Paramore was beyond words.

The final show of The Final RIOT! Tour was better than Fall Out Boy and Panic at the Disco combined and then some. Words really can't describe it. Cecilia, Erin and I all agreed it won Concert of the Year.

Paper Route was first, and they were pretty good. I've never heard any of their stuff before, though. They played the kinda stuff you sang along to, regardless if you knew the words or not. about 3/4 through their set, Phantom Planet came on a played a song with them. And I'm pretty sure it was Phantom Planet's bassist that came out in a white sun dress, and their lead singer was shirtless. It was really good, though. There was some random roadie or techie on the side of the stage dancing. It was funny.

Phantom Planet came on second, and they were really, really good. Definitely in a close second place finish to Paramore. I don't really know any of their songs, other than the chorus of "California", but they were awesome. They played a song with Jack's Mannequin, I think. Alex, their lead singer, went -or attempted to go- crowd-surfing. He didn't make it very far; just stayed in one spot, pretty much. The best part was when security finally hauled him back on stage, his pants were halfway down to his knees. My mom said he must like getting groped by all the crazy girls in the pit.

Jack's Mannequin was the last opening band. I only knew "Dark Blue", so I really didn't pay much attention to them. I do know that they played a song with Paramore, and Paper Route, I think. Zac came out in the dress this time, and Hayley looked like she was having a hell of a good time banging on the drum they set up for her. Jack's Mannequin's singer knocked over his stool in front of the piano about four time. I swear he never stopped bouncing. And then at the end, he first banged both hands on the piano keys, then stood and jumped and walked on the piano keys, and then banged his stool and various other things into the piano keys. Then he jumped of said piano and left.

Paramore was last, of course. Their stage setup was awesome. They had these big lights that spelled out RIOT how it's written on the album. Josh and someone else were up on this big ramp thing behind them, and Jeremy, Hayley and some other guy were on the stage itself. THey played all but five of their songs total. At one point, Jeremy tried to flip over Josh, I think, and fell. Hayley's all, "Fall again, Jeremy?" after that song was over. Then they dedicated "My Heart" to their Livejournal community and played it acoustically. Hayley's voice is so much better live than I thought. I actually think it's better than the cleaned up version on the records.

At the very end, they purposely forgot "Misery Business" and came back out with all the bands to play it. The guys that had nothing to play sat up on the top of the ramp and were drinking -and throwing- beer. One of them had a bottle of wine, too, I think. They were spraying it all over Zac and everyone just below the ramp. It was like a huge party on stage.

I think I said this for Panic at the Disco, too, but I honestly never wanted last night to end. I could spend my entire life there, and die happy.

It's still strange to me how the people you admire can be so physically close to you, and yet so far away and out of reach. It's like, "Oh my god. I'm in the same room as Paramore; the same room as some of my heroes," And yet, they're so far away from you, and you know that you're not going to get to meet them.

It was amazing how all the bands had so much energy on stage. They were like, the energizer bunny on steriods or something. I don't think ony of them ever stopped moving for very long.

Ah, and then there were the people in front of us. There was a girl, her mom and her two friends. The girl and her female friend insisted on dancing like lunatics. You know, waving their arms everywhere, looking like they were going mental. Not that I doubt that... And then there was their mom. Their mom was wearing velour leopard pants rolled up to her knees, Converse, and a brown empire waist top. Now, you know how empire waists are supposed to be below your bust? Her's was halfway up. Let's just say the shirt was about three sizes too small. And she insisted on moshing. And, mind you, we're on the balcony. Not the mosh pit. And then, during one of the intermissions, the girl took her friend's cell phone, called her own phone and carried on a conversation with herself. I think I got that one on video.

And except for them, last night was the best night of my life so far. It was just....Mindblowing. Simply amazing. And next time I have the opportunnity to see Paramore, I'm so taking it.
xoxo
Roxie.

And for anyone interested, Paramore played the following:
Born for This
My Heart (acoustic)
That's What You Get
Emergency
For a Pessimist I'm Pretty Optimistic
Fences
When it Rains
Hallelujah
Pressure
Here We Go Again
Let the Flames Begin
Misery Business

They also played a B-Side. I'm not sure which one, only that it wasn't "Oh Star".