Emo legends, My Chemical Romance, revive their 2006 hit album The Black Parade in a theatrical affair at Globe Life in Dallas.
Globe Life Field in Arlington, Texas welcomes My Chemical Romance with fans seen dressed as different characters from albums and music videos such as Elena Lee (Helena), The Demolition Lovers, Mother War, members of The Black Parade, and everyone’s favorite, Helena Gerard Way.
Russian inspired typography called “Keposkka” is seen on every screen, either blasting ridiculous rules such as “Do not throw hair” or random grainy propaganda. As soon as the lights black out, “Tonight You Will Belong To Me” by Patience and Prudence eerily plays through the speakers leaving a dystopian feeling lingering. Once the song ends, a snare drummer in a WWII inspired uniform takes the stage marching robotically, not missing a beat.
Following on B-stage, a man known as the “Great Immortal Dictator” takes his throne across from the main stage. Soon after the intimidating pokerfaced dictator takes his seat, The anthem for the fictional country of “Draag” is played on all the screens showing the words of the chant and more grainy propagandic material.
After the anthem dissipates off the screen, red english lettering followed by the Keposkka translation of “Have Fun” appears, and the muted strums of “The End.” begins. The members of My Chemical Romance are illuminated under the spotlights wearing the iconic marching band uniforms from the Black Parade era. The cries of over 17,000 fans ring through the stadium, leaving a deafening echo bouncing around. The seamless transition from “The End.” into “Dead!” initiates dancing, screaming and even crying from the crowd.
Throughout the performance, shown on the tallest screens in the venue, the dictator’s hands are shown sunken down into his chair, resting. Then forming fists, then tapping his fingers against the chair. Judgment? Or maybe satisfaction? The image hovering over the room gives a looming sense of dread and control.
Guards roll out a podium to the center of the stage while Gerard Way steps up, beaming over the crowd. The powerful note of G echoes through the stadium while everyone in the room begins to scream erratically. “Welcome to The Black Parade” begins. The perfectly contrasted black and white filter displayed over the screens make every detail look like a dream.
After “Welcome to The Black Parade”, Gerard Way takes his place behind the podium as four victims with bags over their heads get shoved onto the B-stage. Way begins over the mic stating, “We are going to have an election! No no no,” he exclaimed. “We are going to have an execution!” When everyone entered the stadium, they received a red and black card with “Yea” and “Nay” on the front and back.
The crowd turned into a sea of red cards with very few black cards. Showing no mercy, gunshots and explosions light up the stage with the victims only taking out three of the four victims. Way jokes by saying, “One of our guys missed, we should have gotten someone from Dallas to do it!”
They made their way through the album’s angsty tracks like “House of Wolves”, “Teenagers” and “Famous Last Words” by engulfing the whole perimeter of the stage in flames. They also hit us with the gut-punching melodies of “I Don’t Love You” and “Cancer” illuminating the stadium in blue lights or “stars” as Way described.
Nearing the end of the theatrical masterpiece, “The End.” plays once again. This time joined by a cheerful, yet intimidating clown. This playful character quickly becomes quite threatening and unpredictable, as a dagger becomes visible in his hand, making big strides towards Gerard Way, eventually stabbing him in the heart. As Way hits the ground laying on top of a white outline of a body, the rest of the band is dragged off the stage while guards place bags over their heads, leaving the bloody clown and Way laying on the stage.
As if the whole ordeal wasn’t on theme enough, the clown prances around the stage lipsyncing the haunting words of the albums last track “Blood”. While Way is presumably dead, the clown turns to the back of the stage, opens up his shirt and turns towards the crowd with an uncanny smile, flashing the shiny bomb trapped to his chest counting down the seconds til it goes off. Next thing you know, the bomb ignites causing sparks to fly off his body and light up the stage in an explosion.
Once the smoke clears, a visual of a decomposing deer is shown up on the screens for all to watch as the melancholic hums of a cello hypnotize the audience. Clarice Jensen works the four stringed instrument like no other, making the intermission a masterpiece in itself.
Making their way through the crowd, the original members of My Chemical Romance, Mikey Way, Frank Iero, Ray Toro, and of course, Gerard Way are reborn taking on their normal form without the theatrical uniforms and makeup. Dallas got spoiled with songs from Danger Days, starting the second part of the show with “Na Na Na (Na Na Na Na Na Na Na Na Na)” and “Planetary (GO!)” which made the crowd absolutely feral.
Their album Three Cheers For Sweet Revenge got some love with “I’m Not Okay (I Promise)”, “Thank You For The Venom”, and of course “Helena”. Although many were not expecting to hear a majority of those songs, things got even more shocking with a cover from the Smashing Pumpkins hit song, “Bullet with Butterfly Wings”. Playing for the first time this tour off their debut studio album, Conventional Weapons, Gerard Way introduces the next track as “A beautiful song for an ugly world”. Sure enough, “The World is Ugly” begins to be sung. Dallas also got one of Frank Iero’s favorites to play, “Kill All Your Friends”, also played for the first time on this tour.
Ending the night once and for all, My Chemical Romance closes with “War Beneath the Rain”. A song written right before their breakup in 2013 that never got to see the light of day. That is until now.
One thing about My Chemical Romance is it does not matter how long you’ve listened, how old you are, or how many times you’ve seen them. Regardless, we are collectively passing down the torch to younger generations, keeping emo alive.
I am a Touring Concert Photographer based in Dallas. I have a love for physical media such as collaging and mixed media. I personally work with Laredo Two as their photographer and Your Neighbors as their touring photographer! My top three artists are easily The Backseat Lovers, Radiohead and Inhaler! When I'm not shooting, I’am playing animal crossing or playing guitar.
