Exciting Musical Performance at the Complex

On Thursday, October 16th, a group of friends and I decided to go to The Pretty Reckless
concert at The Complex, in downtown Salt Lake. My impression of the concert as a whole was
overall impressed. Many concerts, that I have been to, have artists and bands who tend to have
poor stage performance. They either just stand in one place for a long period of time, or just
make the experience not very entertaining by not having a lot of energy, or not "feeling" the
music that they are playing. However, with this performance I felt energized throughout the
whole night, since every band that came on was able to keep the audience pumped and excited
the whole time. The Pretty Reckless, along with their openings acts, Adelita's Way and Crash
Midnight, caused adrenaline to flow throughout the audience, via their quick, fast-paced tempos,
along with their loud and strong voices. Taylor Momsen, the lead vocalist for The Pretty
Reckless, has a powerful, strong voice, and made the band sound better live than on their records
(which is a very rare characteristic for music artists to have in this modern era, due to how
newer technology uses editing software to edit final-cut records, and make artists sound better
than they most likely are). Her voice is also as strong as the instruments playing in the
background, which helped energize the audience since everything sounded loud and strong. The
Complex is a large, not-so-intimate place, which was perfect for this kind of crowd. Everyone
got to move around and have fun, without being overly-crowded.
This groups genre is defined as post-grunge, hard rock, and, just like with any rock and
roll band, had heavy, intense sounds from the instruments and vocals. Each piece of music
started off pretty heavy, and slowly intensified as the song went on. Each song also used artistic
elements such as tempo, to create a unique atmosphere created by the music.

Tempo played a large, consistent role in the music, since each song's pace and rate varied
from being fast and intense, to slow and mellow. Momsen used her space on stage efficiently
with her random dance movements, as well as generally traveling around the stage with the
microphone and singing. Instead of just standing in one place with the microphone the whole
time, she grabbed the microphone, and almost immediately started singing and feeling the music.
This was a unique experience for me, since most artists just stand in one place the whole
performance. In general, she danced around and moved with the music. Texture is also very
prominent with this group, since Momsens voice varies with her vocal range. She is normally an
alto, but she can sing soprano, and even create metal screams with her voice when needed. The
texture in her voice ranged from smooth, and calming, to screaming, and sounding rough. The
energy in the music was constantly going through Momsen on stage and into the audience,
making us even more energetic. Energy is extremely important for musicians, and I was
personally not disappointed when I saw this group perform live. Lastly, the timbre in this kind of
music contrasts with each song. Normally the quality of the sound, independently, is loud, and
strong, almost harsh, but it can range to being eerie or warm or gentle, depending on the song.
The main instruments used in this band include: Lead, and backup, vocals, rhythm guitar,
lead guitar, bass, and drums; however, when I watched them live, Momsen brought out a
tambourine during their song, Messed Up World, which is primarily pushed by the percussion,
and the tambourine. The tambourine brought a soft, melodious timbre quality to the song. The
lyrics have heaviness to them, despite the sarcastic tone throughout the piece; however, the
tambourine brings a musical quality to the song that brings it balance. Make Me Wanna Die
also usually features a violin throughout the piece.

The most impressionable song on me was, "Make Me Wanna Die," and was written by
the band's producer, Kato Khandwala, Ben Phillips and Taylor Momsen. The timing is fast, and
the rhythm of the music is contrasted between staccato, which contributes to the piece by
intensifying it, and smooth and flowing. Since the rhythm is more irrational, due to at least two
rhythms being played concurrently, the rhythm is polyrhythmic. These dark lyrics, along with the
heavy and intense sounds from the instruments, create an overall eerie tone to the song. The
loud, staccato sounds coming from the bass guitar emphasized the polyrhythmic drums, and gave
a heavy, almost rebellious tone to the whole piece. When interpreting the lyrics, one can see that,
beneath the creepy mask of this song, there is an underlying metaphor-- opposing sides,
forbidden love, opposites attract. This song is about being innocent and vulnerable and young-alive--but the archetype being portrayed in the song just wants to be bad and dark and sinister.
As the song significantly slows down in tempo, and becomes more calm, the audience is
introduced to an extra instrument--the violin. Because of the change in tempo, the violin helps
reinforce the calm, current phase of the song, and changes the ominous tone to a more soothing
one. Momsens soft voice created a tender mood and tone for the song, that was backed up by the
flowing, soothing sounds of the violin.
The second song that made a big impression on me was "Follow Me Down," written by
Taylor Momsen and Ben Phillips, and was the opening song to the whole act. As Momsen came
to the microphone, a pre-recorded track of various sounds started playing, which was slightly
off-putting, as well as confusing, but once the actual music started playing, it was an overall
powerful track. The use of the quiet and loud dynamics on the track made it effective for setting
the mood, as well as trying to build up for the rest of the set. This band has a few songs that they
have released, that all share the same repetitive motif--water. Water is symbolic for cleansing

and purity, as well being a universal symbol for change, and is usually present in turning points
in a story. If you analyze the lyrics, Momsen is singing, "Follow me down to the river; drink
while the water is clear." Rivers, independently from water itself, contradict with their
symbolism, and could represent either strength or weakness. The lyrics could represent the
band's turning point to success, and how powerful as a band they have become. This song is a
strong point for the band, and by starting their set with this specific song, they effectively had a
powerful beginning, and created a powerful mood for the rest of the show.
The Pretty Reckless used many artistic elements that include: energy, melody, timbre,
texture, and, especially, tempo. Even though Momsen mostly stayed in a certain range and style
of vocals, there was still the occasional venture out into the unknown, such as when she
effectively used metal screams, and when she moved onto her soft, vulnerable vocals. This
concert was overall energetic, and highly impressionable.