My Chemical Romance - Wembley Stadium - 11th July 2026

The date was 22 March 2007, and 12-year-old me was about to witness one of the most life-changing shows of my life. That night, I walked out of Birmingham’s NIA (as it was known back then) no longer a casual My Chemical Romance fan. Instead, a full-fledged obsession began, one that would last for years, right up until their heartbreaking “break up” in 2013. This was the night of the original Black Parade tour. This was my band.

Almost 20 years later, I thought I had left my MCRmy days behind,  the hours spent on Buzznet forums, the thousands of Tumblr reblogs shared with fellow fans, and the many MCR shows that followed. Yet here I am, lying in the heatwave outside Wembley Stadium, hoping to secure a barrier spot for the Long Live The Black Parade tour.

“20 years later and I’m still on this bullshit” I jokingly write on my Instagram, featuring a photo of that 12 year old girl in an MCR hoodie, at 31 years old now, I was starting to feel my age. Having said that, I was surrounded by those who had walked in many ways a different life to me, but a familiar one at the same time. We had all grown up now, elder emos as we are often referred to as by the younger TikTok generation, some even bringing their own children along. 

Our mission was successful, securing a place along the walkway barrier, it wasn’t even about being close to the band (okay maybe a bit), at this point we are just happy to have something to hold onto after a long morning in the heat. Opening up tonight would be Anthony Green (Saosin, L.S. Dunes) and Sunny Day Real Estate, and nothing personal against either act, but I’d have possibly felt a bit more upbeat had we had Joan Jett as the night before had. 

Anthony Green was well received by a lot of the die hards, who had their own party going on down the front. Poor SDRE had a lot of technical issues with one of the guitars, however they played into it, joking “have you ever had a nightmare where you’re playing Wembley Stadium and your guitar doesn’t work?”

One thing that was instantly noticeable in comparison to the original Black Parade tour was how much the theatrics have stepped up. I must admit, I am a little behind on the lore and the world of Draag that MCR have cultivated, but I was enjoying the spectacle none the less. As Vera Lynn’s “We’ll Meet Again” filled the stadium, I was instantly welling up (and believe me this wouldn’t be the first time tonight). Having the view we did meant that we could see the actors and opera singers walk beside us onto the B-Stage for the Draag national anthem. Again, I was so out of the loop but you best bet I felt more patriotic for whatever the hell was going on here than I ever have done for my home country. 

And just like that, after a short introduction by a man who at a quick glance I thought was Matt Berry, and a couple of soviet-esque soldiers marched on stage, there they were, My Chemical Romance (or The Black Parade if we are looking at them in their current universe), elevated to the next level, at Wembley effing Stadium! 

You’d think prior to the show, “oh yeah they’re going to be playing The Black Parade in full, there can’t be that many surprises” and you’d have been so wrong. Of course, we heard the songs we all knew and loved, kicking off with “The End”, “Dead” and a personal favourite “This Is How I Disappear”, it was clear there had been a lot of investment in pyro and stage design, which as a theatre kid, I lapped up. 

Gerard Way has always been someone I’ve admired as a performer, how he takes command of an audience, you wonder how this is the same man just earlier this week looked so shy at the DJ set at BoxPark Wembley while boldly playing “When The Toad Came Home” from Wind in The Willows to an audience who most likely had no idea what the hell that was. Just a few days later, he stands at a bespoke podium, like a politician leading his country as the first “G note” of “Welcome To The Black Parade” strikes, awakening a feeling us emos know too well.

A side of MCR I’ve always cherished was their humour and satire, which has been turned up to 11 on this tour, albeit in a more morbid way as our designated YAY/NAY signs were put to use to decide the fate of a potential execution on the B stage. Of course we are a bunch of sadistics and decided that they shall be killed by firing squad at Gerard’s command, which resulted in them being carried off on stretchers while the Benny Hill theme played. (Legally I feel obliged to state no persons were actually harmed). 

As expected, the rest of the Black Parade set was theatrics after theatrics, with Gerard reading from a magazine simply titled “Balls” (possibly a reference to the big England World Cup game that night), to dancing with a puppet during “Teenagers”. Of course, I have to give Mikey Way, Frank Iero and Ray Toro their flowers for their incredible playing too. 

After I had just managed to recover from sobbing to “Disenchanted”, a song I haven’t heard live since that night in 2007, it was time for possibly the pinnacle of the evening for many of us “Famous Last Words”, where no part of the stage was safe from flames, including the fireworks that shot across the audience back and forth. Singing this along with 70,000+ fans felt like one of the most healing moments of my life. There wasn’t much time to be sentimental however as two clowns took the stage to kill off the band before playfully dancing around to “Blood”…that is until they revealed the suicide bomber jackers and blew themselves up (I realise as I’m writing this this all sounds very traumatic for someone who may not have been there with context). 

The next part of the night was full of anticipation, as so far the band had not kept their B Stage set the same, what would we be getting? After a lovely cello interlude, the band walked right past us and onto the B stage. If you’re a die hard fan and love a lot of the niche tracks, this was a perfect night for you. “Party Poison” (performed for the first time since 2011), “Desert Song” and one of my favourites of all time “Vampires Will Never Hurt You”, I was a happy bunny. Of course there was the classics such as “I’m not Okay”, “Na Na Na” and “Helena”, as well as a short break for Gerard to discuss whether he’d played Baldur’s Gate 3 or not, a moment which went viral online. 

Ending the set with the very fitting “Kids From Yesterday”, fireworks flew above the iconic stadium as the band took them in with awe. Nights like this remind you no matter how much time passes, those songs that shaped your teenage years will carry through with you for your whole life.