AFTER TWO LONG months of good behavior, Steel Panther is welcomed back with open arms to Green Valley Ranch’s Ovation beginning Saturday, June 19. Best known for its embodiment of all that is rock ‘n’ roll, the ’80s glam metal parody band rocks the stage with its colorful repartee, loud costumes and graphic body language, in addition to paying homage to great bands like Bon Jovi, Motley Crue and Poison.

We caught up with lead singer, Michael Starr, to talk about what’s new with Steel Panther in this, the first of two interview blog entries.

*Consider yourself warned, some of the language in this interview is as colorful as an 80’s spandex jump suit. The opinions expressed in this interview are not necessarily those of Station Casinos, Green Valley Ranch Resort, the management, the web team, our internet host, any of the casino hosts, the door guys at Ovation, or anyone else we may have forgotten. If you’re easily offended, jump over to one of our wonderful recipe blog entries instead. They’re delicious!

SC Blog (SCB): You’re back at GVR after some “time away.” Can you talk about this restraining order situation? What happened?

Michael Starr (MS): Kind of a long story… after our shows, we like to do a little after party thing at the Drop Bar to hang out and drink with chicks. So last time we played GVR, we set up shop, got some girls, got some drugs, then we went up to our suite to party and after we were, you know… done, we were smoking in bed and sort of set a mattress on fire. Well, it wasn’t really on fire, just sort of smoldering.  Fire alarm went off. Everyone was really f’d up and we didn’t really know what was going on. Cops came. It was not cool.

You know, GVR loves us. They let us party and do whatever we want, pretty much… but when we start burning their $#%! down, they don’t dig that.

SCB: For those new to your show, what can they expect to get from a Steel Panther concert?

MS: Well, I can tell you what you won’t get: You won’t get a boring show. You won’t be bummed out, and you won’t want to go to bed right after the show. The first thing you’ll see is four dudes that look really cool, rockin’ in sync on stage, doing a bunch of huge kicks and jumps and it just looks bitchin’ – by the time you get past looking at us, and get into the music, you’re probably 4 or 5 songs into it. Then you realize- this is really fun! These guys look killer and the lead singer can lip-sync really well!

SCB: So when can we see you back at Green Valley Ranch?

MS: Saturday, June 19^th – but this is important: we’re doing Saturdays now. We used to be there on Fridays for a long time, but now we’re doing Saturdays, and we’re excited about it. It should be easier for people who come from out of town to catch our shows.

SCB: Any special celebrity appearances planned?

MS: You might know that we started residency at the House of Blues on the strip a while back, and that’s moving to Fridays in July. We’ve had Carrot Top, Criss Angel and a bunch of famous actors and actresses and people who I’m not really into, but we actually get more famous people at Green Valley Ranch. Because it’s not right on the strip, they can go there and party – without the press – when they get out there having fun and are partying with chicks that they shouldn’t be, they don’t want that in the paper, ya know what I mean?

We don’t normally have celebrities lined up to play with us, but we have had Scott Ian from Anthrax, and the lead singers from lots of great bands like Great White, Warrant, Nickelback… you know, that was fun… But a couple weeks ago at the Key Club we had two chicks come on stage and make out. That’s cooler than Nickelback, right?

SCB: What’s your favorite part about Ovation?

MS: The backstage area is bitchin’. You can sneak chicks back there really easy and discreet. I have a monitor that I can just talk into and we have a roadie who takes coordinates, you know, latitude and longitude scenarios, and goes out and gets the girls who are there with their boyfriends and stuff. For every guitar solo, I’m in back with a girl. Oh, and the sound is pretty good, too.

SCB: So, after the show, we hear you like to hit the table games?

MS: Anyone who knows me, knows that after the show and after the party at Drop Bar, you can always find Michael Starr kicking ass at blackjack! They have masseuses giving massages and hot waitresses serving up cocktails, and we even have our own chip with our name on it! What else can you ask for?

In Part 2 of our interview, learn about Steel Panther’s upcoming television pilot for the Comedy Channel, the new beer commercial, and PETA. We also play a game of “Who’s Gnarlier?”