MY CHEMICAL FUCKING ROMANCE in Boston, MA, 8/9/11
OKAY, SO. Things I am bad at:
- remembering sets
- remembering what happened when
- seeing over tall people's heads
And with THAT disclaimer, I will say that brooklinegirl wrote up an AWESOME review here and you should check it out because she did a MUCH better job than I am going to.
But I have MANY FEELINGS, upon which I am going to expound now.
The thing is - the thing is, THERE IS NO BAD MY CHEM CONCERT. Or, like - I cannot imagine a circumstance, after having seen them a full FIVE TIMES NOW, I could walk away from them unsatisfied. I've seen them in Roseland, where we almost got squished to death by huge-ass dudebros in the pit, and I've seen them in Boston's HOB where we had the best view IN THE WORLD, and in Starland - which didn't impress me as a venue, but was HOME to them, and in DC's 930 Club, which was the smallest venue we will probably ever see them in, and the best, sweatiest experience of LIFE, and now at the Comcast Center, which is huge and gives you a bird's eye view even from the middle of the venue, AND EVERY TIME, IT'S BEEN AMAZING. No matter the set list, no matter how many times I have heard INOK and WTTBP and Helena and Na Na Na, IT NEVER GETS LESS AMAZING.
We were stuck in stand-still traffic leading up to the venue, and parked way out in Never-Never Land, and it was raining, and we all had to pee, and we missed the opener, which was House of Wolves and one of my all-time favorites.
BUT THAT WAS OKAY. BECAUSE THE REST OF THE SET RIPPED, AND ROCKED MY FACE OFF. We never once stopped moving or screaming along and the band FELT that energy and gave it back to us TENFOLD.
This was the first time we saw them where they weren't the "main attraction" and while yes, there were a bunch of asshole dudebros in the audience, OF COURSE THERE WERE, they did not ruin the show for us. In fact, a LOT of them were fucking INTO IT, DESPITE THEIR BEST ATTEMPTS TO HIDE IT, and the fangirls behind us were just as flaily and happy as we were, and it was just. GOD, I LOVE THIS BAND. They make me feel ALL OF THE FEELINGS just by BEING there, in the flesh, being SO INTO IT, loving what they do SO MUCH.
Ray pogo-jumped like he was the Energizer bunny. Gerard WORE HIS MOTHERFUCKING PONCHO, OKAY, and I totally missed the moment where he took it off because I was too busy gazing at the tiniest guitarist (FRANK IS SO PRETTY, EVEN SO FAR AWAY, I CANNOT EVEN TAKE IT) but it wasn't even ABOUT that, for me*, it was about the fact that I could not stop fist-pumping for the life of me, even as it made me feel like a total tool. WHATEVER, I WAS A TOOL WITH FEELINGS.
We jumped and screamed and the entire set was AMAZING. The sound wasn't that great, and I couldn't hear Gerard ALL that well? But that's okay, because we all sang the words right back at him.
Okay, some things I remember:
- thinking, "FINALLY!" when he hit the stage on all fours and writhed around during one of the noise jams, nnnrggggh
- Frank's little head just bobbing in and out of view during the final part of FLW - he was facing his amp, and was all concentrated and bent over double and HOT AS HELL, and then he spent the rest of the time on stage on his knees and I REALLY appreciated that, LET ME TELL YOU. He also left his guitar on the ground, circled it a bit and PLAYED THE LAST NOTE WITH HIS FOOT, WHAT EVEN.
- Gerard was SMILEY and told us we were really sweet, and told us to clap and dance a lot, obviously, and could NOT stop swaying his hips to Teenagers, because: TEENAGERS
ETA: - OH YES. Gerard's orgasm noises in DESTROYA? ORGASMIC, INDEED. NRGGGHGH. MY KNEES KIND OF MELTED RIGHT FROM UNDER ME *____________*
THEY WERE AWESOME. EVERYTHING IS A BLUR. It felt FAST, not because of how long the set was, but just the ENERGY of it all. It was a VERY different experience from the Great Bandom Adventure of Spring 2011, in that we didn't wait for hours and HOURS and then try to figure out if we could catch them afterwards, etc, etc. We got there. We got to our seats as they were already ON. And then they were done. No encore, no awkward waiting around. It really WAS wham, bam, thank you ma'am, and it was AWESOME. They're SUCH a fucking powerhouse.
So, yeah. NO REGRETS. Was this set shorter than all the others I've seen? Undoubtedly. Did I feel cheated in ANY WAY? FUCK NO. FUCK. NO. I can't even IMAGINE feeling that. They just - THEY ROCKED OUR FACES OFF. Punish-fucking doesn't even BEGIN to describe it. And when I couldn't see, I just DANCE DANCE DANCED my heart away, and IT. WAS. AWESOME.
I don't even regret this.
BEST. TOTE BAG. EVER.
\o/\o/\o/
*despite the fact that every time Pedicone came up on screen, I'd go, "HEY, PEDICONE" at the top of my lungs because I HAVE NO IMPULSE CONTROL and he was WEARING MERCH and IS MOTHERFUCKING HOT AS HELL OMG SERIOUSLY I HOPE HE PLAYS WITH THEM FOREVERRRRR
- remembering sets
- remembering what happened when
- seeing over tall people's heads
And with THAT disclaimer, I will say that brooklinegirl wrote up an AWESOME review here and you should check it out because she did a MUCH better job than I am going to.
But I have MANY FEELINGS, upon which I am going to expound now.
The thing is - the thing is, THERE IS NO BAD MY CHEM CONCERT. Or, like - I cannot imagine a circumstance, after having seen them a full FIVE TIMES NOW, I could walk away from them unsatisfied. I've seen them in Roseland, where we almost got squished to death by huge-ass dudebros in the pit, and I've seen them in Boston's HOB where we had the best view IN THE WORLD, and in Starland - which didn't impress me as a venue, but was HOME to them, and in DC's 930 Club, which was the smallest venue we will probably ever see them in, and the best, sweatiest experience of LIFE, and now at the Comcast Center, which is huge and gives you a bird's eye view even from the middle of the venue, AND EVERY TIME, IT'S BEEN AMAZING. No matter the set list, no matter how many times I have heard INOK and WTTBP and Helena and Na Na Na, IT NEVER GETS LESS AMAZING.
We were stuck in stand-still traffic leading up to the venue, and parked way out in Never-Never Land, and it was raining, and we all had to pee, and we missed the opener, which was House of Wolves and one of my all-time favorites.
BUT THAT WAS OKAY. BECAUSE THE REST OF THE SET RIPPED, AND ROCKED MY FACE OFF. We never once stopped moving or screaming along and the band FELT that energy and gave it back to us TENFOLD.
This was the first time we saw them where they weren't the "main attraction" and while yes, there were a bunch of asshole dudebros in the audience, OF COURSE THERE WERE, they did not ruin the show for us. In fact, a LOT of them were fucking INTO IT, DESPITE THEIR BEST ATTEMPTS TO HIDE IT, and the fangirls behind us were just as flaily and happy as we were, and it was just. GOD, I LOVE THIS BAND. They make me feel ALL OF THE FEELINGS just by BEING there, in the flesh, being SO INTO IT, loving what they do SO MUCH.
Ray pogo-jumped like he was the Energizer bunny. Gerard WORE HIS MOTHERFUCKING PONCHO, OKAY, and I totally missed the moment where he took it off because I was too busy gazing at the tiniest guitarist (FRANK IS SO PRETTY, EVEN SO FAR AWAY, I CANNOT EVEN TAKE IT) but it wasn't even ABOUT that, for me*, it was about the fact that I could not stop fist-pumping for the life of me, even as it made me feel like a total tool. WHATEVER, I WAS A TOOL WITH FEELINGS.
We jumped and screamed and the entire set was AMAZING. The sound wasn't that great, and I couldn't hear Gerard ALL that well? But that's okay, because we all sang the words right back at him.
Okay, some things I remember:
- thinking, "FINALLY!" when he hit the stage on all fours and writhed around during one of the noise jams, nnnrggggh
- Frank's little head just bobbing in and out of view during the final part of FLW - he was facing his amp, and was all concentrated and bent over double and HOT AS HELL, and then he spent the rest of the time on stage on his knees and I REALLY appreciated that, LET ME TELL YOU. He also left his guitar on the ground, circled it a bit and PLAYED THE LAST NOTE WITH HIS FOOT, WHAT EVEN.
- Gerard was SMILEY and told us we were really sweet, and told us to clap and dance a lot, obviously, and could NOT stop swaying his hips to Teenagers, because: TEENAGERS
ETA: - OH YES. Gerard's orgasm noises in DESTROYA? ORGASMIC, INDEED. NRGGGHGH. MY KNEES KIND OF MELTED RIGHT FROM UNDER ME *____________*
THEY WERE AWESOME. EVERYTHING IS A BLUR. It felt FAST, not because of how long the set was, but just the ENERGY of it all. It was a VERY different experience from the Great Bandom Adventure of Spring 2011, in that we didn't wait for hours and HOURS and then try to figure out if we could catch them afterwards, etc, etc. We got there. We got to our seats as they were already ON. And then they were done. No encore, no awkward waiting around. It really WAS wham, bam, thank you ma'am, and it was AWESOME. They're SUCH a fucking powerhouse.
So, yeah. NO REGRETS. Was this set shorter than all the others I've seen? Undoubtedly. Did I feel cheated in ANY WAY? FUCK NO. FUCK. NO. I can't even IMAGINE feeling that. They just - THEY ROCKED OUR FACES OFF. Punish-fucking doesn't even BEGIN to describe it. And when I couldn't see, I just DANCE DANCE DANCED my heart away, and IT. WAS. AWESOME.
I don't even regret this.
BEST. TOTE BAG. EVER.
\o/\o/\o/
*despite the fact that every time Pedicone came up on screen, I'd go, "HEY, PEDICONE" at the top of my lungs because I HAVE NO IMPULSE CONTROL and he was WEARING MERCH and IS MOTHERFUCKING HOT AS HELL OMG SERIOUSLY I HOPE HE PLAYS WITH THEM FOREVERRRRR