Live Review : Steel Panther + Kelsy Karter and The Heroines + Black Sonic Pearls @ Academy, Manchester on July 21st 2026

Sometimes the line between music and pantomime is a very thin one. Steel Panther walk it like a tightrope – they manage to combine musical prowess with daft 80s-inspired costumes and a large splash of “your mum” gutter humour to provide a scintillating, titillating spectacle that is far more than just another rock gig. What do you get if you cross schoolboy humour, 80s hair metal and comedy theatre? Well, you get exactly what we are all here for, the almost-mighty Steel Panther. 

To prove that they actually care about the music, they also drag along a couple of competent and enjoyable supports. Black Sonic Pearls open proceedings, and information about them is somewhat scarce. By the accents they appear to be from somewhere in the US, and they prove to be a decent alt metal/metalcore crossover band. They have recently released their first album so tonight’s set relies heavily on tracks from that. It’s fairly innocuous but not at all bad. Towards the end of the set they throw in a curveball in the form of a rocked-up version of Michael Jackson’s ‘Earth Song’ which actually works pretty well. There’s some obligatory jumping, and quite a lot of energy, so despite the sound being a bit fuzzy around the edges in places it’s a good start to the night. 

New Zealand born Kelsey Karter (and the Heroines to give the band their full title) explode onto the stage in a rather unique style. On a darkened platform, Kelsey sings acapella in a soulful, mournful manner that has a nod towards the style of the late, great Janis Joplin. She soon shows her true colours as a pint-sized powerhouse, belting out the rest of the set with emotion and an occasional tough of pathos. This is not a band of balladeers though, her able band help to belt out some rather splendid country blues sounds, with the guitarist going the whole hog with a hat ringed with conches.

There’s a tribute to the recently-departed Bonnie Tyler in the form of a cover of ‘Holding Out For A Hero’. It starts in a soft, acoustic manner but soon melts into more of a rock sound, with guitarist Matt Peach throwing out some blistering licks to delight us. There’s a song of their own ‘Lightning In A Bottle’ which takes inspiration from Prince’s ‘Purple rain’ and then the set ends with some spoken word – poetry? Rap? I’m no judge but it ended in an arm-waving extravaganza that the crowd gleefully took part in so either way it went down well. 

To the main event then. Steel Panther come on in exactly the manner you would expect – loud, brash and surrounded by pole dancers. This is a band that doesn’t just trades in cliches, they have built an entire career on them. Ripped shirts, tight pants, bandanas (that may or may not incorporate the surprisingly glossy locks beneath them) and pointed boots abound. Power chords are tossed around the room  like the later boob-shaped candy offered by bassist Spyder. The roots of this band lie in the 80s, and they lovingly and painstakingly re-create the excesses of that era in sound, looks and behaviour. This is a band who call each other dude and bro, that can’t stop talking about cocaine, women and sex. It’s puerile, politically incorrect and in places pretty grubby in a teenage-boy’s-hormones kind of way. But at the same time it’s fun. We snigger along to the carefully rehearsed and choreographed between-song banter, we titter at the titties, we snicker at the dick jokes. Because Steel Panther may be a joke band in many ways but here’s the rub – we the crowd are in on the joke. 

All of the theatrical comedy is underpinned of course by some damn fine musicianship. They may be dicking about singing songs like ‘Asian Hooker’ and ‘Gloryhole’ but there is never a note out of place, and the vocal harmonies are sublime. They get a random woman from the crowd up on stage and sing a song of four parts (one each!) to her. They bring a random bloke up to play guitar on one of the songs. They fill the stage with women for ‘17 Girls In A Row’ and the girls, egged on by the bikini-clad pole dancers, duly gyrate for them. They throw out the supremely silly anthem that is ‘Death To All But Metal’ fairly early in the set, and of course they finish the whole thing with singalong sick ballad ‘Community Property’. In between they caper and prance, drag each other, and fit in as many references to the 80s as they possibly can.

There’s even a song called ‘1987’ that they build a whole coincidental comedy routine around. There’s a guitar solo that would have any 80s guitar hero on his knees weeping, and a thankfully short drum solo. Many bands might throw the phrase “motherfucker” around the place with gay abandon but surely only Steel Panther would be dumb enough to write a song about it? It’s gloriously irreverent and over the top, and it makes for a fabulous night out. The heaving crowd even form something of a circle pit that of course the band refer to as a “Glory Hole” during the song of the same name.

It’s daft, harmless entertainment played deftly by a band with tongues firmly in cheeks. They would probably prefer me to say tongues firmly up asses but I’m not going to because that would just encourage them. Oh who am I kidding? Everyone in that room last night left it with a smile on their face, and in these modern and austere times who doesn’t need a little light relief in the form of a seriously talented band who just can’t seem to take themselves seriously?  

Check the “In The Flesh” page for more photos!
Steel Panther + Kelsy Karter and The Heroines + Black Sonic Pearls