It was a great night for a resurrection (and an execution but more on that later) as My Chemical Romance revived The Black Parade for one final night of their massive North American tour. Fans from around the country amassed in Tampa, Florida, and even the rain held off so MCR could celebrate under clear skies at Raymond James Stadium alongside the rock icons in Evanescence.
Before the doors opened and the excitement began, fans of all ages gathered outside the stadium dressed in their emo finery- a gala atmosphere that reverberated across every stop of the tour. The stadium filled up early as Evanescence took the stage under a perfect golden sunset for a performance that immediately ramped up the nostalgia. Singer Amy Lee was a whirlwind, her long hair whipping around in the Tampa Bay breeze while the band powered through “Going Under”, “Call Me When You’re Sober” and “Better Without You”. The crossover between My Chemical Romance fans and Evanescence fans is nearly a perfect circle and that stadium was belting along with Lee throughout the set. Their time onstage came to a fiery close with “Bring Me to Life”, a classic rock track that sounds just as incredible over 20 years later.
My Chemical Romance has spent the entirety of the “Long Live” The Black Parade Tour building on two decades of storyline surrounding the most successful, generation-defining, visually complex concept album in the band’s discography. The screens on either side of the stage flashed with the “rules” for the night (in both English and Keposhka, the ambiguously European-esque font created just for the fictional world of Draag) before Lucy Joy Altus emerged to regale the crowd with “The National Anthem of Draag”.
Gerard Way, Ray Toro, Frank Iero and Mikey Way- accompanied by their incredible backing band- appeared onstage in full Black Parade regalia, with Gerard sporting painted-on scratches and sores to give him the appearance of the undead maestro of the evening’s orchestra. The first part of the set was a full playthrough of The Black Parade, a callback to their test run at When We Were Young Fest in 2024. This time, however, The Black Parade and the band are one and the same, with the members being audited by the mysterious and violent Clerk all while paying homage to the Grand Immortal Dictator whose impassive stare observed the entirety of the performance. The band stayed in character for the duration of the album play and Gerard took to his podium before the iconic first notes of “Welcome to the Black Parade” to oversee the tour’s final execution- but this time, it was the band members themselves who appeared in front of the firing squad. The audience was armed with their voting signs and not even the band was spared the hail of bullets that dropped them to the floor.
The set slowly got more unhinged with each passing song as Gerard threw himself into every song and whipped the already excitable audience into a frenzy of shrieking along. Every moment was carefully planned and executed to perfection to please the Grand Immortal Dictator up until the final notes of “Famous Last Words” where the Clerk transformed into a killer Clown and stabbed Gerard repeatedly while the rest of the band was bodily forced from the stage. The Clown and Gerard shared one final, bloody embrace before detonating the Clown’s explosive vest and bringing part one of the set to a savage end.
Even after all of The Black Parade fanfare, the night was really just getting started. Intermission brought renowned cellist Clarice Jensen to the B-stage for a haunting interlude to segue into the second part of the show. The rest of the band then reappeared in civilian attire to bash out a chosen repertoire of hits and deep cuts for every type of fan in the crowd. Naturally, “I’m Not Okay (I Promise)” and “Na Na Na” (upraised jazz hands and all) were included but MCR took the audience deeper down the rabbit hole with “Bury Me In Black” (only ever released as a demo) and the first live performance of “My Way Home is Through You” since 2008.
Now out of their parade personas, the band was downright joyful onstage, smiling at each other, interacting with the crowd and jamming together like no time had passed since disbanding over 10 years ago. Iero and Toro shredded in unison, grinning all the while as Mikey Way hopped down onto the barricade to get up close and personal with a group of sobbing fans. Gerard took several breathers to sincerely thank the packed house for their unwavering support over the years and assure everyone that the band is indeed still having the time of their lives.
This particular B-stage setlist was heavy on the Three Cheers for Sweet Revenge but closed the night and the tour with the heart-pounding “Boy Division” and perfectly anthemic “The Kids from Yesterday”. With one final wave to the fans, MCR departed the stage to round out the most ambitious and theatrical rock tours of 2025- and maybe even snuck in a promise that this year wouldn’t be the end of the line for this iconic band.
