By Claire McCulloch
It’s captivatingly silent.
Filled with people lining the floors, against the walls, and standing in their seats, Massey Hall is silent the moment that Hayley Williams takes a seat alongside her guitarist to sing “26,” off the new Paramore album, After Laughter. “It’s the one song,” she says, “that is unavoidably sad.” Vulnerable and slow but balanced by an electro pop mood, “26” seems antithetical to their other new songs but share the same emotion depth.
A tiny songstress of 5’1”, Williams’ powerful voice fills the hall and I marvel at the only celebrity I’ve ever had a crush on. All thousand of us stand together and listen, captivated by heartfelt words of dreams and hope. Before long the crowd has joined in and I—someone who typically refuses to soberly sing or dance in public—sing because these are words that I have felt and I hold onto every word.
I’m not the biggest music fan compared to others, but at a time in my life filled with so many confusing emotions, Paramore was nothing short of a saviour. Singing along to “26” that night was like the breath of air I needed, coinciding with the much needed night to let loose and pull out awkward dance moves to their latest album.
The new album pays tribute to the process of unraveling emotions and trying to pull everything back together. It’s about the moment after laughter, when emotions come flooding back. A fairly somber album laced in power and pop, Paramore’s fifth studio record, and the second Paramore concert I have been to in my lifetime, does not disappoint. I watched in awe the whole night, immersed in the album that I truly needed in my time of feeling particularly down.
Running through some old favourites (throwback to “Ignorance,” “Brick by Boring Brick,” and even a fan-aided “Misery Business”) the band also shares in bringing together a cover of Fleetwood Mac’s “Everywhere” while appreciating most of the songs off After Laughter. It’s a mix of sounds, from Paramore’s punk, alternative rock, dance pop, and even an alternative/indie debut of their drummer’s side project, Half Noise, performing “Scooby’s in the Back.” The night is a whirlwind of energy sparked from Hayley Williams herself, spinning and bouncing all over the stage, enjoying Toronto’s crowd and even at some points speaking through a megaphone and wearing a tambourine.
It’s an addictive crowd energy to share, the happiness and thrill of having such a good time. Watching a band that you grew up with and have loved for years is a surreal experience, one that still doesn’t feel like reality just yet. I watched the person that has inspired me for years and someone that has created such great music alongside bandmates. Needless to say, my favourite band. Just knowing that the crowd was in the same boat, Hayley herself finished off the night with “Thanks for growing up with us.”
A band I definitely won’t stop playing, Paramore will always be one of my all-time favourites. The reason I dyed my hair bright red so many years ago, but mostly the reason that I try to create on a daily basis. As urged by Williams, “If you’re ever feeling low, just create something. It could be anything, it doesn’t have to be pretty,” the words I needed to hear and an album that drills it into my head.
Paramore at Massey Hall was a dream, a show filled with energy and fun. Inspiringly captivating and a night I won’t soon stop replaying in my mind over and over.