Steel Panther, Mötley Crüe and Def Leppard

[caddyman]

Heavy Metal is not a multi-themed musical genre, it rarely if ever attempts to explore anything more deeply than exhorting the listener to get drunk, drugged, shagged or drive something fast and loud. You kind of accept that from the get go. It likes to be direct.

But there are shades. Mötley Crüe manage to personify the style rather well. They are loud, swear a lot and like their pyrotechnics. They are also, for want of a better word, ‘laddish’ with the female fans. I could comment about that, but I shan’t because I wish to comment instead on Steel Panther.

Last night we went to see Def Leppard and Mötley Crüe at Wembley Arena, supported by Steel Panther.

I’m not really familiar with Mötley Crüe and knew nothing about Steel Panther other than what I’d been told. I have a passing acquaintance with Def Leppard, but Metal is not really my genre. Heavy yes, Metal less so. Leppard wander across the divide somewhat, which is why I am more familiar with them.

Anyway. Steel Panther.

I was told to expect something that parodied 1980s American Glam Rock (as opposed to 1970s British Glam Rock, which is an entirely different beast), with a hint of Spinal Tap thrown in. Well, that’s accurate as far as it goes: they are all glittery leotards and long bottle blond hair with spangles, multi colours and Flying V guitars. They are loud, repetitive and in your face parody Metal.

They are also not funny, offensive, vile and misogynistic in a way that makes the laddish Mötley Crüe come over like choir boys misbehaving. Neither Furtle nor I found them remotely likeably either musically or as a comedy act. I don’t know what dismayed me the most, their overall nastiness, their abusive and vile approach to anyone who was not a spotty heterosexual male teenager, or the fact that the crowd – which included, I would estimate more than 40% women (men were in the majority, but not by much) seemed to lap it up. They took it for the joke it was meant to be, but I think they rather missed the point (or I did).

Just because you have the freedom to take something over the top doesn’t mean that you should necessarily avail yourself of that freedom. I shan’t be looking to see them again in this life time.

Def Leppard on the other hand managed to put out a good, loud and varied set, veering from Metal to acoustic, almost folky numbers and crossing a few genres in between. I recommend them very highly; they were energetic, entertaining and managed to do an entire 90 minute set without swearing or being abusive to anyone. Thoroughly recommended.

Just reading back through this I am aware that I sound like an old fuddy duddy. I don’t think I am, but I as I get longer in the tooth, I find my capacity to tolerate tossers somewhat diminished. And Steel Panther are tossers par excellence.

Comments

[changeling72.livejournal.com]

Were you surrounded by ageing rockers?

[caddyman.livejournal.com]

I am an ageing rocker! ;-)

Actuially, there was a fair old mix from young teenagers to middle aged rockers. I reckon the largest single group were in their 20s, though.

[caffeine-fairy.livejournal.com]

Def Leppard are amazing live.

[karinmollberg.livejournal.com]

Most people will never get what good metal is about.

It does exist, though; intelligent, witty even, and yes: loud and in your face but still very much enjoyable in case one can take that (I like the sheer engine power of it) and then start to really listen to what some people are actually doing.
I dare recommend Kyuss, who can get completely "speedjazzy" or psychedelic (am sure they´d either kill me for or laugh at that one) or Clutch, a band I only know throw knowing a metal fan friend with a wide musical view going from early sixties garage to punk, classic and well: metal as well.
What you say about that band I have never heard of, sounds like most sound. Completely uninteresting and ridiculous about it, too. I may be a misogynist in my own right through being female and knowing what I am talking about but that´s only because I am anti-racist (men, you know, many of them are my best friends) a humanist at heart and whoever does not get that...well.
A Metal fan once wrote a very nice comment at a discussion about whether his taste in music (mine is not that onesided, I was brought up on classics and stuff, just saying) would make him kill a certain number of grans a day (in fact, he is quite a dedicated fan of his) at the german Spiegel magazine, after some moron had been declared violent, because he would listen to this kind of music. Follows, right?
It happens, needless to point out, to be the other way around:
morons will stay morons, whether they listen to this or that kind of music. Should I take up playing wargames I shall certainly refer to that as my influence at going berserk with my swiss army knife on the tram on my way to my language course but first some Ivo Cutler for you:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=emWWY5VIYUk

Very Death Metal, don´t you find it?

[caddyman.livejournal.com]

I shall have to look up Kyuss and Clutch (which sound like a firm of lawyers when written like that)...

[karinmollberg.livejournal.com]

Maybe, let´s be glad they didn´t call themselves "Standard&Poor" which would have shown a certain kind of humour maybe but not for everyone? Am sure those bands are not to everyone´s taste either, which shouldn´t be necessary but I just hate being bored and both manage not to with me, anyway.

[caddyman.livejournal.com]

I don't have much French music in my collection (some Françoise Hardy, Mylene Farmer & Jane Birkin (!) on the pop/folk side) and certainly nothing Heavy. I do have a CD by Hurleurs, called Ciel d'Encre, which I heartily recommend and a couple of CDs ny a prog band called Shylock, which are quite interesting.

When I have a little money spare (hah!) I must investigate obscure European prog a little more. I have Dutch, Swedish, Norwegian and even Hungarian, all of which is worth a listen.

I also jhave some Venezuelan Prog, but that's an acquired taste.

[karinmollberg.livejournal.com]

...Vvvenezuelan Prog? I´ll never get that advanced a taste in music til the day I die, however hard I might try! In case you need some more scandinavian stuff, here´s a site I recommend to scroll through: http://davidnessle.wordpress.com/

[caddyman.livejournal.com]

I think I shall have to wait until I get home and run that through Google Translate!

[karinmollberg.livejournal.com]

The man (I used to know, once, saynomore http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/David_Nessle) is the swedish appointed translator of http://davidnessle.wordpress.com/2010/02/16/james-ellroys-nacke/ and unfortunately that way around: into Viking Speak. But, there are some truly strange utube things on his blog if you have too much time to do work or anything. Also, one of his anti-heroes is called The Masked Progressive (with his own red book and all). Sorry about spoiling your afternoon...

[bluesman.livejournal.com]

No, not fuddy duddy at all. I just read the Wikipedia article on Steel Panther and it looks like they really do take the misogynistic rock boy bit rather too far. There's parody and then there's dirtbag.

[littleonionz.livejournal.com]

I think women and other minorities ;) appear to go along with such things in the same way people who are heavy laugh at their weight sometimes. You laugh because not to laugh would make you a victim, a creature to be ostracised, victimised further. Nobody wants that, so the victim du jour sucks it up.

As you know, in certain circumstances perfectly ordinary people have done extraordinarily terrible things,just to fit in. Laughing with scum who are abusing you is fairly low on the list, alas. What is needed is for WASM to speak out about it, which you are doing, which is great:)

[caddyman.livejournal.com]

I just got annoyed by it! ;-)

[keresaspa.livejournal.com]

I must dispute the first sentence. Metal of various shades covers all sorts of things like angels and fairies (Gothic metal), Vikings (Viking metal), the misery of existence (doom metal), war (most of them really), revolutionary discourse (Napalm Death and Bolt Thrower), child abuse (Kittie and Jack Off Jill), pirates (Alestorm), the destruction of Amazonian traditions by multinationals (Sepultura), the Knights Templar and Matthew Hopkins (Cathedral), the works of HP Lovecraft (Bal-Sagoth) or similar themes to psychedelic music (stoner doom), not to mention all that silly devil and Nazi nonsense that crap like Burzum witters on about. Admittedly Def Leppard and Motley Crue don't go far beyond what you say but that's mainstream metal and would be like saying all rock and pop music are just love songs because that's what turns up in the charts. Along with its immediate ancestor progressive rock, metal is probably the most wide-ranging genre of music in terms of subjects covered and, like prog, is one of the few forms of "popular" music which celebrates virtuosity and technical skill in one's instrument (counting jazz as outside the popular strand).

However Steel Panthers are tossers par excellence. Spinal Tap did it years ago so it's been done already and much better.

[caddyman.livejournal.com]

I bow to your superior knowledge of the deviltry and intricacy that is the world of Heavy Metal...

[november-girl.livejournal.com]

I totally dispute your first paragraph and could give you a whole list of stuff to back myself up, but I'll restrict myself to Nuclear Assault's best known track "Hang The Pope", the title of which was somewhat self-explanatory. :-)

Dickinson-era Iron Maiden are particularly good examples of thoughtful metal (with the obvious exception of the totally naff "Bring Your Daughter To The Slaughter"). Tracks like "Infinite Dreams" and "The Clairvoyant" spring to mind, in particular.

I was interested to note that one of Motley Crue twittered something like "Steel Panther? I just don't get it!" a couple of days ago. Not seen them live myself (through lack of opportunity rather than any deliberate avoidance) but what I saw of them on telly was a hilarious send up that had me giggling for hours, although initially it was so dry that we spent about 15 minutes trying to work out if it was for real.

As for Clutch, I'd recommend checking this track out: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kx6FV2qR2TY (although admittedly it is a song which includes an element of shagging about in its lyrics, but I wouldn't be me if I didn't shoot myself in the foot every now and then). Speaking of feet, if your foot's not tapping by a minute in then there's no hope for you. :-)

I note your

[caddyman.livejournal.com]

You note my..?

[november-girl.livejournal.com]

Oops- thought I'd deleted that when I altered the paragraph above. It originally began "I note you said you were going to look out some Clutch" or something similar.