My Chemical Romance ‘parades’ to Manila
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Kaye Villagomez
Manila has definitely become a world tour destination for foreign major music superstars.
After successful conquests from Christina Aguillera, Akon, Vertical Horizon, Fallout Boy and Beyonce, the post hardcore My Chemical Romance becomes the first to rock the local concert scene in 2008.
The band who broke into mainstream music consciousness via the monster hit "Helena" will perform at the Fort Bonifacio Open Field on Jan. 25 via Viva Concerts in a concert billed as "The Black Parade World Tour," titled culled from the band’s latest successful record output.
My Chemical Romance is an American rock group formed in 2001 after frontman Gerard Way and ex-drummer Matt Pelissier passionately assembled the group one week post-September 11 catastrophe.
The attack that claimed thousands of lives and wounded millions of souls all over the world brought about the birth of MCR via the song "Skylines and Turnstiles," which Way wrote intentionally to essay his 9/11 frustrations.
Later, Ray Toro was asked to join the band because at the time Way couldn’t sing and play the guitar at the same time. The fourth member’s slot was collected by Way’s younger brother Mikey Way, who loved the demo so much he dropped out of college to learn and eventually romance the bass.
Today’s MRC lineup is frontman and lead vocalist Gerard Way, lead guitarist Ray Toro, rhythm guitarist Frank Iero, bassist Mikey Way, and drummer/percussionist Bob Bryar. Matt Pelisier left the group in the middle of its Japan tour.
Mainstream breakthrough became apparent for MCR in 2003 following a deal with Reprise Records. The group thereafter rolled to a tour with Avenged Sevenfold and then worked on the album "Three Cheers for Sweet Revenge." Released in 2004, the CD enlisted singles "I’m Not Okay (I Promise)," "Helena" and "The Ghost of You."
First stop: Manila
My Chemical Romance’s "The Black Parade" tour will definitely be one major league deal for the group’s Filipino fans considering that Manila will be the first stop of a 60-city conquest around the world.
The band, which has now evolved into a more reality-grounded audio and vision sans the horror-fantasy face, critics predicted that there will be more to MCR than what they have given the music world so far. Admitting that they are over-the-top and meaning it, the frontman said, "I feel like we as a band have a very clear, direct purpose and a direct mission now, which we didn’t have before. We may be over the top, but it isn’t about arrogance, it’s about confidence and believing that you have the power to make a difference if you have the guts to try."
In 2006, MRC collaborated with Green Day’s producer Rob Cavallo in a CD initially titled "The Rise and Fall of My Chemical Romance." However, in an interview with Kerrang! magazine, Gerard Way stated that this was just the album’s working title, "It was never the title of the album, more a spoof, or joke."
The album then released two singles with music videos "Welcome To The Black Parade" and "Famous Last Words," to be released on January 22, 2007.
According to web links, "announcement of The Black Parade at London Hammersmith Palais. A biography titled ‘Something Incredible This Way Comes’ was released, written by Paul Stenning (Published in 2006). It features their beginnings, right through to ‘The Black Parade.’ On August 22, 2006, the band played a special one-off show at the 1,800-capacity London Hammersmith Palais."
Unexpectedly, the show sold out tickets in 15 minutes. Though the album’s name remained undiclosed, the music they promoted had 20 people dressed in black capes with their faces obscured paraded around Hammersmith, followed by a large group of fans and street team members with signs of "The Black Parade." Thus, the title and the world tour name. As expected, the single "Welcome To The Black Parade" scored a No. 1 on MYX and No. 17 on Rolling Stone magazine’s Best Songs of 2006.
For "The Black Parade," MCR did precisely as promised: Shades of The Beatles’ "Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band" and Queen’s "A Night At The Opera," without letting these big-named band and equally big albums eclipse MCR’s musical vision.
Mikey disclosed, "While we were working on this record, every emotion, good and bad, poured out of us, shaping the songs. It was a really intense period and we had the most incredible time. Sometimes it was amazing and fun and sometimes it was really hard, but it was always incredible."
Toro added, "Creating this album brought some new things to the table. Most of our old songs are either mach-speed or have a slower tempo. With this album we experimented with different tempos and different feelings while working as hard as we could to make the most musically of every single note."
Exuding cathartic rock poetry, MCR’s lyrics have been recognized with individual relatable and mirrored emotions. "The album tells the story of a young man, referred to as The Patient, who is dying in a hospital bed. The strongest memory from his youth is when his father took him to see a parade when he was a child, so when death comes for him, it is in the form of a Black Parade. The Patient encounters various characters leading him toward his final resting place, aiding him in the reexamination of his existence while teaching him about theirs-thereby giving The Patient new insights about the beauty of both life and death."
Of the songs, Mikey detailed, "We came up with two types of songs. One set were these fast-driving songs with catchy melodies that were good, but they didn’t really seem special. And the others were theatrical and smart and really told us what the record wanted to be."
"It’s a great feeling to be in a band that has constantly evolved and continues to grow. We always give each other the encouragement, drive and space to be as creatively free as possible at any given moment," Bob Bryar affirmed.
from the Manila Bulletin Online
THEY ARE COMING...SAVE NA KAYO
