October 23rd this year marks the 20th anniversary of My Chemical Romance’s The Black Parade. On August 13th, MCR played Nissan Stadium on the second stop of their Long Live The Black Parade tour’s second North American leg. Fans traveled far and wide to see Pierce the Veil and My Chemical Romance in the Tennessee heat. As I made my way to Nissan, I found myself among a mass migration of what seemed to be every emo in a 100-mile radius. It was a crowd full of marching band uniforms, Pierrot-style clowns, and ripped skinny jeans as far as the eye could see. Every merch line in the stadium I walked by had at least 100 eager fans waiting to buy merch.
Pierce The Veil started their opening set with their iconic intro of “El Rey” by legendary ranchera singer Vicente Fernández. They played a total of 8 songs, including “May These Noises Startle You in Your Sleep Tonight,” “Hell Above,” “Bulls in the Bronx,” “Pass the Nirvana,” “Emergency Contact,” and “So Far So Fake.” Vic Fuentes says to the crowd “we just have one question for you Nashville,” and immediately goes into the hook of “Caraphernelia”, triggering everyone in the stadium to start cheering. I was already starting to feel the heat getting to me by the time they closed out their set with their iconic “King For A Day.”
Long Live The Black Parade is a theatrical critique of authoritarianism and propaganda, built around a fictional dictatorship in which MCR themselves are forced to serve as the regime’s band. While waiting for MCR to take the stage, rules in English and Keposhka—the language of DRAAG—appeared on the screens alongside propaganda videos, immediately immersing us in the world of The Black Parade. MCR opened their show with “We’ll Meet Again” by Vera Lynn and “Over Fields,” the national anthem of Draag, the fictional world The Black Parade exists in. As Gerard Way introduced the Grand Immortal Dictator, he was seen on the screens eating Nashville’s iconic hot chicken.
When we walked into Nissan Stadium, we were given “Yea” and “Nay” signs. After MCR performed “Welcome to the Black Parade,” four prisoners were brought onto the stage, and Gerard held a mock “election,” asking the audience to vote “Yea” or “Nay” to determine their fates. The whole thing is a deliberately twisted version of democracy: we’re given the illusion of a choice, but the outcome ultimately belongs to the regime. In Nashville, all four prisoners were executed.
After a beautiful performance of “Cancer,” the band transitioned to “Mama.” It was high-energy and loud, paired with insane flame bursts, overhead spark rain, and someone running across the stage on fire. If Nissan Stadium had a roof, this part of the setlist would’ve blown it off. As the setlist marches on, we see more military imagery as the band begins to resist the regime. During “Teenagers,” products from DRAAG are shown on the screens. With “Famous Last Words,” the stage once again is in flames. The Black Parade’s story reaches its violent conclusion with “The End” and the hidden track “Blood.” After Way’s confrontation with the Clerk, the Black Parade portion of the show comes to an end, and the band returns as themselves for the second half of the concert.
MCR’s first show in Nashville was in 2002 at a hardcore venue called The Muse, which later was turned into a Domino’s Pizza. If you’ve listened to Hayley Williams’ song “True Believer,” yes, it’s the same greyscale Domino’s. Gerard Way tells the packed stadium that they were stuck in the parking lot for 4 days after that show. Way then tells the crowd they were told: “This is the largest US show we’ve ever played.” Quite a full-circle moment for My Chemical Romance.
Fans were spoiled with the B-stage setlist, including two songs off of “I Brought You My Bullets, You Brought Me Your Love,” which were “Our Lady of Sorrows” and “Vampires Will Never Hurt You.” The latter of which was what my boyfriend was hoping to hear but not expecting them to play. After the initial shock of the opening guitar riff and hi-hat, he immediately began jumping up and down and screaming along to the words.
The rest of the B-stage setlist included: “Thank You For The Venom,” “Zero Percent,” “Save Yourself, I’ll Hold Them Back,” “I’m Not Okay (I Promise),” “Ambulance,” “Boy Division,” “Na Na Na (Na Na Na Na Na Na Na Na Na),” and “Helena.”
Long Live The Black Parade is one of the most brilliant displays of worldbuilding I’ve seen from a tour. Two decades later, the album still hits the same as it did in 2006. The band has gotten older, the fanbase has changed, but the album has the same emotional impact it always did. It’s hard to believe that the band I fell in love with in middle school just played a sold-out show at Nissan Stadium. I’ve watched them live three times now, and this was the show that took the cake for me.
