Paramore headlines concert at Toyota Center

Story and photos by Renee Martinez
Copyright 2023 All Rights Reserved

HOUSTON, TEXAS (July 11, 2023) Paramore, The Linda Lindas, and Foals performed at Toyota Center to a enthusiastic crowd at Toyota Center in Houston. 

The evening stated with The Linda Lindas. They reminded me of The GoGo’s except they are 18 and under. Two of the members are sisters. One is a cousin and the other is a friend. They played a ten-song set.  Two of their songs, Talking to myself and Racist, Sexist Boy have received feedback. Racist, Sexist Boy received the Kerrang! Award for Best Song. They will definitely be a band to watch.  They spent their summer touring with Paramore and just finished playing at Lollapalooza.

The second band to play was Foals. They are a band from the UK. They played an eight-song set. They are an alternative indie band. They are currently touring to promote their album “Life is Yours”.

The headliner of the evening was Paramore. Hayley Williams came out singing ‘You First’ from their new album, This Is Why.  Paramore played new songs from the album as well as older fan favorites. 

They played a 20-song set that covered their career so far. When they sang ‘That’s what you get’, Williams paused and the audience kept it going. Decode from the movie, Twilight got the crowd going.  Big Man, Little Dignity was dedicated to Greg Abbott , the governor of Texas. 

Apparently, there was a contest with the Texas shows (Houston was the last stop) for volume. Houston won, hands down. Things slowed down when ‘The only exception’ was played. Couples were dancing together in the stands. The drummer, Zach, sang  Baby, a Halfnoise cover.  Misery Business had a member of the audience on stage to sing with Hayley. The little girl that was picked was 9 yr old Riley. Videos are on youtube.com on this song being song together. The band ended on Ain’t it Fun.  They came back on stage and sang two more songs, Still into You and This is Why.