PARAMORE
P
aramore is the band that is not afraid of growth and evolution. With “After Laughter”, their fifth album, they delivered the most creative album of their discography. It is cathartic, eclectic and most importantly full of hope. So how does this new energy transpose on stage? How do old songs that made the band’s success coexist with the new ones? We got our anwers at L’Olympia in Paris ! It is under the loud cheering of the venue already determined to welcome Paramore like kings that Hayley, Taylor and Zac arrived with their musicians on stage and begin the show with «Hard Times», first single of the new album, as colorful as dancing. The perfect choice to be honest. Everyone literally started to dance in rhythm as soon as the first notes were recognized. No one was surprised when Hayley started singing Blondie’s «Heart Of Glass», creating a bridge between the two songs with uninhibited pop accents. From the start, we are quite impressed with the efforts made on the scenography. It perfectly illustrates the meaning and eclecticism of the new album: composed of 3 sets of rings with quite psychedelic patterns moving in sync, the lights create the allegory of an emotional tornado over the stage. The intense «Ignorance» is next, starting with an interesting and frantic drum instrumental introduction, a courtesy of brilliant drummer Zac Farro. What was truly amazing to witness is that after all these years, the band reinvents its own songs adding instruments or effects. It’s safe to say that most of the fans grew up with the band and although «After Laughter» was so well received, the first rock/emo sounding albums were the ones that created the band’s fanbase. The party goes on with “Still Into You”, that Hayley Williams dedicates to her band but also to the fans, before easing off with «Forgiveness», a hurtful yet full of hope ballad yet. And here we go again with «Fake Happy», «That’s What You Get», «I Caught Myself» and «Pool». These four songs, as different as they are from each other, bring a wind of energy and create an atmosphere sometimes joyful, intense, explosive, sometimes even refreshing. Hayley dances, jumps, runs across
WORDS AND PHOTOS by LUDIVINE DESUMEUR
the stage, with boundless energy and does not fail to remind – as the frontperson - the public to put on their dancing shoes. After laughter comes tears and it’s time for the emotional «Hate To See Your Heart Break». There is a real communion between the band and the audience, and it got us admiring: whatever the size of the venue, Paramore’s strength lies in the intimacy they create instantly with their fans. The voices are harmonious and resonate as one. “Caught In The Middle” and “Told You So” are there to shake the floor of L’Olympia before the band moves on to «Idle Worship» and its striking outro «No Friend» where Aaron Weiss of mewithoutYou appears while Hayley Williams, withdrawn of it all, lies down on the stage. The performance is intense, Taylor York doesn’t hold back on his guitar while Zac Farro gets more intense as the song goes and Aaron Weiss sings the spoken words with amplified vehemence. The whole performance is dark and powerful on both sound and visual aspects. The storm is over, Paramore delivers the first notes of the wellknown «Misery Business» and the fans scream the lyrics as if their lives depended on them. «Ain’t It Fun», a sunny and groovy song happily concludes the show. And when there’s no more, there’s still more at the Paramore show! The band returns on stage encouraged by the chants of the whole venue. A new atmosphere sets in and the band start the encore with «Grow Up». Zac Farro then moves away from his drums to be in the limelight and play «French Class», a track from his own musical project called Halfnoise. Paramore and Halfnoise cohabit during the length of a song, and there is no need to say, it got us moving! The end is fast approaching and «Rose-colored Boy», a pure pop anthem ends the dance mixed with «I Wanna Dance With Somebody» of the great Whitney Houston. We have witnessed Paramore at its highest point, filling the sound differences between the different albums on stage and showing that it is as much fun to bring them together as to separate them. The band has shown creativity, ambition and ingenuity and this is also reflected on stage. We can’t wait for the next time!
