Never judge a book by its cover, so they say, right?

Unfortunately that’s what most of the press and even a large portion of their fan base, seems to do about My Chemical Romance. For the press they are the dangerous leaders of the recent so called “emo cult” (something that is neither recent nor a cult) and for some of their fans they are just a band made of five rather attractive men, able to stir burgeoning, hormonal desires.

Tonight at the legendary Rock City in Nottingham, I’ve come to see for myself if the hype, the hysteria and the misjudgements are justified. People have been camping overnight in the freezing cold, just to have a secured spot in the front row and even in the “late arrivals” are not later than 7am. That speaks volume about the level of devotion and slight obsessivness that fills the ranks of the My Chemical Romance army.

But it’s all this love justified?

Are My Chemical Romance, after having delivered a practically flawless new record, able to transport their peculiar brand of intense, theatrical rock on stage? The set, for this tour, is minimalist and the only concession to theatrics is offered by a thick, black curtain that is obscuring the five musicians while the first, few bars of The End ring through the venue and the crowd, simply erupts.

When the curtain is dropped My Chemical Romance appears all donned up with their Black Parade uniforms and the flares of a thousand suns, ready to wreak havoc and be true to the passion they are fed by their fans.

The new songs Dead! And How to disappear are flawless and the crowd seems completely transported into the bleak, but strangely hopeful world of the Black Parade. Gerard Way proves to be a front-man that can ignite fires and make you smile. His ability in being cocky yet impossibly endearing, theatrical to the point of being comical, but still remaining honest and almost naïve in his deliverance, it’s what makes him stand out, it’s what makes the kids in the crowd love him unconditionally, it’s what makes the older fans look at him with admiration and a special brand of affection.

The band is as compact as ever, able to cope with few technical glitches (Mikey Way’s bass has to be re-plugged several times) and sounds positively huge. Guitarist Ray Toro provides not only a perfect mastery of his instrument but his vocals and stage presence makes the reality of a well oiled machine like My Chemical Romance, something that many other bands dream to achieve, but never really do.

The biggest cheer of the night occurs when the familiar notes of “I’m not OK” start filling the packed venue and this song, even if played a million times over and even after having turned MCR into the super stars that they are now, it’s still poignant and real to Gerard and the rest of the band and the audience can feel it and sings every word with the same desperate, hopeful rage.

There are no songs from the 1st album (I brought you my bullets, you brought me your love), but it’s really a minor flaw, especially considering how majestic and intense all the songs from The Black Parade sound.

Mama is a Broadway-esque pastiche that sees Gerard morphing into Liza Minnelli, while House of Wolves is dirty, dark and scarily sensual with a bass line that ripples along our spines.

This is the last gig of a packed UK tour and the band wants to make it special and they do their very best, each and every one of them bringing their very own unique mark to the performance; from the almost frigid beauty and metronomic grace of bassist Mikey Way, to the hurtling whirlwind of energy that is guitarist Frank Iero, while Bob Bryar is the master of the understated, but his bruising drumming provides My Chemical Romance with a rhythmic backbone that is at the same time tight and passionate, mirroring the fiery personality of this band,

Famous Last Words is (undoubtedly) the best track from The Black Parade and it’s played with so much raw energy that the screams from the crowd are almost eclipsing Gerard’s voice. But that’s the beauty of that song, the beauty that comes from the fact that you scream and sing along Gerard because you believe him when he sings “I’m not afraid to keep of living…”, you want to be like him: unafraid and courageous.

There is a moment of pause and then the band remerges to play the haunting, pained Cancer and many people are seen with bright, teary eyes, including Frank Iero hunched over his guitar, mourning, possibly, his own personal loss.

The band closes with Helena, another crowd favourite and the sing along is still a bit chocked with tears (Elena was Gerard and Mikey Way’s grandmother and passed away due to cancer), but always hopeful, never hopeless.

During the gig Gerard invited the crowd to keep believe in something, even if not in My Chemical Romance.

Believe in something.

Believe.

My Chemical Romance does.

by Laila