COUNCIL BLUFFS - “I love you, Hayley!”
The cry was from a teenage girl in the crowd. And it was directed at the small, red-haired woman onstage.
That woman’s name is Hayley Williams, and she’s the fiery-haired lead singer of Paramore. A spitfire, Williams led her band and the 3,000 in the crowd through a raucous performance Saturday night at Westfair Amphitheater.
Williams told the crowd that, for her, the mark of a great concert experience was to wake up the next morning with a sore throat and no voice.
Some area teenagers and others might be finding themselves a little hoarse this morning, since those in attendance sang, screamed and yelled their way through the band’s short set.
Fans filled the concrete area in front of the stage in the otherwise grassy amphitheater, where they were cloaked in coats and hooded sweatshirts to shield themselves from Saturday night’s chilly weather.
A few times during the hour-and-a-half set, Williams acknowledged the lack of warmth in the air.
“I’m not going to lie, it feels a little like winter here,” she said, laughing.
Most of the fans were teenagers. Parents and some folks in their 20s also dotted the crowd and grassy area, but the young average age of the crowd meant lines were noticeably absent from the beer tent.
As for the music, songs such as “For a Pessimist, I’m Pretty Optimistic,” “The Only Exception” and “Brick by Boring Brick” were full of sing-alongs and call-and-response from the crowd. Nearly everyone near the stage could be seen mouthing the words to most of the songs.
Folks also went crazy for the band’s recent single, “Ignorance,” and their voices boomed out for the call-and-response in “Whoa.”
But the best voice came from the stage. For coming in such a small package, Williams’ voice was incredible, towering over the noisy guitars and drums from the other members in the rock-pop band.
Williams is also one of the most energetic bandleaders around, bounding and bouncing around the stage. Clad in black-and-white leopard print pants and a hooded sweatshirt, the singer enjoyed speaking to the crowd, taking time to do so after nearly every song.
She cheered on her fans, even inviting three onstage during “Misery Business,” and also encouraged donations to victims of the recent flooding in Nashville, Tenn., Paramore’s hometown.
At one point, Williams laughed about a small fire that sprang up onstage during “Brick by Boring Brick” that she was able to put out with a bottle of water.
“I don’t know what’s happening, but it makes me feel so rock ’n’ roll,” she said. “I bet Pantera starts fires.”
Contact the writer:
@Agate 10.9:444-1557, kevin.coffey@owh.com
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