When self-care literal*ly involves a rock orchestra

Truth Serum Tell #25

Apr 06, 2025

We lived in Reno, NV for 5 1/2 years when I was young. It was the best childhood of my entire life because I met my lifelong friend in that family-oriented neighborhood.

In elementary school, my parents enrolled me in a music class. You know the deal: you pick an instrument (or maybe one is chosen for you, I don’t remember), you learn to play it, and then you have a little concert to perform for the parents.

The instrument I ~~sort of~~ learned to play was the violin. Not sure if it was chosen for me or if I chose it myself. I wasn’t interested in learning to play an instrument. I just wanted to read—or play—all the damn time.

However, if I’d loved it enough to keep going, I’m pretty sure I would never have imagined myself being in a rock orchestra.

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Several years ago, I was (musically) introduced to these guys, Apocalyptica:

The band is currently composed of three classically trained cellists Eicca Toppinen, Paavo Lötjönen, and Perttu Kivilaakso from Helsinki, Finland. Originally a classical-style Metallica tribute band, the band eventually adopted a neoclassical metal style without the use of conventional guitars and bass.

- Wikipedia

Yes, you read that right.

These guys play music by Metallica.

As well as their own music, of course. But they’re known for playing music by Metallica.

On cellos.

And they are FUCKING. AWESOME.

To be fair, I’m not a huge fan of Metallica, but I do have a few of their songs on my iPod. My absolute favorite song of theirs is “Nothing Else Matters” and Apocalyptica plays it BEAUTIFULLY.

I got a chance to see these guys on tour several years ago.

And they were FUCKING. AWESOME.

I went by myself, and I remember Mr. Ex being a little peeved that I hadn’t bought a ticket for him.

“I didn’t get you tickets for the same reason I didn’t buy you a ticket when Linkin Park came to town. It’s not your kind of music,” I’d told him.

He would’ve been bored shitless if he’d gone to see these guys, despite the show they put on. At the time, they’d added a drummer, and it really was almost like being at a Metallica concert.

Almost.

I was completely stunned at how they could make a cello sound like an electric guitar, and I’ve been hooked ever since.

Fast forward to April 2024 when I see an IG ad for Candlelight concerts in Phoenix:

Candlelight concerts bring the magic of a live, multi-sensory musical experience to awe-inspiring locations like never seen before in Phoenix.

This performance was called Candlelight Open Air: The Best of Hans Zimmer at the Phoenix Zoo Amphitheater. I wanted to check this out because I have a couple of songs from Hans on my iPod and after I saw the playlist, I immediately bought tickets:

Time from Inception
This Land from The Lion King
Zooster’s Breakout from Madagascar
Supermarine from Dunkirk
Honor from The Pacific
A Dark Knight from The Dark Knight
Wonder Woman Suite
Gladiator Suite
Man of Steel Suite
Cornfield Chase from Interstellar
Discombobulate from Sherlock Holmes
Pirates of the Caribbean Suite

And it was performed by the Listeso String Quartet.

Their music was accompanied by the nearby chitter of monkeys, which was really cool. But we didn’t get the full “candlelight” experience due to technical difficulties with the lighting.

By which I mean they couldn’t get the spotlights to turn off.

Hopefully, they’ve learned their lesson by now. Not sure how often they have this particular event at that location, but I’d like to think they fixed it this year.

I teared up a little when they played The Lion King song.

And during an eerie part of The Dark Knight song, a light breeze came through and ruffled the curtains, as if the Batmobile had just buzzed our venue. That got a little laugh from the crowd as it just added to the ambience.

I’m not a lover of classical music by any means, but concerts like this and series’ like Bridgerton—where contemporary songs are performed by classical musicians—make me appreciate the versatility of this genre.

Which is why, when ANOTHER IG ad for a different kind of classical performance turned on its head popped up, I was like

I am DEFINITELY buying tickets to see The Rock Orchestra

Stage set-up | Symphony Hall | Phoenix, AZ | pic taken by me

A collective of classical musicians breathing beautifully dark energy into legendary Rock & Metal covers by candlelight💀

As you can see, their vibe is a little dark and all the musicians dress the part in dark clothes or costume and wear masks, so you never see what they look like.

The tour includes a couple of vocalists, but they’re different for each city, I think. For the performance I saw last week, it was the amazing vocals of Erin Fox and Gerard Canonico.

Erin Fox & Gerard Canonico | Pics courtesy of The Rock Orchestra

There was no program.

And there was no playlist.

You either had to recognize the song or ask the person next to you and hope they knew. LOL There were a couple of songs I didn’t recognize, but I made a list of the ones I did:

Thunderstruck - AC/DC
Last Resort - Papa Roach
Sweet Child O’ Mine - Guns’n’Roses
Welcome to the Jungle (sung by Erin Fox & Gerard Canonico) - Guns’n’Roses
Dream On - Aerosmith (sung by Erin Fox)
Stairway to Heaven - Led Zeppelin
No One Knows - Queens of the Stone Age
Bring Me to Life - Evanescence (sung by Erin Fox and Gerard Canonico)
Chop Suey & Toxicity - System of a Down
Enter Sandman - Metallica
Nothing Else Matters (sung by Erin Fox) - Metallica
Tainted Love - Soft Cell
Zombie - The Cranberries (sung by Erin Fox)
Für Elise - Beethoven
Killing in the Name Of - Rage Against the Machine (sung by Gerard Canonico)

Lemme tell you:

That Erin woman can hold a note like you would not believe. When she sang “Nothing Else Matters” she had us all yelling

at the end of it. When she sang “Zombie”, she invited everyone to sing along. And we did. And then we yelled Woo-Hoo at her at the end. When she hit that high note in “Dream On”, we again Woo-Hoo’d her at the end.

I have two songs from System of a Down on my iPod. The two that were played at this concert are not my favorites, BUT they played. The. Hell. Out of those songs to the point where I was like, “Wow. I really liked that. That was really good!”
“Enter Sandman” was their encore song, but I left during the song so I wouldn’t have to deal with parking garage traffic. I don’t know if it was instrumental or if the vocalists came out.
“Killing in the Name Of” was their official last song of the night and the vocalist, Gerard, wanted all of us on our feet to dance. So, I did. And I paid for it the next day. LOL If I’d known I was going to be dancing at this thing, I would’ve done some stretching or something. BWAHA
There also might’ve been a Panic! At the Disco song in there that I’d heard but couldn’t name.

Overall, I was blown. Away. By this performance. I’m once again in awe of musicians who can play music outside of their genre.

I didn’t see any young kids, but I saw middle school to high school aged kids there who were being introduced to a new musical opportunity. These musicians were basically saying, “If you play the cello, the violin, or even the flute… you can play the music you love. Whether it’s jazz, rock, metal, or classical.”

If this tour hits your town, and it’s your kind of music, buy the fucking ticket.