It was a full house at Petco Park on August 30, with thousands of fans eager to sing the night away alongside My Chemical Romance for the San Diego stop of their “Long Live The Black Parade” Tour.
While it might be hard for some to believe, it has indeed been 20 years since My Chemical Romance released The Black Parade — an album that has truly stood the test of time in the rock world. The “Long Live The Black Parade” Tour commemorates the milestone anniversary of the album, and immerses fans in lore inspired by the album.
After taking my seat for the evening, I turned to one of my neighbors and gleefully told them it was my first time ever seeing My Chemical Romance live. Almost immediately after, a man in the row behind me congratulated me. While finally seeing any artist you’ve been following for years can be regarded as an accomplishment, My Chemical Romance makes sure that fans feel as though they are active participants in the story being performed for the evening… which is perhaps an even greater flex.
There’s truly no easy way to summarize the “lore” of this tour, but here’s a very loose rundown of the story to help set the scene. The story is set in a fictional authoritarian country called Draag, which has its own language and writing system called Keposhka. My Chemical Romance perform as a band called The Black Parade, in an attempt to appease the Grand Immortal Dictator of Draag. What happens throughout the evening can vary greatly per tour date, feeding to a story line (or lore) that continues to evolve. There’s two acts to the show, with the first being a cleverly coordinated production, following the story line soundtracked by the entirety of The Black Parade. The second act features My Chemical Romance performing on a B-stage in the stadium.
Prior to the start of the show, messages with different rules for the evening were displayed on the screens on stage in both English and Keposhka. As soon as the lights in the stadium went dark, a recording of “We’ll Meet Again” by Vera Lynn was played, creating a rather eerie atmosphere. Then, a soldier began to march on stage while beating a drum. After crossing the stage with two other soldiers and a man who seemed to be a prisoner, a female character named Marianne emerged on the B-stage to sing “Over Fields,” the national anthem of Draag. In the story, Marianne is the daughter of the Grand Immortal Dictator of Draag, and is a blind opera singer. As soon as the national anthem was finished, My Chemical Romance (or better said, the band “The Black Parade”) quickly appeared on the main stage, kicking off the set with “The End.” While they played, an image of the Grand Immortal Dictator of Draag was projected on the screens in the stadium, and remained on the screens for the entirety of the first act.
Hearing songs such as “This Is How I Disappear,” “The Sharpest Lives,” “Teenagers,” and of course “Welcome to the Black Parade” was not only super nostalgic, but it was also vividly euphoric. The theatrics helped make it all feel even more epic, especially with the amount of crowd interaction involved in the story line. For example, there was a moment where Gerard Way attempted to introduce the dictator, but he was not present on the throne. After a few minutes, the dictator appeared in the crowd, making his way down the steps of the 100s level of the stadium. Later in the evening, he was seen in the crowd again eating popcorn out of a San Diego Padres souvenir bucket.
Another theatrical element of the show that was absolutely unforgettable was the election skit. After performing “Welcome to the Black Parade,” Gerard stepped up to the podium on stage while John Philip Sousa’s “The Stars and Stripes Forever” played. I did a quick double take, because why would a song associated with America’s government be playing in Draag? Well, because we as a crowd were getting ready to vote, voting is a democratic idea, and America is (supposed to be) a democracy… so if you put it that way, the song choice wasn’t really breaking the fourth wall. Four men stood on the B-stage, accused of the crime of “pestering without a license.” Gerard directed everyone to hold up the signs they were given upon entering the stadium. One side of the sign said “YEA,” the other said “NAY.” If the audience wanted the four men to be executed, they would need to hold up the “YEA” side facing the stage. There was an explosion, and the four men fell to the ground, resembling an execution. Suddenly, streamers began to shoot from a rifle that a soldier on the B-stage had been holding.
There were two particularly emotional numbers during the first set that really stood out to me. The first being “Sleep,” which started with Gerard seemingly kneeling in front of a stool playing chess with himself. He went on to read a magazine, and when he stood up to sing, the lights on stage started to quickly flicker between red and blue. Meanwhile, there were visuals on stage depicting a missile with the name “DRAAG” printed on its side being launched. The second number that (for a lack of better words) absolutely blew my mind was “Famous Last Words.” Little did I know, I was about to witness a pyrotechnic spectacular. At the beginning of the song, flames began erupting across the stage. A countdown clock was also displayed at the top of the stage, and as the countdown approached its end, the amount of flames covering the stage grew, almost completely engulfing the stage by the end. The rocket that had been previously launched during “Sleep” re-appeared, and a map showing the missile’s proximity to its target was shown on stage. Once the countdown concluded, the group evacuated the stage.
After a brief intermission, My Chemical Romance gave fans a second set, performing songs from Danger Days and Three Cheers for Sweet Revenge. “Our Lady of Sorrows” was also included in the set, catching many fans by surprise. It was great being able to end the night with watching the band perform “in the round” in plain clothes, with Gerard, Mikey, Frank and Ray moving around the stage in a laid back manner. The atmosphere felt like a party, as the stadium jumped and sang along to classics such as “Na Na Na” and “Helena.” The final song of the night was “I’m Not Okay (I Promise),” and it was very therapeutic knowing I was shouting the lyrics alongside fans of all different age ranges. Any teenage angst that had been lingering in my system for over a decade was finally released, and it felt amazing.
As the “Long Live The Black Parade” Tour continues, so will the lore, and the incredible stories that fans will be able to tell. May all these memories live on!