Access Backstage Pass
Those who had Nuno Bettencourt and Rick Beato playing Thin Lizzy on their bingo card for 2026 can stamp with pride this morning, as the pair have unexpectedly done exactly that.
The showcase, as part of Bettencourt’s debut guitar camp, Six-String Sanctuary, saw them doing their best Scott Gorham and Brian Robertson impressions back in January. At long last, footage of the performance has now been uploaded to YouTube.
The Las Vegas camp welcomed an impressive cast list, including Steve Vai, Eric Gales, and Mateus Asato, alongside YouTuber and guitar educator Rick Beato, who made an excellent foil for Bettencourt here.
Bettencourt had, unsurprisingly, used the opportunity to play one of his new Nuno Guitars, er, guitars – we’re guessing one of the high-end Thoroughbred models – with Baeto donning his namesake Gibson Rick Beato Les Paul Special Double Cut. Excellent plugs for both models.
As impressive as Bettencourt’s vocals are here, it’s the guitar playing we care about, and the harmonies are as sweet as a chocolate milkshake with a few personalized tweaks to the song’s iconic twin harmonies. Astute viewers will also note that’s Joe Satriani and Steven Wilson drummer, Marco Minnemann, behind the kit.
For those used to seeing Beato interview famous stars in his studio, rather than playing on stage in a live setting alongside them, it's certainly a change of pace. But it didn't faze him one bit.
As one user comments, “Seeing Rick play live with Nuno is like seeing your teacher after school playing with a garage band,” with another replying: “...if the garage band was Metallica.”
Bettencourt has used the guitar camp as an opportunity to get his new guitars in the hands of players, and he’s been championing up-and-coming stars, too, with one genre-bending guitarist getting heaps of praise from the virtuoso recently.
