LIVE REVIEW: The Pretty Reckless @ O2 Academy, Bristol

Despite the dreadful weather conditions on a depressing winter’s night, hard rock New Yorkers THE PRETTY RECKLESS are here to brighten up our Tuesday evening. Five years since their last set of tour dates in the UK pre-pandemic, it is certain that they were ready to rock Bristol’s O2 Academy, with their latest studio album Death By Rock And Roll nestled securely under their belt.

Opening for them were the British hard rock four-piece THE CRUEL KNIVES. They managed to captivate the sold out venue of 1,600 people in the best way possible from the very first song to the last. From the dramatic music leading up to the band’s entrance to the effective red stage lighting throughout, they just smashed it. They are definitely one of the best support acts seen in a very long time, reminding us of a heavier YOU ME AT SIX from the get-go.

Catchy yet powerful songs such as Overdose and Crawl made us quickly realise that they were the perfect support on paper for a band like THE PRETTY RECKLESS. Talented lead vocalist Tom Harris was very likeable, adding some much needed personality, mirroring the intensity of the experience perfectly. Consisting of HEAVENS BASEMENT members Sid Glover and Rob Ellershaw, THE CRUEL KNIVES really accommodated the Bristolian crowd, showing the audience that they are a force to be reckoned with; an electrifying presence that was just so enticing. A perfect 30 minute support set.

Rating: 9/10

After a highly anticipated 45 minute wait, THE PRETTY RECKLESS took to the stage. Following an electrifying entrance, the New York rockstars strolled in casually, met with an abundance of cheers and screams from the eager crowd. Kicking things off with their banger of a track Death By Rock And Roll, everyone certainly knew what was coming from guitarist Ben Phillips‘ opening riff. From the first instance, you were almost mesmerised by vocalist Taylor Momsen and her incredible stage presence. After humbling the crowd with her appreciation for so many people turning up at the event, Momsen quickly moved onto their next setlist track, old school banger Since You’re Gone.

This was one of the many highlights throughout the entire show, with Momsen just executing the whole performance with such swagger and confidence. As we reached Only Love Can Save Me Now, the band just become irresistible to watch with Taylor Momsen belting out the lyrics like her life depended on it; hanging off of the drum kit completely lifeless. She knew exactly what she was doing, effortlessly twirling around the stage with such finesse. Accompanied by thundering sound effects and eye catching blue lighting, THE PRETTY RECKLESS launched into And So It Went. The guitar work was just immaculate throughout with the use of distorted effects making for a slightly different version of the song that we were used to – just electric!

Make Me Wanna Die is up next, which is the track that everyone was waiting for. They managed to build up anticipation for the final chorus with some crowd participation, with screams and laughter echoing throughout the venue. Diving into crowd favourite Just Tonight and Halloween inspired Peter And The Wolf, Momsen swayed her long blonde locks with conviction with unexpected unclean vocal screams featured at the end of the latter, adding so much power and force to the rendition. Dedicating Witches Burn to “women that have ever been fucked over by a man”, My Medicine started off with an outfit change from Momsen, accompanied with a matching black guitar. Going To Hell, Heaven Knows and Take Me Down featured more engaging crowd participation, with the latter two containing fantastic guitar solos. The highly-anticipated encore was Messed Up World (F’d Up World), with the crowd’s claps and screams just pulsating through your veins. The finale was a drum solo from drummer Jamie Perkins, which truly showed off the band’s talent in full; leaving the audience with a whole lot of insane memories in the process.

Rating: 10/10

Check out our photo gallery of the night’s action in Bristol from Megan Jenkins Photography here:

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