My Chemical Romance – A Rock Opera at Wembley Stadium

It’s a gloriously hot day in London on July 8th, but that doesn’t stop the black-clad hordes of teens and adults alike who descend on Wembley stadium for the highly anticipated return of the band who shaped an entire generation.

My Chemical Romance returned to London for a three date residency at the iconic Wembley stadium, as part of their Long Live The Black Parade European tour and they did so with their well known flair for the dramatic and storytelling.

Why just play The Black Parade, when you can instead turn into a West End-worthy production, filled with an auxiliary band, a star-studded cast of actors, lore building and more? Well obviously MCR chose the latter and delivered an exquisite rock opera in celebration of the 20th year anniversary of their most beloved album.

Hours before MCR are set to take the stage the fans are already being slowly introduced to the world of Draag, as everyone receive a piece of paper of an ominous red on black and vice versa, with Yea and Nay written on either side, accompanied by what looks like a Cyrillic translation.

Stadium screens project a bunch of “rules” on their displays, from nonsensical ones like “Those keeping calm must also carry on or suffer a penalty of 40 pounds” to more maudlin ones like “All ‘jokes’ must be cleared by the Ministry of Distractions”.

We are the being eased into the proceedings with Vera Lynn’s “We’ll Meet Again” followed by the Draag National Anthem “Over Fields” performed by Lucy Joy Altus on the B stage.

When the band enters, the cheers erupting from the crowd were probably the loudest I have ever heard in all my years of attending live events.

They start tearing through the iconic album with “The End.“, “Dead!” and “This is How I Disappear” throwing the crowd into a complete frenzy. The band is tighter than ever, the years clearly haven’t taken anything from them; On the contrary, they seem to know when to give every song a little more oomf as well as a little more space to breathe. The Draag Auxiliary band enriches the sound with extra strings and percussion, and even though they try to stay in character, you can see the smiles breaking open on everyone’s face as the crowds sings along to every word.

Before launching into “The Sharpest Lives”, Gerard gives us a little info on where we are in this mad timeline. This is the world of Draag, a totalitarian regime set somewhere in a distant future, and this is the 52nd regiment of The Black Parade. They of course dedicate the show to the mysterious figure we see taking a throne in the field, who we get to know as the Grand Immortal Dictator.

A podium, inscribed with the new MCR logo and set up as a lectern is then being quickly set up, before the band launches into the anthem of an entire generation. Nothing can quite prepare you for hearing the famous opening words of “Welcome to the Black Parade” live. First pumping, tears streaming and an energy that shows how much we had all stored that one inside of us, and waited for the moment to let it all out.

The fun is not over though, as now is the time for the crowd to make a decision, and elect between sparing and killing a group of people. The choice is widely leaning on the latter and the strangers on the B stage get taken out in an explosion of pyro.

Between the adrenaline infused songs, the slower paced ones like heartbreak anthem “I Don’t Love You“, almost Shakespearian “Cancer” and bleak yet beautiful “Disenchanted” slow things down for a few minutes, making room for more feeling to let out, as that was somehow even possible at this point.

The quiet doesn’t last for long, as we then get swept away with new live performance of fan favourite “Mama” and it’s extended version. Vaudeville-esque and worthy of a few awards on its own, the near ten minute rendition sees the stage transform more than once from flaming pyro, a literal man on fire running through the backline to World War II style displays projecting in the background. We get the newly added “Dagger” bridge which is every theatre kids fever dream and showcases just how well Gerard Way would actually suit a Broadway play, and Charlotte Kelso joins the stage as her character Sylvia to sing the part of the late and great Liza Minelli.

“Sleep” comes next, with it’s new intro “The Big Sky” and washes the entire stadium in flashes of neons, red and blue painting the infield as everyone screams the lyrics from somewhere deep inside their chest. Followed by “Teenagers” who turns everything into a mad dance party, the contrast between the two is almost dizzying but wholly received.

If Welcome to The Black Parade was an emotional attack on the crowd, the live rendition of “Famous Last Words” is one I will definitely remember for the rest of my life. Heartbreak makes room for defiance and sheer survival as 90 000 people scream the bridge “I am not afraid to keep on living / I am not afraid to walk this world alone“. Production wise it’s probably the most daring I’ve seen at this scale too, from the stage being fully engulfed in flames to projectiles flying across the infield before ending in a burst of fireworks, it’s almost impossible to know where to look and take it all in.

We get a surprise reprise of “The End.” before hidden track “Blood” plays as the Clerk returns as a Pierrot and dances around the stage and ends the whole production by, you guessed it, detonating a suicide bomb vest.

If the first set was all grandeur and theatrics, the second part of the evening sees the band play from the infield where the B stage has been set up. Followed by Clarice Jensen’s “From A to B” and a surprise rendition of “Romance” played by Clarice as the band walks on the second stage, the first live rendition since 2006, they take their spots, having shed the parade uniforms.

They give the crowd ten more songs, and playing in the round transforms the show altogether, from the sheer size of the first set to what looks more like a rehearsal with a bunch of friends watching.

They start with “Honey This Mirror Isn’t Big Enough for the Two of Us” which hasn’t been played live since 2010 and the crowd is back into a complete frenzy.

We get a surprise cover of Morrissey‘s “Jack the Ripper” played live for the first time since 2003, which sees the stadium lit up with phone torches as the band goes through the slower paced ballad.

The B setlist on Wembley’s night 1 does lean heavily on their second studio album Three Cheers For Sweet Revenge with classics such as “Cemetery Drive“, “Give ‘Em Hell, Kid” and the fan favourite “I’m Not Okay (I promise)” but we also get a few favourites from Danger Days, with “Planetary (GO!)“, “Destroya” and “Na Na Na“, the latter being an absolute joy to see live, especially the sea of jazz hands during the bridge.

There’s probably no better song to end the first night of a Wembley residency than “Helena” and it’s famous words “So Long and Goodnight” before washing the night sky in a blazing set of red fireworks.

I have been looking forward to these shows for the better part of a decade, and to get to see the band that shaped me, and an entire generation being so warmly welcomed was truthfully an experience I’ll never forget.