Backstage with My Chemical Romance in Philly

May 17th, 2008 | mychemicalfreak | 2 Comments | Email Mikey Way Online!

By Meghan

Meghan’s Backstage Photos with the guys can be found HERE

As our limo pulled up in front of the Electric Factory in Philly, around 1500 devoted MCR fans were anxiously awaiting the show. Once out of the limo, we walked passed the fans, who were now staring at us. The band manager approached us, and my heart began to race. He introduced himself and the handed us all VIP passes and asked us to follow him. We followed him back to where the tour busses were and passed a handful of people who were all part of the band’s crew. We walked up the stairs where two people opened the doors for us. We were now inside the same building as My Chemical Romance, but I didn’t have time to think about that. For some reason, i couldn’t convince myself that it was happening. I thought for sure that the band would have an excuse not to be there, and i would have an excuse to calm down.

As soon as we walked through those doors, the unexpected happened. Mikey Way was standing the hallway talking to someone. Seeing his face was the most surreal thing that have ever happened to me. It was a newsflash-These 5 boys that i have looked up to for 6 years of my life aren’t just posters, they’re real people. I started crying uncontrollably. He was saying “Don’t look at me! You’re not supposed to see me yet!” So i stopped looking at him, afraid that i would see more members of the band and really lose it. The manager led us into a small hangout room, where some of the members of Taking Back Sunday were hanging out. I was still crying, and my friend Erin told the manager she was going to have a heart attack.

The manager left us, and Taking Back Sunday introduced themselves. Sadly, we weren’t very nice to that band and treated them like they were no one. Then Matt said “I’ll just leave you guys in here to scream for MCR”. I actually did notice that we were being a little rude to TBS, but i didn’t care at all at that point. I wanted to go home. Passing one of the members in the hallway was enough for me to take in for one day. We were all sitting down, nervously trying to make conversation, when Frank Iero walked through the doorway. “Hi i’m Frank!”. I screamed. I was trembling all over. He walked towards us and shook each one of our hands as we introduced ourselves. We handed him the banner that we had spent months working on, but probably ruined the night before trying to think of what our personally message was going to be. (If i type out what it was, i will be made fun of, so i’m not going to)…But let’s just say, it was a little crazy and over the top. Frank read it laughing and repeating what we wrote “Man boys…For cereal…Chocolate chip mint…”. I was still tembling, and in my mind was begging him to flip it over to the side that took months to complete. The MCRmy side. Of course, he didn’t.

He was still reading our banner, when Bob Bryar walked in. He shook all of our hands, the same. He was so down to earth and nice, and joined Frank reading the banner. THEN Gerard Way, Ray Toro, and Mikey Way all came in at the same time. I thought i was going to die. I honestly didn’t know if my body could take it! Meeting your heroes just so happens to be the most nerve-racking experience ever. Gerard shook all of our hands, and we introduced ourselves. Then Mikey came through giving all of us hugs and saying “Right on, right on!” after each one. When i was 11 years old, my dream was to hug Mikey, and it was finally happening. I didn’t want to let go, ever. Then Ray came through giving us all hugs as well. WAS THIS REALLY HAPPENING?!

All of them were reading the banner, making comments on it and laughing. I couldn’t breath. Then, thank God for Ray Toro! He flipped over the banner to the MCRmy side! “are these all your friends?” He asked. “No,” Frank replied “They’re all MCRmy people, right?”. They asked us a little more about the banner, and read a bunch of the messages. Then Bob asked us if we wanted to see the tour bus…If course we did! We followed him out to the bus, Ray walking right behind me. I was so afraid that i was going to trip or something.

We walked into the bus, and surprisingly, it was squeeky clean! Bob gave us the tour of the kitchen section, showing us someone’s soup bowl. Then Ray brought us back to the bunk area. As i looked on each bunk i was wondering things…what could they possibly have gotten in a ” bath and body works” bag? What did the binded on that bunk say? So many thoughts were rushing through my head. Ray told us that when they go home, it’s hard to sleep because you can’t hear the bus. We walked back into the kitchen section where everyone was sitting. We were all crammed in MCR’s bus, and it was the most amazing feeling in the world! From there, everyone just tried to keep conversation. When we would stop talking, they would talk, which made it less akward feeling. They talked about how long they’ve been touring, their up coming break, and video games. We told them where we were from, and they talked about how they played there first big show ever there with Jimmy Eat World. Basically, they were the nicest people ever. Mikey was texting on his phone the whole time, but it was probably with his wife or someone, so i wasn’t rude to him. Bob showed us his “luxury power windows” and Gerard told us that it actually was hard to get a bus with power windows! We laughed, and then Bob got us all drinks. I didn’t take one, because i knew i would choke if i tired to drink anything.

We left the tourbus after a few more minutes, and went back into the room. There we gave them all the things we wanted them to sign. They signed everything and began looking through a book we brought. It was about them, and had tons of pictures. They assured us that they never interviewed for one book ever, but continued looking through it. When they would find pictures, there faces were priceless. “EW GET THIS AWAY FROM ME! Where was this?! Look at Bob! I love that shirt!” It was hilarious. Then we gave them our presents which were, tootsie pop bouquets for everyone but Frank. We gave a frank a blowpop bouquet, because he’s lactose intolerant. They thanked us “SWEET!” “This is awesome, guys!” and Bob ate one of the lolipops and put a long wig on. (Bob is an amazing person btw.) Then, I gave Gerard the painting i had of the Three Cheers For Sweet Revenge cover, and Erin gave him the scarf she made for him. He loved them both! Then we saw Brian Schecter! “SCHECTER!? Why would you want a picture with Brian!?” Gerard asked. “WE DO!” Brian came in and took pictures with us. After talking a little more, we wanted pictures with the band!

I followed Mikey out to a truck. We had to walk across a thin ramp, and i was praying that i didn’t trip because my first reaction would be to grab Mikey. (BTW, he was skinnier in person!) Once in the bus, Ray dropped the banner. He felt bad about it, but we assured him that it was okay and just laughed it off. Then we all took pictures and then we had to give them our last hugs. It was depressing leaving them, but it was all so amazing. They told us that we would get to enjoy the show from an elevated platform.

We walked through the tunnel, with the manager leading us once again. We got up to the platform and the show began. Drive By came on, and was incredible. I have to say, it was a little hard to watch at first because i was still so shaken up. The singer kept saying “MY CHEMICAL ROMANCE” and everyone would scream. They were awesome. During the break we went to get our merch, and ended up missing the beggining of Taking Back Sunday. TBS do put on a great show though, and this is coming from someone who is not particularly a fan. Make Damn Sure got me SUPER PUMPED for MCR to come onto the stage. The break in between TBS and MCR was long, or it seemed long at least. I found my brothers and told them all about my adventure. Then, we met Vienna from the MCRmy. She was super nice. When MCR came on the stage, i started crying again. I screamed the words to every song. It was amazing being in such a small venue, seeing that many fans sing to the music. Ray waved to us during one of the songs. I didn’t think he was waving to us, but when we waved back, he pointed, and wave, and pointed, and waved. I died inside. Why did that feel so amazing after meeting them? I don’t know, but it did! In the middlke of Headfirst For Halos, Frank Iero sang The Fresh Prince Of Belair theme song. It was awesome! Gerard gave a shout out to Erin, because she was the wish kid. The whole show was epic.

After the show, we met a few fans and got into the limo. It was the most amazing experience ever, thanks to the Make-a-Wish foundation. So two days before MCR went on break, we got to spend time with them before the show, and rock out in the VIP section of the show. It was epic! 5/7/08 is a day i will remember in detail forever.