Paramore at Austin 360 Ampitheater

While one song on Paramore's latest album begins "I don't even know myself at all", I have to admit: I definitely can't see it. If there's one thing I learned from their amazing performance in Austin, it's that they have truly found and defined themselves as artists.

They kicked off the show with the funky power-pop fun that is Grow Up, setting the mood for the rest of the show with the anthemic chorus and barely contained energy and excitement. Before everyone (everyone meaning me and Adair) even had time to wipe their tears, they dove right into the crowd-pleasing Fast In My Car before diving right into That's What You Get, plus a cool call and response introduction. Several other songs throughout the set included interesting introductions and outros, namely Ain't It Fun's funky bass outro.



The show never had a boring moment, from the huge contrasts between the heavy punk-pop songs to interludes of just Williams and a ukelele and the slower songs like Only Exception and In The Morning. Decode, Ignorance, and Now ensured that there was no mid-set slump. As they hammer out song after song, it's easy to forget just how many massive tracks that hey have written. York, Davis, and Williams all ran around the stage, shouted for the crowd to sing around, danced, (in bassist Davis' case, flipped while playing), and really made sure that everyone was having a good time. William's honest personality was both sweet and charming as she complimented random audience members and talked conversationally to everyone in short breaks while fellow bandmates tuned their instruments before going back to her intense energy and excitement while performing. I have to admit, I just don't understand how someone can sound absolutely flawless while headbanging and running at the same time as they sing. Bonus points to them for how much fun they all seemed to have as they played the new songs, with York and Davis both metaphorically and literally bounced off of each other. As a band that nearly broke up entirely, the fact that they persevered and took time to regroup totally paid off to make the masterpiece that they are now. That's nothing to scoff at. Their joy is infectious and after that show it would be hard to believe anyone left with anything less than a huge smile.

The only issue that I had with the show actually wasn't their fault, but the quality of the sound seemed pretty low. For both Paramore and the two opening bands, Metric and Hellogoodbye, the guitars especially sounded really crackly and the balance between them and the vocals sounded pretty off.

Showstoppers included the punk-pop explosiveness that is Now, Part II, and classics like That's What You Get, Pressure, and of course, Misery Business. 

Setlist: (not necessarily in order)
Grow Up
Fast In My Car
That's What You Get
Decode
Ignorance

Ain't It Fun

Interlude: I'm Not Angry Anymore
Crushcrushcrush
When It Rains
Pressure
Brick By Boring Brick
Only Exception
Daydreaming

In The Mourning/Landslide

Last Hope

Now

Interlude: Holiday

Misery Business

Encore:

Part II

Interlude: Moving On
Still Into You

~Simone