November 19, 2007
The Almost & Paramore Concert Blog
Went to see the finale of my trio of concerts last night. It was another sold out show at Stubb's. It started early, presumably to cater to the all ages crowd. The Almost went on at 6:30 and gave the crowd a good time for 40 minutes. While the crowd was into it and the band was having fun, the mix was a little heavy and dense, which didn't give the music a lot of "breathing room" to hear the breadth of its sound. Ah, well. If you knew the songs, they were certainly recognizable. They just didn't out-perform the recorded album. They saved "Say This Sooner" until late in the set. Lots of movement was shared between Aaron and the crowd.
After that song Aaron stated that he was "messed up," admitting that they "mess up all the time. We're no different than any of you just because we have an instrument. None of would be here without the grace and mercy of Jesus Christ. We're not trying to tell you that so that you'll get offended... We're all in this thing called humanity and we think you're all great!"
Lastly they played "Amazing, Because It Is." The audience was silently asked to sing the last few choruses, which sounded good and almost full up front, but from the back of the capacity crowd were almost lost in the mix. Aaron stood up on the barricades and joined with the crowd during the louder parts.
Paramore came on with their new stage props sporting actual riot photographs (rather than the Riot graffiti they used on Warped Tour), along with a giant video projection on top of the canvas canopy/pavillion that Stubb's has (it looks like one-third of the Opera House in Sydney, Australia. The crowd was clearly in the palms of Hayley Williams' hands throughout the night, even when she told a story about the Sunny Day Real Estate cover they played -- "Faces In Disguise." She explained how she met the guys in the band at a private high school and one of them gave her a CD of songs, and this one changed her life ("...and is still changing my life," she added). The lighting for this somber tune was perfect. It was a large beam of spinning light that hit the back of her in such a way that it appeared like giant feathers rotating around her silhouette, while films of humming birds fluttered above her.
It was funny to be in the middle of the crowd for most of the show, where brittle ear-piercing screams from many young females in attendance that were digging the show. They added perfectly timed chorus responses of "Crush, crush, crush!" during the song of the same name. That little bit was classic and actually not annoying at all (nice job, girls).
They ended their hour set with "My Heart," which had a nice film to it, featuring birds on a wire and a passage of text that flashed up several times, but I couldn't make it all out. It read something about "My heart being yours" and a declaration/response that "I will sing praise."
They came out for a couple of encores. Hayley got the video camera and splashed a live feed of the audience and various band shots during the song. They ended with a tune they knew the audience had been waiting for -- "Misery Business," which certainly rang out the show on a high note. Very nice.
I learned another media life lesson at this show: Read the fine print and don't assume that your photo pass covers the entire event. I had been given credentials to photograph The Almost, and I just assumed that it was handed down by the publicist for the whole tour and would cover all the bands (first three songs in the photo pit, no flash). This worked fine during The Almost, and when I started taking photos with my little fan-cam (a simple Fuji digital model that cost no more than $150) I probably stood out. I get a kick out of this, because it works and my photos are published, even though my peers around me are shooting with ten times the equipment. Paramore's burly road manager jumped in my face and told me to leave midway into their second song. It was humbling, but funny to me. Even if I'm in a hurry, like last night in the midst of deadline, I'll try to always take the time to know exactly what I've been permission to do in these situations.
