By Helena Loftis
July 19th, 2025… the day I witnessed the greatest concert I’ve ever seen to this day. I woke up in the morning still somewhat exhausted from my college orientation the day before and the long car ride back. But my excitement for what would take place that evening completely overshadowed it. My parents and I would be driving to San Francisco to see My Chemical Romance live at Oracle Park as part of their Long Live The Black Parade Tour. For some background, my parents essentially raised me on MCR, and they are one of my favorite bands of all time. So, to finally go see them live, especially on this tour surrounding their 2006 magnum opus of an album The Black Parade was so thrilling. In the late afternoon, my parents and I pulled up across the street from Oracle Park and instantly noticed the huge line of fans waiting to witness the spectacle that is MCR’s live show. As soon as we stepped out of the car, we instantly put on our jackets due to the cold San Francisco weather despite this being in the middle of the summer, and we walked to the gates of the venue. After getting in and purchasing some shirts and hoodies at one of the many merch tables they had around the ballpark, we found our seats on the floor and sat down. And once the opening act 100 Gecs was done playing, my parents and I stood up as the real show was starting to begin. And so right then, My Chemical Romance (Gerard Way, Mikey Way, Ray Toro, & Frank Iero, along with touring members Jarrod Alexander, Jamie Muhoberac, and Clarice Jensen) walked out onto the stage in their Black Parade uniforms. With an almost other worldly stage presence, you can tell they were ready to ignite the crowd.
As soon as the band kicked into the double opener of The End and Dead!, the energy in the stadium was absolutely electric. The entire crowd instantly began singing along and jumping like bats out of hell… and I was one of them doing exactly that. This energy continued through the next two songs in the band’s set, that being This Is How I Disappear and The Sharpest Lives. Then it came time for the band to play what is arguably their most popular song ever… Welcome To The Black Parade. As soon as keyboard player Jamie hit that first high G flat note on the piano, the crowd freaked out knowing what was coming. Gerard approached the mic and sang those famous opening words… “When I was a young boy, my father took me into the city to see a marching band.” as the crowd sung along. And as this multi-part epic of a song continued, I began to realize there was truly something special about this concert… but I’ll get back to that later. The band carried on with the sorrowful I Don’t Love You (one of my favorites by the way), the energetic and aggressive House of Wolves, and the heartbreakingly beautiful ballad of Cancer. The band then entered the last handful of tracks from the Black Parade album, that being the sinister Mama, the mournful and explosive Sleep, the somber and remorseful Disenchanted (my favorite MCR song of all time by the way), and the climatic epic finale of Famous Last Words and the hidden track Blood. And with that, The Black Parade portion of the set was over as the band were dragged off stage with sacks over their heads. Oh that’s right, I forgot to mention that throughout the set, the band would essentially play characters in this overarching story of The Black Parade, the fictional country of Draag, and the dictator that rules said country. It added yet another theatrical layer to the band’s performance.
After some time, cello player Clarice Jensen came onto the square shaped B Stage positioned in the middle of the audience on the floor and began playing a beautiful cello solo, leading into the rest of the band (now in regular clothes) joining to begin their second set of the night. And they did so by kicking into the fast and in-your-face track of Thank You for The Venom. They followed this with hit tracks and some deep cuts with the likes of I’m Not Okay, Summertime, Na Na Na (Na Na Na Na Na Na Na Na Na), and It’s Not a Fashion Statement, It’s a Deathwish. Then out of nowhere, they followed these songs with an epic cover of The Smashing Pumpkins hit Bullet With Butterfly Wings, which just electrified the crowd even further, before proceeding to some of their other songs like Boy Division (another personal favorite of mine), Helena (the song I got my name from as a matter of fact), and finally closing off their set with the nostalgic and bittersweet anthem of The Kids From Yesterday. And once the song was over, Gerard Way thanked the crowd and the band proceeded to say goodnight, walking off stage as the crowd raucously cheered them on.
And so, once my parents and I got back to the car and began the drive home was when I realized just how special the concert was. You see, every knows that My Chemical Romance are super talented musicians and spectacular performers all around. But what I think they really excel at, especially in a live setting, is make everyone in the venue feel so alive and connected with one another. There’s really not that many words to describe how special it feels to be at an MCR concert and just feel the energy all around the stadium. It’s absolutely breathtaking and I hope I get to see them live again someday to experience that feeling all over again.
