Paramore vocalist Hayley Williams paid tribute to Ireland’s own The Cranberries with an acoustic cover of “Dreams” at Dublin’s 3Arena on Thursday night during the band’s most recent stop on their ongoing tour (grab tickets here).
The stripped-down performance took place during the second half of Paramore’s set. Before going into the cover, Williams corrected a previous faux pas by clarifying, “By the way, I know that you’re not the UK. Sometimes when you’re on a stage in front of a lot of people, you start saying shit and you don’t know what’s going to come out. If any of you would like to try, be my guest.”
However, the crowd was quick to forgive and had Williams’ back when she initially forgot to put her in-ear monitors in. After the false start, she performed a gorgeous rendition of The Cranberries’ breakout debut single while the fans in attendance sang along. Basking in the glow, Williams stopped midway through to say, “This is insane, I’ve thought about this for years and you sound better than I’ve imagined it.”
She continued, “I do not think I could ever imagine what The Cranberries felt when people sang this shit to them. Like, what? This is the stuff of legends — you.” Watch the fan-shot footage below.
“Dreams” was an international hit for The Cranberries. The lead single from the Irish group’s debut album, Everybody Else Is Doing It, So Why Can’t We?, reached the Top 30 of the UK Singles Chart and Top 50 of the Billboard Hot 100 in 1994. In 2018, The Cranberries released a 25th anniversary edition of the album following the tragic passing of lead singer Dolores O’Riordan.
Paramore are currently on a massive tour in support of their latest album, This Is Why, and will also make appearances at Hangout Fest, Boston Calling, and Bonnaroo. Tickets are available to purchase via StubHub, where orders are 100% guaranteed through StubHub’s FanProtect program. StubHub is a secondary market ticketing platform, and prices may be higher or lower than face value, depending on demand.