Paramore made their live return at South By South West tonight, with a show at La Zona Rosa in Austin.
The show was the first for Paramore since canceling dates due to “internal issues” within the group.
The all-ages show show provided Guitar Hero facilities to gig-goers who were belting out Weezer songs as NME.COM arrived at the venue.
Paramore frontwoman Haley Williams inspired one of the keenest crowd reactions in an audience this week, encouraging sing-a-longs and call-backs.
“This doesn’t just require knowing our band… you at the back are not getting off that easy!” she explained. “Don’t think you’re too cool for this! Despite what you think, being in a band is not about being cool, it’s not that hard to put your hands in the air and say woah-oh!”
Addressing the band’s recent personal problems head on, Williams told the audience: “I know there’s been a lot of craziness going on and if you follow our band you may have heard about it in the press or whatever, but the music is never gonna stop for us, and thanks for believing in us.”
Williams was also enthusiastic at being asked to play this week in Austin: “We are really honoured to headline a show at South By Southwest, it’s huge! For anyone who is here, you should give yourselves a pat on the back for being here because it’s all about the music”
She added: “This was our first show in about a month, and it couldn’t have gone any better.”
NME.COM is bringing you full coverage of SXSW as it happens. Head to the NME SXSW page now for all the latest news, galleries and blogs direct from the festival.