As My Chemical Romance walked onto the stage, there were no large curtains shielding them from view.
Frontman Gerard Way was not wheeled out on a gurney, clad in a hospital gown with an IV in his arm.
In fact, no member of the band was in a costume.
Instead, the band was shorn of most of the theatrics that adorned them during their last tour, The Black Parade Tour.
On Friday night at In The Venue in Salt Lake
City, the New Jersey-bred rock band signaled that they were going back
to basics, ready to reclaim their status as one of the most dynamic rock
bands in North America.
And they did.
Headlining the sold-out venue, the red-headed
Way and his cohorts delivered a blazing set that showed that they did
not need to use bells and whistles to put on an entertaining show. All
they needed were solid, sing-along anthems about outcasts that the young
audience identified with, along with a healthy dose of star power.
Besides strobe lights and four large V’s that
were lit up behind them, the stage was bare except for an oversized
American flag that was marked with the image of a menacing insect,
identical to the one that adorns the band’s most recent album, “Danger
Days: The True Lives of the Fabulous Killjoys.”
Despite the long title, the album is not a
concept album like “The Black Parade,” and the band seemed liberated
from the constraints of any high concept they had to adhere to. Rather,
the band reached back into its entire catalog to offer rarities as well
its bigger hits, such as “Na Na Na (Na Na Na Na Na Na Na Na Na)” and
“Sing.”
Guitarists Ray Toro and Frank Iero and bass
player Mikey Way were augmented by two additional musicians, most
notably touring drummer Michael Pedicone, who replaced the departed Bob
Bryar. Touring drummers can often seem out of sync with the rest of the
band, but Pedicone and Mikey Way were a solid rhythm section, allowing
Toro and Iero to unleash power chords that grooved and pulsated.
It was a night for frontmen to shine, as
Provo rock band Neon Trees opened, with mohawked lead singer Tyler Glenn
showing the charismatic stage presence of an experienced rocker,
swinging the mic like Roger Daltrey and openly emoting on his knees.
Unfortunately, as Glenn explained from the stage, the band was late
getting to the show because they had just flown in. As a result, they
were limited to a five-song, 20-minute set. The quartet played “Sins of
My Youth,” “1983,” “In the Next Room,” “Your Surrender” and closed with
their 2010 radio hit “Animal.”
But both Gerard Way and Glenn illustrated that when you have good hair and unbridled energy, who needs pyrotechnics?
CREDIT: SALT LAKE TRIBUNE
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