Review: Paramore @ The Domain
Review by Natasha Christian & photos by Zachary Gray
While it was a dark and dreary day in Sydney in the leadup to Paramore's show at The Domain, it didn’t stop 50,000 fans from crawling out of their homes to take part in the band’s biggest show ever.
I arrived just in time to see Remi Wolf’s version of a winter wonderland.
The band walked on to Mariah Carey’s All I Want For Christmas, but their wholesome vibe quickly switched to a NIN Closer-inspired Liquor Store.
Remi Wolf are a great band to watch live, their set was full of joy, colour and well-timed throwbacks to Frank Ocean’s Pink + White and Shaggy’s It Wasn’t Me.
As their set wrapped with some cheeky synchronised ass shaking, I watched the crowd start to calculate their chances of getting a premium spot for Paramore and decide whether it would be worth some Tough-Mudder style ducking and weaving.
I settled on a spot front left next to a fan wearing sunglasses emblazoned with PARAWHORE, probably a nod to the Misery Business lyric change.
The crowd displayed dozens if not hundreds, of signs, expressing sentiments like "I’m gonna cry if I hear Only Exception" and “All I wanted was YOU”.
There was even a giant Edward Cullen to remind us how far this band had come since Twilight made Decode a song heard in every house.
Our first sign of Hayley Williams was a video for her hair dye company, Good Dye Young. The pre-show pump-up music was a bit too chill, but this may have been deliberate to keep the massive crowd calm, as I did see some tensions rise in the front rows.
I watched two young girls who had been waiting for hours bluntly deny another’s request to be let through so she could watch the show with her friend. Instead, she copped an earful about concert etiquette and left disappointed. A few minutes later one of the two snuck her way to the front barrier, where she vaped and blew smoke in the faces behind her for the rest of the show.
Both the open and close songs for Paramore’s set were sombre choices. The set started with Williams spoken word piece Grey Area.
When the band walked on stage thousands of phones immediately shot to the sky to try and capture something TikTokable.
You First was up next, accompanied by some cool visual effects on screen - although I think those standing further back may have been disappointed as the screens were so filtered that it would’ve been difficult to see what was happening live. The filtered screens remained for a lot of the show, and while they looked awesome, I think for a concert of this size, it would’ve been better to let the backrowers have a chance at seeing what was happening up front. You First ended with a confetti cannon, which seemed deliberate but hard to tell after Williams spoke about issues during the Melbourne show.
The entire band was dressed in black and white for this show except for Williams who took the stage in an eye-catching pair of red boots.
This set was very new-stuff heavy, with a lot of songs from This Is Why and After Laughter. I wasn’t sure how this would go down with fans but they didn’t seem to mind. I was pleased as I think This Is Why is Paramore’s best album, so it was great to see a lot of these songs get their time to shine live.
The first few songs of the set were plagued with sound issues, which led to the crowd eventually chanting “turn it up”. It was also difficult for the band to hear what they were saying. I found it so difficult to hear that I eventually removed my earplugs. I felt for fans at the back of the crowd as combined with the screens, it’s likely they couldn’t see or hear much of the show.
Considering Paramore played a much smaller Brisbane Entertainment Centre to rave reviews about their sound and production a few nights earlier, I think this set wasn’t designed for a crowd this big.
Rose Coloured-Boy offered a cute moment between Williams and guitarist Taylor York, while a very Talking Heads sounding bassline played in the background. After a quick sing-a-long to Whitney Houston’s I Wanna Dance With Somebody, the band seemed to confirm their inspiration by switching to Talking Heads/Tom Tom Club’s Genius Of Love. Chris Frantz and Tina Weymouth are one of the rare lasting band x relationship love stories, so I can see why Williams and York would look to them for inspiration.
Ironically, the sound issues seemed to improve come Running Out Of Time.
After the midway point, the core members of Paramore were elevated on a platform to perform Liar. Williams also performed a pitch-perfect version of Crystal Clear from her solo record Petals For Armour. As a big fan of this record, I was pleased something made the setlist.
The Only Exception got phones out and waving more than they already were, and the crowd was treated to a gorgeous light show.
Towards the end, drummer Zac Farro moved up front, to perform Baby from his project HalfNoise. While this was more of a mellow point in the crowd, it was nice to see the band sharing more of the spotlight. I thought this would’ve been a chance for Williams to take a break, but she stayed on stage to support Farro with some backing vocals.
Thinking back to the Talking Heads reference, I briefly wondered if Paramore was headed for a similar fate of infighting and long-term feuds. But this show showed that the core members are going strong.
Before Misery Business, Williams took a moment to ask the crowd not to sing the old lyric, if you know, you know. Unfortunately, the crowd sang it anyway, resulting in a disapproving look.
One of the night's best moments was when Williams gave the stage to mega-fan Jayde, who was wearing a Petals for Armour t-shirt. Jayde helped the band sing the final lines to their biggest hit.
During Ain’t It Fun the lighting switched from their trademark red colour pallet to green and yellow, which seemed to be a nod to Paramore’s time in Australia. The set finished with Thick Skull, which is undeniably a beautiful song, but a bit slow for a finisher. At this point many in the crowd decided to make their exit, likely hoping it would make it easier to get an Uber or public transport home.
We were left with Still Into You and This is Why, as Paramore showed us why they can easily sell out the mighty The Domain and keep us entertained.