Photo: John Burrows
Eight years on from the release of their debut album All We Know Is Falling, tonight the three members of Paramore that stand in front of us are barely recognisable from the fresh-faced teens they once were.
As the curtain drops and the band explode into ‘Grow Up’ and ‘Fast In Your Car’ from their latest, self-titled album, Wembley becomes an arena of deafening screams, welcoming the band back to the UK. With 22 songs to squeeze in tonight (three of them being interludes) we’re in for a jam-packed evening of dancing and mind-blowing performances from the Tennessee rockers.
Frontwoman Hayley Williams takes the time to acknowledge the thousands of people before her, providing the most dramatic of introductions. “We’ve been away from the UK for a while now, so we hope you haven’t forgotten us. But just in case you don’t know Wembley… WE ARE PARAMOOOOORRREEE!!”
Screams echo around the room as Hayley Williams’ voice bellows out across the arena. ‘Now’, ‘Ain’t It Fun’ and ‘Crushcrushcrush’ are massive crowd pleasers, but as much as the full-throttle anthems are the pinnacle of tonight’s show, the acoustic instruments make an appearance mid-way to take things down a notch. ‘The Only Exception’ has arms swaying from side to side and ‘In The Mourning’ provides a beautiful atmosphere.
Williams reminds us never to give up hope, before then taking on a verse from Fleetwood Mac’s ‘Landslide’ and dedicating the performance to them. ‘Misery Business’ and ‘Pressure’ (impressive back flip included) unleash mayhem amongst the fans, and one girls life is completely made when she’s invited onstage to sing ‘Misery Business’ with Paramore – something to tell the grandkids. Ending the night on their huge hit ‘Still Into You’ everyone is up and out of their seats, dancing for one more time.
Tonight has proven how much Paramore have matured and grown as musicians in the past eight years, and how they’ve still got so much further to go.
Paramore played:
1. Grow Up
2. Fast In My Car
3. That's What You Get
4. Decode
5. Ignorance
6. I'm Not Angry Any More
7. Now
8. Daydreaming
9. When It Rain
10. Last Hope
11. Brick By Boring Brick
12. Holiday
13. Crush Crush Crush
14. Aint It Fun
15. The Only Exception
16. In The Morning/ Landslide
17. Pressure
18. Misery Business
ENCORE:
21. Moving On
22. Still Into You
