Culture
Long Live The Black Parade: My Chemical Romance conquers Chicago’s Soldier Field
By: Nicholas Kobe
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CHICAGO, Illinois (WOUB) – On October 7, 2007, New Jersey rock band My Chemical Romance (MCR) declared at a concert in Mexico City that “The Black Parade is Dead,” ending the saga of their 2006 magnum opus The Black Parade.
The Black Parade was so dead, in fact, that when the band released The Black Parade Is Dead!—a live album featuring recordings from two shows on their Black Parade World Tour—some physical editions even included death certificates for the album and for the Sgt. Pepper’s–style alter egos the band adopted during the tour.
Following this climax, MCR released one more album in 2010, Danger Days: The True Lives of the Fabulous Killjoys, before disbanding in 2013. The band then announced their reunion in 2019, toured the world, and released a single, 2022’s The Foundations of Decay. As nostalgia for the band grew with each passing year, the kids who grew up in that era continued to champion MCR as one of the best rock bands of all time and The Black Parade as a true classic.
Surprisingly, then, when the news came that this was leading to Long Live The Black Parade, a celebratory stadium tour and resurrection of The Black Parade, reactions were mixed. Some were sick of nostalgia-based album tours. Others had hoped the band would finally answer their prayers for a new studio album after 15 years.
As for me, I held onto my excitement, trusting that Long Live The Black Parade would be more than a rehash of old ground. I was right—and even more, MCR surpassed every expectation with what I can confidently call the most incredible live show I’ve ever witnessed, proven in full by their triumphant performance at Soldier Field on Friday.
Before MCR’s headliner set, however, we must address the opening band: DEVO.
While there’s minimal overlap between the sound of MCR and the infectious, danceable synths of DEVO, the band’s conceptual edge, focusing on humanity’s “de-evolution,” fits right in. The band’s lyrical themes clash with their extremely accessible music to explore the idea of complacency and societal regression. On one hand, it’s a shame for the state of the world that this felt more relevant than ever, but as a concert experience, it let this classic band feel anything but antiquated.
DEVO’s set was nothing short of magical. The band ripped through new wave classic after classic with the precision you’d expect from a band of this stature.
To the uninitiated, these men with their robotic movements set to boppy synths might seem “cringe.” But those people clearly don’t know how to have fun.
Everything that makes DEVO’s theatrics great applies to their music tenfold. Somehow, DEVO found a way to create one of the single most danceable hours of music I’ve ever experienced, while also wowing me with their superb musicianship.
As the last notes of Freedom of Choice rang out and “Fight the Power” lit up the LED screens, the band’s ability to marry punk-rock-ish commentary with some of the greatest dance songs of all time truly sank in. DEVO proved to be the perfect marriage of style and substance, serving as a stark reminder not only of music’s meaning but also of the joy it can bring.
MCR took the stage, and the haunting world-building intro gave way to the familiar chords of The End. The night’s biggest takeaway was already clear: MCR has aged like fine wine.
Gerard Way’s vocals have only grown stronger since The Black Parade. He still carries that perfect balance of a unique, nasally high end wrapped in a full, warm tone, but now he’s more emotive than ever—and he’s even mastered an alarmingly good black-metal-adjacent scream. His vocal brilliance only became clearer as the night went on: not only did he stay consistently excellent, but he also sold the discomfort of his character’s (The Patient’s) plight during The Black Parade half of the show, before cutting loose in the second. The finale drove it home when Gerard brought out one of his icons, Billy Corgan, who, despite sounding better than the last time I saw him, was still sung under the table by Gerard.
Ray Toro and Frank Iero remain criminally underrated, even though they’re one of the best guitar duos since Dave Murray and Adrian Smith. Ray’s shredding is awe-inspiring live, while Frank’s use of octave chords to trace Gerard’s vocal melodies enhances both the melodic and rhythmic backbone of the songs. Rhythmically, Mikey Way holds steady as the band’s rock while matching nearly all of his brother’s onstage energy. Touring drummer Jarrod Alexander and keyboardist Jamie Muhoberac round out the sound perfectly, adding depth without overshadowing the core four.
In terms of story, a “sequel” to The Black Parade was never going to be an easy task. Its vague and open ending never required a continuation. With this tour, MCR doesn’t follow up on the story of The Patient and his complicated life; instead, the band—The Black Parade, which still acts as a harbinger of death—is now trapped in a perpetual cycle of repetition. They relive not only a story they “killed” years ago but also bring death to others through forced servitude to a fascist regime known as DRAAG.
This narrative expands on The Black Parade’s original concept in a new and exciting way. Rather than altering the implications or core of the 2006 story, the band reframes it within a broader context. Their focus on discomfort and resistance lets MCR weave in themes of nostalgia and political defiance, meaningfully adding to their story without undoing the original.
After The Black Parade’s wild conclusion and an interlude, MCR returned for their “second act.” Once “out of character,” the band’s personality came alive. Their closer proximity to both fans and each other on a central stage pulled MCR down from the rock opera heights and allowed their natural presence to take over.
Part of the spontaneity of this segment came from the fact that everything in the MCR backlog was fair game. Of course, the hits appeared, but the band also dove into deep cuts that thrilled die-hard fans. As mentioned before, the show closed with Billy Corgan of The Smashing Pumpkins joining them for “Bullet with Butterfly Wings.” The Chicago-exclusive t-shirt gave this away, and while I’m not fond of Corgan’s live vocals, the moment clearly meant the world to MCR, making it an emotionally cathartic finale to a massive show.
What MCR achieved with the Long Live The Black Parade Tour is essentially every band’s dream.
They went from dingy basements, playing loud and messy music, to world-famous arena rock gods without losing their identity or authenticity. It’s the kind of dream that should be impossible, yet MCR pulled it off flawlessly.
No matter what comes next, this tour proves that MCR’s legacy is safe. The title sums it up best: Long Live The Black Parade. After a night like this, there’s no doubt that for everyone in attendance, MCR’s memory will carry on.