First of all, my sister and I arrived at Birmingham LG Arena at 5am. We sat down with a group of campers who had been there since 11pm the night before. The atmosphere was pleasant, quite cold but strangely cosy. I met many people who I knew from social sites and people who I’d met before from previous Paramore events. We were instantly given a number. I was EE 3 (Early Entry 3) and my sister was number 11. This was a brilliant idea, as it stopped queue jumpers, as learnt from previous shows. It’s not fair to the people who camped out all night, to the people who arrived at 4pm and jumped straight to the front of the queue. All the staff were lovely and very helpful. They told us where to go and what to do. It was one of the most organised shows I had ever been too.
I was so surprised to see the amount of 30+ fans. It made us feel better knowing that we can love Paramore at any age. Why do we have to grow up and change our music taste for others? I just thought that we can grow old, but we will never grow up inside.
When the doors opened I got straight to the centre of the barrier. The best spot in the arena. As my sister was number 11 in the queue she managed to get a spot next to me.
The first band ‘Eliza and The Bear’ were very vibrant and enjoyable. They definitely knew how to get the crowd moving. They reminded me of ‘Of Monsters and Men’ and ‘Mumford and Sons’. Which are two bands that I completely adore. The second band on stage was Charli XCX. This girl band got so many mixed reviews. They were a guilty pleasure. I wouldn’t buy their music, but they weren’t a bad band. It’s just not the kind of music I like. They are the total opposite to Paramore.
Then the time we had all been waiting for… The start of ‘Grow Up’ began to play and the arena was completely dark. Everyone was cheering, then the noise of the crowd grew when you could see the silhouette of the Paramore bars behind the curtain. The curtain fell and the lights went on. It was just so good to see the band so happy. You could tell they were thrilled to be back after 3 years.
I couldn’t possibly tell you what the best song of the night was. One thing that sticks in my mind though was that I remember singing along to ‘Last Hope’. My sister and I looked at each other and were smiling our hearts out. I noticed Hayley looked at us, and she smiled back. It was magical. Secondly just after ‘The Only Exception’, Hayley said a very heart warming, but emotional speech just before ‘In the Morning’. “We’re so grateful, and we’re so thankful, and we feel better than ever and that’s because of you.” Hayley began to let a few tears slip, but she held it together and as usual, completely astounded us with her voice.
Paramore at the start said it would be a long night, but wow… Time does fly by when you’re having fun! They finished the set off with ‘Still Into You’ and confetti blowing and bursting everywhere.
– Paige Greensmith
