A surprisingly great way to spend the last of May was attending the Paramore concert at Madison Square Garden. Many may argue about their status as a band regarding relevance or quality, but most can admit that they know how to put on an energetic performance. Hayley Williams, Taylor York, Zac Farro, and a handful of backup performers accompanied the band and added great energy that fit the band’s new era to a T. They are currently on tour for their new album ‘‘This Is Why’’ (a surprising decent new-age Paramore album) and they are knocking it out of the park in terms of how they seem to be moving forward as a musical group.

The concert opened with a performance by the group Bloc Party and they played a few of their songs to get the audience prepared for the main event which would be Paramore. When Paramore took the stage, it was unlike anything I expected. Even before they started playing music, the very pop-art-esque colors and designs that were flashing on the stage that was accompanied by a spoken word poem being read by Hayley Williams as the band came out onto the stage evoked a feeling of anticipation I did not previously feel the days before the tour that all began to hit me at once. After that, the band was off, beginning with the song ‘’You First’’ from ‘‘This Is Why’’. Most songs were from the album, but throwback tracks such as ‘‘Still Into You’’, ‘‘That’s What You Get’’, ‘’The Only Exception’’, and ‘‘Ain’t It Fun’’ were sprinkled throughout the show (usually with the loudest feedback from fans during those songs). As they sang ‘‘Misery Business’’ they even did their signature guest singer with a fan being called onto the stage and singing the latter half of the song with Williams and the band (unknowing to most fans that the next night would feature Lil Uzi Vert taking up that role).

The pure energy on that stage given by Hayley Williams and the band would even excite one who can barely call themselves a fan of the band (such as myself) as it is sheerly contagious. Williams’ charismatic song with the instrumental prowess of the band captivated the entire concert for the entire night. Even after a fight that would result in the band stopping a song, they would quickly pick up the pace and continue replaying ‘‘Figure 8’’ with the crowd as excited as they were before. The band would even reference Whitney Houston and Tom Tom Club in ‘‘Rose-Colored Boy’’, which is exciting to a fan of music in general. Even their intermission music (featuring the likes of Paul McCartney’s solo work and ‘‘Rip It Up’’ by Orange Juice) caught my attention. Was the concert the greatest thing I have ever witnessed in my life? Far from it, but for the price of admission, Paramore grants a performance worth at least twice as much (although I do wish they performed ‘‘All I Wanted’’).

Here are some photos:

Gallery • 7 Photos