My musical journey is full of revolutions. The Spice Girls were the first band I ever loved. The Offspring were the realisation something existed outside of pop music. Linkin Park were the first band to voice what was going on in my brain. Jimmy Eat World became everything in the space of seven minutes and twenty-four seconds. The list is long. I would even say that every band and artist I have ever loved has been a revolution in itself. Some were louder than others. Paramore was one of the loudest ones. 

It is a tale as old as man, and, tonight, frontwoman Hayley Williams will mention the love we all have for music. On stage, she will say that maybe, we have found our way here because one of our friends liked one of their songs. Back in 2008, when I was an entirely different person, one of my friends liked not one, but all of their songs, and mentioned them in passing, as an anecdote in an English class. One morning, before taking the bus to university, I typed their name on YouTube and listened to Crushcrushcrush not once, not twice, but about ten times in a row. It felt like a brand new world had opened its gates for me.

As they say, the rest is history.

The Grand Rex show is part of Tour One, the first ever tour in support of the band's fifth full-length record, After Laughter. Once again, the line up has changed, and original drummer Zac Farro is back in the gang. When he gets a moment to perform one of his own songs (HalfNoise's Scooby's in the Back), he thanks "his band, Paramore" for the opportunity. Those are just three words, but they are more than enough to take me back to the day the world found out Josh and Zac had left the band, almost seven years ago. I was so ridiculously upset I spent hours crying and wallowing on my kitchen floor. The day I found out Zac was back, in January, was a cause for celebration. I couldn't exactly go wild, so I just got my old Paramore t-shirt out of my closet and wore it with pride and a giant smile on my face.

I wasn't expecting Paramore to be back so quickly after that, but then, they were. It was a giant rollercoaster of news. In the space of three weeks, they released Hard Times and announced a tour, After Laughter, a show in Paris two days after my birthday. That was a lot of emotion and, somehow, I was ready for it all. I had been waiting for it all, and I didn't even know I had. I had been waiting for my love for Paramore to be reignited after taking a little break. 

If you saw me at that gig, last week, you wouldn't think I had taken a little break with Paramore. From my leather seat behind the sound desk, I was jumping up and down like a bunny, singing along to every word, dancing like the Grand Rex was my dance floor. I even had goosebumps as the trio broke into 2007's That's What You Get. Of course, I cried. Who do you think I am? I always cry anyways, it's barely worth noting anymore.

We're not here to talk about my tears - even though, as always, I am more than willing to make fun of how tragically emo I am and always will be. We are here to talk about Paramore, a band who has had many a rebirth, many a change, and who, tonight, is shining brighter than ever, maybe brighter than I have ever seen them shine. The second they walk on stage and burst into Told You So and its eighties vibe, you can tell you are witnessing something special. You are seeing a band who is, no pun intended, born for this and nothing else.

I have always found it hard to talk about Paramore because of how deep the connection I feel with their music is. They once were the entire world and beyond, to me. They were everything. Judging their performance from an exterior, unbiased point of view doesn't feel right and never will because it has always been love, love with its highs and its lows, with its complications and its doubts, with its bliss and its perfect instants, with its breaks, nothing but pure, unaltered love. There is no way I can be partial.

There is no need to say anything negative, though. There is no room for it. Paramore were absolutely stellar on that stage, and from the setlist to the lights, everything was purely beautiful. Even something like the colours of the lights was perfect. I am going there, but every time they were starting a song and I could detect a colour theme in the lights, my brain thought of course, this is such a pink/blue/mint green song. Of course. Why didn't I think of that before.

Let's talk about the setlist, maybe. Unsurprisingly, many songs out of After Laughter are performed. It is its first tour, they need a grand outing - and they will get it. A personal favourite of mine is Rose-Colored Boy and its cheerleader chants. Just thinking of the words "Low key, no pressure, just hang with me and my weather" is enough to plant the catchy song in my head, impossible to be dislodged. Caught in the Middle, despite all the feelings and how painfully relatable its lyrics are, was just lovely. Forgiveness took a whole new dimension - it was as if a studio version was too small for it, and it needed a stage to become the song it was meant to be. 

Classics were here, too. We were treated to what I unfairly called a Twilight Corner as Decode happens just before I Caught Myself, a song I have always adored but haven't heard played live since 2009. I cried to That's What You Get (don't ask why) and reminisced to the sound of 2009's Brick By Boring Brick. Fond, but slightly embarrassing memories of me and my friends dancing and singing in a store as the music video was playing on their screens came to mind.

You couldn't think of a Paramore setlist without hits such as Ain't It Fun, Still Into You or the decade old Misery Business, a classic amongst classics. I'm more used to listening to this song with a drink in hand, under the bright lights of a sticky club, now, but I will always love it dearly. As has become traditional, the band get members of the audience on stage to perform it - Camille is on vocals and Paola on guitar, and both do a great job. I think I would throw up with nerves if I ever got up there. 

The lights are turned back on. The sound guy presses play on the "END OF SHOW" playlist he has on Spotify (there are privileges when you sit behind the sound desk - feeling like you are behind the scenes, desperately wanting to steal the technician's chocolate cake and berries salad). Whitney Houston's I Wanna Dance With Somebody fills the room. My eyes are shining and my heart is bursting with joy. I have watched Paramore play a wonderful show, I have had a kickass time. Nothing else really matters.