Live Review: Paramore @ Genting Arena, Birmingham, UK, 14th January 2018
Artist: Paramore
Venue: Genting Arena, Birmingham, UK
Date: 14th January 2018
Rating: 9.0/10
WWPSM walk into the cavernous Genting Arena in Birmingham with a cloud of scepticism in our minds; Paramore’s sublime latest record ‘After Laughter’, is a dichotomy of fidgeting pop nuggets laced with lyrics documenting vocalist Hayley Williams’ battles with anxiety and depression, will the Tennessee band’s performance still be the high energy, celebratory kind of show we’ve come to expect from Williams and Co? Well, more fool us for even letting this thought enter our minds! Tonight’s gig as part of the outfit’s fifth record is everything we’ve come to love about Paramore and the reason why they can sell out arenas worldwide to legions of loyal and passionate fans. As Williams will come to reference midway through her group’s gig – this is a safe place, a place of free expression, of non-judgement and it’s this sense of freedom, coupled with a setlist of 18 exquisitely deployed songs, that makes Paramore’s Birmingham gig so special.
‘After Laughter’s pop-centric material governs a large chunk of tonight’s gig, with ‘Hard Times’ kicking off proceedings after an elongated intro of frantic percussion and gnarled noise; this sets a high water mark for both audience and band as the Brummie contingent can be heard in fine voice, yelling back every word while Williams commands those in front of her like the consummate frontperson she is. ‘Fake Happy’ and ‘Idle Worship’ are dispatched with a barebones, warts and all delivery, given the tracks’ subject matter pivots on Williams’ confessional lyrics about putting on a brave face whilst performing to Paramore’s devoted fans and not pinning all their hopes on her as some kind of god-like figure, the pintsized focal point bounds across the stage with an untapped energy that provokes such worship and adulation. ‘After Laughter’s material broadens Paramore’s sonic palette; from their plucky pop-punk days, to expansive rock outfit to a more-pop leaning atheistic but this means the tracks from their earlier records pack a mighty wallop when dispensed with; ‘Misery Business’ causes widespread pandemonium – culminating in two lucky fans being hauled onto the Genting Arena’s stage to yell out the track’s final refrain; ‘Ignorance’ jettisoned two songs in comes out with its teeth bared and its fists clenched, and on the other end of the spectrum ‘Hate To See Your Heartbreak’ offers a tiny breather as the ballad captures Paramore at their most heartfelt and emotional. Crowd participation is normally reserved for mass singalongs and circle pits but in this moment of calm the sold-out arena hoist their mobile phones to the sky, igniting their torches as if to tear the star filled sky from the heavens and drape it across the enormous venue.
Paramore’s self-titled fourth LP, paved the way for ‘After Laughter’s new sonic direction and tonight this point is solidified by main set closer ‘Ain’t It Fun’ and ‘Still Into You’; two infectiously, catchy pop songs and in-particular the former a jerky, anthemic foot-stomper that undoubtedly inspired the troop to craft ‘Hard Times’, ‘Told You So’ and their ilk.
Tonight’s show is brought to a close by the 1, 2, 3 punch of ‘Grow Up’, a cover of HalfNoise’s ‘French Class’ (drummer Zac Farro’s side project) and ‘Rose Colored Boy’ which contains a little snippet of Tom Tom Club’s ‘Genius of Love’ and Whitney Houston’s ‘I Wanna Dance With Somebody’.
On a cold January night in Birmingham, six Tennessee residents helped us forget our troubles with 10,000 others – definitely not ‘Fake Happy’ – we’re actually real happy.