May 13th, 2014
The Waiting Room
Omaha, Nebraska
Going To Hell 2014 Tour
SOLD OUT!
I wish I could tell you first hand that Taylor Momsen and her boys rocked the faces off of The Waiting Room tonight, but I can’t. I submitted my request for press credentials but The Pretty Reckless’ management decided that it wasn’t in their best business interest to approve media requests for the show. Which is understandable considering that the show sold out in a few weeks. Granted, selling out The Waiting Room isn’t that difficult to do, but it’s an accomplishment for a band’s first time playing Omaha.
I did leave work early just to see it I could manage to hear a few songs from a vantage point on the sidewalk. Sadly, though, I got to the venue a few minutes short of the band playing their encore. Fans that I spoke with had varied opinions about the set. Most of the younger fans said it was one of the best live shows that they’d ever seen. The more seasoned concert goers said it was a good show.
The few people that I spoke with about Heaven’s Basement said they did an amazing job. It’s always wonderful to hear that an opening band that very people are familiar with can play a show and exit the stage knowing that they’ve made more that a few fans. I was impressed by the amount of Heaven’s Basement t-shirts and CDs that were purchased by the crowd. I was even more impressed to hear that the band remained in the venue after their set and met with their new fans.
The biggest complaint about the show was that it wasn’t long enough. With an eleven song set list, most were surprised that the show wasn’t longer. A group that I came across on the street were swapping war stories about Nine Inch Nails’ concerts. “If a guy who’s almost 50 can play for two hours, why can’t she?” I would tend to agree with them. Even though the band is currently hitting the festival circuit and their set list ranges from 6 to 8 songs, there’s no reason that The Pretty Reckless shouldn’t be playing a 15 song set list during their headlining off dates. The band did leave out two fan favorites though; Just Tonight and Hit Me Like A Man. And the real fans noticed. I over heard one girl still venting about it after the crowd let out. “It’s my favorite song and they didn’t play it!”
That being said, no one that I spoke to had anything bad to say about the band’s sound, or Momsen’s vocals. “She’s a power house,” one fan told me. “She really knows how to put on a great show. It’s not like she’s just standing up there singing, she’s actually getting the crowd involved!” And why wouldn’t Momsen want the crowd involved? Others that I spoke to were glad that so many people in the crowd knew the majority of the songs, not just what they’d heard on the radio. I think that’s a true accomplishment of any band. When the crowd actually sings along with you, that’s when you know that you have a crowd full of fans and not just people attending your show just to say that they attended your show.
The only people I spoke with who were disappointed about that show were those who attended the meet and greet. Most of you already know how I feel about meet and greets. I hate paying for autographs and the chance to meet the band. I review the albums. I photograph and review the shows. I help to promote your band and your album, and do what I can to make sure that your fan base continues to grow. I’m not paying for your autograph. The biggest complaint about the band’s meet and greet that I heard was the way it was handled. The band was sitting at a table, which is normal, the fans file in, which is also normal, and the fans walk through single file and get an item signed. In this case however, the item signed, the ONLY item that the band was signing was their current tour poster. I met one girl who was looked like she was almost in tears after the show. Not because the show wasn’t life changing for her, but because all that she wanted was for Momsen, her idol, to sign her CD and the band was only signing the tour poster. When fans pay to meet the bands they adore, the same bands who are only touring and making music because of their fans, the band should sign whatever the fans want.
Professional photography was also not allowed tonight, which I’ll never understand. Maybe they have a Tour Photographer who’s under exclusive contract? Who knows? I’ve seen some seriously crap-tastic photos of tonight’s show on Facebook. In fact, I’ve not seen many quality photos from this tour at all, and there are a ton of pictures floating out there from the fans, yet the band’s management isn’t approving media photography requests from anyone. Apparently the only photos we’ll see are poor quality, low resolution shots from a shaky iPhone.
So I waited outside with a small group of people, hoping that the band would come out and hang with us for a bit. It’s relatively easy to meet bands at The Waiting Room. The buses always park out from of the venue and the bands generally have to walk through the fans to get on their tour buses. I was in a group of four talking about The Walking Dead and comic book movies. Guitarist Ben Phillips was the first to exit the venue and paused by the bus when he heard us talking about the upcoming Avengers: Age of Ultron movie. He stopped at the bus door, turned around and said, “Did I hear you guys talking about Hawkeye?” He then joined in on the conversation about where we all thought the upcoming movie would go, his thoughts on the Godzilla reboot and how he thought that Sean Bean of The Lord of the Rings Trilogy and Game of Thrones would have made a better Thor that Chris Hemsworth. “Not that Chris doesn’t do a great job. I loved the first movie and thought the second was great. I know Chris’ brother so we’ve all hung out before. I had to ask him if he kept you keep the hammer?” Phillips is a fan of The Hulk and Thor comic books, so I told him he should hang out with Twiggy Ramirez of Marilyn Manson. Obviously they have and they’re good friends. Phillips signed a few items for us and went back on the bus. A few minutes later he came back off of the bus. “I had to come back out,” he told us, obviously frustrated. “These assholes,” he said pointing back to the tour bus, “have no idea what I’m talking about when the nerd conversations come up.” Phillips talked to us again for a good twenty minutes about comics and movies. I could tell that he wasn’t a real fan of Captain America: The Winter Soldier and how he could tell that Chris Evans wasn’t really “into the role anymore because he thinks he wants to be a director. And are you fucking kidding me? The Winter Soldier? A guy who worked with Taylor on Gossip Girl? Gimme a fucking break!” Phillips also had a bit to say about Pacific Rim and how the character dialogue sucked but it was “a movie about robots fighting giant monsters. It was fucking amazing! I was jaw dropped the entire time!” Phillips also told us that Momsen had just sent an email to the director of an upcoming Marvel movie about auditioning for the role of Carol Danvers/Ms Marvel. We all agreed that Momsen would be perfect for the role.
Drummer Jamie Perkins was the next to exit the venue. We joked with Perkins about how since the band’s popularity was growing, this would be the last time he’d be able to walk to the bus without a bodyguard. He got a kick out of that. I mentioned that they had a few days off during their fall tour while in the mid west. “Tonight was a blast. Being the first time we’ve played here, we didn’t know what to expect. We’ll totally be back.”
At around 12:30am, the fans waiting outside numbered a lucky 9. The band’s tour manager asked us to step over to the side and clear the path to the bus door. “I assume you’re all waiting for Taylor.” We confirmed his suspicions. “I’ll need you all to form a single line. She’ll sign one item per person and there will be no photographs. It’s cold out here and she’s not wearing a lot, so keep the interactions to a minimum.” Knowing that this would be the only way we’d get our one item signed, we all agreed. Momsen took her time greeting the fans, signing and hugging a few of the girls. When it came to my turn I thanked Momsen for retweeting my review of Going To Hell. “It was my pleasure,” she told me. “It was the most complementary review of ours that I’ve ever read.” I thanked her again, and she reached out to shake my hand. Bassist Mark Damon was part of Momsen’s security detail and crowd control. He shook ours hands and signed for us before the group retreated to their bus.
Still being really bummed about missing tonight’s concert, having Momsen tell me personally that she liked my review meant a lot and I’ll make sure to be in attendance next time they roll through Omaha.
Set list;
Follow Me Down
Since You’re Gone
Miss Nothing
Sweet Things
Cold Blooded
Heaven Knows
My Medicine
Make Me Wanna Die
Going To Hell
Encore;
Fucked Up World
