It’s taken a while for Paramore to truly uncover their niche. Hayley Williams and co. have seen plenty of line-up changes and sonic offshoots across the years, but up until last year’s After Laughter it never really sounded like the Tennessee natives had firmly found their place within the ever-changing and dynamic modern musical climate. Now, though, the trio (whose former drummer Zac Farro re-entered the frame last year) are back doing what they do best, which is to have fun, be free and put out music of the highest possible quality. This evening’s show at a near-packed AFAS Live in Amsterdam demonstrated just that, with Williams and her band pulling off a career-spanning greatest hits set (with clear leanings towards After Laughter, of course) which all too often found itself becoming one big party. Natasja de Vries checked it out.
After Laughter is out now.