Paramore gave their cover of Talking Heads‘ ‘Burning Down The House’ its live debut while opening for Taylor Swift in Paris last night (May 9). Watch the footage and see the full setlist below.
Hayley Williams and co. are supporting Swift on the European, UK and Ireland leg of her ‘Eras Tour’, which began at the Paris La Défense Arena in the French capital yesterday. Three more dates at the same venue are scheduled for this week (May 10, 11, 12).
Early in their nine-song set, Paramore treated the crowd to their recent rendition of Talking Heads’ 1983 classic single.
The cover will appear on an upcoming tribute album around the iconic Stop Making Sense concert film. It also arrived as part of a limited edition 12″ vinyl for Record Store Day 2024, with David Byrne covering Paramore’s ‘Hard Times’ on the A-side.
Elsewhere in their opening slot, Williams jokingly introduced her bandmate Taylor York by saying: “Hi everyone, I’m Hayley and this is Taylor (Paramore’s Version).”
Other live tracks included ‘Still Into You’, ‘Brick By Boring Brick’, ‘The Only Exception’, ‘Ain’t It Fun’ and ‘This Is Why’.
Check out the fan-shot videos of the ‘Burning Down The House’ performance below, along with other clips from the gig.
PARAMORE PERFORMING BURNING DOWN THE HOUSE FOR THE FIRST TIME pic.twitter.com/BhMfplOomO
— tay (@hairball1952) May 9, 2024
Que mulher é essa? 🥵
O Paramore apresentou hoje, pela primeira vez, o cover de Burning Down The House ao vivo!
🎥 maximkuzlin #ParamoreTheErasTour pic.twitter.com/xYNgsiKAWU
— Paramore Brasil (@paramorebrasil) May 9, 2024
Paramore performs “Hard Times” at Taylor Swift’s Eras Tour show in Paris. pic.twitter.com/5w8Dc2wVRH
— Variety (@Variety) May 9, 2024
Brick By Boring Brick na The Eras Tour! #ParamoreTheErasTour pic.twitter.com/oFQ7M8MMaA
— Paramore Brasil (@paramorebrasil) May 9, 2024
I LOVE PARAMORE pic.twitter.com/jgDalDOGPO
— éadaoin • eras tour paris 🤍 (@enchxnted_swift) May 9, 2024
Povo animado 😍
Caught In The Middle na primeira noite da The Eras Tour #ParamoreTheErasTour
pic.twitter.com/W6x0vN8Ybf— Paramore Brasil (@paramorebrasil) May 9, 2024
the only exception lights are always going to look magical in arenas and stadiums! Hayley and Taylor (Paramore’s version) #ParisTSTheErasTour
📸 https://t.co/CmZ9O6Sb4T & https://t.co/8YeidjxoRj pic.twitter.com/UuN0q1wT9o
— Paramore-Music.com (@paramoremusicom) May 9, 2024
Paramore played:
‘Hard Times’ (with a snippet of Blondie’s ‘Heart Of Glass’)
‘Burning Down The House’ (Talking Heads cover, live debut)
‘Still Into You’
‘Caught In The Middle’
‘Brick By Boring Brick’
‘The Only Exception’
‘That’s What You Get’
‘Ain’t It Fun’
‘This Is Why’
Later, Swift played various new songs from her latest album ‘The Tortured Poets Department’ for the first time after switching up the setlist for the current run of live dates.
Paramore previously opened for the pop star at select North American concerts last year. Ahead of the European leg kicking off, frontwoman Williams said she was “so ready to be tour-mates” with Swift again.
Williams first met Swift when they were both up for the Best New Artist award at the Grammys 2008. Last year, the pair collaborated on the song ‘Castles Crumbling’ from ‘Speak Now (Taylor’s Version)’.
In December 2023, Williams reflected on how Paramore and Swift were still going strong after breaking through “at the same time”.
“To be able to play with an artist like her for me represents how long we’ve been at this, and how much shit we’ve seen,” she explained. “Now, it’s time to have a fun summer.”
The 2024 UK and Ireland leg of the ‘Eras Tour’ will see Swift and Paramore play eight dates at Wembley Stadium in London this summer.