After the world-shaking news of their 2019 reunion, My Chemical Romance have made it to the UK to cause tears and joy in equal measure. On May 27th they took a trip to Warrington, Jake Longhurst reviews.
After having seen the djent masters Meshuggah the night before, I awoke on May 27th feeling like I’d been in a car wreck, in the best possible way. I was now in demand of something a little more performative, with some more showmanship and singalong moments. I ate breakfast just before leaving the house to make sure I had as much food as possible before the long day ahead, and packed very light, then left a little before midday to catch my train to Warrington.
The train journey passed uneventfully, with the journey from Nottingham station to Warrington Central passing fairly quickly. Upon arrival however I instantly realised quite how big this was going to be, with hordes upon hordes of people getting off the train all dressed to the nines with chains, spikes, platform boots, every colour of dyed hair possible, and so many different styles of makeup it was nigh on impossible to tell whether some of them weren’t professional make-up artists. I chose to walk the 25 minutes to Victoria Park, and I chose wisely as I managed to speed walk my way past many other fans, guaranteeing myself a smaller queue!
After my short but enjoyable walk, I found the end of the queue and was sat there for about an hour and a half before it started to move just before 5, and then it shot off towards the entrance taking me no longer than five minutes from starting to walk to getting in the venue! I then jogged towards the stage as I wanted to cement a solid spot to watch the whole evening, and found a good spot to watch the rest of the night's entertainment unfold.
At 5:30 sharp, the first support band Crawlers came on stage. I wasn’t aware until I recognised the lead singer, but I actually had heard some of their music before! They were excellent, providing plenty of energy and fun, making their spot as opening act of such a prestigious line-up a well deserved one. They have a small tour round the UK in November that I for one will certainly be trying to get to!
Starcrawler were next up at around 6:30, taking the stage bringing their LA brand of rock’n’roll to the north of England. They mixed the sleaze of old with more modern songwriting, and they were an entertaining act to watch, albeit for me not quite as much fun as Crawlers were, however still deserving of their slot on the bill.
''They mixed the sleaze of old with more modern songwriting, and they were an entertaining act to watch''
Up to this point the crowd had been quite stagnant, without much movement anywhere, aside from a bit of jumping during the first two sets, and when the DJ who was keeping us entertained between acts put on the Venga Boys classic We Like To Party, it went down a treat. However once the ever so slightly road-worn Frank Turner turned up with his backing band The Sleeping Souls to play what would be his 2,626th show I was not worried about a stagnant crowd any longer. Opening with the brilliant Four Simple Words, without any introduction at all, already had my energy through the roof, and upon goading the crowd with the simple yet incredibly effective phrase ''come on Warrington, I’ve seen smaller crowds move way more than this'' I managed to end up dead centre of a cracking mosh pit.
His whole set filled the entire crowd with a peculiar energy, as Frank Turner played with a joie de vivre that I’ve never seen from a live act before, putting out a zest for life and live music that was truly wonderful to behold. I was ever so slightly worried that he may steal the show with his powerful set, playing tracks such as Non Serviam, the lead single from his latest album FTHC, and possibly my favourite track of his Recovery off of his excellent 2013 album Tape Deck Heart. Finishing with a song about rock’n’roll saving the listeners soul, called I Still Believe, was very apt under the circumstances, and as he walked off stage I was thoroughly excited now for My Chemical Romance.
The wait was tense, as unlike the rest of the evening there was no DJ, rather some abrasive noise being played through the sound-system. With the abrasive sounds being played over the speaker getting gradually louder, the tension was mounting further and further, until a banner fell either side of the stage with the three letters we wanted to see most: MCR. Seconds later, the band walked out and the buzzing got louder and louder, and then abruptly cut as the band started their new song The Foundations Of Decay. I for one absolutely love the new track, so seeing it live was phenomenal! They moved straight into one of their stone-cold classics next, with the guitar riff to Na Na Na (Na Na Na Na Na Na Na Na) ringing out and hyping up the entire audience. It took me almost as long to type out the full title of the song as it did for me to get over myself and breathe when I heard the intro come on, and from then on it was a singalong show.
Moving from that straight into Give ‘Em Hell, Kid and then Tomorrow’s Money was a brilliant one-two combo, which the band followed by going into fan favourite Thank You For The Venom. By this point you could tell how far this band have stretched since they’ve been gone, their fans adoration stretching between people as young as what must’ve been just 12, up to comfortably into the mid 60’s, and that’s just of people who were near the front by me! Every song was getting the full treatment by the fans, with each track being sung back word for word.
''I ended up careening around a mosh pit having the time of my life''
The eighth song of the set was a highlight for me, as the band have been playing a different set each night, swapping between three different sets that slightly vary every time they’re played. My favourite My Chemical Romance song, House Of Wolves, is only in one of those set plans, and I was over the moon that they played it. I ended up careening around a mosh pit having the time of my life, only for the song to finish and be abruptly met by the most famous single G note in music, signalling the beginning of what was possibly the biggest singalong of the night with Welcome To The Black Parade causing nothing short of mass euphoria. As the song closed out, the crowd were split into either tears, whoops, clapping, or just taking it all in.
After a short talk, Gerard Way dedicated the next song to his daughter, and launched into Teenagers for yet another massive singalong. The next song was another that was not a guarantee, but I’m so glad it was played, as The Ghost Of You was a truly excellent addition to the set, that garnered yet more (increasingly bad) singing from yours truly. I took a short break from singing for the next two or three songs, but when Mr Way talked about playing a song off of Revenge (Three Cheers For Sweet Revenge) I started to get very excited, and as Helena started playing I opened up the pipes again to keep yelling back lyrics till I could yell no more.
The penultimate song of the main set, Famous Last Words, was also a huge crowd participation moment, but the main set culminated with enormous emotion as the devastatingly sad Cancer rang out across Victoria Park, that brought a tear to many an eye, and a speck of dust must’ve got into mine as well. As the band walked offstage for what was a very short break, the crowd started chanting almost immediately for an encore.
They dutifully obliged, with the relatively unknown song Mastas Of Ravenkroft to open the encore, but after a set so chockful of enormous hits there was only ever one way they could round out such a phenomenal evening of music. The biggest song off of their second album, their third most listened to song ever, and also the one that couldn’t have been further from the truth in the moment, I’m Not Okay was a perfect finish to the evening. As Frank Iero and Ray Toro plucked the final notes on their guitars, and Mikey Way strummed his last notes on his bass, Gerard thanked us for our time and sent us on our way into the night.
As I got into my cousin Ally’s car to head back to her's for a night on the couch, I couldn’t quite believe what I’d just born witness to. My Chemical Romance had not only played a show, but I had been there. The way this tour looks, we may well have a new album on the way, and if this is any indicator it will be incredible.
My Chemical Romance, last night really was much more than okay (I promise).
Jake Longhurst
Edited by: Amrit Virdi
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