Earlier this year, Paramore leader Hayley Williams headed out on her first-ever solo tour. It went well. Williams brought out a bunch of special guests and built her live show around Ego Death At The Bachelorette Party, the triumphant LP that she released last year. I saw her at Kilby Block Party, and she kicked ass. Back in May, while that tour was still happening, Williams announced plans for a completely different tour, this one called "The Hayley Williams Show," promising "material across all three of the singer’s solo albums as well as some exciting surprises." Now that the tour is underway, we have a better idea what that means.
Williams played her first "Hayley Williams Show" show on Thursday night at West Palm Beach's iTHINK Financial Amphitheatre, with Magdalena Bay and Rico Nasty opening. Before the tour, there was widespread speculation that the set might dig deep into Williams' catalog, especially after venues in LA and New York teased the shows with lyrics from two old songs that feature Williams, B.o.B.'s 2010 hit "Airplanes" and Zedd's 2012 track "Stay The Night."
Well, Williams didn't sing "Airplanes" or "Stay The Night" at last night's show. Maybe she'll get to them eventually. She didn't perform any Paramore songs, either. But Williams still performed a bunch of songs live for the first time. Because of the pandemic, Williams never toured behind her first two solo albums, 2020's Petals For Armor and 2021's Flowers For Vases / Descansos. Williams liberally sprinkled those songs into last night's set, which meant she did a lot of live debuts, as well as one song "Crystal Clear," that she'd played live with Paramore but not on her own. She also covered Nina Simone's "Don't Let Me Be Misunderstood" and worked a bit of Portishead's "Wandering Star" into "Simmer." Below, check out some videos from last night, as well as the setlist, via Setlist.fm.
SETLIST:
01 "Just A Lover" (live debut)
02 "Over Yet" (live debut)
03 "Simmer" (with snippet of “Wandering Star” by Portishead; first time as a solo artist since 2020)
04 "Creepin’" (live debut)
05 "Ice in My OJ"
06 "Kill Me"
07 "Hard"
08 "My Friend" (live debut)
09 "Leave It Alone"
10 "Roses/Lotus/Violet/Iris"
11 "True Believer"
12 "Don't Let Me Be Misunderstood" (Nina Simone cover)
13 "Cinnamon" (live debut)
14 "Dead Horse" (live debut in front of an audience)
15 "Pure Love" (live debut in front of an audience)
16 "Crystal Clear" (live debut as a solo artist)
17 "Ego Death At A Bachelorette Party"
18 "Glum"
19 "Disappearing Man"
20 "Dream Girl In Shibuya"
21 "Good Ol' Days"
22 "Just A Lover" (Reprise)
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23 "Mirtazapine"
24 "Brotherly Hate"
25 "Parachute"
