Washington DC – It isn’t often one gets to go to a sitdown metal performance with no crowd surfing, no moshing, and cushioned seats for all! That was what we got when Finnish heavy metal cellists, Apocalyptica, kicked off their 2025 US tour at the Warner Theater in Washington DC on February 6.
Opening for Apocalyptica was Nita Strauss. Fresh off a solo tour, she was ready and raring to go in DC. Having photographed Nita multiple times, both solo and with Alice Cooper, I have to say that a theater setting was different, but it was also great to see how she was able to work a seated crowd. It was too much fun!!
Nita’s setlist is below and included a mix of her classic pieces and some new. Has anyone said Nita puts on one hell of a show yet? Joining Nita were Josh Villalta (drums), Johnny Young (guitar), Katt Scarlett (keys), and Kasey Karlsen (vocals).
Nita Strauss Gallery
Nita Strauss Setlist
Momentum
Our Most Desperate Hour
Summer Storm
Mariana Trench
Scorched
The Quest / Drum Solo
Victorious
Digital Bullets
Dead Inside
The Wolf You Feed
Enter the Apocalyptica! For those who may not be familiar with them, they are a heavy metal cello trio out of Finnland. Talk about mixed genres! They consist of classically trained cellists Eicca Toppinen, Paavo Lötjönen, Perttu Kivilaakso and drummer Mikko Kaakkuriniemi. They had a special tie with Metallica as, in their college days, they related to the music and incorporated their training into cello arrangements of Metallica music. Their covers of Metallica hits launched their early careers and the cellos proved there is more than one way to string a riff, frets no included.
This tour is devoted to Metallica and Apocalyptica’s most recent album, Apocalyptica – Plays Metallica Vol. 2.
Making a grand appearance from the darkness, as only cellists can do, they opened with “Ride the Lightning“, sending the seated theater crowd into a classic(al) metal frenzy. Having first experienced them at the 2022 Blue Ridge Rock Fest when they played in front of thousands of standing metalheads, the seated experience was unique. I loved their Blue Ridge performance, but was also impressed with the way they dealt with the repeated power outages during their set that cut out the sound.
The Warner audience was reacting as I would envision a crowd reaction to a performance by that Baroque purveyor of metal, Vivaldi… with a lot more head banging and of course, horns.
Metallica would not be complete without “Enter the Sandman“, which got the crowd into it even more. I my humble opinion, there is no way this song was not originally composed without cello in mind.
This was their first stop on their US tour. It was fitting that the US Capital was the first stop for the world leader in cellometal. What I found amazing, and had never really paid attention before, is how a standard cello could be made to imitate the sound of an electric guitar… or was the guitar designed to be able to sound like a cello? “Creeping Death” was a prime example of the glory of cellometal riffs.
“For Whom the Bell Tolls“, “Battery“, “The Call of Ktulu” and “St Anger” followed before killing it with “The Four Horsemen“. Our Nation’s capital was rocking with the Finnish ambassadors of metal!
Rounding out the main set was “Blackened“, “Master of Puppets” (another of my all time Metallica faves… made for strings!), and “Nothing Else Matters“. Despite having no vocalist on this tour, there was no need, as the entire audience joined in as they played, singing the along to words that were not coming from the stage. This was end… or was it?
Of course it wasn’t an ending and we were finally allowed to stand in metal glory as we gave them a standing O, pleading for them to play a couple more. When they did, they thanked the audience profusely, talked about the album and the concept behind Volume 2, and finished off the night with “Seek & Destroy” and “One“.
As I usually do, before leaving, I spoke with a few fans that I met. Those I talked with were different than most metal fans I have talked with in the past. I cannot put a finger on what exactly it was and maybe it was just my imagination. Then again, maybe it was just the imagination that had to be appreciated by those in attendance, as there was a time when cello and rock, let alone metal, could never co-exist… and now, thanks to the imagination of a few Finnish classical musicians, Metallica music with a little classical (Mozart, Beethoven, Vivaldi, et. al) air, was echoing in the minds of those who had been seated at the Warner. Yo-Yo Ma never sounded like this! Hmmmm, could I have just come up with a possible collab? Don’t hold your breath, but that would be something to catch!
Apocalyptica Gallery
Check out the video for “One“
Apocalyptica Setlist
Ride the Lightning
Enter Sandman
Creeping Death
For Whom the Bell Tolls
Battery
The Call of Ktulu
St. Anger
The Four Horsemen
Blackened
Master of Puppets
Nothing Else Matters
Encore:
Seek & Destroy
One
