Hi guys! Happy Thursday! Today I’m going to be sharing with you my concert experience from last Monday night when I got to see Paramore for the first time as a headlining show!

Paramore
The After Laughter Tour (Tour 5)
Monday, June 18, 2018
The Budweiser Stage

I’ve been a fan of Paramore for over 10 years now and this was the first time I’ve seen them headline a show. I’ve seen them at Warped Tour years ago, but that only gives you glimpse of how they perform since sets are only 20-30 minutes long. Last Monday really proved how well a live performance they put on.

I was so relaxed when I got there; usually I feel so rushed when I go to a concert. It’s almost like I have a checklist of things I have to do, as fast as humanly possible. This time I just relaxed. I brought I book. Yes, you read that right; I brought a book to a concert. What else was I going to do while I waited around, I was by myself. I got to the venue half an hour before doors opened, so I parked myself on a bench and read, the line was never long so I didn’t feel like I had to get into it right away.

My next item of business was either to find food or by merch. There was NO line at the merch table, which if you’ve ever been to a show (I’m sure you all can relate) that is where everyone flocks to first. I didn’t have to wait, if anything I had to let people go before me because I couldn’t decide on a t-shirt. I’m very happy with my choice and the shirt is so soft.

Next on my relaxed check list was food. I bought poutine because it’s been so long and I sat at a picnic table and just relaxed. It felt so good.

Next, find my seat. I always pick an aisle seat when I go to shows alone because 1) easy access 2) who wants to be sandwiched in with a bunch of strangers? It’s bad enough I have to sit beside one, why would you want more than that? The only thing I complain about is that I picked a seat on the complete opposite side of the exit… leaving was fuuuun!

You can bet your dollar I brought my book out while I waited for some entertainment. The first act was a group called Soccer Mommy, yes a bit of an odd name, but their music wasn’t bad. It’s got a folksy sound to it and it was really relaxing. Now I just kinda continued reading while they played, and I’m sure someone snapped me on their snapchat because who reads during a concert? Their music was some really good music to listen to while reading though, it was so peaceful and calm. Here is a sample of their music.

Now once Foster the People came onstage I put my book away (because I finished reading it; no joke). I just listened to the music because I don’t know much of their music, I know that one song, Pumped Up Kicks… just like everybody else in the audience because once that song came on, everyone went nuts. Their music is also easy listening and fun. This was their setlist:

Pay the Man
Helena Beat
Coming of Age
Don’t Stop (Color on the Walls)
Are You What You Want to Be?
Lotus Eater
Loyal Like Sid & Nancy
Pumped Up Kicks
Sit Next to Me -this sounds like an MGMT song, it’s so catchy!

During Foster the People is when the strangers who sat next to me joined the show. They were interesting. The girl was a Paramore fan, her boyfriend, not so much. During a break while Paramore was performing she asked me if I came to the show alone, when I said yes she told me that she envied me and that she contemplated coming alone but the commute would have been lonely, not even the show, the commute; girl I had a nice 2-hour by myself commute. Anyways, she was nice, but she got drunk… and she really wanted to dance, and when she wasn’t dancing with me she was dancing on her boyfriend, yeah… But I still had a great time! I have to say it did make me feel less alone.
I spent the whole show in the aisle and not in my seat, also there was a tall dude in front of me so you know, my five foot couldn’t see past his close to six-foot body. Oh, the joys of being short.

Paramore finally graced us with their presence just after 9 p.m. with a song called Grudges, which was such a fun song to open with. It’s fun and light, like most of their new album After Laughter. Also, the pantsuit Hayley Williams came out wearing, uhm, can I have that? She looked amazing! Plus the way she was dancing the entire night, like girl I love you.

It took a little to break in. I always feel a little awakward at first, what should I do with my hands? Should I sway? Should I bob? Should I jump? Am I really that excited right this second? I overthink it, obviously. After a few songs though I was game.

They played Still into You and for some reason my brain just forgot the words for a bit, probably because I was shocked they would play it. I’ve always known it to be a song about Hayley’s relationship, but she said ‘this one goes out to Paramore’ I can get behind that, they’re a relationship that’s gone through quite a bit too.

Once Rose-Colored Boy starting playing, I definitely got my groove, that song! It’s so fun, even though the lyrics aren’t as fun.

We then went a little old school with That’s What You Get (god I remember playing this on Guitar Hero) and Crushcrushcrush.

Hayley Williams took a second to say how happy she was to be here, and that we all should be too. No matter what was happening in our lives we should only worry about what was happening there in that moment. I completely agree; what’s the point of thinking about others things that are worrying you when you can let your mind go?
That’s when they played Fake Happy; this is such a good/happy song for such sad lyrics.

We then proceed to go back in time when they played Playing God. I completely forgot about their album Brand New Eyes, it’s been a long time since I listened to these songs. They also played Ignorance from that album and I was back in high school all over again; I don’t know if that’s a good or bad thing, but damn did the nostalgia kick in.

They played Forgiveness and Pool from After Laughter, then they went on a slight break. When they came back it looked like an acoustic set was about to go down. They talked about writing their latest album they said this was the best song they heard, nothing came close, and I thought they were talking about their own song because once they started playing I knew the song, but it didn’t sound like a Paramore song. It wasn’t. It was a cover of Passionfruit by Drake. It was awesome, they did a really good job, they put their own spin on it and it really works, plus you can never go wrong with Drake (in my opinion). Well, I don’t feel so special now that I found out that they sung this Drake song in New York the night before. I thought because we were the 6 that we were special, I feel a bit bummed now.

Continuing with their acoustic set they played Misguided Ghosts, a song Hayley says she didn’t really know the true meaning of it until this past year. She said sometimes your brain works really fast and it takes some time for your heart to catch up; gosh all the things she was saying that night just spoke so true. They ended the acoustic set on 26.
This album was probably really cathartic for the band to write, and you could see in the way that Hayley performed how cathartic, how emotional it really is.

When they came back from another short break, they played some new songs Caught in the Middle, Idle Worship and No Friend.

Then Hayley wanted us to take it back to 2007, which was a pretty good year I have to say, and that’s when Misery Business began to play. This was true nostalgia. She called someone from the audience to sing the end of the song with her, and another to play guitar, which is new, but I read on Twitter that she had a sign asking to play that part, so damn! Plus the girl who she called up to sing, she could sing, they both did an incredible job! It’s funny even the medic who was chilling next to me was really impressed.

That was one of the two songs I was waiting to hear. I was still waiting for Hard Times. I thought that was going to be the next song, but then they busted out Ain’t It Fun instead. Singing that ending was SO much fun! They left the stage, but of course they had to come back for their encore.

Their encore started with Told You So, then this weird, I don’t know how to describe it because it was this sort of rap, apparently it was called All That Love Is by HalfNoise. Then, finally the moment I had been waiting for, Hard Times!

I can’t describe into words how much fun it was, or the feelings I was feeling, but just know it was an amazing time, and I would highly suggest checking Paramore out.