Nita Strauss Shreds Her Way To Austin
Nita Strauss headlined her first solo show in Austin at the Come and Take It Live on Wednesday evening. While this was the first time Nita performed solo here in Austin, most people would recognize her as the guitarist for Alice Cooper or her wildly popular all-female Iron Maiden tribute band, The Iron Maidens. She is also a very sought-after guitar clinician and, upon watching her play, it is not hard to see why. She is a technical genius with her guitar. But beyond the obvious skill, she is fun to watch. Her love of music shows all over her face and in her performance. She is truly captivating.
Playing a mix of covers, including Iron Maiden and Alice Cooper, as well as originals from her first solo album Controlled Chaos, she and her band, which included another guitar player, a bassist, drummer, and keyboardist. She really mastered every square inch of the admittedly small stage at the CATIL. Kicking off the show with “Pandemonium” and “Alegria” from her new album, hair was whirling, strobes were flashing, and guitars were shredding, delivering clearly just how fitting the name of “Hurricane” Nita’s new album actually is. It would be simple to focus on the fact that she is woman, say that it’s awesome to see a female with that much musical skill, but that would be lessening the true talent that Nita has. She is an exceptional guitarist with remarkable talented.
Other highlights from the show included covers of Iron Maiden’s “Aces High” in tribute to her time with The Iron Maidens all-girl tribute band, Alice Cooper’s “Eighteen” starring keyboardist Katt Scarlett on lead vocals, and an instrumental version of Queen’s “The Show Must Go On,” which closed out the night along with Nita’s own “Our Most Desperate Hour.”
Setlist:
Pandemonium 2.0
Alegria
Mariana Trench
Lion Among Wolves
I’m Eighteen
(Alice Cooper cover) (Katt Scarlett on lead vocals)
Aces High
(Iron Maiden cover) (instrumental)
The Quest
(with drum solo)
The Stillness at the End
(preceded by band introductions)
The Show Must Go On
(Queen cover) (instrumental)
Our Most Desperate Hour
