When you think of some of the most famous instrumental guitarists out there in the hard rock and heavy metal genre, you think of artists like Yngwie Malmsteen, Joe Satriani, Steve Vai, Jeff Beck, Jason Becker, Marty Friedman, and many more.
But added to this list in the past decade are the incomparable players Angel Vivaldi and Nita Strauss who are currently on the road together for The Guitar Collective 2018 tour featuring Jacky Vincent! This is the second annual Guitar Collective, the first in 2017 featuring it’s founder Angel Vivaldi, Scale The Summit, and Andy James.
As quoted by Vivaldi, “The past four years have given us some of today’s most incredible guitarists. After last year’s ‘Guitar Collective’, which included SCALE THE SUMMIT and Andy James, I knew I had to make this ‘modern G3‘ an annual outing. This year, not only do we have Nita Strauss‘s live solo debut, we’ve also got Jacky Vincent, who both will continue to carry the torch of instrumental guitar music for generations to come. I can’t wait to get on stage night after night to jam with my friends.” (Quote taken directly from Blabbermouth.net).
To get a little background for you all; Angel Vivaldi first arrived on the scene with the release of his first solo album “Revelation” in 2008. He soon became a notable name when his project with Will Putney, “Universal Language” went viral. Since then, Vivaldi has released seven solo records and has become an important name in the instrumental scene.
Nita Strauss, most known for being a member of Alice Cooper‘s current line-up made her entrance into the music scene through bands like The Iron Maidens, Femme Fatale, and even being the official in-house guitarist for the LA KISS football team. This year, Strauss became the first ever female to have her own Ibanez Signature model—the Ibanez Nita Strauss Jiva10. And if things couldn’t get more exciting, Nita also just celebrated the release of her very first solo record entitled “Controlled Chaos” which was released via Sumerian Records on November 16th.
(Be sure to purchase the album via hurricanenita.com)!
As many of you know if you’re familiar with me, I’m an Alice Cooper fanatic and I’ve known Nita for a couple of years now, so there was no way I was going to miss The Guitar Collectives‘s stop in Philadelphia on November 20th! Being rather unfamiliar with Jacky Vincent and Angel Vivaldi’s work, I was also looking forward to catching their performances as well.
The show started some with local openers before Jacky Vincent took the stage. Vincent, more commonly known for his time as lead guitarist in Falling In Reverse and now guitarist in Cry Venom, put on an absolute fantastic set. With no backing musicians and just backing tracks, he without a doubt owned the stage with his incredible talent and got the crowd ready for Nita, and later on Angel, to take the stage.
Like I said, I’ve been a huge fan of Nita‘s for years now and am always incredibly impressed and in awe of her talents. This show was an incredibly special one as it was Nita’s second solo show EVER. And she totally nailed it. Nita played a wide selection of tunes from her new record including the tune ‘Pandemonium’ which was released prior to the album in January of 2017. She always gets an incredible reaction from the audience and always continues to prove that playing guitar and being kickass at it isn’t just a “guy thing.” My favorite part of the set was when Nita kindly invited me up onstage to sing ‘I’m Eighteen’, an Alice Cooper tune that I’m sure you all know (“and Sydney knows better than anyone!” as kindly quoted by Nita)!
Next up was Angel Vivaldi who put on an incredible set of his own full of a wide range of shredding tunes that the audience ate right up. One of my favorite parts of the entire show was the very end of Vivaldi‘s set, or the “final jam”, where Nita and Jacky joined Angel onstage for one final shredfest where the trio traded off multiple solos and left the audience in pure awe.
After watching this show, I without a doubt felt inspired to go home and practice my own playing and I’m almost positive that the rest of the audience felt the same.
If you haven’t yet seen the show, there are still plenty of dates left on The Guitar Collective 2018 tour! Be sure to check the dates below to see if these guitar virtuosos are coming to your city because if so, you’re not gonna wanna miss this! VIP packages (that include a Q&A, signed poster and M&G/photo with Vivaldi and Strauss) are also available for this tour and can be purchased here.
REMAINING 2018 GUITAR COLLECTIVE DATES
Nov. 29 – Kansas City, MO @ The Riot Room
Nov. 30 – Denver, CO @ Marquis Theater
Dec. 01 – Salt Lake City, UT @ Club X
Dec. 02 – Boise, ID @ The Shredder
Dec. 04 – Seattle, WA @ Club Sur Rocks
Dec. 05 – Portland, OR @ Paris Theatre
Dec. 06 – Orangevale, CA @ The Boardwalk
Dec. 07 – San Diego, CA @ Brick by Brick
Dec. 08 – Scottsdale, AZ @ Pub Rock
Dec. 09 – Los Angeles, CA @ 1720
Dec. 11 – Austin, TX @ Come and Take It Live
Dec. 12 – Houston, TX @ Scout Bar
Dec. 13 – Dallas, TX @ Trees
Dec. 14 – Memphis, TN @ Hi-Tone
Dec. 15 – Atlanta, GA @ Masquerade
Dec. 16 – Orlando, FL @ The Haven
Dec. 17 – Margate, FL @ O’Malley’s
Dec. 18 – Tampa, FL @ Crowbar
Dec. 19 – Spartanburg, SC @ Ground Zero
Dec. 20 – Richmond, VA @ Canal Club
Dec. 21 – Asbury Park, NJ @ House of Independents
https://www.maentglobal.com/blog/the-guitar-collective-voltage-lounge-nov-20th-2018
Metal From The Inside 