My Chemical Romance: The Return of the Black Parade
Photos By Kat Tabor
July 11, 2025 - Seattle, WA
November 15, 2024, was a blood bath. No one was physically injured, but wallets were certainly wounded. Fans lucky enough to score tickets for My Chemical Romance’s “Long Live the Black Parade” tour paid the price, literally. Miraculously, I secured three for the Seattle opener at T-Mobile Park. Though not in the GA pit like I’d hoped, our floor seats were front row in a section near the b-stage, a detail that would dramatically shape the experience. Even more pivotal was a fan project I joined in June. That group chat evolved into bracelet swaps, photo card decorating, and, most importantly, real friendships.
On July 11, Pioneer Square looked like a sea of black and red from above. Whether full-time emos or nostalgic for a "phase," fans turned up dressed to impress. Lines snaked around each stadium entrance; some had camped overnight for GA. Even those who arrived at 6:00 a.m. made it to barricade. The merch booth was on a separate city block and wrapped around it entirely. People had waited over two hours just for a hoodie or t-shirt. Street vendors hustled Seattle dogs and bottled water, while a few opportunists sold venue-safe bags for those caught off guard by the baggage policy.
Outside of T-Mobile Park is a statue of former Mariner Ken Griffey Jr. This bronze icon was the marker for the fan project, in which we would be given small Ziploc bags full of individually cut blue pieces of paper. These papers had instructions for the fan project, started by @bulletzdeathwish on TikTok. I was assigned to spread out the confetti-sized pieces of paper to the concertgoers in my section. In response to my pieces of paper, I was given several freebies including an emo Gerard Way sticker and many friendship bracelets. The alternative community is often mocked by outsiders, and certainly sees its own fair share of infighting. But emos ultimately band together and lift one another up, like any other fandom. People excitedly speculated about what the extermination posters of criminals and mysterious rules on the screens flanking the concert stage, appearing both in English and a Cyrillic-esque language created for The Black Parade’s lore called Keposhka—could mean for the show and the story of The Black Parade at large. The mysterious signs we were given upon entrance to the venue helped enhance these discussions. One side of the sign is red and reads “YEA,” including the word in Keposhka as well. The other side is black and reads “NAY,” also featuring the Keposhka word. This pre-show exchange of goodies, the long snaking lines, the overpriced merchandise, and rampant lore discussions all harken to a sort of emo comic con.
The “Long Live the Black Parade” tour has its own unique hook. The long-speculated, and at one point overtly teased MCR5 has never been released. Unlike the band’s previous tour in 2022, and its show dates before lockdown in 2019 and 2020, “Long Live the Black Parade” is not simply a series of concerts for emos to finally listen to My Chemical Romance live yet again. Many emos from Gen Z and onward thought they would never get to hear MCR live, period. The band broke up in 2013, with members turning to other projects like guitarist Frank Iero’s band The Stomachaches and Gerard Way’s return to comics. With the band back together, those previous shows acted as a reintroduction to the world. The sets featured staple My Chemical Romance hits across all four major albums, with deep cuts alternating between shows. But this time, “Long Live the Black Parade” stops in only ten locations, and it’s an entirely different beast.
This shift is entirely because of the band’s artistic vision and notorious theatricality. Spearheaded by frontman and lead singer Gerard Way, The Black Parade is known as My Chemical Romance’s first rock opera. This isn’t entirely true, Three Cheers for Sweet Revenge is technically also a concept album, but The Black Parade is an all-in project. All of the promotional material, music videos, and the album’s original tour tie in with The Black Parade’s story. In contrast, My Chemical Romance was a bit more loosey-goosey with how the story at the heart of Three Cheers was portrayed in promotional material, with music videos having their own concepts. When The Black Parade was released, the band took the stage not as My Chemical Romance, but as their alter ego: the Black Parade. Originally, the band represented a group that ushered souls from the world of the living to the world of the dead. This band takes the album’s protagonist, the Patient, through his journey to the afterlife in the album’s most popular track, “Welcome to the Black Parade.” In order to understand the “Long Live the Black Parade” tour, having this context is the bare minimum. Right before the tour was announced, My Chemical Romance posted odd promotional images and a video depicting a dictator stepping out to a roaring crowd. This sets up the tour, as My Chemical Romance is not the tour’s headliner, it is the Black Parade.
In fact, this is what my friends and I were told when we got to our seats. In addition to our floor wristbands, we were given an extra band since we were in the first row of the b-stage. Our tickets allowed us to go to the barricade of b-stage once My Chemical Romance were set up at it. A security guard told us about a mysterious second opener that turned out to be the Black Parade performing on the main stage—the show that had been advertised. It automatically became clear to us that we would be hearing My Chemical Romance at the b-stage, performing tracks not on The Black Parade.
But the b-stage was not empty for the entirety of the Black Parade’s set. To herald their arrival into the world of the living, a blind woman in a red gown, Marianne, was ushered to the stage by soldiers in military garb to sing the national anthem of DRAAG. Instead of their positions as heralds to the afterlife, the Black Parade now acts as propaganda agents for the country of DRAAG and their mannequin-like Dictator, who sat in a throne in the sound booth. This lore actually traces back to the final show of the original Black Parade tour in Mexico City. Marianne sang the following lyrics:“Over fields that light the fire in our hearts that burns true. Under wheels of might we cherish our skies, never blue. Like a baby’s fists are broken then grown strong enough to choose to pick up the sword of doom. We in DRAAG have learned to prosper in the gloom, to die under the bloom.”
The final notes of the anthem easily melded into “The End.”, the first track on The Black Parade. Gerard Way, Ray Toro, Mikey Way, and Frank Iero all joined the stage in black military jackets. For a few tracks, the performance unfolded with expected theatrics, working through the Black Parade tracklist in order. But “Welcome to the Black Parade” is where things truly went off the rails. Gerard Way, entirely in character, spoke in an Eastern European accent, praising his glorious country. He reminded the audience of their signs and called for participation in democracy. At the b-stage, four hostages with bags on their heads knelt before four armed DRAAG soldiers. With a sea of “NAY” signs visible, the four hostages were “executed” with pyrotechnics. “Thank you very much for participating in democracy,” Way declared.
This shocking display gave way to “I Don’t Love You” and “House of Wolves.” A violin arrangement transformed “Cancer” into a heart-wrenching moment. You could hear sobs throughout the stadium. But those three tracks were the only reprieve before the lore surged back. The band skipped “Teenagers” and instead launched into “Mama.”
Emos near the venue the night before heard soundchecks featuring a new verse in “Mama,” now performed live. Before introducing Marianne again, Way delivered the “Daggers” verse. Some lines were unintelligible, but here’s what I caught:
“I’ve got a secret. We’ve got a song. Slim as a sliver, not very long. And if you like it, blow us a kiss. It’s nearly started, it goes like this. A dagger, a dagger. Please fetch me a dagger, for all of our treasonous deeds. A delicate matter. Yes, trust me, a dagger, is just what this plan of ours needs. We’ll follow the script to the letter. Abandon his corpse in the sea. You can’t see the land with the sun in your eye, [?]. Yes, trust me, a dagger, is just what this plan of ours needs. We walk in the park in the fall. They’d laugh and we’d point at them all. With tears in our eyes, we collapse on the crosses, and said ‘Death be the son of us all.’”
Marianne returned to sing the operatic outro of “Mama.” Pyro flared. A man ran across the stage engulfed in flames. I felt the heat from hundreds of feet away. The crowd screamed as nuclear visuals filled the screen during “Sleep.” Despite the drama, the show continued. After “Teenagers”, the Inspector slapped Gerard Way for taunting him. It became clear: the Black Parade didn’t want to be DRAAG’s face—and they'd be punished for resistance.
“Disenchanted” is one of the slower tracks on The Black Parade. Since concertgoers knew the entire album would be performed, @bulletzdeathwish decided this would be the perfect track for the fan project. As the opening notes of “Disenchanted” began, thousands of fans turned on their flashlights and held them behind the tiny blue confetti they’d been handed earlier. T-Mobile Park transformed into a glowing sea of white and blue light, tears once again falling from the eyes of the audience.
But “Famous Last Words” has always been the heart of The Black Parade. The emo subculture has a reputation, sometimes earned, sometimes not, for being closely tied to mental illness and emotional struggle. Regardless, the music of My Chemical Romance has carried thousands through pain, grief, and depression. “Famous Last Words” is a crucial anthem. 47,000 people screamed along to its refrain: “I am not afraid to keep on living. I am not afraid to walk this world alone.” My friends and I were shown on the screen during that moment, tears in our eyes, shouting the words that have kept so many of us alive.
“Famous Last Words” is technically the final song on The Black Parade, and many in the crowd assumed the show was over. But then: the missile dropped. Gerard Way and the band returned briefly to reprise “The End.” The Inspector, now dressed as a Pierrot clown, brandished a silver dagger and slit Gerard Way’s throat. Way crawled across the stage, “dying” dramatically in the outline of a taped body on the floor. The rest of the band had bags thrown over their heads and were dragged off. DRAAG had won. The Black Parade was dead.
But the Inspector remained—at least for a moment. The band’s secret bonus track, “Blood,” began to play. In the early 2000s, CD listeners discovered this rousing, twisted little anthem by leaving their discs running past the end. Now, the Inspector lip-synced it live as Gerard’s voice filtered in from offstage. At the final refrain, he unzipped his Pierrot costume to reveal bombs strapped to his chest. He shouted “I’m the kind of human wreckage that you love!”—and “exploded.” The stage went black.
Then: silence.
The haunting sound of a cello rose through the stadium. Clarice Jensen, alone on the b-stage, began to play. Around me, fans buzzed with disbelief. The theory was true, we were at the barricade for My Chemical Romance.
The band re-emerged to thunderous applause. They were no longer in costume. Gerard Way still wore his military pants and suspenders, but the Black Parade characters were gone. Way thanked the crowd and announced they’d be playing My Chemical Romance songs. The first? “I’m Not Okay (I Promise)”, a teenage anthem for the ages. The crowd erupted.
Then came “Our Lady of Sorrows.” The noise intensified. For years, I Brought You My Bullets, You Brought Me Your Love was unavailable to stream or buy. That made this even more special. The band played two songs off of Bullets, the other being “Vampires Will Never Hurt You.”
Most of the encore setlist featured non-Black Parade classics: “The Ghost of You” from Three Cheers for Sweet Revenge, “Planetary (GO!)” from Danger Days: The True Lives of the Fabulous Killjoys, and others. But it was the deep cuts that sent fans into overdrive. On the drive to Seattle, I’d listened to the Black Parade B-Sides, especially “Heaven Help Us.” And now, just six hours later, I was hearing it live. It was unreal.
The most joyful moment of the night came when Gerard Way turned to the crowd and asked, “Why are your flashlights blue? Is it like a new iPhone update? Can my phone do that too?” Our group chat lost its mind. He had noticed the fan project. I screamed “FAN PROJECT!” from the barricade to no avail, but someone surely told him later. The band eventually closed the show with “Helena,” sending us off with the final words: “So long and good night.”
The “Long Live the Black Parade” tour is two shows in one. Between the full performance of The Black Parade and a ten-song encore at the b-stage, My Chemical Romance delivered a 25-song marathon, the longest set in the band’s history. For those who lost the Ticketmaster war, it stings. But those who made it in? We got our money’s worth and then some. However, controversy has followed the tour. Some casual fans are shocked by the political messaging or violent staging and are reselling their tickets. Others are triggered by the show’s intensity, not out of disagreement with its message, but due to personal sensitivities. Either way, the experience isn’t for the faint of heart. But My Chemical Romance has always been political. The band itself was born in the wake of 9/11, after all.
Gerard Way promised the show would evolve. While the central narrative will stay the same, smaller details will change from city to city. The b-stage setlists will vary too. Some staples like “I’m Not Okay (I Promise)” and “Na Na Na (Na Na Na Na Na Na Na Na Na)” may remain consistent. But for those hoping to hear “Heaven Help Us” or “Bury Me in Black” live, this may have been your only shot.
It takes an enormous amount of theatricality, coordination, and storytelling to pull off this tour. That explains the week-long breaks between shows, and the limited number of cities. My Chemical Romance has returned in full glory, and so has the Black Parade. Even if MCR5 never arrives, one thing is clear: we are not afraid to keep on living. And the Black Parade marches on.
Photos By Kat Tabor
