In just a few days, Taylor Swift will soon be touching down in the UK, ready to inject a shimmering, sparkly masterpiece performance into the regular rainy grey.
With almost 100 shows to date, The Eras Tour has been graced by numerous talented support acts, including Beabadoobee, Phoebe Bridgers, Sabrina Carpenter, and MUNA to name just a few. Most recently, household name Paramore have been supporting Swift across the European leg of her tour and, beginning on June 7th at Edinburgh’s Murrayfield Stadium, Paramore will soon be opening the show for UK audiences too.
So far, the Nashville 3-piece (Hayley Williams: vocals, Taylor York: guitar, Zac Farro: drums) have created a cohesive setlist spanning the 20-year history of the band. Including fan favourites (‘Caught in the Middle’, ‘This Is Why’) and Paramore classics (‘That’s What You Get, ‘The Only Exception’), Paramore’s ability to entertain a huge crowd has never been doubted.
However, they seemed to have taken inspiration from Taylor Swift’s surprise-song portion of The Eras Tour, as track 5 of Paramore’s supporting set remains an interchangeable mystery up until the night of each performance.
They have expertly catered to all demographics of their audience here, utilising track 5 to feature ‘After Laughter’ staples ‘Rose-Colored Boy’, ‘Pool’, ‘Told You So’ and ‘Forgiveness’, harken back to their roots with 2012 singles ‘Brick By Boring Brick’ and ‘Decode’, and treat fans to the touching ‘Last Hope’.
With that in mind, let’s take a look at what their upcoming surprise songs could look like as we get closer to the UK dates:
‘Fake Happy’ - Album: ‘After Laughter’ (2017)
As one of the tracks perhaps best representing ‘After Laughter’s’ dichotomy of upbeat music and devastating lyricism, ‘Fake Happy’ would perfectly compliment the energy of set opener ‘Hard Times’. With Williams recently sporting the ‘Fake Happy’ inspired glitter tears, are they teasing its return to the setlist?
'You First’ - Album: ‘This Is Why’ (2023)
From York’s iconic introductory guitar riff to Williams’ introspective lyricism, “turns out I'm living in a horror film where I’m both the killer and the final girl”, ‘You First’ blends Paramore’s earlier influences with their new modern production and stylistic choices. Perhaps this may be a slightly left-field contender, but it recently served as Paramore's tour opener in 2023 so it clearly stirs up a liveliness within the band and fans alike.
‘C’est Comme Ça’ - Album: ‘This Is Why’ (2023)
As Williams swaps out her soaring vocal melodies for a spoken-word delivery against short-fused guitars and frantic drums, ‘C’est Comme Ça’ would certainly add another energetic punch to their set. Although this is a potentially more divisive song within the Paramore fanbase (people seem to either love it or could leave it altogether), it would shine a bigger light on the driving 2023 album ‘This Is Why’ to an audience who may be unaware of this latest release.
‘All I Wanted’ - Album: 'Brand New Eyes' (2009)
What seems to be the internet’s favourite Paramore song, ‘All I Wanted’ recently had its moment in the limelight over 10 years after its original release on the angsty ‘Brand New Eyes’. Although ‘Brand New Eyes’ acted as a catharsis for the band’s then pent-up frustrations (demonstrated by lead single ‘Ignorance’) ‘All I Wanted’ has since become a huge hit in its own right thanks to the wildfire spread of TikTok. Since then, it has certainly cemented its place within Paramore’s recent history (acting as their set opener for When We Were Young Festival and securing a permanent place on their 2023 UK tour). It wouldn’t be surprising if they saved this for the final night of their UK run at London’s Wembley Stadium as a special send-off to commemorate the momentous Eras Tour.
‘crushcrushcrush’ - Album: ‘Riot!’ (2007)
Simply, it's an oldie but a goldie. Following in the footsteps of ‘Misery Business’ and ‘That’s What You Get’, ‘crushcrushcrush’ is another quintessential Paramore classic from their sophomore album ‘Riot!’. As the album that propelled Paramore into the emo-scene spotlight of the early 2000s, it's probably up there as one of the most immediate songs people think of within Paramore’s discography - and who doesn’t love a hit of nostalgia? Paramore also performed a new modern rendition of ‘crushcrushcrush’ in the stylistic vein of ‘After Laughter’ during their 2018 tour, so it definitely has the potential to be brought back in this spirit.
For a full list of the UK shows, more information, and the chance to find any last-minute resale tickets, take a look at Taylor Swift’s official website here.
Rachel Feehan
Image: Zachary Gray
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