Takeaways from Paramore's album release show last night
Takeaways from Paramore's album release show last night
talented, brilliant, incredible, amazing, show stopping, spectacular, never the same, totally unique, completely not ever been done before
I’ve now seen Paramore live 4x. This one is tied for favorite.
Greetings! I’m back in my house here in soggy Austin, Texas, but this time yesterday I was in one of the very furthest-back rows of Nashville’s Grand Ole Opry theater, waiting for Paramore to play their album release show. And let me just say… It was SO GOOD AND FUN. Any misgivings I had after my slightly-harrowing Oklahoma City show experience (you know, the date that the band keeps complaining about in interviews, where they had to break up a fight in the audience) have been resolved. I am at peace with the live music gods.
Despite dealing with a particularly rough patch of anxiety, I was doing my best to remind myself that this is real music writer shit. Album release show. This is the real deal. I’m out here doing this thing and it’s fucking fun.
So, without further ado, here’s my ~reportage~ from the concert!
They didn’t play the new album front-to-back.
However, they did play one previously-unheard song (see below), and both “The News” and “C’est Comme Ca” got their live debuts.People are going to lose their minds over “Running Out Of Time.”
We got an unreleased song from the upcoming album and it RULES. Honestly, I hate that I can’t think of anything better to compare the sound to, but it was giving… Arctic Monkeys??? It’s explosive. It’s theatrical. And above all, it’s catchy. I’m not sure to what extent other songs on the album will harken back to the Riot! era, but this one’s definitely for the Riot!-heads. And based on their marketing for it, it’s likely going to be a radio single, so I wouldn’t be surprised if it’s a big one.
The outfits were *chef’s kiss*
Hayley wore a gorgeous custom suit - pics here
Okay that’s where the serious outfit commentary ends because ZAC wore… a sparkly tight button down with shiny pants and a huge black cowboy hat. MASSIVE slay and the perfect complement to his antics during “Boogie Juice,” the set’s usual Halfnoise (Zac’s side project) addition.
At an undetermined point in the show, like seriously I DO NOT KNOW WHEN THIS HAPPENED!!, Taylor changed into Jnco jeans and then spent the rest of the set hopping around and kicking them in the air
Hayley changed into a tee that we were too far back to read but I’m sure it was great
The treat of the night was a 2-song acoustic portion with just Hayley
Hayley pulled out an acoustic guitar and played two songs completely by herself. I……decided to make this its own post, so more to come! But basically, she played the 2011 one-off single “In The Mourning” with the “Landslide” bridge—a tribute to a beloved live performance from 2011 where she and Taylor did the same. I’m not sure the exact stats, but I feel like she said something like the last time she sang and played guitar onstage by herself was when she was 16?? In any case, super rare aesthetic.
Hayley and Taylor (dating, ICYMI) were briefly being cute
This one’s for the Tayley-heads - Taylor ran up and gave her a big hug after she put away the acoustic guitar 😩Titties!!!
Hayley flashed us all during the “Misery Business” intro…….we were blessed beyond measure
Overall - the vibe was just…right.
They’re so excited to be releasing this album, and you can feel it 1000%. After so many years of watching Paramore navigate strife, it’s so refreshing to see them this happy.
Thanks for tuning in. Happy album release week, everyone! Forward this post to a friend if you think they’d like this Substack : ))
Talk soon,
Katie from Paramore*
*Hayley had/has “Hayley from Paramore” as her name on social media so a lot of fan accounts (I guess now including me) do it too
How many days til This Is Why comes out? I’m glad you asked:
