Ego Death At A Hayley Williams Concert
- Niomi Dylan Sass
- 11 hours ago
- 5 min read
Written by Niomi Dylan Sass
Bucket lists aren’t my vibe, but if I had one, I would have been lucky enough to have checked off one of the major wishes. I got to see Hayley Williams live for her Ego Death At A Bachelorette Party Tour. I saw tickets for this come out around the end of last year, and they sold out almost immediately. Randomly, a few months later, one last tier came out, and I never purchased something quicker. Hours later, it sold out again. It was at the most perfect time in the semester to go, right before the last few stressful weeks. Cathartic isn’t a good enough word to describe the experience I had. There was something else worth noting that happened in the crowd before Hayley performed.
Before the beautiful moment that was her meticulously thought-out set list, there was 3 different people I saw pass out in the crowd. Tuesday, April 22, 2026, at the Aragon Ballroom in Chicago, there seems to be a lack of oxygen mixed with excessive heat in a tightly packed audience. The first person passed out and got back up seconds later. She and her friends exited the crowd to get her some water and some air. Not even 10 minutes later, another person passed out about 2 people in front of me. However, this person wasn’t getting up. Luckily, there was a nurse in the audience who was able to make sure the person was still breathing until the medics came. As soon as the medic arrived, I saw a group of flashlights further into the crowd that was highlighting another person who had passed out and needed assistance. Both of the people were properly assisted and cared for until they felt better to return to the concert. Afterwards, the venue staff started passing out a bunch of ice-cold water bottles throughout the crowd for a solid 5 minutes. There weren’t any more incidents like those three, thankfully.
Let’s just begin with the set list. Hayley Williams performed all the songs from her new album in a different order. There wasn’t a single disappointment.
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
Discovery Channel
I Won’t Quit On You
Parachute
The crowd was so enthralled with her performance that in the middle of it, we gave an unprompted mid-set roaring ovation that filled the ballroom. I totally felt how much she appreciated and reciprocated the love. It made her think of the movie Wayne’s World, where she learned the lesson of “just take the compliment.” Our modest mother. There were two songs that hit so much harder in person: “Glum” and “Parachute.”
Before she performed the song “Glum,” Hayley was talking about how she struggles with feeling alone. One thing that consistently would make her feel better would be to go to concerts and sing her heart out with a bunch of people who love the same music. I struggle deeply with feeling disconnected from a lot of my peers and people in general, which leads me to live large chunks of my life in solitude. Especially since I moved to Chicago to finish school. I do think there is a better opportunity out here for the field of study I want to go into, but that doesn’t change the fact that it has been extremely lonely moving to a new state with no friends or family. Her lyrics for the chorus of that song hit on another level live.
“Do you ever feel so alone
That you could implode and no one would know?
And when you look around and nobody's home
But you wanna go back to wherever we're from
To wherever we're from” - Hayley Williams
As I was belting my heart out along with her in a room full of thousands of people, who I have no clue who they are, for the first time in a very long time, I finally didn’t feel so alone. I just cried and sang harder while the tears streamed down my glitter-filled cheeks.
There was another song that I wish I remembered, but I'm not sure which one it was. The crowd started singing the chorus when it usually would be, but for the live version, it wasn’t necessarily the spot; Hayley jammed with us while we sang the whole part. Then the band picked up where they were going to start the chorus, and before she got into her first lyric, she said that she couldn’t sing it anywhere as well as we could. This felt a genuine comment from her because we sang it again while she was giving all the ad-libs and runs that were impeccable. She is so effing cool. Best night of my life.
“Parachute” was the closing track, and I think it’s safe to say that this was the song that all her fans were the most excited to sing with her. I have never heard so many people know every lyric and not miss a beat. She brought on Mike Kinsella to help her close out the night with this song; he is someone who has previously worked with Hayley on their song “Uncomfortably Numb” from his American Football album from 2019. 'Parachute" is the breakup song of the millennium, and everyone has experienced this rough, angsty regret that bubbles deep within, but then you have to remind yourself of your worth. It’s very that, on every level possible.
If you want to hear me go into further detail about this concert, venue tips and tricks, how to enjoy standing in line, the power of manifestation, the set list, finding the perfect spot to stand, and all of the best moments that occurred on that magical night at the Aragon Ballroom that I won’t ever forget. Plus, hear me cry like the giant emotional baby that I am, then tune into UIC Radio’s YouTube Channel this upcoming Friday, May 1, 2026, to listen to the episode “Here Lies . . . Hayley Williams’ EDAABP” on my podcast, She’s In The Crypt!
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