MCR @ House of Blues
I saw My Chemical Romance last night I didn't try and write when I got home because I was still processing. I think I'm *still* processing. I don't have pictures because House of Blues didn't allow cameras and I'm not doing a full concert recap because I never have the patience for that, but OMG AMAZING. AMAZING, AMAZING, AMAZING.
There was a lot less interaction between between the band members than I expected. I mean, they were clearly in sync with each other, but they all kind of stayed in their own area of the stage for the most part and nobody really talked except Gerard. There was an incredible amount of energy and intensity,don't get me wrong, but it seemed self-contained, again except for Gerard who bounced around quite a bit, usually to poke Mikey or kind of flail in Ray's general direction. I think I mostly expected more movement from Frankie, who stayed in his corner of the stage for the most part. He wasn't low energy at all - he kept banging his guitar out of tune or breaking strings, I don't know, doing something that meant he had to switch it out - he just wasn't doing anything crazy or moving around much, which fandom had led me to believe he tends to do. Of course, that said I have to admit up front that I did not pay as much attention to Frank, Mikey, Bob and Ray as I wish I had because it took actual concerted effort to look away from Gerard so I didn't do it all that often. They were crazy hot and fun to watch and if I had been able to I would have paid more attention, but Gerard was fucking ELECTRIC and I could. Not. Look. Away. I knew he had amazing stage charisma and that he was very pretty, but I feel like I knew these things on intellectual level, not on a gut-punch visceral level, because holy shit, seriously. There were multiple moments of heart-clenchy, weak-in-the-knees Oh, Gerard where the only thing holding me up was either the railing behind me or songgirl12, whichever I happened to be clinging to at the time. The attitude, the dancing, the JAZZ HANDS. His red bull smoothie, which he shared with a member of the audience! The commentary! (He and Mikey are getting their assholes bleached because they do everything they see on television! Um. Okay, Gerard). And, of course, all you have to do to win over a New Orleans audience is talk about how gorgeous our city is and how we should be proud to be from here, which he did. And the he said they'd finally found a city gother than them. I feel almost like I shouldn't be able to pick a favorite part because the whole thing was so stunning, but both "Welcome to the Black Parade" and "Famous Last Words" left me pretty much flailing and incoherent. And "Give 'Em Hell Kid" (for the New Orleans reference). And "Cancer." And "Desert Song." And, okay, they were just kind of completely amazing. That's all I got, you guys. I'm still processing and flailing internally.
I can't wait until I see them again next Wednesday! I liked seeing them at House of Blues because it's so small; even though we weren't super close to the front, it still felt like we were really close. Sloss Furnace is a much a bigger venue, so it will be a different experience, but it's also really, really cool (though the only time I've been there before was for Beerfest last year).
p.s. - Sort of unrelatedly, does anybody know the exact quote from the Blender article where Gerard talked about what "The Sharpest Lives" was about? I see references to it all the time, many of which imply that he actually came out and mentioned Bert by name, but I don't think I've ever seen the actual article.
There was a lot less interaction between between the band members than I expected. I mean, they were clearly in sync with each other, but they all kind of stayed in their own area of the stage for the most part and nobody really talked except Gerard. There was an incredible amount of energy and intensity,don't get me wrong, but it seemed self-contained, again except for Gerard who bounced around quite a bit, usually to poke Mikey or kind of flail in Ray's general direction. I think I mostly expected more movement from Frankie, who stayed in his corner of the stage for the most part. He wasn't low energy at all - he kept banging his guitar out of tune or breaking strings, I don't know, doing something that meant he had to switch it out - he just wasn't doing anything crazy or moving around much, which fandom had led me to believe he tends to do. Of course, that said I have to admit up front that I did not pay as much attention to Frank, Mikey, Bob and Ray as I wish I had because it took actual concerted effort to look away from Gerard so I didn't do it all that often. They were crazy hot and fun to watch and if I had been able to I would have paid more attention, but Gerard was fucking ELECTRIC and I could. Not. Look. Away. I knew he had amazing stage charisma and that he was very pretty, but I feel like I knew these things on intellectual level, not on a gut-punch visceral level, because holy shit, seriously. There were multiple moments of heart-clenchy, weak-in-the-knees Oh, Gerard where the only thing holding me up was either the railing behind me or songgirl12, whichever I happened to be clinging to at the time. The attitude, the dancing, the JAZZ HANDS. His red bull smoothie, which he shared with a member of the audience! The commentary! (He and Mikey are getting their assholes bleached because they do everything they see on television! Um. Okay, Gerard). And, of course, all you have to do to win over a New Orleans audience is talk about how gorgeous our city is and how we should be proud to be from here, which he did. And the he said they'd finally found a city gother than them. I feel almost like I shouldn't be able to pick a favorite part because the whole thing was so stunning, but both "Welcome to the Black Parade" and "Famous Last Words" left me pretty much flailing and incoherent. And "Give 'Em Hell Kid" (for the New Orleans reference). And "Cancer." And "Desert Song." And, okay, they were just kind of completely amazing. That's all I got, you guys. I'm still processing and flailing internally.
I can't wait until I see them again next Wednesday! I liked seeing them at House of Blues because it's so small; even though we weren't super close to the front, it still felt like we were really close. Sloss Furnace is a much a bigger venue, so it will be a different experience, but it's also really, really cool (though the only time I've been there before was for Beerfest last year).
p.s. - Sort of unrelatedly, does anybody know the exact quote from the Blender article where Gerard talked about what "The Sharpest Lives" was about? I see references to it all the time, many of which imply that he actually came out and mentioned Bert by name, but I don't think I've ever seen the actual article.