This is my third time in Paris – the first time was a trip my mom and I, and the second time was with Steven when we did a 2 week Euro trip. Paris is nice, but I always felt like it was overhyped. I love the architecture in Europe but found that everywhere in Paris looked the same and I just didn’t find it as interesting as other cities. Turns out I wasn’t in the right areas of Paris! I did a historical walking tour of the Montmartre area and it completely changed how I feel about the city. The tour was really interesting and the streets and architecture were beautiful! The neighborhood has an artistic history that continues with lots of street art. I forgot how interesting and unique the street art is in Paris. After the tour I put on some french tunes and continued to explore and take photos. I really enjoyed listening to Stromae, who is technically Belgian, but he sings in french and he’s popular here so it counts. It was a vibe. After resting and having dinner, I was off to the Bring Me the Horizon concert at the Accor Arena – my whole reason for this stop in Paris! This is a band I’ve listened to since I was 15, they continue to create new music and dabble in a few different genres, but their heavier tunes are my favorites. Steven actually surprised me and took me to see them in LA last October and it was the best show of my life! They had released a new album during covid that I listened to on repeat and hearing it live for the first time was a moment you just can’t recreate. The Paris show was still awesome though, the highlight being songs they didn’t play in LA (The House of Wolves, 1×1) and having Courtney LaPlante join them for One Day the Only Butterflies Left Will Be in Your Chest as You March Towards Your Death and Nihilist Blues – her voice was unreal and those are songs I never thought they’d play live as they aren’t very popular (but I loved it so much!!!). They opened with their new song Amen which is a banger! The biggest difference from the LA show was the crowd and stage production. The Accor Arena was packed, insanely packed! I’ve never seen a venue let so many people into general admission, the video doesn’t even do it justice. The crowd energy was great, with all the arena shows I’ve been to, I don’t think I’ve ever been to such a full and wild show before and it was fucking awesome! (Recommended listening – their sempiternal album, specifically Shadow Moses, Sleepwalking, Can You Feel My Heart).
