I was introduced to the Emo music scene when I was a freshman in highschool, and my teenage years were set to the music of the “Holy Emo Trinity” of My Chemical Romance, Paramore, and Fall Out Boy. I’ve previously seen both Paramore and Fall Out Boy, so seeing My Chemical Romance had been a bucketlist item for a while. Safe to say, my fourteen-year-old self was absolutely losing her mind throughout the evening.

Every emo in the Bay Area seemed to be in attendance. Every passenger on Caltrain seemed to be headed to the show, and there was a sea of Black Parade T-shirts surrounding Oracle Park. I don’t think the Giants stadium has ever been so lacking in orange shirts before.

The choice of opener, 100 gecs, was interesting to me. I can’t quite say for certain that there’s much overlap between 100 gecs and MCR; sonically-speaking, I didn’t hear a lot of similarity. Their hyperpop and ska set was vastly different compared to My Chemical Romance’s emo and pop-punk sound. Memorable songs from the set, like “Dumbest Girl Alive” and “I Got My Tooth Removed”, felt odd, especially when a short while later the stadium was brought to Draag and ushered through the entirety of The Black Parade.

The pit definitely seemed to be enjoying the show, as did a sizeable portion of the stands. Both Laura Les and Dylan Brady, the duo behind 100 gecs, made excellent use of the opportunity to interact with their fans and keep the crowd going during their performance. Laura Les helped to elevate their live show with interjections of her wit and commentary between songs. It was a fun addition to their live set that gave me a better introduction to one of the individuals behind the music. I can’t say that I’m the target demographic for 100 gecs, but if their fans’ reactions were anything to base their performance off of, they were pretty good.

When I tell you the anticipation of MCR coming on stage was killing me, I was halfway to the River Styx. The stage crew did a fantastic job of building the stage sets. I don’t want to spoil too much of the show, but it was so fantastic. The immersion into Draag through set design, the personas put on by the band and other auxiliary performers, and the new language that was commissioned especially for this was absolutely incredible. The references to real history that were made throughout the show were incredibly well thought out and really added to the narrative of Draag.

The set that was performed was one of the band’s longest ever, and I was so psyched to hear some of my favorite songs live, including many of the songs off of The Black Parade, such as “I Don’t Love You” and “Mama”, which are two of my favorite songs by My Chemical Romance. The first half of the show, the play-through of The Black Parade, was fully themed to Draag and the set. The band (and auxiliary performers) were in Draag costumes and military uniforms, there were skits in-between songs, and Gerard Way was fully in-character. This dedication to the story of Draag and The Black Parade was really incredible and made the show so memorable.

The second half of the show was a collection of songs from various other MCR albums and a cover of the hit song “Bullet With Butterfly Wings” by The Smashing Pumpkins. My favorite performances from this segment were “I’m Not Okay (I Promise)” and “Helena”, though “Na Na Na (Na Na Na Na Na Na Na Na Na)” seemed to be the definite crowd favorite.  The band moved from the main stage to a stage set up in the middle of the baseball field, which sat kind of in-between the pit and the floor seats. The second half of the show felt more intimate than the first – likely due to the proximity of the band to the fans and having just the “essentials” on that smaller stage.

The show was absolutely incredible. For those who will see them on this tour, I hope you have an experience as amazing as mine was.