Paramore w/ The Linda Lindas
Climate Pledge Arena, Seattle, WA
08.09.23

After 10 long years of waiting Paramore finally returned to Seattle on their “This Is Why” Tour at Climate Pledge Arena, the BAND delivered an unforgettable experience that reminded everyone why this band has held a special place in the hearts of music enthusiasts for years. Even if us in Seattle had to wait a whole decade.

As the anticipation built, over 10 months since the announcement of the tour, Seattle fans had to wait an additional week due to a sick member of the band. Finally the night came and the lights dimmed, the audience erupted into cheers as Hayley Williams and her bandmates emerged onto the stage. Opening with a burst of energy, Paramore launched into their first song “You First” with a contagious enthusiasm that spread throughout the arena. From the very first chord, and first explosion of confetti all over the stadium it was clear that this was going to be a night to remember.

Hayley Williams, with her signature fiery orange hair and magnetic stage presence, commanded the center of the stage with lots of movement, high kicks, and doing literal jumping jacks in the middle of a song. The setlist was a well-curated blend of their greatest hits, fan favorites, and tracks from their latest album, “This Is Why.” The seamless transition between songs, unique lighting of the stage, and the backup band kept the energy high and the crowd engaged. At times it seemed like the backing band members were having more fun on stage then the core members.

The band’s performance was marked by a high level of musicianship, tight harmonies, and Williams’ powerhouse vocals that seemed to effortlessly reach every note. With that you’d never know she had been sick for over a week and still sick while playing that night. Her ability to play past any sickness was unfathomable due to her energetic performance. A performance so great it was worth capturing on film. During the show there were video camera in various parts of the venue recording the whole night for an unannounced reason. 

When it came time for “Running Out of Time” Willam’s encouraged the fans to help her our and sing along. “If you don’t know it, sing the wrong words, who cares” exclaimed Williams with a real mentality we can get behind for all concerts. During “Last Hope” William sat on the edge of the stage while fans held up their phones lights all over the arena. It’s the first song they wrote of their self-titled that always felt so special William explained before the song. After a slower song Paramore brought the energy level back up with Hard Times which felt like the best part of the set so far that night with the energy only continuing to rise.

A standout moment of vulnerability Willams confessed to the crowd about one negative review that she read that haunted her but continued to fight on because the fans kept showing up buying records and going to their show. “Can’t stand that a female can work a fucking stage” vented Williams as the fans chanted her name, stopping Williams from speaking.  The whole area there to encourage her to be the best front women a band can have because even though Paramore is band and always will be a band every band needs a strong front women to lead them. Something Willams has done perfectly since the beginning through unwarranted criticism.

If the show could not get even better Williams invited a mother daughter onto the stage to sing Misery Business. One of their biggest songs that catapulted the bands popularity more than any other song or album. From her Paramore brought the big guns out as they were closing out the night with “Ain’t it Fun”, “Still Into You”, and the song that started off this entire era “This Is Why”. A grand slam of songs to close out the night and the end of their tour. The band left the stage to a thunderous applause.

Opening the night was four piece punk rock band The Linda Lindas who were all probably the same age as Paramore when they first formed as a band. But don’t let their age fold you, they knew how to rock out a stage with their fast chords and quick songs. Felt like the an original all female Ramones bands. The drummer took on lead singer duty for about half the songs. The perfect opener for Paramore and the band themselves had more flair and stage presence than all high school rock bands put together. 

Photos by Zachary Gray
Review by Logan Westom