“We came out and started rocking, and for some reason, almost everybody in the club walked out": Nita Strauss looks back on the worst gig of her life – and what she learned from it

Nita Strauss may be one of the most in-demand guitarists on the touring circuit – she's currently on tour alongside Apocalyptica before gearing up for her reunion with Alice Cooper for the spring and summer jaunt – but that doesn't mean she's immune to bad gigs. But what would she say was her worst gig ever?

“I was fortunate to have played the worst gig of my life early on,” she tells Guitar Player. “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. 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 didn't have a big circle of friends, so we sold a grand total of four tickets to the drummer’s girlfriend and someone’s brother.”

“After that, we were stuck. Who’s got 60 bucks? Well, my dad came to the rescue. He was a touring musician and he knew the deal, so he came to the soundcheck and bought our last six tickets so we could get on stage and play.”

Strauss recalls how the fledgling band had practiced three songs – two originals and a cover of Metallica's For Whom the Bell Tolls, and were buzzing with excitement. However, it seems like the audience – and the judges – weren't so keen...

“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.”

However, Strauss says that she has zero regrets about that early show – after all, it served as her gateway to the illustrious career she has now. Plus, everyone has to have a bad show at some point, right?

“Looking back on it now, I can say it was the crappiest gig I’ve ever played, but at the time, I was elated,” she reflects. “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.

“I don’t know who won, or if they announced a winner. We were just like, ‘Yeah, we’re doing it! No matter the obstacles, no matter what happens, we're out here kicking ass!’ Of course, we didn't really kick any ass, but in our minds, in that moment, we kicked ass!”