Support was provided by Josh Villalta on drums, Christopher Dean on bass, and Jason Tarantino – being pointed at in the. The former Alice Cooper and Iron Maidens guitarist puts on a great show. and to my knowledge never missed a note!Īfter Jacky came the treat most were there for: Nita Strauss. I can personally vouch for the fact that, despite the extreme speed of his playing, he remained fully in sync with the backing drums, etc.
He has said the reason for doing this is to eliminate any extra hand and wrist movements, essentially making his playing much more efficient. He is a bit unique in the fact that he strictly economy picks almost all of his fast runs, rather than alternate picking them. Obviously, he recognizes that, as a solo performer on a stage designed to accommodate as many as six or seven players across, he has to fill the stage with himself, and he did, managing to seem like four guitar players playing at once! He is known for his incredibly accurate picking, both live and in the studio. And he’s a true solo act, using backing tracks to support his guitar mastery as he manically stalks from one end of the stage to the other. He then formed his own band, Cry Venom, along with focusing on his solo career. By age 19 he helped found Falling in Reverse, and remained with them from 2008-2015. Jacky Vincent is a great example: Literally born to be a guitarist (His dad is a luthier and player, his older brother also plays guitar), he started playing at age 5 but didn’t get serious until he was 14 or so. Next up came the first of the guitar virtuosos, and not to throw shade at the other bands, but each of the four guitarists participating in the finale was just a cut above the rest.
Metz has been succeeded by Loren Whitaker, who plays bass in another band as well, and we were lucky enough to see both drummers Loren played the first half, then brought Troy up for a last hurrah/rousing sendoff! Of course, Justin and Jordan Medlen are still handling guitar and bass, respectively, and they fit right into this string-slinging session dedicated to shredding, slamming, stretching, and downright torturing guitars to get them to produce just the desired sounds! However, Aurorae provided the last vocals of the night, other than audience participation! Aurorae–Loren-WhitakerĪlso, longtime drummer Troy J. First, they added a vocalist, Mikel Johnston, who also drums for another band – but has that heavy metal growl down pat, as well as other vocal talents. Next up was Aurorae, a band that’s gone through a few changes of late. They seem on track to be headliners themselves soon! I last saw them a few months ago, and they’re tighter than ever, with Michael Giorgi (Guitar/ Vocals), Duncan Miller (Guitar/ Vocals), Alex Pillai (Bass), and Cade Langston (Drums) keeping the promise of “melodious but crushing metal” to the delight of their fans – there were quite a few of their T-shirts in evidence among the crowd, and one fan in particular loudly exclaiming “Represent! Represent!” between songs and at the end of their set. Starting things out, The Prosecution returned to again lay a solid metal foundation for the night.
#CROWBAR GAY BAR PHOENIX PLUS#
And missed three great opening sets, plus Angel Vivaldi and the finale (above) that featured four awesome guitarists! Okay, I have to just put it out there: Those of you who show up late or leave early are really cheating yourselves! I know people have to work, traffic’s a bitch, etc., but Tuesday night’s show had some of the very best moments in the beginning and at the very end, and there were quite a few who came and left for Nita’s set alone. Venue: Crowbar, Ybor City/Tampa, Florida–December 18, 2018īands/Artists, in order of appearance: The Prosecution, Aurorae, Jacky Vincent, Nita Strauss, Angel Vivaldi Nita Strauss, Angel Vivaldi, Jacky Vincent, and Jason Tarantino – Grand Finale!īy Brent Michael, Rock At Night Tampa Correspondent