BY MICHAEL LLERENA
The New Jersey quartet My Chemical Romance rocked the halls of Revolution Live in Fort Lauderdale on Tuesday, May 17th. This venue was definitely an ideal one due to the fact that the building’s relatively small size provided the audience with a more intimate dynamic with the band.
The crowd was particularly won over by the first opening act: The Architects. Channeling the rowdy, energetic stage presence of Against Me!, the roots rock swagger of Social Distortion, and the melodic sensibilities of The Clash, this band could very well serve as future vanguards for the punk revivalist movement.
The second act, Circa Survive, possessed equal energy on stage, but tempered The Architect’s raw punk rock emotion with experimental and post-hardcore influences.
Finally, as the crowd was growing restless, My Chemical Romance took the stage. As the band opened with their current single, “Na Na Na (Na Na Na Na Na Na Na Na Na),” mosh pits exploded on the floor of the venue.
A momentous highlight of the show occurred during the opening bars of “Welcome to the Black Parade” as lead singer Gerard Way competed with the swelling chorus of concertgoers, singing “When I was a young boy, my father took me into the city to see a marching band.” It was during this song that the band showcased their ability to effortlessly transition between the grandiose, epic stylings of Queen and Misfits-esque punk tempos. It is this same quality; to balance anthems made for both stadiums and mosh pits that makes My Chemical Romance the success story that they are, especially in the live setting.
During the song “Planetary (Go!),” the crowd’s spastic bursts of thrashing were quelled and transformed in a gigantic human bounce house.
The crowd’s response to the desperado rocker “Hang ‘Em High” was pandemonium as Way yelled rapid fire verses over guitarists Frank Iero and Ray Toro’s unrelenting power chords.
The band stressed their more punk facets on songs like “Vampire Money,” but still managed to serenade an idle audience on cuts like “Summertime.”
MCR finished strong with “Helena” and chose “Bulletproof Heart” as their encore.
Overall, this concert was a truly fortunate instance in which My Chemical Romance managed to satisfy fans of both old and new material, as well as put on an amazing live show.
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