A provocative drawing of blood-spattered lovers adorns the cover of “Three Cheers for Sweet Revenge,” the hit album by My Chemical Romance. The songs are likewise dark, its subjects wounded and death-obsessed. The band rages through angst-filled, punk-pop blasts that bear such titles as “The Jetset Life Is Gonna Kill You” and “It’s Not a Fashion Statement, It’s a [Expletive] Deathwish.”
The band members are not the most cheerful crew, but they’ve grabbed listeners viscerally as few other groups have recently. My Chemical Romance, which toured with Green Day this past spring, has become a bona fide MTV favorite - and paid its dues on the Vans Warped and Taste of Chaos tours to become an arena headliner.
“It’s been an amazing two years,” says singer Gerard Way, whose cadaverous appearance and anguished delivery have made him the crown prince of emo. The fact that he can even toss around a word like “amazing” is relatively new for him. “The name ‘My Chemical Romance’ is about being in your 20s and feeling dead,” Way says. “That’s the way I felt for a while.”
His spirits improved after seeing the reception to the record - and after getting professional help to kick a serious drug and alcohol addiction. “I used to be broke all the time,” he recalls. “I wouldn’t eat because I’d spend my money on a bottle of vodka and cigarettes.”
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Satisfying the youthful taste for trends, the Connecticut Expo Center in Hartford entertained hundreds of vigorous scenesters by hosting three bands: Reggie and the Full Effect, Alkaline Trio and My Chemical Romance. Current times call for energetic and emotional soundtracks reminiscent of the 1980s underground punk scene. The three bands that entertained the audience Sunday delivered what the masses asked for.
Kicking off the night with Reggie and the Full Effect set a nervous tone for the audience in regards to the caliber of the following acts. Reggie's set list consisted of song after song of indistinguishable noise, giving the illusion
Two 2005 MTV Video Music Award nominees and one of the most popular bands ever to emerge from the Valley are among seven concerts currently planned for the Mesa Amphitheatre this fall.
My Chemical Romance visits the Mesa Amphitheatre Sept. 27. Nominated for Best Rock Video at this year’s MTV awards, the New Jersey-based band will perform their hits "Helena" and "I’m Not Okay (I Promise)" on Sept. 27. Then, Fall Out Boy will come to Mesa on Oct. 26. The Chicago band received the 2005 MTV2 Video Music Award for their current hit, "Sugar, We’re Goin’ Down."
In November, goth-rock pioneers
Back in the day, New Joisey's My Chemical Romance was a scrawny little quintet singing about vampires and opening for the Movielife and Finch. Of course, "the day" refers to its early 2003 tour -- before MCR upgraded from Eyeball Records to the major label Reprise Records, before its sophomore CD, Three Cheers for Sweet Revenge, sold gold and before vocalist Gerard Way stopped speaking to his former BFF, the Used singer Bert McCracken. In fact, My Chemical Romance v.2.0 is bigger, badder, and more emo and goth (although less intoxicated) than its former self. But catch its first headlining
OREM - It took just a few songs of My Chemical Romance's set Wednesday for the combination of glam-rock moves, hard-rock riffs and unabashed adoration from fans to spark a memory.
It was a memory of Tommy Gnosis, the beautiful man-child in "Hedwig and the Angry Inch" who copied Hedwig's songs and style and turned them into platinum. I'm not saying My Chemical Romance leader Gerard Way and his band stole anything that was on display at the nearly full McKay Events Center, but the group owes a debt to the artists who no doubt inspired "Hedwig;"
It's been a big year for My Chemical Romance. The New Jersey emo band's second album, last year's "Three Cheers for Sweet Revenge," finally drew the notice of mainstream music magazines like Rolling Stone.
My Chemical Romance also scored a gig opening for Green Day and headlined this summer's incarnation of the Warped Tour. Now, with a third album due in November, the band is headlining on its own, with Alkaline Trio and Reggie and the Full Effect.
The tour stops Sunday, Oct. 16 at the Connecticut Expo Center, 265 Rev. Moody Overpass, Hartford. Tickets are $19.99 for the 7 p.m. show.