Steel Panther

Download Festival 2014 was a tamer affair than in previous years, largely owing to the event's tightened alcohol and drugs searches, bands being instructed not to encourage the crowds to mosh, more mainstream main stage headliners, fewer boobs being shown on the live camera feed, and the sombre tone of the renamed 'Stephen Sutton Stage'. Instead of holding a silence for the cancer-struck teen, festival attendees took part in a minute of respectful applause, which was paralleled by comedy pop punk band Bowling For Soup's tribute to the late comic, Rik Mayall.

In memoriam sections aside, the festival managed to transform what could be perceived as a weaker line-up compared to its preceding year into a three-day celebration of a broad range of the rock spectrum, filled with bespoke performance gems and quality heavy metal memories. First night closers Avenged Sevenfold brought a larger stage to Donington than they'd ever taken out of the US and combined imposing crypt-inspired adornments with an explosive set that proved on a world stage that they are worthy successors to titans Metallica and Iron Maiden.

The beady-eyed punter will have had a ball spotting the odd and hilarious happenings across the weekend, including a "face-melting" washboard solo from Berlin faux cowboys The BossHoss, punk's immature popsters Bowling For Soup asking a knight to decapitate a giant inflatable sheep, full contact medieval fighting from Battle Heritage, and Killswitch Engage's Jesse Leach inviting the crowd to "dance responsibly" to a particularly heavy breakdown. Ribs were probably broken in the latter instance.

Continue reading: Download Festival 2014 Review

Two years on from their debut 'Feel The Steel', LA rockers Steel Panther return with their second release. They will celebrate it with a headline show at the Electric Ballroom in Camden, London, before taking to the road with legends Def Leppard and Motley Crue as support on the bands' co-headline UK arena tour in December.

Continue reading: Steel Panther, Balls Out Album Review

Having broken through in 2009 this glam-metal outfit remain something of a cult band in the UK (their debut shifted a solid 45000 copies), but are something of a star attraction in their American homeland. On stage guests have included Dave Navarro, Vince Neil, Tom Morrello and Rupert Grint to name but a few and now the foursome are preparing the release of their second album, 'Balls Out'.

This lead single from Steel Panther's new record can be seen as a follow up to previous release 'Community Property', a power ballad on which Michael Starr declared love for his lady.while his manhood loved every lady. This time around we get an explanation of how the lady should love him, which amongst other things means not complaining about the amount of computer games played or when other ladies are brought home. The trademark humour and power chords are all present, but the lack of an anthemic chorus does let the song down a bit. Still, it is a welcome return for the Los Angeles quartet and indicates their winning formula first time around is still intact.

Alex Lai

Live Review of Steel Panther at the Manchester Academy on September 14th 2009

Continue reading: Steel Panther, Academy, Manchester September 14th 2009 Live Review

Review of Steel Panther's album Feel The Steel.

Continue reading: Steel Panther, Feel The Steel Album Review