My Chemical Romance Launch North American Tour with Howlingly Chaotic Oklahoma City Show: Recap, Photos + Setlist
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The post My Chemical Romance Launch North American Tour with Howlingly Chaotic Oklahoma City Show: Recap, Photos + Setlist appeared first on Consequence.
Donning a green camo jacket and a face full of Heath Ledger-style Joker makeup, Gerard Way leads My Chemical Romance into their first North American tour in more than 900 days, often channeling the same chaotic energy of whom he decorated his visage. The fizzing static distortions in the intro to “The Foundations of Decay,” the surprise single released this May in support of the reunion tour, practically serve as white noise behind the jubilant roars of the crowd as the band takes the stage inside Oklahoma City’s Paycom Arena. (Grab tickets to the rest of MCR’s tour dates here.)
Clocking in at an epic six minutes, “The Foundations of Decay” features a bite-sized version of the same world-building story-craft often associated with the My Chemical Romance albums. Way’s soft-spoken early verse conjures the image of an old and battered general atop a hill, reflecting both on wounds both physical and emotional. The parallels between the protagonist and Way himself are clear, and longtime MCR fans know exactly how the singer got these scars.
Way’s words carry a personal connotation, but it is a sentiment that likely resonates with many gathered tonight. In the past few decades, the band’s core age demographic has lived through 9/11, recession, multiple wars, a global pandemic, and the ever-growing sense that society’s status quo could disintegrate at any moment — goldilocks conditions for the nihilist origin stories of a generation. So as the band transitions into the song’s howling crescendo, and a giant red curtain falls behind them to reveal a dystopian backdrop of crumbling city towers looming ragged over the fuming debris at ground zero, the stage is finally set. Here we are, at the cusp of oblivion. What happens now?
If the world is in its decay era, Way and MCR appear less interested in saving it and are instead content to go out laughing, crying, raging. MCR transition form their newest song into “Bury Me in Black” and the adrenaline-kicker “Give ‘Em Hell Kid,” aided by impressively precise percussion from new drummer Jarrod Alexander, who’s performing with the phrase “BIG DEATH ENERGY” scrawled in red across the front of the kick drum.
One of the most endearing aspects of MCR is their catalog rich with catchy choruses and melodies just begging for a singalong, and the band tosses an eager crowd its first bone with “Teenagers.” Lead guitarist and backing vocalist Ray Toro can’t help but smile as he eggs the fans on. Though the European leg of the reunion tour preceded the American dates, there is nothing like a home crowd; hearing a near-capacity audience recite a song’s every word back to the band is not a new experience for MCR, but this is the first time since the pandemic the members have heard it from an American audience. Aside from a few one-off reunion shows, it’s also their first full tour since 2012. Nostalgia’s comforting embrace hugs the entire room.
My Chemical Romance, photo by Mark Beemer
As the show continues onward, Way sinks deeper into a manic stage persona. Between several of the songs, he has been experimenting with low growling vocal tuners — mildly unsettling and nearly indecipherable. Way sheds the Army coat heading into the primal beat of “Destroya” followed by “Na Na Na,” which receives one of the biggest crowd reactions of the night, the stands shaking as fans bounce to the rhythm.
Way dedicates “Ghost of You” to an unnamed friend of the band who recently died, saying it had been a particularly difficult summer for the band. It is easily the most beautiful moment of the night when the lights cut off and the arena is lit only with the swaying twinkle of thousands of cell phone flashes. It’s a palette cleanser — both a transition from some of the set’s more hectic numbers and a sweet ode to the fallen.
At one point between songs, Way candidly elaborates on the trials of the past few months, describing a frustrating voice problem that forced him to seek the guidance of a vocal coach, and then tangentially relating his anger to a specific 1980s wrestling match between Hulk Hogan and Nikolai Volkoff. When Way finally catches himself rambling after close to five minutes, he explains that he has been really anxious about how he’ll sound on this tour, and has been blown away by the crowd’s amazing response thus far.
A 35-Year-Old Man Listens to My Chemical Romance’s The Black Parade for the First Time
“My point us, thank you so fucking much,” he declares. “Let’s fucking shut this place down!”
When the familiar keys of “Welcome to the Black Parade” begin, it is as if the fans have unexpectedly run into a dear but long-lost companion. Friends embrace. Tears are shed. And again, the mob dutifully performs every line, singing through a reflexive smile. As the song transitions into its midway breakdown, the burst of energy doubles as a celebration of this precious shared moment. The proceeding “Mama” casts a similar spell with its hypnotic gypsy-punk rhythm. To sway is compulsory; Toro gracefully wobbles and staggers around the stage as he plays, his movement guided by a pulsing hex of his own creation.
The proper set concludes on an upbeat note with “Vampire Money.” MCR perhaps intentionally selected the anti-sellout anthem as a promise to fans and a reminder to themselves why they play these shows in the first place. The group has certainly performed as if their artistic integrity was on the line. Way and company are physically spent — the Joker makeup that was so striking at the start of the show is now a runny, faint ghost across his face. As it the encore break arrives, Toro instantly releases his guitar onto the stage and darts off with the rest of the band. The facedown instrument whirs through the live amp in his absence.
My Chemical Romance, photo by Mark Beemer
When the band retakes the stage they seem rejuvenated — or maybe just newly under the possession of fresh demons. Before the encore begins, Way steps to the microphone and, for several minutes, embarks on a mad laughing fit, as if they just slammed shut the cell door inside Arkham Asylum. He grunts and mutters aimlessly, nearly swallowing the mic in the process.
Whichever spirits were in control must have left or gotten bored, as eventually MCR embark on the triumphant closer “I’m Not Okay” with flawless execution. The tips and tricks Way’s voice coach has edified him with are working. In the band’s swan song for the night, Way and MCR sound as good as they always have and we hope always will — a rare constant in our absurd era of decay.
It’s true — we’re not okay, and sometimes we can’t help but laugh as society caves in around us. But if My Chemical Romance has shown us one thing, it is that, on the march to inevitable demise, there is time for community, love, and a cackle before we finally meet fate.
Get tickets to My Chemical Romance’s 2022 North American reunion tour here.
My Chemical Romance, photo by Mark Beemer
Setlist:
The Foundations of Decay
Bury Me in Black (first performance since 2003)
Give ‘Em Hell, Kid
Tomorrow’s Money
Teenagers
Summertime
Bulletproof Heart
Mastas of Ravenkroft
DESTROYA
Na Na Na (Na Na Na Na Na Na Na Na Na)
The Ghost of You
This Is the Best Day Ever (first performance since 2005)
Welcome to the Black Parade
Mama
Boy Division
Our Lady of Sorrows
Famous Last Words
Encore
Vampire Money
I’m Not Okay (I Promise)
My Chemical Romance Launch North American Tour with Howlingly Chaotic Oklahoma City Show: Recap, Photos + Setlist
Ben Luschen
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