In a new conversation with Guitar Player, Nita Strauss talked about covering Metallica early in her career.
“I was fortunate to have played the worst gig of my life early on,” the guitarist replied when asked to pick the worst gig in her long career. “When I was 12 or 13, I joined my first band, ODA. I have no idea what the initials stood for, but I guess they meant something.”
She added, “I was still in middle school, and everybody else in the band was in high school. There was this tiny metal club in San Fernando called the Cobalt Café that held Battle of the Bands nights. We decided that we wanted to enter, but you had to sell 10 tickets for $10 each to get onstage.”
“We were so excited — a real show in front of real people! It was going to be amazing. We only knew three songs — two originals and a cover of Metallica’s ‘For Whom the Bell Tolls,'” Strauss further recalled.
The musician spoke about how the rest of the gig went, explaining, “We came out and started rocking, and for some reason, almost everybody in the club walked out — including one of the other bands and the judges! My dad stuck around, and the four other people who bought our tickets were there. But that was about it.”
“Looking back on it now, I can say it was the crappiest gig I’ve ever played, but at the time, I was elated. I was so fully immersed and happy in that moment to be onstage, wearing my boots and playing in front of a few people. The whole band was pumped. We didn’t care that everybody left. We didn’t even care that the judges left,” Nita shared.
She didn’t know if there was a winner, but she and her team tried their best. Even though they didn’t win, they felt good. Her dad supported her and said not to worry about the small crowd.
