Flint Gets Rocked By A Hurricane, Hurricane Nita Strauss That Is

December 13, 2021 Robert Chadwick Concert Reviews Comments Off

Nita Strauss 7 — Nita Strauss performing at The Machine Shop in Flint, Michigan on Saturday, December 11, 2021. (Photo credit: Mike Shaler)

BY MIKE SHALER | Go Venue Magazine

December 11th 2021 at the world-famous Machine Shop in Flint, Michigan was a night to remember as Nita Strauss, Black Satellite and Marc Rizzo brought the guitar riffage in full force.

Marc Rizzo kicked off the show in quick fashion as he blasted masterfully on the guitar as his fingers whipped up and down and around the guitar strings to make them deliver those fast, heavy riffs that make him a stand-out talent in the rock world. Marc has carved out quite a career in music as he was a long-time member of Soulfly and has since continued to thrive as a solo act tearing up stages across the world, and what a wonderful treat to have Marc Rizzo kick off the show.

Black Satellite kept the beat going with a set of hard rocking tunes as singer Larissa Vale guided the way. Vale, dressed like a punk rocker out of a post-apocalyptic movie with elaborate eye makeup and a leather jacket full of large spikes that would easily encourage social distancing. With lead guitarist Kyle Hawken, Mark Czmil on bass guitar and Joe Koza on drums, Black Satellite made for some hair whipping good times.

Nita Strauss brought her Winter Wasteland tour to The Machine Shop as she genuinely praised the venue speaking of how well regarded the place is even out in Los Angeles, California. It’s a testament to the venue and their staff when highly successful musicians make it a priority to include The Machine Shop on the tour. Nita has been playing guitar for Alice Cooper for several years now, and getting a chance to see her on a solo tour to display her guitar prowess was a delight.

Nita is touring in support of her latest Album, Controlled Chaos, which has some big-name guest vocals as one song “Dead Inside”, featuring David Draiman of Disturbed has a video that was released a month ago. We were treated with this song as the band played live along with a recording of Draiman’s vocals. With Josh V pummeling on drums and Dean banging on bass guitar, these three musicians tore it up.

With a blend of original songs like “Mariana Trench”, “Most Desperate Hour” to covers like Alice Cooper’s “Frankenstein” to which Black Satellite’s Larissa Vale provided vocals and Marc Rizzo joining in on guitar to make for an awesome jam session. Nita mentioned it’s been a crazy year and a half as she alluded to the covid effect on live concerts. But Nita noted, “The show must go on” and with that began playing the Queen song of the same name.

Getting to see Nita Strauss live on stage at The Machine Shop was an exciting night of guitar wizardry that made the fans happy with delight. Even local concert celebrity, Flint Santa, got a shout-out from Nita during the show, and she even wore his Santa hat on stage as we all got into the Christmas spirit. It was another awesome evening of rock and roll at The Machine Shop.