Live Review: Paramore, You Me At Six, Twenty One Pilots

Losing only a quart of blood to mosquitoes in Boondall wetlands, we arrive to the sounds of Twenty One Pilots and immediately we have no idea what's going on. Skeleton and alien masks, as well as an electric ukulele, help the Ohio duo disguise their head-scratching musical make; they're Keane one moment, Crazy Town the next – it's white boy rap and piano-pop sparring beside a thumping punk beat. It's pretty much unlistenable, but the pit doesn't seem to mind, eventually lifting frontman Tyler Joseph up in the air like an offering to some sort of demented pop god.

You Me At Six steer the night back on course, relishing the opportunity to perform in front of the sort of crowds they're used to back in their native UK. The five lads give eager fans a taste of their forthcoming record, Cavalier Youth, in the way of Fresh Start Fever, while during Crash, vocalist Josh Franceschi urges mobile phones to be lit up and raised high. Crowd-surfers are then encouraged to come at the jagged stage – the band mistaking the show for a Download set clearly – resulting in not much more than a handful of young girls flopping about the front rows before being ushered away dishevelled and separated from their friends. The push for circle pits during Bite My Tongue seems even more inane, even if the breakdown passage might call for it; getting everyone up and clapping during closer Underdog suits the mood far better.

You only had to see the snaking merch line-ups earlier tonight, however, to know that this evening was only about Paramore. They emerge to a shriek that cuts into your eardrums like thousands of tiny daggers, opening with Grow Up and Fast In My Car off the self-titled 2013 record they're here to plug, before dipping into the catalogue with tracks like That's What You Get and Ignorance. Clusters of LED lights cage in the three additional members filling out the sound, while the core of bassist Jeremy Davis, guitarist Taylor York and pocket-sized frontwoman Hayley Williams — rocking a bob and leathers — roam freely in front, unable to wipe the smiles from their faces. (More) ukulele acts as interludes during the set, while a snippet of Fleetwood Mac's Landslide is spliced late into In The Mourning. Two tracks stand tall tonight though: Now and Ain't It Fun; they combine newfound songwriting maturity and creative exploration with the pop-punk exuberance at the core of old hits like Misery Business. They both sound massive, and the latter song even calls on the Hillsong choir to take us to church.