Nita Strauss shreds at Demi Lovato's first full live show of 2022

Nita Strauss on stage with her guitar next to an image of Demi Lovato smiling — (Image credit: Per Ole Hagen/Redferns, RB/Bauer-Griffin/GC Images)

Nita Strauss has made her full live debut alongside Demi Lovato, ahead of the release of the pop star’s new rock-inspired album, Holy Fvck, which is due out on August 19.

The show took place last weekend (August 13) at the Illinois State Fair in Springfield, Illinois, and saw Strauss sprinkle her six-string sorcery on old and new Lovato hits.

On the night, Lovato fired through a 21-song setlist including Holy Fvck selections Freak, Eat Me, 29, Happy Ending and 4 Ever 4 Me, covers of the Goo Goo Dolls’ Iris and Ashley Simpsons’ La La, as well as a number of older tracks such as Heart Attack, Cool For The Summer, Sorry Not Sorry and La La Land.

Performances of Cool For The Summer and Skin Of My Teeth can be seen below via fan-filmed footage.

Strauss announced her departure from Alice Cooper’s band - in which she performed since 2014 - on July 11. The guitarist additionally had a string of festival appearances scheduled in aid of her solo music, which were also all cancelled to facilitate her new role.

“After this absolutely incredible run in Europe, it is bittersweet for me to let you guys know that I will not be joining the Alice Cooper band for the upcoming fall tour” she wrote. “I will also regretfully have to cancel the festival dates my solo band had planned for the rest of the year.

"I am not pregnant! There is no drama whatsoever and my touring year is still very full – in fact, I’m on a flight straight into the next adventure as I post this, and I’ll be on stage again much sooner than you think. But that’s news for another day.”

Later this month, Lovato. Strauss and co. will visit South America for a run of dates across Brazil, Columbia, Argentina and Chile, before returning to the US for a headline tour this autumn.

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Liz manages Louder's social media channels and works on keeping the sites up to date with the latest news from the world of rock and metal. Prior to joining Louder as a full time staff writer, she completed a Diploma with the National Council for the Training of Journalists and received a First Class Honours Degree in Popular Music Journalism. She enjoys writing about anything from neo-glam rock to stoner, doom and progressive metal, and loves celebrating women in music.