Give me (Para) More More More

Paramore

LG Arena, Birmingham

words and pictures by James Watkins

Paramore arrived in the West Midlands on Tuesday night to one of the biggest crowds that the LG Arena has ever seen.

Nearly every seat surrounding the stage was taken up with screaming fans waiting to catch a glimpse of Hayley Williams and company, who have literally exploded onto the scene in the past few years, selling out arenas all over the world.

With a shadowing curtain covering the stage and the first few chords of opening track Ignorance playing, the crowd went into overdrive as they saw the figures of the American five-piece emerge.

When the curtain finally fell, the fans were given an overdose of visceral, perfectly-formed tunes that delivered on every level.

Hayley Williams bounced around the stage effervescently and took great pleasure in making the crowd groove to her every lyric, marshalling every inch of the stage and making it her own.

Playing through a raucous For A Pessimist, I'm Pretty Optimistic, they offered a stunning rendition of Playing God and Decode, before kicking back with an impressive four-song acoustic section with Misguided Ghosts standing supreme.

Raising the bar with Looking Up and fan favourite The Only Exception, Paramore returned for an encore that saw Hayley Williams bring an audience member up for closing track Misery Business, sending the fans wild and into full song.

It's a high octane ride seeing Paramore live - but it's worth it.nextpage