Steel Panther and Stitched Up Heart almost blew the roof off at The Pageant

— Review and Photos by Keith Brake

MIdwest Rewind family I hope you have all been happy and healthy while I have been away from the camera and pen for a moment. I was recently at The Pageant to take in Steel Panther with supporting act Stitched Up Heart and it was an…interesting…combination for me to knock the rust off with fun and music happened so all was good.

This was the second time I have had the pleasure of covering Stitched Up Heart as I saw them in Evansville IN opening for Godsmack. I was impressed the first time seeing them and I feel like they are just getting better and tighter as they march forward into the music world. For those who may be unaware SUH is a female fronted group that seems to specialize in combining heavy hitting riffs with powerful vocals and a great charisma for live performance. Alecia “Mixi” Demner just keeps improving her live performance both visually and vocally. Mixi also played guitar during this set as well, perhaps this is the norm nowadays but I did not see this at the Evansville show and it was a pleasant surprise in St. Louis. Stitched Up Heart always leaves me wanting more as they seem to be limited in their stage time. Sure, they ARE the supporting act but I fully expect that to change in the not so distant future. If you are not familiar with this band you should definitely check them out.

Ok, so…Steel Panther. Ladies and Gentlemen this is not a family friendly show so you have to check your sensibilities at the ticket booth for these Glam-Rockers. First let me be very clear on this, Steel Panther is a very talented group of musicians that have the 80’s sound absolutely on lock down to a degree that no one could deny. With that said this is NOT just an 80’s tribute show. Well, it is but it’s not. Steel Panther set out to “Entertain” you so we have elements of scripted, cliché comedy. Very adult comedy. Michael, Satchel, Lexi and Stix are the embodiment of everything our parents were afraid of in the 80’s….everything. To put things into perspective I cannot list any songs performed because this is a family friendly web page, but the info is out there in the web if you feel so inclined.

At this point you may be thinking that I am bashing these guys…nope…not one single bit! The performance and production value are off the charts, legitimately top rung folks. The comedy is done well and the music is done better than the comedy. Michael Starr’s vocals are everything any 80’s kid wants and the guitar stylings of Satchel take you back to the first time you heard Eddie Van Halen tapping out that epic solo; you know, like when nobody knew what “tapping” was and Eddie played with his back to the crowd to protect his secret. Visually these guys do it up big time, full glam and the schticky stage show has just enough cheese to be…tastefully(???) done. So here is my bottom line friends and family, if you like the 80’s and you can handle the blue humor and innuendos you should definitely check these guys out as you will find it priceless. Just be aware of what you are going to see and I don’t recommend taking your kids or grandma along for the show.

Thanks for taking the time to support Midwest Rewind.

Peace, Keith.