My Chemical Romance’s return has been chock-full of spectacles – staged suicide bombers, “elexecutions,” and a whirlwind of pyrotechnics make their Long Live The Black Parade tour a showcase of the band’s lasting theatrical brilliance.
Six years ago, My Chemical Romance officially reunited after the same number of years apart.
The New Jersey band had recruited a new generation of diehard fans in the interim, who joined longtime supporters in welcoming frontman Gerard Way, guitarists Frank Iero and Ray Toro, and bassist Mikey Way back for the first time since their split in 2013. It was a Halloween to remember, and the start of what would become an unforgettable second act for the bona fide rock gods.
I had the privilege of seeing them three times at The Forum (a venue Way calls his favorite in the world) in 2022, and each night flaunted an entirely customized setlist with a heavy focus on one of their five full-length projects. I attended the nights dedicated to 2002’s I Brought You My Bullets, You Brought Me Your Love, 2006’s The Black Parade, and 2012’s Conventional Weapons. That year saw the band craft a wildly differing setlist from night to night all around and beyond America, with fans eagerly anticipating the varying antics planned for each show.
Considering their refusal to rest on their laurels, the band has used these past six years to tour extensively, celebrate the anniversaries of albums, and let fans settle into a world where My Chemical Romance is alive and breathing. A band you can take your friends to see today, rather than one you can only visit in your memory. It’s been a whirlwind for fans, and surely for the members as well. The only question that remained after those initial tours was what came next – a new album seemed unlikely, but retreading old ground did, too.
The Black Parade endures as their most universally loved album, so the announcement of a 12-date American tour performing the 2006 record in its entirety was met with overwhelmingly positive reactions from fans, coupled with skepticism as to how they could top the album’s original tour cycle. The Black Parade Is Dead! committed the theatrics (and death) of The Black Parade to video, and now stands as proof that the ongoing Long Live The Black Parade tour is far from a return to form. It’s a sequel to a rich story with a cast of memorable characters.
For context, the original 2006 album chronicles a character known as The Patient as he grapples with his own mortality and cancer diagnosis.
All five stages of grief are explored, sometimes all at once – the main character wrestles with the concept of dying (“Cancer”) the morality and values of him and those around him (“House of Wolves”) and, ultimately, an abiding will to keep on despite the fate he knows awaits him (“Famous Last Words”). The band took on the persona of a group called The Black Parade during the ensuing tour, culminating in a funeral-like procession show marking the end of the album cycle.
They’ve returned to their monochrome marching band uniforms and ghostly makeup, but this time around, there’s an added theatricality and plotline that continues The Black Parade’s storyline. For this review, we’ll be looking at the band’s first night at Dodger Stadium on Jul. 26 – Thursday and L.S. Dunes drummer Tucker Rule walked onstage in full military uniform to deliver a ceremonial drumming introduction to the show, before “The End” kickstarted a full runthrough of the album’s tracklisting. “I’d encourage your smiles, I’ll expect you won’t cry,” Way screamed, as Los Angeles erupted in deafening cheers and the drums rushed in.
It was this moment – the rush of percussion, the raise in Way’s voice, the album’s first explosive crescendo – that all hell broke loose in the crowd. This is a naive observation from the perspective I was watching from, a close floor section made up of what seemed to be longtime fans who knew every word, but it truly felt like all of Dodger Stadium was jolted to life at the onset of “The End.”
Now, come on, come all
to this tragic affair
Wipe off that makeup,
what’s in is despair
So throw on the black dress
mix in with the lot
You might wake up and notice
you’re someone you’re not
If you look in the mirror
and don’t like what you see
You can find out first hand
what it’s like to be me
So gather ’round, piggies,
and kiss this goodbye
I’d encourage your smiles,
I’ll expect you won’t cry
– “The End,” My Chemical Romance
The show was overseen by a central character called His Grand Immortal Dictator, who kept a watchful eye of the band from his throne and even participated in a review of a Dodger Dog alongside them.
“Delicious, no?” Way laughed, taking a bite and spitting it out. He explained that the band had arrived courtesy of the dictator, and that “he’s never looked better!” (The character was portrayed by a mannequin in previous shows, and was switched to a live actor in Los Angeles… so Way had a point).
After a stadium-shaking performance of “Welcome To The Black Parade,” Way called upon the audience to raise their “yea” or “nay” signs to decide the fate of “prisoners” onstage. “Yea” won by a sliver, sending the prisoners to their deaths for the crime of “questioning the longevity” of His Grand Immortal Dictator. It was a touch that encouraged crowd participation, and in turn made the show a connective, involved one – fans even posted a flurry of TikToks afterwards joking about the sign being their only commemorative item from the evening.
“I Don’t Love You” was a performance that struck me much harder than I anticipated. “Take your gloves and get out,” Way insisted, bringing forth imagery of the biting cold of a breakup, and the protective gloves worn by boxers during a match. “I Don’t Love You” is defensiveness, it is hurt – it is also a final cry for reassurance that the love has died and gone, and that his lover would “have the guts to say” as much out loud.
To me, “I Don’t Love You” is an emotional highpoint in The Black Parade. It’s stained by tears and a lack of closure, by last-ditch grievances and reactive insults, but it’s also deeply vulnerable and raw. “Fix your eyes and get up / Better get up while you can,” Way sings. That one line alone holds so much significance, and varies in meaning depending on whether you’re looking at it as a threat or a note to self: “fix your eyes” could be blinking to clear the haze of tears, or shifting your perspective and regaining hope in the world. Either way, there’s a beautiful universality there, and a chance to renew your view of the line as you go through different experiences.
That’s what makes My Chemical Romance so gorgeous as a musical entity. They’re often grouped in with the term ‘emo,’ brushed aside as encapsulating only sadness in their work, but that couldn’t be further from the truth. Every line seems to hold a thousand meanings, leaving room for you to grow with the songs as they change and adapt alongside you.
Sometimes I cry so hard from pleading
So sick and tired of all the needless beating
But baby, when they knock you down and out
Is where you oughta stay
And after all the blood that you still owe
Another dollar’s just another blow
So fix your eyes and get up
Better get up while you can
– “I Don’t Love You,” My Chemical Romance
A fan-made project made “Cancer” that much more special, as nearly every audience member was handed a small red heart to press against their phone’s flashlight during the song.
The 56,000 person stadium lit up immediately as the intro began, and Way’s voice crept gently back in with its opening lines. Again, every one was sung back to him, blanketing the evening with a chorus of full-volume voices.
Now turn away, ’cause I’m awful just to see
‘Cause all my hair’s abandoned all my body
Oh, my agony, know that I will never marry
Baby, I’m just soggy from the chemo
But counting down the days to go, it just ain’t living
And I just hope you know
That if you say goodbye today
I’d ask you to be true
‘Cause the hardest part of this is leaving you
– “Cancer,” My Chemical Romance
“Famous Last Words” arrived as the last song on the album, mirroring its music video as the stage slowly caught fire and each member was kidnapped and taken offstage. The Black Parade’s runthrough culminated in a theatrical lip sync of bonus track “Blood,” with one of the characters revealing bombs strapped to his chest. “I’m the kind of human wreckage that you love,” Way’s voice rang out, as each bomb exploded and the stage erupted into a grand, blinding show of sparks that left fans breathless and ready for more.
After a brief intermission and cello performance of “From A To B” by Clarice Jensen, the band swapped to a second stage located in the frontmost sections of the floor for an extended encore. Each night so far has been different, but Los Angeles was treated to “Summertime,” which Way sweetly dedicated to his wife Lyn-Z, who was standing near my floor section and looking on with pride. The song, taken from 2010’s Danger Days: The True Lives of the Fabulous Killjoys, endures as a sweltering ode to love and the escapism it inspires.
If you stay, I would even wait all night
Or until my heart explodes
How long until we
Find our way in the dark and out of harm?
You can run away with me anytime you want
– “Summertime,” My Chemical Romance
The biggest surprise of the night came when Way revealed “War Beneath The Rain,” a never-before-heard song written sometime before 2013.
“Before the band broke up, we had a studio in North Hollywood and we were making a record that never came out. This was one of the songs we really loved from it,” he said, dedicating the song to audio engineer Doug McKean, who was friends with the band and tragically died of a brain hemorrhage in 2022. “He was there recording it. His family’s here tonight – I want this to go out to them.”
Two more tracks from Danger Days followed, along with a slew of greatest hits not included on The Black Parade, like “I’m Not Okay (I Promise)” and “Helena (So Long And Goodnight).” Each inspired singalongs in the audience, especially when Way introduced what he called his favorite My Chemical Romance song of all time, “Vampires Will Never Hurt You.” The second set was a hit overall, offering variance and a chance for fans of the band’s other albums to hear their favorite songs.
Once the last notes of the night rang out, My Chemical Romance had inarguably completed a continuation of their rock opera – the storyline was lightly reminiscent of Danger Days in its themes, with His Grand Immortal Dictator taking on a similar omnipresent role to Better Living Industries in the later album’s plot. Nevertheless, the band managed never to appear overly nostalgic towards The Black Parade, nor desperate to cling onto its popularity. There was much more thematic ground to cover in such a spanning record, and this tour allows them the magnitude with which to do that.
In a review of “The Foundations of Decay” soon after its release, I called My Chemical Romance “immortality running at full speed towards renewed life.”
What I meant is the band has rightfully earned their stripes, yet charges full speed ahead anyway, knowing the songs hold too much life to be set aside for too long. Perhaps the band was never totally gone, never fully dusted, but simply laid dormant until a tour like this could be fully realized, fire and executions and stadiums and all. And looking out at a sea of all-black outfits on Saturday night, I realized that the band is about as evergreen as music can get.
In the 10+ years since I fell in love with My Chemical Romance, my relationship to their songs has changed massively. Where I once heard Way describe things I’d only dreamed of experiencing in real life, I now look back and see a little girl who was given an instruction manual on grieving, falling in love, hoping, failing, and trying. I see now that it was written by a lead singer who looked out at the World Trade Center on Sep. 11, 2001, and knew that in a world where such tragedy and horror could exist, he had a chance to make something beautiful.
Long Live The Black Parade is a triumphant return from a band who never truly left, and a reminder that great art has the power to resurrect when set upon a strong enough foundation. My Chemical Romance is, in fact, in the business of resurrection – through the uncertainty and eventual end of life, they’re “not afraid to keep on living.”
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© Lindsey Byrnes
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