Why Demi Lovato’s Band is One of the Top Tourist Attractions to Rock in Rio | Rock in Rio 2022
7 min readDemi has surely indulged in style once and for all in her new ‘Holy Fvck‘, by betting on emo and pop punk. However, in his touring show, the songs gained more weight thanks to The band consists of Nita Strauss, Lynne Bowes, Brittany Bowman and Danny McGinley.
Riffs, Solos, and intense drum lines were not only featured in the songs on this new album, as in “29,” but also in older songs that resulted in good rock-solid versions, such as “Confident” and “Heart Attack.” The girls took advantage of the freedom of the moment to show off some heavy metal.
Rock at Rio 2022 in One Minute: Demi Lovato
Mainly responsible for this heavy rock vein on the show is guitarist Nita Strauss. I recently left the band Alice Coopera rock icon, to join Demi on this tour.
During her performance, Nita, or Hurricane Nita (Nita Furacão), as she is called, included solo and pretentious movements and distortions to make the audience shake. And there were still bangs of hair and faces and mouths and she was very comfortable on stage next to Demi.
In “Sorry I’m Not Sorry,” for example, she gave Demi center stage so Nita could show off her talent. It was done beautifully.
Just like the rock version of “Cool for the summer,” where, along with bassist Leanne Bowes, they gave a little heavy metal straw at first and then at the end, when Demi was no longer on stage.
Leanne began her career in the Canadian punk band Hunter Valentine, which opened for names such as Cindy Lauper and Sum 41, in addition to Demi, she also played in the band Marina (formerly and The Diamonds).
In an interview, she said that she learned bass when her father, a drummer, asked her to help him with a project. Therefore, he had to learn the bass for the song “So Lonely” for the police.
Leanne was 12 years old at the time and fell in love with the sound of the instrument. Then she learned to play all the CDs at home, like Nirvana, Nine Inch Nails and Alice in Chains, influenced by her mother.
Under the influence of her mother, Brittany Bowman, drummer Brett Bowman, “sold her soul to music,” her autobiography says. She was 5 years old and was listening to the radio in the car with her mother. The Beatles were one of his favorite bands.
At the age of 10, he met Green Day and got involved in punk rock and enjoyed drums. When he was 15 years old, he was already playing in concert halls in Chicago, where he was born. On Demi’s show, she showed intense dynamism and drumming.
Keyboardist Danny McGinley is from London, England, and currently lives in Los Angeles. He started his career at an early age with classical music and later with jazz. When she was 17, still in England, she began performing as a pianist and singer.
Danny has also supported performances by Charlie XCX, Zara Larson, Marina and Shamir. While with Shamir, he opened up to the likes of Troye Sivan, The Years & Years and the tour that brought together Duran Duran and Nile Rodgers & Chic.
With Demi Lovato, they still perform in Belo Horizonte on Friday (2) and at Rock in Rio on Sunday (4).
Demi’s concert in Sao Paulo
Demi Lovato at a presentation this Tuesday (30) in Sao Paulo – Photo: Angelo Kritikos / Disclosure
With the new album “Holy Fvck”Demi Lovato bet on rock music. And he made no mistake. Plenty of solo and solo tracks, good to hear (and skip), the show on August 30, the first of this tour in Brazil, is a lively performance by the female rock quintet that seemed to be playing together for quite some time. Demi is one of the attractions in rock in rioSunday (4).
The Tonight Show is one of the first of the new tours and features tracks from “Holy Fvck,” as well as salvaging hit songs from the past, in more rock versions.
Demi Lovato in concert on her North American tour before coming to Brazil; The singer was not released by the paparazzi on the show in SP – Photo: clone / Instagram
Demi appeared on stage at 9:29 PM with a haircut that reminded her of Joan Jett. A red vinyl corset and pants, complete with chains and rivets, complete the look.
This is it. There were no changes in costumes, projection screens, and visual effects, nothing that could distract the audience from the music. Without saying a word, Demi edited “Holy Fvck,” “Freak,” “Substance,” and “Eat Me,” all on the new album. And with them, those follies, solos, and distortions gave the promised weight. The crowd followed him and jumped and shouted.
Before the fifth song, Demi speaks to the audience. It says in Portuguese, “Te amo!” And thanks everyone for being there. She also indicated that she takes the time to introduce the all-female group.
Brittany Bowman on drums, Lynne Bowes on bass, Danny McGinley on keyboards, and Nita Strauss, guitarist who left Alice Cooper’s band to join Demi.
Demi Lovato at a presentation this Tuesday (30) in Sao Paulo – Photo: Angelo Kritikos / Disclosure
And for those who frown, know that Nita did a great job: the solos and distortions given her enthusiastic and added a heavy touch to the tracks.
From there, Demi reintroduced old songs repackaged. The first of them was “Confidence”, from the 2015 album of the same name, on which he also played guitar. The music is interrupted so that a sick person can be present from the audience. It was Demi herself who stopped the show to ask someone to help the person. Another interruption by the singer to help a fan will occur later.
Resuming the song, she also edited “Here we go again” and “Remember December”, both from the album “Here we go again”, from 2009. The next single, “La La Land”, became more ironic with its imprint punk pop. , and with an excerpt from the song “La La” written by Ashlee Simpson in 2004 that is placed in the middle of the song.
“Don’t Forget”, while containing rock elements, was the most remembered old track, from 2008. Demi also sang “The Art of Starting Over”, from last year’s album, “Dance with the Devil…The Art of start over.” “I am very proud of the new album, but I am also proud of the last album and this is my favourite,” he commented on the track, which sounds more like a song.
The audience begins to call it “exciting”. Embarrassingly, Demi says she doesn’t understand, and soon the audience improvises a “hot, hot, hot” chorus. The singer looked awkward, said it was really hot, and thanks for the compliment.
Next follows the story line. Nita, guitarist, and Lynn, on bass, sit next to the singer standing between them. “4 ever 4 me”, which is also one of Demi’s favourites, is, as I mentioned there, intended for lovers. The song received an excerpt from Goo Goo Dolls’ “Iris” in the middle.
Soon, rock returns with the gritty version of “Sorry I’m Not Sorry,” as pop beats give way to Nita’s singles. Perhaps because it’s such a great pop song by the singer, a moment or two of the track doesn’t seem to match the band’s (very good) arrangements very well. This, of course, was not a hindrance to the delight of the fans, who sang together in a choir at the top of their lungs, nor to be one of the highlights of the show.
Demi Lovato at a presentation this Tuesday (30) in Sao Paulo – Photo: Angelo Kritikos / Disclosure
Another high point was “29”, one of the last work. In the lyrics, she talks about a relationship she had when she was 17 and he was 29. Demi paused to tell that, because of the song that went viral on Tik Tok, she received reports from people who decided to force themselves and respond when they saw each other. In a similar situation. “It makes me proud, thank you very much,” he said before singing the song.
“Heart Attack,” the next, went very well in a rocker costume. Then came “skinning my teeth” and “happy ending”. With just over an hour and thirty minutes left, came “Cool for the summer,” and another with an elaborate remake of punk-pop that concluded the singer’s first performance on Brazilian soil.
Demi has another show on Wednesday (31) at Espaço Unimed (formerly Espaço das Américas) and Friday (2) in Belo Horizonte. At Rock in Rio, she performed on Sunday (4).