My Chemical Freak: My Chemical Romance All The Time

My good friend Jen was at MCR’s Tempe and Tucson shows this weekend.  Below is her review of both shows and HER photos. 
Do not take without giving proper credit! (photos were taken at the Tempe show)

BIG THANK YOU JEN!! LOVE YA!

MCR Concert Experience- Tempe/Tucson ‘08
By: Jen H.
I’m not surprised that the two shows were very different experiences, especially since the Tempe show was a festival, but I am surprised by how emotional and intense the Tucson show was, at least to me and my friends. Let me begin by saying that I have never seen so many walking billboards for MCR as I did at the Tempe Music Festival, so it was evident who the majority of people were there to see. MCR seemed to play it safe because they did not play any songs from their first album. They did however play a couple of B-sides, which I’m very happy about because they are all great songs and should not be ignored. Gerard was the charismatic front man we all love him for, and he sounded great. I want to note here that he sang each song almost exactly like the recorded version, unlike the Tucson show, which I will get to in a minute. My favorite part about the Tempe show is that MCR performed flawlessly and with great energy, as if they just got back from a long relaxing hiatus instead of a long grueling international tour. The best part is that they looked like they were having fun, and that definitely made for a perfect performance.

The Tucson show at the Rialto was another story. First of all, it was hot in the theater, really hot. Fourteen hundred fans stuck together in one big, sweaty mass did not help the situation either. I don’t know whose idea it was to crank up the smoke machines, but there was so much smoke hanging in the air on stage that it made it difficult to see the guys clearly. Things did get better after the smoke cleared a little and we broke away from the rowdy, sweaty mass to view the rest of the show from the back. The great thing about the Rialto is you can see the stage pretty much from anywhere in the room, and that is helpful for those of us who are vertically challenged. Right off the bat I noticed that Gerard was not as energetic as he was the night before in Tempe. He slumped over the mic stand more than once and fanned himself with his hand; not in a flamboyant “I’m so sexy” way, but in a “God damn, it’s fucking hot in here” way. He stopped singing for a couple of minutes before the final chorus of “Headfirst For Halos” (I was so happy they played it) to get water and say a few words to the audience before finishing the song. Clearly he was tired and hot, but it ended up being my favorite show of the weekend because it wasn’t flawless and Gerard had to sing in a lower register on several of the songs, which made it more interesting, in my opinion. I was blown away when Gerard sang the first few lines of “Vampires Will Never Hurt You” in a sort of slow haunting melody. At first I thought he was singing a new song until I recognized the words. The other highlight of the show had to be when they played “Hang ‘em High”, which they never play. Gerard started it off by screaming “Yee Haw!” and it brought back all the memories of my first MCR concert at the Rialto in ‘05 when he teased us by saying we were cowboys. He even said after the song was over that they had not played that song in three years. The finale was “Cancer”, which was haunting and intense, followed by a highly charged and equally intense encore of “Helena”. I will admit to shedding a few tears at the end because it was an amazing show and because I realized this is the last time I will see them live for a long time.

Thanks again Jen, you rock!

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