Hayley Williams allowed herself a moment to reminisce on Wednesday night at the Forum, the L.A. stop on Paramore’s “After Laughter Summer Tour.” She recalled the band’s first visit to Southern California to play the now-shuttered Knitting Factory in Hollywood. “That was in 2005, and it’s 2018, guys,” she said. “It also felt like a weird second home, coming to California. We don’t take it for granted.”
As for the vast expanse of the Forum, “I don’t really believe we are playing here,” she said. “Thank you, everyone, this is your doing. You guys know that, right?”
Paramore’s 21-song set culled from their their latest album, “After Laughter,” their fifth, and their catalog. As Williams has been doing throughout this tour, she picked someone from the crowd to sing the last half of the 2007 hit “Misery Business” with her. (A young woman named Ocean was the lucky winner, adding some veracity to the lyric “watch my wildest dreams come true.”)
Foster the People, backed by a neon sign bearing the title of their latest album “Sacred Hearts Club,” preceded Paramore with an electric 11-song set, with main man Mark Foster dashing back and forth across the stage. Jay Som opened the night to an arena that was already pretty full.
Paramore setlist: Grudges, Still Into You, Rose-Colored Boy, That’s What You Get, Crushcrushcrush, Fake Happy, Playing God, Forgiveness, Ignorance, Pool, Passionfruit (Drake cover -Acoustic), Misguided Ghosts (Acoustic), 26 (Acoustic), Caught In The Middle, Idle Worship, No Friend, Misery Business, Ain’t It Fun. Encore: Told You So, All That Love Is (HalfNoise cover), Hard Times