Killjoys Make Some Noise!
Its been three long years since My Chemical Romance last played London, a gig that saw a sold out O2 Arena crowd to administer the last rites The Black Parade, and as it turns out, what could have been a final farewell to the New Jersey band themselves. In the time that they've been gone Gerard Way and co have changed, the music scene has altered and their fans have grown up but that doesn't mean the fans have gone away; they're still here as passionate as ever and only too willing to welcome back the band that has meant so much to them for so long.
Tonight the theatrics and pomp of 'The Black Parade' are well and truly buried with My Chemical Romance unceremoniously taking to the stage that holds only the essentials. This is MCR laid bare and as the surge of cheers greets them its instantly clear that it is for their music the fans love them. New single 'Na Na Na' opens proceedings with unstoppable energy as the capacity Hammersmith crowd welcomes the band's latest track like an old friend whilst songs like 'Thank You For The Venom', 'Dead!' and 'Give 'Em Hell, Kid' still strike with equal quantities of aggression and vigour. Way commands the stage as ever, dominating everything as he thanks the crowd and reveals just how close the band came to not making it back whilst still managing to offer ample amount of carefree fun from the donning of masks provided from the crowd to his invitation to the first time boys in the crowd to take part in an old MCR tradition of swinging their shirts above their heads for 'You Know What They Do To Guys Like Us In Prison' and even getting two fans on stage to help sing 'Honey This Mirror Isn't Big Enough For The Two Of Us'.
Spanning their entire back catalogue, MCR insure all fans, old and new are pleased as 'Our Lady Of Sorrows', a track they haven't played for five years, holds its own alongside the mass crowd sing along of 'Welcome To The Black Parade' that threatens to drown out the band entirely. But tonight was also about the future with new tracks 'Planetray (GO!)' and 'The Only Hope For Me Is You' also making their UK debuts to an excited reception.
Taking to the stage alone, the now red haired Way again shows his gratitude to the fans, assuring them that MCR would be around for another ten years before ushering in the sobering simplicity and gentility of 'Cancer' leaving the crowd in awe ahead of the band's final return to stage with another new track, 'The Kids From Yesterday' as a means to tide them over before MCR return to the Capital once more.
Tonight Hammersmith got a glimpse of the future, one that is most definitely bulletproof and one that is surely destined to be heralded by Killjoys everywhere. 'The Black Parade' may be dead but 'Danger Days' looks set to have a hell of a time at its predessors wake.
Setlist
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