Cody Parks and The Dirty South performing during the Twenty Twenty $ex Tour at the Aztec Theatre in San Antonio, Texas on April 11, 2026. (Photo: Ralph Arvesen)
For an opening act, Cody Parks and The Dirty South did not behave like one. Long before Steel Panther took over the stage at the Aztec Theatre in San Antonio, Cody Parks and company came out swinging with the kind of swagger that instantly made sense on a bill built around excess, volume, and unapologetic showmanship. Billed as the special guest on multiple dates of Steel Panther’s Twenty Twenty $ex Tour, the band has earned a reputation for blending Southern identity with Sunset Strip attitude, a sound they have leaned into with enough conviction to make the whole thing feel less like a gimmick and more like a mission. Their own description of that hybrid style has been somewhere between country and heavy metal, and live, that collision comes through clearly.
What separates Cody Parks and The Dirty South from a lot of modern genre mashups is that they do not sound hesitant about what they are. There is no winked apology in the performance, no nervous effort to make the blend seem tasteful or carefully curated. Instead, the band leans all the way into the absurdity and fun of combining country flavor, arena rock hooks, hard riffing, and the kind of hair metal posture that was practically made for a room like the Aztec. In that setting, the concept clicked immediately.
Frontman Cody Parks has the right kind of presence for this sort of material. He understands that a room full of rock fans does not need to be gently introduced to a show. They need to be grabbed by the collar. His stage style is built around confidence, and whether he is singing through a big chorus or pushing the crowd toward a louder response, the performance carries the kind of energy that makes people stop treating the opener like background noise.
That mattered on this tour. Supporting Steel Panther is not an easy assignment. Panther crowds do not come in looking for subtlety, and they are not exactly known for patient, polite restraint. An opener on this bill has to either match the room’s rowdy energy or get swallowed by it. Cody Parks and The Dirty South chose the first option, and it paid off. Their songs are built for instant impact, with big hooks, muscular guitar work, and enough flash to keep the crowd visually engaged before the headliner even begins.
The appeal of the band is also pretty easy to understand in Texas. Their whole identity is rooted in a kind of Southern rock pageantry, but filtered through glam metal theatrics and modern touring muscle. That combination can easily collapse into novelty if the songs are weak or the band cannot play. But that is not the issue here. What gives the set credibility is that beneath the image and attitude, the band is tight. The rhythm section pushes with force, the guitars stay aggressive without turning muddy, and the whole thing moves with the confidence of a group that knows exactly what kind of crowd it wants.
And that is probably the best way to describe the set at the Aztec: it knew its audience. This was not a performance trying to convert skeptics through nuance or emotional depth. It was a performance built to raise the room temperature. The band’s role on the bill was to turn anticipation into momentum, and they handled that job well. By the time their set was over, the crowd was no longer waiting for the “real” show to begin. They were already in it.
That is a valuable thing for any opening act to accomplish, and it is even more valuable in a venue like the Aztec Theatre, where atmosphere matters. Located in downtown San Antonio, the Aztec remains one of the city’s most distinctive live music rooms, with its ornate architecture, layered interior detail, and the kind of theatrical setting that naturally amplifies bands with a strong visual identity. The venue is operated through Live Nation and continues to host a wide range of touring acts, but for a band like Cody Parks and The Dirty South, it feels especially fitting. There is something about hard rock spectacle under a ceiling like that which just works.
In the end, Cody Parks and The Dirty South did exactly what a good opener should do, but with more personality than most. They did not simply warm up the room. They gave the crowd a reason to remember who started the night. And for a band still carving out its place on bigger tours, that is not a small thing.
Setlist for the show at the Aztec Theatre
- Long Haired Redneck
- Dirt I'm From
- Water In The Well
- Thunder Cash '69
- The Other Side
- Long Haired Country Boy
- Redneck Rich
Cody Parks and The Dirty South shared the stage with Steel Panther at the Aztec Theatre. They continue across the United States with the last stop at the The Lone Star Stage in Snyder, Texas on October 31, 2026.
Cody Parks and The Dirty South
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