By Kyle Brown

On Sunday, June 4th, Cleveland, Ohio was taken over by a sea of emo music lovers. All ages, but mostly millennials came to Rocket Mortgage Fieldhouse to see arguably one of the most recognizable emo/rock bands in the last two decades. As a fan myself, it was a sense of nostalgia to see a band that has not toured the United States in arenas in ten years.

Promoting their newest album in nearly six years, This Is Why, the trio set sail on a tour that spans a skosh over two months. Bringing Genesis Owusu and Bloc Party as openers, Paramore hit the stage at 9pm with an opening video on the huge monitor behind the band. The message was a poem, penned by lead singer, Hayley Williams. 

Equal parts older and newer songs, fans were glad to hear everything. Huge thunderous applauses after each song at one point made Williams put her hand to her mouth in astonishment, seemingly taking in the moment. Leaving her in shock that after twenty years, and a lot of band drama behind the scenes, that people still care and packed the Cleveland venue. 

Hayley Williams of Paramore performing on stage during their show in Cleveland, OH. Photo by: Kyle Brown

“I just want to say, on behalf of the band, thank you for growing up with us” Williams said at one point. 

It was clear Williams was having just as much fun as the fans supporting her and the band. Shuffling around, jumping and boogying her way around the stage like she was a fan as well. 

The stage itself was impeccable. Two huge trapezoid-like LED’s provided light and were constantly moving around. Confetti, pyro, and more all went into the show as well. Paramore really thought of a lot for this tour and how they wanted to make it look. Williams’ voice might I add, sounded better live than in the studio album. How that is possible, I still am scratching my head from. Her vocal abilities set her in a different stratosphere. Dancing and singing for a two hour show, non stop, is like a chef’s kiss of a lead singer. You couldn’t ask for anything better.

Hayley Williams of Paramore performing on stage during their show in Cleveland, OH. Photo by: Kyle Brown

It was also obvious Williams enjoyed being sung back to, pointing the microphone to the crowd and just letting the fans go nuts. Taking us back to our teen years and feeling nostalgic and being absolutely mind-blown it was even happening. 

Paramore is a band known to not just stay in one category. They enjoy jumping around and exploring new territories. They don’t just want to be rockers. In order to give fans the best music they can produce, they never stay in one lane. Williams spoke briefly about that and the response to the album saying:

“You seemed like you were down for that ride. So thank you! When we were making this album we were like, aww dude, TikTok is obsessed with seventeen year-old us. What are we going to do about that?! We felt a lot of pressure because we were like, who are we?” She continued, “We wrote a lot, but we wanted to give you some heavy jams. They (the fans) deserve that!”

Fresh songs like “Running Out Of Time”,  “Figure 8”  and “This Is Why” were sung just as loud as the classics of “Misery Business”, “That’s What You Get” and “Decode”. “Misery Business” however, had a fan by the name of Stacy come onto stage and sing the ending. A fan, picked out by birthday boy and drummer, Zac Farro.  A move that eventually had the crowd chanting her name and it became a Stacy show for a moment. A moment she will never forget. 

When a fan went down, fans caught Williams’ attention and she stopped the show until that person was helped by staff. Williams thanked the crowd saying, 

“That’s how a show is supposed to be”. 

The night came to a close with two encore performances that ended one of the best parties many emo music lovers have had. It was a night to remember for sure. A night many of us shed a tear or two. A night Paramore was not sure would ever happen again after the pandemic and battles they faced. In that darkness came a beacon of hope and happiness, just as the band intended the new album to be. 

For tickets to future shows, click here.

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