Paramore, You Me At Six @ TheTivoli, Brisbane (19/02/2010)

Mon 22nd Feb, 2010 in Gig Reviews

Check out the pictures here

Stretching around the block, the underage, over 18’s and a little more than over 18’s spent their Friday twilight in line, waiting for the doors for one of the few Brisbane Sidewaves – then again, it was Paramore.

Kicking off the night was English pop punk lads You Me At Six. Hailing from Surrey, the boys hit the stage at a rather early 7pm. The band quickly set a fun, fast and energetic mood with the track Safer To Hate Her from this year’s release Hold Me Down. Although a relatively unknown band in Brisbane, You Me At Six won over the crowd with upbeat, tongue in check pop punk rhythms and melodies. The British accents may also have had something to do with the band’s instant appeal to the mainly underage crowd.

Highlights included Save it For the Bedroom and Kiss And Tell. Finishing off the set with a hilarious cover of Lady Gaga’s Pokerface (which was far better than the original), You Me At Six left the crowd wanting more and successfully wooed many new fans.

Finally, the reason for the lines tonight, Tennessee phenomenon, Paramore hit the stage. Fronted by charismatic lead singer, Hayley Williams, Paramore delivered a knock out gig which continually sent the crowd wild.

Opening with Ignorance, the first single off 2009’s Brand New Eyes, the band had the entire crowd singing along word for word. The band played a wide range of tracks from Brand New Eyes, Riot! and even 2005’s All We Know is Falling including crushcrushcrush, That’s What You Get, Looking Up, Let The Flames Begin, Never Let This Go and Pressure. Sadly the older gems were not receive as well as some of the newer hits, particularly Decode which saw the numerous Twilight fans in the crowd make themselves know. Still, those who had not heard the older material were won over with the trademark Pressure flip, usually performed by lead guitarist Josh Farro and bassist Jeremy Davis. Due to the upcoming marriage of Farro, fill in guitarist Justin York (brother of guitarist Taylor York) left this somewhat dangerous display of acrobatics to his brother and Davis.

The honest, up front delivery of every song by pocket rocket Williams, combined with the talents of the rest of the band makes it hard to understand why Paramore haven’t gotten bigger faster. That said, their recent success hasn’t gone to their heads and Paramore seem to be even more at ease and happy to be onstage than their previous Australian tour. The fans certainly couldn’t get enough, and after a seemingly lightning fast set, the band came back on for a two song encore, featuring Misery Business and Brick By Boring Brick. The band are one of the most refreshingly charismatic and genuine acts to emerge from the pop rock scene in many years, and if you still have Soundwave to look forward to, make sure you check them out.