Lunatic's Serenade
The Pretty Reckless:
Live at the House of Blues
Las Vegas 10-23-16
Tonight I took the kid out to see one of hard rock’s heaviest, The Pretty Reckless. Taylor Momsen, actor-turned rock star, fronts this heavy rock outfit with punk rock finesse and Terri Nunn (Berlin) attitude. First, I want to thank to ZRockR Magazine for the trip to see these great bands.
With a big boom from the cannon, Them Evils took the stage making their 30 minute set seem like an hour. The blistering set consisted mostly of originals with a couple of covers thrown in to seal the deal on who has the most influence on their sound. This trio made the most of the time they had, spending little time talking but giving a whole lotta’ rock n’ roll. Their sound was that of circa 1975 Aerosmith, AC/DC attitude, and Motörhead heaviness. In the middle of the set they played an AC/DC favorite, “It’s a Long Way to the Top (If You Wanna Rock N’ Roll)”, and ended the set with a tribute to Lemmy as they flawlessly burned through “Ace of Spades”. With Jordan Griffin on guitar and vocals, Jake Massanari on bass, and David Delaney II on drums Them Evils were wicked cool.
Next up was a post alternative band that had subtle hints of The Clash and what sounded like surf rock on steroids. The Holy White Hounds brought an element of fun to the table as the vocalist kept folks entertained in between songs while they tuned up. During the songs they all played around running up and down the stage, tossing water bottles into the crowd, and the guitarist fake punching the bassist to the beat of the drums. The guys; Brent, Ambrose, James, and Seth all killed it and made their set a memorable one.
“As any headliner would, they left the stage after their last song to soak in the cheers and yells for more.”
The main attraction came on strong and fierce with the hard rocking sound they’ve been putting out since 2009. Raging on in her outrageously radical voice, Taylor screamed in key, held long, high notes, sang smoothly, and played a mean rhythm guitar. On lead guitar, Ben Phillips wielded a rockabilly style Gibson double cut-away axe. His tone was exceptionally thick during the rhythm parts, and piercing during the leads. Bassist Mark Damon was booming, and every note he hit sent your heart further and further up your throat. Masterful drumming by Jamie Perkins forced the songs into overdrive, and together they energized the crowd with old favorites and hard hitting new tunes. As any headliner would, they left the stage after their last song to soak in the cheers and yells for more. Returning to the stage they slammed into their encore, and uniquely saved the drum solo for last. What once was preserved for the middle of the set hyped the fans at the end for a stupendous send off, turning the energy up to 11. My daughter and I got a kick out of the show – can’t wait to do it again!
Tim Duran, HMS
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