After the theatrical first scenes play out of the show using the touring actors / actresses (I won’t spoil that part), My Chemical Romance wandered on to the stage at London’s Wembley Stadium, trying to stay in character but small glimpses of emotion on their faces show the sheer scale of the crowd in response to their arrival.
Opening with the building tension of ”The End”, the crowd roaring into action after the line ”I’d encourage your smiles, I expect you won’t cry!”, Gerard way throws his arms in the air with welcome, one of his signature poses with a huge grin across his face. The song ending with a perfectly executed metal scream from Gerard, reminding us once again his respected range as a frontman.
Bursting straight into the high tempo ”Dead!” The energy erupted. Arms flying about, people gleefully crying tears of joy, looking up to the high stage to the soundtrack of many’s youths. Five songs in comes the anthem everyone’s been waiting for. As soon as the first piano note rings out, the Emo’s assemble. None other than ”Welcome To The Black Parade” to bring the whole crowd together in perfectly timed harmony, years of practice leading up to this moment as Gerard takes to his podium, ready for glorious fist pumping and reckless abandon singing.
Just when you think it’s over, the opening notes of ”I Don’t Love You” play across the stadium, MCR instantly bringing everyone back to their first heartache, and some to tears. Two songs later, the ominous gunfire and explosions of ”Mama” starts making it way through the stadium. Then all hell breaks loose (pardon the pun) as huge pillars of pyrotechnics roar across the stage, engulfing parts of the floor, and climbing up. All the while a human, physically on fire, is running frantically across the stage. An absolute spectacle.
We’re then hit with ”Sleep”, followed by the epic crowd favourite ”Teenagers”, after being brought back down in tempo by the enchanting beauty of ”Disenchanted”.
The first half of the show was squared away by the guitar driven ”Famous Last Words”, again with pillars of roaring pyro mimicking the music video. Mikey and Frank absolutely shining with their incredible talents on show, tearing up the stage with guitars wielded. A final time (for now) for the crowd to remind the band why the UK is the second home of MCR.
A break now as beautiful outro music plays whilst stages are set ready for the ‘B’ stage performance. After some heartfelt talks with the crowd about struggling to stay in character during the first half of the show – To absolutely everyone’s surprise, Gerard Way bursts into ”Honey”, played for the first time in over 15 years.
Followed swiftly by ”Thank you for the Venom” and ”Cemetery Drive”, putting us straight back to the mid 2000’s era of ”Three Cheers For Sweet Revenge” and everything just felt right with the world.
Gerard then asks the crowd if we should have a dance, then the synth notes of ”Planetary GO!” Kick in and the crowd can’t believe what they are witnessing. Played for the first time this tour, with huge flood lights pulsing energetically with the crowds movements across the jumping chorus, it was truly spectacular.
Swiftly back to Three Cheers album with ”Give Em Hell Kid” with the beautiful mixture of frantic punk and soaring chorus.
Then to everyone’s surprise, Gerard announces he’ll be doing a cover which turned out to be a Morrisey classic: ”Jack The Ripper”, which hasn’t been played live by the band in over two decades. With the spotlight beaming down on the B Stage whilst everyone could catch their breath, phone torches creating a sky of stars – You could see how much they enjoyed that moment with the crowd.
Two songs later we all explain why we’re really ‘Not Okay’ with one of their most memorable hits – you guessed it: ”I’m not Okay”!
One last chance to dance was brought by ”NaNaNa” with similar lighting as ”Planetary Go”, a collection of both Gen Z and Millennials letting loose one last time. The best part was witnessing the sea of ‘Jazz Hands’ on the pre chorus line as if we were part of the act. We certainly felt like it!
The night aptly rounds of with the roaring choruses of ”Helena – So Long and Goodnight”, Gerard having to pause on the first chorus to soak in the crowd, wide mouthed and teary eyed. By the final chorus, fireworks were erupting from atop the largest stadium in the UK as the audience have one more special moment together.
This show was a special one. Not just from being brought in by their management to shoot part of the show, but witnessing Gerard’s voice and stage presence is was second to none, the perfectly executed musicianship of the band, the crowd in sync with every single word of the entirety of ”Welcome To The Black Parade’ album, played in full, and the incredibly well thought out theatrics of it all, yet again proving why MCR are still the best to do it.
Long live The Black Parade!
Setlist:
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- The End
- Dead!
- This Is How I Disappear
- The Sharpest Lives
- Welcome To The Black Parade
- I Don’t Love You
- House Of Wolves
- Cancer
- Mama
- Sleep
- Teenagers
- Disenchanted
- Famous Last Words
BloodB Stage:
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- Honey
- Venom
- Cemetery
- Planetary Go!
- Jack The Ripper
- Destroya
- Not Ok
- Na Na Na
- Helena
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UK tickets will be available here, while US tickets will be available here.
The Black Parade 2026 Dates
7/11 – London, UK – Wembley Stadium
7/15 – Florence, IT – Visarno Arena
7/18 – Madrid, ES – Iberdrola Music
8/9 – New York, NY – Citi Field (w/ Franz Ferdinand)
8/13 – Nashville, TN – Nissan Stadium (w/ Pierce the Veil)
8/18 – Washington, DC – Nationals Park (w/ Modest Mouse)
8/21 – Detroit, MI – Comercia Park (w/ Iggy Pop)
8/24 – Minneapolis, MN – Target Field (w/ Sleater-Kinney)
8/27 – Denver, CO – Coors Field (w/ The Breeders)
8/30 – San Diego, CA – Petco Park (w/ BABYMETAL)
9/6 – Phoenix, AZ – Chase Field (w/ Jimmy Eat World)
9/12 – San Antonio, TX – Alamodome (w/ The Mars Volta)
10/21 – Los Angeles, CA – Hollywood Bowl
10/23 – Los Angeles, CA – Hollywood Bowl
10/24 – Los Angeles, CA – Hollywood Bowl
10/30 – Los Angeles, CA – Hollywood Bowl
10/31 – Los Angeles, CA – Hollywood Bowl
