KISS ME YOU ANIMAL
(not mine, found here)
JESUS FUCKING CHRIST, MY CHEMICAL ROMANCE.
So I arrived at the venue around 5:30 and queued - the line wasn't too bad, actually. I made some friends with people in line with me, and then inside, once the doors opened. I met so many MCR first-timers (and even some concert virgins). Everyone kept asking me (because of my obvious accent) if I flew over for the show - I was so tempted to tell them I did, but I was a good girl and didn't lie. One group of girls kept having me repeat Gerard's name; they wanted to learn to pronounce it like good Jersey kids (even though I am not from Jersey...). The openers were pretty good - Twin Atlantic, I think their name was? By the time MCR came on stage, I was a bit outside of Frank, on his side, sort of between the first row on barrier and the second, if that makes sense.
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The stage was wonderfully decorated - one of Frank's amps had a comic-book style "BOOM" drawn on, Mikeyway's helmet was sitting his amp, the spider logo was hung in the back. Gerard looked fucking fabulous (as he is wont to do) and performed fabulously too - he was just so in sync with the crowd and with the rest of the band. I freaked out a bit when I saw Frank because, well, he looked exactly like hot!Frank of old, with the long hair and the stripy shirt and the fingerless gloves and the rolling around on the floor and the guitarsex. I seriously thought that maybe they had found a time machine and brought that Frank with them to the future, it was uncanny. Though, probably not, since he brought out a picture of the twins with him when he came onstage and set it on his amp (next to his beer, ha), and it sat there for the whole show. Iero babies! ♥______*
And then. AND THEN. I saw Mikeyway. As much as I love Mikeyway and think he's adorable, I've never really been attracted to him? WELL, JESUS FUCK THAT HAS CHANGED NOW. He's like...I don't even know. As someone who knows absolutely nothing about Adam Lambert, I'd say that somehow Adam is now Mikeyway's fashion stylist or something. His shirt was tiger-striped and I think a girl's shirt, okay, and he was wearing a black stud pendant thing. HIS BASS GUITAR WAS COVERED IN RHINESTONES. I DON'T EVEN. And his hair. Mikeyway has never (for me at least) been regarded for his hair choices; they're all ridiculous and hilarious and I love him for it, but, come on, it looked like a bird's nest. BUT NOW. I DON'T EVEN. I CAN'T EVEN. JFC HOW IS HE SO HOT? I think I was like *_____* the whole time he was near me.
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I was not near Ray or James (Dewees, on keys) so I can't comment much on them. Same goes for Mike Pedicone, on drums. The show started with "Na Na Na" and they all came out on stage to the little intro-speaky-thing, it was great. The crowd (obviously went nuts) and that segued into "Venom." After those two songs, Gerard told us how exciting it was to be there but (he claimed) he wasn't going to get really earnest about it. I LOL'd IRL. Gerard Way? Not earnest? Give me a fucking break. They played some songs from both Three Cheers and Black Parade and then played a new one, Planetary (Go!). IT IS fucking awesome and dance-y and great. If you'd like, here's a download of ripped audio from someone's vid that I did not rip nor video but that I did upload for you all. Feel free to pass it around.
Next was "I'm Not Okay," which just, FUCKING FRANK IERO. He went insane, it was amazing. At one point he fell completely over and played from the floor, pointing straight up for "trust me." He then proceeded to do some sort of flippy, leg kicky thing to get up and I squealed loud enough that the girl next to me (whom I had befriended) turned to me, smiled, and mouthed "Oh my god, I know right." I reeeeeeally hope someone got video of that. There was another song ("Give 'Em Hell") and Gerard calmed it down a bit. He said (I quote) that they were "punish-fucking us" and that he was glad we were enjoying it. ...and then he amended himself and said they weren't punish-fucking the minors, just that they were assaulting their faces. After they also played "Our Lady of Sorrows" which, just, yeah. ♥ Gerard introduced it by saying they hadn't played it in five or six years - Frank chimed in and said it was five.
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When they got to "You Know What They Do To Guys like Us In Prision," Gerard started off asking how many people in the room were seeing My Chemical Romance for the first time and then mused how crazy it was that since they've been gone so long (and together so long) that some of their fans who started off young are now all grown-up. But then, hah, he went on to explain that the boys, those who were seeing MCR for the first time, had to take off their shirts and swing them over their heads for "Prison" and, Gerard being Gerard, he was very particular in saying that it was for only the boys, that girls should keep their shirts on. I love it when he gets all noble and rails against the 'traditional rock star' image of sleeping around and using girls/groupies. OH GERARD BB. ♥ He then, in the intro of the song, kept going "Aaaaahhhh boys!" like some pop song, IDEK. HIS FAAACE.
They played "The Only Hope For Me Is You" next, and then "Honey, This Mirror Ain’t Big Enough For The Both Of Us" (and Gerard brought twins up on stage to sing with him - it was vaguely mottsy when they ran around hugging the band, but mostly okay!). He also compared the intro to this song to the Buffy theme and said he didn't realize until about two weeks ago when he first watched it. HOW HAVE YOU ONLY SEEN BUFFY NOW, GERARD? JE NE COMPRENDS PAS. Then "This is How I Disappear," and they went off stage for a bit of a break, and James played a keys solo. It was really fantastic, I love him. His solo then flowed into the beginning of "Welcome to the Black Parade" (and everyone freaked). He then did some sort of repeat-after-me thing that was adorable and he was clearly having fun with, which then went into "Helena" and then "Mama"! I love that song so much, seriously. And then "Teenagers" in which Gerard was a dork and kept making this, like, IDK, model-esque poses. He ended the last three beats cocking his hips back and forth in time with one arm flung above his head and his mouth in what I imagine to be the :D? face. YOU DORK.
Next they played "Ghost of You" and I got ridiculously emotional - not only did I not expect them to play it, but I also realised somewhere near "Welcome to the Black Parade" that I hadn't actually seen them since my grandfather passed and since their music helped me get through that, yeah. They played "Famous Last Words" and then "Sleep" and the band (except Gerard) left the stage. Gerard had this emotional moment where he thanked the crowd and explained that there had been so many times over the past couple years where they didn't even know if they'd be back on stage, and so it meant something to them. He then ended with, "We are really excited about this record, but we're more excited about the next 10 years of this band. The future is bulletproof." OH GERARD!! ♥________♥ asdfjhasljdfkhadlskjfhalksjdfh
He then sang Cancer, and the band came back for an encore with "The Kids of Yesterday," another new one. Gerard said that us much as it was for you guys [the crowd], it was also for them [the band]. I have a feeling I'll love love love that song, once I have more time to listen to lyrics and such. And...that's the show. I managed to see a girl get a setlist as I was leaving and I asked her if I could take a picture. So here you go:
And that was the show. They were fantastic and fucking amazing and adorable and lots of other things, but really, what I think was best was that they were still them. Despite all the changes in their lives like wives and babies and everything, it was obvious they were, they are still the dorks I (and we) fell in love with all the time ago. And, yeah, that's what made tonight fantastic. After all the shit in bandom with FOB and Panic!, it was wonderful to see this show and recognise them and remember what made me love them in the first place, instead of feeling like I was watching an echo of something lost.
IN SUMMARY, THE BOYS ARE BACK. KILLJOYS, MAKE SOME NOISE.
(I think I will leave this post unlocked for the time-being, in case anyone wants to link people even though, lol, idk why you would.)