Five shows. Three cities. One very strange world of dictators, Killjoys, spice bags, fireworks and a whole lot of people who still aren’t quite ready to come back down to earth.
A month after My Chemical Romance finished their UK run, we looked back at the shows, the lore, and the community that made it feel like so much more than a tour.
Photo by Amy Showell.
For five dates across Liverpool, Glasgow, and London, the UK became part of the strange, theatrical world of Draag. There were dictators, rules, executions, secret messages, changing characters, unexpected songs, fireworks, rain, power cuts, bagpipes, spice bags and enough tiny details to keep fans analysing everything long after the final note had been played.
But underneath all of that was something much simpler. People were happy.
Not just happy to see My Chemical Romance, although obviously that was a massive part of it. There was something about being surrounded by thousands of people who understood the same references, knew the same lyrics, recognised the same characters and had travelled from all over the country to be there that made these shows feel like much more than concerts.
A month on, the fireworks have stopped, the costumes are back in wardrobes, and the queues have disappeared. But the feeling hasn’t quite gone away. We are all still stuck in that feeling, chasing that high from the tour where we belonged, where we felt seen, and most of all, where we got to dance and scream along to our favourite songs.
The Black Parade Returns
The excitement building around the UK leg of My Chemical Romance’s Long Live The Black Parade began long before the band were due to hit British soil.
The tour had already taken fans through North America and South America, with each leg adding more to the story that had grown around the shows. By the time the South American run ended, fans were left with another cliffhanger and a whole new collection of questions.
What would happen next? Which version of the show would they bring to the UK, and would we have lore progression? My Chemical Romance had already made it clear that this wasn’t going to be a straightforward anniversary tour, so fans were eagerly awaiting the next twist in the saga.
Twenty years after the release of The Black Parade, My Chemical Romance could have simply played the album from start to finish, thrown in some greatest hits and called it a celebration of one of the most important records of the 2000s.
Instead, they created Draag.
A fictional land ruled by a stern dictator who controls The Black Parade and repeatedly forces them to perform. Mysterious Rules appear on screens before the show begins, a national anthem exists, and a whole collection of characters that have their own evolving roles within the story. The staging is packed with military imagery, theatrical performances, and deliberately absurd moments keeping fans on the edge of their seats. Those attending multiple nights get new experiences each show, My Chemical Romance really put their all into keeping a long run of shows fresh for attendees.
Fully committed to the bit, Gerard Way and artist Nate Piekos even created a fictional Cyrillic-style language called Keposhka, giving fans yet another thing to decode. Fans rose to the challenge and even created a translator, with many trying to become fluent.
And then there is the central idea behind the whole thing. The Black Parade never really died.
Now the new lore begins where the black parade was last performed in Mexico city back in 2008. Back then, their last ever performance of the album was billed as the black parade is dead. Killing off their characters after a long gruelling run of 133 shows over the space of a year. It was the last time they played the album in full until the when we were young festival in 2024.
Instead of running a nostalgia tour, My Chemical Romance decided to break boundaries and bring a concert like no other has ever been done before. They teased that the black parade never really died and instead were sent to the MOAT (prison). They were now being reconditioned to perform again. Dramatic? Yes. Enthralling? Absolutely.
But that’s what makes it work so well.
Rather than simply recreating 2007/8, My Chemical Romance has taken the world of The Black Parade and built something new around it.
Going back to their roots of the original mid 2000s tour, the band are once again performing as the fictional band “The Black Parade” only ever introducing themselves as My Chemical Romance once the full run through of the album has been played and they begin their “B stage” setlist of wildcards, deepcuts and hits.
That unpredictability became one of the most exciting parts of the UK shows.
And now we have the Draag characters. The clerk, the secretary, the dictator, the gentleman (a ventriloquist dummy), Sylvia, Mary Ann, and the draag auxiliary band amongst many. Each have their roles throughout the album playthrough, from watching over proceedings to the clerk dressing as a clown and stabbing Gerard and then blowing himself up. This is a concert on a scale like no other. No, where else are you getting a theatre show followed by a second set of favourites and deep cuts.
There is even an elexcecution, a vote for whether four people with hoods on their heads die by firing squad. Everyone is handed a double-sided sign on entry with yea on one side and nay on the other. During this segment, the crowd is encouraged to vote to kill or save the prisoners. Ultimately, the end result is always the same, no matter what the vote. They get executed and taken away in body bags. This could be a clever look at democracy today, how ultimately, no matter how people vote, those in power will always choose the outcomes. But this is also My Chemical Romance who loves drama and theatrics too.
And so, after months of watching clips, decoding lore and trying to work out what the band might do next, it was finally time for the UK to enter Draag.
Liverpool: The Beginning
The first UK show took place at Anfield on 30 June and for many fans, the experience began hours before the band appeared.
The queues became their own little communities. People were exchanging bracelets, handmade gifts and things they’d spent weeks making for complete strangers. There were conversations with people who had previously only existed as usernames online.
Fans arrived wearing outfits from different eras of My Chemical Romance, from Bullets and Three Cheers for Sweet Revenge through to The Black Parade and Danger Days. Some were dressed as the band, some as characters, while others had gone all out with full Killjoy outfits or Black Parade costumes.
Some costumes were elaborate. Some were subtle and nobody really looked out of place, it was all part of the fun and the experience.
That became one of the biggest themes of the entire UK run. You could turn up looking however you wanted, and there was always someone who understood it.
The fan-made gifts and bracelets weren’t just a Liverpool thing either. They followed the tour from city to city, becoming part of the experience throughout the UK leg.
Then came the rain. Lots of rain.
Everyone inside Anfield got soaked, everyone was wet, and the weather seemed determined to make the first day as difficult as possible.
Then, somehow, by the time My Chemical Romance was due on stage, the sun came out.
Liverpool had its own little additions, too. Gerard walked onto the b stage wearing a Steven Gerrard shirt (bought by Frank), an instant hit with the Liverpool crowd. The Dictator also appeared with a Liverpool scarf, giving the otherwise fictional world of Draag a very specific local touch.
And then there was “Cancer”. More specifically, the now infamous burp. This led to instant memes online and even an anymous account called the burp project, who jokingly campaigned for the burp to return at glasgow. This led to fan covers of this part of the song and the moment going semi viral amongst the fandom.
It was probably not the moment the band expected people to be talking about afterwards, but it was very much one of those completely human moments that cut through all the elaborate staging, and soften the emotions of the song that had people going from crying to laughing in an instant.
The main Black Parade set had followed the established storyline without too many huge lore changes, but the B stage was where the night really opened up.
“Save Yourself, I’ll Hold Them Back” and “Heaven Help Us” were two of the standout moments of the night, giving fans exactly the sort of unexpected B-stage experience they had been hoping for. Because there’s one thing My Chemical Romance likes to do, and that is to have an unpredictable setlist.
Glasgow: When The Power Went Out
If Liverpool had been soaked, Glasgow decided to take things even further. It rained non stop throughout the day at Bellahouston Park, and the weather was bad enough that there was no B stage and sound checks were delayed. This wasn’t the end of the technical issues.
Just as My Chemical Romance were about to start, the power went out. The timing could not have been worse. Thousands of people were standing around waiting for the show to begin, and suddenly the production was dealing with a technical problem that nobody had planned for.
So what do you do when you’ve got a stadium-sized crowd waiting for My Chemical Romance and no power?
Apparently, you get a bagpiper.
A bagpiper, Iain Melvin, came out to entertain the crowd while the technical problems were fixed. Rather than becoming awkward, it turned into one of the most memorable moments of the night, and the crowd welcoming him with open arms. They absolutely loved him as they cheered and chanted for him. Leaving him visibly touched as he finished.
Sometimes the best moments and most memorable at a gig are the ones nobody planned. And with no signal at Bellahouston, fans trying to keep up online, it was amusing to see the panic when no one knew more than just the power cut.
Once My Chemical Romance finally took the stage, there were some small changes to the Draag storyline, The Clerk appeared wearing a tartan scarf, which was eventually snatched from him by the Secretary. During the sleep sequence, where Gerard would normally read his book, it had been replaced by a newspaper featuring Korse from the Danger Days storyline, bringing the Killjoy universe directly into the Draag world. And as you can expect the crowd went crazy reacting to this.
There is many a fan theory where the draag version of the black parade leads into the danger days universe as It wasn’t the first nod to danger days during these shows. Was this a reference to the lore colliding or just a nod to the danger days re-release? Would we end up finishing the long live tour and starting a danger days one? Probably not, but the fun is in the speculation, and it definitely had fans debating.
Then came another surprise at the b stage (but on main stage) set. “Ambulance” made its live debut leaving fans realising that literally any song, no matter how rare could make an appearance this tour.
There was also the growing Spice Bags joke.
During “I’m Not Okay (I Promise)”, Frank changed the usual “trust me” to “spice bags”, following jokes between the band about a food van called Spice Bags.
At the time, it was just funny.
But as the UK run continued, Spice Bags somehow became part of the official Draag universe and that is where things started getting really interesting.
Dedicated Fan Zone
The Wembley experience didn’t actually start inside Wembley Stadium. For the three London dates, fans had another place to gather before heading into the main event, becoming one of the unofficial meeting points for MCR fans. The fan zone hosted pre-show entertainment and, most importantly, The Black Charade.
The Black Charade are the leading UK My Chemical Romance tribute band, and having them play before each of the Wembley shows was a pretty perfect addition to an already MCR-heavy few days. This wasn’t filling time while fans waited for the stadium doors to open, They were giving everyone another chance to sing along to the songs they had travelled to Wembley to hear, hyping up the fans ready for the main event.
Their sets packed in songs from across the MCR catalogue, meaning the fan zone became a mini My Chemical Romance show in its own right. Their sets included “I’m Not Okay (I Promise)”, “Thank You for the Venom”, “You Know What They Do to Guys Like Us in Prison”, “Cemetery Drive”, “Planetary (GO!)”, “Headfirst for Halos”, “Our Lady of Sorrows”, “The Ghost of You”, “Na Na Na”, “Helena”, “I Don’t Love You”, “Famous Last Words” and, fittingly, “Welcome to the Black Parade”. They even worked Bob Dylan’s “Desolation Row” into the set.
It created a really fun, interactive atmosphere to the main shows, People were already dressed up. There was Killjoys walking around, Black Parade costumes everywhere, and everyone was ready to sing along to their favourite songs. Fans were trading bracelets and handmade gifts, meeting up with friends and making new ones. The Black Charade would start playing and suddenly an entire crowd of MCR fans were singing along together before they’d even made it into Wembley Stadium. And boy, were they loud.
The setlists weren’t completely identical across the three dates either, which meant there was still that familiar MCR feeling of not quite knowing exactly what you were going to get.
For anyone who had travelled to London for My Chemical Romance, it was another part of the day to look forward to. That’s what made the Boxpark fan zone work so well, you could spend the afternoon surrounded by people wearing costumes from The Black Parade, Danger Days, Three Cheers for Sweet Revenge and other MCR eras, hear a tribute band tear through the songs you grew up with, trade bracelets with strangers and talk about what might happen inside the stadium later that night.
Then you’d make your way towards Wembley knowing that the real show was still to come.
It almost felt like the community had created its own opening act.
By the time fans headed into the stadium, many had already spent hours singing together, laughing together and meeting people who shared the same obsession.
And that became another important part of the UK leg.
The shows didn’t begin when My Chemical Romance walked onto the stage.
For many fans, they began much earlier, somewhere between the queues, the costumes, the bracelets, the fan zone and a crowd of people who already felt like they belonged together.
You can check out the black charade here:
The Black charade are currently touring too, so check them out live.
Wembley Night One
The first Wembley show largely followed the established storyline, but we had a few changes. The Dictator appeared on the huge screen at the back of the stage throughout the show, overseeing proceedings. A watchful eye on the fans making us feel like we were apart of the draag universe.
The rules were also updated with new additions that were uk specific, one in particular had been added about Spice Bags, the joke had gone from something Frank had shouted during a song in Glasgow to something that had officially entered the rulebook of Draag. The Dictator also had a cup of tea, because even an immortal dictator needs a proper brew.
And then there was Sylvia, Her appearance alongside the story raised plenty of questions because Mary Ann and Sylvia had normally appeared on separate nights. There is two different versions of the long live show. One with the elexcecution and one where the band appears to be in a prison (MOAT) with Mary Ann appearing on one and Sylvia on the latter. Even Gerards character mentioned she wasn’t meant to be there. So, having them together immediately gave fans something new to analyse.
Were timelines beginning to clash?
Was the story changing?
Was this another piece of the puzzle?
As always, My Chemical Romance wasn’t exactly handing us the answers.
They were handing us more questions.
The B stage delivered another huge surprise with My Chemical Romance playing their cover of “Jack the Ripper”, an extremely rare song to hear live, not heard since about 2003, and one that made the already unpredictable second half of the show even more special.
Then came “Helena”, Wembley was singing every word. Gerard looked up at the crowd and simply said “fuck”, seemingly overwhelmed by the sheer number of people singing the song back at him. It was a tiny moment, but one that said a lot, and its easy to see why. The sheer size of wembley, the amount of people in attendance alongside how loud fans were singing back at the band. It was an incredible moment all round.
My Chemical Romance had spent years creating songs that spoke to people who felt like outsiders. Now, those songs were being shouted back at them by an entire stadium
Battery City Underground
Between the first and second Wembley shows came one of the most unexpected events of the entire UK run. The Danger Days release party.
The event had been advertised around Guest DJ Sean Smith (from the blackout) alongside DJ Kobra Kid and DJ Party Poison, so fans arrived expecting a night celebrating the world of Danger Days. All debating whether Gerard Way and Mikey Way would actually turn up as their characters or if there would be cosplayers in their place.
There was a themed cocktail menu alongside freebies for fans, including pin badges and masks representing the different Killjoy characters.
Fans queued, with the first one hundred getting wrist bands for front entry of boxpark. The venue filled really quickly, and they began the playthrough of the album. The vibes were immaculate with everyone dancing and singing. The anticipation grew as they took a hydration break before the dj set with everyone eagerly discussing who would represent DJ Kobra Kid and DJ Party Poison.
And then came the surprise. Gerard Way and Mikey Way actually came out to DJ. What had already been a special Danger Days event suddenly became something fans hadn’t expected to experience in person.
The fact that the two brothers were standing there DJing at a Danger Days celebration, right in the middle of the Wembley run, only intensified what a special event this really was as these days its rare to have any members of the band in attendance.
The most fun addiction to the dj set was finishing up on “when the toad came home” from the wind in the willows. A song that now is firmly a part of band lore and many fans singing it for days after.
The timing was hard to ignore, though. The Danger Days re-release was happening, albeit late. The release party was happening alongside references to Korse and the Killjoys appearing inside the Black Parade show.
Something was clearly going on. Was it just a coincidence it all lined up, or were universes actually linking up?
Wembley Night Two
The second Wembley show pushed the story even further with The Clerk being pulled from the stage early by the Secretary.
He didn’t simply disappear, though. Instead, he became part of the screen-based part of the show, appearing on the eyeball and on the huge screen at the back.
At one point, he was even shown eating a Spice Bag, a nod to Glasgow, and reacting to the songs and events happening on stage.
The Clerk’s absence also changed one of the most memorable theatrical moments of the show with the Secretary taking over his role as the clown during the stabbing scene.
The roles were shifting, the characters were changing and the audience was watching closely becuase this had not happened yet this tour.
At the B stage My Chemical Romance delivered another live debut with “Zero Percent”. A song from the Danger Days era suddenly appeared in the B stage set at exactly the point where that album’s influence over the wider tour was becoming impossible to ignore.
The Dictator had his own little Wembley moment, too, appearing with a stuffed toy corgi and eating fish and chips. Again, these details might sound completely ridiculous when written down. And they are.
But that’s the whole point because this is the stuff made specifically for the fans. The ones who decipher and debate, translate fictional languages and fully immerse themselves in the lore. The world of Draag works because My Chemical Romance are willing to take the ridiculous seriously, and so are the fans.
Gerard’s book had changed again, too.
This time, it was a newspaper showing that Killjoys, alongside images declaring the Killjoys, exterminated. The Danger Days world was no longer sitting quietly in the background. It was being dragged into the story.
And fans were alert.
Wembley Night Three
By the third Wembley show, everyone knew to look for changes, The Dictator arrived wearing goalkeeper gloves and a football scarf, reflecting England playing that night. Gerard’s book was called Balls, another nod to the England match. It was another small local detail that made the show feel connected to what was happening outside of Draag.
Gerard and The Clerk exchanged jackets, another new development as The Clerk normally forces Gerard to put his own jacket back on. A move that signifies he’s back under a form of control and only removes the jacket for “mama” and “sleep” where he slicks back his hair and takes on a different persona. Brandishing a knife and singing a new intro to “mama” about having a dagger for his treacherous needs.
Then came one of the biggest development of the whole run, There were two clowns.
The Secretary was dressed as the clown and so was the Clerk. For the stabbing scene, fans were suddenly watching a double-clown situation that nobody could have predicted when the UK leg started.
Sylvia and Mary Ann also appeared together theoughout the night, continuing the development that had begun at the first Wembley show. This time they appeared on the smaller stage singing together with Sylvia being noticeably mean to Mary Anns Handler she requires due to being blind.
And then came another live debut at the B stage, “Party Poison.” The song’s appearance felt particularly fitting after the Danger Days release party just two days earlier. We had Boy Division and the rarer desert song and emotional moment for a lot of fans. Gerard answered to a fans sign asking if he had ever played Balders gate 3, which has now led to the game offering it to him to try. It also shows how even though the band no longer do a lot of press, they still connect to the fans, especially at live shows.
They ended the show on “The Kids from yesterday” with Gerard saying “It’s about us and it’s for you. It’s about you too,”
The Rules of Draag
The rules themselves deserve their own mention because they became part of the fun of arriving at the shows. During the UK leg, new rules appeared numbered from 18 and then through 35 to 53, adding to the strange collection of laws already established in Draag.
Some sounded threatening.
Some made absolutely no sense.
Some seemed deliberately written to make fans laugh. Just another nod to how connected this band is to their fanbase and how fun they like to keep this interaction.
Among the new additions were:
18. And death to all those who oppose.
35. Those of royal blood must declare themselves such to all of common birth.
36. Magic in all its forms is unacceptable. Practitioners punished by death and/or mandatory state service (unaided).
38. Voyages, maiden or otherwise, will need to be carried out to their completion.
39. Arrange yourselves in orderly rows from most powerful to least powerful.
40. Those skilled in the art of golf must register their arms immediately.
41. All secrets must be stowed in approved containers (unavailable).
42. Stolen valor must be returned.
43. If you have recently cancelled an appointment, you may receive one credit of convenience.
44. There is no pasta.
46. Reactions must be authentic.
47. If you are of a forest (old-growth), you will be subject to additional inspection.
48. As per usual, panic will be assigned.
49. Teeth may no longer be exchanged.
50. Memories (and, by extension, wet socks) are a privilege.
And then:
51. Spice Bags are now strictly prohibited by order of His Grand Immortal Dictator. Forthwith. Hot Dogs remain.
53. Those keeping calm must also carry on or suffer a penalty of 40 pounds.
It’s completely absurd.
But the fact that these rules kept appearing, even from the previous legs of the tour, became part of the ritual. Fans were watching the screens, photographing them, decoding them and comparing them between shows.
Even the nonsense had continuity.
The Danger Days Connection
Looking back at the UK leg as a whole, the Danger Days references are probably one of the most interesting things to have emerged.
The album was being re-released, and The Battery City Underground event brought the Killjoys back into the spotlight.
Gerard and Mikey appeared together to DJ, Fans received Killjoy masks and badges, Korse appeared in the newspaper in Glasgow and Wanted Killjoys and extermination imagery appeared at Wembley. Danger days was littered throughout the UK run and it had everyone linking albums. Especially as the original Killjoys transmissions featured black parade imagery as well as the video for NaNaNaNa featuring a skeleton wearing a black parade jacket.
Not just that, “Zero Percent” made its live debut, “Party Poison” and “Ambulance” too.
And all of this was happening while the band were supposedly trapped inside the world of Draag performing The Black Parade, It’s hard not to wonder whether these things are connected.
With My Chemical Romance, though, that’s where you have to be careful.
The fun is always in not knowing, in the cryptic, in the discussions with fellow fans about theories and fan art coming from that.
Fans can spend hours putting together theories about timelines, characters and what might happen next, but the band have always been very good at giving only just enough information to keep everyone guessing.
The appearance of Sylvia alongside Mary Ann was enough to start conversations about timelines clashing even though Lucy Joy Altus (Mary Ann) had confirmed online the two were canonically sisters.
The changing roles of the Clerk and Secretary gave fans something else to dissect, double clowns and the clerks disappearance. The Killjoy imagery suggested the Danger Days world was becoming more important, and the live debuts made the connection even harder to ignore.
Maybe it is all leading somewhere, or maybe it’s simply My Chemical Romance having fun with their own history. They have a tendency to be cryptic, drop easter eggs, and get their fans’ thinking and being creative.
More Than a Concert
But for all the lore, there is something else that stands out when looking back at the UK shows.
The fans.
Walk through the queues, and you could see just how much My Chemical Romance means to people. There were people dressed as Gerard, Frank, Ray, and Mikey, People dressed as The Black Parade, the characters from draag, people dressed as Killjoys and recreating looks from different eras.
People wearing references to Bullets, Three Cheers for Sweet Revenge, The Black Parade, Danger Days and everything in between.
Some costumes were elaborate, Some were subtle, Some people simply wore an old MCR shirt.
Nobody really cared.
Everyone fitted in.
That feeling of belonging was everywhere.
People exchanged bracelets and handmade gifts. Complete strangers started conversations. People who had met online and only knew Internet handles finally met in person. Fans helped each other in queues, shared food and water, camped in extreme weather conditions, and always swapped stories about previous shows and compared theories about the latest changes in the lore.
It was a strange mixture of a huge stadium event and a very clear community.
You could be standing among tens of thousands of people and still feel like you’d found your people.
And that might be why so many fans have struggled to come back down from the UK shows.
A month later, people are still talking about them, still not over that feeling of belonging, of excitement, of just how magical each show felt. It didnt matter if you saw one or five shows, eveeyone felt it.
Still posting photographs.
Still sharing videos.
Still talking about the songs they got.
Still analysing the lore.
Still wearing bracelets made for the shows.
Still saying they don’t know how they are supposed to go back to normal after experiencing it.
For some people, the shows have been described as the best time of their lives. And that might sound like a huge statement for a concert. But when you consider what was actually happening, it makes more sense.
For a few hours, people were surrounded by their favourite music, their favourite band and thousands of people who understood exactly why it mattered. People who never fit in, people who were fans of the band when it was looked down on, when emo was seen as a death cult by parents, and uncool by thise into heavier music.
There was no need to explain why you knew every word, No need to explain why you were dressed as a character from an album released years ago, No need to explain why a strange newspaper on a giant screen had suddenly become incredibly important and no need to explain why a bracelet from a stranger meant something so special.
Everyone already understood. We were amongst community, friends and we were home.
One Month On
And then they all went home, Except, somehow, nobody really seems to have left.
A month later, everyone is still talking about it and maybe that’s the strange thing about My Chemical Romance. They can build an enormous fictional dictatorship, create a language, write fifty-three increasingly ridiculous laws, bring back characters from completely different eras and turn a football stadium into a theatrical nightmare.
But underneath all of it, they still make people feel like they belong, and perhaps that’s why the UK leg is proving so difficult to get over. Because for a few hours, surrounded by your favourite band, your favourite songs and thousands of people who understood exactly what you did, you weren’t the odd one out.
You were home.
And after something like that, going back to normal was always going to be difficult.
Gallery
Words by: Amy Showell
Photography (shot from the crowd) by:
Amy Showell
Haylea Allison
Broken Static Magazine 
Leave a comment