Hayley Williams, Taylor York, and Zac Farro. Image source: iHeart
Paramore talks about the assault in the crowd.
Paramore took to their social media to address the unfortunate incident of multiple women being assaulted at their concert at The Great Saltair in Magna, a city in Utah's Salt Lake County on Tuesday.
The band issued a statement stating that they were made aware of an incident that occurred in the audience during their performance in Salt Lake City. They stated that a man who was at the show had physically and verbally assaulted multiple women who were enjoying their show. The band addressed that along with the multiple women, the man had assaulted a couple who got engaged at the show, and informed their fans that as soon as the security team and venue staff were alerted about the specific person, they were able to remove and restrain the man.
The statement went on to say that they were unaware of what was going on because it was happening in an area that was not visible from the stage, and that if they had seen anything like this happening, they would have been able to stop the show until the situation was under control. According to the band's statement, PARAMORE DOES NOT CONDONE any sort of violence, homophobia, or bigotry of any kind adding that it is extremely uncomfortable in their community and has no place at their shows.
Paramore, which includes vocalist Hayley Williams, guitarist Taylor York, and percussionist Zac Farro, apologized in the statement to fans who were hurt or witnessed what happened during the concert, and they hope that fans understand that the band will always do everything they can to protect them and make them feel celebrated. Finally, the band clarified in the statement that Paramore shows are intended to be a safe space for people and that if people cannot respect that, they should not attend the show.
Paramore recently released their first new single in four years, ‘This is Why', which is also the name of their upcoming sixth studio album, which is set to be released on February 10th, 2023. While promoting the single, the band spoke about how much they needed a break to work on themselves and unwind from the life they had been living to go back to their basics and start making music. During an interview with The Guardian, the trio shared that they decided to take a break after someone very close passed away in Taylor York’s known people, which made them realize that the band is not worth risking their health.
The trio said that the reason why their home, Nashville, is so nice for them is that they have crazy, complicated conversations surrounding everything that needed to happen, which happened for them during the break and, of course, when the pandemic halted everything for everyone. Hayley Williams stated that the people including them went through some crazy shit with the pandemic and where everyone would expect people to be kind and understanding, people in the world are still not kind. She also stated that their conversations at home had led them back to the studio to start work on their sixth album and that after 15 to 20 years of fighting in front of the world, one might finally realize some coping skills and communication methods.
Taylor York shared that they are getting better and better at dealing with things, but he in no way believes that one needs to suffer to make good art, but he also does not understand how one can make something truly authentic in a collaborative environment without tension.
The trio's current North American tour includes stops in Austin, Los Angeles, New York, Chicago, and Atlanta before concluding on November 16 in St. Augustine, Florida. The band will then embark on a tour of Latin America in March 2023.
