After a successful reunion show that took place back on Halloween in 2019, My Chemical Romance decided to announce a full fledge tour in January of 2020. Unfortunately, due to the pandemic, it was pushed to this year. The band that originates from Newark N.J. still consists of original members Gerard Way on vocals, Mikey Way on bass, Ray Toro on lead guitar and Frank Iero on rhythm guitar. They also have touring musicians Jarrod Aleander on drums and Jamie Muhoberac. There has been so much build up and maybe besides the reunion of Rage Against the Machine, this tour has created the most buzz surrounding it. We decided to see this for ourselves and flew out to the home of the Stanley Cup Champion Colorado Avalanche’s home arena (Ball Arena) to see what the buzz was about for ourselves.
The band is not sporting any new music and based their setlist off their 4 previous studio efforts. The band took to the stage with Gerard writing Swan Variation on the drum bass head before the band went into “The Foundations of Decay.” You can tell this show was going to be different from the exact moment the band took to the stage. Multiple screams of excitement filled the air along with many smiles too. The band had a terrific mix of tunes for the mostly goth (with a mix of punk) crowd in Denver. They pulled out some deeper tracks in “S/C/A/R/E/C/R/O/O/W” and “The Kids from Yesterday” for the audience. They dedicated “Black Parade” to Matt Taylor who was the art director for the project. What astounded me is that it didn’t matter what song was played, the crowd reaction pretty much stayed the same the entire night. That was the crowd kept moving and signing along throughout. There were no breaks. There was a consistent reaction to almost every word weather they were waving one arm up and down or jumping up and down or putting both arms up. It remained consistent throughout the entire set. I guess you can say the MCR army was in full force. At one point, Gerard had to ask the crowd to be nice and take a few steps back as people against the rail in front were getting uncomfortable. The fans obliged and the band continued with the show without incident. The hour and 40-minute set did not disappoint!
I saw firsthand what the Alternative/EMO (as in emotional) rock quartet can give to its audience. It’s been over a decade since the band has even been active. Will this be a one-time reunion? Time will tell but if you judge from what the band can still do, let’s hope that this stay is permanent one.
Setlist:
The Foundations of Decay
House of Wolves
I’m Not Okay (I Promise)
Give ‘Em Hell, Kid
The Ghost of You
NA NA NA (NA NA NA NA NA NA NA NA NA)
Planetary (GO!)
It’s Not a Fashion Statement, It’s a Fu*king Deathwish
Welcome to the Black Parade
Teenagers
Mama
Cemetery Drive
Vampires Will Never Hurt You
S/C/A/R/E/C/R/O/W
Famous Last Words
Helena
Encore:
Headfirst for Halos
The Kids from Yesterday
We would like to thank Lisa Nupoff, Bobbie Gale and Paige Owens from Mixed Media Works for the credentials to review the show.
