Concert Review: Meet Me At The Altar Is Giving Paramore Glory

The ghost of Paramore roamed the corridors of Irving Plaza as the voice Hailey Williams cried out, “Keep My Legacy!” Okay, that didn’t happen, but I felt like such a Victorian-goth novel twist was possible watching Meet Me @ The Altar at Irving Plaza. They were everything 2000s, Avril Lavigne Pop Rock embodied from grunge shirts to ties and a tank.

The 2000s Pop Rick scenes was not just music. It was a total aesthetic. Long hair tussled into locks of bright green or neon pink. Check! Oversized t-shirts of bands of old. Check! Headbanging yourself into oblivion, despite archaic, patriarchal concepts that women don’t rock and “Pop Rock” is just a lower-grade version of real rock. That’s like saying, Diet Soda is not soda because it’s not regular. I kept on thinking those thoughts as I saw five young women, from all walks of life, unite like a freaking Marvel movie and become supergroup. I don’t know why I felt empowered and proud… I guess representation matter!

Women of color in a Pop Rock scene that, all in all, does not get a quarter of the respect it deserves for SLAPPING! You cannot hear “Dance Dance” or “I Write Sins Not Tragedies” and not think my head is about to explode from how badly my feet want to mindlessly fun. These songs are fun, dramatic, fantastical, and tracks like, “Brighter Days” and “Now or Never” had the young, packed crowd doing jumping jacks. People felt like they were the embodiment of rock and there was nothing “low grade” or saccharine about it beyond the fact that their lyrics ask for well… betterment. Absolutely, EVERY SING BAND MEMBER DOMINATED THAT STAGE! I felt punched by the level of talent, and how each one had their moments, individually, but still stood out together.