Concert draws serious music fans n teeny-bopper alike uh oh

Concert draws serious music fans and teeny-bopper alike

New Jersey quintet My Chemical Romance is one of the leading bands bringing emo music to the mainstream. For the over-40 set, emo is short for "emotional," and emo music refers to mostly heavy music with depressing, woe-is-me lyrics that are often shouted, wailed and/or screamed (hence the sub-genre screamo).

Saturday night My Chemical Romance brought their fall tour to the Eastern Michigan University Convocation Center in Ypsilanti. At the concert it was clear that along with being a popular emo band that is plastered all over radio and MTV, comes the risk of treading into teeny-bopper territory. This is the case with MCR, in spite of their dark image, bad boy behavior and penchant for all things morbid and desolate. Case in point: a giant banner hung over the side of the upper bowl that read "I *heart* MCR" - not typical for what is, for all intents and purposes, a hard rock concert.

At it's peak the concert was 90 per cent full, with vast majority of the crowd being college-age or younger. There was the requisite number of sullen-looking kids in black t-shirts and eyeliner, but also a number of teenage girls who wouldn't have looked a bit out of place at a Britney Spears concert.

"I really like their songs," said Sarah Shaker, 18, who was sporting a homemade tank top that read "I *heart* Gerard Way," who is the lead singer. "And Gerard Way is hot," she adds, giggling with her friends.

Besides being hot, former alcoholic and drug abuser Way is also in complete command of the stage. Now sober, Way's stage presence was demanding and intriguing. The band's energy was infectious and the musicianship was stellar, with face-melting solos and effusive drumbeats.

Two towering church chapel-shaped screens were set up on each side of the stage which showed images of stained glass windows and biblical paintings. This was inspired by the MCR's hit video for their thundering single "Helena," which takes place at a funeral service. To add to the moment, singer Way donned a priest's collar, and for added flair dropped the f-bomb between almost every song. Early on in the set, Way gave a shout-out to a group of guys in the middle of the mosh pit who were flipping the band the finger.

"Yeah, you guys can wait outside for your girlfriends after the show."

The band played mostly songs from their hit album "Three Cheers for Sweet Revenge," which, after a year on the charts, is climbing due to the success of their second single "Helena." My Chemical Romance opened the set with "Thank You for the Venom," and they didn't make the frenzied crowd wait long to hear the hit "Helena," with a sing-along chorus that is so darn "emo" you can't help but wail along. After an encore they closed the night with their first and less popular single "I'm Not Okay (I Promise)."

Touring mates Reggie and the Full Effect and especially Alkaline Trio helped the draw. Alkaline Trio's musical and vocal prowess has vastly improved since their days headlining St. Andrew's Hall, but the band's overall sound was hindered by a bad sound mix that had the piano blaring and the guitars not loud enough. With a far more modest stage set up than the headliner, The Chicago group played just a dozen songs, with less than half being from their latest album "Crimson." The band did pull out a few tracks from their first release on Vagrant Records, "From Here to Infirmary," as well as even older favorites such as "My Friend Peter."

Although they are not played on MTV or the radio, Alkaline Trio has a strong and loyal fan base. Many of the fans were in attendance solely to see Alkaline Trio, including Matthew Marietta, 21.

"They've been better. I would prefer to see them in a small venue, the sound is always better."

Melody Baetens can be reached at (313) 222-2402 or mbaetens@detnews.com.


This makes me far more excited...2 days and counting

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"I really like their songs," said Sarah Shaker, 18, who was sporting a homemade tank top that read "I *heart* Gerard Way," who is the lead singer. "And Gerard Way is hot," she adds, giggling with her friends.

Yikes, did anyone else shudder when they read that?

I still have to wait another week

-_- i hate idiots like that girl. hell, we all know gerard is hot. even straight guys think gerard is hot. but it's just annoying when chicks go around in a pink belly shirt with pig tails and 'cute skirt' screaming "gerard gerard like omg you are so totally hoter than i could have ever imagined *gigglegiggle*" because people are just going to laugh at you. ha, hahahaaaa. (it's okay if guys do that though :])

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former alcoholic and drug abuser Way

I don't know about you lot, but that pissed me off more than the girl. How is that comment relevant to the article? And does it matter if he USED (keyword there) to do that stuff? It doesn't. There's absolutely no point bringing it up and it has no relevance to the article; it also doesn't affect the band's quality of playing in any way. It's like in all the magazines, when they do stuff about Babyshambles, they always say "junkie crackhead Pete Doherty" well SO WHAT?

Sorry, that just really annoys me, stuff like that. I wish they wouldn't do that X_X Otherwise it was a good article, I suppose.

Unknown Angel:

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"I really like their songs," said Sarah Shaker, 18, who was sporting a homemade tank top that read "I *heart* Gerard Way," who is the lead singer. "And Gerard Way is hot," she adds, giggling with her friends.

Yikes, did anyone else shudder when they read that?

I still have to wait another week

i laughed, shuddered, and imagined hiting her with Mr. Stick stupid idiot teenies. if i met her id force her to listen to their album, rather than helena and i'm not okay single, cos im betting she knows shit all else they have.

idiot teenies..

Emily:

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former alcoholic and drug abuser Way

I don't know about you lot, but that pissed me off more than the girl. How is that comment relevant to the article? And does it matter if he USED (keyword there) to do that stuff? It doesn't. There's absolutely no point bringing it up and it has no relevance to the article; it also doesn't affect the band's quality of playing in any way. It's like in all the magazines, when they do stuff about Babyshambles, they always say "junkie crackhead Pete Doherty" well SO WHAT?

Sorry, that just really annoys me, stuff like that. I wish they wouldn't do that X_X Otherwise it was a good article, I suppose.

exactly! he used to do that.. he doesn't do that anymore, he's sober now, so why even bring it up? "FORMER alcoholic and drug abuser"... geeeeeze, stupid tabloids and gossip and such. It sickens me.

HOE! you broke my tiara!:

-_- i hate idiots like that girl. hell, we all know gerard is hot. even straight guys think gerard is hot. but it's just annoying when chicks go around in a pink belly shirt with pig tails and 'cute skirt' screaming "gerard gerard like omg you are so totally hoter than i could have ever imagined *gigglegiggle*" because people are just going to laugh at you. ha, hahahaaaa. (it's okay if guys do that though :])

well said, lol. There's a gilr at my school like that.. her name is Carly. She's the spitting image of Barbie. blegh....

see. i dont like teh mainstream. it does bad bad stuff like this. *tries to find teh mainstream to hunt it down and kill it...*
is it a stream??
haha. i always thought of it that way.
*stops laughing* -ahem-

i liked the article.

stupid teenies. where's my cricket bat? *evil laugh*

I don't really mind. =)

as long as they dont get on my nerves I dont care for them.

molly.:

I don't really mind. =)

Tis true,people like that are everywhere.
We just have to deal for now....


As for the former drug&acohol thing,yeah,thats stupid and pointless to add in there.

I could care less.

seriously.

my fella,let's forget those teenies, i mean you don't give up the band just for those stupid teenies, don't you? as long as the band still play those music they used to play, it's okay for me to stay loyal to the band eventhough others would mix up "serious mucis fan" and 'teenies" i won't even bother to explain or make clear, btw, here asia i don't find any teenies yet* yippee*

dont hate mcr cause people think they are hot, keep liking themno matter waht people say of think about them! as long as they have real fans whove been there for them through everything.. and just hope a teenie doesnt try to fight you for a front row spot at the next show you go to

punxforlife_1:

just hope a teenie doesnt try to fight you for a front row spot at the next show you go to

ummmm,,,, i guess it is the most annoying part --___-- cos they always do that and they alway win *coz most of them are REAL bitch* but i would try my best to beat them for MCR

im soooo tired of these girls at my school bein all like 'SO LONG AND GOODNIGHT!!!!SO LONG NOT GOODNIGHTTT' it fucking pisses me off.
god damn if ur gonna sing a song, sing the right words. and like this girl (not nameing anyone) shes like 'OMFG gerards SO hot if he werent part of the band there would be no hotness' and she also added that she
doesnt really like the music, she likes gerard.'
i mean WTF. i was like screaming at her for an hour.
damn teenies.
i know all, i mean ALL of the songs mcr has wirtten, and im sure all of u do too. to me, if u havent been there since 'i brought you my bullets, you brought me your love' then ur a teenie. but thats just me.....lol
and 1 more thing i have to say..these teenies at my school call the band MCR. not my chemical romance, but MCR. in my opinion, that sounds so poser-ish. idk
maybe im just way over obsessed.

oh yeah nd when ppl call them mcr, i mean like teenies. not us..ha..ha...haha.

hello_angel112:

im soooo tired of these girls at my school bein all like 'SO LONG AND GOODNIGHT!!!!SO LONG NOT GOODNIGHTTT' it fucking pisses me off.
god damn if ur gonna sing a song, sing the right words. and like this girl (not nameing anyone) shes like 'OMFG gerards SO hot if he werent part of the band there would be no hotness' and she also added that she doesnt really like the music, she likes gerard.'
i mean WTF. maybe im just way over obsessed.

WTF??!! i would like to suggest you to kick here ass off !FUCK! what's mean by no hotness??!!what's mean for her to like MCR just for Gerard??but not their music!! that piss me off!!!if you're over obsessed(well actually i don't think so!) so am I !!