My Chemical Romance returned to “Nashville, Transylvania” Sunday night. Opening with howling screams and a drummer intro before immediately launching into the kind of beautiful chaos only MCR can create. A spotlight shone on the beautiful opera singer, Marianne, in the center of the stadium, followed by The Dictator, being displayed on the Jumbotron, seated upon his throne eating Nashville’s finest hot chicken. “Let’s fuck this place up,” Gerard Way declared as a perfect start to The Black Parade.
We went through fire. We went through blood. We even went through a shooting range where the audience decided the fate of three masked figures by flipping the signs that were provided under their seats displaying ‘Yea’ or ‘Nay’. Their fate was decided. BOOM! The shots were fired, and the dictator was pleased.
Through the relentless heat, the band carried on as well as the fans. For ‘Sleep’, a fan project came to life with red lights from thousands of phones illuminating the stage just in time before the fire. Yes, someone literally caught on fire during ‘Famous Last Words’. Not to worry though, it was a stuntman. The heat was so intense that by the time the band gathered at the B-stage,Gerard had to lie down and state to guitarist Frank Iero, “Frank! I don’t know if I can sing this song. It’s too hot out and it’s too hard”. But he prevailed, and they performed ‘Ambulance’.
The entire evening was filled with theatrics, mayhem, and beautiful commitment MCR has created around this Black Parade tour. They reminisced about when they first played Nashville in a parking lot for Warped Tour to now playing Nissan Stadium for one of the venues’ last shows.
It was an unforgettable night.
And still, I’m Not Okay.
Photos By: Bryce Hall
