After their absence from the music scene for a few years, Paramore has started releasing music once again and officially kicks off their comeback with their “Self-Titled Tour”. Paramore the essence of my middle school music; this holds true for many others my age, bringing about my mixed feelings on attending their newest concert.

            I went to the first concert of their tour in Seattle, Washington. I was pretty excited, but nervous that Paramore would not match up to my past feelings for them. Truthfully, I had not been keeping track of Paramore because of their mentioned absence and didn’t know what to expect.

            After a lifetime of standing in line, we were admitted into the Key Arena concert area. Here, I could see the variety of fans as they came into the stadium, ranging from the more casual concert goer’s t-shirt-and-jeans combo to the hardcores, the spiked hair matched up with Paramore t-shirts, like one that said, “Paramore, I’m still into you!”, to quote their latest single. A few seats ahead, I even saw a pair of little girls sporting fluorescent pink hairdos.

So there I was, excited, nervous, and outdone by a couple of seven year olds, when it began.

The first opener was Hellogoodbye, an extremely welcomed surprise. Like Paramore and the next opener, Metric, they were riding on the wave of a comeback and I was not disappointed. Forrest Kline, the lead singer, talked to the audience like a friend, joking around and getting us hyped up. Their performance was by far the simplest- not surprising as they were the first to play- but still very enjoyable. Along with their new music, like their single, “(Everything is) Debatable”, Hellogoodbye played some old favorites too. They danced around stage, making us clap and sing, and were generally a good time. Great start to the concert.

Metric was up next. I hadn’t encountered their music until about a year ago, so I thought it’d be interesting. The lighting was more intense than the soft pastels of Hellogoodbye; the contrast of a glowing yellow Emily Haines- the lead- with the dark black and blue background accentuated the passion of her songs. However, the volume of the band was at times too overpowering and Haines was drowned out; this took away from a lot of the experience, and I was a bit disappointed because her studio tracks work on specifically accentuating her unique voice. Perhaps it was the fault of the technicians, but I really hope they work on the balancing of vocal and musical volumes in future concerts.

Finally, the big moment. The reveal.

I’d just come back from buying a bottle of water during the break and taken my seat when the lights went out. Then, suddenly, a curtain was dropped and you could see the silhouette of three figures, completely black, on a glowing white backdrop. The drums started a beat, the crowd sprang to life with collective screams, and the concert was on.

Paramore started out with one of their new songs, “Grow Up”, continuing on to sing fan favorites like, “Ignorance” and “The Only Exception”. It was completely amazing, far surpassing any expectations I’d had so I was definitely not disappointed. Everyone, even in the stands, was singing along or dancing. Hayley Williams, the lead, was charismatic and encouraged us to sing along with her, raising her mic to the crowd and even bringing up a random fan from the crowd to sing “Misery Business” with her on stage.

The lighting and technical side of the show was amazing as well. The colors were vivid contrasts of each other, accentuating Hayley’s black leather pants and reflecting the hues of her pink-and-orange pixie cut. Lasers beamed out from behind the guitarists, spotlights the color and shape of honeycombs spiraled across the audience, strips of pink and blue throbbed on the screen behind the drummer; it was eclectic in the best way. It wasn’t too over the top, though; with her “Interlude” songs and a cover of Fleetwood Mac’s “Landslide”, the effects were nothing but a spotlight.

Paramore finished off their first show with “Still into You” and a cascade of balloons and confetti; I was not disappointed. If anything, my love of Paramore has been resurfaced and I can tell you it was a truly amazing show. If “The Self-Titled Tour” is coming to your city, I would definitely check it out.

Thanks to Moxie for giving us the opportunity to review the concert!