My Chemical Freak: My Chemical Romance All The Time

 (GIRL CUT)

 (REGULAR CUT)

Frank’s S//C has a new T-shirt in their online store!  It’s pretty sweet and only $15!  I had to pick that one up!

CLICK HERE for Skeleton Crew’s online store!

 
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.

By Meghan
For My Chemical Freak

Meghan on Myspace
Thanks Meghan!

Questions? Info? Photos?
EMAIL US!

By Louie

Well, The day of the MCR concert in Austin was hot. I
waited in line for a little more than four hours in
the hot Austin sun. The day before had been quite
pleasant, but I guess mother nature decided to see if
fans were true enough to wait in the sun. I drove all
the way from Houston to Austin, about a four hour
drive, and went straight to the line, which had
already formed to about thirty people. After waiting
in line the security guys came and gave us wrist bands
and said “If we catch you with a camera, we’re gonna
take it”. It scared me, but I still took it. Not to
mention I had my iPhone, which was allowed. After the
gates opened, around 6 o’clock an hour later Drive By
came on, but not before Bob passed through, which got
the crowd excited, and rocked pretty hard. Then Billy
Talent came on and got us even more pumped. And at the
end of the Billy Talent set, Bob played the drums for
Billy Talent! Yes, the drummer of Billy Talent left
his spot so that Bob could play. Unbelievable. After
Talent left there was about a 30 minute wait until MCR
came on. They started the set with “This Is How I
Disappear” and went straight to “Dead!”. The crowd was
CRAZY. I was second from barricades, which was tight.
When they started to talk I decided it would be a good
time to record. Then, just as they were about to play
“I Don’t Love you”, the security guy caught me and
asked for my camera battery. DX. I told him when I was
taking it out it fell and he bought it.XD. Not once
did Gerard, or any band members, come off stage and
touch the fans. After awhile I couldn’t great and
Gerard started to sound like a mouse. I guess because
I was right by the speakers. They played a lengthly
set list, hehe during “Prison” he started moaning, and
before they ended Gerard told Austin that they had
been his favorite crowd to date. Well, the moment
we’ve all been waiting for, the set list.

(Not in order, just so you know.)

This Is How I Disappear
Dead!
My Way Home Is Through You
Mama
Welcome To The Black Parade
Give ‘Em Hell, Kid
Kill All Your Friends
Heaven Help Us
Headfirst for Halos
Desert Song
Cancer
I’m Not Okay
House Of Wolves
I Never Told You What I Do For A Living
Cemetery Drive
I Don’t Love You
Famous Last Words
Teenagers (Which They play the S**T out of, claims
Gerard)
Prison
Desolation Row
Helena

Photos and Review By Louie
For My Chemical Freak
All Proprerty Rights Reserved

Questions? Info? Photos?
EMAIL US!

Photos Property of Meghan

NOTE:  This was mistakenly called backstage at MSG.  It wasn’t in fact at MSG but in PA at The Electric Factory!  Sorry for the mix up!

Photos from various people around the net…

MCF does not claim to own any of them.

To see more sweet pics of MCR from MSG from Adam Pantozzi CLICK HERE

Vid by:  CallxMexLame

By Genavieve

My friend and I arrived in Memphis, Tennessee at 7am in morning after a long night on the Greyhound. We went to get some food, keeping our eyes open for MCR or their tour bus We got to the venue an hour later and sat down. The show didn’t start till 5pm but we still sat there all day. About 9am we met up with some friends who were coming from the Alabama show.The whole day was overcast and we prayed that the rain wouldn’t cancel the show. We found out while waiting that they almost did cancel because there was a tornado forming, but thankfully it broke up and went away.
Finally after a long day of waiting we got in and got center stage on the rail. The first group wasn’t that good. They seemed like they were trying to be the Beastie Boys. The whole time Bob and Frank sat side stage to watch this band and laughed at how crazy my friends and I were being during this band.

Flyleaf came on after them and then HelloGoodbye. During HelloGoodbye’s set they had to keep stopping because the weather would get bad. When the weather calmed down they would start up again. Then it was time for MCR . It was a downpour by then but we didn’t care. We just sat singing “Dancing Queen” while MCR’s crew set up, but they had to stop because the rain got harder again!! I was scared they would not come out with the weather like it was and Gerard was getting over being sick, but was I wrong LOL!

As soon as the rain stopped the guys came out and started to rock as they always do. They seemed to rock extra hard that night and we did in the crowd. Even though it was freezing and wet, we didn’t care what so ever. Mikey moved around a lot more than normal and the Fro Man shook the Fro as always. Frank kept having to change guitars after every song. I think he broke a string during one song because he started to laugh his ass off as Matt helped him switch guitars. During “Teenagers” I looked up and saw the lightening was sort of going with the beat of the music. But the best part of the whole show was during “Famous Last Words” the rain poured harder than it had all day. Even onstage. It was cool how instead of fire it was water. I think Bob enjoyed it lol he wasn’t at risk of getting burned again. That was the best show I’ve been to and hope the guys enjoy their break.
-Genavieve

Photos and Review by Judakris

“You people have no idea how hard it is to stand up here in front of all of you with a zipper that won’t stay up.” Not exactly what you expect to hear during a rock show from Gerard Way, lead singer of rock darlings My Chemical Romance. Here’s a kid from Jersey who didn’t make it as an artist so decides to start a band (yes, MCR was a plan B, if you can believe it) subsequently and after a lot of hard touring becomes the lead singer of one of the most successful rock bands around. They’ve gained respect from peers, gotten kudos as well as career advice from Dave Grohl (maybe not so much eyeliner) and are admired by kids, tweens, teenagers and adults. Not everyone has the chutzpah to do this. Not everyone has the ability to make grown frat boys take off their shirt and twirl them around on command or do jazz hands like he did at Warped in ‘05, back when they weren’t even THAT successful yet.

 Despite the embarrassing wardrobe malfunction, Gerard made light of it and the band continued on to complete a 2+ hour set that included b-sides and crowd favorites with as much energy as when they were still hungry- which was not that long ago. St. Louisans are always a great audience and they gave it right back.

Set list:
This is How I Disappear
Dead!
Cemetery Drive
Give ‘Em Hell, Kid
My Way Home is Through You (B-side Famous Last Words)
The Black Parade
I Don’t Love You
House of Wolves
Never Told You What I Do For a Living
Heaven (B-side Welcome to the Black Parade)
Mama
You Know What They Do To Guys Like Us In Prison
Headfirst for Halos
Kill All Your Friends (B-side FLW)
I’m Not Okay
Teenagers
Famous Last Words
Cancer
Desert Song (from Life on the Murder Scene)
Desolation Row (Bob Dylan cover)
Helena

Illustrating my point of their relatability to many, the audience consisted of a potpourri of onlookers. In the pit were teenagers, whose worried mothers and fathers peppered the outskirts of the area looking for signs of their kids. Very soon I saw a lot of parent-looking people waving their arms and yelling the songs out as well… I saw a female fan who had painted X’s on her eyes like Frank Iero used to do a few years ago. There was a regular schmo who practically sang every line of Cancer in my ear. Behind us were two men, one 6′4″ guy who wore a Chicago Cubs baseball cap and another shorter version of his kind who sported a permanent beer and a cigarette- both looked as though they had rolled out of a baseball game and happened to find themselves inside a Tim Burton musical. For some reason, it reminded me of a story J told me about her husband H and his army buddies- how one night they had a pass to go to the movies and paid money to see A Nightmare Before Christmas not realizing what it was. Soon I realized they knew exactly where they were. One of them sang every word from every Black Parade song and the other sang every word to Helena TO his friend, who had closed his eyes and disappeared into his repressed imagination.

This last leg of tour will precede a two year break, apparently, which is disappointing, but I think we all get it. Gerard introduced Helena with a request that we all do something creative we love- start a band, write something, or draw, etc. Sweetheart, you’ll never know how much of an inspiration you were to J and me 3 years ago… UNBELIEVABLE-K

Order the “Punk’s Not Dead” DVD between May 9th – June 9th and you will automatically be entered to win your choice of a series of My Chemical Romance posters signed by the band, or a “Punk’s Not Dead” poster signed by Mick Jones (The Clash), Iggy Pop, and Billy Idol & Tony James (Gen X)!

Click HERE for the official entry site!