Live Review
Almost 20 years after the album first marched into fans’ bleeding hearts, My Chemical Romance prove they aren’t just on a nostalgia trip
On the opening night of their three-date, sold-out residency at Wembley Stadium, Gerard Way and his merry band of ghouls delivered a theatrical rock spectacle, smudging the lines between musical performance, political satire, and a full-scale stage production.
With help from opera singers and lashings of pyro, the band had the crowd bending to their will before the famous G note of “Welcome to the Black Parade” was even played. My Chemical Romance’s loyal fans are no strangers to the extreme, and marked the occasion by decking out the stadium in military jackets and black eyeliner across a 75,000-strong crowd.
For two hours, Wembley became the fictional authoritarian state of Draag, offering a theatrical setting for a full run through of the band’s 2006 opus. From the opening pairing of “The End” and “Dead!” they defied the distinctly eyeliner-unfriendly London heatwave to rally their fans.
