There’s Paramore Where That Came From
With only two moderately successful albums to their name, you can’t help but feel that Paramore’s two day headlining stint at Brixton Academy is due more to lead vocalist Hayley William’s obvious fan base, rather than their overwhelming originality. Sure, they’re talented and they write catchy songs, but the audience in this cramped, sweaty London venue is either preoccupied with wanting to be her or, in the case of the males in the crowd, wanting to be on her.
Kids in Glass Houses first start the sold out party with their infectious pop-rock. Although simple melodies are their key to success, they do it well with songs such as ‘Me, Me, Me’ and ‘Easy Tiger’, showing that they have enough talent to be headlining venues not much smaller than this when they release their debut album in a couple of months time.
Globally, it could easily be argued that main support act New Found Glory are a bigger name than the teen headliners. With countless albums to their name and a massive fan base in force for tonight’s gig, the quintet use their prince of punk pop status to convert the younger audience members. Infamous for its sound, the venue does nothing to help their cause, providing both messy distortion and drowned out vocals. However, with sing-a-long tunes, a massive dinosaur backdrop and smiles on show nearly as much as at a Miss World beauty contest; New Found Glory can say it was another job well done.
As expected, high pitched screams of adolescent girls greet the Franklin, Tennessee quartet. Powering through opener ‘For a Pessimist, I'm Pretty Optimistic’, Paramore can do nothing wrong in the eyes of the pubescent crowd, (disregarding the middle aged bald headed man seen moshing). Despite the flashing lights and video screen in the background, Paramore can’t do anything about the way their songs seem to merge into one hour and a half pop hit. With nothing to set each song apart, it’s left to their final, (and undoubtedly their best), song ‘Misery Business’ to provide the last screams of the night. There’s no doubt that with another album under their belts Paramore could be the cream of the pop crop, but having a desirable vocalist singing one-dimensional tunes can get you only so far.
Good? Yes. Amazing? Not quite.
7/10
With only two moderately successful albums to their name, you can’t help but feel that Paramore’s two day headlining stint at Brixton Academy is due more to lead vocalist Hayley William’s obvious fan base, rather than their overwhelming originality. Sure, they’re talented and they write catchy songs, but the audience in this cramped, sweaty London venue is either preoccupied with wanting to be her or, in the case of the males in the crowd, wanting to be on her.
Kids in Glass Houses first start the sold out party with their infectious pop-rock. Although simple melodies are their key to success, they do it well with songs such as ‘Me, Me, Me’ and ‘Easy Tiger’, showing that they have enough talent to be headlining venues not much smaller than this when they release their debut album in a couple of months time.
Globally, it could easily be argued that main support act New Found Glory are a bigger name than the teen headliners. With countless albums to their name and a massive fan base in force for tonight’s gig, the quintet use their prince of punk pop status to convert the younger audience members. Infamous for its sound, the venue does nothing to help their cause, providing both messy distortion and drowned out vocals. However, with sing-a-long tunes, a massive dinosaur backdrop and smiles on show nearly as much as at a Miss World beauty contest; New Found Glory can say it was another job well done.
As expected, high pitched screams of adolescent girls greet the Franklin, Tennessee quartet. Powering through opener ‘For a Pessimist, I'm Pretty Optimistic’, Paramore can do nothing wrong in the eyes of the pubescent crowd, (disregarding the middle aged bald headed man seen moshing). Despite the flashing lights and video screen in the background, Paramore can’t do anything about the way their songs seem to merge into one hour and a half pop hit. With nothing to set each song apart, it’s left to their final, (and undoubtedly their best), song ‘Misery Business’ to provide the last screams of the night. There’s no doubt that with another album under their belts Paramore could be the cream of the pop crop, but having a desirable vocalist singing one-dimensional tunes can get you only so far.
Good? Yes. Amazing? Not quite.
7/10
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