My Chemical Romance: Leading The Black Parade
Regardless of the band's migration from the "We're not emo" (but oh boy! they were) image onto a more traditional punk edge, tonight's audience was definitely still proudly part of The Black Parade. The SECC is like a scene from a Tim Burton movie with the odd appearance of The Crow.
Bringing their World Contamination Tour to town, the power punk professionals have stood the test of time (and recurring on-stage bottlings), their popularity high a decade after they appeared with their tales of woe and eye-liner to rival Ms Winehouse.
Striking hard tonight with a chaotic rendition of most recent single, Na Na Na (Na Na Na Na Na Na Na Na Na), it's evident early on that this is a dramatic show. Frontman Gerard Way is a natural story-teller, exuberant in facial expression and hand gestures, as theatrical as Lady GaGa's latest egg-scapade. From the safety of the parental perimeter the passion of fans is clear to see whilst cries of "Killjoys make some noise" from the stage are answered in an instant (much to the annoyance of wearily nagging parents).
Performing as a six-piece, the stage show is old school rock 'n' roll, with energy in excess replacing compelling visuals or an adventurous stage setup, aside from an odd image or bold statement on two large screens. This works, though the sound quality is a wall of noise with little clarity. Something is regained in quieter sections (which are few and far between), but in general tracks bleed into one another with any vocal dominance only happening during Way's most nasal warblings. Regardless, this doesn't stop the dedicated crowd chanting every word whilst dancing their angst away.
The show runs seamlessly with electronics and samples interspersed between tracks for delivery of the set as a complete package. During tracks like SING and Planetary (Go!), which for a brief second could fool you into thinking The Prodigy are about to hijack the stage, it doesn't matter how riotous the band are (or how glittery their guitars are for that matter), the focal point is snatched by Way. Performing on bended knees and addressing the crowd between vocals, he is the element which keeps the show interesting amongst the noise cloud.
Nearing the end of the set, the Queen influenced Welcome To The Black Parade causes widespread chaos before the rebellious guitar licks of Teenagers are dedicated to the fans, the 33 year old vocalist declaring, "This song isn't about us, it's about you." Thank goodness for that for, if it was any other way, he really would be kidding himself.
With diversity lost in tonight's performance, I get momentarily excited during pre-encore chants of "MC Hammer" only to realise that what I am actually hearing is "M-C-R." A rendition of Cancer, however, backed only by piano, is a pleasant surprise allowing an emotional delivery of the tortured ballad.
My Chemical Romance prove they're not simply a phase and provide a refreshing rock'n'roll ethic amongst a pop-saturated culture. With fury and mayhem at it's core though and an army of young fans I wonder just how long this rebellion will last.
