By Stacie Peart
For Salt Lake Community College
Salt Air burst at the seams when My Chemical Romance fans filled the local lakeside venue. With a piercing sun mixed with a chilly wind, concertgoers formed an excruciatingly long line to enter venue as doors opened around 7:30 p.m. Once inside, MCR fans waited nearly two hours for Gerard Way (lead singer), Mikey Way (bass guitar), Frank Iero (guitar), Ray Toro (guitar), and Bob Bryar (drums) to finally take the stage.When the two – not really worth mentioning – opening bands, Drive By and Billy Talent, finally completed their sets, MCR fans began to move closer to the stage in anticipation. The band powerfully began their set playing old favorites from their first album – relatively unknown to many mainstream fans. MCR mixed in songs from their album, “The Black Parade” starting with “Welcome to the Black Parade.” Fans screamed the song’s lyrics back to MCR and were ready to “to join the black parade” as Gerard Way passionately sang the track.
Other hits were performed from the band’s latest album including “Teenagers” where the general admission crowd thrust their fists in the air with every thump of the drum beat mimicking MCR’s well-known music video for the song. “Mama” was also well received as fans chanted along to the unique tune as the song’s distinctive sound grabbed immediate attention. MCR did slow it down for a moment to play the ballad “I Don’t Love You.” They also performed “Helena,” the song known as Gerard and Mikey Way’s tribute to their late grandmother.
The band didn’t forget the diehard fans as they bounced from “The Black Parade” hits into earlier albums like 2002′s “I Brought You My Bullets, You Brought Me Your Love” and 2004′s “Three Cheers for Sweet Revenge.” The crowd went crazy as Gerard Way introduced the group’s mainstream breakthrough song, “I’m Not Okay (I Promise).” During MCR’s performance of this classic track, the crowd nearly drowned out the dramatic lead singer as they excitedly yelled the lyrics.
Almost two hours after they began, MCR left the stage and slowly satisfied fans trickled back to their haphazardly parked vehicles. The energetic performance by MCR and the crowd’s contagious enthusiasm created the ideal atmosphere for a truly remarkable concert experience.
2 comments ↓
April 19th, 2008
7:09 pm
that sounded awesome!
wish i was there
i love that picture of Gee
November 21st, 2010
11:51 pm
HI, found this review of the Salt Lake show and as great as I remember the show being, the reviewer did a pretty decent job reviewing it. I just have to add that they opened with Sleep and only played one song from the ‘Bullets’ album (Headfirst For Halos). Other than that, they stuck with Revenge and Parade. They also played Desolation Row and plenty of b-sides.
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