MCR at the Apollo

Last weekend I was lucky enough to see the return of My Chemical Romance in their first UK show for three years, previewing their new album Danger Days: The True Lives Of The Fabulous Killjoys.

As a long time MCR fan, but having never seen them perform live before, the Hammersmith Apollo was a perfect venue, feeling intimate yet big enough for the pompousness and theatrics that has come to be expected from My Chemical Romance, especially when performing as their former alter-egos, The Black Parade.

All Photos from Nick Clark, Gigwise

As the first date on their World Contamination Tour, no-one was sure what to expect. Would they play the whole new album, or would they mix it up with some classics?

Thankfully for the fans, it was the latter.

I arrived at the Apollo just after 7:30pm, and was greeted by a queue which seemed to go miles past the venue. Thankfully the queue moved quickly and just after 8pm I was inside the beautiful Art Deco styled venue. After visiting the merchandise stand, I caught the end of Glaswegian support band Twin Atlantic, and moved into position for the main event.

Appearing on stage just after 9pm, MCR were greeted onstage to deafening screams from the crowd, varying in age from early teens to over 50s! They kicked the gig off with lead single from the new album ‘Na Na Na’, a perfect song to get everyone singing along thanks to its catchy (if a bit repetitive!) lyrics.

Gerard Way was in a talkative mood, telling fans that it felt great to be back on stage. He said: “I’m not going to be earnest tonight but it took a lot for us to make it here, stepping out here just before it felt like a big, fat fucking reward.”

Gerard's New Hair

His new red hair is a big step away from the bleached style he sported in The Black Parade era, and the change in hairstyle was also reflected in the style of the new songs.

The next new song to be played was entitled ‘Planetary (GO!)’, a dancey track that on first impressions was very good. Gerard certainly looked like he was having fun on stage performing it. Also performed was ‘The Only Hope for Me is You’, which had been floating around the internet for a few weeks so a lot of fans already knew the lyrics. This song felt very reminiscent to something from 30 Seconds to Mars.

The set contained songs from all four of MCR’s albums, with a rare appearance from ‘Our Lady of Sorrows’ from their debut album, which he claimed they had not performed live for five years. For ‘Honey, This Mirror Isn’t Big Enough for the Two of Us’, two lucky female twins were invited on stage to sing, instantly becoming the envy of the whole crowd. Despite trying to start singing too early (several times!) they did a good job.

The biggest responses from the crowd obviously came from ‘Welcome to The Black Parade’, ‘Teenagers’ and ‘Famous Last Words’, as well as their breakthrough hit ‘I’m Not Okay’, but it was nice to see them include some older songs, showing they haven’t forgotten their roots.

Bassist Mikey Way

The main set came to an end with the emotional ‘Cancer’, which the whole band minus Gerard and the live pianist leave the stage for. It was certainly heart-wrenching, bringing on tears for many members of the audience.

The whole band returned to finish with an encore of their final new song for the night, ‘The Kids from Yesterday’. This song was very U2-sounding. I was slightly disappointed that this was all there was in the encore, but I put that down to not knowing the words to sing along yet and am sure that once familiar, it will become an excellent show-closer.

The sound balance in the venue wasn’t perfect, with fans sometimes out-singing the band and Gerard’s microphone breaking during the encore, but as the first gig of the tour there are bound to be teething issues. But overall it was an excellent first experience of My Chemical Romance, showcasing their diverse talents from the post-hardcore I Brought You My Bullets, You Brought Me Your Love;  the ’emo’ pop-punk offerings from Three Cheers for Sweet Revenge; theatrical classic rock from The Black Parade and the slightly synthy Alt-Rock direction they are going in for Danger Days.

I can’t wait for the new album, and from the impressions that I’ve read , it’s gonna be a good one.

SET LIST

‘Na Na Na’
‘Thank You For The Venom’
‘Dead!’
‘Cemetery Drive’
‘Planetary (GO!)’
‘I’m Not Okay (I Promise)’
‘Give ‘Em Hell, Kid’
‘Our Lady of Sorrows’
‘I Don’t Love You’
’You Know What They Do To Guys Like Us In Prison’
The Only Hope For Me Is You’
‘Honey, This Mirror Isn’t Big Enough for the Two of Us’
‘This Is How I Disappear’
‘Welcome To The Black Parade’
‘Helena’
‘Mama’
’Teenagers’
’The Ghost Of You’
‘Famous Last Words’
’Sleep’
‘Cancer’
‘The Kids From Yesterday’

~ by paulmuchmore on November 2, 2010.