I Just Read About That…

[ATTENDED: August 9, 2025] My Chemical Romance

My son, his friend and I saw My Chemical Romance in 2022 for their reunion tour.  It was super fun and it was especially fun that we were in the band’s home state.

The Black Parade has always been my favorite MCR record, so when they announced this tour of The Black Parade, I was psyched and so was the rest of my family.  So I bought five tickets.  Sadly, I had to buy five individual seats–all in the same section, but each one a row behind the other.  But that didn’t matter once the show started.

They opened with a tape of 76 Trombones which was fun and weird and then a drummer came out playing a martial beat while the anthem from Draag was played.  Now I hadn’t read any reviews of the show at all, so I had no idea that they were going to play the album in this way.  And I was absolutely blown away by the creative genius of the MCR team.  They took a concept album/rock opera which already had a story and superimposed an entirely new story with videos and other performers on stage.

It was amazing.  And there’s no way I can do it justice.

I can’t possibly explain the new story.  Summarized: The country of Draag is run by a dictator.  There were videos of Draag as well as warnings and alerts in Draagian and English (Do not throw hair).  The dictator was introduced and on the big screens around the stadium, we could see the dictators hands as he gently clapped or ate noodles.

The band were dressed in their Black Parade outfits and then launched into the album.  When we saw them play in 2022, they played three songs from the album, so it was wonderful to hear the entire thing.  And they had backing singers and strings added to the show. It was really a huge sound.  Ray Toro on guitar was shredding like a maniac and the smile on his face was contagious.

It was great how The End started small and then got huge and it segued into Dead! which had the whole place bouncing.

There was so much to see on stage.  We were straight back from the stage, which was great, but so far away that the band looked tiny.  So it was hard to know exactly what was going on up there unless the screens projected the action.  And the screens were pretty reliable but obviously couldn’t show everything.  There was some action on the smaller B stage that was on the floor.  There were people dressed in fine regalia and even an opera singer who sang along on Mama.

There was also a bearded man who came out to give Gerard (who was full in character as a Draagian citizen complete with vaguely Russian sounding accent) a piece of paper presumably from the dictator.  He crumbled it up and continued.

A podium was brought out and Gerard climbed onto it like a formal presentation.

There was an amazing moment when the first piano note from The Black Parade played and the crowd went berserk.  But nothing happened after that.  Moments later the mayor of Belleville came out and presented the band with the key to the city.  It was surprisingly touching and the band seemed genuinely moved by it (the mayor shared backstage footage of the band being told about the key and it was quite an emotional scene).  But, hilariously, Gerard stayed in character (complete with accent) and then gave the mayor some goods from Draag (a fish and a sheaf of wheat).

Then there was a quick execution (this is apparently a big part of the show, but was overshadowed by the mayor.  So I wasn’t really aware that there were people on the B stage and that the audience voted on whether they were executed or not (ours were).

Then the piano was played again and the crowd went bananas.  Everyone sang along to the opening and then went berserk for the end.

As the story went on, Gerard ate some noodles that were brought to him (possibly thrown on the stage floor?) and was brought another note.  He tore the note up and the bearded man slapped him across the face.

When they played Teenagers the place went even crazier with everyone singing along.  As the album neared the end, the grating in the front of the stage started emitting flames.  Oh yes, in addition to the elaborate stage setup and construction, they also had fire!  Giant jets of flame shot out from the top of the stage and I could feel the heat from across the stadium.  But now the fire made it look like the stage was burning up.  There were so really cool camera angles of the band members standing behind giant flames.

And then vertical somethings on the sides of the stage caught fire and I while I’m sure it was road tested and very safe, it genuinely looked like the whole set was burning down.

The theatrics weren’t done though because the bearded man came out in a white clown costume to sing Blood.  He also charged at Gerard and [SPOILER IN THE NEXT PARAGRAPH]

He danced around the stage from one side to the other and then stabbed Gerard who collapsed on stage onto a premade body outline.  And then he blew himself up and the stage went black.

It was unbelievably fantastic.

And then there was a palette cleanser.  Clarice Jensen, a cellist who I believe played during the main set played her solo piece “From A to B” on the B stage.  It was beautiful and haunting, although I think most people were so excited by what they had just seen that they didn’t pay too much attention to her.

Then the band came out in street clothes and played a short set on the B stage.  We all agreed it was practically like seeing them in a club.  And it was this point that I really wished we were on the floor.  I feel like the spectacle was pretty cool from far back, but I always like being closer.  However, the second set was definitely a wish I could have been closer moment.

My wife had been listening to a lot of the Danger Days album and had really gotten into it, hoping to hear a few songs from it, but this small stage set was for the die hard New Jersey fans who were there from the beginning.  They played ten songs.  Three from their first album and four from their second album.  Both of these albums are much heavier and more punk than The Black Parade and it was a fascinating change to hear them blasting through these songs (and to hear that Gerard Way can still growl like nobody’s business).

They only played one song from Danger Days: Na Na Na which is so much fun in general and even more fun when 50,000 people are singing along.  They played the bonus track from their greatest hits album, which I don’t know.  And then they played the unofficial New Jersey anthem: Livin’ on a Prayer.  And I thought the band did a great job,

I was sure that they would play more songs for us since this was the homecoming show, but I believe that the special gifts to NJ were the Bon Jovi song and Skylines and Turnstiles, the first song they wrote and a rarity for them to play.  I’m only bummed that I didn’t know it better to appreciate hearing it live.

We all agreed that the show was fantastic and of course it’s so much fun seeing a band when they play their home state.  And this one was extra special.

 

		2025 MetLife Stadium “Long Live The Black Parade”	2022 Prudential Center Newark Reunion Tour
		TAPE: Seventy-Six Trombones (Meredith Willson song)	The Foundations of Decay ∉
		TAPE: Over Fields (The National Anthem of Draag)	I’m Not Okay (I Promise) ∴
		The Black Parade	Give ‘Em Hell, Kid ∴
		The End. ¶	I Never Told You What I Do for a Living (first time played since 2008) ∴
		Dead! ¶	Cemetery Drive ∴
		This Is How I Disappear ¶	This Is the Best Day Ever ♥ (with Geoff Rickly)
		The Sharpest Lives ¶	Vampires Will Never Hurt You ♥
		Welcome to the Black Parade ¶ (interrupted at intro by the band being given the key to Belleville; followed by “The Election”)	Thank You for the Venom ∴
		I Don’t Love You ¶ (extended intro)	The World Is Ugly ©
		House of Wolves ¶ (with dog noises intro)	Famous Last Words ¶
		Cancer ¶	Teenagers ¶
		Mama ¶ (with “Dagger” outro; with guest opera singer)	Mama ¶
		Sleep ¶ (with “The Big Sky” intro)	Boy Division ©
		Teenagers ¶	Na Na Na (Na Na Na Na Na Na Na Na Na) §
		Disenchanted ¶ (with “The Button Pressed” intro)	The Ghost of You ∴
		Famous Last Words ¶	Vampire Money §
		The End. ¶ (Reprise)	Welcome to the Black Parade ¶
		Blood ¶	Helena ∴
		B-Stage	Encore
		From A to B (Clarice Jensen song) (performed by Clarice Jensen)	Demolition Lovers (first performance since 2004) ♥
		Skylines and Turnstiles ♥ (Tour debut)	The Kids From Yesterday §
		Our Lady of Sorrows ♥
		Na Na Na (Na Na Na Na Na Na Na Na Na) § (Dedicated to Claire Marie Vogel)
		I’m Not Okay (I Promise) ∴
		The Ghost of You ∴
		It’s Not a Fashion Statement, It’s a Fucking Deathwish ∴
		Boy Division ©
		Vampires Will Never Hurt You ♥
		Helena ∴
		Livin’ on a Prayer (Bon Jovi cover) (Live debut by MCR)