My Chemical Romance explodes in LA
Simply put, My Chemical Romance was so good it was scary as the New Jersey rock quintet unveiled its epic new album “The Black Parade” Tuesday, a day before it debuted at No. 2 on the Billboard 200.
Attribute none of that scariness to the fact that it was Halloween or that the band’s predominantly Hot Topic-outfitted audience was decked out in full holiday regalia. Attribute it all to the fact that the group unleashed a live litany of new-millennial musical mash-ups that could melt even the meanest monster.
In place of the radio-ready rebellion and homogenized emotions that run rampant through the bulk of today’s pop-punk hit machines, My Chemical Romance delivered songs that swing, stomp, swoon and slam, sometimes all at the same time.
The fragile opening of “The End” introduced the band in front of a black curtain, the members’ faces done up in black-and-white voodoo skull paint reminiscent of the Misfits, all wearing black marching band jackets. The curtain dropped to reveal “The Black Parade” scrawled across a backdrop, as frontman Gerard Way launched into a high-pitched shriek amid the frantic pacing and echoing sing-along chorus of “Dead!” The infectiously melodic “This Is How I Disappear” followed, completing the trio of songs that open the new album.
“Happy Halloween! Did you really think we were going to wear costumes?” Way declared before launching into “I’m Not Okay (I Promise).” “Brothers and sisters, we wear costumes every f—ing day.” Cliched and campy, maybe, but there was something inescapably earnest about Way’s tone. So much so that not even the requisite “it’s us against them” speech that preceded “Give ‘Em Hell, Kid” came across as contrived. The music was more than just the overplayed punk-goth-emo amalgam; it was rejuvenated and raw, and blended all the best that the creepy-core blend of music has to offer, with a raucous classic-rock twist.
The new “Mama” sounded like a modern-day sailing of the Doors’ “The Crystal Ship,” with guitarists Ray Toro and Frank Iero taking a more percussive approach to their playing than on the punk rock mosh-pit favorite “Thank You for the Venom,” the rockabilly tryst “You Know What They Do to Guys Like Us in Prison” and the straight-ahead rock of closer “Helena.”
It was the encore opener “Cancer” that turned the most heads. Delivered acoustically, the song provided a jarring break in an otherwise full-throttle set. But even the somber subject matter couldn’t dampen what was one of the most memorable shows in recent memory — a Halloween gala that was truly a treat.
Reuters
