Nina Diaz Brought the Beat Alive at Alex's Bar in Long Beach

A fierce front woman on stage, Nina Diaz calmly hung outside of Alex's Bar in Long Beach before her Friday night show chatting with band mates by their tour van. The venue is familiar digs for Diaz, becoming a favored stop on numerous tours with Girl in a Coma over the years, the San Antonio trio that propelled her into the spotlight ten years ago. For the past two years, the acclaimed singer ventured here on a solo journey marked by the release of her debut album The Beat is Dead last October. The Pride Season punks turned out for the Friday night show in full effect. Diaz sold copies of her album at the merch table and posed for pictures in between opening sets by Spare Parts for Broken Hearts and See. Diaz took the stage later in the night with her magenta hair contrasting with the blood red curtains of Alex's Bar. The five-piece band kicked off the headlining show with The Beat is Dead's lead single "Trick Candle," a synth-laden song that rides along pulsating bass lines to deliver a dance-inducing rhythm. An immediate musical departure from the trio punk of Girl in a Coma, Diaz felt out her front-woman freedom, swaying around the stage without the shackled restraint of a guitar.

Read more on my latest OC Weekly Heard Mentality Blog post:

http://www.ocweekly.com/music/nina-diaz-brought-the-beat-alive-at-alexs-bar-in-long-beach