APOCALYPTICA / NITA STRAUSS – MOODY THEATRE – AUSTIN TX
By Joe Perusse
Apocalyptica / Nita Strauss Moody Theatre Austin Tx 3/5/25
The first week of March brought me to Texas for work and I was lucky enough to be able to catch a show at the beautiful Moody Theatre in downtown Austin.
Leading off the night was guitar virtuoso Nita Strauss and her band. Before the show I had a Facebook memory pop up and in a weird coincidence I saw Strauss exactly a year before at Toad’s Place in New Haven, Connecticut. Musically, tonight’s show was just as spectacular. The stage show was more impressive as Strauss had room to run around and play to the crowd.
Starting the set with instrumentals “Momentum” and “Our Desperate Hour” Strauss then played “Summer Storm”, the first song off her new album, The Call of the Void. “Mariana Trench” from her first album, Controlled Chaos followed. “Scorched” was dedicated to everyone affected by the fires in her hometown of Los Angeles. “The Quest/Drum solo” featuring Strauss’s husband Josh Villalta led into vocalist Kasey Karlsen from Deadlands joining the stage for the final four songs, huge hit “Victorious”, “Digital Bullets”, “Dead Inside”, and “The Wolf You Feel”. Rounding out the band was Johnny D Young on rhythm guitar and Katt Scarlett on the keyboard.
The headliner, Apocalyptica formed in Helsinki, Finland in 1993 and has been rocking with cellists Eicca Toppinen, Perttu Kivilaakso and Paavo Lotjoen ever since. Supporting their new album Apocalyptica Plays Metallica Volume 2, the band stayed true to the muse by coming out after Ennio Morricone’s “The Ecstasy of Gold”. While the main set was all instrumental the crowd played their roll well, singing along to the music. Outstanding renditions of “Ride The Lightning”, “Enter Sandman”, “Creeping Death” and “For Whom the Bell Tolls” rocked the room.
After, Kivilaakso explained the show almost didn’t happen as he sliced the tip of his finger almost off cutting an orange earlier in the day. Showing everyone his wrapped digit the crowd cheered as he stated the show must go on. “Battery” was next and then “The Call of Ktulu” was dedicated to Metallica’s late bassist Cliff Burton. A better than the original version of “St. Anger” followed and Kivilaakso joked if anyone liked that album when it came out.
Toppinen told the crowd how they picked the 3 new songs for this album 28 years after the first Metallica tribute. The band likes to find songs that they can add a little to and not just copy. Their version of “Blackened” did just that. “Master of Puppets” and “Nothing Else Matters” were followed by band introductions. Mikko Kaakkuriniemi joined the guys behind the drum kit adding a great back beat to the show. “Seek and Destroy” ended the main set. The encore featured “One” with recorded spoken lyrics by Metallica’s vocalist James Hetfield adding an even more unique presentation of the song.
To learn more about Apocalyptica, check out their Website
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