My Chemical Romance - Nottingham
Posted by Guest Writer on Tue, 22 Feb 2011.
The atmosphere was electric, the room was buzzing and the fanatics were overflowing with immense excitement. For what seemed like years a number of fans had been waiting and waiting outside the venue, and it became plainly obvious that there was mix of old admirers (dressed in the iconic Black Parade jackets and merchandise) and a new fan-base, dressed as Gerard Way-inspired comic-book characters, Party Poison and the Fabulous Killjoys.
After much anticipation we clambered into the arena and were greeted by an impressive stage, later to be filled with Nottingham-based band, LostAlone. LostAlone warmed up the audience blasting them with their post-hardcore, almost glam-rock music - clearly inspired by bands like Kiss and The Ramones through the way they sounded, and the way that they dressed and styled themselves. After about 40 minutes LostAlone had fulfilled their task of warming up the frozen audience that had been queuing in the icey February weather and swapped places with Welsh rock band, The Blackout. The Blackout provided nine different songs and a range of both classics and new songs from the two albums that they had already released and their up and coming album, Hope, due for release later this year in conjunction with their new headline tour in April.
After around an hour it was the time that everybody had been waiting for. The room went an eerie dark, broken only by stills of The Fabulous Killjoys and we were finally introduced to Party Poison and the gang with "Na Na Na" causing the audience to flip and go crazy, showing the excitement and the anticipation that had been brewing throughout LostAlone and The Blackout’s slots. Following the massive introduction "Give 'Em Hell Kid" from My Chemical Romance's second album played, showing that they were loyal and catering for both their old and their new fan-base that had been waiting for months and maybe, years for this tour to finally commence.
My personal favourites that evening included "Vampire Money" and "I'm Not Okay (I Promise)" with the big surprises of the evening included "Welcome to the Black Parade" and "Cancer". I was left genuinely surprised about how Gerard and the bands were able to juggle between heavier pieces and slower music in a live setting and how, despite being thrown around like a ragdoll, being punched and bruised by the crazed fans, being kneed and elbowed by people all night, I had managed to have one of the best nights of my life. Looking at the four years that I've had to wait between the tours, I can say that it was definitely worth the extended wait and the issues that the band had been through in 2007 and 2008. Honestly, I can hardly wait for the next time they're out on tour again! So amazing.
By Bradley