
From day one it has always felt like My Chemical Romance has had a very special connection with the fan base, and despite a 9-year break, it’s very clear that the bond they’ve had with their fans only seems to have gotten stronger over the time that they’ve been away. Tickets for their reunion tour sold out fairly quickly with extra shows being added left, right, and center. Fans with general admission pit tickets lined up around Toronto’s Scotiabank Arena for almost an entire day to try and get a front row barricade spot. At first glance, it was clear that the venue was packed to the brim with both old fans as well as ones that looked like they may have been too young to see them the last time they were touring. I feel like that’s something special to take note of as not many artists can say they still managed to grow exponentially and remain fairly relevant during a breakup.
I had the chance to catch them on both nights at Scotiabank Arena. The first as media and the second as a fan. One thing that I appreciated the most from being able to attend two shows was the fact that each night of the tour has had a different set list. Usually if different set lists happens, the artist tends to just keep a rotation of 2 or 3 variations of the set, but that wasn’t the case with MCR as it felt like they were trying to make each night a completely different show. They added in deep cuts such as ‘Our Lady of Sorrows’ and ‘Headfirst For Halos’ on night 1, while night 2 was treated to ‘It’s Not a Fashion Statement, It’s a Fucking Deathwish’ and ‘You Know What They Do to Guys Like Us in Prison’ – the latter two have not been played live since the Three Cheers For Sweet Revenge touring era. It really kept fans on their toes and made you want to catch as many shows on the tour as possible so you could see all of your favourite songs finally being played.
At the time of their breakup it felt very abrupt from the outside looking in but looking back on it now, the two times I had the chance to see them live (during the Danger Days era) it felt like they had lost their spark and didn’t want to be there. They all kind of just stood in place going through the motions and fans were just living off nostalgia of seeing them play their hits. Nothing compared to the performances I had grown up watching online. It was honestly a bit disappointing. But that was clearly not the case this time around as all four band members were seen moving around and seemingly having the time of their lives on stage. Frontman, Gerard Way, was really getting into the performance with his signature growls and screams while rolling on the stage floor. I can’t recall the last time that I’ve witnessed such a strong stage presence. He even dressed up for the occasion, hitting the stage in a skeleton costume on night 1 and a cat costume on night 2. Way also took a moment to dedicate ‘Hang ‘Em High’ to Keith Buckley of Every Time I Die, who was in the crowd the first night. He explained that Buckley was a close friend and the last time the band played the song was while they were on tour with ETID. On the second night he dedicated ‘Teenagers’ to Toronto’s Dilly Dally, who were friends with guitarist, Frank Iero, and was opening up for them on a couple of the other dates on the tour. I thought that was a nice personal touch compared to the usual spiel you’d get at a show.
Their 90 minute set flew by and they closed out both nights with their hit ‘Helena’ in the encore. I can’t stress enough how excited I am to finally have MCR back in my life as a touring band with new music. This tour felt like a celebration of the band’s career while giving fans a taste of what is to come in the future. I’ll be eagerly awaiting their return to Toronto.
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Be sure to check out Live Nation Ontario to see all of the other great acts that they will be bringing to Toronto this year.