Marco Mendoza / Nitroville - The Lounge, London (UK) - 03 June 2018
Nitroville are a female-fronted Metal outfit who do a fairly long set keeping their energy high. Tola Lamont has a powerful voice which makes singing for a very loud band look rather easy. They deliver a professional set with energetic drums provided by Moyano El Buffalo.
Marco Mendoza might be a Dead Daisy, but he has a very clear vision of his own solo work and enjoyment of a wider variety of music, and he delivers a set of solo work and covers, but with no Dead Daisies material. He is a "no compromise" guy when it comes to the way a live show should be. By the third song, he's walking through the crowd getting a London audience to make a lot of noise to 'Give Peace A Chance'. 
He also pushes the envelope and departs from Rock 'n' Roll early in the set, but with supreme crowd engagement skills, he takes a largely Metal audience with him on his journey. Insisting on phones down and wanting all "eyes, ears and spirits in the room", he demands mass participation through clapping and 'Aristocats' style finger-clicking for the swing. Despite having to call the crowd to order a few times, they respect his wishes and it definitely makes for a better gig experience, ensuring buy-in from the crowd early in the proceedings.
He rewards the faithful crowd with a superb version of the "Ted Nugent" rocker 'Hey Baby' with explosive vocals and some fast yet bluesy shredding from Micky Crystal (also Tygers Of Pan Tang). They also reward the crowd with free stuff – a CD, t-shirt and several pics – and the audience receive these gratefully. Influences from Prince, funky bass lines, rocking guitar and Falsetto screams abound, for example, on the Billie Holiday cover 'God Bless The Child'. Mendoza doesn't forget to demonstrate his skill on the bass, including some finger-tapping, that Crystal shadows. The finale is a triumphant cover of Thin Lizzy's 'Chinatown' and by this point, the crowd are spontaneously joining in with no need for a prompt.
For someone with so much passion for his music, this was really too short a set and when he was asked to wind up, Mendoza was just getting started. No doubt like Prince, given the chance, he would have played all night. Nevertheless, it certainly is better to leave people wanting more. Marco Mendoza delivered a charismatic and memorable performance and won many hearts and minds which should translate to bums on seats at many gigs to come.
Review and photos by Dawn Osborne
Subscribe to this comment's feed
