Hayley Williams Proves Her Solo Era Has a Life of Its Own in NYC at Forest Hills Stadium – Concert Recap
Photos: Andre Paras
SEPTEMBER 17, 2026 – ‘The Hayley Williams Show’ Takes Over New York City With Two Sold-Out Shows
It’s often mistaken by casual music fans who’ve grown up in the ‘00s, but Paramore is, in fact, a band. AND STILL a band amidst some inner band drama. But NEVER a Hayley Williams solo act. However, in 2026, for the first time ever in over two decades of Williams’ professional music career, she kicked off her first-ever solo headlining tour, “Hayley Williams At A Bachelorette Party.”
This came with the surprise rollout of her eventual 20-track 2025 LP, “Ego Death At A Bachelorette Party,” which Williams played the entirety of live at these shows. These dates saw Williams testing the waters of interest in fans seeing her live solo, while playing more intimate venues like Franklin Music Hall in Philadelphia, PA, which has a capacity of around 3000 people.
Quite the change of pace coming off of opening on “The Eras Tour” for Taylor Swift or playing basketball-sized arenas while fronting Paramore just a few years prior. And so, unsurprisingly, these dates sold out, and then more were added to accommodate such demand, and those sold out again. It goes to show that such a dedicated fanbase can’t get enough of Hayley Williams in any capacity, with Paramore or as a solo artist.
For people who haven’t tapped into Williams and her solo sound, though, don’t be expecting the same pop-punk you might remember from her and Paramore of the 2000s. Her solo music is aimed at experimentation across a slew of genres, in alternative rock, indie pop, synth-pop, indie-folk and more. And just because she’s the frontwoman of Paramore doesn’t mean she’ll be performing those songs live either, solo.
Thus, brings the dawn of “The Hayley Williams Show,” with bigger venues, and Williams not only playing her newest 2025 tracks, but dipping into the rest of her solo discography, predominantly her first solo album “Petals For Armor” from 2020.
The tour kicked off on Sept. 3 for a tour leg in the Americas, with support from Magdalena Bay and Rico Nasty. I had the pleasure of being able to catch her on night two of her Forest Hill Stadium shows in Queens, NY.
Before the show even starts, though, Williams is already sending messages. As said on social media, her pre-show mix predominantly featured songs from artists who’ve dropped from Ed Sheeran’s new tour after Macklemore’s departure. Maggie Baird, American actress and activist, was there with her nonprofit Support + Feed, tabling to help fight the climate crisis.
And at a surprisingly early 8 p.m., Williams hit the stage for her headlining set, kicking it off with a slow build in “Just a Lover,” notably the only song played off of her sophomore album “FLOWERS for VASES/descansos.”
This was the time for the rest of her touring band to come out, which features Joey Howard on bass, Bryan Robert Jones and Logan Mackenzie on guitar and Joey Mullen on the drums. It’s worth mentioning that some of these folks have worked big time alongside Williams on her solo music, to which she credits much during the show to lead into older songs.
Williams clearly dips into different influences, wearing them on her sleeve, covering songs like Wandering Star by Portishead within her 2020 debut single “Simmer.” Later in the set as well, she gets to show off an incredible vocal performance performing Nina Simone’s “Don’t Let Me Be Misunderstood.”
It took five tracks in ‘til we got something from “Ego Death At A Bachelorette Party,” and that song was “Ice in My OJ,” where Williams got the crowd riled up and made statements at the same time. In the middle of the song, she ad-libs “F*ck ICE!” and “Free Palestine!” with roaring cheers from the crowd in response.
That’s not the only time Williams speaks up during the set, though, as she later precedes “True Believer” with the quote “the greatest threat to American Democracy is Christian Nationalism,” before a song about the flaws of Southern Christianity and racial injustice.
To add to her background visuals on a curtain-style set, Williams even had her own True Believer Quartet to add an orchestral layer to some of her tracks later in the setlist. And in between songs came these eerie “ads” from the sponsor of the show, essentially helping transition to other tracks. Notably written by film writer Christina Friel and read by David Byrne of Talking Heads.
It was certainly a victorious, passionate 25-song setlist from Williams, but the encore especially was filled with back-to-back bangers. Williams kicked off that section with the rocker “Mirtazapine,” with distorted guitars and a ‘90s shoegaze-inspired sound, reminiscent to groups like Garbage, The Breeders and Smashing Pumpkins. Ironically enough, a love song to antidepressants when you break down the lyrics.
But up next was a super special moment that has yet to happen on this tour; it’s been a performance brewing for 16 years. And that was a surprise performance of B.o.B’s song “Airplanes,” featuring Rico Nasty, who rapped a new part over what would have been B.o.B’s.
When the piano hit in the intro, it took fans and myself, what felt like milliseconds to process what we’d been hearing and the total shock of it. And fortunately, all these years later, Williams still sounds ecstatic on that hook, and you could see the fun, carefree energy on both Williams' and Rico Nasty’s faces during the performance.
And if that wasn’t enough, Williams ended the show on a high but bittersweet note, with the high-energy yet vulnerable track “Parachute,” which has become semi-viral and the seemingly fan-favourite amidst her solo catalogue.
As someone who’s caught Williams live three times now, once with Paramore in 2018 and twice for both of her solo tours this year, I can say that she’s consistently one of the best active performers out there. Regardless of whether you’re into their music or not prior, expect incredible vocal performances and a calculated live band.
It always feels like coming into a safe environment, surrounded by Williams and her loud and proud messaging, as well as a refreshingly diverse crowd to enjoy some great music with.
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