The 1980s are hairy and alive with Steel Panther at TLA

Steel Panther - a pre-New Year's Eve sell-out at TLA on Tuesday - was an impressive, stupid, and perfect way to end 2014.

At first glance, the show was but a parody of Hollywood glam-metal circa 1981. The kiddish profanity of its albums (e.g., Hole Patrol), the rude, oversexed lyrics, the exaggerated, rock-on antics, teased hair, and costumes mirroring the tacky metal lifestyle of the '80s - all something of a joke.

Or would be, except for the authenticity of the band's recorded output, and its powerful gigs with the (after all) equally cartoonish Guns N' Roses and Judas Priest. In that light, even though tightly clad in Spandex and grinding their way through garish guitar solos and manly/girlie poses, the four guys on the TLA stage didn't seem so jokey.

Going by '80s metal names, singer "Michael Starr," drummer "Stix Zadinia," bassist "Lexxi Foxx," and guitarist "Satchel" indeed rocked righteously, with prowess and precision, no matter how silly their stage act became. The melody of each track, from "Party All Day" to less printable titles, was memorable, each harmony rich, each vocal mighty and cackling in David Lee Roth fashion. Steel Panther had the slick swagger of Mötley Crüe with elements of Roth-era Van Halen (fleet fingerings, two-hand tapping, airy background vocals) down cold. Satchel's shredding session before "Turn Out the Lights" was textbook Eddie V, complete with surprised looks at every soaring glissando.

Then there was everything else: a stageside mirror in which each member sprayed his windblown hair (Foxx had his own hand-held mirror and fan), bouts of simulated fellatio, the band's giddy sex taunts to audience members male and female, and references to glazed doughnuts and Christie Brinkley.

Accompanying the band's hyperbolic take on hair-metal was its equally overblown, laughably dumb lyrics. "Tomorrow Night" featured all the accoutrements of a great '80s party (weed to be toked, Colombian coke) with a self-pleasuring finale. Political incorrectness knew no bounds, what with the subject of the crunchy "Asian Hooker" and "Death to All but Metal" punishing non-metal singers Mariah Carey, Kanye West, and Eminem in scatological fashion.

Philly's Mach 22 opened with a handsomely swinging and sure set of Aerosmith-ish metal, highlighted by a chugging, soulful cover of "Get Ready" and its own raw, grooving "Radio."