In the grand scheme of “hard-to-score” concert tickets, a few big names come to mind: fans of Sabrina Carpenter, Taylor Swift, and Beyoncé have all seen their favorite artists' recent tours sell out in minutes, only for a majority of the ticket inventory to reappear on resale sites at steep markups.  The practice is essentially legalized scalping–purchasing tickets at face value with no intention of attending the show, just to make a profit from the fans who want to see their favorite artist perform. 

When the time came for Hayley Williams to finally embark on her first solo tour (her previous effort was shelved in 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic), she and her team made it clear they would do everything they could to make the ticketing process fair.

“I’ve had countless conversations with my team, and they’ve spent countless hours trying to find the best solution for fans to be able to buy tickets,” Williams wrote on Instagram in November 2025.  “I know this won’t be perfect. You shouldn’t have to jump through hoops to buy tickets to see the show, but unfortunately, it’s a broken and convoluted system.”  She acknowledged there was no absolute guarantee that her tickets wouldn’t be scalped, but emphasized that she and her team did the best they could with the tools available.  

It worked.  Tickets to Williams’ two dates at Franklin Music Hall this week were arguably some of the hardest to score once the shows sold out (which happened in minutes). With resale prices capped at face value, very few secondary listings appeared after the general sale.  And from the looks and sounds of the crowd during her performance on April 6th, nearly every person in attendance was there for the right reason–because Williams’ music, both on her own and with her band, Paramore, has made a significant impact on their lives.  

Williams is currently touring in support of her third solo LP, 2025’s Ego Death at a Bachelorette Party.  The album was widely praised, with reviewers citing the singer's vocal agility, raw and honest songwriting, and her ability to blend genres into a cohesive and exciting final product. I agree with all of those sentiments, but seeing Williams perform the album live in its entirety made me realize just how much of her own emotion she’s inserted into these compositions.

While Williams has always been outspoken and authentically herself, much of her career up to this point was spent beholden to record executives who had the final say over what she did and who she was as an artist.  She signed a predatory 20-year contract with Atlantic Records when she was just 14 years old–a deal that only just ended in 2023. When she was finally free from her contractual obligations, Williams wasted no time in establishing her own independent imprint with a very tongue-in-cheek name: Post Atlantic.  Ego Death… marks her first release on her own label, and now, with total creative control over her music and autonomy over her brand, she's celebrating with the Hayley Williams at a Bachelorette Party Tour.

That sense of celebration permeated the room on Monday before the show even began. William's legion of loyal fans–some of whom had reportedly been waiting in line on N. 7th St. since the early hours of the morning–packed Franklin Music Hall to the gills, creating a palpable party atmosphere throughout the venue. More akin to a family reunion than a concert, fans caught up with one another as they traded friendship bracelets, anxiously waiting for the leader of their cause to take the stage.

Hayley Williams. Photos by Conor Clancy.

When the house lights dimmed, the anticipation gave way to an eruption of noise as a disembodied robotic voice crackled over the speakers, advertising a fictional drug called "Ego Death." Designed to “deconstruct expired systems and survive the daily onslaught of a sexist, racist, white supremacist, phobic, and fascist patriarchy,” the drug promises to bring “back the feeling of being an actual human being,” allowing us “to feel joy again for the first time since 2016."

It was a clever and pointed introduction that immediately established the room as a safe space–somewhere that, for the next two hours, the outside world could be shut out, and the audience could escape the horrors of our current reality. Williams has been very vocal about her disapproval of the Trump administration. She's also taken the country music industry to task for its continued support of artists like Morgan Wallen, who faced little repercussion after a video of him using a racial slur came to light in 2021.

The introduction also served as a seamless lead-in to Williams' opening number, "Mirtazapine," a love song of sorts she wrote for her favorite antidepressant. As she took the stage amid a barrage of strobes, she and her band launched into the track, and we were off to the races.

Williams' 90-minute set was the perfect showcase for her wide-ranging musical talents. Known by many as the lead vocalist of Paramore, she is also a true multi-instrumentalist, equally at home on guitar, piano, bass guitar, and drums. Yes, Hayley Williams could literally be her own band. On Monday, she shifted effortlessly from acoustic guitar to piano, electric guitar to synth, all while delivering some of the most emotive vocals I've heard in a long time.

Speaking of vocals, Williams is experimenting with vocal texture on this tour in a way I cannot remember ever seeing before–and it's absolutely thrilling. She plays with live vocal modulation on songs like "Showbiz," utilizes a stand-mounted megaphone on the tracks "Ice in My OJ" (it's important to note here that after she sang "I got ice in my OJ/I'm a cold hard bitch" she immediately raised a middle finger to the air and said, "Fuck I.C.E.") and "Brotherly Hate," and even uses a synth programmed with her own voice on the soulful "Kill Me."

The visual production is just as striking. Much of the set is front-lit, with projections cast over Williams and her band. At times, abstract textures wash over the stage, creating an ethereal atmosphere; for other songs, pre-recorded footage of the singer appears, a mirror to the introspective nature of her lyrics. The usage of front lighting also creates a stark shadow against the white curtains behind her–evoking an artist emerging from a restrictive past, while simultaneously reflecting the grief and self-examination that run throughout Ego Death...

Williams also worked in a few Philadelphia-specific shoutouts throughout the night. She recalled that the first place she ever played in the city was the now-closed North Star Bar—and, judging by the handful of us who recognized the name, briefly second-guessed herself. Nope, you’re right, Hayley. We’re just old. She welcomed R&B and Hip-Hop musician Tierra Whack to the stage for “Good Ol’ Days,” before taking a moment to acknowledge Philly-based “Parachute” co-writer Steph Marziano, who was in attendance.

Hayley Williams with Tierra Whack. Photo by Conor Clancy.

"Parachute" was the final song of the night, and as I retreated to the rear of the venue to pull out my earplugs, the crowd began to sing so loud they nearly drowned Williams out. It felt less like a finale and more like the beginning of a new era–an era in which Hayley Williams is finally able to call all of the shots without those record executives telling her what to do. It was the best bachelorette party I've ever attended–by a long shot.

If you get the chance to see Hayley Williams on this tour–take it.