"You people have no idea how hard it is to stand up here in front of all of you with a zipper that won’t stay up." Not exactly what you expect to hear during a rock show from Gerard Way, lead singer of rock darlings My Chemical Romance. Here's a kid from Jersey who didn’t make it as an artist so decides to start a band (yes, MCR was a plan B, if you can believe it) subsequently and after a lot of hard touring becomes the lead singer of one of the most successful rock bands around. They've gained respect from peers, gotten kudos as well as career advice from Dave Grohl (maybe not so much eyeliner) and are admired by kids, tweens, teenagers and adults. Not everyone has the chutzpah to do this. Not everyone has the ability to make grown frat boys take off their shirt and twirl them around on command or do jazz hands like he did at Warped in ’05, back when they weren’t even THAT successful yet. Not everyone can order a swelling audience of hundreds in a Chicago summer day move back from the stage en masse on the count of three. I have seen Gerard do those very things. Read further and I’ll explain why I think besides making amazing music, they are so loved by so many different kinds of people.
Saturday night, I’m at The Pageant watching MCR at one of their last Black Parade performances. I’m standing in the photo pit watching the rock stars that J and I have kind of watched grow up (yeah, I feel like we did), explode onto the stage KILLING it. The lead singer with the cheek bones off which everything hangs, strikes a triumphant pose right above me. I’m in heaven. I cannot believe this shy nail-biter J and I met at the Oasis show in 2005 is emanating such power to his sold out audience and I’m able to see it all close-up. I’ve photographed a HIM show or two and now there’s a lead singer who has his audience eating out of his hand, but Gerard Way...there’s no comparison to his energetic charisma. I've seen these guys several times and every time is like the first. He’s working the audience, he’s looking at everyone’s eyes, he’s shaking his hips, he’s screaming at the top of his lungs...then, I see him look down in horror to find that his fly is down. Right in front of a sold out Pageant. He turns around quickly, fixes the wardrobe malfunction, laughs embarrassingly at Ray Toro and then keeps going without missing a beat.
Throughout the night, that zipper was going to keep going as well. Down, that is. These moments are what my former coworker A would have called “Bridget Jones moments.” Quite true. In an instant, Gerard Way, without even trying, found himself breaking down the barrier between rock star artifice and the common man who must suffer embarrassing experiences. Without trying, Gerard and his band not only tell you they know what it’s like to not always be a winner, but occasionally show you. It’s an extremely endearing quality that characterizes the quintet from New Jersey (can't forget Chicagoan drummer, Bob Bryar). To me, while the music hits you like a bullet (through a flock of doves- yes I went there), what makes them so attractive to people is the fact that they deliver a show with an unassuming, genuine love of the artform. They're performing onstage to connect with you (and yes, to save your life- though I'm so sick of hearing that). Every person in that venue, a 30-something corporate chick, a mom, a dad, a jock, or just some drunk midwesterner, felt connected to that band that night. As long as I've followed these guys, they've genuinely connected to a lot of people, be it through music, through interviews, or excellent showmanship. Not everyone's into the black-clad look, but for whatever reason will find something evocative in the music or the performance. MCR work it, and they work it well.Despite the embarrassing wardrobe malfunction, Gerard made light of it and the band continued on to complete a 2+ hour set that included b-sides and crowd favorites with as much energy as when they were still hungry- which was not that long ago. St. Louisans are always a great audience and they gave it right back.
Set list:
This is How I Disappear
Dead!
Cemetery Drive
Give ‘Em Hell, Kid
My Way Home is Through You (B-side Famous Last Words)
The Black Parade
I Don’t Love You
House of Wolves
Never Told You What I Do For a Living
Heaven (B-side Welcome to the Black Parade)
Mama
You Know What They Do To Guys Like Us In Prison
Headfirst for Halos
Kill All Your Friends (B-side FLW)
I’m Not Okay
Teenagers
Famous Last Words
Cancer
__________
Desert Song (from Life on the Murder Scene)
Desolation Row (Bob Dylan cover)
Helena
Illustrating my point of their relatability to many, the audience consisted of a potpourri of onlookers. In the pit were teenagers, whose worried mothers and fathers peppered the outskirts of the area looking for signs of their kids. Very soon I saw a lot of parent-looking people waving their arms and yelling the songs out as well... I saw a female fan who had painted X’s on her eyes like Frank Iero used to do a few years ago. There was a regular schmo who practically sang every line of Cancer in my ear. Behind us were two men, one 6’4” guy who wore a Chicago Cubs baseball cap and another shorter version of his kind who sported a permanent beer and a cigarette- both looked as though they had rolled out of a baseball game and happened to find themselves inside a Tim Burton musical. For some reason, it reminded me of a story J told me about her husband H and his army buddies- how one night they had a pass to go to the movies and paid money to see A Nightmare Before Christmas not realizing what it was. Soon I realized they knew exactly where they were. One of them sang every word from every Black Parade song and the other sang every word to Helena TO his friend, who had closed his eyes and disappeared into his repressed imagination.
This last leg of tour will precede a two year break, apparently, which is disappointing, but I think we all get it. Gerard introduced Helena with a request that we all do something creative we love- start a band, write something, or draw, etc. Sweetheart, you’ll never know how much of an inspiration you were to J and me 3 years ago... UNBELIEVABLE-K
