Steel Panther at the Rust Belt -- December 3.
Sunday, December 3, 7 p.m.
The Rust Belt, 533 12th Avenue, East Moline IL
Winners of two Loudwire Music Awards for Live Act of the Year, and one of the only groups to achieve top-five Billboard success on both the Hard Rock and Comedy charts, Steel Panther brings its unique blend of glam metal and hilarious lyrics to East Moline's The Rust Belt on December 3, the California musicians appearing on their "On The Prowl Winter Holidaze Tour," and lauded by Blabbermouth as “a genuinely brilliant '80s-inspired heavy metal band.”
Originating in Los Angeles in 2000, Steel Panther began to gain popularity on the Sunset Strip during the early 2000s under the name Metal Shop, which was eventually changed to Metal Skool. By 2003, with the band members opting for onstage aliases, the lineup consisted of vocalist Ralph Saenz ("Michael Starr"), drummer Darren Leader ("Stix Zadinia"), guitarist Russ Parrish ("Satchel"), and bassist Travis Haley ("Lexxi Foxx"), the latter of whom left the group in 2021 and was replaced by Joe Lester ("Spyder"). Metal Shop finally managed to gain some success, and before 2003 ended, the rockers had released Hole Patrol, their self-produced debut EP. After changing their band moniker to Steel Panther, the group recorded their studio album Feel the Steel in 2008, a release that debuted at number one on Billboard's Comedy charts, boasted the hit singles "Community Property" and "Death to All but Metal," and won Germany's Metal Hammer Award for Best Debut.
The rockers consequently released a quartet of additional studio albums (2011's Balls Out, 2014's All You Can Eat, 2017's Lower the Bar, and 2019's Heavy Metal Rules), all of which topped the Billboard Comedy charts and made the top 10 on Billboard's Hard Rock charts. Steel Panther also enjoyed chart-topping singles in 2013's “Party Like Tomorrow Is the End of the World” and 2016's “She's Tight,” as well as top-10 hits with “17 Girls in a Row,” “The Burden of Being Wonderful,” “Gloryhole,” and “You're Beautiful When You Don't Talk.” More recently, Steel Panther released the non-album single “F#ck 2020” in December of that year, and the following February, the musicians launched the virtual photo exhibition Sex, JPGs & Rock N Roll. Created to support live-concert photographers whose careers were impacted by the pandemic, the effort found Steel Panther's musicians curating a virtual gallery every two weeks, with prints for sale in various configurations, to support concert photographers who have covered the band throughout the years.
Over more recent years, the band has also enjoyed high-profile television appearances on such programs as Jimmy Kimmel Live and FOX NFL Sunday, and with their self-produced sixth album On the Prowl released earlier this year, the rockers continue to amass raves such as Rolling Stone's insistence that “There’s a reason Steel Panther have transcended their origins as a cover band playing the Sunset Strip. Metal Sucks, meanwhile, declared, "Steel Panther’s concept is genius," and added that "their songwriting is ... preposterously snappy."
Steel Panther brings their "On The Prowl Winter Holidaze Tour" to East Moline on December 3 with an opening set by Moon Fever, admission to the 7 p.m. concert event is $39.75-189, and more information and tickets are available by visiting TheRustBeltQC.com.
