REVIEW [excerpt]: Honda Civic Tour 2011: Blink-182 and My Chemical Romance

"...Since I missed the opening act, our story is going to start at the beginning of MCR’s set; that is, it’s gonna be loud, fast, and out-of-breath.  I ran up the enormous slope that is DTE Energy Music Theatre’s lawn to see them start the show, and managed to find a spot just as they launched into “Na Na Na (Na Na Na Na Na Na Na Na Na),” the first song off their most recent album Danger Days: The True Lives of the Fabulous Killjoys. (Is it just me, or do they seem to have a thing for excessively long titles?  Not that I mind, of course.)  Anyway, it was an excellent song to start the night with, thanks to its gritty sound and carefree attitude.

As their set continued, they did a pretty great job of mixing up their newer and older material; for every song off  Danger Days, there was a classic from one of their past three albums.   Their performance was pretty tight, and it seemed like they were happy to be there.  On-stage movement was a little lacking, but that’s not really an enormous revelation; they’re pretty serious about musical precision, and sometimes that means giving up a tiny bit of movement.  Still, I’d like to see Gerard Way move around a bit more…I had a support beam between myself and the center mic, and I didn’t see him at all.  However, he still put on an incredible performance, as did Ray, Mikey, and Frank.  Their new live drummer Jarrod Alexander gets extra-mad props, considering he’s only been playing with them since September 4th!

Their show was really quite amazing to be at, because all of their fans seemed to be so into their performance.  During “Teenagers,” I swear half of the sold-out venue was screaming along with every line; I know I was, anyway.  The most beautiful and emotional part of their set came a little later, though, and it was a one-time event.  The show took place on the 10th anniversary of 9/11, which was in and of itself pretty significant.  My Chemical Romance started a week after the attacks, as an attempt to deal with the tragedy in the best way they could.  The first song they ever wrote is called “Skylines and Turnstiles,” and is all about their feelings concerning what occurred.  They played that song, but far more stripped down than the album version: it was just a quiet piano and Gerard, with an entire concert-full of people holding lighters and being silent.  It was pretty freaking powerful, and I think they handled it tastefully.

Of course, they couldn’t end the show on that note!  They finished up the night with a high-energy performance of their breakthrough hit “I’m Not Okay (I Promise)” that brought down the house.  It was an excellent way to end their show, and a great bridge into Blink-182’s set."

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