It has been four years since glam rockers Steel Panther hit Australian shores, and after multiple cancellations of their tour due to COVID, they're well and truly over the anticipation.
"It's been like this tease," lead vocalist Michael Starr says. "Like, 'Oh, you're going to Austr- no you're not. . . Oh, you're going- no you're not. . . Oh, you're- no you're not!'"It has been the same with all of their live shows – when arriving in Japan recently for Download Festival, Starr's chauffeur asked to take a photo of him in front of the airport sign.
"Because there's been so many cancellations for everybody they wanted to take a picture to prove we were really there," Starr explains. "So I don't know, man, I think it's actually going to happen – we're coming to Australia!"
Steel Panther was not immune to the curse of COVID – the band were in Canada when the pandemic hit. Their shows were cancelled and they were ordered home along with the rest of the world.
"I f...in' watched more f...in' Netflix, just like everybody else – I watched more shows than I've ever watched in my life," Starr says of the break, “and I bought a new TV, right, 'cause I was watching more shows, I was like, 'I want 4K, man!'.
"So I went to Costco and got this huge TV, brought it home and take the other one down, can't wait to set this one up – my f...ing back went out. I think I slipped a disc or some sh.t, I was f...ing laid out for three and a half weeks. . . I got to watch my new TV though."
Michael says he wasn't immune to the COVID kilos either, gaining around 15 pounds, or almost 7 kilos. "Put it this way – I gained enough weight to where my spandex was starting to get really tight," he laughs, "and that's hard to do!"
Lockdown affected Starr in other ways, too. "It was a very difficult transition. It's scary when you have all that financial fear, like, ‘f..., how am I going to pay my rent? My mom's going to kick me out, right?'," he laughs.
"But she didn't, and I didn't pay the rent, so it was cool – everything worked out. But I also f...in' missed playing for people – I missed that so much, that connection you have with other people in the audience; it's something you can't manufacture any other way except at a heavy metal show with people who want to come see you play."
The band managed to complete a new album before their relentless touring schedule picks up again, and Starr says they're stoked with the results. "I just want everyone to know we have not changed what we do," he says.
"We're not getting into other lanes so we get on the radio or changed the style so it gets on SiriusXM.
"We are staying who we are, and Satchel [Steel Panther guitarist] has written some f...ing amazing songs. We've put our sugar and spices on it, and it's f...ing great – it's classic Steel f...ing Panther, man."
It's "classic Steel Panther" as much as it can be without former bassist Lexxi Foxx. Starr says things have been rough without him, and the band wouldn't say no if he wanted to return.
"It's been tough. . . losing not only a friend of 30 years, but now I'm not with him every day and he's not in the band. So it's been weird," he says.
"I saw him when we were on tour and we had lunch together. He's doing great, he's happy – he's doing what he wanted to do, and that's why he decided to change his life path. But we're still just like, 'oh man, come on dude, let's go!'"
Steel Panther will trial a "replacement" bassist on tour in Australia – Foxx's long-time stand-in, Spyder. Starr says he toured Europe with them recently for five weeks, playing a series of festivals and headline shows, and the band is keen to see how Spyder continues with the Australian dates.
"It's been a tough road trying to find someone that. . . I don't even want to say 'replaces' [Foxx], because he's irreplaceable in my opinion – I mean us four together is what made us who we are today," Starr explains.
"We've been just racking our brain over it, like, it's gotta be the f...in' perfect guy. . . there's never going to be a perfect guy. That's just the way it is."
Joining a band like Steel Panther isn't just about playing an instrument. If it was, Starr explains, they would have "thousands" of candidates.
"It requires being able to do improv, being able to talk on a mic, do choreography. You'd be surprised. It's also about how to dress correctly for the gig," he laughs.
"Most people that have tried out, we've had them come over to the house, let me see their outfit, and I'm like, 'No. That's not going to work. Wear my pants. Wear this shirt. Do your hair this way. Wear this headband. Don't play that bass, play that bass.' Just – oh my god!
"Most guys find that they don't like to not wear what they want to wear. And while they're on tour with us they just start doing what they want to do and then we realise, you're not going to work out."
However, Spyder's enthusiasm has rubbed off on the rest of the band in Europe, where he insisted they play one of their new tracks – and we may see it live in Australia.
"The last show of the tour was in Paris and I was like, 'Dude I'm ready, I can totally sing it, my voice is on top of the game right now.' So we went and played a song off the new record called 'Never Too Late To Get Some Pussy Tonight'," Starr laughs.
"There's some footage on YouTube of us playing it. But there's a good shot we might be doing it Down Under."
Although the Australian tour was originally scheduled with Sevendust in support, Airborne will be replacing them on the line-up, with the addition of a mini-festival style show in Brisbane.
Starr says although their paths have crossed many times at festivals around the world, Airborne and Steel Panther have never toured together until now.
"On this last tour we did a couple of festivals together, and we did one and we had a lot of down time, so we were able to hang out and we played them our new record and stuff, they loved it, thankfully – I mean they wouldn't say they didn't like it, but I could tell on their faces they liked it," Starr laughs.
"And then we also played Hellfest together, and we'd just found out Sevendust had dropped off the tour – so we were like, 'Hey, you guys want to do it?' And they were like, 'F... yeah!' and I was like, 'Okay!' and that was it, it was done."
Steel Panther 2022 Tour Dates
Wed 19 Oct - Newcastle Entertainment CentreFri 21 Oct - Hordern Pavilion (Sydney)
Sat 22 Oct - Eatons Hill Hotel (Brisbane)
Sun 23 Oct - Margaret Court Arena (Melbourne)
