My Chemical Romance Kicks Off Second North American Leg Of World Tour

Published: Monday, August 17, 2026

by Veronica Thompson

On August 9th, My Chemical Romance kicked off their second North American leg of the “The Black Parade Tour” at Citi Field in New York City. As a long time and diehard My Chemical Romance fan, it was no question that I would be attending the show. I had already gone to three shows on their first leg last summer, which absolutely threw me for a ride. It’s nothing new that MCR doesn’t shy away from dramatic and over the top theatrics when it comes to their album aesthetics and live performances, but this tour is their craziest yet. Since returning from their hiatus in 2019, the band has only gotten bigger. From headlining arenas back in 2022 to now playing sold out stadium shows since last summer including Wembley stadium and Metlife. Upon reaching this milestone, they’ve now clearly been able to up their production budget to give their audiences not just a grand concert, but a full fledged theatre production.

Throughout performing their third studio album “The Black Parade” in full, My Chemical Romance brings you on a journey through the world of Draag. “Draag” is the fictional country that the members of the Black Parade live within. Along with creating a whole world, Gerard Way also made characters and even a completely new language, named Keposhka, for this country. Some of these characters include the band of course, all of them dressed up in uniforms resembling the original Black Parade attire. There is also the clerk, a recurring face on stage who starts the show by observing and keeping track of the band's every movement, and ends the set by getting murdered on a gurney by Gerard. Then there’s Marianne and Sylvia, two different (or even possibly interchangeable) characters who serenade the audience with an operatic performance of the Draag national anthem, as well as the bridge in the song “Mama”, but it doesn’t stop there.

 

Throughout the show, a handful of other characters appear, all of them important to the lore of The Black Parade. But it’s not like we fully know their purpose in the show, and that's the best part of it all. My Chemical Romance didn’t give us the story of this world before they started performing it, and they still haven't explained it at all. That's what makes the show so captivating, because you leave the stadium with more questions than answers. Since kicking off this tour last summer, fans have been decoding, theorizing, and collecting every piece of the performance just to try and get a lead at some sort of answer. No matter what we’ve put together, we’re still not sure of the full story, but that is why these shows are so fun to see, because it gives us all the opportunity to think and discuss further.

This tour is another great reflection of the creativity that's behind any sort of My Chemical Romance work. And it’s not just the band who has those types of skills, it bleeds off on the fans. I got to the venue at 5 in the morning, which is a little excessive, but I was not the first person in line, I was almost 90th in line. While I was hanging around Citi Field for over 12 hours, I got to see so many fans that put their creative skills to work. This is another example of how My Chemical Romance concerts are not just shows, but experiences. I left Citi field with a bag full of bracelets, photocards, artwork, and so many other hand made pieces that were all made by the fellow fans I met in line.

And it wasn’t just the art they put work into, almost every single person who walked past me or was next to me at the show had on some sort of outfit that had many days of thought and work put behind it. Handmade jackets, carefully painted makeup, and even faces splattered with fake blood. I was one of them, my ‘costume’ consisting of a suit, tie, and skirt, my attempt on recreating Gerard Way’s look in the “I’m Not Okay (I Promise)” music video. Of course I completed the look with a squeeze of fake blood coming from my nose.

Despite mine and others outfits likely taking an hour or more to put together, by the end of the night, the makeup and fake blood had melted from our faces. It wasn’t just from the 90 degree weather that day, but because we all were dancing and having the time of our lives the entire night.

I was lucky enough to watch the show from the general admission area. I stayed in the back to watch The Black Parade performance, but for the second half of the show, I was right in the front. For context, the band has set up the stadiums they play in to have two stages. One called the main stage for the Black Parade, and the other named the B stage that is placed behind the pit and essentially in the middle of the stadium. The B stage is where the band continues to play another set after performing on the main stage where they ditch the costumes and acting, and play another handful of songs that aren’t on The Black Parade in their regular clothing.

 

Even though I was blown away by the main stage, the B stage performance was my favorite. The stage is half the size, closer to the barricade, and overall a much more intimate experience. I was right next to the stairs, so aside from being right in front of the stage, I got to see the entire band walk right past me, and I even got high fives from Frank and Mikey. I was in the same spot for every show I've gone to on this tour, but it’s still always so surreal to see the band only a few feet away from me.

They ended the night on the B stage playing a number of deep cuts off their discography. They kicked it off with “ Honey, This Mirror Isn’t Big Enough for the Two of Us” off of their first album, a song they’ve only played three times since 2007. Other songs included, "Bulletproof Heart”, one of my favorites off of Danger Days, and of course songs like I’m Not Okay, Na Na Na, and Helena.

 

Finally they concluded the set with “Demolition Lovers”, a song that only real fans know the gravity of. They’ve only played that song a handful of times since reuniting, playing it for the first time since 2002 and their first night at the Prudential center in 2022, which I was lucky enough to see. They accompanied the song with violin and cello played by Kayleigh Goldsworthy and Claire Jenson respectively. Then, after stringing the last chord, they said their goodbyes and walked off the stage, leaving me and the tens of thousands of other fans there with our makeup steaming down our faces and our jaws on the floor.

 

My Chemical Romance Knocked it out of the (ball)park once again, showing their home of the north east exactly what they have to give. They'll continue their tour of The Black Parade up until November, but just based off what they showed at Citi Field, I know My Chemical Romance fans are in for so much more excitement.

 

For more information reach out to Veronica Thompson at veronica.thompson@student.shu.edu 

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