Paramore know their audience is young, plugged-in and eager to see their favorite band put on a torrid live show. After ripping through clubs in the spring and moving to bigger venues on their current South American tour, the Franklin, Tenn., trio led by fiery singer Hayley Williams are gearing up for their fall "The Self-Titled Tour," which will bring them through arenas and amphitheaters across North America.
With support acts Metric and Hellogoodbye in tow, the tour is slated to kick off on Oct. 15 at KeyArena in Seattle, Wash., before moving through Honda Center in Anaheim, St. Louis' Fabulous Fox Theater, Patriot Center in Fairfax, Va., and winding down at The Arena at Gwinnett Center in Duluth, Ga., on Nov. 27.
"We had them last time around on the Honda Civic Tour and it always does well at our location and we’re excited about them returning" for their only L.A. market show, said Jo-Ann Armstrong. "They hit that young demographic, in that middle age group, and their lead singer has crossover appeal. I think she appeals to people the same way Gwen Stefani did when she was first starting off with No Doubt."
Tickets for the tour go on sale on Friday (July 26) after pre-sales for the group's fan club, Facebook followers, Live Nation mobile app users and Citi card members. But, in keeping with their young fanbases' highly wired, mobile existence, where available, the band selected paperless tickets for some of the best seats in the house in an attempt to prevent scalping and reward their die-hards for using mobile devices instead of traditional ordering methods.
"With past tours, we realized that not all of you are getting the access to the tickets we wanted you to have," the band wrote in a note to fans about their new ticketing policies. "We knew we had to address this issue for future tours. So, in doing that, we want to put this ticketing policy in place which will help explain how you can get your tickets to our shows. First, and foremost, it is of utmost importance to us that every ticket we sell is affordable to our fans. Seriously, we fight people about this! It's a big deal to us. Unfortunately, despite our best attempts, tickets often get into the hands of scalpers or secondary ticketing systems and are then sold for ridiculous prices."
That said, they instituted the paperless system, which will offer the closest-to-the-stage tickets after fans show photo ID at Will Call. A limited number of tickets will include a chance to win a meet and greet with Paramore before the show and a limited amount of "excellent" tickets will also be released at the same time as the general public on-sale through Ticketmaster's Platinum Ticketing Program, which will give fans more direct access to some of the best seats in the house for a slightly higher price, also keeping those tickets out of scalpers' hands. There is also a six-ticket limit, and the band promised to try and implement those rules at as many shows as they can on the tour.
The outing in support of their first new album in three years is also priced at a level that appeals to the target audience, with many tickets in the $40-$50 range. The tour will also include the band's first-ever headlining show at New York's Madison Square Garden and an appearance at November's Voodoo Music + Arts Experience festival in New Orleans.
Interviewed for this article: Jo-Ann Armstrong, (714) 704-2400