u00a0 We go see them to escape from the sometimes harsh hand of reality just for a moment where we can lose ourselves in it.<\/p>\n

Then we have the other side of it.\u00a0 I can\u2019t help but think of the band members themselves.\u00a0 Steel Panther are a collection of really talented musicians.\u00a0 Guitarist Russ Parish (Satchel) is a super talented guitarist who played with Rob Halford\u2019s first solo band Fight while singer Ralph Saenz (Michael Starr) sang for a Van Halen tribute band Atomic Punks for a while.\u00a0 As for the other two guys, I\u2019m not quite sure what they did and I\u2019m too lazy to look.\u00a0 So these guys are all super talented musicians and even Parish had his own band called Thornbirds.\u00a0 At some point, I have to assume that making a living playing music and touring was way more important to these guys than artistic credibility and in all honesty, there\u2019s nothing wrong with that.\u00a0 I myself am a singer\/songwriter who is lucky to make 30 bucks at a coffeehouse gig so if someone came up to me and said, \u201cHey Don.\u00a0 Would you put on a wig, play a bunch of ridiculous hair metal songs, and we\u2019ll give you a tour bus and you can tour the world and make pretty awesome cash?\u201d\u00a0 I\u2019d have to be honest and say I would do it.\u00a0 Hell, my music will still be my music when I get back and if anything, the moolah I make doing this shtick band will even award me with more opportunities to do my own music.<\/p>\n