My Chemical Romance Live
By: Evelyn Miska |
Monday March 05, 2007 |
| Never let up |
| Photos By Evelyn Miska
My Chemical Romance has never been a band that have shied away from creating an onstage spectacle. As the band has become more successful, their live shows have only become more over the top-from the lighting to the costumes to the songs themselves. What hasn't changed is the level of energy these five bring to their performances. And it is immensely satisfying to walk away from a show feeling that, not only did you just see an amazing performance, you got your money's worth as well. MCR's "Black Parade Tour" is no exception as the band proved on their Detroit stop of their most recent tour. Beginning the evening in typical dramatic fashion, lead singer Gerard Way was wheeled onto the stage on a gurney for the opening song, "The End." As the song kicked into the instrumental chorus, Way pulled off the white hospital gown he wore to represent the character of "The Patient" from their concept album The Black Parade, revealing the band's current look, black and silver marching band uniforms. What might initially seem like a nerdy or highly uncool look to pick somehow works for MCR as each member of the band has enough attitude to pull off even the strangest fashion choices. Upon moving into the next track from "Dead!" the real stage set was revealed. Black curtains spotted with silver stars and images of a post-apocalyptic city as depicted in the video for "The Black Parade" adorned the back of the stage while large white and black zeppelins floated on each side. "Dead!" was performed with just as much energy as it is presented with on the album and Way already had almost every single audience member singing along with him. The band immediately followed with "This Is How I Disappear" and it became clear that they were going to play every song from The Black Parade in the exact order as on the album. Luckily for MCR, the album is full of solid songs and it would be ridiculous to mess with the order when the pacing is so perfect. "The Sharpest Lives," though perhaps overshadowed by the current singles, was a phenomenal song live and by this point in the evening, even the band's shyest member, Mikey Way (bass) started to loosen up and get comfortable. Gerard Way is a born showman and he strutted around the stage with an ease that made it seem he had been doing this for twenty years instead of just five. "Welcome to the Black Parade" was practically the anthem of the night as audience members screamed the chorus; "We'll carry on!" along with Way. Not to allow the curtain of spectacle to drop, MCR ended the song with a blast from confetti canons strategically placed around Joe Louis Arena, which rained black, white and silver shreds of paper down over the audience. It might have been over the top and some fans who don't like the direction MCR has taken may have hated it, but for those that had never been in the middle of such a moment at a show, there was something almost mesmerizing about the confetti floating through the air against the bright lights of the stage. As with "The Sharpest Lives," "House of Wolves" may not be as well known, but demonstrates MCR's versatility with its jazz influence. Guitarist Ray Toro was a sight to see as he ripped his way through the song's solo and left little doubt as to the talent each member of the band possesses. Way might be the frontman and the "face" of MCR, but one should never think he is the only one with talent in the band. 
MCR slowed things down with "Don't Love You" and "Cancer" which not only
gave the band a chance to regroup a little after rocketing through the
first six songs, but provided the audience a chance to settle down as
well. However, lest one think the band skated through the rest of their
set, these slower songs were immediately followed by "Mama" and
"Teenagers" two of the most fun songs on The Black Parade. The
live rendition of "Mama" may have lacked Liza Minnelli's vocals (Minnelli
did guest vocals for the recorded version), but MCR more than carried it
off without her and reveled in its creepy gleefulness which was only
punctuated by huge fireballs that erupted during the song's bridge.
"Disenchanted" was the last of the evening's three slow songs and featured Toro on the acoustic guitar. MCR debuted the song in an earlier incarnation while on their last headlining tour supporting Three Cheers for Sweet Revenge, and though the song has gone through some changes, those differences only made it better. "Famous Last Words," the current single, closed out the first half of the show and, as with the chorus on "Welcome to the Black Parade," Way had audience members with fists raised, virtually adopting the song's chorus as their anthem. At the point where many other bands would have felt they'd played a full evening after twelve songs, MCR took a short break and came back to play another set. Having discarded their marching band uniforms, the Way brothers, Frank Iero (guitar), Bob Bryar (drums) and Toro came back dressed in their unofficial uniforms from earlier days. MCR then proceeded to play a variety of songs from Three Cheers including "It's Not a Fashion Statement, It's a Deathwish" and "Cemetery Drive." However, the songs that made the biggest splash with the audience were "Give 'em Hell Kid" "Thank You for the Venom" and "You Know What They Do To Guys Like Us in Prison?" MCR may have been more comfortable with these songs simply because they've been playing them a lot longer, but that didn't translate into the band becoming sloppy or complacent onstage. Rather, MCR kept plowing along with just as much enthusiasm as they opened the show with, an astonishing feat after playing 22 songs with little more than a five-minute break. Despite the strength of the songs from The Black Parade, MCR could hardly have ended the evening without playing the two songs that gained them the biggest portion of their fanbase, "I'm Not Okay" and "Helena." Despite those who feel MCR is completely overrated, it would be impossible for anyone to say that the band doesn't put a tremendous amount of energy and passion into their performances. With some bands, the sheer spectacle of MCR's set including the blasts of fire, sparks and confetti would have overshadowed the music itself. It says a lot that while these things may have been fun to see at a live show, they still paled in comparison to My Chemical Romance's performance itself, which is ultimately how it should be. My Chemical Romance Joe Louis Arena Detroit, MI Feb. 28, 2007 |
