Tennessee alt-rock trio Paramore descended on Dublin on Thursday the 15th of June to kick of the first leg of their highly anticipated ‘After Laughter’ world tour. The highly-coveted tickets sold out in a mere thirty seconds due to the limited capacity of the intimate theatre setting.

While officially Paramore only consists of three members; vocalist Hayley Williams, guitarist Taylor York and drummer Zac Farro, on stage they are a septet. Their set kicked off with their latest single Told You So – a track that is dripping in eighties influences (think Talking Heads Once in a Lifetime), instantly frontwoman Williams’ charismatic stage presence is felt from her dancing to her encouragement of the crowd.

Moving straight into fan favourites That’s What You Get, Brick by Boring Brick and Still into You, the band display their ability to genre hop from pop-punk to alternative rock to pop. They’ve stylistically evolved over the course of their thirteen-year career, but from the reception they received, it’s evident that fans have embraced the change.

Newer material is showcased with Fake Happy, a song addressing how people hide emotions behind an artificial smile. ‘Oh please, I bet everybody here is fake happy too,’ Williams sings. There is a juxtaposition between the seriousness of the lyrics, and the groovy synth and bass line which you can’t help but dance to.

For me, the highlight of the show was when they covered Fleetwood Mac’s Everywhere, who they’ve previously cited as an inspiration for ‘After Laughter’. You can check out their cover below!

The show closed out with three new songs. The first of which is an elegant version of forgiveness, which to me wouldn’t sound out of place on ‘Tango in the Night’. Williams then hands over the mic to Zac for a rendition of his song Scooby’s in the Back from his individual project HalfNoise.

The night ends on a high with Paramore closing the show with their classic “We Are Paramore” chant before going straight into their comeback single Hard Times, a song with a peppy beat, cleverly written synth and guitar, and a simple message of persevering through life’s challenges with possibly the catchiest chorus of the summer.

It goes without saying that I thoroughly enjoyed every moment of Paramore’s return to Dublin and hope to check them out again on their next European tour. Let me know in the comments if anyone else has been to a Paramore show recently and what you thought of it!