REVIEW: An Introspective Evening with Hayley Williams
09/12 @ SPAC
“This seems to be the theme of The Hayley Williams Show Tour. Williams bares her heart while dancing, wearing a gigantic smile on her face…”
Hayley Williams, known for her work as the frontwoman of Paramore, released her third solo album, Ego Death at a Bachelorette Party, to critical acclaim last year, garnering four Grammy nominations. Her most ambitious album yet, the tracklist is a whopping 20 songs. Despite the threat of rain, a huge crowd packed into SPAC the other night to see “The Hayley Williams Show.”
Up first was Rico Nasty. It’s fitting that Rico Nasty (Maria-Cecilia Simone Kelly) would accompany Williams on the tour, as Kelly has always been a passionate fan of Paramore. Notably, Kelly joined Paramore on stage in 2023 wearing a custom outfit inspired by the band, “Para-whore” (the name Paramore fans gave themselves) emblazoned across the chest of her tank top and, to complete the look, a wig to mimic William’s signature bright orange hair that she sported for years, particularly during Paramore’s breakout success.
Recently, Kelly switched to Paramore’s first and championing record label, Fueled By Ramen, to release her first rock/rap album, Lethal, in 2025. The genre shift feels authentically her and fits into the show’s lineup perfectly.
Though not in costume this time, Rico Nasty commanded the stage and blew the audience away with her energy. The song that garnered the most audience participation was “Smack a Bitch,” where the crowd enthusiastically sang along with the chorus, “smack a bitch today, thank god I ain’t have to smack a bitch today.”
Kelly also performed a snippet of her 2019 song with Doja Cat, “Tia Tamera.” The opening notes caused a ripple of recognition in the audience, who were overjoyed that the collab made her setlist.
While the audience was sad to see her go, they had no idea what was coming next. Magdalena Bay was an absolute visual and auditory delight.
The alt-pop group mixes gorgeous, breathy vocals with at times delightful, at times creepy, visuals. It reminds one of the viral internet video, “Don’t Hug Me, I’m Scared.” The singer, Mica Tenenbaum, dons wings and flower petals and skips around the stage while visuals of blank-eyed creatures crawl on the screen behind her.
A standout song of theirs was “Death & Romance,” an upbeat, piano-led song, with an extremely catchy chorus: “my hands, your hands, I’ll hold forever, no way, I’ll break hold, no, not ever, yeah I give and you give, til it’s all that we have, you know nothing is fair in death and romance…”
Then the crew started prepping the stage for “The Hayley Williams Show.” The set mixed both vaudevillian pieces — scalloped lights lining the edge of the stage, large, white swaths of fabric mimicking curtains — and modern elements, like various videos projected onto the curtains.
The design clearly had Ego Death at a Bachelorette Party in mind, as it’s her most emotionally vulnerable work to date, with much of its lyrical content about her separation from her former partner and Paramore bandmate, Taylor York. White sheets were draped over equipment, giving the illusions of ghosts (former bandmates?), or perhaps dusting off furniture that hasn’t been used in years. Both haunting and gorgeous, the set was a perfect visual to accompany Williams’ work.
The lights dimmed and Ella Fitzgerald’s “Get Thee Behind Me Satan” faded in. Out walked Williams, who took a moment to look out into the crowd, before giving a slight bow and taking her place at the piano.
Those who know her through her work with Paramore might have expected a more explosive beginning to the show, but Williams reeled everyone in, starting slow with “Just a Lover.” The audience sang and swayed along, matching the band’s energy.
A few songs later, bright lights flashed and the opening to “Ice in My OJ” caused the crowd to go insane in recognition. “Ice in My OJ” was an opportunity for Williams to remind the audience that she has genuine rock chops. Williams switches up from a flowy, soft melody, to yelling in defiance “I’m in a band, I’m in a band” into a megaphone attached to a microphone, giving it a staticky, gritty quality.
In a poignant moment, Williams sat at her piano with “Mississippi God Damn” carved on the side, a reference to Nina Simone’s song about racial injustice. Lighting a stick of incense, she unabashedly dove into “True Believer,” a song calling out the hypocrisy of many Christians, ensuring that the crowd couldn’t leave without knowing her political stances: “They say that Jesus is the way but then they gave him a white face, so they don’t have to pray to someone they deem lesser than them, the south will not rise again, til it’s paid for every sin, strange fruit, hard bargain, till the roots, southern Gotham.”
The earworm of the evening was undeniably “Dead Horse,” a song about attempting to make her marriage (previous to her relationship with York) work: “I beat it like a dead horse, I beat it like a drum, oh I stayed with you too long...” It’s an undeniably dancey song (and boy, did Williams dance!), still containing rather introspective lyrics like “I got what I deserved, I was the other woman first.”
This seems to be the theme of “The Hayley Williams Show” tour. Williams bares her heart while dancing, wearing a gigantic smile on her face, and being playful, making shadow puppets onto the curtains and laughing as she sticks out her tongue to catch a bit of foil makeup that her friend accidentally dropped while doing her makeup on stage.
Williams explains that this is healing. Going to see live music, standing and singing next to people you might never see again. She thanked the audience for being there and explained that she hadn’t been back to SPAC since 2014 (Paramore’s tour with Fall Out Boy). She was very scared to have only her name on the marquee, but she’s thrilled to visit cities she rarely gets to perform in.
Some of the most visually stunning songs were “Ego Death at a Bachelorette Party,” which she dedicated to Nashville, and “Dream Girl in Shibuya.” For both songs, images of their respective cities were projected behind the band, featuring a blurry crowd walking through the streets. These images made the stage feel crowded and empty at the same time, a sensation Williams seems to grapple with.
After leaving the stage, a tongue-in-cheek “encore” sign appeared. Re-emerging with a baseball cap that said “mirtazapine,” she sang her song of the same name, once again showing off the harder side of her vocals by screeching into the mic.
The final song was the viral, heart-wrenching “Parachute.” Here, she mourns her lost relationship to the point where her voice cracks in the otherwise polished album recording. That night, the intensity was matched. The entire audience yelled out the chorus, “I thought you were gonna catch me / I never stop falling for you / Now I know better / Never let me leave home without a parachute…”
Throughout the night, it was clear that Williams did some deep introspection and, while she’s able to dance now, releasing her solo albums must have been a nervewracking labor of love. Through the smiles, the emotion behind the music was more than clear. Williams’ work says, “I’ve worked hard. I still have paint under my nails and sweat on my brow. I’ve done the best that I can with this. I hope you can understand.”
After explosive applause, the audience walked out of SPAC, into a light drizzle, understanding exactly where she’s coming from.