Live Review – The Pretty Reckless at House Of Blues Chicago

The Pretty Reckless
House of Blues Chicago
November 11, 2016

The road is littered with actors who’ve attempted the crossover into rock star success, so it was certainly encouraging to see a packed house waiting to greet The Pretty Reckless on a blustery fall evening at Chicago’s House of Blues. Fronted by singer and former actor Taylor Momsen (Gossip Girl), the New York quartet has quietly amassed themselves an ever growing and decidedly devoted following.

On tour supporting their 2016 release Who You Selling For, the band plowed through a dozen tunes in what felt like punk rock speed. The opening “Follow Me Down” was doused in muscular rhythms and screeching vocals. Momsen slithered about, howling in the darkness of the bruise-like black and purple lighting, almost perpetually hiding behind a tangled mess of blonde hair that, when flailed about, resembled spaghetti resting in a colander. What the band still lacks in songwriting craftsmanship, is obviously compensated for in Momsen’s seductive performance.

Throughout the night, she met every cymbal crash, kick drum punch and barre chord with physical prowess and theatrical emphasis. By the time their set wrapped up with “Fucked Up World,” the foursome had the audience in a state of rapture. We expect that sometime soon TPR’s recorded music will consistently match the exuberance of the quartet’s live presence.

– Curt Baran

Category: Live Reviews