Paramore's Hayley Williams (left) with Kiwi fan Abi Jones.
Paramore's Hayley Williams (left) with Kiwi fan Abi Jones.
At 8am on a Friday most people are on a mission. Whether they’re battling traffic, road works and decaffeinated intrusive thoughts, they’re fighting to get to the golden hour of 5pm. But last Friday, Kiwi Abi Jones was on her own mission.
Sitting outside Auckland’s Spark Arena with a group of friends and some camping necessities, the super fans buckled down to wait for more than 36 hours. What were they waiting for exactly? Something extremely overdue, according to fans - Paramore’s New Zealand concert.
Speaking to the Herald, Jones reveals her camping expedition was all part of a plan to get to the front row of the concert. What actually happened on Saturday night, though, exceeded her expectations in the best way possible. Especially when she was pulled up on stage.
Paramore's Hayley Williams with Kiwi fan Abi Jones.
“I haven’t stopped crying,” she giggles, still riding the high of the surreal moment, “I feel like I’m in a dream.”
Jones has been a fan of the band since before she can remember. Inspired by her sister’s obsession with the Grammy winners, she’s followed their careers all throughout her teenage years. So when she heard they were coming to New Zealand she started work on a plan to get to the front of the crowd.
“I was first in line,” she explains, adding, “I was just dedicated to making sure that I was first in line and I got up there and it actually happened, which I can’t believe, it’s crazy.”
But that wasn’t all. As well as making sure she would be front and centre at the show, she also wanted to be recognised by the band - singer Hayley Williams, guitarist Taylor York and drummer Zac Farro - and ensured her sign would be eye-catching.
“I had a sign that I’d made like a few days beforehand that I had planned for months,” she says, adding, “It said, ‘Sing with me’, and it had a bunch of pictures from every album. It had butterflies and like a couch from one of the albums and glitter and the writing from Riot and yeah, it just had everything from all the albums in it.”
The pair performed the hit Paramore song, Misery Business.
Her level of commitment to being recognised by the band resulted in a moment many can only dream of. Midway through the show, while Paramore were performing their hit 2007 song Misery Business, they paused and Williams pointed directly at Jones.
Upon seeing her sign, the rocker asked her fan to come up on stage and perform the end of the song, resulting in a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity for the Kiwi woman.
“Getting up there and seeing everyone staring at me, I couldn’t believe it,” Jones said. “And having Hayley right next to me talking to me, I was speechless. I couldn’t believe it was actually happening.”
Confessing she isn’t much of a singer, Jones says standing in front of 12,000 people was a feeling she can’t even explain, and perhaps the only thing that stopped her from getting stage fright was that she couldn’t see the entire crowd.
“I couldn’t see the back of the arena, I could see the sides and half of the floor, but I couldn’t see the back of it,” she giggles.
“But I could see a lot.”
Kiwi fan Abi Jones was lucky enough to be invited on stage with Paramore's Hayley Williams.
While Jones never got the chance to thank Williams for the moment that will no doubt be a talking point for the rest of her life, she says the experience has given her the confidence to continue pursuing other dreams she has.
“The feeling of it made me feel like I can fulfil my dream of getting up on stage with my favourite band, I could do anything in the world,” she says, “I want to thank Hayley for giving me so much hope and strength to live out every other dream I have for my future.”
As for what those dreams are, Jones says they will only include getting up on stage again if a certain band announce a New Zealand show.
Lillie Rohan is an Auckland-based reporter covering lifestyle and entertainment stories who joined the Herald in 2020. She specialises in all things relationships and dating, great Taylor Swift ticket wars and TV shows you simply cannot miss out on.
