Hollywood Popular Artists

Apr 16th 2012, 12:32

By James Dinh

NEW YORK – It was three hours since show time on Friday (April 13) and the crowd at the Irving Plaza had grown impatient. Even though the strikingly blue-lit venue had been appetized by the likes of opening acts The Parlor Mob, The Blackboard Nails and The Hollywood Kills, the jam-packed crowd were ready for The Pretty Reckless.

Irving's lights shaded black and each of the four-member act individually took to the stage for their latest "The Medicine Tour" show, but the obvious avalanche of applause was for Taylor Momsen, the 18-year-old actress-turned-rocker. In a matching black dress, jacket and knee-high spiked boots, the frontwoman took hold of the mic and began what would be a 12-song set that would further erase any remnants of her former good girl-turned-bad-turned-good character on "Gossip Girl," beginning with the band's first tune, "Hit Me Like A Man," the same title as their recently-released EP.

Beyond the opening number, Momsen and company flew through a string of songs off their debut LP, Light Me Up, including "Since You've Gone," Miss Nothing," and "Just Tonight."

"Been around the f**cking world and there's no place like New York City," a smokey-eyed Momsen shouted to the crowd.

Like the attention she garners from her famous fashion sense, Momsen kept the audience riled as she tousled her platinum blonde mane, shimmied in her tight dress and, of course, got a little dirty with her mic stand during "Goin' Down." Momsen ventured out of Pretty Reckless territory momentarily mid-show to take on a cover of System of a Down's "Aerials," but her crowd engagement during "My Medicine" proved a show highlight. Strapped with a guitar and cracking a contagious smile, the singer made the hallways of Irving Plaza echo as her "zombies" took turns in chanting the new single, followed by crowd pleasers "Make Me Wanna Die" and "Factory Girl."

Before you knew it, Reckless had near completed their hour-long set, but not before giving the crowd time to catch their breath with an encore of the mellow cut "Nothing Left To Lose," where Taylor reminisces about a relationship with an older man. In just one night, Momsen, barely a year older than the legal age, emphasized her rock showmanship, upstaging many of her teen counterparts in the industry. Sure, we loved her on "Gossip Girl," but Taylor seems to have found her lane in music.

MTV News chatted with Momsen before she hit the stage about her currently nonexistent acting career as well as the one horror film mastermind that might persuade her back into the studio. "It was a pretty big part of my life, pretty much my whole life. I started it at 2," she explained about her early film gigs. "But I'm certainly not looking to do any projects anytime soon, unless Rob Zombie calls. Then that would be cool."

Have you seen The Pretty Reckless live? Let us know below!

Media files:
taylor-momsen.jpg (image/jpeg)
taylor-momsen-70x53.jpg (image/jpeg)