Paramore: What makes it a class of its own

MANILA, Philippines - Paramore became an instant sensation when it broke away from the traditional mold of an all-male rock band by coming out with a female-fronted act backed by two male performers that plays a magnificent range of sounds — from alternative rock to pop punk to emo music.

The group quickly emerged as a class of its own,  making waves across the globe with an array of best-selling hit songs like The Only Exception, Misery Business, Monster and Decode, and supported by sold-out tours that turned into huge commercial and critical successes.

Fresh from its successful forays in major US cities and world capitals, Paramore is coming back to Manila to invade the  scene anew with another major concert on Feb. 15 at the Mall of Asia Arena in Pasay City.

Called The Return Of Paramore Live!, the one-night musical presentation from Ovation Productions is part of the Asian leg of the American rock group’s current world tour that will also make stops in Bangkok and Kuala Lumpur before going on a six-date, five-city tour of Australia that will cover Sydney, Brisbane, Melbourne, Adelaide and Perth.

It will feature as special guest mewithoutYou, another rock group which is behind the albums, Catch For Us The Foxes, Brother, Sister, It’s All Crazy! It’s All False! It’s All A Dream! It’s Alright! and Ten Stories, among many others. 

Catch Paramore as it returns to the concert scene more than two years since its Brand New Eyes Tour debut concert  here on March 9, 2010  that drew more than 19,000 fans to the Mall of Asia open-concert grounds and greeted each song with wild cheers and thunderous applauses.

The American rock band from Franklin, Tennessee has drawn the following of millions to its female-fronted act and its variety of sounds that range from alternative rock to pop punk and emo music since it burst into the musical limelight almost 10 years ago.

Formed  in 2004 by Josh Farro (lead guitar/backing vocals), Zac Farro (drums), Jeremy Davis (bass guitar) and Hayley Williams (lead vocals), plus Jason Bynum (rhythm guitar) later, the band instantly made its mark in the  music scene with the 2005 release of its debut album, All We Know Is Falling, which reached No. 30 on the Billboard’s Heatseekers chart.

Its second album, Riot! (2007), was certified Platinum in the US and Ireland and Gold in Australia, Canada, New Zealand and the UK, while its 2009 third album, Brand New Eyes, became its highest-charting album to-date, going Platinum in Ireland and the UK and Gold in the US, Canada, Australia and New Zealand.

The summer of 2006 saw Paramore on the touring circuit, during which it played a portion of Warped Tour before embarking on its first US headlining tour on Aug. 2 to a sold-out audience, with support from top groups like This Providence, Cute Is What We Aim For and Hit The Lights, with the final show staged in Nashville.

It was named as Best New Band that year and Williams as No. 2 Sexiest Female by readers of the British magazine Kerrang! In 2007, it was voted by the British magazine NME as one of the bands to watch in its New Noise 2007 feature.

In the summer of the same year, after participating in its third Warped Tour, Paramore was named by Rolling Stone magazine among the “ones to watch.”

It was also featured on the cover of the February, 2008 issue of Alternative Press magazine and voted Best Band of 2007 by the press.

It was nominated for Best New Artist at the 50th Annual Grammy Awards on Feb. 10, 2008, but lost to Amy Winehouse.

Paramore’s song, Decode, was the lead single for the novel-based film, Twilight, while another single, I Caught Myself, was also featured on the movie’s soundtrack.

Despite the departure in January, 2011 of two of its founding members — the brothers Josh and Zac Farro — the band under the present line of Williams, Davis and Taylor York continues to  retain and keep alive the signature Paramore sound for the enjoyment of its millions of fans.

The band under its present line-up made its first release on June 3, 2011 with the single Monster, which was featured on The Transformers Dark of the Moon soundtrack on YouTube — the first song released by it without the Farro brothers.

With the female-fronted feature of the band, because of Williams, who was described by singer-songwriter John Mayer as “the great orange hope” because of her hair color, Paramore has gained comparison to Kelly Clarkson and Avril Lavigne.

A reviewer at NME magazine has compared its sound to that of No Doubt and Clarkson’s “wildest dreams.”

On the other hand, the front act for the MOA Arena concert, mewithoutYou, has been in the music scene since 2000 and is known for its music that is generally dominated by spoken-word vocals and free-ranging drums, bass and guitar. Its fifth studio album, Ten Stories, released in 2012, features vocals contributed by Williams.

(The Return of Paramore Live! is produced by Ovation Productions and brought to you by etc, 2nd Avenue, Diva Universal, Jack TV, Discovery Channel, History Channel, and MMI.  The media partners are The Philippine STAR, Manila Bulletin, BusinessWorld, Monster Radio RX 93.1, philStar.com, Inquirer.net, Mellow 94.7, 97.9 Home Radio and OptimaSignsolutions. Tickets are priced at P5,810 VIP [Reserved Section]; P4,760 Patron [Standing]; P3,700 Lower Box [Reserved Seating]; P1,800 Upper Box [Reserved Seating]; and P850 General Admission [Free Seating] and are available at all SM Tickets outlets. For details, call SM Tickets at 470-2222 or visit www.smtickets.net to buy tickets online.)