Standing in the middle of a hot, sweaty crowd can be daunting at the best of times, especially in Wembley Arena with seats filled up around you, all chanting for one thing, and one thing only Paramore! There’s a buzz of excitement evident and there are the Mexican waves that go all around the seating area, but never last for too long, and many people around us were already slurring their words and proclaiming how they’d “do Hayley” and/or how Hayley is their “hero.” Nearly all comments being about the front woman herself, the phrase “Paramore is a band” one that Hayley wore on a shirt some time ago, and insists on, comes floating to mind.
Paramore have come a long, long way from when I first saw them back in 2006 at my local venue (formally called the Zodiac, but has since been taken under the wing of Carling Academy and now O2 Academy), which didn’t even sell out. To be honest, it’s weird seeing this small unknown secret going from ‘All We Know is Falling’ to becoming exposed thanks to ‘Riot!’ and even more so with their role in ‘Twilight’ and their highly anticipated third album, which this tour is promoting, ‘Brand New Eyes.’
Paramore finally came onto the stage and everyone, as expected, started screaming like banshees. The first song was strangely haunting, claiming that “your daddy’s not a hero/ he stole your chariot” it’s probably one of the darkest songs Paramore have ever done, they then launch into ‘Ignorance’; a song that gets everyone singing and dancing along. ‘I Caught Myself’ in my opinion, was a poor choice of song, seeing as they have far better tracks on previous albums, but nonetheless, no doubt thanks to the phenomenon that is ‘Twilight.’
Not being a real fan of the new album, I must admit the new songs went right over my head, with three or four exceptions. Crushcrushcrush, got the crowd pumped, and the song reminded me of why I enjoy Paramore so much; the feisty lyrics, and the dancey guitar rifts.
After playing the infamous ‘Decode,’ Hayley informs us that Josh had received a letter from someone in the crowd. After pulling two people out of the crowd, a boy and a girl, Hayley gives the boy her microphone and he proceeds to go down on one knee and propose. The surrounding people start saying “oh my God,” cheering and clapping when the girl says ‘yes.’ Paramore then launch into ‘My Heart’ a special treat for us at Wembley, as it hasn’t been played on any other date of the ‘Brand New Eyes Fall Tour.’ I could feel myself welling up, pathetic as that sounds, as I glanced around the arena and everyone in the seating area were waving glow sticks, phones, whatever in the air.
After thanking Wembley and declaring how ‘amazing’ we were, the band walked off only to be met with cries of ‘encore’ and ‘Para-more, Para-more.’ The band came back on, and performed three more songs, Misguided Ghosts, Misery Business and Brick by Boring Brick. Paramore delivered the last two songs with such energy; it’s easy to see why so many people enjoy Paramore.
Paramore, truly is, ‘a band.’
