November 18, 2013 The Pretty Reckless & Heaven’s Basement bring rock n roll to Irving Plaza, NYC 11-9-13 (Exclusive Coverage)
On a Saturday night in NYC anything can happen, and if you are a fan of rock n roll you were at Irving Plaza November 9th. On this evening The Pretty Reckless and Heaven’s Basement graced the stage for an evening of dirty rock n roll. The Pretty Reckless have done extensive touring over the past 3 months, and now are in the final days of what will round out to be a 40 date tour, things are winding down in the hottest city in the world.
Starting out the evening was local independent rock band Empire Escorts. The 4 piece rock band sounded pretty tight in their performance. Showing their gratitude, the band stated they were honored to have the opportunity to play with such great bands as The Pretty Reckless and Heavens Basement. They rounded out a 5 song set, nicely displaying their emotional hard rock sound. Although the crowd were not too familiar with the band eyes and ears of the audience were focused on Empire Escorts, and one could say everyone learned about something new on this evening.
Next up were UK rockers Heaven’s Basement to take the stage. Having made the rounds across North America with Buckcherry earlier in 2013, these guys are building a buzz quickly. Their debut album Filthy Empire (2013) is filled with dirty powerful rock n roll that fans need to hear. Their 9 song set was filled with energy, passion, and pure rock n roll. Opening with lead track off their debut album “Welcome Home” opened the eyes of the audience wide. Vocalist Aaron Buchanan’s raw passionate rock n roll voice cut through the air with the aggressive playing of the rhythm section. By the time they broke out into the thriller “Fire,Fire” heads were bopping and bodies swaying. It felt like they upped the wattage by the time the track “I Am Electric” and “Nothing Left To Lose” began. These track blistered in a live setting with the killer riffing by Sid Glover. Their set reminded you of the raw energy rock n roll possesses, and their ability to execute these tracks with such high energy is truly something special to see. Do yourself a favor, if you like rock n roll buy Filthy Empire and get your ass to the next Heaven’s Basement show.
The time was here for The Pretty Reckless to show New York what a rock n roll party is about. Originating here in New York City, one can see this was somewhat of a homecoming for the well traveled band. Over the past 3 years these rockers have been working hard at swearing the word of their rock n roll power. In case you are not familiar with The Pretty Reckless they are lead by charismatic actress turned rock star, Taylor Momsen. Momsen has worked hard at shedding the concept that she is an actress trying to be a musician. There is no doubt that those who are paying attention already know this girl has the stage presence of a seasoned front woman and the raw rock n roll energy like that of yesteryear’s rockers. A large crowd of fans gathered at Irving Plaza to cheer on The Pretty Reckless and see what their favorite blossoming band is up to.
Opening the set with the track “Follow Me Down” gave the crowd a shot of dirty rock. Sexy, sleek and raw this song rocks hard. The audience moved back and forth while singing along with each word of the track. Next they went into one of their first tracks “Since You’re Gone” with the throbbing bass provided by Mark Damon. The set marched on with a balanced mix of older and newer tracks like “Miss Nothing” to “Hit Me Like A Man” and “Zombie”. Momsen kept her vocal approach raw for a great vibe, but just like that in the flick of a switch she’d belt out a note that went through the roof.
They rounded out their 11 song set with fan favorite “Make Me Wanna Die” and the title track off their upcoming album “Going To Hell”. Fans cheered, whistled, and screamed Taylor’s name from start to finish which resulted in a 3 song encore much to fans delight. Opening the encore with a cover of Audioslave’s track “Like A Stone” was a cool treat, and Momsen did the track justice in her performance. Next they played “Just Tonight” and closed things out with brand new song “Fucked Up World”. The song is gritty and raw with catchy fun lyrics. The Pretty Reckless seems to get better and better with each performance and 2014 is bound to bring them even more success with the release of Going To Hell.
No Comments