Northern fans flocked to Manchester Arena to witness Paramore perform on January 19th, the first time they've played at the venue since 2013.2017 was a huge comeback year for Paramore with the return of drummer Zac Farro and the release of their fifth album After Laughter that saw a huge change in sound with a new 80s synth/new wave style that heavily contrasted with their earlier emo/pop-punk material.While some fans saw this as them "selling out" and going against everything that Paramore stood for, the majority highly praised the change as it showed them growing and maturing as a band, as well for the juxtaposition of upbeat sounding songs with a darker meaning.The hype started the night before the show even started with some dedicated fans queuing up over night at the arena which Paramore took notice of and rewarded the fans with Dominos and Starbucks the following morning.The support act of the night was art rock band mewithoutYou who surprised the audience midway through their set when Paramore front-woman Hayley Williams appeared onstage to perform their song Fox's Dream of the Log Flume, there wasn't a single person in the room who didn't stand there in shock.Paramore's setlist for tonight pretty much consisted of After Laughter, 10 out of 12 songs from the album were played, but of course they couldn't leave out some classics.They opened the show with After Laughter's lead single Hard Times that saw them sample a part of Blondie's Heart Of Glass, but then went straight into the loud, angry Ignorance complete with Williams running around the stage with a microphone, a confirmation that while there was room for changing and growing up, they still hadn't forgotten who they were and that Hayley was still a punk at heart."All you're going to need tonight is tissues, and your dancing shoes", said Williams before going into their recent single Fake Happy, another song with a happy (sorry) upbeat sound used to mask the harsher song topic, pretty much a perfect example of Williams analogy.That comment was the most accurate way to describe the evening with Paramore going inbetween songs like That's What You Get and Still Into You but then going into Forgiveness and Hate To See Your Heart Break.Of course the most heartfelt and emotional point of the evening was when they performed 26.Originally the song wasn't on the setlist but after a Twitter campaign set up by fans, #26formanchester, for them to play the song in remembrance of the Manchester attack that happened last May they played it but not before Williams gave a heart warming speech on how their shows offer escapism from "this crazy, cruel world" and that that's the way it should be, do not let anyone take that away from you.There wasn't a dry eye in the room.It also wouldn't be a Paramore show if they didn't perform Misery Business, and it definitely wouldn't be a Paramore show if they didn't get fans onstage to sing the final bridge and chorus of the song, it was a great moment for everyone.Beforehand Hayley did offer us a reminder that people change, challenging critics of their shift in sound as well as those who criticised the lyrics she wrote when she was 17 (you can't win can you?); "Have you ever read your journal and realised that you're not the same person you were 10 years ago...and thank God!"They ended the evening with an encore of three songs; a cover of HalfNoise (Zac Farro's other band) that saw Hayley and Zac doing a fun dance routine, and the merging of songs; Grow Up mixed up with SZA's 20 Something and the final song of the evening Rose-Coloured Boy that featured snippets of Whitney Houston's I Wanna Dance With Somebody.Just shows you're never too punk to enjoy some quality pop music.Paramore's comeback was worth the wait and it was lovely to see how happier the band were during the entire performance, you couldn't help but feel like everyone there was a part of a community, a family; you felt safe.And as Miss Williams put it, in reference to everyone in the room; "We are Paramore."[metaslider id="307"]