STEEL PANTHER – Live Review from Dorćol Platz, Belgrade, Serbia” (FANS REACT)

The legendary American rockers Steel Panther marked their debut performance in the capital of Serbia, Belgrade, on a hot July 15th evening at the outdoor venue Dorćol Platz in the heart of the city. Since no one from Junkyard was present at the concert held in our home country, we are unable to provide you with the classic review you are accustomed to. Therefore, we inquired with our friends and followers of our site who were on the spot about how the first encounter between the Serbian audience and the famous Californian glam rockers went. Here are some of their responses and fans’ reactions!

“Decent. Overall impression is 6 or 7 out of 10. Small stage and sound system on the verge of being weak. Some backing tracks for Michael Starr, but in any case, really good jokes. They even learned to say ‘dick’ and ‘tits’ in Serbian…”

“They were great, but the sound system and stage were poor.”

“They even mentioned before the song ’17 Girls in a Row’ that they wouldn’t bring women on stage because the whole thing was shaking, so it wouldn’t collapse…”

“Excellent performance, they put on a real show, but the sound was poor, so it depended on where you stood and what you could hear…”

“They where fantastic! There was one moment when they finished the song ‘1987,’ Michael Starr raised his hand toward the sky and said, ‘Rest in peace, Eddie Van Halen.’ Such a memorable moment! By the way, he played the guitar, which he doesn’t do very often.”

Speaking of Michael Starr and his guitar playing, the interesting thing happened the day before the concert when he was caught and filmed playing guitar with some street musicians in the central pedestrian street Knez Mihajlova in Belgrade on a very hot day as well.

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On the other hand, seems like a lot of people were complaining about the stage and the sound, but the Panthers obviously knew how to deal with any circumstances. And reactions are despite this, pretty positive. Let’s see some more.

“It was great. They played all the good songs, talked a lot, and made fun of Vince Neil, Rick Allen and others. The stage was small, and I don’t know how they agreed to perform on it. Because of that, they couldn’t even do some of their choreographies. But they managed to do the important parts.”

“Seems like people were really satisfied although it was extremely hot that night. Anyway, Satchel learned a lot of bad words in Serbian…”

“There was no encore because they said this is a populated area, so they probably had to finish before 11 PM. But they played the full concert I guess.”

“They put on an excellent show, without any mistakes. They even premiered a new song called ‘Sisa’ .”

“It was okay. They talked a lot, played a little.”

“It was nice, good banter with the audience, some spontaneous moments… Also, it was my first time checking out Dorćol Platz, and I liked the venue.”

“It was awesome, excellent stand-up between songs and great communication with the audience! The songs were a solid 4 out of 5.”

Of course, there were also some less positive comments regarding the band’s performance. Especially on the technical side of using different amps and some other issues.

“What can I say about them, nothing really. What can I say about a band that doesn’t have a single amplifier on stage? What can I say about a band whose performance is 80% backing tracks? Quite a disappointment.”

“They were ampless, so the sound was like anywhere else, but what we hear depends on the venue, damn it. I managed to hear the sound from the stage, from their monitors, I’d say… but a really good performance, flawless.”

“If you want to know how it was, imagine this: the concert and performance were excellent, the vocals were killer, but you’re watching it from inside a sauna at maximum temperature, thirsty as hell, with a mile-long line for beer, and in front of you, there are 3 Boban Marjanovićs making a human wall.”

“The problem isn’t the stage. A good band sounds equally good on both small and large stages. But anyway, we were there, we saw, we heard, and even saw a few breasts, all legitimate.”

Fans will be fans, as usual. They will find mistakes and argue about things all the time. But that’s normal and not that important. All in all, it looks like it was a successful and positive campaign of Panthers meeting Serbian crowd for the first time, judging by the vibe the audience was transmitting towards the band and vice versa.

On the other hand, yes, there were certain issues with the technical part. Mostly with the stage and the venue istelf. Next time, if there is going to be one, a festival would definitely be more suitable. Festival stages, where the domestic bands play, are just what a band with as much energy and presence as Steel Panther needs and deserves.

This last comment maybe sums it up all perfectly:

“So let’s stop complaining and thank them for coming here and putting on a show like true professionals. You don’t see this here very often. In fact, it’s good that they came at all. That they didn’t pack up and leave when they saw the stage…”

Here is the set-list of the show, according to Setlist.Fm.