My Chemical Romance perform at Chase Field in Phoenix on Sept. 6, 2026. (Photos by Bryce Hall)
By Nina Tadic
My Chemical Romance is a band that has stood the test of time – they’ve weathered four album cycles, a breakup, and a hell of a reunion. And while to some people they’re just another rock band, to their fans, they’re anything but that: they’re an experience and a community.
In the blistering Arizona heat, a beating sun, and 104°F, hundreds of fans scatter across the sidewalk across the street from Chase Field, while hundreds more queue in a line that has been growing since midnight the night before. Many are fully costumed – there are marching band performers, skeletons, those in wedding dresses and suits covered in the splatters of fake blood, “Mother War,” “Nurse Sylvia,” and plenty of other characters that have spawned from the minds of the members of My Chemical Romance. There are even tributes to the members themselves, with some wearing makeup painted like X’s across their eyes (a tribute to guitarist Frank Iero in the Revenge Era), and others wearing vibrant, primary colored masks (a tribute to the band’s Danger Days era and their “Killjoy” characters). These fans span across decades of time – some first heard the band when they formed in 2001, and some were not even born until the band’s reunion in 2019 (these ones, the littlest of the MCRmy, as the fans call themselves, are accompanied by parents who are also MCR fans, and have been for decades). There are teens and tweens, folks in their 40s and 50s, and everyone fathomable in between.
Under the scorching blue sky, fans trade handmade patches, posters, bracelets, photo cards, keychains – all tributes to the band’s songs, albums, and members – and some walk away with trick-or-treating levels of goodies before the show has even begun. This is just the beginning of a night that will go down in history.
Once the gates are open and fans file inside, the night is kicked off with Arizona’s own Jimmy Eat World, playing their hit album Bleed American from front to back. Die-hard fans go crazy for every single song, jumping, shouting, and finger-pointing along, and even those who didn’t realize they knew the band’s work find themselves singing along to classics like “The Middle” and “Hear You Me.” The band plays an hour long set and leaves the crowd absolutely jazzed for the show that’s to come.
By the time 8:30 hits, the staircases and landings of Chase Field are in a frenzy as fans race to their seats, completely blind to what will happen next.
While plenty of bands do anniversary tours, My Chemical Romance made sure this anniversary tour would be nothing like any other anniversary tour. Creating new lore and building an entire world around The Black Parade, the band has recruited a team of actors, a backing band, and even hired a plethora of visual artists to bring the world of Draag to life. With a new language (Keposhka) designed by Blambot’s Nate Piekos, the band has created a new way to encourage fan interaction – posting and using signage in a completely different language leading up to the performance and on the visuals throughout the night. Fans create ciphers, uncode rules and regulations from the Draag government, and continue to try to determine what will happen to the band (known during this segment of the performance, the album-anniversary set, as The Black Parade) between the current show and the next. And the outcome changes every show.
To further up the ante, there are two “versions” of the Long Live tour that fans may see, and no one knows which version will be performed until the day-of. In Phoenix, fans are gifted with the more rare, newer, “second” version – some call it the Phantom show, some call it the MOAT show, but it primarily centers around the Black Parade being surveilled in a government conditioning hospital and have their minds erased. They’re watched by a large, interactive eyeball, a maniacal nurse named Sylvia, a mysterious secretary, and a few other government officials and hospital employees.
During this version of the performance, fans typically anticipate a “selfie” taken by the band using the giant eyeball as a camera – and at this point, something drastic happens. A band member’s throat is slit, someone is poisoned, an orderly attacks someone. So in Phoenix, the gasps and confusion from the crowd are no surprise when instead, the eyeball opens at the bottom, and each band member receives… a diploma? Perhaps symbolizing that they’re graduating from the conditioning facility… but no one will know until the next show of the tour what comes next.
My Chemical Romance perform at Chase Field in Phoenix on Sept. 6, 2026. (Photos by Bryce Hall)
Throughout the set, there are plenty of surprises – at one point, Gerard pulls out a decapitated head from the eyeball, and runs around onstage with it, retching and gagging and waving it around, a dark comedy, slapstick routine. At another point, the secretary appears fed-up with the band’s antics, and drags her chair across the floor, slamming it to the ground to sit and watch them perform (this is for “House of Wolves”) – no nonsense allowed. During “Teenagers,” there is a compilation of Draag television clips being shown on every wall and screen – most of which appear like thinly disguised propaganda. During another segment, Gerard plays “Quizzo” with the orderly, and the two fall on the floor, writhing and rolling around as if they’ve been electrocuted or poisoned. One of the set’s peaks, though, is during “Mama.”
“Mama,” has always been a fan favorite – it is snarky, fun, dramatic, climactic, everything this band is about. For this tour, however, the band has pulled out all the stops, including a live string introduction by violinist Kayleigh Goldsworthy and cellist Clarice Jensen. They’ve also incorporated an entirely verse which has become an instant fan-favorite. Gerard croons “a dagger, a dagger, please fetch me a dagger, a tool for my treasonous deeds” and it echoes through the audience across the floor and in the stands. It seems everyone has learned the words by this point in the tour, or at least the beginning of the verse. He flaunts across the stage, twirling a dagger, running it down his neck, running his fingers across the tip, as he serenades the crowd. Following this verse, he gives a grand introduction to the maniacal nurse in black leather gloves and an eye-patch, Sylvia (played by professionally trained vocalist Charlotte Kelso), to perform the part of Mother War (originally sung by Liza Minelli). As she walks across the stage, she carries a ventriloquist dummy (who is typically only seen during the other version of the show, and is referred to as The Gentleman). She gifts him to gerard, who holds him, appearing to reminisce on something.
My Chemical Romance perform at Chase Field in Phoenix on Sept. 6, 2026. (Photos by Bryce Hall)
“I remember – I remember there was a… fire. I remember a fire. Me and my friends, we forgot who we were… so we started… fighting each other. And it just kept burning. The world kept burning in the desert. And it kept burning. AND IT KEPT BURNING! And… we ran off in separate directions… We ran all night… Eventually, I collapsed in the sand.
I KNOW WHO YOU ARE! I know who you are! You’re our assistant. And we’re magicians. And you’re the audience! And we’re gonna cast a magic spell, right? She’s gonna let us, make her disappear! Here are the words, we’re gonna practice.”
Talk about lore… The implications here are endless – is he referencing the band themselves (My Chemical Romance) and their breakup? Is he talking about their fourth album, Danger Days, which takes place with their characters on the road in the desert? Something else? In:re making Sylvia disappear, is this implying she will no longer be performing in the shows? Is this the end of the MOAT show style altogether? Fans may find out all of this eventually, and they may never.
He then proceeds to teach the audience to count Sylvia in, and they do, to which she performs the verse of Mother War. As the song ends, both Gerard and Sylvia are gifted bouquets of roses and baby’s breath by men in hooded cloaks printed with a giant white eye design, similar to an emblem used in the Danger Days universe. They take a bow together, and Kayleigh and Clarice, the Draag Auxiliary Band, finish out the performance.
My Chemical Romance perform at Chase Field in Phoenix on Sept. 6, 2026. (Photos by Bryce Hall)
Another peak of The Black Parade’s set is during the performance of “Famous Last Words.” Gerard opens the vocals “And I know that I can’t make you stay, but-“ and holds for the crowd to sing it back, and the response of “but where’s your heart? But where’s your-“ is so loud it is deafening. Catharsis from the jump. Throughout this track, every member of the band absolutely shreds. Bassist Mikey Way is all over the place with his bass, grinning as he plays it nearly above his head and running back and forth with it. During his solos, guitarist Ray Toro is a force to be reckoned with, and has the audience in a trance. Gerard’s vocals capture the entire room. And when Frank Iero begins to play with the distortion on his guitar, everyone is sucked in, watching in admiration on every screen while he plays on the ground. Throughout the entirety of this, the stage is designed to burn down, and it does so in pieces, almost creating the illusion that the band themselves are on fire, as it shrouds them from all angles. To add to it, pyrotechnics shoot to the ceiling many a time, as fans hoot and holler.
And then… the band begins again with the first song on the album… perhaps symbolic of their memory erasure, a potential time loop, or some secret third thing that the audience has not yet been let in on. After this performance comes the nightly “blooper” moment – which for the MOAT show, is usually Gerard straddling a gurney with the orderly strapped down to it, and he essentially tears the man apart, fake blood spraying everywhere, as the band loves a theatrical exit. Tonight, however, something very different happens as the track “Blood” plays in the background. The gurney is rolled out, the person on it fully covered, and Gerard does climb on top of them. But when he pulls the sheet down, he finds someone in a white mask, dressed identically to himself. The two fight and wrestle, and Gerard strangles his potential doppelganger on the ground. Killing his old self, perhaps? Again, up to the band to know, and the fans to perhaps/never find out! Once Gerard kills off the man, there’s a loud pop of fireworks at the top of the stage, and the set has ended.
At this point in the night comes a second set, this time performed as My Chemical Romance themselves, on a b-stage in the round in the center of the stadium. Clarice Jensen warms the crowd up with a cello solo while the band changes out of their Black Parade uniforms and back into their everyday clothes. But the second they are headed for that stage, it would be impossible not to tell, as the shrieking roar of the crowd is instantaneous.
One by one, they’re helped up onto the stage as Clarice takes her leave, and Gerard again speaks to the crowd, introducing the band, and they get right into it.
My Chemical Romance perform at Chase Field in Phoenix on Sept. 6, 2026. (Photos by Bryce Hall)
Every night’s b-stage setlist is like a game of russian roulette rigged by guitarist Frank Iero (who is responsible for the setlists each night). Imagine russian roulette where every chamber is loaded, and wherever the gun fires (whatever song it lands on) it is going to send the crowd into a frenzy. There are ten songs played a night, three of which are predetermined (“Helena,” “I’m Not Okay,” and “NaNaNa”) and mixed in. The other seven are a mystery. Some shows get an even split off of every album, some get covers (“Desolation Row” by Bob Dylan, “Jack the Ripper” by Morrissey), some get b-sides (“Heaven Help Us,” “Desert Song,” and the like). But no one knows ahead of time what it will be – so fans are absolutely petrified between songs.
Considering Phoenix went a solid eighteen years without a My Chem concert, they hit the absolute jackpot, to no one’s shock. The band kicks off with “I’m Not Okay” before moving into a fan favorite that is played here and there, but not in the regular rotation by any means – “Boy Division” (dedicated to the late Andy “The Butcher” Williams of Every Time I Die, whose passing was announced this morning). Right behind that one, fans are hit with the tour debut of a Danger Days favorite – “The Only Hope For Me Is You.” Next up is a Black Parade b-side, “My Way Home Is Through You,” which is quite a rarity, as well. Now that they’ve gotten the entire audience riled up to levels near unfathomable, what better time is there for one of their most infamous pieces of music? “Helena” definitely gets the loudest sing-along of the night, partially because it’s a classic, and partially because even the folks who are only familiar with the singles definitely know it word for word.
My Chemical Romance perform at Chase Field in Phoenix on Sept. 6, 2026. (Photos by Bryce Hall)
Following “Helena,” the band plays an even older track: “Honey, This Mirror Isn’t Big Enough for the Two of Us” off of their first album, I Brought You My Bullets, You Brought Me Your Love. At this point, they’ve played something off of every album, debuted a song for the first time on this tour, had a stadium-wide singalong multiple times, and it is only just past halfway through the set. With four songs to go, the electricity in the air is tangible.
“Thank You for the Venom” is an emo anthem that people have been crazy about for decades, and it is a great choice for the next track. Inevitably, next comes the standardized Danger Days pick of the night: “Na Na Na” – which gets the award for most movement as the entire crowd bounces on their toes and moves endlessly like they’re at a giant, 50,000 person dance party. Everyone gets their energy out and is riding the high – and then comes what might be one of the band’s craziest closing song combinations of all time.
Before the next song, Gerard takes a minute to talk about the band’s breakup in 2013, mentioning that they were just not in a great place and needed to get out. Then, he talks about when the time came for them to get back together – and also mentions how even though they reunited in 2019, COVID did make them pause their tour for a solid two years. “It sucked. It was a shitty time, a sad time. But I think that when we first came back I wasn’t ready – and that two years gave us the time we needed to feel ready.” He then begins talking about how one day at rehearsal, he realized a song had been coming to him in pieces – this is the moment that signals to fans what’s coming next. He begins to play with his noise distortion box, and suddenly the gears are turning for even more folks that are familiar with the song that’s to come: “The Foundations of Decay.”
“Foundations” was the band’s leap back into music following the breakup, and they played it quite a bit on their SWARM Tour. This tour has only seen it a few times – and it is absolutely a fan favorite. It’s gritty, intense, and lyrically spellbinding. It receives an insane applause at the end, and then, as if the band has not already blown away every person in the stadium, they proceed to do so all over again.
My Chemical Romance perform at Chase Field in Phoenix on Sept. 6, 2026. (Photos by Bryce Hall)
There are very few songs this band has not played live at this point in their career. About a dozen, give or take. And of those, most will likely have their moment sooner or later. The one they chose to debut for the first time ever, though, as their encore in Phoenix, was one that nobody expected.
Gerard takes a moment prior to the band’s final song to thank the Draag Auxiliary Band (Thursday’s Tucker Rule, Clarice Jensen, and Kayleigh Goldsworthy), then welcomes Clarice and Kayleigh up onto the stage. So far on this tour, these two have only come up for an encore a few times, and only for a few very specific songs: “Demolition Lovers” and “Desert Song.” The inference with this introduction is that the crowd will be blessed with one of these two songs, or another slower piece – which leaves, yet again, few other options. “Early Sunsets Over Monroeville,” perhaps… But the one ballad that most folks write off from the jump is “The Light Behind Your Eyes,” off of the band’s 2013 release, Conventional Weapons. This one is a very emotionally heavy, personal song, and seeing as it has not been played thus far, combined with the fact that it carries the weight it does, most folks would say the band would never play it. Then, however, Gerard starts to speak.
“We always wish we’d put this song on an album – I wrote this song for my daughter. If there’s something I could leave for her, it’d be this one. It’s called ‘The Light Behind Your Eyes.’”
The crowd goes ballistic, then nearly silent, as they absorb every note like rain in a drought. The ballad is moving, intense, and leaves some in tears, some smiling like kids on Christmas, and everyone absolutely speechless. As the song ends, Gerard thanks the crowd, the band walks offstage, and it is over.
Phoenix had to wait nearly two decades for this band’s return, but it seems the wait was worth it to see a magnificent desert return of My Chemical Romance. With this amount of lore, an insane setlist from start to end, and the most talented set of performers – it is a night for the books, and will go down as such for years to come.
(Review by Nina Tadic – Photos by Bryce Hall)