Nene Royal, The Warning, and a YouTube rabbit hole

Not long ago I stumbled onto Nene Royal, a young Thai guitarist busking in the markets of Phuket, tearing through metal and rock covers like it was the most natural thing in the world. She is so incredibly good it’s mesmerizing, and she is clearly having a blast, which makes it even more fun to watch. If you want a taste of where I found her, here’s one of her live sets at Naka Night Market.

Then she showed up on this year’s America’s Got Talent (Season 21), and that sent me even further down the Nene rabbit hole. Her audition, a cover of The Cranberries’ “Zombie,” got four yeses. She kept climbing, and toward the finale they brought in a surprise: The Warning.

I’ll admit it, I had never heard of The Warning. Three sisters from Monterrey, Mexico (Daniela on guitar and lead vocals, Paulina on drums, Alejandra on bass), playing wild, heavy rock. The best I can do to describe them is Linkin Park meets Iron Maiden. They walked into Nene’s rehearsal room and jammed their song “Kerosene” with her, and the joy on everyone’s faces says it all.

That was just the door, though. I went down The Warning rabbit hole pretty deep too. It turns out these sisters have been at it a long time. Back in 2014, when they were somewhere between 9 and 14 years old, their cover of Metallica’s “Enter Sandman” went viral, and Kirk Hammett himself gave the drummer a shout-out. Since then they’ve put out five studio albums, including Error (2022), Keep Me Fed (2024) and this year’s Everything’s Falling, and they’ve opened for bands like Muse and Guns N’ Roses along the way.

What really did it for me, what turned them from “wow, that was cool” into a favorite band, was their live performance of “Dust to Dust / Dull Knives (Cut Better)” from their show at the Pepsi Center in Mexico City. It’s two songs from their 2018 album Queen of the Murder Scene played back to back, and that’s the one that got me.

After that, there was no going back. “Ego” from the new album, “EVOLVE” from Error, and more. Those sealed the deal. They’re spectacular, and they’re officially my new favorite band. (Their official site, and the official “Kerosene” video if you want more.)

Oh, and Nene went on to win the whole season. Of course she did.

What warms my heart most is seeing young people embrace metal and heavy rock like this. It feels like the genre has been pretty neglected over the past decade, so watching a young girl in a Phuket night market and three sisters from Monterrey pick it up and carry it forward with so much talent and love gives me real hope. Loud music is in good hands.

The rabbit hole YouTube can take you down is sometimes very rewarding. If you have a favorite rabbit hole find of your own, I’d love to hear it.

Cheers!

Tim