My Chemical Romance Review: The Black Parade has marched into town
Written by Abigayle Proctor
My Chemical Romance (MCR) has made a spectacular return to Glasgow with their: LONG LIVE THE BLACK PARADE TOUR. The band was the final headline for Glasgow’s annual Summer Sessions, which ran from the 27th of June to the 4th July in Bellahouston Park.
Upon entering the venue, fans were given double sided signs that read, “Yea” and “Nay”. The use of these signs would later be revealed during the show. The stage itself looked incredibly militaristic, with flags flown on top of both screens and the stage framing being made to look like solid concrete, which gave it the appearance of a Cold War era bunker.
The band was supported by Idlewild, an indie/alternative rock band, who played from 6:00pm to 7:00pm. The band performed songs such as, ‘Everyone Says You’re So Fragile (I am)’ and ‘A Film for the Future’. The band gave a lively performance which further elevated the already enthusiastic crowd’s mood.
My Chemical Romance were meant to start their set at 8:00pm, however, due to technical issues, their set did not start until 8:30pm. Though, during the half an hour wait, the screens showed fake commercials and rules for the band’s fictional country of ‘Draag’. The screens showed several different things including a rather questionable can of soup and a mixture of different ‘rules’, with the most memorable being, “Rule 8: Having fun is strictly mandatory”.
After what felt like an eternity, the band finally made their way onto the stage accompanied by a piper who played ‘Flower of Scotland’.
MCR wasted no time in starting their set, as they were playing the entirety of The Black Parade album. The band opened with ‘The End.’, the starting track of their 2006 album, which then transitioned into ‘Dead!’.
Just before the start of ‘This is How I Disappear’, frontman Gerard Way introduced the crowd to the character of “The Grand Immortal Dictator” and how the Black Parade (MCR) were chosen to perform for him. For a bit of context, the entirety of MCR’s Black Parade Tour follows the bands alter ego, the Black Parade, and their struggle against the regime of The Grand Immortal Dictator.
The band then played ‘The Sharpest Lives’, during which a podium was brought out. Once Way was standing on the Podium, the opening notes to ‘Welcome to the Black Parade’ played and sent the crowd into a frenzy with many singing the lyrics word for word.
After the life altering performance, Way then revealed the use of the signs handed out at the start of the concert. The crowd was made to decide the fate of 4 actors in a rigged ‘election’, despite the crowd voting ‘yea’ for the actors to live and ‘nay’ for the dictator, the four actors lost the ‘election’ and were shot.
The band then began playing the heart wrenching song of ‘I Don’t Love You’ as the actors were wheeled off the stage in stretchers. After which the band played ‘House of Wolves’, ‘Cancer’ and ‘Mama’ during of which they brought out the character of Marianne, an opera singer, to sing the bridge into the final chorus.
After which, they played ‘Sleep’, crowd favourite ‘Teenagers’, ‘Disenchanted’ and ‘Famous Last Words’. They then replayed ‘The End.’ while the stage was made to look like it was on fire. During the performance, a clown danced among the band before ‘stabbing’ frontman Way. The end of the first half of the show concluded with the clown dancing to the hidden track on The Black Parade, ‘Blood’, and at the end of the track, the clown pretended to blow himself up.
After a 10-minute interlude, the band remerged onto the stage and Way said:“We’re My Chemical Romance and we’re a band from New Jersey.”
MCR treated Glasgow to an incredible encore set which included fan favourites from Three Cheers for Sweet Revenge, ‘Helena’, ‘Ghost of You’, ‘It’s Not a Fashion Statement’, ‘It’s a F*cking Death Wish’, ‘Bury Me in Black’, ‘Hang ‘Em High’ and ‘I’m Not Okay (I Promise)’. They also debuted ‘Ambulance’ from their 2013 album, Conventional Weapons.`
Way then proceeded to have a joke with the crowd about spice bags, the popular Irish takeaway dish, and joked how eventually one day he would find out what a spice bag was.
Finally, they played their last three songs, ‘Our Lady of Sorrow’ and ‘Vampires Will Never Hurt You’ from their debut album, I Brought You My Bullets, You Brought Me Your Love and ‘Na Na Na ( Na Na Na Na Na Na Na Na Na)’ from their 2010 album, Danger Days.
Overall, My Chemical Romance was an incredible watch. Not only did the production immerse you in their storytelling, but the band’s acting and performances were outstanding. Most notably, Way’s lyrics remain timeless and have not only influenced pop culture, but have continued to resonate with fans of the band, both old and new.
In the end, Long live The Black Parade.