Words and Photos by Jose Serrato
Nita Strauss at Amplified Live – 11/12/21
Walking up to Amplified Live, formerly known as Gas Monkey Bar & Grill, I see a long line of fans anxiously waiting to have their various items signed by the great Nita Strauss. Fans of all ages smiled for a quick photo and walked away happy as we all now waited for the show to begin.
For the Winter Wasteland tour, Nita brought along New York based band Black Satellite and Abby K from
Nashville.
The Gene Simmons influenced bassist, Abby K, took to the stage promptly at 8pm for a 30 minute set. Joined on stage with guitarist Diego Vargas and drummer Zach Gulledge, the group played various singles released in the past couple of years. “They say I can’t talk the talk. They say I can’t walk the walk. They say I can’t rock the rock,” Abby sang to the crowd and convinced them that she indeed can.
The temperature kept dropping as the night went on, but rock duo Black Satellite came out with an intense set that heated up the outdoor venue. Tracks from their debut album, Endless, were mixed in with new tracks from their yet to be released sophomore album Aftermath. Larissa and Kyle, along with the rest of the band, ended their set with their cover of Rammstein’s Sonne. Check out their YouTube channel for a video of their cover.
When she’s not pumping up the crowd on Sundays at the LA Rams home games or performing the intro for World Champion Mikaela Mayer, you can catch Nita Strauss on tour as the guitarist for rock legend Alice Cooper. Just a month after being in town on Cooper’s Fall tour, Nita returned to DFW on the third date of her solo tour.
Strauss hit the stage shredding her signature Ibanez for a full hour. Going all the way back to her first solo track release, Nita mixed in new and old tracks including her first #1 track Dead Inside, which features Disturbed vocalist David Draiman.
From having the crowd take over on vocals to bringing out Black Satellite’s Larissa to sing Feed My Frankenstein, there was no letting up.
Like most tours hitting stages lately, you can sense heavy emotion coming from musicians who have been away from the stage for the past couple years, and it was no different at the Winter Wasteland tour.
With drummer Josh Villalta wearing his Pantera shirt, it was only appropriate for the show to end with a tribute to the Texas legends in the form of a cover of Domination. (If I remember Instagram correctly, Nita also has a cat named Pantera.) As Nita said on stage, she can’t come to Dallas without paying her respects to the Abbott brothers.
It’s 10:45pm and the temperature is still dropping, so it’s time to stop by the merch table and hit the road. The Winter Wasteland tour goes through December and ends in time for Nita goes on the road with Mr. Cooper once again.”
