My Chemical Romance in Singapore: MCR resurrects The Black Parade in an elaborate theatrical production

My Chemical Romance in Singapore: MCR resurrects The Black Parade in an elaborate theatrical production My Chemical Romance channelled their The Black Parade alter-ego in their sold-out show at the Singapore Indoor Stadium on Tuesday (Nov 10). After 18 years, American rock band My Chemical Romance rocked out at the Singapore Indoor Stadium on Tuesday (Nov 10) night as part of its Long Live The Black Parade tour. Or should we say The Black Parade – the group's alter ego – stepped onto the stage that night. For this long-awaited tour, the band revisits the alter-ego and theatrical world of its 2007 Black Parade shows, which also made a stop in Singapore. Tuesday’s concert was the first of two nights the band is playing; the group will perform again on Wednesday night. The first half of the show saw the Singapore Indoor Stadium spectacularly transformed into the fictional authoritarian country of Draag – complete with characters like Nurse Sylvia, the dictator of Draag who started the show with their national anthem, Over Fields, in an operatic performance, after which the band performed the Black Parade album in full in their iconic military-esque outfits. Frontman Gerard Way and company started with The End., Dead!, This Is How I Disappear and The Sharpest Lives. It wasn’t long before the show paused for a dash more theatrics and storytelling with men clad in black and Nurse Sylvia crashing the stage with machines and a rostrum for the show’s piece de resistance – Welcome To The Black Parade. Plugged into a fictional machine, Way claimed the rostrum with fist in air and sang the opening lines of the band’s biggest hit, prompting fans to stand from their seats and scream in unison. Fans were very much a part of the spectacle, forming a sea of black and red – from grunge all-black ensembles with silver chains to pops of red in the form of blood and roses, the band’s iconic motif. Some took it a step further with blood-stained white dresses and suits, gothic-inspired make-up and face paint, inspired by the band’s past music videos and “emo” aesthetic. The show then went into the rest of the album including crowd favourites like Mama and Teenagers. The first part of the two-hour concert came to an end with Famous Last Words, a reprise version of The End., then closed with Blood by Nurse Sylvia and the clerk, played by American actor Charlie Saxton. What stood out was the sheer scale and attention to detail in the production. The storyline was carried through every aspect of the show, from pyrotechnics and fictional video elements to an ensemble of characters, including a masked man – known as The Gentleman – walking through the audience on the first and second floors of the venue. The elaborate set design and stagecraft made the fictional world of Draag feel fully real, extending the performance well beyond the stage. With the end of The Black Parade’s set, the band returned on stage after a costume change as their current selves. Introducing the next half of the show, they simply said “We are My Chemical Romance”, earning cheers from the audience. This next part saw tracks across their discography, like Someone Out There Loves You and This Is The Best Day Ever, before going into I'm Not Okay (I Promise), The World Is Ugly, Save Yourself, I'll Hold Them Back and their cover of Bob Dylan’s Desolation Row – a track they recorded for the 2009 superhero film Watchmen. The show concluded on a poignant note with their 2005 hit, Helena. Throughout the second half, Way stopped to speak with the audience – with one moment in particular eliciting screams and excitement in the venue. It appears he may have teased a 2028 tour. Thanking their tour team and fans, Way said: “The crew back in the US and other parts of the world that didn’t make it over this tour, but we miss you and we'll see you… maybe 2028.” That was not the first time the band had teased their future plans, though nothing has been officially confirmed. Twenty-five years into their career, My Chemical Romance showed that their appetite for theatricality remains stronger than ever. Along with their fans, many of whom waited 18 years for the band’s return, the energy at the Singapore Indoor Stadium on Tuesday night was testament to the band’s enduring legacy and their ability to turn their music into an elaborate spectacle that few acts can pull off.