Nita Strauss At MTelus

Hands down, one of the most talented guitarists in the land set down in Montreal's MTelus for a concert that was guaranteed to leave more than a few jaws on the floor.  Opening the evening was the unmatched guitar playing of Nita Strauss.  From being an Iron Maiden, to sharing the stage with Alice Cooper and recently with Demi Lovato, Nita Strauss has been all over the musical map in recent years.  She has also lent her talent to other entertainment heavyweights like the NFL and WWE.  Her set list consisted of several songs from her latest album, 2023’s The Call of the Void, and a couple from her solo debut, Controlled Chaos.  The guitar play is master level as Nita Strauss stands at the head of the modern guitar player class.  She is joined on stage for a few songs later in the set by Kacey Karlson who takes on songs performed by some vocal heavyweights from The Call of the Void and makes them her own.  We can't forget the other supporting musicians as well. Katt Scarlett on keyboards may be relegated to the rear of the stage, but her presence is felt through out the set.  Sharing the guitar duties is is Johnny Young, who doesn't seem out of place at all, shredding and throwing shapes with Nita Strauss all night.  A special mention also goes out to drummer Josh Villalta who pounds the drums like few others, and as Nita's manager, also allowed to shoot a few extra songs past the three that we usually get.  Thanks very much for your generosity Josh.  Those extra songs allowed me to not only get the awesome photograph at the top of the page, but also the shot a little further down in this collection of Nita Strauss playing the guitar while it is parallel to her body.  A pose made famous by one of her guitar heroes, Steve Vai, and a pose that I was able to capture of him a few years ago as well.  It was a spectacular performance and one that left the entire crowd on their feet and begging for more.  All of the photographs were taken at f/3.2 while using several different shutter speeds, ISO setting and focal lengths.  Here are the rest of the photographs that I took of Nita Strauss while she was performing on the MTelus stage.

If you would like to find out more about Nita Strauss and her music, you can do so by following the link to her website.  If you would like to see the photographs of Apocalyptica, who performed later that night, you can do so by following the link.  As I already mentioned, Nita Strauss is near the top of the list of guitarist out there today.  If she happens to be performing near you, either solo or with one of her other groups, don't dare miss out on the chance to see her play.  Seeing Nita Strauss perform live is something you won't forget.