still into you

 

 

I had a half day on Thursday, and so after getting sushi (favourite lunch ever) I went to Camden with a few of my friends and had my first ever bubble tea, which was really weird but really nice at the same time...it's like iced tea with little bubbles of flavoured juice at the bottom, though you can get chewy bubbles as well (but they were kind of slimy). I then had a day off on Friday, and after geography, art homework, cycling and baking cakes with my friends I went to see Paramore at Wembley arena. I discovered them back in 2008/09 when I was a huge fan of the Twilight series (they have two songs, decode and I caught myself on the first film's soundtrack) and since then have been a religious follower of everything they have done. I  love their light-hearted yet punk vibe and I would genuinely give my right arm to be Hayley Williams. She is my ultimate idol, although I love the whole band (my friend once pretended she had got Taylor York (the guitarist) to write me a birthday card). They're a pretty cool bunch and along with being fantastic musicians, have a great set of moral values - think vegetarian, vegan, anti-sexism and all that jazz. I have been waiting to see them for forever, and so I went full out and even wore my glasses to go in (despite having poor eyesight I never wear my glasses even though it would make my life 100 times easier).

 

 

 

 

 

 

I wore my pink granny glasses from Camden Market, Beyond Retro shirt and belt, Urban Outfitters silver crop top and socks, Rokit shorts, and boots from Brighton. All of my jewellery is second-hand from my mum (although the necklace is from Urban Outfitters). Despite looking slightly old-womanish I was pretty comfortable and was perfectly able to jump and dance all over the place, as I tend to do quite frequently at concerts. I was surprised by how laid-back everyone was - walking in, I didn't feel at all judged or intimidated by fellow fans as I have done at past concerts (seriously, at Green Day I could FEEL the eyes burning into my back) instead everyone was in really good spirits and seemed genuinely excited to see the show. On a side note, Paramore have some seriously well-dressed fans, and it was with great restraint (and the lack of my good camera) that I didn't ask everyone for photographs of what they were wearing.

 

 

 

 

(all images from punktastic)

The concert itself was absolutely phenomenal - they seemed to put absolutely 110% into their performance; running, jumping and dancing along whilst playing, and still managing to sound even better than on record. Hayley's vocals were insane, and I was completely blown away by her ability to belt out hit after hit with so much power and feeling, whilst really moving around and dancing like the rest of us. I was out of breath and hoarse after about three songs in, but they carried on for a good two hours at least. The two supporting acts (pictured below) were also really good...Eliza and the Bear came out first, and they played such a fantastic set it didn't matter that we didn't really know any of their music. They really got the crowd going and were by far the best supporting act I have seen for any band or artist. Charli XCX came on after them, and although she did put on a good show, her set sort of fell on deaf ears. We weren't sure who she was until she came out with 'I don't care' halfway through the set, at which point everyone sat up and started paying attention again. I liked her music and I can't fault her talent or performance, I just think it was a shame she didn't start with the song that we all knew. There is something so great about seeing a band live - nothing beats singing along to your favourite songs with the people that wrote them. I think all three acts were really good, and I had an amazing evening. (Well worth the four year wait to see them!)

 

 

 

I hope you are all having a good week! You can find out more about Paramore here, Eliza and the Bear here, and Charli XCX here. (Check them all out, they're fabulous!)

 

ellie xo