Guitarist Nita Strauss reminisces about playing gigs and touring with The Iron Maidens

Guitarist Nita Strauss reminisces about playing gigs and touring with The Iron Maidens

Current Alice Cooper guitarist Nita Strauss played in The Iron Maidens from 2011 to 2015.

The guitarist recently reminisced via her Facebook account about playing gigs and touring with The Iron Maidens including with her good friend / guitarist Courtney Cox.

First post on January 8, 2020:

“Reminiscing on some fun show memories from back in the day  Courtney Cox

When I was playing with the Iron Maidens around 2011-2012, we had this really fun gig a few times a year at a local swap meet. Every 3 or 4 months we would drive 45 minutes out from LA, load in at BASICALLY the crack of dawn (probably closer to 8 or 9 am, but it felt early) and play three sets throughout the whole day. No repeating songs, just three full hours of mighty Iron Maiden classics.

It was THE coolest atmosphere- no pressure, no one nitpicking, no one watching the whole show through their phone screen- just a huge group of metal fans eating greasy festival food, day drinking, and rocking out

We got paid the same as we would for a regular show, so Courtney and I made up for it by drinking as many of these massive beers they sold there as we possibly could over the course of the day. Times have certainly changed…

Fun story- this is also where I met Nili Brosh for the first time! I had just started playing with the band and didn’t know enough songs to fill the 3 hours yet, so Nili stepped in to play the second set. I was so blown away watching her and Courtney on stage together. Two guitar powerhouses!!!”

Second post on January 8, 2020:

“One more story from the Maidens days.

When bands tour overseas, a lot of times promoters ask the band to film a video greeting, saying hi to fans in that country and letting them know that the show is happening. We used to get together and film a bunch of them every once in a while. On one particular occasion, we were getting ready to head down to Latin America, and the band’s manager had the brilliant idea to have us say “Up the Irons”… in Spanish.

He looked it up on Google Translate, printed it out, and gave it to us to read out loud. My Spanish is ok, barely conversational at best, so I didn’t notice anything odd about it. We did the video, sent it off, and forgot about it.

Fast forward a few months, and we’re getting picked up at the airport in (Chile? Maybe?)

We’re driving to the hotel, and the promoter turns around from the front seat, chuckling, and says “It was very nice of you girls to send such a nice greeting for the fans… but I think I should tell you it wasn’t quite correct ”

And it was on that day that we all learned that Google Translate doesn’t exactly get the meaning of band catchphrases. So our cheery “Hasta la planchaaaaaaa!!” in all the videos actually translates to “Hold up the iron”… as in, the kind you would use on an ironing board.

(Alternatively, it could also mean “hold up the grill”, as in my favorite Latin dish, pechuga de pollo a la plancha.)

Lesson learned- always double check with a native speaker

Arriba Los Irons!!“