Taylor Momsen, Big Riffs, Bluesy Swagger And Donington Singing It Back
Some bands hit Download Festival like a wrecking ball.
Some come in with pyro, masks, breakdowns, blast beats, dhol drums, giant choruses, circle pits and enough production to make the stage look like it has declared war on the sky.
Then there are The Pretty Reckless.
They do not need to sprint at you.
They do not need to beg for chaos.
They just stroll into the Apex Stage with smoke in the air, riffs in the bones, Taylor Momsen at the mic and that dangerous rock ‘n’ roll feeling that says:
“Relax, butt. We’ve got this.”
And fair play — they absolutely did.
Taking to the Apex Stage on Sunday afternoon at Download Festival 2026, The Pretty Reckless brought a set full of dirty blues-rock swagger, gothic mood, massive hooks and proper old-school star quality. After Bloodywood had turned the stage into a global metal party, this was a shift in temperature. Less riot. More ritual. Less “run through a wall.” More “stand in the smoke and feel the riff crawl up your spine.”
It was cool.
It was classy.
It was heavy when it needed to be.
And when the big songs landed, Donington sang them like they had been waiting all weekend for that exact moment.
Sunday Afternoon Gets A Shot Of Smoke And Swagger 🌫️🎸
Sunday at Download is a weird emotional cocktail.
By this point, everyone is tired, sun-hit, dusty, emotionally cooked and trying to pretend they are not already thinking about the pain of packing up camp. The day had already thrown a brilliant variety at the Apex Stage: unpeople’s noisy wake-up call, Kublai Khan TX’s hardcore flattening, RØRY’s raw catharsis and Bloodywood’s full-force folk-metal fire.
Then The Pretty Reckless arrived and changed the whole mood.
They brought that slow-burn rock atmosphere. The kind that does not need to shout first to make an impact. It just lets the guitars snarl, lets the drums breathe, lets the bass rumble, and lets Taylor Momsen do what Taylor Momsen does best: command the space with a voice full of grit, smoke, attitude and ache.
It was not the most frantic set of the day.
It did not need to be.
This was rock music with hips, teeth and shadow.
Proper Sunday afternoon cool, mun.
Taylor Momsen Is Still A Proper Rock Star 🎤🖤
Let’s get straight to it: Taylor Momsen has serious stage presence.
Not forced. Not over-rehearsed. Not “look at me, I’m being iconic” energy. More like she understands the power of standing in the middle of a huge stage and letting the songs do the dangerous bit.
Her voice has always been the heart of The Pretty Reckless, and on the Apex Stage it carried beautifully. There is grit in it, but there is also control. There is heaviness, but also blues. There is a theatrical darkness to it, but it never feels cartoonish.
She can sound wounded one minute and venomous the next.
That is why the band work so well live.
The songs are not just performed. They are delivered like confessions, warnings and late-night bar sermons rolled into one.
At Download, Taylor did not need to dominate through chaos. She dominated through presence.
And that is much cooler, butt.
The Setlist: Ten Songs, No Wasted Smoke 🔥
The Pretty Reckless kept the set tight and festival-ready.
The reported setlist was:
Death by Rock and Roll
Since You’re Gone
Follow Me Down
Only Love Can Save Me Now
For I Am Death
When I Wake Up
Witches Burn
Make Me Wanna Die
Heaven Knows
Going to Hell
That is a compact but very strong run.
You get the big opening statement.
You get early attitude.
You get dark blues-rock stomp.
You get newer material from the upcoming Dear God era.
You get the witchy drama.
You get the breakthrough classic.
You get the huge singalong.
You get the hell-bound closer.
Lovely little setlist, that.
For a fifty-minute festival slot, it did exactly what it needed to do: showcase the band’s identity without dragging, give the fans the big moments, and offer enough newer bite to prove The Pretty Reckless are not just here on memory alone.
No filler.
No faff.
Just black leather, big choruses and riffs with a cigarette-burn edge.
“Death By Rock And Roll” Opens Like A Mission Statement 💀
Opening with “Death by Rock and Roll” felt perfect.
That song is basically The Pretty Reckless carved into a tombstone. Defiant, dirty, bluesy, hard-rocking and built around the kind of chorus that sounds like it should be shouted with one boot on a monitor.
At Download, it gave the set a strong opening punch.
Not a frantic one — this was not hardcore chaos or metalcore violence — but a proper rock ‘n’ roll statement. The guitars came in with weight, Taylor’s vocal cut through, and the Apex crowd responded with that immediate recognition you want from a festival opener.
It told the field exactly what kind of set this was going to be.
Not polished pop pretending to be dangerous.
Not nostalgia with a wig on.
Proper rock.
Dark around the edges.
“Since You’re Gone” Brings The Early Bite 😤
“Since You’re Gone” kept the attitude up nicely.
This one brought a sharper, more youthful kick to the set, reminding everyone that The Pretty Reckless have always had a bit of snarl behind the moodiness. It is punchy, direct and carries that classic early-band fire that still works brilliantly live.
It also gave the crowd something with a bit more immediate movement after the swagger of the opener.
The band sounded tight here. The rhythm section had that no-nonsense drive, the guitars were gritty enough to feel alive, and Taylor gave the song the right amount of bite without overdoing it.
A good festival set needs these gear shifts.
The Pretty Reckless had them.
“Follow Me Down” Gets Donington Moving 🐍
Then came “Follow Me Down,” and that one absolutely suits a festival field.
It has groove.
It has sleaze.
It has a big hook.
It has that dark little grin running through it.
At Download, it was one of the moments where the wider crowd seemed to fully settle into the set. The song’s bluesy swagger gave everyone something to lean into, and the chorus had enough lift to carry across the Apex Stage crowd.
This is where The Pretty Reckless really shine.
They are not trying to out-metal everyone. They do not need to. Their heaviness comes from mood, tone and that dirty rock heartbeat. “Follow Me Down” brought exactly that.
It made the field feel less like a festival crowd and more like a giant rock club with better weather and worse toilet queues.
“Only Love Can Save Me Now” Brings The Weight 🖤
“Only Love Can Save Me Now” was one of the set’s heavier, moodier moments.
The recorded version famously features Kim Thayil and Matt Cameron, and even without those Soundgarden legends physically on stage, the song carries that grunge-weighted shadow beautifully. It has space. It has darkness. It has that slow, heavy emotional pull that feels less like a punch and more like something sinking into the ground underneath you.
On the Apex Stage, it sounded massive.
This was not a song designed for cheap festival bounce. It asked the crowd to lean in, and they did. The guitar tone had muscle, the vocals had ache, and the whole thing added a deeper layer to the set.
It reminded everyone that The Pretty Reckless are not just about catchy hard-rock choruses.
They can get heavy in a way that feels atmospheric rather than obvious.
And that is a very tidy trick.
New Era Bite: “For I Am Death” And “When I Wake Up” ⚡
The set also gave Download a taste of the band’s newer chapter with “For I Am Death” and “When I Wake Up.”
These songs matter because they showed The Pretty Reckless are still moving. Still writing. Still building. Still bringing new shadows into the room.
“For I Am Death” had that gothic, dramatic pull that fits Taylor Momsen’s voice beautifully. It felt dark, theatrical and confident — exactly the kind of newer track that can sit beside the older favourites without feeling like a polite interruption.
“When I Wake Up” brought a different kind of edge, with a more reflective but still gritty feel. Live, it added freshness to the set and gave fans a glimpse of where the band are heading next.
That balance is important.
A festival set cannot just be one big memory parade. The Pretty Reckless gave the crowd the songs they came for, but they also made space for the future.
Good call.
“Witches Burn” Casts A Proper Apex Spell 🔥🧙♀️
Then came “Witches Burn.”
And come on, mun — that one was made for a Download field.
It has that witchy, smoky, stomp-heavy energy that fits The Pretty Reckless perfectly. It is dark without being silly, theatrical without turning into pantomime, and heavy enough to make the crowd move without losing its blues-rock soul.
This was one of the set’s strongest vibe moments.
The stage smoke, the Sunday light, Taylor’s presence and that heavy groove all came together nicely. It felt dramatic but not overblown. The kind of song that makes you want to stand with your arms folded, nodding like an absolute rock goblin, then suddenly realise you are fully singing along.
That is how they get you.
Sneaky, stylish and heavy.
“Make Me Wanna Die” Still Hits The Old Nerve 💔
For a lot of fans, “Make Me Wanna Die” remains one of the big ones.
It is the song that introduced many people to The Pretty Reckless in the first place, and live it still carries that early emotional charge. Dark, dramatic, catchy and absolutely loaded with teenage-goth-heartbreak energy, it has aged into a proper fan-favourite moment.
At Download, the reaction was strong.
Voices came up. Phones came out. People who had been quietly enjoying the set suddenly got much louder.
That is the power of a breakthrough song.
It carries memories with it.
People heard it years ago and attached it to a version of themselves. Now here they were, older, dustier, probably more tired, singing it back at Donington with the same feeling still tucked away somewhere.
That is special.
The Pretty Reckless delivered it with the right balance of drama and bite.
No overcooking.
Just let the song do what it does.
“Heaven Knows” Was The Big Apex Singalong 🙌
Then came “Heaven Knows.”
Big moment.
Huge moment, actually.
This is one of those songs that belongs in a festival field. The stomp, the chant, the dark gospel-rock energy, the way the chorus feels like a crowd invitation rather than a simple hook — it all works beautifully outdoors.
At Download, it was the moment where the Apex crowd fully became part of the show.
The chant rang out. Hands went up. People sang it properly, not just casual background mumbling. There was a real feeling of release here, and Taylor held the centre of it effortlessly.
“Heaven Knows” is clever because it sounds both rebellious and communal. It has that “kids against the world” feeling, but on a huge stage it turns into something bigger — thousands of voices sharing the same dark little anthem.
This was easily one of the highlights of the set.
A proper Donington singalong.
“Going To Hell” Closes With Smoke, Swagger And Teeth 😈
Closing with “Going to Hell” was exactly right.
It is one of The Pretty Reckless’ most iconic tracks, and it has all the ingredients you want from a festival closer: attitude, darkness, groove, big chorus and enough theatrical wickedness to send the crowd away smiling.
At the Apex Stage, it landed with confidence.
The band gave it weight, Taylor gave it that wicked preacher-at-the-crossroads energy, and the crowd responded like they knew this was the final chance to sing along before the Sunday schedule rolled on into even more chaos.
As a closer, it summed up the set nicely.
Not the fastest.
Not the heaviest.
Not the most ridiculous.
But cool, controlled, dirty and very, very effective.
The Pretty Reckless do not need to end with a nuclear explosion.
They can end with a smirk and a riff.
Sometimes that is better.
Why The Pretty Reckless Worked At Download 🤘
The Pretty Reckless worked on the Apex Stage because Download is not just about extremity.
It is about rock in all its forms.
Yes, the festival needs the breakdowns.
It needs the pits.
It needs the chaos.
It needs the big metal moments.
It needs the genre-smashing acts and the nostalgia bombs.
But it also needs bands who bring classic rock attitude into the modern era.
The Pretty Reckless do that brilliantly.
They carry the DNA of grunge, blues, hard rock and gothic drama, but they do not feel like a tribute to the past. They feel like a band keeping that spirit alive with strong songs, strong identity and a frontwoman who can hold a massive stage without needing to dress the whole thing up in nonsense.
In a weekend full of high-concept spectacle, their simplicity was refreshing.
Good songs.
Good voice.
Good riffs.
Good stage presence.
Sometimes that is all you need, butt.
The Crowd Reaction: Cool First, Loud Later 🔥
The crowd reaction built as the set went on.
This was not a “field explodes from second one” type of performance. It was a slower burn. People settled in. The groove worked on them. The familiar songs pulled them closer. By the time “Make Me Wanna Die,” “Heaven Knows” and “Going to Hell” arrived, the Apex Stage crowd was fully with them.
That is a very Pretty Reckless way to win a festival.
Not by forcing chaos.
By letting the songs get under people’s skin.
Down the front, the fans were clearly locked in from the start. Further back, the crowd warmed gradually, and by the late-set run you could feel the energy lift.
It was not the wildest crowd of the weekend.
But it was a strong one.
And more importantly, it felt genuine.
A Stylish Gear Shift Before The Final Sunday Madness 🌹
The Pretty Reckless’ slot also worked because of where it sat in the day.
After Bloodywood’s huge burst of global metal energy, they gave Sunday a different flavour before Ice Nine Kills, Bad Omens and Linkin Park dragged the Apex Stage into the final stretch.
They were the smoky bar between the battlefield and the blockbuster.
That variety matters.
Download 2026 has been at its best when it lets the day move through different shades of heavy music, and The Pretty Reckless gave Sunday a stylish, bluesy, hard-rock heartbeat right when the field needed something a little less frantic but still full of bite.
It gave people space to sing.
Space to groove.
Space to feel cool for about fifty minutes despite being covered in dust and sun cream.
And honestly?
We’ll take that.
Final Verdict: The Pretty Reckless Brought Class, Bite And Big Songs 🖤🔥
The Pretty Reckless on the Apex Stage at Download Festival 2026 was a strong, stylish and properly satisfying Sunday afternoon set.
They did not need chaos to make it work.
They did not need gimmicks.
They did not need to out-heavy everyone.
They just brought songs, swagger and Taylor Momsen’s unmistakable voice.
From “Death by Rock and Roll” to “Going to Hell,” the set delivered a sharp mix of old favourites, newer material and big crowd moments. “Make Me Wanna Die” brought the nostalgia, “Heaven Knows” gave Donington the singalong, and “Witches Burn” added that smoky, gothic bite that makes the band feel so distinctive.
This was not a set that tried to flatten the Apex Stage.
It seduced it, smoked it out, then left it humming with riffs.
Proper tidy, mun.
The Riff Report Rating: 8/10
Dirty rock glamour, bluesy swagger and a big Taylor Momsen performance. The Pretty Reckless brought smoke, soul and serious songs to the Apex Stage. 🖤🔥
