Taylor Momsen and The Pretty Reckless turn the Grammy Museum’s Clive Davis Theater into a blistering, intimate rock sermon for DEAR GOD.
The Drop series at the Grammy Museum has a knack for stripping arena-sized artists down to their studs, and on August 26, it did exactly that with The Pretty Reckless. Inside the 200-seat Clive Davis Theater, a band built for sold-out sheds and festival mainstages suddenly felt close enough to touch — and the result was one of the more revealing nights the series has hosted this year.
The evening opened as these Drop events typically do: a conversation, not a concert. Taylor Momsen and her bandmates, guitarists Ben Phillips and Logan Nikolic, sat down to talk through the making of DEAR GOD and other classics. The band’s fifth studio album was the clear centerpiece of the night. The discussion leaned into the process — how the songs came together, what pushed the band’s sound forward this time, and how almost two decades of touring have reshaped the way they write and perform. For longtime fans, it was a rare chance to hear the mechanics behind the music and how the band’s sound has evolved after the death of long-time collaborator and producer Kato Khandwala, rather than just the finished product. The stripped-down feel of two guitars and Momsen’s raw vocal instrument made for an unforgettable, unique experience. The 30-45 minute set of stories, music, and songwriting insights felt just like a private living room show.
Once the music started, the room’s temperature changed immediately. Freed from the scale of a full arena rig, the band leaned into the intimacy of the space rather than fighting it. Momsen has always had a frontperson’s instinct for command, and in a room this small, that instinct became almost uncomfortably direct — every glance, every held note landing on an audience that had nowhere to hide. The band sounded tight and unshowy, letting the songs do the work instead of leaning on spectacle. The room was so quiet, you felt self-conscious about every movement and the slightest noise, as if you might break the intimacy of the evening.
New material from DEAR GOD carried real weight live, giving the set a sense of occasion rather than nostalgia. At the same time, there was a natural tension in the room that anyone familiar with The Drop format will recognize: a short, discussion-heavy set means limited real estate for a catalog this deep, and diehards in the crowd as well as the band members were clearly doing math on which older favorites got bumped to make room for the new songs. It’s the format’s inherent trade-off — depth of insight versus depth of setlist — and on this night, the balance tilted toward introduction and insight over exhaustive celebration. The band also showed their lighter side, drawing the room even closer, telling stories of their early encounters with AC/DC and the awkward moments you would expect would come with sharing the stage with one of the biggest rock acts in the world.
What the show lacked in sprawl, pounding drums, and guitar amps turned up to 11, it made up for in clarity. Watching a band this seasoned work a room this small stripped away any distance between performer and audience, turning a promotional tour stop into something closer to a communion. For a group that built its reputation on filling much bigger rooms, spending an evening making a small one feel just as electric said plenty about where The Pretty Reckless stands, twenty years and five albums into their career. Capping the unique and insightful evening was a short, Matt Pinfield-moderated interview and Q&A.
The band’s reach continues to grow exponentially, a testament to their four-pronged 2026 schedule: opening for AC/DC, headlining their own DEAR GOD tour, playing acoustic sets, and now Taylor Momsen joining Soundgarden and Pearl Jam’s Mike McCready for a special half-time performance at the Seattle Seahawks’ NFL season opener against the New England Patriots on September 9 at Lumen Field in Seattle. This follows on the heels of Momsen joining Soundgarden onstage for the band’s Rock & Roll Hall of Fame induction, performing with the band’s surviving members.
Music fans visiting L.A. should add the Grammy Museum to their must-see list. Sitting at the heart of the iconic L.A. Live complex, it’s a natural stop on any music lover’s itinerary.
THE PRETTY RECKLESS
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