Hayley Williams shares heartfelt letter earlier than Paramore headlines When We Had been Younger

Within the lead-up to Paramore’s second headline set on the inaugural When We Had been Younger competition, frontwoman Hayley Williams shared a heartfelt letter along with her followers and supporters.

The hotly anticipated competition – co-headlined by My Chemical Romance and described as “an epic line-up of emo and rock bands from the previous twenty years” – debuted in Las Vegas yesterday (October 22). The primary occasion was initially set to go down on Friday (October 21), however was cancelled an hour earlier than gates opened on account of climate warnings.

For all three of its dates, Paramore are closing out the competition’s Pink Stage, performing an hourlong set at 9:40pm. Reflecting on the band’s journey thus far, Williams opened up concerning the significance of Paramore’s billing in a handwritten letter shared to her Instagram Story. “To develop up on this scene was not a easy factor,” she wrote. “To be celebrating it (and to be celebrated by it) is just not a easy factor. Nothing about this life – for you, me, or anybody – is straightforward.

“We fell in love with this subset of post-punk and hardcore probably as a result of nothing else moved us. We didn’t match in different places. To be a younger woman in love with this scene was to have the hope that I’d discover my very own option to belong. It took years to search out that belonging. It’s taken loads of unlearning. A number of untangling knots I didn’t even know have been there.

“What I did know was that for each ‘Take off your high!’ or snarky punkzine overview… For each dramatic headline pinned on my identify, or any season of self-doubt… Nobody was going to outline Paramore however Paramore.”

Williams went on to have a good time Paramore’s “legend” standing within the rock and various scenes, noting: “Practically 20 years later, we discover ourselves a pillar of the very scene that threatened to reject us. And me.”

She famous that the band “by no means banked on traits”, “nostalgia” or Williams’ personal star energy, remaining staunch on their ethos of solely following “precisely what we knew was actual for us”. She continued to claim that as Paramore geared as much as headline a competition interesting to their precise demographic, she’s “celebrating the truth that, as a scene, we’ve come a great distance – with a lot additional to go”.

She added: “Fuck those who doubted! Hugs to those who watched on and even type of believed. Younger women, queer youngsters, and anyone of any shade… We have now shifted this scene collectively, messily, angrily, heartbroken, and decided. Tonight, for me at the least, is about celebrating all of the sides of what punk music truly represents. All of the issues it wasn’t allowed to be after we have been younger. Can’t wait to see everybody tonight.”

Take a look at Williams’ full letter beneath:

Following tonight’s (October 23) version of When We Had been Younger, the competition will likely be held – with the identical line-up – once more subsequent Saturday (October 29). It’ll then return to Las Vegas subsequent October, with its 2023 invoice headlined by Blink-182 and Inexperienced Day.

This yr’s competition comes amid Paramore’s long-awaited return, with ‘This Is Why’ – their first music in 5 years – arriving on the finish of final month. It’s the title observe to their forthcoming sixth album, which is due out on February 10 through Atlantic. In a four-star overview, NME’s Ali Shutler known as the one “a defiant music combating paranoia that champions secure areas”.

Following the album’s launch, Paramore will help ‘This Is Why’ with a prolonged world tour. To date, they’ve introduced legs in South America and the UK.