Earlier this week, hair metal jokers Steel Panther revealed that bassist Spyder was taking the role full-time, after filling in once Lexxi Foxx left the band last year. With the band now back as a four-piece, the “butt metal” aficionados say Spyder is “the chocolate to Steel Panther’s peanut butter.” At the time, they made the announcement the only way they knew how — with irreverent/cheesy movie lines.
“We wanted it to be you. We wanted it to be you so badly. So, it’s not gonna be easy. It’s gonna be really hard. We’re gonna have to work at this every day, but we want to do that because we want you. We want all of you, forever, you and us, every day. To us, you are perfect. You had us at hello. You complete us. We’re gonna need a bigger boat.”
Well, during a recent interview with the Everblack podcast, Steel Panther frontman Michael Starr said he and Foxx were on better terms than when the latter left the band and said they weren’t speaking anymore.
“I just talked to him today. He’s doing good, man. He did exactly what he wanted to do. He started a family. He’s living in Chicago. Him and his wife just had a baby.
“The party never stops. Just because he’s not on tour doesn’t mean he’s fucking having a good time. And we miss him. I fucking miss him. And we still stay in touch and talk. We talk just about every other day — just stay in touch with one another. I mean, we were together for 27 years, 26 years, and we know each other’s moms and dads and all of our cousins. We know everything about one another. So it’s been really, really sad not having him in the band, but I understand why he’s doing what he’s doing. And he was one of the smart guys — he saved up all his money. Not me — I’m still living at my mom’s.”
When asked about Foxx’s replacement, Starr said Spyder made the most logical sense since he’d already filled in at bass a couple times. As a “super-close friend of the band,” it only made sense at the end of the day. And while he’s technically replacing Foxx in the lineup, Starr said Spyder can’t ever really replace their former bassist.
“First of all, I just wanna say this: Lexxi Foxx cannot be replaced. That’s just the way it is. It’s like trying to replace David Lee Roth, in my opinion. You can’t fucking replace Lexxi Foxx. And also trying to find somebody that has the ability to make somebody laugh, do choreography moves from 40 years ago, jump around on stage and know what to wear.
“And not only that — most people think that Steel Panther’s music is super easy to play, and it’s not. Satchel’s an incredible writer, and the stuff he writes [is] not easy to play. So you’ve really gotta be able to play bass, you’ve gotta be able to sing, you’ve gotta be able to engage the audience, you’ve gotta be able to talk to ’em.
“There’s a lot that goes into it… Seriously, it’s really hard to find someone that has all those qualities and you can hang out with them. ‘Cause you think about it — the show is an hour and a half. The other 22 and a half hours we’re together either sleeping or hanging out, soundchecking or whatever. So it’s a lot of time to spend together offstage. So you’d better be cool with him.”
Now as a complete unit, Steel Panther are heading back out on tour next month and through the end of the year. You can catch the band and their irreverent antics live at one of the following dates:
w/ Airborne
10/17 Auckland, New Zealand @ The Powerstation (no Airborne)
10/19 Broadmeadow, Australia @ Newcastle Entertainment Centre
10/21 Moore Park, Australia @ Horden Pavilion
10/22 Brisbane, Australia @ Eatons Hill
10/23 Melbourne, Australia @ Margaret Court Arena
w/ Black Stone Cherry
10/28 Calgary, AB @ Grey Eagle Casino
10/29 Enoch, AB @ River Cree Casino
10/30 Grand Prairie, AB @ The Bowes At Bonnetts Energy Centre
11/1 Saskatoon, SK @ The Coors Event Centre
11/3 Regina, SK @ Casino Regina Show Lounge
11/4 Winnipeg, MB @ Burton Cummings Theatre
11/5 Minot, ND @ The Original Bar & Grill (no Black Stone Cherry)
11/7 Green Bay, WI @ Epic Event Center
11/9 London, ON @ London Music Hall
11/10 Toronto, ON @ History
11/11 Ottawa, ON @ Algonquin Commons Theatre
11/12 Montreal, QC @ Corona Theatre
11/26 Sault St. Marie @ Kewadin Casino
11/27 Grand Rapids, MI @ 20 Monroe Live
11/29 Warren, OH @ Packard Music Hall
11/30 Ft. Wayne, IN @ Piere’s Entertainment Center
12/2 Waterloo, NY @ Del Lago Casino – On Sale Soon
12/3 Poughkeepsie, NY @ The Chance Theater
12/4 New Haven, CT @ Toad’s Place
12/29 Vancouver, BC @ Commodore Ballroom
12/30 Vancouver, BC @ Commodore Ballroom