A So-So Set From Paramore
Paramore are the first band on stage today, but there's a decently sized crowd already waiting for them at the main stage. This may, however, be down to petite redhead Hayley Williams garnering attention from the males in attendance.
The music offered up to us is perfect for the time of day- tame and bland. This is easy stuff to cope with, even with a raging hangover. It takes a few tracks for the band to get into the swing of things and for the entire set the band seem somewhat dwarfed by the size of the set. Whereas some bands can easily fill that space and appear at home, Paramore seem to huddle together in the centre for moral support.
Once the band have made it through to the halfway mark, there's a little more confidence in their sound. 'Crushcrushcrush' is much better and hints that there could be a much better band once you've looked past the obnoxiously loud hair. Given a little time, the band sound much more fluid and work as one unit to create a sound that is much more worthy of attention.
The band also manage to play a couple of tracks from their 2005 album in the form of 'Pressure' and 'Emergency' and both are an example of what happens when emo collides with catchy choruses and red hair. It's all good clean fun and there's nothing here to upset parents when they discover their children turning to rock music.
Whilst 'Misery Business' is hot stuff right now, it seems in bad taste to demand that the crowd chant back the name of their latest album several times. Such obvious plugging really isn't appealing, but when the music can't sell itself without a helping hand, what's a girl to do?