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Paramore – brand new eyes – 2009 – review

retroDan — Mon, 02 Nov 2009 17:55:10 +0000

When a band catches that mercurial wave of mainstream popularity, the modus operandi for most is to NOT rock the boat and keep riding the wave. And that basically sums up Paramore’s latest release, brand new eyes. The followup to their hit album Riot! is pretty much more of the same which will please most fans and will most likely continue to broaden their appeal. They’ve got that hook-laden pop/punk formula down pat.

Paramore sounds confident and comfortable in their role as a female-fronted Green Day clone. The one-two punch of album openers “Careful” and “Ignorance” feel like an overeager attempt at proving to their fans that they haven’t gone soft just yet. But things begin to click by the third track “Playing God” which features a great chorus with the memorable lines: Next time you point a finger I might have to bend it back or break it, break it off. Next time you point a finger I’ll point you to the mirror.

It’s a bit unfortunate that producer Rob Cavallo (Green Day, My Chemical Romance) and the band chose to master this sucker “loud”. Granted the brick-walled, in-your-face sound is standard for this genre, but man, it’s brutal on the ears. Ear-fatigue is a given when listening to this album for an extended period of time. But even so, the band is poised to widen their already massive fanbase with radio-ready hits like “Where the Lines Overlap”, “Looking Up” and “All I Wanted” which features Hayley Williams channeling her inner-diva (think: Kelly Clarkson).

retroGrade: B+

Paramore – brand new eyes
released: September 2009
record label: Fueled by Ramen
produced by: Rob Cavallo

TrackList:
1 Careful (Farro, Williams) 03:50
2 Ignorance (Farro, Williams) 03:38
3 Playing God (Farro, Williams, York) 03:02
4 Brick by Boring Brick (Farro, Williams) 04:13
5 Turn It Off (Farro, Williams) 04:19
6 The Only Exception (Farro, Williams) 04:27
7 Feeling Sorry (Farro, Williams, York) 03:05
8 Looking Up (Farro, Williams) 03:29
9 Where the Lines Overlap (Farro, Williams) 03:18
10 Misguided Ghosts (Farro, Williams, York) 03:01
11 All I Wanted (Williams, York) 03:45

watch Paramore at the mtvU Ulalume Festival performing “Brick By Boring Brick”:

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Paramore:
Hayley Williams: vocals
Taylor York : guitar
Zac Farro: drums
Josh Farro: guitar
Jeremy Davis: bass

current tour dates:
Tue 11/03/09 St. Louis, MO The Pageant
Wed 11/04/09 Kansas City, MO Uptown Theater
Fri 11/06/09 Saint Paul, MN The Roy Wilkins Auditorium
Sun 11/08/09 Denver, CO Fillmore Auditorium
Tue 11/10/09 San Francisco, CA Warfield Theatre
Wed 11/11/09 Hollywood, CA Hollywood Palladium
Sun 11/29/09 Helsinki, Finland Helsinki Ice Arena
Mon 11/30/09 Stockholm, Sweden Arenan
Tue 12/01/09 Copenhagen, Denmark VEGA House Of Music
Thu 12/03/09 Hamburg, Germany Gruenspan
Fri 12/04/09 Berlin, Germany Huxleys Neue Welt
Sun 12/06/09 Cologne, Germany Palladium
Mon 12/07/09 Paris, France Casino de Paris
Tue 12/08/09 Tilburg, Netherlands 013
Thu 12/10/09 Glasgow, United Kingdom S.E.C.C.
Fri 12/11/09 Birmingham, United Kingdom The NIA
Sat 12/12/09 Dublin, Ireland The O2 Dublin
Mon 12/14/09 Cardiff, United Kingdom Cardiff International Arena
Wed 12/16/09 Manchester, United Kingdom Manchester Evening News Arena
Thu 12/17/09 Brighton, United Kingdom The Brighton Centre
Fri 12/18/09 London, United Kingdom Wembley Arena

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No Doubt – Gwen Stefani – 2009 Tour – Paramore

retroDan — Fri, 17 Apr 2009 15:15:51 +0000

Gwen Stefani doesn’t really need No Doubt. Over the last few years, she proved this ten times over with two smash solo albums and two highly successful tours. Most likely the group needs her. Her long time bandmates – Tom Dumont, Adrian Young and Tony Kanal haven’t been doing a whole lot (relatively speaking) during Stefani’s absence. So when No Doubt announced a summer tour last month, it seemed pretty clear it was to get some cash flow going for those three bandmates. Stefani certainly doesn’t need to go back to the group and some may even say it’s a bad career move. But obviously she cares for her former bandmates and is more than willing to help them in their time of financial need. Yes, I know they’ve stated that they need this tour to get their creative juices flowing for an upcoming studio album but ask any musician and they’ll tell you flat out that the wear and tear of being on the road isn’t all the conducive to writing new music.

No Doubt Summer 2009 Tour with Paramore:
May 2 2009 6:30P Borgata Atlantic City, New Jersey
May 3 2009 11:30A Meadowlands Sports Complex East Rutherford, New Jersey
May 16 2009 6:30P Mandalay Bay Events Center Las Vegas, Nevada
May 19 2009 6:30P Save Mart Center Fresno, California
May 20 2009 6:30P Rabobank Arena Bakersfield, California
May 22 2009 6:30P Cricket Wireless Amphitheatre San Diego, California
May 23 2009 6:30P Cricket Wireless Pavilion Phoenix, Arizona
May 25 2009 6:30P The E Center Salt Lake City, Utah
May 27 2009 6:00P Fiddler’s Green Amphitheatre Denver, Colorado
May 28 2009 6:30P Journal Pavilion Albuquerque, New Mexico
May 30 2009 6:30P Superpages.com Center Dallas, Texas
May 31 2009 6:30P Cynthia Woods Mitchell Pavilion Houston, Texas
Jun 2 2009 6:30P Ford Amphitheatre Tampa, Florida
Jun 3 2009 6:30P Cruzan Amphitheatre West Palm Beach, Florida
Jun 5 2009 6:30P Lakewood Amphitheatre Atlanta, Georgia
Jun 6 2009 6:30P Verizon Wireless Amphitheatre Charlotte, North Carolina
Jun 8 2009 6:30P Time Warner Cable Music Pavilion Raleigh, North Carolina
Jun 10 2009 6:00P Verizon Wireless Amphitheatre Virginia Beach, Virginia
Jun 11 2009 6:30P Susquehanna Bank Center Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Jun 13 2009 6:30P Post-Gazette Pavilion Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
Jun 14 2009 6:00P Nissan Pavilion Washington, DC
Jun 16 2009 6:30P Air Canada Centre Toronto, Ontario
Jun 17 2009 6:30P Centre Bell Montreal, Quebec
Jun 19 2009 6:30P Darien Lake Performing Arts Center Darien Center, New York
Jun 20 2009 6:30P Comcast Center Boston, Massachusetts
Jun 22 2009 6:30P Turning Stone Resort Casino Event Center Verona, New York
Jun 24 2009 6:30P Mohegan Sun Arena Uncasville, Connecticut
Jun 26 2009 6:30P PNC Bank Arts Center Holmdel, New Jersey
Jun 27 2009 6:30P Nikon at Jones Beach Theater Wantagh, New York
Jun 29 2009 6:30P Blossom Music Center Cleveland, Ohio
Jun 30 2009 6:30P John Labatt Centre London, Ontario
Jul 2 2009 6:30P Marcus Amphitheater Milwaukee, Wisconsin
Jul 3 2009 6:30P Palace of Auburn Hills Detroit, Michigan
Jul 5 2009 6:30P Xcel Energy Center St. Paul, Minnesota
Jul 6 2009 6:30P Starlight Theatre Kansas City, Missouri
Jul 8 2009 6:30P Verizon Wireless Amphitheater St. Louis, Missouri
Jul 10 2009 6:30P Verizon Wireless Music Center Indianapolis, Indiana
Jul 11 2009 6:30P First Midwest Bank Amphitheatre Chicago, Illinois
Jul 13 2009 6:30P MTS Centre Winnipeg, Manitoba
Jul 15 2009 6:30P Pengrowth Saddledome Calgary, Alberta
Jul 16 2009 6:30P Rexall Place Edmonton, Alberta
Jul 18 2009 6:30P General Motors Place Vancouver, British Columbia
Jul 19 2009 6:30P White River Amphitheatre Seattle, Washington
Jul 21 2009 6:30P Sleep Train Pavilion Concord, California
Jul 22 2009 6:30P Gibson Amphitheatre Universal City, California
Jul 24 2009 6:30P Sleep Train Amphitheatre Sacramento, California
Jul 25 2009 6:30P Shoreline Amphitheatre Mountain View, California
Jul 27 2009 6:30P Gibson Amphitheatre Universal City, California
Jul 28 2009 6:30P Gibson Amphitheatre Universal City, California
Jul 31 2009 6:15P Verizon Wireless Amphitheater Irvine, California
Aug 1 2009 6:15P Verizon Wireless Amphitheater Irvine, California
Aug 2 2009 6:15P Verizon Wireless Amphitheatre Irvine, California
Aug 4 2009 6:15P Verizon Wireless Amphitheatre Irvine, California
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Paramore – Riot!

retroDan — Tue, 29 Apr 2008 00:25:03 +0000

as a middle-aged music blogger, I tend to overlook some of the bands that are popular among the younger demographic. and if you’re a frequent visitor here on retroblog, you know that I tend to slant toward dinosaur rock i.e. Journey, Genesis, Todd Rundgren, Asia, etc. so with that said, I have to mention a young band that I’ve been rockin’ out to this week in the old SUV stereo system. it’s pop/emo/rock band Paramore. yes, I know I’m pretty late in the game in terms of blogging about the group and their album Riot! has been out for over a year but I just thought i’d post about them here just in case there are some other folks like me out there that aren’t that familiar with the band. the album is a fun listen with tons of energy and melodies galore. yes- they sound like Avril clones, yes- I hear some use of the dreaded “autotune” on Hayley Williams’ vocals, yes- some of the songs are formulaic and the pseudo-metal guitar sound gets a bit old and YES – it’s a bit weird liking these kids that are probably half my age… but, the larger than life hooks, their great sense of melody and their enthusiastic playing override all the negatives in this case. they’ve got a big thumbs up from this old man! a guilty pleasure? hell yeah. rock on!

personal favorites off of Riot! include: For a Pessimist I’m Pretty Optimistic, Thats What You Get, Misery Business and When It Rains

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catch Paramore on tour:

Apr 26 2008 8:00P Bender Arena Washington, DC
Apr 28 2008 8:00P Washington Avenue Armory Albany, NY
Apr 30 2008 8:00P Tsongas Arena Lowell, MA
May 2 2008 8:00P Taj Mahal Atlantic City, NJ
May 3 2008 8:00P Meadowlands East Rutherford, NJ
May 10 2008 8:00P Give It A Name 2008 London, UK
May 11 2008 8:00P Give It A Name 2008 Sheffield, UK
May 12 2008 8:00P Glasgow Academy Glasgow, UK
May 16 2008 8:00P Masquerade Music Park Atlanta, GA
May 17 2008 1:00P Nashville Riverfront Park Nashville, TN
Jun 2 2008 8:00P RDS Simmions Court Dublin, IRL
Jun 4 2008 8:00P Guildhall Portsmouth, UK
Jun 5 2008 8:00P Rock City Nottingham, UK
Jun 7 2008 8:00P Rock Am Ring Nurburgring, GER
Jun 8 2008 8:00P Rock Im Park Nurnberg, GER
Jun 9 2008 8:00P Brussels AB Brussels, BEL
Jun 11 2008 8:00P Pumpehuset Copenhagen, DK
Jun 12 2008 8:00P Hultsfred Festival Hultsfred, SWE
Jun 14 2008 8:00P Norwegian Wood Oslo, NOR
Jun 15 2008 8:00P Provinssirock Seinajoki, FIN
Jun 17 2008 8:00P Melkweg Amsterdam, HOL
Jun 18 2008 8:00P Bataclan Paris, FRA
Jun 30 2008 12:00P Summerfest – WLUM stage Milwaukee, WI
Jul 1 2008 12:00P Vans Warped Tour St. Louis, MO
Jul 2 2008 12:00P Vans Warped Tour Kansas City, KS
Jul 3 2008 12:00P Vans Warped Tour Dallas, TX
Jul 5 2008 12:00P Vans Warped Tour San Antonio, TX
Jul 6 2008 12:00P Vans Warped Tour Houston, TX

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