For loyal MCR fans, this album and tour has evoked a mass sigh of relief. As a fan myself, I was especially nervous when I first caught wind that they were recording a concept album as the follow up to 2004’s Three Cheers for Sweet Revenge!. As with many blockbuster follow up albums, sometimes the pressure to recreate the success ends up contriving the writing process and stifling the overall value of the new one. So why put the burden of a concept album on your plate under said circumstances? In general, concept albums are a tricky endeavor; if it is unappreciated or misunderstood, the minority fan-base will claim that it is “avant-garde” or “ahead of its time” (which really just means “it’s wack”). This is not the case for the boys and their Parade. The album has floored expectations of critics and fans alike with spine-tingling anthems like “Teenagers” and the ballad-esque crooning of “Cancer”. I am, however, a firm a believer in the “you’re only as good as you are live” mantra.
Enter [my] recently attended My Chemical Romance, (or, as they referred to themselves, their alter-ego persona: The Black Parade), show; it was every bit as attention sustaining as I, and every angst-ridden teenage girl in the arena, had hoped. Seeing TBP perform, I now realize how grossly insufficient my definition of “grandeur” has been. Having previously seen the boys in black open for Green Day, and headline a small-venue tour, I was jauntily anticipating a theatrical display. Not only did TBP obliterate any fluffy dreams I had at being a rock star, they did so while performing, sounding, and most importantly looking, damn fine.
As with every other performance on this tour, The Black Parade performed the entire new album from beginning to end. MCR’s live sound was tighter than past shows and their image has evolved into a “black hole-ish” vortex, enveloping otherwise unreachable demographics of potential fans. Gerard Way’s stage presence was comparable to something of a less beastly, more functional, Ozzy Osbourne; you know, back in his “I can still feed myself” days.
Among other talents, Gerard Way fancies himself a little bit of a fashionista. Way personally designed TBP’s dark rendition of the Sergeant Pepper costume, along with much of the artwork included on MCR albums and merchandise. On Three Cheers for Sweet Revenge, many of the songs and imagery reflect the trials and tribulations of being “different”. As a matter of fact, the song that seemingly launched MCR into international stardom, “I’m Not Okay”, is in direct reference to the obligatory issues of adolescence. Understandably, the cloistered high-schooler can look, listen, and learn from Gerard’s empathetic lyrics. Besides, who says being a dark recluse isn’t cool?
The Gerard Way of The Black Parade is, in every sense of the word, an egomaniac. That being said, the alter-ego of any stage character should be drastically different than, and (in this case) a parody of, the original. Way’s endless well of (dare I say) naughty body movements may connote many things, but none are more important than the fact that he is one self-aware weathercock (def: a strutting chief or leader). A ghoulish Way leads the audiences down through the lurches of his hell and back, all the while remaining in tune, on time, and of course, in character.
For some acts special effects such as pyrotechnics may be more of a hindrance than a blessing, but on certain occasion it is acceptable to give an overdose of special effects. The Black Parade’s show just so happens to be one of those occasions. Special effects were nothing short of paramount: pyrotechnics left even the unfortunate souls in the nosebleeds sweating; ceaseless strobe lighting pierced corneas; copious amounts of confetti rained down on fans song after song; theater-like revolving backdrops transitioned the show from Parade to Romance in mere seconds. Yet in no way did these bells & whistles distract the audience from the music; rather, it accentuated the band’s performance. The only thing missing was a skywriter with Liza Minnelli as copilot, singing the latter half of “Mama”- a track that she collaborated on.
The afterlife theme was generously peppered throughout the performance, as it is with the majority of MCR songs. Listening to the current single, “I Don’t Love You”, or the overly dramatic “Cancer”, through stereo speakers did not prepare me for Way’s surprisingly soft vocal stylings. The man exudes a charm that carries across seats and seas. I watched as he mesmerized flocks of tormented teens with allegro hip-popping and charismatic stage-banter interspersed between songs. I could talk about Gerard Way and his merits all day; he has a natural affinity with the spotlight. That’s not to say that the other band members weren’t entertaining, but they definitely do not radiate the same charisma as Way.
In the final sequence of lines in “Mama”, Way bellowed out “I am just so SAD! sulk…sulk… I can’t…stop…crying!” to which parents and teens alike could be heard giggling. Perhaps Way’s words could be interpreted as a brief commentary on the emo-skin MCR is struggling to shed. Try as they might, they will continue to have a hard time dissociating themselves from the “emo” stigma. Thankfully, simply stamping a label on a band does not solidify what they will conceive in future works. If that were the case, The Black Parade would have been stillborn.
With their latest, My Chemical Romance is garnering fans from all sorts of conflicting genres; be it music, vanity, or high school clique. The Black Parade, My Chemical Romance, call them whatever you want, they ARE worthy of your fifteen bucks. With such colorful performances and exhilarating sonic stories, My Chemical Romance is definitely amongst the group of elite live acts/bands of today’s generation. Way and The Parade offer much more than simple theatrics, and as our very own editor in chief , Tim Jones, remarked “kids eat that shit up…”. So do we.
For more information check out these links:
http://www.mychemicalromance.com/
