Paramore

By Ella Selfe

The incredibly popular American 5-piece pop-punk band Paramore hit London’s 02 Arena with a blast on 13th November. With a capacity of over 20,000 and the show selling out within hours, it was certainly going to be one that would be incredibly hard to forget.

Storming onto the stage with the first single of their most recent album (Brand New Eyes), ‘Ignorance’, the audience were automatically moving as the now pink-haired front-woman Hayley Williams put all her energy into her incredible vocals as she leapt around the stage. The energy radiated off the quintet assembled onstage, being mirrored by the entire crowd. Even those who were in the seated areas were on their feet for the entirety of the concert, leaving a very happy front-woman at the fact that they needed no prompting.

Powering through the following 6 songs including ‘That’s What You Get’ and ‘Playing God’ with the energy levels never dropping, Hayley had the crowd in the palm of her hand. The relationship with the crowd was obviously important to the pink-head as she often stopped to talk to the enticed audience, often stopping in the middle of a song to speak before continuing to sing and welcoming first-time Paramore goers “to the family” at the beginning of the set.

After playing Wembley Arena almost a year before, the 02 was the next step up, but it was obvious that the band were still mind blown with Hayley stating “so this it’s what it’s like on the other side!” She also described London as their “second home” for their fondness for the city has grown over the years; making the shows they play there especially special for them as well as the audience.

After playing their award-winning ‘Decode’, 3 members of the band left, leaving just Hayley and Josh Farro (lead guitarist) on the side of the stage, whilst the rest of the stage was left in darkness. They played an acoustic version of ‘Never Let This Go’, leaving the crowd captivated as the rest of the band returned to the stage, where all of their instruments had been brought closer together with a sofa placed in the centre. They went on to all play a short acoustic set of ‘When It Rains’, ‘Where The Lines Overlap’ and ‘Misguided Ghosts’, constantly accompanied by the voices of thousands echoing around the huge venue. It was evident how much the band members relied on each other, and they came together to create a truly impressive and mind blowing set.

Continuing the rest of the set non-acoustically, the crowd were moving again. They continued with songs including ‘crushcrushcrush’ and one of the bands more recent singles, ‘The Only Exception’, in which Hayley requested everyone put something that glows in the air. The majority of the crowd complied and with the vast size of the place, the sight could easily be described as breathtaking.

As their main set drew to a close, the band left the stage to 20,000 people chanting their name before returning for their encore and big finale, finishing the already memorable night with two obvious favourites; ‘Brick By Boring Brick’ and ‘Misery Business’. Hayley brought on You Me At Six front-man and lead vocalist Josh Franceschi during ‘Misery Business’, who was welcomed warmly by the audience and sang with his good pink-haired friend to help create the perfect end to an already fantastic night.

As the confetti fell over the crowd, the atmosphere was electric as Paramore had put on yet another incredible show of which Hayley described as “one of the best nights of [the] band’s entire career.”