"It's been an honour to grow up in front of you," Hayley Williams declared part way through this, Paramore's first gig at the O2 in years. "We are not those people and neither are you."
That's certainly true. Paramore have been through enough difficulty as a band to come back last year with a single called Hard Times. The album that followed, released to widespread acclaim, saw the band steering ever closer to a pure pop sound, yet beneath the tropical synths, lively rhythms and new wave guitars, the beating emo heart remains. Lyrically it depicts Williams' struggles with depression, cleverly masked with playful production.
You wouldn't think that to see them live, however. Williams high-kicks across the stage with seemingly infinite reserves of energy and a vocal that remains pitch perfect, backed by a band that sound as tight as ever. The buoyant music gets the crowd dancing throughout - there's an atmosphere of liberation and glee.
There's also a sense of nostalgia. Tracks like That's What You Get and Misery Business from their breakthrough album 'Riot!' received the loudest response, clearly aimed at those of us who have long since grown up. Yet the latter song saw Williams inviting a young fan up on the stage to sing out every word together, proving their old hits still have resonance.
It was the songs from 'After Laughter' that dominated though: sophisticated pop that show how far the band have come. "Get your dancing shoes on and have your tissues ready," Williams joked, but it's a brilliant summation of the likes of Hard Times, Forgiveness and Told You So. Nods to hits from Blondie and Whitney Houston played on the 80s influences with tongue firmly in cheek. The only sag was No Friend, the band switching pop optimism for scuzzy introversion.
That their final encore was Rose Coloured Boy just shows the importance they place on their new material that's managed to appease long-time fans while bringing in a legion of newer ones. Mostly, for a band with so much misery business, they simply exude fun. There's no extravagant staging or endless political speeches. It's just infectious pop songs and a bloody good time. There's nothing fake happy about that.
4/5
