Warped Tour and The Pretty Reckless

To those of you who don't know, The Pretty Reckless happen to be one of my all-time favorite bands. They're right up there with Green Day, Nirvana and The Beatles. 


As you know, they're the main reason I went to Warped Tour 2010 (along with Warped Tour always being a fun thing to do). 


So first, let me talk about Warped Tour. It is by far the most high-energy, jam-packed event I've ever been to. Regardless of the 4 wankers in line who told me I didn't deserve to get into Warped because I'd had to pick up my tickets from the will call instead of having them delivered to my house (which I haven't been at since I bought the tickets, and I haven't been in any one location for any length of time during those two weeks)it was a really brilliant experience. 


I stood in line at the will call from 8 until 10:45 when they finally opened the booth...

They were quite behind schedule. But it was worth it.

Then I stood in line from 10:45 until 11:30 when they finally let us in. We were at the back of the line because I had to go to will call...

The line wrapped around the corner. It was about two (long) blocks long. Once again, worth it.

Then I got in, found out where The Pretty Reckless would be, wandered for a bit to kill time... I caught a bit of the Disco Curtis set:

They were covering Lady Gaga... 

And then the end of the Anarbor set, who were on before The Pretty Reckless at the AP/Advent stage:

They were pretty good, even my boyfriend liked them.

And then the boyfriend went to see a few bands (Longway, Alkaline Trio, Andrew WK, Mice And Men and a couple of others he doesn't remember) catching partial sets while I waited to see the whole reason I'd payed $30 and driven from the Rogue Valley up to Hillsboro: The Pretty Reckless. 

Okay. Here's the part of the blog I'm SUPER excited about. Because it's about one of my favorite bands on the planet. 

Here's

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(The logo and the three pictures of Taylor Momsen/the band are courtesy of the Buzznet.com poster challenge content file, if you're curious!)

If you want the in-depth bio from the band, check out their website theprettyreckless.com which is just a great place to get the latest info on what is going to be a pretty eternal band. I don't say that lightly. There are a lot of bands that I can imagine fading into obscurity as the years drag on, but The Pretty Reckless isn't one of them. 


What they are is talented. Taylor Momsen - think How The Grinch Stole Christmas and Gossip Girl if you're having issues placing her (shame on you) - writes the songs and sings with a voice so much larger than you'd expect to come out of the nymph-like seventeen year old. Yes, she's seventeen. If you're doubting the truth of that statement, don't worry, you're not alone. She carries herself like a seasoned rock star and has so much composure when dealing with her band mates and fans that it can stop you dead in your tracks. 


The band is fleshed out by Ben Phillips - both amazing at guitar and amazing at getting a crowd to throw themselves into the music - who is also part of the songwriting process, Mark Damon who's a badass with a bass on stage, and Jamie Perkins playing some massively memorable drums. And what's more? They're all insanely nice people. 


Weird, huh? I've met a handful of musicians, artists and actors over my eighteen years on this planet, and they always tended to be... a bit of a let down, I guess. But that's not the case in this situation. The Pretty Reckless is just a really, fabulously genuine band. 


I know it might seem like I'm making this more about front-woman Taylor Momsen than about The Pretty Reckless itself, but despite trading smiles and getting signatures from two of the other band members... there's not much to go on when it comes to her amazing band mates. They're lovely, that much I can tell you from personal experience, and immensely talented... but I can't tell you much more than that. 


(If they're ever inclined to give me a quick interview about themselves, I'm ready and waiting. That goes for the lovely and enigmatic Ms. Momsen as well.)


What I can tell you about, though, is their set at Warped Tour 2010's last date, today, August 15th in Hillsboro, Oregon. 


I found myself hanging out in front of the stage despite there being a half-hour break before they would climb onto the raised platform and totally rock us to our cores. This isn't an odd concept to me - I'm fond of concerts and am used to having to wait around during that awkward time between getting through the doors and the lights going down. 


The girl in front of me lit a cigarette and told her friend to not let anyone take her spot, wandering off. A few seconds later, I looked over my shoulder and spotted a head of long white-blond hair, a pair of oversized dark glasses and darker-than-blood red lips. 


One thing that no one can dispute about Taylor Momsen is that she's flat-out gorgeous. I've heard people rip into her style, her makeup, everything, but they're obviously not in their right minds. Just because they couldn't pull it off doesn't mean its bad. Hell, it even makes it better in 9 out of 10 situations. I myself am jealous of how effortless she makes it all look. 


I was a little too much in shock to actually walk over and say anything to her - she makes me uncharacteristically nervous, probably because she's pretty much the epitome of grace and badassery. Yeah, that's a word now. 


She disappeared as quickly as she appeared and I went back to watching people dart on and off the stage, checking instruments. Ben - guitar, backing vocals, king of interrupting Taylor mid-sentence - spent a good bit of time amusing the crowd while we waited. 

And then it started. And it almost felt like an accident, you know? They started a song without Taylor on stage, and she walked on - pause for explosions of screams from the crowd of teen and preteen boys and girls gathered awaiting her - and walked to the microphone so slowly it was almost like being teased. Foreplay, in a way, for the show that was about to make our brains explode. 


Picture this: 


Long, slightly curly bleach-blond hair. Dark sunglasses. Beat up Iron Maiden shirt from a tour that happened before she or I was even an idea in our parents minds. Black leggings (pants? The only view I got of the top of them was brief...) that were partially open on the front. Platform heels with straps across the top, black with studs and jewels on them. Multiple heavy bracelets weighing down one of her arms. Drastic, dark makeup. An attitude that was best described by a concept that the snake Kim Fowley used to describe Cherie Currie when he first met her: She looked like she could beat up a trucker. Oh, and you know what? I'm pretty sure he would have enjoyed it.


That was the first image I got of Taylor Momsen on stage with her band The Pretty Reckless. And man is that an image that's going to stay with me. 


Now, I'm not going to lie, her microphone could have done with a bit more volume, but it didn't really matter. She has a strong enough voice that even without being entirely able to hear her, she got the songs across. Hell, she practically forced them down our throats - not that any of us were complaining. It was that "beat up a trucker" attitude again - and it's true, we all liked it. 


I personally have seen her compared to Joan Jett, Cherie Currie, Courtney Love (especially), Kurt Cobain, and a half dozen other musicians. While all of those do come to mind, what stuck out to me was that her stage presence reminded me of Billie Joe Armstrong and Green Day. 


I went to see Green Day a year ago on July 3rd, 2009, in Seattle. I stood in Key Arena with more people than I could process, waiting patiently for the band to land like a jet engine on the stage. It was by far the strongest performance I ever laid eyes on, and I could see - with a gig as a headliner, and some time to perfect her interactions with the audience - The Pretty Reckless being that same overwhelming kinetic energy, a sort of sexual tension bleeding from the stage and tangling in the music that was burning its way through the minds of those of us in the audience. 


It's funny, though. BJA and Taylor don't seem to have a whole lot in common - their music isn't even particularly similar - and yet on stage there's something that puts them on the same plane of existence. 


Back at the AP/Advent stage (sorry, I get off on tangents a lot... ADD and all that jazz) they played a solid set including such favorites as Miss Nothing, Zombie, Make Me Wanna Die, My Medicine, Factory Girl and Just Tonight. I was quite proud of myself, since I had the lyrics to almost all of them down. We got such treats as Taylor playing guitar (she's quite good, I'm jealous) and on-stage banter.


Personally speaking, my all time favorite track is Factory Girl, with Miss Nothing as a close second and Goin' Down as a photo-finish third. The song that got me hooked, though, was Zombie and the song that got my boyfriend hooked was Make Me Wanna Die. Read as: I can't wait for the album to come out just so I can have even more favorite songs. And, you know... maybe a supporting tour? Pretty please with sugar on top? 


After the set, I went to get in line for the signing at their merch booth. 


Through that one show, I met two pretty awesome girls. Neither of which I got a name from, but... you know. The girl with the short red hair who knew all the lyrics, and the girl in the Vans 2010 shirt I stood next to in line for the signing... whoever you are - if you ever wander across this post - you rock. 


Then there was the signing, thus my knowledge of how awesome they are as people. 


Okay, okay... so I met them for a collective thirty seconds, but they made very, very good first impressions. There was nothing fake or contrived about their reactions to the shirt I picked - apparently their favorite - and they all signed it happily. I handed them a link to my blog and mentioned I'd be doing a feature on them (Hi! See? I did it! Said I would... I always keep my promises!)and they handed the link to their manager so it wouldn't get lost, since "he's the organized one" (thanks Ben, hope you don't mind getting quoted). According to Taylor, she looses "everything". 


So I smiled, confessed that they were why I'd come to the show, and went to find my boyfriend - new CD and t-shirt in hand. 

My new shirt! I pretty much love it.

Three signatures.

The Pretty Reckless EP.

He put up (quite patiently) with my recap as we walked towards the nearest vendor in search of liquids, then we headed back to the hotel across the street to watch the rest of the tour from the comfort of our conveniently located hotel room. 

Our view...

So there it is. The Pretty Reckless, and Warped Tour. They made this entire trip (which you'll hear more about soon) worth it. Entirely worth it. They made having my 1988 Volvo Wagon break down in Roseburg worth it. They made the $200 of repairs worth it, and the getting towed worth it. They made 9 days with my grandmother worth it, and another five with my father (which is rare, since not much can make his attitude towards my life "worth it") and they have made my summer - spent working - entirely fucking worth it. 


So thanks. 


Thank you to The Pretty Reckless. Thank you to Warped Tour 2010. Thank you Hillsboro, thank you Vans, thank you two random girls I met... 


Thanks. 


I hope everyone who saw Warped Tour this summer has as amazing of a time as I did. 


XO


Freak