You Live Forever in the Lights You Make
You Live Forever in the Lights You Make
My Chemical Romance - Citizen Bank Park 8/15 - Philadelphia, PA
Review by Caitlin Tuel
10-13 Minute Read
Photos compiled from online users as well as self, credited and linked where used from external sources.
Warning for mentions of suicide, and overall breaking of Rule 12. If you or a loved one is in need, help is always available. 988 is available 24/7 in English and Spanish in the USA, and we have additional resources compiled in a link within our tabs, but can easily be accessed here.
Again, help is always available.
Let me begin by stating that it feels absolutely absurd to be writing about this, but I was truly lucky enough to have attended the Philadelphia date of My Chemical Romance’s North American Long Live the Black Parade tour. Located at the Citizens Bank Arena in the south of Philadelphia, and the sixth stop within the tour itself, it serves as a continuation of the theatrical performance that has been happening to provide further content and context within the story of The Black Parade themselves. With each show having a different opening act, it draws a unique air about it as well as a truly fun bit of a gamble if you simply didn’t look into it beforehand.
My best friend in the universe is the world’s biggest hair metal fan, and as her number one fan, I’m more than happy to finally go see Alice Cooper and see My Chemical Romance with her again. Those of you who have seen Ghost Gerard on the site from the Sunrise Reunion show… well, yes! The arena itself is absolutely stunning, and filled with what I have been calling the true and utter magic of Philadelphia/Pennsylvania. Until I get to go back in a more current (and not 2021) time, it surpasses the Raymond James stadium - so sorry Bucs, they had more affordable food and drink options by a landslide! However, for my Orlando folks, not quite sure where it rivals compared to Camping World yet. Walking in was reasonably secured, and while most folks got in with ease, I was wearing a lot of metal I could not remove so I did not. I did not think that it would pick up the corset, but I got in eventually!
Upon walking in, entering a pseudo tunnel was absolutely adored by myself, but we were also handed signage saying “YEA” on one side, and “NAY” on the other with the Kepochkan (the substitution cipher being used as an immersion point for a language) translation written underneath.
Alice Cooper has been an absolute legend in the rock world and in the realm of theatrics for a long while, and it makes too much sense for him to be performing alongside My Chemical Romance, and what an honest to Gd delight it was. Even while standing in the merch lines, I can hear the Alice Cooper Band perfectly, as well as see them on the big screens. I do not get to say that often, and it was a blessing to be able to write that. Additionally, they had a sensory experience bus for those with sensory issues or just those experiencing general overwhelm. It was located in a wildly accessible area, and I adore the concept and want to see more desperately. Exploring the venue and experiencing Paranoid with the foretelling of “This is for my good friend Ozzy”, was a blast, as emotional as it made me. The venue is massive, and I wish I had more time to explore Citizens Bank Park.
Getting to our seat afterwards was more than fine - stadiums are always a breeze with that from my experience, and as soon as I passed over the shirts, he finalized his set with School’s Out. For whatever reason, this transitioned into Another Brick pt. 2. For those of you who know, you know. But for those that don’t, my dad died the World’s Biggest Roger Waters fan, and left me a pretty big one. I am quite partial to The Wall and Pulse, so…. This was for me as well as the person on the way out with a Pink Floyd album sleeve. I hope you enjoyed that cover. The incoming bullet of Rule 12? That sucked.
The review could, and potentially should just serve as a performance review, but I truly feel like I’d be doing a disservice to myself, the outlet, our readers, and to the band themselves. It would’ve come out much quicker, but… who cares. On that note, I’ll be continuing with a fair bit of background context for those who were not around at the time or who are simply unfamiliar. When My Chemical Romance initially began touring the release of their third studio record The Black Parade, they did so nearly entirely under the moniker of The Black Parade. This is also quite a good time to mention that the general consensus of those (like myself) who have spent far too much time dissecting the content of the album and its surrounding promotional material (again, like myself) is that The Black Parade is a rock opera. Not without additional theorem surrounding the material from fans, it tells the life and death of “the patient”.
(Okay, realistically, It details the life and death of two different men - the patient and a Chiron type leading him to rest. A majority of us presumed it to be Pepe [not the frog, this was about a decade before, okay?]/the soldier on the cover, but could it be the Grand Dictator upon further reflection?)
Regardless, when the 2007 Black Parade World Tour occurred, it was nearly a mirror to what we are experiencing today. I’ll have a 2007 review linked here, which, admittedly, is getting quite a few chuckles out of me reading the word “campy” in that year in reference to Gerard. I’m sure there are no less lore implications here than there were nearly twenty years ago. It was unsurprising but definitely a bit eye opening to realize that they were continuing a play format and truly reprising The Black Parade - the group. They are doing Act I as The Black Parade and Act II as My Chemical Romance a second time. Considering each show builds upon the last within storytelling, I really need a camcorder recording to pop up somewhere before I head into work. Additionally, to not do a disservice to anyone here, I will be offering a spoiler warning here and now. I’m going into my experience of this show in as much detail as possible, and if you want to experience the show and its storyline for yourself, I will let you skip out of here with no hard feelings! Go check out Wendigoon’s video essay and theory on the topic - I love it, even if I am biased because I’ve had the near exact same thoughts for years.
The show begins with “the rules” being displayed on the Citizen Bank screens, some in Kepochka, the fictional language of Draag, (moreso a substitution cipher) and some in English. After those are displayed, some newer or some are developments from prior shows - Philadelphia was a victim (no better word!) of this as rules eight, ten, twelve and fourteen were new. The Draag national anthem is played. For further clarity, Draag is the fictional city in which The Black Parade themselves are either being held against their will to perform by the Grand Dictator, or where they had originally hailed from. While it hasn’t been made clear to fans if both are applicable, the former is certainly inferred from the act of each individual member of the band clocking in with the Draag clerk. We additionally have Marianne, a singer from Draag with a visual impairment, who had been revealed to the crowd in Philadelphia as being the Grand Dictator’s daughter. If you’ve ever played Papers, Please, and if you’ve ever watched Monument Mythos - especially if you’ve experienced both - this is the My Chemical Romance edition of both of them combined in a good few ways, and the entirety of which is phenomenal because Citizen Bank has a miniature Lady Liberty / LibertyLurker.
Again, there’s a lot to unpack for those who are genuinely unfamiliar with the tour and how the storytelling has been going. Born theatre kids have to do their thing - why do you think I loved this tour concept so much?
After the clock-in occurs, The Black Parade takes their places on the A stage for work in slightly different Black Parade workwear as they did nearly twenty years ago. The lapels are different - we’ll get there. Regardless, as Marianne sings the anthem, with the stage currently outfitted to mimic a war-torn and poverty stricken region, the ceremonial wheat (to which I was reminded by the lovely(!!) folks behind us) that cannot touch the ground - so it remains placed upon a stand like figure after each member of the band was handed something to them. There is next to no time between the held note from Marianne, the cheers for her, and the beginning of The End.
Gerard’s makeup has been progressively changing as the shows continue - showing decay or violence their character has experienced (presumably at the hands of the Draag governmental figures), and for Philadelphia, it is a near ghostly-white with bloody scrapes. Again, the last we heard of the Black Parade before this tour, they were dead. An entire tour was entitled “The Black Parade is Dead!”, I still have the shirt from when they made tanks when I was in high school. The song serves as well as it does for the album as it does live as it transitions into Dead!, which is to say impeccably. I am notably a sucker for care between songs or a “one mic one take” concept how Spotify used to platform. The entirety of it, and This is How I Disappear is an absolute blast, so much so that quite frankly I forgot that I needed to dissect lore for the sake of my own sanity at this point, so I locked back in.
Before the guitar lines for The Sharpest Lives begin, thank you Ray Shredder Toro, Gerard is handed a piece of paper they begin unfolding as an ambient feedback, again, nearly ghastly, noise plays before the guitar does. As it gets unfolded, Gerard’s (Black Parade) character looks uncomfortable, their face contorting into something mixed with disgust, continued unease, and a side-eye to the clerk as the song begins. The paper gets crumpled and thrown as the song progresses, but it had not been made clear until just some time ago what the papers were saying - if all pages are the same, that is. As shows have been progressing in the past two weeks in Toronto and Illinois recently, we see more pieces of the story being put together through any pieces the characters are able to throw at us. Quite literally in the case of recently (8/31) at Soldiers Field in IL.
[“This is not a threat. You will not think of it as such” ; photo via instagram - babsuvlawho_]
Welcome to the Black Parade has never sounded so good. Sorry. This is a note of gratitude for whoever was mixing at Citizen Bank Park, because I’ve found a deeper love for that song again. It’s so genuinely reinvigorating when that happens. The song is followed by the Phillie Phanatic appearing behind Gerard, gyrating, The Black Parade being announced that they have “Good news, America!” despite the fact that they “May have lost its last job, but luckily, we have a new gig”, making “the Black Parade…the official spokesman… of the cheesesteak.” I have seen many things get thrown into a crowd. People, guitar picks, drum pieces, singers, etc. Cheesesteaks? The food item? That is quite new for me. This is what precedes what is known in the fandom colloquially as “the execution”. This is what it sounds like. “You’re having a great time, you’re having a great time? Alright, so let’s kill some people!” For those distracted by the Phillie Phanatic, the line is quite an attention grabber and causes you to look down at the “YEA/NAY” sign in your hand, because you are, in fact, about to perform a mock vote for a mock execution with the rest of the stadium. It’s revealed that “They don’t even know what they did”, and serves as a mirror of futility within our governmental measures. Maybe I’m the too woke friend for real. This goes near immediately into the remainder of the record with so much enjoyment of myself and everyone around me. Sleep has police emergency lights for its schematics as well as the extended “Big Sky” introduction, Cancer is a snot fest, Mama, however? You do not want my thoughts on the graphics shown for this in this review. It will cause this review to be about thirty pages longer than it already will be, but, if you do care to read it, it’s linked here. However, still important to note that I finally got to experience the “dagger” variation of the song - quite exciting! For those who do not know, the tour has birthed a new version of the bridge with the lyrics transcribed below.
“Hello, how are you?
You're looking better
Feeling quite well?
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
A tool for our treasonous needs
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 Berlin with the sun in your eye
To fail is most high
Yes, trust me, a dagger
Is just what this plan of war needs
Let me be
We walk in the park in the fall
They'd laugh and we'd point out them all
With tears in our eyes we collapse on the crosses
And said death be the son of us all
This war is the son
of us all, my dear Anne
Marianne!”
It’s an absolutely gorgeous and lore-heavy rendition of an already truly phenomenal song - storytelling wise for the rock opera, as well as just musically. Of course, this leads into what everyone will refer to as a “staple song”, Teenagers, then Disenchanted with what is being called “The Button” introduction (which has yet to be truly and fully confidently transcribed), but shares that “Our time has come, the button (has been?) pressed and a single act has meaning.”
Famous Last Words was an absolute experience of a lifetime, the stage slowly engulfing in flames, with an extended outro of the song meaning that Mister Toro got to shred while appearing to be on fire, and everybody cheered. Quite literally - that is so cool, sorry. For those unspoiled up to this point in the show and who know the tracklist, this should be the end of Act II, unless we’re doing the hidden track, Blood.
Loud incorrect buzzer noise, bud. This leads into The End., Reprised. This feels like an absolute fever dream for a multitude of reasons, but notably I do recall yelling “The theatre man is reprising, what the f-” before getting absolutely cut off by the clown appearing and befuddlement washing over me in the absolute purest form. We get led into Blood, the true final song of the record itself, and when we’re all standing, anxious, bewildered, it happens.
The crowd watches Gerard struggle, get stabbed by the clown, bleed out, reach for the phone, watch the clown sob and mime “I want to go home - I don’t want to do this anymore”. Blood, blood, gallons of the stuff for certain - the pack was highly pressurized that evening and gave me much needed comic relief as a theatre kid myself. You do enough makeup for a show and for haunts, you know what goes on.
The Black Parade themselves leave, clock out, I am so sorry, I was truly distracted by death in front of me! Theatrical or not, quite distracting and haunting! As planned of course, as it allows for Ray, Frank, and Mikey to leave the stage and prepare their outfit changes as the performance had ended, and yet so truly had just begun.
The intermission is a solo piece by the incredible cellist we had been seeing onstage previously - her name is Clarise Jensen. From A to B, the song played can be found here. Absolutely a stunning piece, and reminded me how desperately we need classically trained musicians in the alternative scene more often than we have them. Shoutout to Skatune Network and Nightlife, while I’m thinking about the topic.
When the band returns, it is My Chemical Romance in their truest forms - themselves, so akin to the reunion tour/s in the prior years. They look overjoyed to be there - to be performing and expressing art on their terms, on their extended creativity as the tour and storyline continues to inch to a close in what is the magazine’s home base of Tampa, Florida. (If anyone from the WB/MCR team is reading…hey! What’s up! I would love to yap about that.)
It’s just such a pleasure and a relief and a bit reeling after the storyline we experienced that it takes me a good second to realize they’ve just started to play Headfirst For Halos for B Stage. In the understanding of unprofessionalism, I am crying while I mention the fact I saw it live. At the end of the day, I am still the kid who scrounged up old performances of Halos because of the suicide-awareness speech, and I did not think they would play it in a reasonable radius of me ever. There really is nothing worth pissing your life away on bullets or sleeping pills, and I will always be glad I didn’t. Overall, I understand why folks climb over the Eagles - all I wanted to do was get taller at that moment and I’m not even sure what the end goal was. So sorry to whoever was near me, and especially sorry to my best friend on that one - I wish I could’ve said “HALOS!” sooner instead of just cry at you. Halos goes into Bury Me In Black, a B-side to Three Cheers for Sweet Revenge and can be found on the Life on the Murder Scene release. We receive our staple songs! As we should. I always love hearing Not Okay, and it’s always a delight when the crowd gets an extra loud “Trust me.” like we did at Citizens Bank.
This goes into Destroya. All I could do was look between the stage and Abby, yell “CHECK? CHECK CHECK CHECK?” To which she understood - friendship is magick - and it’s that. It’s so special to me. Destroya, specifically, was a song I had looped upon hearing the news of my late father’s health - I didn’t want to be sad, I needed to feel as angry as I deserved to be. Destroya helped in more ways than I’m able to put on paper. I have to protect my peace in part. Heaven Help Us was such a delight - my best friend gets both Black Parade B-Sides, I get to watch her be overjoyed about it, I get Heaven Help Us, we all win! Give ‘em Hell, Kid was a dedication to a young fan “Kicking a lot of ass”, in Gerard’s words, but we wanted to add - keep it up kid! We’re all rooting for you.
Foundations felt much more special this way around for me. It was carried with a slip up of the fact they created more than just Foundation when they returned. I suppose they alluded to the fact they created foundations themselves - again. It was carried with so much love for their own art and their own reunion beforehand. Every night of the reunion tour this song was played first, and the rest of the setlist was a gamble. I really think it was special to all of us in the stadium hearing it in any form, and I’m overjoyed knowing it was special to the group to create and continue to perform. This transitions into “We’re going to play a banger” (so true!), and we hear Na Na Na, into Helena, into the show closing with The Kids From Yesterday. An extended outro where the instrumentals are absolutely incredible - I wonder if they were improvised or if Kids was originally supposed to be just a bit longer.
This was incredible, top to bottom, front to back and carries a multitude of meanings with artwork and nobody is hailing this tour for what it is to me - a traveling performance art piece that has lasted the span of multiple years, nearing two decades. I am eternally grateful I’ve gotten to experience My Chemical Romance over the last eighteen years of my life (Thanks forever, Singstar Pop for the PS2!). I’m even more lucky I’ve gotten to experience it all with my best friends, and make even more friends from enjoying what I enjoy. Sometimes you forget what it’s all about. A reminder always makes me grateful. I think they were fully onto something. You truly live forever in the lights you make, and I hope the band is proud of their fluorescence.
My Chemical Romance can be found on Apple Music, Instagram, Twitter (we’re not calling it anything except that, sorry), and their website. Information on their final set touring dates can be found here. Until then, we’ll see you for the next time loop.