Hayley Williams Writes Emotional Letter Ahead of the Las Vegas Festival
Written by ABC AUDIO on October 24, 2022
Las Vegas’ When We Were Young Festival has Hayley Williams reflecting on the tune scene that she grew up in with Paramore.
Paramore is set to take the stage at Las Vegas Festival Grounds on Sunday night time (Oct. 23) after Saturday, the opening day of the festival, noticed the fest’s lineup canceled due to excessive winds. On the invoice alongside Paramore this weekend are My Chemical Romance, Bring Me the Horizon, Bright Eyes, Avril Lavigne, Taking Back Sunday, Jimmy Eat World and more.
“To develop up in this scene was once now not a easy thing,” Williams wrote in a prolonged letter posted on Instagram Stories Sunday. “To be celebrating it (and to be celebrated through it) is no longer a easy thing. Nothing about this existence — for you, me, or all people — is simple. We fell in love with this subset of post-punk and hardcore probably due to the fact nothing else moved us. We didn’t suit in different places.”
“To be a younger female in love with this scene was once to have the hope that I would possibly locate my personal way to belong. It took years to discover that belonging. It’s taken a lot of unlearning. A lot of untangling knots I didn’t even recognize had been there.
What I did recognize was once that for each and every ‘Take off your top!’ or snarky punkzine overview … For each dramatic headline pinned on my name, or any season of self-doubt … No one was once going to outline Paramore however Paramore,” she said.
“Nearly 20 years later, we discover ourselves a pillar of the very scene that threatened to reject us. And me,” stated Williams.
She wrote, “I do my satisfactory to remain humble. What accurate is a bloated ego? But past the severe devotion of Paramore followers round the world, the motive we made it this some distance is us. What I absolutely imply to say is — we in no way banked on trends. Or nostalgia. Or even me, alone. We solely did precisely what we knew was once actual for us. (And sure, I leaned into spite as needed.)”
“Tonight, whilst we’re walking via the lengths of our discography and I’m refraining from singing the phrase “whore,” comprehend that, inside, I’m celebrating the truth that, as a scene, we’ve come a lengthy way,” Williams noted. “With a great deal in addition to go. F— the ones who doubted! Hugs to the ones who watched on and even type of believed.
Young girls, queer kids, and absolutely everyone of any shade … We have shifted this scene together, messily, angrily, heartbroken, and determined. Tonight, for me at least, is about celebrating all the aspects of what punk song truely represents. All the matters it wasn’t allowed to be when we had been young. Can’t wait to see anybody tonight.”
