Review: Hayley Williams brings out American Football’s Mike Kinsella at Aragon in moment of emo superpower

Hayley Williams’ fans got the memo when she bade them to “Love Me Different” at the Aragon Tuesday. As a break came in the song, the packed room started chanting her name and throwing up heart hands in a show of total adoration. The moment came off so heartfelt, it overwhelmed her for a moment.

“I guess the lesson in life is to take the f------ compliment,” she said, deciding to own it. “We are learning to love ourselves better in 2026!”

It’s this kind of affable authenticity that has made Williams your favorite artist’s favorite artist (Chappell Roan included) and why so many fans have stayed allegiant over the years, from her teenage start in Paramore that rose through the pop-punk/emo ranks in the mid-2000s to a maturing solo career displayed on Grammy-nominated 2025 album “Ego Death at a Bachelorette Party,” her first album on her Post-Atlantic Records indie label since breaking ties with the major label after 20 years. She speaks from the heart and isn’t afraid to break hers wide open and show all the pieces.

So it’s no wonder fans are coming out in droves to support the pop-punk queen on her first solo tour, which is sold out in every market.

Excited fans came prepared, some handing out friendship bracelets in the bathroom (a holdover from Williams appearing on Taylor Swift’s Eras Tour), others wearing veils in homage to the album theme and some bearing sashes decorated with “F--- Morgan Wallen,” aka the “racist country singer” called out by Williams on the “Ego Death at a Bachelorette Party” title track. After he was caught on video hurling racial slurs in 2021, Williams has never let people forget it, continuing the beef at a recent gig in New York where she brought out Jason Isbell for a duet of the latter’s "Cover Me Up,” a song that Wallen loves to cover.

There was a special guest in Chicago, too: American Football’s Mike Kinsella who assisted on Williams’ recent hit “Parachute” in a moment of emo superpower. While that collab choice was less acerbic than New York, the spirit of calling-it-like-it-is was still alive and well at Aragon.

The night started with “Mirtazapine,” an ode to antidepressants delivered with such ’90s rock fervor it felt like a throwback to Prozac nation. Before the performance, a mock commercial came over the speakers, touting the drug’s supposed usage for anyone who finds our “phobic, fascist, racist, sexist” world “overwhelming,” and warning of side effects like “realizing this doesn’t have to be our reality.”

Williams has long made a career singing about the “misery business,” but where Paramore songs are steeped in youthful ennui, Williams’ solo material elevates the talking points into important conversations of the moment. This air of seriousness parlayed into the visuals too — long known for vibrant pops of color in her hair and clothing, Williams instead paired muted blonde hair with a neutral slip skirt and baggy shirt as if an attempt to not distract and turn all the focus onto her songwriting.

One of the most powerful moments came with a piano-led performance of “True Believer” that packed in such poetic fury it should win a Pulitzer. “There are a lot of ghosts here and we are gonna dance with them tonight,” Williams shared, before pulling America’s skeletons out of the closet on the song. “The South will not rise again, ’til it's paid for every sin,” the Tennessee native declares in the lyrics, also referencing Billie Holiday’s harrowing “Strange Fruit.” It was followed with a cover of Nina Simone’s “Don’t Let Me Be Misunderstood” with a clear message to take Williams at her word because she will never go quiet about what matters.

Across 90 minutes, Williams continued to play every song off her new record at Aragon, much to the delight of the diehards in the crowd who belted out “Ice In My OJ” and “Hard” like they were personal mantras.

“It’s so healing and so good to feel connected to you,” Williams told them after, also berating the financial and mechanical roadblocks that often prevent fans from attending concerts and feeling moments like these. “It’s a crime how hard and inaccessible live music has become. … We all deserve this. It’s not a luxurious thing, it’s a human thing.”

If Williams is hinting at anything with her “bachelorette party,” it’s taking the next big step in her career — a vow to being more transparent, independent and fearless than ever.

Hayley Williams returns to Aragon for a second sold-out show Wednesday.

Hayley Williams set list for April 22, 2026 show at Aragon Ballroom

Mirtazapine
Showbiz
Disappearing Man
Zissou
Ice in My OJ
Hard
Kill Me
Blood Bros
Ego Death at a Bachelorette Party
Whim
Glum
Negative Self Talk
True Believer
Don’t Let Me Be Misunderstood (Nina Simone cover)
Brotherly Hate
Love Me Different
Dream Girl in Shibuya
Good Ol’ Days

Encore
Discovery Channel
I Won’t Quit on You
Parachute (with Mike Kinsella)