By Sloane Samberson
Staff Writer
GRAND PRAIRIE – Packed to nearly full capacity, the Verizon Theatre hosted three of the most hip artists of our time, Paramore, Metric and Hellogoodbye, making Saturday night one to remember.
From the start, fans were psyched to get through the large glass doors of the Verizon Theatre. The line extended roughly 1,000 feet around the side of the building, consisting of some intense diehard Paramore fans.
People began arriving earlier than 3 p.m., as doors opened at 7:30 p.m., in hopes of having a better chance of being at the front of the pit section. The majority of fans bought seats, relieving the stress of possibly not having a good view, but missed out on the experience of the wild pit.
Opening up was small Californian band, Hellogoodbye. It is classified as indie-pop, but has progressed to be more techno throughout its 12 years of being together. Some of its more common songs include “Here in Your Arms” and “Oh, It Is Love”.
Its lead singer, Forrest Kline, was so quirky and free spirited. He kept the crowd laughing and clapping to the beat of their songs in the short 30 minutes they were on stage.
Metric, a Canadian based band, came on very quickly after Hellogoodbye’s performance concluded. All of its music is very synthpop, meaning that it uses a synthesizer (an electronic keyboard that can produce a wide variety of sounds) and a lot of mic alterations. The good thing is it can actually rock its sound without it sounding materialistic.
Metric opened with “Black Sheep” which was featured in the movie Scott Pilgrim vs. The World. Other hit songs include, “Help I’m Alive”, “Breathing Underwater” and “Synthetica”.
Once Metric left the stage, the pit crowd started to become restless. There was a lot of pushing and foul language, causing many people to move towards the back of the pit. It was all very unnecessary because any spot in the Verizon Theatre is a good spot.
All the shenanigans quickly concluded as soon as the lights fell and the bass began to pick up. Paramore was making its way on stage and as soon as the curtain fell, the crowd went wild. It opened up with “Grow Up”, a song about leaving a guy because he was only holding you back.
Paramore played some of its older songs such as “crushcrushcrush”, “The Only Exception” and “Ain’t it Fun”. But the song that got the most reaction was “Misery Business”.
During “Misery Business”, lead singer Hayley Williams invited one lucky fan to come on stage and sing a few stanzas with her.
Williams was so down to Earth. After concluding a song she would just look back at the crowd and smile. You could tell how in awe she was of her fans by the look on her face. It was nice to see how much she appreciated them.
It closed with “Still Into You” which was a great way to end the show. Balloons fell from the ceiling and the lights were magnificent. It was such a beautiful sound hearing the whole theater sing in unison with Williams.
Aside from the pushy crowd, the night was overall amazing. Williams and her band really knew how to put on a show, and considering the fact they have been together for nine years, there is a good chance they’ll be together for nine more years to come.
