Review: Dancing, daring high notes and dedication to fans on display at Paramore show

Grammy Award-winning group Paramore brought its “This Is Why” tour to Columbus Saturday night at the Schottenstein Center. After the two-hour spectacular, there should be no further questions as to why.

Before Paramore’s set, there was a slightly scary evacuation of the Schottenstein Center—due to a smoke alarm activation that was quickly cleared—but the group managed to make the audience forget the momentary disruption even happened.

More: Schottenstein Center briefly evacuated during Paramore concert

The band has come to be known for creating a safe space for everyone to feel seen and heard, particularly through lead singer Hayley Williams.

“We’ve got some dancing and singing to do,” Williams said to the crowd. “We have the whole spectrum of emotions, and this is a safe place to feel all of it and let it all go.”

She called the band's two-hour set a place to “pretend the (expletives) of the world is not here.” She also ensured fans were hydrated and had their dancing shoes tied tight.

Throughout its latest album, "This Is Why," Paramore deals with the weight of its reputation as an "emo band fromthe ’00s," while also attempting to understand the human condition within the parameters of superstardom.

The has always questioned the culture — screamed, yelled and cried about it for everyone to hear. It seems today’s political climate has driven people to listen more than ever before for a sense of catharsis.

At a show in Washington, D.C. on June 3, Williams invited Florida Congressman Maxwell Frost onstage to sing one of Paramore’s signature hits “Misery Business.” During the performance, he rocked out alongside the band members and spoke about Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis.

"(Expletive) Ron DeSantis! (Expletive) fascism!" Frost said.

After kicking two rowdy fans out of a show at Madison Square Garden, Williams issued an apology on the group’s Discord page.

“I am sorry for whatever shame or embarrassment I may have caused you,” she wrote. “I’m not telling you that it’s perfectly fine to act entitled or ignorant at a show. I’m just saying that I’m sorry that I handled the whole situation like the arbiter of the same type of cancel culture that doesn’t often teach or lead in any productive way.”

Williams also apologized for comments she made about DeSantis during another recent performance in New Jersey.

There were no such moments at the Columbus show, which was an inclusive, welcoming environment. Pride flags adorned the soundboards. A portion of the proceeds for the concert went toward the organization Support + Feed, which aims to make plant-based food diets equitable amid the climate crisis. Water bottles were handed out to the attendees in general admission.

Drummer Zac Farro opened up in a recent interview with Zane Lowe for Apple Music about how Paramore is a band that is meant to be a safe space for everyone.

“When we first started the band and I would get burnt out, you try and escape,” Farro said. “Anytime I felt that happening, I’d look at the crowd and I just saw these people having their night with their friends and their partners. I’m at their show. I better show up for you."

It was safe to say the fans showed up. Paramore has one of the most diverse fan bases in rock music today. People of all shades of skin color and hair dye, of all ages and genders, came out to rock the night away.

Williams, adorned in a stylish all-pink outfit with white go-go boots, commanded the stage. In her almost two decades leading the band, Williams has time and time again proven to be the modern queen of pop-rock. Her vocal range is competitive among some of the best in the industry, and she has the stage presence to match.

It is clear that Williams draws inspiration from rock figures like Mick Jagger and Gwen Stefani,while injecting choreography reminiscent of pop stars like Lady Gaga.

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While every member of the band had a microphone besides guitarist Taylor York, the audience served as the de facto backup singer for the show; Williams even brought up two fans to help her sing “Misery Business.” During every song of the set, Williams cued the audience when it was their turn to sing, and the crowd did not let her down.

While the group rocked new songs off albums like “Figure 8” and “Running Out of Time,” it also delivered iconic hits like “That’s What You Get” and “Playing God.” It must be noted that York has some of the most recognizable guitar riffs of the past 15 years.

After playing both Cleveland and Cincinnati, both Williams and Farro both shouted out Columbus for being the best city in Ohio.

“I think Columbus is my favorite city in Ohio,” Farro said. “Actually, I don’t think, I know.”

Before performing 2009 hit “The Only Exception,” Williams took a moment to wish the LGBTQ community a happy Pride Month, but emphasized that the band's love and appreciation for the community does not end in June.

“Love songs are the last thing holding the Earth together at this point,” she said.

She went even further to show her appreciation for the LGBTQ community by voguing, duckwalking and death dropping throughout the show.

Given that the band’s 20-year anniversary approaches next year, Williams jokingly mimed walking with a walker as she thanked the fans for letting Paramore grow up with them.

Personal highlights of the show included the performance of the band's 2008 Grammy-nominated cut “Decode” off the “Twilight” soundtrack. Somehow, Williams managed to hit the penultimate high note higher than the studio version. I still have not recovered.

The band closed the show out with two of its biggest hits to date: “Still Into You” and the Grammy-Award winning “Ain’t It Fun.” The crowd sang along every step of the way, and when the title track of the tour closed out the show, you could sense the audience—and Williams—could have played for another two hours.

Putting on both a musical and vocal spectacle of a show, Paramore proved that, soon enough, we will be seeing its induction into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. The group has spent two decades putting the work in to evolve and become a genre chameleon of a band—to great success.

Now that is why.

This article originally appeared on The Columbus Dispatch: Review: Paramore impresses at Schottenstein Center in Columbus