Steel Panther Joined by *NSYNC’s Joey Fatone Onstage, Draw Criticism for Playing During Pandemic

Steel Panther have returned to the concert stage in Florida, playing a trio of shows over the last few days. During the first date in Orlando at the Ace Cafe, the group welcomed a hometown hero with *NSYNC's Joey Fatone stepping onstage to perform "Girl From Oklahoma" with the group. While the show provided a year-end respite for some, the band did take some criticism for playing what appears to be a pretty packed show during a pandemic.

The Fatone moment, seen below, provided one of the night's highlights at the Thursday performance as the singer engaged in a little sing-off with Michael Starr and some banter with the band, who credited the *NSYNC vocalist as one of their first fans. The evening also featured an appearance by Fozzy frontman Chris Jericho and an opening set from Black Stone Cherry.

However, the show yielded quite a bit of discussion online with the group drawing some criticism for playing to what appears to be a traditional sized concert crowd. Florida has consistently been more lenient with Covid-19 restrictions, even allowing for fans at sporting events where other states have continued to shut down concerts and other large gathering events.

According to the New York Times, there have been at least 1,193,157 cases and 20,472 deaths in Florida since the beginning of the pandemic.

While there are those who were critical of Steel Panther playing the show, others have weighed in with their support. See a sampling of social media response below: