My Chemical Romance
w/ Pierce the Veil
Nissan Stadium; Nashville, TN
August 13, 2026
Review by Philip Obenschain. Photos by Bryce Hall, courtesy of the artist.
In 2006, New Jersey alt rock, emo, pop punk, and post-hardcore outfit My Chemical Romance– who’d exploded to fame just a couple of years earlier with their breakout sophomore LP Three Cheers for Sweet Revenge– subverted expectations, won over new legions of fans, and cemented their legacy as one of the scene’s most iconic bands, with conceptual, critically acclaimed third album The Black Parade, widely regarded as the band’s magnum opus, and one of the most important records of the 2000s pop punk and emo scene (a sort of punk rock Sgt. Pepper’s, both in impact and imagery). Touring in-character as their goth marching band-styled alter-ego group simply called The Black Parade, with their own lore and rabid fandom, MCR officially “killed off” those characters a year later, in 2007, and would go on to release another album and a collection of EPs which essentially constituted a final full-length, before disbanding in 2013.
Staying on good terms throughout their hiatus, while pursuing other musical and creative projects individually, rumblings of MCR’s return began heating up in the late 2010s, with the group officially returning to stage in late 2019, and announcing plans for a reunion tour the following year. Of course, Covid put a wrench in that plan, with the run finally commencing in 2022, and bringing the legendary rockers back to Nashville for the first time in 15 years, that summer at Bridgestone Arena. Since then, they’ve stayed active. While a new album remains elusive (they dropped a single, “The Foundations of Decay,” in 2022, and rumblings of more music have continued since), MCR have released deluxe versions of a couple of their beloved LPs, and headlined When We Were Young Fest in 2024, where they played The Black Parade in full for the first time in 17 years. Shortly after, a full-on Long Live The Black Parade tour was announced, kicking off in 2025, with new, elaborate lore and production, and a resurrection of their alter-ego Black Parade characters. We were sad to see Nashville omitted from last year’s run, but thrilled beyond measure when an expanded world tour was plotted for 2026, returning My Chemical Romance to Music City for their largest local headliner ever, at Nissan Stadium!
The show was- as expected- a theatrical, sentimental, one-of-a-kind affair, filled with tens of thousands of attendees,- perhaps the most passionate fandom in the alt scene- and seeing a band like MCR selling out football stadiums in 2026, thanks to enduring love for an album they made 20 years ago, was a truly incredible experience. Tapping different, unique openers throughout this North American leg, fellow scene faves Pierce the Veil opened the Nashville date. Read on for our full review!
As a teen during the peak of MCR’s initial run, and most definitely an emo kid at that time, I’ve loved this band for many years, and even had several opportunities to see them live back in the day (they even marked the first famous band I ever interviewed, when I was still a teen writing for the first time for a music blog). Admittedly, though, my fandom doesn’t rise to the obsessive level of so many in the MCRmy (I can’t tell you any of their birthdays or spouse’s names, I’ve never dressed up like them, and I couldn’t write you a deep-dive analysis on every single song’s meaning from memory), so I pre-apologize if my knowledge of some of their history and elaborate lore doesn’t extend as deep as others’ (I spent several years working at Alt Press in the 2010s, and the depths of some of my coworkers’ MCR knowledge was truly impressive). I absolutely love their music though, and those first three albums, especially, were some of my most-listened-to during some very formative teen years. I saw them during the I Brought You My Bullets and Three Cheers eras early on, and a final time not long after Danger Days, but never got a chance to attend that original Black Parade tour. So all of these years later, finally having the opportunity (albeit with a totally different and far more elaborate stage show) felt like a dream come true.
I’m spoiled by the fact that I can walk to Nissan Stadium from my apartment, but given the sweltering heatwave plaguing Middle Tennessee this week, I was still kind of regretting the mile-long trek. I’d been spotting clear MCR fans around the neighborhood all day- so fun to see so many alt kids descend on downtown and East Nashville at once- and as I arrived to the stadium, it truly felt like a throwback to the Warped Tour heyday, with so much punk, goth, and alt fashion on full display, and many, many fits inspired by or straight-up a cosplay of the band and their associated characters (one of singer Gerard Way’s most memorable looks from that 2022 tour was a green and white cheerleader outfit he rocked right here in Nashville, and I saw at least a dozen attendees paying homage to that outfit). The place was full early, and I have no doubt that Pierce the Veil was a big part of that. Here’s where I lose a little scene cred though, as I have to admit I’ve never been a huge PTV fan. I’ve certainly listened to them and enjoy some of their stuff, but they’re part of a wave of bands that blew up in the late ’00s and early ’10s where I had just kind of checked out and started listening to indie rock, and didn’t feel like there was enough new happening in the pop punk and emo world to keep me engaged (I full realize that’s a me thing though, and I get why they’re so popular). As they rocked through a lean set of favorites like “Bulls in the Bronx,” “So Far So Fake,” “Caraphernelia,” and ending, of course, with “King for a Day,” they sounded great and aptly held their own on the massive stage, met with loud, enthusiastic singalongs and an excited crowd (I saw a lot more PTV shirts that I normally notice for an opener).
Since this Black Parade tour has been going on for a year, I’d inevitably been exposed to some clips and photos here and there, but had largely tried to stay unspoiled as to the story and composition of the stage show. I knew the broad idea: that the first act would be a full-playthrough of The Black Parade in character as The Black Parade, and after that would be a second, more informal set of assorted cuts from other albums. And I knew that they’d crafted an entirely new stage show, with a story and characters largely unrelated to the original concept of the album, revolving around a fictitious, authoritarian nation and its dictator. To discuss this show necessitates considering it in two parts: the music and band themselves, and the story beats and character moments and play-like production of the performance (or, at least, its first half), which they (especially Gerard, who’s the chief architect of its concept, and has had a successful, creative career in comic writing and television outside of the band) are thoroughly committed to. While waiting for them to take the stage, images of vaguely Soviet-esque propaganda were displayed as “rules,” both in English and in the invented language of the fictional nation of Draag, called Keposhka (a new logo for the band in this language also sat prominently atop the stage).
As I understand, the story of the show, in broad terms is this: Draag is ruled by the Grand Immortal Dictator, and The Black Parade (the band), previously believed dead, had actually been sent to a prison called The MOAT, where they were reconditioned. The band’s work privilege has now, 17 years later, been reinstated, and the purpose of this show is to both appease the dictator, and celebrate the cultural accomplishments of Draag. In addition to the Grand Immortal Dictator (portayed by actor Wayne Jay), several other characters appear live throughout the show, including a blind opera singer named Marianne (played by Lucy Joy Altus, and also perhaps Charlotte Kelso- I see both listed on the show’s setlist), a sort of attendant to the band called The Clerk (Charlie Saxton), a strict overseer of The Clerk called The Secretary (Gemma Scoble), and a creepy puppet known as The Gentleman. I was surprised to see that these actors were all, in fact, present, and not prerecorded, interacting with the band, and acting (largely without speaking) throughout the set. As far as I can tell, the band haven’t been super explicit in explaining the story, and it has somewhat evolved from show to show and leg to leg (with an international leg being reconfigured into a prequel, to account for scaled-down production), leading some to theorize that the events playing out differently mean that each show is part of a repeating timeloop that the band are trying to escape from; but I digress, enough backstory, let’s get to the show.
After a ceremonial introduction with the Grand Immortal Dictator, members of the Draag military, and The Clerk, and a performance of the Draag National Anthem by Marianne, MCR took the stage as The Black Parade, launching into the album in track order with “The End.” The band- Gerard, his brother and bassist Mikey Way, and guitarists Ray Toro and Frank Iero, joined live by drummer Jarrod Alexander, keyboard player Jamie Muhoberac, and, for the Black Parade portion, percussionist Tucker Rule, cellist Clarice Jensen, and violin player and No Country Acme showcase alum Kayleigh Goldsworthy- have never sounded more epic, filling the massive stage with so much energy and ferocity. You could come to this show for the music alone (and I’m sure many did, and might’ve been downright confused about the story aspects), and it would more than satisfy, but I also understand the compulsion to make this something bigger, bolder, and more theatrical after a more subdued initial comeback tour, and I really loved the dichotomy of it all.
“Dead!,” “This Is How I Disappear,” and “The Sharpest Lives” all sounded great, with Gerard ditching his jacket somewhere along the line (I honestly don’t know how they performed in those outfits at all given the insane heat), but, of course, the first song that really made the crowd lose their minds on a different level was punk operatic title track “Welcome to The Black Parade,” which, after busting out a random chicken dance (chicken was present all night, actually, with a Nashville-specific chicken design t-shirt at merch, and the Grand Immortal Dictator silently chowing down on what looked like Hattie B’s hot chicken, as he sat on his throne and watched the whole show, eerily projected on the stadium’s rear screen), Way sang the beginning of from atop a podium, as though delivering a nationalist speech, while Draag propaganda was displayed on the screen (as I said, I really loved all of the inventiveness of this live performance, but listening to the lyrics and themes of the songs themselves, The Black Parade the album doesn’t really match up well with Long Live The Black Parade the show, so to fully appreciate it, you just kind of have to roll with the story regardless, and not think about it as a 1:1 soundtrack to a rock opera). Hearing that song live will never get old, and 20 years later, the band sounded as powerful and scrappy as ever, not even aging gracefully into punk rock elder statesmen, because they barely seem to have aged at all.
One of the first memorable bits of stage show after that opening national anthem was a mock election following “Welcome to The Black Parade,” where the crowd, supplied with cards ahead of time, was given a chance to vote on whether four prisoners would be executed. The result- seemingly regardless of the crowd’s desire- is nearly always yes, as the hooded figures are engulfed by a flurry of pyrotechnics. The middle of the record is a particularly strong stretch, with earnest, mid-tempo fave “I Don’t Love You” prompting fans to fill the stadium with their phone lights, “House of Wolves” hitting hard with a noisy new intro, and “Cancer” provoking one of the softest, most heartfelt singalongs (as Gerard held onto puppet character The Gentleman). “Mama” not only ramped up the production- with the stage erupting in flames both above and behind the band, and a crazy stunt taking place with a person literally being lit on fire and running across the stage- but also featured the characters more, with The Gentleman letting loose, and his character seemingly became more enamored with the band, and Marianne returning to sing from the B-stage, in the middle of the crowd.
Gerard took a seat and flipped through a book about chess, The Gentleman at this side, as the band began “Sleep” with an extended intro, eventually transitioning into some of the most intense, flashing lights of the whole show as Way rolled around on the ground to match the song’s intense crescendo and resolve. “Teenagers,” one of The Black Parade’‘s biggest singles back in the day (but one that maybe feels a little more 2006 to me than the rest of the album), was next, and was accompanied by some of the show’s most interesting pre-taped visuals, made of fictional clips for ads and retro television shows from Draag. As this portion of the show entered the final stretch, “Disenchanted” landed as a sort of cap to the portion of the story that had the band seemingly more or less capitulating to the dictator, though still, in interactions throughout, disobeying The Clerk and The Secretary, stealing a dagger (that’ll come back into play momentarily), and seemingly plotting with The Gentleman.
As the midtempo tune faded and Gerard embraced the puppet, the stage suddenly started to glow red, and a countdown clock appeared on top. I was already impressed with and downright mesmerized by the magnitude of the show- the screens, the characters, the pre-taped bits, the stunts, the incorporation of the B-stage, the dazzling lights and pyro- but during “Famous Last Words,” MCR really ramped it up in a way I’ve never seen in concert. What appeared to be every inch of the stage- the top, the sides, and all around the band- erupted into flame (apparently the result of a missile strike in the story), real flame so hot I could feel it hundreds of feet away (again, I’m truly amazed they could endure this on such a hot day), and made the pyro from “Mama” seem downright tame. Though, on the album, that would be the last song, and felt like an epic finale, the band capped it off- literally, as the flames began to shrink- with a reprise of “The End.,” with The Clerk returning dressed as a Pierrot, and violently murdering Gerard with the stolen dagger from earlier, as the singer crawled onto a sort of crime scene-style body outline, and “died” covered in fake blood, as the rest of the band were taken away by soldiers, with The Clerk taunting the dictator and then dancing around the stage as hidden track “Blood” played, officially concluding The Black Parade portion.
Before I dive into the second set, which was a whole different vibe, I’ll just say: this Black Parade show was spectacular. It was weird, it was ambitious, it was a little camp, but at its core, it was a big fuck you to fascism, propaganda, and strongman leaders, at a time when our sociopolitical climate has never been more precipitous. Some might wish the band was spelling it out more outright with their words, or that the allegory of the show was even more blunt, but I personally prefer art that has more intellectual intent, and even though, as I said, this show doesn’t exactly sync up with the thematic concept of the album it accompanies, I still found it to be really important and timely, and I’m so happy to see something so bold be attempted, instead of just another simple, straight-forward playthrough, as most artists would’ve done.
When MCR played Bridgestone in 2022, I marveled at just how intimate, how loose, and how punk rock it felt, their instruments set up close together and their production minimal, as if we were watching a DIY show in Jersey in 2003, that just happened to be in front of 20,000 people. The second set of The Black Parade show recaptured that spirit, all performed from a tiny B-stage in the middle of the crowd, and providing a great foil to the extravagant production of the first half. This part of the show features different songs every night, so part of the fun is finding out what they’ll play (I saw a lot of people leaving their seats in between- I hope they got the memo it wasn’t over, and were just hitting the restroom or concessions). The brief changeover was filled by an original tune, “From A to B,” from cellist Clarice Jensen, with the band entering through the crowd, and rocking much more comfortable-looking jeans and t-shirts. I hadn’t been following along with the setlist from every prior show, but it felt like Nashville was really blessed with an extra cool selection of songs (and that seemed to be the general consensus with online chatter after as well)- a pretty even mix from each of their albums.
I knew this set was going to be rad the second the band kicked off with a fiery rendition of “Thank You for the Venom,” from Three Cheers for Sweet Revenge, with Way screaming and roaming around the stage, looking utterly exhausted but still conjuring up a real intensity. Danger Days b-side “Zero Percent” was next, and was a nice surprise, as the band only recently started occasionally playing it live for the first time, with another from that LP, “Save Yourself, I’ll Hold Them Back,” after (MCR has never made a bad album, but I admittedly didn’t have Danger Days or Conventional Weapons on rotation as much as their first three). Their debut, I Brought You My Bullets, You Brought Me Your Love, is the album that made me fall in love with this band, and I think it’s perhaps their most underrated now, so it always rips to hear those old songs live, and even though it was on their Nashville set four years ago, “Our Lady of Sorrows” was a ferocious, frenetic high point. After the obligatory (and awesome) single that launched them into stardom, Three Cheers‘ “I’m Not Okay (I Promise),” which of course was met with one of the show’s loudest singalongs, was an unexpected Conventional Weapons track, “Ambulance,” a song which the band has barely played ever (and seemingly never in North America before this show), so I think that gets the award for best surprise of the night. “Vampires Will Never Hurt You,” a Bullets favorite, and a song I hadn’t seen the band play in many, many years, had me losing my mind, and one more from Weapons, fan-fave “Boy Division,” really cemented this setlist as something extra special. Though they seem to make the cut every night (if not always in the same spot), closers “Na Na Na (Na Na Na Na Na Na Na Na Na)” and “Helena” were expected but, of course, still great- two of the band’s biggest hits from their respective albums. “Helena,” especially, will always hold a special place of nostalgia for me; Three Cheers meant SO much to me when it came out, when I was 16, and more than two decades later, it still does.
I could not have asked for a better second act than this final portion of the show, giving me both halves about MCR I love: their big, ambitious, and conceptual and their small, unpredictable, and most punk rock, with a perfect mix of hits and deep cuts. The foursome- joined for this part by only drummer Jarrod Alexander keyboard player Jamie Muhoberac- stood tightly wound in a circle, with the guitarists occasionally wandering around (Mikey even disappearing into the audience at one point), but with Gerard really, really getting his steps in, walking and crawling around the stage, triggering a sample pad, and bantering with the crowd. At points, he rolled around on the ground, ranted, gave introductions and thanks to the backing band and crew, and expressed just how intensely overheated he was (played up a bit, seemingly, but also quite apparently true). He also said that this was the largest audience the band had ever headlined for in North America, which is a really cool thing to witness (especially as this marked the second-to-last concert ever at this Nissan Stadium, before the new and slightly smaller one opens next year).
The scene MCR came from bred a lot of superficiality, a lot of acts who seemed to be chasing style over substance, a lot of copies of copies of copies, and many (probably the majority) of their peers from the post-hardcore, emo, and pop punk world of the ’00s have either disappeared or faded from cultural relevance. The reason My Chemical Romance endures, the reason they’re playing to bigger crowds now than they did 20 years ago, when pop punk was at its most mainstream, the reason they’ve managed the rare feat of crossing generations and finding a whole new fanbase of young people, is because they’ve always stayed true to themselves, their influences, their earnestness, and their own weirdo personality. Those of us who were young when they first blew up remember that they weren’t always considered “cool” back then- but they feel cooler than ever now, because they never tried to be. Even without new music, MCR feels as relevant and important as ever, and I’m so thankful that not only are they back, not only are they indulging in nostalgia, but they’re also still pushing their art into new and creative territories. This show was truly special, and I can’t wait to see what this band- who’ve wholeheartedly earned their status as legends- does next.
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All photos by Bryce Hall, courtesy of the artist.
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Setlist:
The End.
Dead!
This Is How I Disappear
The Sharpest Lives
Welcome to the Black Parade
I Don’t Love You
House of Wolves
Cancer
Mama
Sleep
Teenagers
Disenchanted
Famous Last Words
The End. (Reprise)
From A to B (performed by Clarice Jensen)
Thank You for the Venom
Zero Percent
Save Yourself, I’ll Hold Them Back
Our Lady of Sorrows
I’m Not Okay (I Promise)
Ambulance
Vampires Will Never Hurt You
Boy Division
Na Na Na (Na Na Na Na Na Na Na Na Na)
Helena