Unless your name is Steve Vai or Joe Satriani, the stars need to align just right if you’re going to play to a packed house as an all-instrumental guitarist. Even if that house is a bar.
John 5 has gone through sparse crowds on solo instrumentalist tours when he’s not performing with Rob Zombie, including at the Rock Box. UFO guitarist Vinnie Moore has done the same as a headliner at the Rock Box. Nita Strauss blew through the same downtown San Antonio concert bar Saturday night as a solo artist for the second time in three years after rocking the H-E-B Center in Cedar Park on Oct. 19 as part of Alice Cooper’s band.
Strauss receives her share of larger audiences playing with the original master of shock rock. So more intimate crowds whether the result of a pandemic, low ticket sales, a lack of promotion or all of the above that might normally affect some artists fail to fluster someone who goes by the nickname of “Hurricane.” Coupled with the fact Strauss is one of the most humble artists you’ll ever meet, it’s easy to see how and why she and her band thrived not only in front of an audience that struggled to meet triple digits but also showed a sense of humor during various technical difficulties. That included three attempts to take the stage for a unique and unpredictable opening track — the Power Rangers’ theme song — before the third time was the charm.
Yes, a hurricane was in full effect. And it came with a monster five-piece of a band (see 65-photo slideshow below).
Supported by Black Satellite, teenage vocalist/bassist Abby K and locals Wulfholt (apologies to the latter that ATM could not make it in time for their set), Strauss is touring behind her November 2018 instrumental full-length debut Controlled Chaos as she did June 2019 at the Rock Box, a show that also included Wulfholt (coverage here). This time, Strauss brought her first No. 1 song “Dead Inside” that co-stars Disturbed singer David Draiman. Saturday’s performance of the killer track featured Draiman’s vocals piped in and can be viewed below as part of ATM’s footage.
Strauss’ resume speaks for itself. In addition to playing with Cooper and her own band, she was the in-house guitarist for the Los Angeles Kiss of the Arena Football League, the team owned by KISS’ Paul Stanley and Gene Simmons in 2014. That occurred around the time she earned the gig with Cooper, both of which Strauss spoke about with ATM here.
Strauss also played the entrance theme for World Wrestling Entertainment superstar Shinsuke Nakamura at Wrestlemania 34 in New Orleans, and her Controlled Chaos song “Mariana Trench” was chosen as the official theme to NXT’s War Games pay-per-view event.
Along with her boyfriend and drummer Josh Villalta, Strauss and her band also delivered the goods on “The Stillness At the End,” “The Quest” and “Our Most Desperate Hour” (ATM footage below). She unveiled “Summer Storm” as an instrumental that was “a song that you definitely didn’t know” and segued into “a song that you definitely do know” — Cooper’s “Feed My Frankenstein.” Strauss enlisted the help of Black Satellite singer Larissa Vale for the latter, but Vale’s deep and raspy vocals didn’t exactly elicit memories of the 1991 studio version with Cooper (ATM Facebook Live footage here).
Strauss also shredded and headbanged her way through the first song she ever released as a solo artist, “Pandemonium 2.0” (anyone else hear the riff to Journey’s “Who’s Crying Now” toward the end?). Strauss and her band then gave the non-masses something to eat up — her traditional Texas performance of Pantera’s “Domination” (footage of both songs below), this rendition coming a mere 24 hours after Philip H. Anselmo & The Illegals did the honors inside the room next door, the Vibes Event Center (coverage here).
Black Satellite, meanwhile, was an anomaly on the bill. The New York City goth band is actually known as a duo featuring Vale’s vocals and guitarist Kyle Hawken but enlisted a bassist and drummer to round out the live show. They didn’t generate a whole lot of enthusiasm following Abby K. and Wulfholt, but not through a lack of effort. Watch them in action on “Void.”
Abby K. and her trio, however, were a different story. Strauss said Abby K has opened at least one show on each of her prior solo tours and that this time she’s performing on the entire trek, “and I couldn’t be more proud.” The teenage vocalist/bassist showed she was more than comfortable making her San Antonio debut, warming things up in a rocking way on “Dirty Love” and “Rock the Rock” and closer “Dodging A Bullet (I Swear)” which can be viewed below.
Despite the technical obstacles that threatened to overshadow Strauss’ set but failed to do so, the headliner was just as impressive regarding her attitude toward the inconveniences as were her skills on the axe. Strauss repeatedly smiled and told those who bothered to show up that “any day on stage with these guys is better” than the previous 18 months or so we’ve all gone through. She even took time out to thank the Rock Box for having her — not many artists have been known to do that.
Yes, this was one instance in which a hurricane wasn’t so bad. In fact, it was downright rockin’ and bitchin’ by the first female signature artist to be endorsed by Ibanez guitars. Maybe next time she’s in San Antonio, there will be more on hand who will welcome being blown away by this talented and accomplished guitarist who’s more than just a pretty face on stage.
