glasses & grenades: Paramore: After Laughter

After Laughter is one of the best albums of 2017. The lyrics make you want to cry but the music makes you want to dance. It's totally got a upbeat island sound but Paramore's original rocking punk-pop still shines through. I bought tickets the minute I heard they would be stopping by Orlando.

Then Hurricane Irma ruined everything.

They were originally scheduled to play the Saturday before Irma hit therefore the show was canceled. Thankfully it was soon rescheduled. I was so pissed. They went from playing a Saturday in September to a Tuesday in December. Waiting is the hardest part. Right Tom?

So finally Tuesday rolled around. I left work a little early so Dustin and I could beat the crowds which we thankfully did. We got to Vanbarry's and there was barely anyone there - just the way we like it. We both got our favorite sandwiches and munched on a side of nachos and queso. We finished up with a homemade ice cream sandwich. Mmhmm.

I was pumped that the show was at the Dr. Phillips Center. I have heard how nice it is but had yet to actually see it myself. Parking was kind of annoying. You are forced to walk a few blocks but whatevs. The building was gorgeous - inside and out. Like Dustin and I both felt extremely underdressed. The minute they scanned our tickets I ran straight to the bathroom. Even in my race to relieve myself I stopped in my tracks because of the elegance of the damn bathroom. This place is fancy as fuck.

Since we had plenty of time to kill and we'd already gotten drinks from the bar (water and a sprite thankyouverymuch) and checked out the march we looked at the little miniatures they had on display. They were pretty neat. Also this is when I noticed a completely different crowd. So there were us heathens in jeans and fishnets and band tees and tattoos and then there were a very elegant group in their Sunday best. Dustin explained to me that there was more than one theater in the building. Who knew?! I was starting to think Paramore had an even more eclectic following.

They finally opened the doors and we took a seat. The theater was like a THEATER. You know for fancy orchestra performances and Broadway plays. It was definitely the fanciest venue we've ever seen a show. Still, I loved that we had seats. We old.

While we waited we talked to the girl sitting behind us who was also named Ashlee but with a different spelling. We talked about all kinds of ridiculous things like knowing that every famous person has had diarrhea, that her dad only has one arm due to a boating accident when he was a teenager, our cats, etc. She was cool as hell and I give her so much credit for coming and enjoying the show solo. I've been to one "show" alone and I was maybe 20 at the time. I'm not sure if I could do it again.

Flor opened for Paramore. I hadn't heard of them until about 3 days before the show but I totally got into their music. I love that they covered Coldplay's "Yellow". Check out this video of theirs.

Paramore came out next and were everything.We had seen them a few years back at the CFE Arena at UCF. They were great then and great now. Good god Hayley knows how to perform. They played a good 15 songs or so and it was such a mix of hits and their new stuff plus a Fleetwood Mac cover. The only song I wish they had played was 'Tell Me How'. The show was perfect and totally worth the wait.

Here's some of my favorite lyrics from After Laughter:

Rose-colored Boy

Just let me cry a little bit longer

I ain't gon' smile if I don't want to

Hey, man, we all can't be like you

I wish we were all rose-colored too

Leave me here a little longer

I think I wanna stay in the car

I don't want anybody seeing me cry now

You say "We gotta look on the bright side"

I say "Well maybe if you wanna go blind"

You say my eyes are getting too dark now