So we decided to hit the Main stage for the whole of this afternoon, and we’re glad we did. Beers in hand, we settled ourselves towards the back of the main arena, enjoying the sunshine and an afternoon of rock.

First in our eyeline were Scottish music duo Honeyblood’s Cat Meyersand Stina Tweeddale, rocking the audience even from the distance we’d decided to settle ourselves from the stage. Considering there are two members of this band, these girls had powerful vocals and the rock-chick style that replicated a much larger group. Their songs were huge, their presence vibrant and they captivated us enough to want to stay and miss Wolf Alice – a tough decision, but we stand by it!

Following this duo were Kent based Moose Blood, relatively recent to the music scene with only two albums since 2012, but still dominating enough to draw a crowd from the appealing fast food trucks dotted around the main arena. No one likes to play the lunch set with people wondering to and from the show, but these guys (with a sound reminiscent of Blink 182) kept up a performance that had the crowd jumping for every song. Their songs were catchy in a driving fast, window down kind of way, and the set perfectly suited the afternoon vibes we were hoping for. Lead singer Eddy Brewerton appeared humble at the end of his set, telling the audience ‘thank you very much for watching us, it means the world,’ which only made us love them more.

20 minutes later and we made our way closer to the stage, finding ourselves relatively near to the front (as we’ve been lucky enough to do for most of our reviewed shows!) This gave us an excellent view of the stunning Taylor Momsen when she entered the stage for The Pretty Reckless, and we’re not embarrassed to say our hearts (and other areas) skipped a beat. Or two.

Girls sat on boyfriend’s shoulders as far as the eye could see, desperate to appear on the LED screens singing along to their favourite TPR tracks, and it was anyone’s game to try and catch Momsen’s eye. If anyone did, they wouldn’t have known it, as the whole band were either hidden behind their hair or sunglasses (and sometimes both), demonstrating a grungy, cool exterior that most of us can only hope to aspire to.

Entering the stage with ‘Follow Me Down’, it took absolutely no persuasion from the band to encourage fan participation, clapping along with nearly every song following. They were badass, they appealed to our inner angst and the bass alone spoke to our demons and carried our feet (and eardrums) into firm favourites ‘Make Me Wanna Die’ and ‘Heaven Knows’. Guitarist Ben Philip’s solo was particularly effective during this song, holding the audiences attention into the next track, which is no mean feat when performing next to blonde bombshell Momsen.

The band spoke little to the audience, preferring to introduce each song and launch into it as quickly as possible, and fans were given music to head-bang along to with little interruption. Although there was a lull towards the middle of the set (to an untrained ear the songs do sound relatively similar after all), the band pulled back their energy and finished with a rousing rendition of ‘Take Me Down’. With her sexy, husky voice and resonating, sustained notes, Momsen rocked our world, and we have no doubt she’ll continue to rock our dreams a little longer.

The Pretty Reckless Setlist:

1)Follow me Down

2)Oh My God

3)Prisoner

4)Make Me Wanna Die

5)Heaven Knows

6)Take Me Down

Reviewed by Becca Walker