Steel Panther @ Jannus Live – March 11, 2023

Lets get an embarrassing fact out of the way in the beginning: I hadn’t heard of Steel Panther until fairly recently when a friend mentioned them, I saw that they were’ playing at Jannus Landing here in St Petersburg, FL… and I feel like I’ve lived an incomplete life until now. From start to finish, the show was an explosive and unforgettable experience!

Tragedy opened up the show. I had looked these guys up before the show so I was loosely familiar with what they’d play but I hadn’t actually listen to them. Hot damn! They’re right up my alley. Everything they played was fun, energetic and completely ridiculous! Their cover of The Weather Girls “Its Raining Men” opening up with Slayer’s “Raining Blood” caught me completely off-guard. And while I expected their cover of The Bee Gees “Stayin’ Alive” to be fun, I had no idea how much they’d absolutely kill it! 

Crobot followed them with a highly energetic set. Brandon Yeagley’s vocals and absolutely massive stage presence immediately drew me in. Their sound is kinda like Wolfmother meets Queens of the Stone Age but hard leaning on the Rock side of the sounds.  

Ok, Steel Panther… I don’t even know where to start. As soon as the lights dimmed and the crowd could make out the dim outlines of the band taking the stage, the crowd erupted into cheers and screams. Steel Panther wasted no time getting right into the music, launching into their signature brand of raunchy, high-energy rock and roll that had the audience bouncing and headbanging along.

The band’s musicianship was top-notch, with tight rhythms, blistering guitar solos, and soaring vocals that showcased the full range of their talents. But the main highlight was the consistent humor. Both in the song’s lyrics, and the band’s banter between songs. The comments they were throwing out about the inflatable sex dolls they had bouncing around the audience had me almost in tears. 

They played a bunch of their most popular songs that I expected to hear, like “All I Wanna do Is F**k”, and “Death to All but Metal”. But the most memorable song was when they pull up someone named “Mikey” from the crowd come on stage to play drums during their cover of Van Halen’s “Hot for Teacher”.  I mean, thats an absolutely perfect song for these guys to cover. And whomever “Mikey” was, he killed it!

This show exemplified why Steel Panther is renowned for being one of the most entertaining acts in rock. I can’t wait to see them again! 

Crobot

Tragedy

Steel Panther

Portraits of Kasondra Rose

Local St Petersburg singer and a group fitness instructor, Kasondra Rose and I had been discussing doing some portraits for her marketing material. So we seized the moment while I was in town recently, and the evening sun was good, to run out and catch some beautiful portraits of her. Our shooting time was a little limited by Florida’s indigenous mosquito population but we still managed to get some great shots. Here are a few of my favorites from the shoot.


Continue reading →

Photos of Fifth On the Floor @ Crum’s Bar

Last night I went out to hang to Crum’s Bar to hang out with AutopsyIV of NineBullets.net fame and see Fifth on the Floor play. Some great sounds from the band and Matty Rodgers (guitars, mandolin, harmonica, vocals) was killing it with some really unexpected chops on the guitar. They’re playing again tonight. If you’ve not been to Crum’s Bar (65 craft beers on tap) and are looking for something to do, go check it out. In the meantime, check out some photos…

Continue reading →

It’s been a damn long time

I don’t know why, but I haven’t been finding the time amidst my traveling and photography-ing to actually make a post of any sort here. That being said, I’m going to put some effort back into this site so… here are a few shots from the NineBullets concert back in May for AutopsyIV’s birthday party/concert. It was an amazing (and amazingly loud) show, great music, as always great people, & a great crowd.

 

Continue reading →

Acoustic Alchemy

One afternoon, after I had my plans for drinks cancel on my for the evening I decided that sitting around just wasn’t exactly what I wanted to do. So, I pulled up the local concert schedule and found something that I’d be interested in shooting. A few emails & phone calls later, I was set up with photo passes & a +1 for Acoustic Alchemy‘s show at the State Theater. They were a really relaxing show, nice & chill tunes by some very talented musicians.

Continue reading →

The 600 Block Party

When I first got to the 600 Block Party around 6:30’ish there was a good amount of people mulling around, the police had the block shut down and still I was hesitant to walk in the middle of the street out of habit. Wandering around a bit as the sun went down and DJ Mega started livening everyone up with some music I got my self into the “block party” groove. The evening’s party culminated with an amazing fashion show produced by several of the designers on the 600 block (MISRED Outfitters , All Sewn Up Boutique, 1 of 1 Customs with Rasta, House of Merch, and more).

Thoroughly, an amazing evening with, ridiculous turn out, packed venues, hot models, exceptional fashions? you get the idea. This was what First Friday (the monthly downtown block party here in St Petersburg, FL) really should be!

Read about the 600 Block Party on Creative Loafing’s website or  click here to view my full set of my photos from the evening.

More photos after the jump

Continue reading →