I won’t lie and say I wasn’t nervous about attending a concert so soon after the Manchester Arena attack, even more so about being in London so soon after the London Bridge attack. But I had had tickets to Paramore’s After Laughter tour for a long time and I wasn’t going to not go just because of the recent atrocities carried out by a handful of individuals in my country.
The Royal Albert Hall is a beautiful venue, full of Victorian features – high ceilings with gilded accents, photographs of famous performers dating back to the 1800s lining the walls, and even old-fashioned toilets to name just a few – which is a bit of an odd choice for an American rock band. The rather imposing figure of Prince Albert stands proudly outside, a monument to Queen Victoria’s beloved husband, and the round building is rather spectacular when lit up in its golden light after dark.
Thankfully security was tight, making me feel a lot better, and we found our seats with little problems. The odd thing about the band’s UK dates was that all of the venues were seating only. Having struggled to get tickets, we were sat in the side balcony way above the stage. Aside from Paramore’s rigging, holding up their amazing lightshow, being in the way, our view wasn’t bad at all. Being up high also helped the sound quality – Hayley’s vocals resonated up to the ceiling, bouncing off of the acoustic ‘mushrooms’ up above and back down to us. We didn’t get any of the usual speaker noises or clashes that comes from being close to live music, it was just pure Paramore and it was clear as day.
Their set was a mixture of old and new and it made me fall in love with an album I didn’t particularly enjoy when first listening to it. Songs such as ‘Fake Happy’ and ‘Rose Coloured Boy’ come to life in a way that their recorded versions don’t when Hayley’s jumping around the stage belting the lyrics out in a way that you find you’ve missed – it’s been a few years since their last trip to the UK and it’s like welcoming old friends back.
The staging was impressive, the band encased in a square of strip lights, colours flashing in time to the music and creating a spectacular view which I imagine would have been even more spectacular if I had been facing them rather than off to one side. The energy of the performance resonated through the venue, filling every inch of the round hall. The audience was varied too, an eclectic mix of young and old. I feel that the venue has a part to play in this, as some may not have felt comfortable seeing them in an arena with thousands of screaming fans all bunched together in a mild form of mosh pit down the front. Having a seated venue created a much more civilised atmosphere, making me feel extremely grown up… especially when Hayley announces it’s been 10 years since Riot! (their second album) was released. I remember buying that at 14, with my black hair, wearing ripped jeans and excessive eyeliner that no one told me looked stupid.
We were even treated to a rare performance of Zac Farro’s (Halfnoise's) song 'Scooby's in the Back', a nice way to show that the band have come to terms with their bizarre separation and troubles, even if the song itself wasn’t particularly special when compared to Paramore’s tracks.
A Paramore show wouldn’t be a Paramore show without closing with the screamed declaration of “We Are Paramore!” This resonated throughout the crowd with Hayley almost diving off the stage as she bounced around whilst head-banging to ‘Misery Business’ and ‘Hard Times’. The former song saw audience members brought up on stage to dance, sing and head-bang with her.
We left buzzing and overjoyed with this physical confirmation that Paramore are still alive and well and hopefully will be for years to come. We were so happy that we took a wrong turn walking back to our hotel and ended up at the Natural History Museum (which is really rather creepy after dark). They’ve since announced a second UK leg of their tour and we have tickets to see them at the O2 Arena in London in January. The O2 Arena is one of my favourite venues so I’m excited, but nothing will ever compare to this huge yet strangely intimate-feeling gig at this spectacularly historical London landmark.
