After 20 years of waiting, Danni Scott finally saw My Chemical Romance live, and the band literally set the stage on fire. The Long Live The Black Parade 20th Anniversary Tour is a slow march into insanity, and that is a huge compliment.
It is hard to imagine a time before streaming was king, but in the 2000s, weekends were spent rummaging through parents' CDs for new tunes. Among Elbow and Steely Dan, The Black Parade was an outsider in the collection, bought on a whim and unloved until a rainy afternoon. From that day on, My Chemical Romance became one of the favourite bands.
The Theatrical Experience
Almost 20 years later, that generational album has been transformed into a theatrical experience that teenage fans could never have imagined. From a murderous clown and a publicly voted execution to Gerard Way crying while holding a creepy puppet, any other band would crumble under the theatrics. Instead, MCR – Gerard, Mikey Way, Frank Iero, and Ray Toro – looked completely at home in their faux military uniforms commanding the stage.
The concept of the show is simple: MCR performs as their alter-ego, the Black Parade, resurrected from the original tour, attempting to appease the Grand Immortal Dictator of the fictional country Draag. Fans are instructed to stand for the Draag national anthem before the show even begins, indoctrinating them from the start. At one point, the audience is confronted with voting for the execution of four people who lost a game, culpable as they eagerly raise cards reading 'yay' or 'nay'. All fun and games until the huge explosion goes off as the crowd votes 'yay' in the rigged election, featuring deafening pyrotechnics that are just the beginning.
Full Album Performance
With this being an anniversary tour for a band that has not released a studio album since 2010, it would be easy to do a low-effort greatest hits round-up. But that is not MCR's style. Mirroring the original 2000s tour, this is a full theatrical rendition of the album from front to back, beginning with The End. Those first notes sent the crowd into a chorus of screams, immediately belting along to every word like it was 2006 all over again.
For this revamp, there are added intros, extended outros, and a whole Dagger section featuring a duet with Australian opera singer Charlotte Kelso. While the record's title track is usually described as the emo national anthem, laid out song by song, you are reminded how incredible the entirety of The Black Parade is. It is a rare no-skip album with as much love and reverence for emotional moments like Cancer as there are for high-energy numbers like Teenagers.
Fiery Spectacle and Controversy
The concept of the show might go big, but the band never gets lost in the Draag of it all. Front and centre, they are incredible musicians and utterly captivating. Later in the set, things are ignited again, with giant flamethrowers heating up Wembley Stadium as a man ran across the stage literally on fire. Mama was turned into a blazing spectacle, and the gig was not even over yet.
By the end, the ominous clown daggers the frontman in the heart before, somewhat controversially, pulling the trigger on his suicide bomber vest as the show closes to the hidden track Blood. Initially, the inclusion attracted some criticism, particularly when it came to potential dates in Manchester; however, with the context of the show, it did not feel in poor taste or out of place.
Intermission and Second Set
As the cheers died down, the crowd just stared at the stage, wondering what on earth would happen next. Turns out that was a very calming and civilised intermission from cellist Clarice Jensen. It had the energy of a theatre intermission, with fans heading to top up drinks, go to the loo, and generally mill about for a bit. After around 10 minutes, MCR returned, walking through the crowd to the smaller, tantalisingly close, circular B stage placed in the centre of front standing.
Instead of an encore-length addition of maybe three of their biggest non-Black Parade tracks, the band played a further nine tracks, offering an entire second gig complete with deep cuts and heavy hitters. Gerard Way walked out looking like Liam Gallagher in a parka with the hood up, while his brother, Mikey, opted for an Oasis football shirt. Here, the band loosened up, dropped the Draag personas and really seemed to have fun with the crowd.
Deep Cuts and Fan Reaction
Fans were just as in it as the band, with phones few and far between for most of the show. In the age of social media, it was a rare sight of screen-less arms in the air. To shock, they opened the set with Honey, This Mirror Isn't Big Enough for the Two of Us – which had not been played live since 2010. Tracks from their debut album do not appear to be a given, as every night MCR are mixing up the second stage set. From their handful of UK shows, only I'm Not Okay (I Promise), Na Na Na, and Helena seem to be a guarantee.
As a final closing three-song run for the first Wembley show, it was, to quote Liam Gallagher, 'biblical'. Both the teenage version of the fan and the 28-year-old music journalist were left utterly speechless and pleasantly surprised by how on form the band were. The verdict: this really is a gig of two halves; you might come to revel in the nostalgia of the Black Parade, but you will stay for deep cuts you never knew you needed to hear. Behind the high-concept show, My Chemical Romance are ageing like fine wine.
