Yeah. The old days were fantastic but sober Gerard is the best by far. I wouldn't trade them back in the day for the world but seeing them grow has been rad as heck. šš¤
This past show in Denver is the first time Iāve ever seen them live in my 20 years of listening. 3/4 times I had previously tried, they had dropped because of (what was speculated to be) sobriety related issues/tensions in the band. So Iām with you that seeing them grown and sober is a gift.
Yeah. As great of an era as it was for music, things were still really repressed. āGayā was an insult used constantly in my middle school. People were teased or bullied a lot for gender nonconformity. Emo kids were attacked, bullied online and in many instances assaulted. The music was dope but the scene was toxic
I couldn't agree more. I was given shit for being a scene kid. People teased me for liking bands like MCR and heavy metal. My parents wouldn't take me seriously and told me it was a phase. Well it definitely wasn't a phase because I'm 30 now and still dress the same for the most part and listen to the same music. It's just become more accepted now.
I grew up in a really small town in the south, and I got physically bullied, called names, teased, my stuff was taken, etc etc because I was a scene/emo kid. Would get told to kill myself because I liked MCR and similar bands. I understand being nostalgic for an era past, but it was not a walk in the park. I hated high school/ teenagers/ and myself for a really long time, and a lot of it stemmed from being bullied for liking music or dressing in black clothes- for being me.
so interestingly, iām 26 and i listened to them before i was a teenager, so iām in this odd space where iām a younger fan but i was listening to them for a whiiiiile before the breakup. almost everyone i know listened to them, i got to see their popular yearsā¦ and i *much* prefer where they are now.
after years of them being like The Only Band That Mattered To Me, my father promised to take me to their next tourā¦ a couple months before they broke up. i had never been to a concert before at all, they were going to be my first. and it was a huge deal because my parents really hated them for a long time (no legitimate reason, just moral panic). i was devastated. and when i got tickets for this tour, i had a lot of feelings about it, and i couldnāt quite get my head straight on those. i saw them in sunrise and i left that show feeling like these *are* the golden years. none of them were okay back then, you know? it was a messy, extremely dark time, but they seem to be okay now and i am so excited about that. i think weāre about to enter an MCRenaissance and thatās for all fans, even people that discovered them later. the experience i had at that concert, it sounds dumb but it really felt like a lot of closure on a lot of very old hurts & traumas that i endured when i was that teenager crying to MCR on the bus, is being had by other people every night they perform ā and itās being had by people who are getting to experience MCR for the first time too, itās being had by new fans who need them the way i used to and still do. i think that transcends any discussion of āwhen MCR was popularā or āMCRās true golden eraā.
and if you arenāt able to see them on this tour, iām pretty confident there will be more. there will be new opportunities just as special now that theyāre Back In Action. and youāve got us to celebrate that with! iām truly floored about the larger part of this community being as amazing as it is. itās normal to feel a bit jealous and thatās totally okay! but also know that thereās gonna be young people jealous 20 years from now that you have all these stories about being a young 20 something when MCR had their comeback ;)
I had a very similar experience to you (Iām 27 and saw them in sunrise too!!) Been a fan since I was about 12, theyāve been my favorite band this whole time and were wildly important to me through all my teen years. My mom didnāt like their music so I couldnāt go to shows, so I promised myself the first tour they did after I turned 18 I would goā¦.and they broke up when I was 17 and a half. So I felt really emotional leading up to the sunrise show and like you, it felt like it represented years of my life culminating up to that one night and was extremely cathartic finally being able to go. I definitely cried like a baby haha.
But I agree, as much as I sometimes wish I couldāve seen some of their early performances (and more so wish I couldāve gone to a smaller show back when theyād still hang out after and meet fans)- they seem at their healthiest and happiest now. And after everything their music has given to me, thatās the absolute best I can wish for them. The fact that they seem to truly be enjoying themselves in this era really means the world to me.
man thatās so awesome to hear. every night i know they have a show, i think to myself, someone in that audience is having that experience, someone in the sunrise audience was having it right along with me. and they were!!! it was you!!! and plenty of others iām sure. that makes me so damn giddy haha.
For real though! Like I read your comment and was like wowā¦we are The Same haha. I wish I had had the time to make friends while I was there tbh but we had a long drive back to Ocala that night. But it felt so good to feel so connected with everyone in that crowd.
i get that too haha, iām in orlando!! it was so worth the long drive. it was every teenage dream i ever had to scream those songs with thousands of people āŗļø
MCRenaissance is absolutely right!
I also (29) left the show feeling so validated. It was not easy being a My Chem fan back then, and didnāt get much easier after the breakup. But seeing how many others still held on, AND how many MORE joined our ranks when *nothing* was happeningā¦ it just feels really damn good.
This is slightly off topic but when you said āmy father promised to take meā¦ā I started to read your post to the tune of WTTBP lmao
but I relate to your story too! Iām 23 and have been a fan since I was 11, so I experienced the DD era in full but never got to see them live. I was devastated when they broke up and honestly thought Iād never see them perform. Flash forward to now, and I saw them live looking insanely happy and with Gerard in a cheerleader outfit. These ARE the golden years.
28, got into them during Three Cheers in 2004 so definitely a preteen fan as well I fully agree with everything youāve said itās itās great to know someone else had the same experience at a show (Newark)
Yes closure is exactly the word I would use for seeing them live now! It was really healing for my inner middle schooler to finally be surrounded by other fans and screaming the songs Iāve loved for so many years. And especially as a queer kid listening to MCR then and scraping up all traces of unspoken queerness, itās so comforting to see the band (especially Gerard obviously) being so much more explicit and open in the queerness. It sorta justified the way I clung to this band when I was a baby gay at 14.
Yes, but a golden age desperately needs new music.
That said, their energy now is everything! Foundations and Gerardās speeches in the first dates in England have taken me on such awesome mental journeys, also the costumes are giving me life
Nostalgia means we tend to talk about the good stuff but tbh a lot of the old days of "the scene" really sucked, especially if you weren't a cishet white dude. Plus MCR and the fandom seem to be a better place now than a lot of the earlier stuff, so I wouldn't be too sad lol
I need to remind myself of this whenever I get lost in nostalgia for my teen years. I was depressed, bullied, and occasionally suicidal. It clearly wasn't THAT great.
To me part of being an adult is taking as much good as you can from bad experiences and move on, but I'm not going to pretend that the bad wasn't there. Especially as a teen girl/in the closet lesbian, some of it was really fucking terrible and traumatizing.
Lmao I'm old enough that I was one of those weirdos writing the fic back in 2008 or whatever. I can promise you back then we did a good enough job of hiding it that if anyone found it, they were looking for it š
Hahaha. Every time I think about those fanfics I remember that clip of Ray saying "It's cool that kids are so creative... just stop... making us have sex with each other" lmao
Gerard said something similar when he was asked about Waycest in this one interview (Mikey was there, too) and I still die inside at the memory of it. That must have been so fucking creepy and awkward and uncomfortable.
Man those daysā¦ Frerard was cringe and all, but I will read thousands of pages of it by candlelight with a cabernet before I ever willingly gaze upon fucking Waycest shit ever again.
I find this so funny because on one hand you have this, but on the other hand you have Gerard who literally said "I dont fucking care, if you want to put me in a human centipede with Escape The Fate go right ahead" š¤£. But considering that's coming from the guy who literally self inserted his family cat into Doom Patrol and then made a human girl have sex with the humanoid cat version of his own family cat....it's not surprising.
Dude same. If you went to the effort of joining friends locked communities with names like 'insertbandbamehereSlash' then it was a reasonable assumption you were there for the fic.
Equally today, if you type a band name into AO3 or Wattpad, you have only yourself to blame for the results.
Lol yup, it took a lot effort to find those spaces. Like, most writers didn't want the people they're writing about to know about it because we knew it was all made up! That is honestly one of the things I don't love about modern fandoms in general, a lot of the fourth wall is gone.
The scene sucked if you WERE cishet white dude, what are you talking about?
Listening to MCR back in the day, along with TBS, FOB and all that was looked down on like you're a little bitch. Yes, bad word, 2022 can't say it - deal with, it's the reality of the 00s scene.
All the makeup and shit.. your comment can't be serious.
Being a cishet white dude into this stuff was fucking lame.
The scene was extremely LGBT bias. At least in my area. You were assumed LGBT if you brought these bands up.
Idk where you are but your comment is the polar opposite of my experience.
Theyāre performing, playing and singing has never been as good as it is now and I say that as someone who got to see them 8 times before the breakup.
Theyāve never smiled this much on stage.
Foundations of Decay is in my top 10 favorite My Chem songs.
I know what youāre feeling and itās normal. Theyāre not doing interviews, no oneās talking about them on TV and Iām sure the radio plays are rare but who even listens to the radio anymore š«£ it was nice when theyād come out after the shows and those of us crazy enough to wait by the buses afterwards, sometimes for a few hours, got to meet them and that was very exciting. Not sure weāll see a world like that ever againā¦ but it seems like itās better for them this way so if thatās the case then itās better for us.
My Chem already changed musicā¦
I kinda think they can do it again if they wanted to
The thing is we dont really need them to change music again. They donāt need to be super crazy new again, they did that and lived through it and it was amazing, but im seriously looking forward to this new era where they arent constantly the talk of the town and they release music that their fans love, because thats exactly what foundations of decay was. It was a beautiful song, but it only spurred attention from anyone other than MCR fans because it was made by a big band. Also I fucking love all the new imagery and teases they are giving us, even if its not much.
in terms of the band having fun and actually enjoying themselves this seems pretty indisputable. they were a fuckin army, a gang back then, they were on a mission. but it seems like now they can actually enjoy the music for what it is.
I don't know how much of Gerard's substance and alcohol problems were publicly known back in the day but I'm glad to be a fan in an era where they can all be dorky dads over being young and angry
It was a well known part of his personality during their initial rise during Three Cheers, a lot of the magazine articles were like: "Gerard Way the crazy drunk vampire man from MCR: spattered in blood!" It didn't help that Gerard was an absolutely monster showman when drunk out of his mind, which added to the crazy energy of the Three Cheers shows. He seemed wild but somewhat functional. But then Life on the Murder Scene came out and it has all these crushing scenes of Gerard just stumbling around throwing up looking absolutely miserable and all the segments about how completely crushed by life he was.
That shattered any notions of his drinking being silly party-animal shenanigans or something that amped up the live shows, and instead showed it to be what it was, a bad coping mechanism for a very lost, sad person. I'm still amazed and deeply respect him for allowing them to put all that footage into the documentary because it's absolutely stunning and sobering in its portrait of addiction.
A big part of The Black Parade I remember was the idea that Gerard had conquered his addictions and demons during the recording of it and had come out stronger and more powerful. You can see how fucking lithe and bullish he was physically during that era, if you thought he was a good showman drunk then just look at him now. And the narrative of overcoming addiction is partially true, but we all know he's gone through various struggles over the years and there's no single moment of triumph, it's a process to be worked at and Gerard is a great example of that.
But absolutely unquestionably it's much more fun to see them live now and know that they're actually enjoying themselves.
This. I only watched LOTMS recently for the first time because when it first came out I started watching but had to turn it off at the beginning when they showed all the footage of Gerard stumbling around, it was just too upsetting for me to watch at the time.
Tbh that's part of why I liked Danger Days so much when it came out - they seemed so wrecked after TBP that it was nice to see them lean into a funner concept. I definitely think they have a healthier relationship with their art now they've taken a break, though, which as a fan has been good to see.
Nah TBP days are definitely peak mcr in terms of popularity, impact, live shows and most everything
Having said that I'm happy they're back, playing shows, also the new song was amazing other than the mix. I hope they eventually visit South America.
But how can you say that if you werenāt there? I was there, have been since 2003. Now is the best MCR has ever been. They are happy, healthy, their music sounds tighter than ever, they know exactly who and what they are, as people and as a band. They have never been more popular than they are now, they have never played better live, and they are having a bigger impact in music now than ever before. TBP was peak in concept alone, but that doesnāt mean it was the best era of the band.
And I think they were trying to get to South America in the new year, I know they are already going to Mexico sometime.
Right? They sound cleaner and tighter than ever. Comparing Gerard's vocals from TBPID! and the current live shows is like night and day.
Especially toward the end of TBP era and through Danger Days, they were miserable and it showed. Now by being a "nostalgia act" they don't have to worry about delivering big productions and gimmicks. They're just four guys jamming out and playing what they want to play. It's refreshing.
The Black Parade definitely had the largest reach of any of their records, and the shows were certainly larger, more theatrical productions. Itās what that album called for. But thereās something different about right now. It feels like the world is actually ready for them now.
Iām on the āyeah, you did miss outā side to be honest. Theyāve been my favourite band since I was 14 and Iām now 32 and I had the privilege of seeing them 9 times between 2004 and 2011, and being a part of the fandom at that time when it was so active was so much fun.
That being said I saw them 2x during the Danger Days tour and they seemed miserable, I was so upset that after the shows I just got in my car and cried because it felt like I was watching my favourite band dying before my eyes. So around that time I wasnāt having a blast.
Oh, and they sound far far better live now than they did earlier in their career. Like waaaaaay better imho.
Also 32 and got super into them at 14. Nothing quite hit like those days to me, but nostalgia is a powerful drug. Those days will always be special to me, getting to witness the birth of this whole thing that was like nothing else around at the time.
Don't do it to yourself.
Many of us that lived through the "golden years" only saw part of it. I got to see them live on The Black Parade tour, it was incredible for sure. But did I see them during Warped Tour 2004? No, did I see them during the Bullets New Jersey years? absolutely No. Did I run an MCR fan site or have Mikey Way as a friend on MySpace? No ;(
The number of people who got to ride the MCR rocket from start to finish fully and entirely has always been infinitesimal.
But I do remember people endlessly calling the band homophobic slurs, throwing bottles of piss at them at music festivals and seeing them cast as a boogeyman for everything "wrong" with rock music at the time.
I'm thankful for the experiences I had during those years, they were profoundly formative. But they weren't a golden paradise of MCR peace and unity where everyone loved them and their fans and it was all a big happy hug time. There were amazing experiences but also a lot of conflict: angry haters, journalistic attacks, obsessive fans being weird about them, dismissive critics and clueless gatekeepers. Overall people back then didn't have the same boundaries and respectful aura around the band as they do now and that's a major difference and point of genuine growth.
The community and music culture in general are vastly more positive and loving to MCR and their fans than they ever were. It's almost entirely love now and that's something to be truly thankful for.
This is such an important perspective! I am almost 30 and though I was a fan during Bullets/Three Cheers I was still fairly young, too young to really be going to shows and shy enough to not really share my love for them with many people. The closest thing I had to this subreddit was a really small internet forum where I pretended to be older than I was in order to fit in better. There were MCR super fans, but there were MCR super haters. I got bullied in school for it, and I understand that this is the experience for many MCR fans in the mid 00's. This is all to say that it's easy to feel like you missed out on an important era for MCR, but know that it's way more comfortable now to enjoy their music than it did back then somehow. When I went to see them on this current tour I was so blown away by how awesome all the fans were - how gentle everyone treated each other and how eager we all were to be there. Then I remember the state of warped tour in like, let's say '07 where people were extremely rude, messy, and SUPER stuck up about which bands you were into. I definitely agree with everyone saying this is the golden age of MCR - they are all seemingly healthy, happy and just as passionate as ever. They really do not need to be touring right now, but they are! And I like to think it's because they really enjoy it and wanted to have some fun.
Edit: also want to add a slightly separate thought. The era you feel you missed out on - the wild crowds, moshing, the atmosphere of a smaller venue, etc... that is all stuff that can very well be experienced today. Just with other bands! Find your local venue and see what punk bands are playing. You might see someone blow up and become the next MCR - then you get to be the elder emo that brags about seeing bands before they get signed by a major label.
Ive seen both...different vibes, both good. Phones not being held up every second of the show is something I miss. The pits were different. The crowds were much more lively BUT the sound is much better now. Personally I like black stripe across the eyes era better. Happy to have seen both though
While I agree with most this is a golden era, Itās so nice to see them up there enjoying themselves, TBP era was pretty epic back in its day. Their live shows, the themes, the interviews. It was a great time to be an MCR fan when you were in the MCR bubble. But there was a lot of emo hate which wasnāt great. Seeing them do BP all the way through and then come out and do revenge/bullets stuff was an epic kind of show though.
Still, donāt be too jealous, this era is amazing. They are all happy, comfortable and able to be themselves. The shows are amazing, and you can finally be an MCR fan without being ridiculed š (well, mostly, there will always be people who hate on others for their taste in music)
As an Elder Emo I feel the most for the people who got into them right before the breakup. I just can't imagine getting into this amazing band, and then them turning around the next instant like "you know what? actually, we're done."
It certainly *was* a time, being in high school when Three Cheers and TBP went down. I kinda took that for granted until they started to swing back around again for the latest generation of teens who almost never had the opportunity to see them live if it weren't for the Return. That era of rock music was especially blessed. Everyone was just so motivated by one another to create great music back then. The creative energy at the time was so potent!
The decade of the 00s really feels like a magical time for me. I was only a child, but now I'm into so many things from that era: music, anime, aesthetics... It feels like everything was more colorful, the world was a bit more "innocent" and "pure" in a way, dare I say even more "optimistic". Also guitar riffs and solos were still a mainstream thing haha.
It kinda blows to have missed out on all that since my teen years were in the 10s.
I'm a musician myself, and one of the things I wish to achieve with my music is to capture that essence, that "creative energy", as you phrased it, of that time.
I was a teenager in the 2000s (born 1990) and while I would go back and live it again, believe me the 2000s were in no way optimistic or pure. At least in North America everyone was living in the shadow of 9/11 and watching the resulting war unfold on tv. People were incredibly homophobic, sexist and racist and OPENLY so. Take into account the fact Britney Spears had a mental health crisis and was mocked for it by the public, and R. Kelly was raping minors and that was also something that was joked aboutā¦ society was rather sick and cruel honestly. People who were āemoā or different in any way were bullied and no one really cared to stop them, there wasnāt any narrative about bullying being wrong or people trying to stop it. And then there was the 2008 crash which decimated peoples lives.
The only thing I can say is that climate change hadnāt become such an issue yet and people were oblivious to it, so there was overall less dread about the world burning up.
yeah, i was born in 1989 and i remember the 2000s being ROUGH. 9/11 was the year after i started middle school. i remember watching news coverage of people falling out of the towers. i remember the constant islamophobia that followed the attacks. bushās public address about the iraq war was 2 days after my brother turned 18. 2008 was the year after i graduate high school and was a bummer of an intro to adulthood. it was just a lot ofā¦ āwelp, this is an unprecedented thing thatās going to fuck your life up for a while (forever?).ā i luckily was never bullied, but still made it out with depression and anxiety and an overall sense of dread about everything. at least my hair looked cool.
Echoing other thoughts here... but it honestly blew to be a teenager in the 2000s if you were in to anything considered not mainstream. People thought 9/11 gave them carte blanche to be horrifically racist, homophobia was pretty accepted, liking nerd shit like video games, anime, emo music was putting a target on your back for bullying... shit sucked.
Not that it was all bad but I'm pretty sure I still have lingering trauma from middle school/high school. The music was dope but there are still emo bands producing good music, and hey, anime is way more accessible. This is no longer the days of having to pass around dvds with like two episodes on them
šÆ Iām in my 30s and I am STILL working through the trauma and repression of that era. If anything, My Chems return is perfectly timed because now I actually have the freedom to dress the way I want and listen to the bands I like without being mocked or ridiculed. That repression becomes so internal, I am constantly having to remind myself itās ok to be myself. Thatās a big part of why this my chem tour has been so cathartic, we get the music AND the freedom to express our love for it however we want
We were right in that Obama era, so the optimism was real. Everyone just felt very free to create what they wanted without really receiving backlash like you get today cuz the internet wasn't quite as pervasive and immediately available to people as it is now. Things were just allowed to be as dark or light as creators wanted it to be because no one was telling them aspects of it was wrong. And if people didn't like it (which *tons* of people didn't like MCR at the time and had plenty to say about it!), the band didn't give a shit and just kept doing what they liked until it wasn't fun anymore. Now, everything feels like it needs to be curated and handled with kid gloves to be marketed to the masses to make the most money. Which we know MCR isn't about at all, and why seeing Gerard just go up and wear whatever he likes without feeling the need to be polished or conventionally attractive or purposefully theatrical on stage has been thrilling to say the least.
Been a fan since Three Cheers came out in 2004, saw them on that tour as well as a couple Projekt Revolution tours. I listened to their CDs so much I am honestly not sure how they didn't disintegrate lol. I was crushed when they broke up, but at the time was a new (young) mom and had other things to worry about that distracted me. It is amazing that they are back together all these years later, and here I am taking my daughter to her first MCR concert on the 17th. She appreciates their music just as much as I did back in the day.
I guess what I am trying to say, is that there are "seasons" with a lot of bands, and your generation of MCR fans are here for a reason. Don't mourn for the season that you didn't get to experience, but soak up this season that we're in. It's just awesome all-around.
I hate to say it, but I disagree with many posters - you did miss out! Sorry. While they may be entering their golden years / are able to be themselves - there's always something about the early years of a band. Warped was wild, sketchy, and so much fun.
The production of the Black Parade was so good. MCR started out so theatrical. I get stripping back, but I hope their next round of tours pumps up the production level. Gerard, Frank, and Ray are fabulous showmen. James was fabulous on keys during Danger Days - and I definitely miss Bob.
I saw them at Warped in '05 2x, Black Parade Tour in '06, Danger Days Tour in '11 or '12 and when they went out on the Honda Civic Tour in '11 or '12 - just before they broke up. I met them in '05 and didn't know who they were (my boyfriend at the time was working warped) and later at a record store in Michigan in '11.
It was fun during the Danger Days tour too - they were playing small venues. I saw them at an 1,800 person venue - no seats (RIP Orbit Room) - THAT was fun.
My fomo was the Reading headliner. I still watch that while I run on the treadmill. So good. When Brian May comes out - MMM. Good ole' days.
PLUS - I'm a live event producer that specializes in productions for 10,000+ (not concerts, but some festivals - lots of exes / friends in the industry - my ex worked for Manson and Warped during the heyday). Shows just aren't the same since the pandemic. That part has nothing to do with MCR - that's just that our industry is struggling to get it together since the world changed. So I'm bummed for you guys to experience music this way. That part sucks.
I'm excited for everyone to experience the next phase. But don't kid yourself, y'all missed out. Sorry - being a millennial pays for once lol.
Reddit has this extreme aversion of anything that may come even slightly near "I was born in the wrong generation" area, so I was kinda expecting a lot of people would go "Oh no you didn't miss out!/THIS is their golden era" which both feel like cope outs.
Band/music subreddits in general tend to operate this way.
I just wish 00's music and aesthetics come back.
I get what you're saying. I think I miss the vibe more than the actual performances. I remember Joe Trohman from FOB jumping off the stage and almost snapping himself in half landing on the barricade. I remember all the guys hanging out on stage during each other's sets etc. Like if I could take this version of MyChem and send them on Warped tour...that sounds like perfection on Earth.
The old days were spent toeing the line of being a huge fan and catching shit for the whole "emo fad" era while it was new and trendy to shit on. I feel like this is their heyday and this is a wonderful time to see what they have to bring.
As an old fan, who grew up with MCR, Iāve got to say, the current era, is possibly the best itās been to be an MCR fan. The word ācringeā is all but outlawed, and we are finally able to genuinely let loose in a way that we havenāt been before.
Not to mention the fact that, for the first time in what feels like forever, the band itself is actually happy to be on tour, and you can actually see that.
Seriously, the difference is night and day. Everyone in the MCR community is just better now, and Iām so happy that we made it here.
Iāve been listening to MCR since I was about 10 (25 now) and, while I miss the old days mostly because I struggle with some personal issues and itās a comforting time to think back to, youāre honestly not missing out on anything by not listening to them sooner.
This is the best the band has ever been. Theyāre all happy parents who are loved, sober, and not trying to keep themselves from falling apart at the seams like they used to. I have never seen any of them, especially Gerard, look or sound this happy while MCR is together.
Weāre also getting to witness Gerard be comfortable enough to express himself in all of these different outfits that he wasnāt able to in the past, and to just be free ā as cheesy as that sounds! Just because you missed some of their beginning doesnāt mean it was anything fun. And tbh, the fandom for them has always been wild so maybe itās better that you missed that part too lol. We dealt with a lot back then, especially when the band kept getting labeled a suicide cult and constantly shit on by the media.
So, welcome home! ā¤ļø
The only thing that may have been better was seeing them at smaller venues. The fandom really continued to grow after they broke up, and I think the band continued to get better in that time too. They sounded better on this tour than the last show I saw over 10 years ago.
Sometimes, but tbh Iām just grateful theyāre still around and it doesnāt feel like theyāre dragging the corpse of MCR around on tour. They genuinely still seem like theyāre having fun and they still seem inspired. To make a comparison Iād say I was more upset as a panic at the disco fan when I went to see them pre-covid. It felt so artificial, the only things that really made the experience worth it were getting to see the pretty odd sign and the fever piano but the performance itself felt so off I wouldnāt have even been able to recognize the few pre-break up songs they played if I didnāt know the lyrics. MCR still has that same feel, maybe a little matured but watching them live everything sounded perfect, they all seemed so into it, and tbh it was probably the best performance Iāve ever seen. Maybe I regret not getting to see the early days a bit but they still have the same feel so itās not like Iām really hurting for a pre-breakup MCR.
I'm not far from your situation, I'm 28, but didn't get into them until fall of 2012 or so, not long before the breakup. It was a massive bummer getting SO into their stuff and thinking, "well if they release something new, it'll suck because that's probably all they'll do on tour," THEN they break up and I get NOTHING.
I went to the Denver show on 9/30 and it was the MOST incredible experience hearing stuff from all of their albums. I distinctly remember listening to Bullets at some point in 2013 and realizing I'd never hear them play Headfirst for Halos live... last week I was proven wrong.
So it's weird. I remember people in middle school loving them, but I just never really got the appeal. I sure do now!
Not just the younger ones that might feel this way. Some of us older lot might not have been able to go to live performances back then and now we're adults we can. Speaking from personal experience.
I mean, Iām also 24 and became a fan of MCR right around the time of the breakup, so I definitely relate; I would have loved the chance to see them live back then, the anticipation of new album releases, etc! That being said, weāre in a new era of MCR, and hopefully we can have some of those awesome experiences in the future.
I feel you. I'm 32 and have been a fan since I was 16. But I've never seen them in concert.
Your experience reminds me of my discovery of The Tragically Hip. I'd known about them for a long time but never really cared. I fell in love with the band and 2 weeks later they played their goodbye concert. Then Gord left us.
But at least MCR is back on tour and rocking it. You still have a chance.
I will say when I was a teenager it wasnāt really accepted to be a fan of MCR anyway. Iām only 28 but I learned real fast not to say who my actual favorite band is when asked. Itās much better as an adult lol
I had a semi similar experience (Iām 28yo) but a little worse? I was at the exact right age to enjoy mcr in all its glory, I remember loving teenagers when I was young but stupid little me gave in to peer pressure of kids making fun of emos so I never listened to them for fear of being made fun of- I think we were all bullied but this was a time when āemoā was the worst you could be- and I STILL got made fun of for wearing skinny jeans! And then years later my bf told me like no, theyāre great listen to three cheers and I was HOOKED, cut to a year later when they broke up I was so sad lol
As an older MCR fan, trust me when I say be glad youāre experiencing them now. The old days were fun especially with the full production and theatrics, but it was very clear how tired they were. Gerardās voice was not great. This is the best theyāve sounded in a long time.
No. They are not that old. As a friend of Kiss, Eagles, and The Killers (who are also not that old, but rarely tour as a quartet anymore), thatās when I am sad to not have seen them in their hay day.
If it makes you feel any better, I think even the most elder of the emos here has at least one *thing* they feel they missed out on. For me, I knew *of* the band during the Revenge era, but wasnāt hooked until The Black Parade. I get a bit of that FOMO feeling whenever folks reminisce about shows or memories from that time. Warped Tour too - I wasnāt able to go until they stopped playing it. Hell, I get FOMO over Danger Days sometimes because the last show they played in my town before the breakup was during that tour, and I couldnāt go. I heard DD songs live for the first time ever this Sunday despite adoring that album with all my heart from the moment it was released. I think unless youāre one of the remarkable few to have hopped on in the early days of Bullets and held on with a vice grip and never missed a beat, there is always something you āmissed.ā
But hereās what you will get that I donāt get (again): that first-time concert experience. I loved the show this last weekend, it was phenomenal and everything Iāve been praying for since they broke up. But no performance will ever again be like when I was 14, seeing my heroes in the flesh for the first time ever, screaming along with them, burning more calories as a *spectator* than any workout Iād ever done in my life. Your experience wonāt be any less just because it happened 15 years after mine!
Iām ecstatic about them being back and touring again not just for myself, but for those of you who came ālateā and thought you may never get to have these experiences. No one will ever again get that ācomebackā euphoria for Queen, Nirvana, Rushā¦ and someday, though it kills me to imagine, the reign MCR will be truly finished, when we lose one or more of the boys, and many people will still be just discovering them. Youāre still part of such a special time! Donāt let any of us old geezers make you feel like you donāt belong, or like this era is any less magical than another.
Iām 21, and my experience with the band. technically started with my sister, who is 7 years older than me. She was born in ā93, I was born in ā00. So, when I was 6-7, she was 13-14 and going through her emo/scene phase (it wasnāt a phase lol) So, fast forward to me at like 12 years old. Sheās playing Teenagers in the car, and something just clicks in me. I just fuckin love the song. And so began my emo/scene not-phase, with My Chem as my main soundtrack to anything and everything. And then they broke up like. 3-4 months later.
As a fan who was teenager when they exploded, I can confirm one thing: MCR then and MCR today is still in their golden years. One advantage younger fans have now that we didn't is that 1. You don't have to put up with the crap OG fans did when it wasn't acceptable to like MCR or really emo in general and 2. You get to meet like minded ppl because of social media which is at a scale now that it definitely wasn't back then. And bonus: at least you are living in a timeline when the band is active once again. 40 years from now some kid would kill to be in both our places. Enjoy the ride young lad
MCR is still very popular among younger people, their music speaks to the struggle of growing up, first break ups, parents divorcing, pain from not fitting in to your school. I think theyāll have full venues selling for as long as they tour, whether thatās one more year or ten more. (I hope to God itās at least 5)
Yess I feel this so hard, Iām 16 so I didnāt get to experience listening to their music while they were together. I used to think that I would never be able to see them live. Like imagine listening to revenge right after it came out!!! But I really like this era too because it seems like theyāre having a lot of fun touring rn and Iām just glad that theyāre even releasing new music again (foundations)
Definitelyā¦ I started to listen to MCR about 2 months ago and was super bummed to find out half the songs came out before i was even born! I really like Foundations of Decay though. Not sure if they plan on making another album, but it would be fucking sick
Yes actually. I'm 17 and I get kinda jelly whenever I see videos online of their black parade concerts and knowing that I was maybe like 2 years old while the band was playing the whole album- š
Iām 24 and have been a fan since I was 9.
You honestly didnāt miss much. The scene totally changes depending on where you live, and even though I was a fan during some of their most popular years, I was one of 2 MCR fans at my school.
They have a lot more exposure today I think. My little sister and her friends are all huge MCR fans, and thatās more people than I ever met growing up who liked them.
I was also too young for my parents to let me go to shows by myself, so I never got the chance to see them Live until this year.
You got in at a perfect time lol, donāt worry about FOMO, youāre at least here while the band is still active and performing! Some people donāt get that chance with older bands, so weāre all still lucky.
Saw them in 2005 and 2008. Iām more excited now! Theyāre playing the tracks they love, not only the biggest hits that their label dictates. Theyāre happier and free!
Also, the scene was fun but really rough then. A lot of suicide and hate. And a lot of cancelled shows across the genre, from people injuring their voice, overdosing, being too drunk/high to play, etcā¦ so lots of disappointments.
oh yea bro 100%. i was rly sad bc i knew the concert wasnāt going to be the same as the videos iāve watched from years ago. iām 22, i was 1 when they started making music. i rly wish i couldāve been part of their golden years but i am so so thankful that i got to see them this year.
Iām part of the crowd that got into MCR back in 2004 but I was a kid. My parents never go to concerts and they refuse to pay for tickets. So I decided to buy my own the next time MCR came around on Tour. I finally got old enough and got a job to eventually buy tickets, then MCR broke up.
Now I donāt want to see them because Stadium shows are the worst and the fans are cringy.
Why would you deprive yourself of fun and/or joy because fans are cringe lol, what a ridiculous thing to do to yourself because you find someone else to be uncool.
I donāt think they are āuncool.ā Iām using cringe in its intended definition.
It doesnāt sound like a fun time to me. I will be distracted the whole time by uncontrollable screaming and people getting over emotional. Itās just awkward and uncomfortable. We have seen a crazy amount of obsession in this fandom and I donāt vibe with that.
I am saying this specifically about the Floor/GA/Pit. If Iām going to a stadium show Iām not wasting my time on any seat thatās not on the floor.
I was just at a show on the floor (not pit, floor seat) and people cheered between songs but there was no one screaming or crying around me, it was significantly more chill than any of the shows I saw before their breakup and they sounded far better live than previously. Honestly a lot of people didnāt seem to know the lyrics to things outside of some of their hits. You wouldnāt be able to hear anyone crying over the music anyways. I mean each to their own, Iād still say donāt deprive yourself of the potential of seeing something cool because other people can be potentially irritating.
If it makes you feel better, these performances are SO much better emotional energy wise. For those of us who were there before, there is a palpable difference in how it feels to see them today. Before, it felt like a show being put on. Performative whether or not they wanted to be there. Which it's obviously still a performance but this feels like they are sharing something special with us as opposed to just churning out noise because of a contract they signed.
Young fan here. Yes. Didnt find them til 2017 just to realize theyre my favorite band AND theyre broken up. Cant imagine what itd have been like to go see the black parade tour as a teen. Id probly be in a much better place in life lol
Iām 28 but circumstances meant I never got to see any of the live shows at their peak, and I felt ROBBED until this tour. Now I only feel mildly perturbed
yep, for sure. i started listening to MCR almost exactly a year after they broke up, when i found out they werenāt a band anymore i was so upset! forever thankful iāve had the chance to see them now, in their new golden age!
Im 25, and im in that weird middle area where ive been listening to them since 2004, but i was a literal child so i didnt get to really experience the āMCRmyā type of fans or see them live. It did bum me out a lot after they broke up because i thought id completely missed any chance to see them liveā¦ but now that theyre back i dont mind as much. I think its really dependent on where you live though, pretty much all of my friends have been fans of theirs so i didnt miss out as much on bonding with other people through their music
I remember being super bummed in 2005 that I missed the beginning of MCR. I wasn't there for the basement shows, seeing covered in blood Gerard, touring Bullets and all that stuff...but ya know...I really do think this Return Era is the best era so far!
Hopefully there will be many new eras to come!!!
I'm 24 and the first time I heard them I was 11 when my friend had teenagers on her iPod and I literally haven't been the same since. definitely a little sad that I wasn't a cool punk chick in 2004 BUT I got to see them live last month and it was worth the wait. I'm just haply they're back together, happy and seemingly mentally sound. I love them, I feel so attached to this band it almost felt like I had known them my entire life when I saw them in Sunset. Anyways, yea I totally feel you. But I have the internet and life on the murder scene to relive their "glory days" over and over. They made it though.. and they wound up together again. All of them are successful and just couldn't be more proud.
I'm almost 28 and so I was a little kid when Bullets and Cheers came out. I knew of them as a younger kid but didn't get into them until I was 12 when The Black Parade came out. They were my first concert and I've been deeply connected to their music ever since. That being said I feel like I'm having way more fun experiencing them now as an adult. I saw them in T.O a month ago and it was such a great time! Honestly just super happy they came back in any capacity and that they are doing well.
Also as much as being emo seemed popular and fun back in 2007 it was miserable and I was bullied a lot for it.
Tbh i wish i was old enough to be into them when they were less popular just bc i would have loved to meet them or something but now since theres so many fans thats really rare
Iām 23 and like you, I didnāt start listening til just before the break up! However my position is weird because I was a scene kid, albeit a really young one. I never got to see the bands I listened to live, but I was playing Cobra Starship, Gym Class Heroes, The Academy Isā¦, etc. all on my iPod in 2008. MCR never crossed my radar somehow. I feel blessed to have lived any part of that era at all, but I wish I had been a little bit older haha
I, too, am a younger fan. Iām definitely a bit bummed, but Iām glad that I got this tour. I went to the second Newark show, and it was easy one of theāif not *the*ābest setlist(s) theyāve done all tour. Suffice to say, Iām sated.
Iām 30 but I spent my prime emo years in a third world country who did not know of emo so even though I am old enough to have lived it I didnāt because of geography. So I feel you.
Iām very bummed iāll never get to see them, but theyāre doing better now. gerardās been clean for a long time, I wouldnāt trade that for a concert
Their songs are very relatable even though dark at times but they pulled me through college, breakups, different emo phases I went through in my early 20s. I think it's amazing how their songs and music are still being appreciated today by younger generations. I saw them once before and that memory was so blurred cos I was so drunk off my face. I'm going to see them again this year and I'm grateful I'll get a chance to do that again. Never thought this would ever happen after they broke up.
I graduated high school the year Black Parade came out, and I missed like their whole career because, *somehow,* I didn't get into them until this past spring. (Kind of a weird series of accidents because they're *exactly* my shit.)
I feel a little sad because the early 2000s hold so much nostalgia for me and it would've been fun, but honestly? My favorite phase of rock musicians is when they're all cool dads who're comfortable in their art who don't give a shit what other people think. See : David Bowie's later career.
I'm having a BLAST with this reunion tour, and don't feel too bad about missing their original active years. Plus there is a TON of recorded footage and interviews and live shows you can go back and watch so... I'm good!
This is exactly what happened to me hahaha. Iām 23 and discovered them a month or so before they broke up. I am a bit bummed I missed the earlier days but I went to their show in Florida and it was so amazing I felt like I was a teenager listening to them again. Most of my friends donāt like/just arenāt into that type of music but I have no issues going to shows and listening to them by myself! My friends do listen to pop punk stuff so they will come to a show with me and be a good sport if I ask enough lol
Omg yes, I'm only 15 and I started listening around 11 years old and I really, really wish I was born way earlier just to be able to see them perform in those days. I'm seriously obsessed w/ them and id give anything for that.
Sometimes I wonder what it might have been like, but Iām glad to have seen them now. When theyāre happier and doing things on their own terms. It feels genuine
As others have said, definitely it SEEMS more fun than it was. Maybe i am jaded because i was just a little too young to be going to concerts but when they skipped my town on the black parade tour...well the trauma has me traveling the US to see my faves now.
It's interesting to hear that you don't meet people now that like MCR because I felt the same was true back then. MCR was well known but at least in my middle school and high school not liked. I remember for years having to hide my love of mcr because it was "cringe" or "for girls" to like them. Teen boys wouldn't give you the time of day. Then online was a minefield too. A lot of gatekeeping and then random brigading from other communities. the amount i've seen pete wentz's nude selfies is way to high for a person who never wanted to see them in the first place. You'd see so much without looking for it, it was just normalized. I appreciate as an online community how we've changed.
I agree a little on the live shows though if only in terms of them having to play arenas now versus when they played in clubs. Clubs have just a different vibe and their show are a lot more family friendly (in COMPARISON). Not to say the don't still blow it out of the water with every show. I have had the privilege of seeing them live twice this tour and i was in tears several times out of joy. but the energy of a club...also what the fuck is up with camping out for damn near all the shows? like i get wanting to be barricade but i do not remember that being a thing...is it an arena show thing?
I feel the same way. I started liking them a year or so after they broke up. At that time I was literally so depressed that I would never be able to experience warped tour or any of their tours and it was a dark time for me because I was so in love with the music. Fast forward to now i feel so lucky Iāve been able to see them at all because I never thought they would ever get back together. I still wish I had seen them back in the day but this tour has healed some of my broken heart!
I understand how youāre feeling. I am a millennial so I remember them when they were fresh. It was a very different time. I am nostalgic for some of it, just because Iām getting around the age where I am getting nostalgic about everything in my teen / young adulthood haha. It was a good time seeing them on TV regularly and them being talked about as this outrageous band. So diffident from now. I could not attend any of their shows back in the day sadly because I was either unawareā¦ unavailableā¦ or poor! l didnāt go to any concerts in high school / collegeā¦ except local bands / friends. I regret it a lot, honestly. I just didnāt have a lot of money and it didnāt seem like a priority at the time, I was happy listening to my iPod š
I have changed a lot!! I adore experiencing concerts now. I also have a real income. So, Iāve seen them twice this tour and will one more time in a couple of weeks. Itās been a lot of money and I canāt believe Iām actually flying across the country for this third show but itās been wonderful and addictive and Iām just making up for the lost years. It will never be the same and trust me I wish Iād been able to get a taste of them live in every era but this one is nevertheless AMAZING and they sound so good, and they are still YOUNG lol I know it seems weird to really young fans who are in middle school or high school, but they are young. Please this is coming from someone who went to see Blondie a few weeks ago, Debbie Harry aged 80. Now when I say I wished I could have seen her in 1979 when I wasnāt even born thatās different š¤£ I went to see The Stones and Paul McCartney who are boomers. THEY are old. My Chem isnāt decrepit yet - letās enjoy this, itās not that far off from 15 years ago. One day theyāll be 60 and ppl will be like damn I wish Iād seen them during this amazing tour they did in 2022 š
Also the band seems to be incredibly popular now and well respected. That wasnāt the case all those years ago. Not that it affects their music but itās a better experience for everyone this way.
Iām 23 & Iāve been listening to MCR since I was young, my parents are young & they were my moms favorite band. She used to see them at concerts or festivals all the time. I didnāt actually quite figure out who they were until I was around my teens and actually started paying attention to song names, artist names & all that. While I think that era wouldāve been cool to be present in; Iām just grateful I got to see them at all honestly. Especially since I got to spend those moments with my mom & sister singing our hearts out. Idk Iām very hopeful for more MCR in the future!!
Around the time Three Cheers came out when I was a teen, it wasnāt exactly the warmest time in the larger culture to be a moody alt kid, unless you had a like minded community. And we didnāt have the same access or exposure to so much musicāI remember trying to find Bullets tracks one at a time on Kazaa and failing. So there were downsides. But I hear you, and know that all the elders I know warmly embrace new gen folks as family.
Relatedly, I remember as a teen having friends who felt like early 90s grunge was their era, and they wished they had been around then.
Just know that there are a million unsevered threads running from that time to now. Not just the musicians still playing, but the creativity and community too. There can always be new, massive, unforgettable experiences. Is this me coaching myself through the fact that Daft Punk will never put out new music again? Maybe
Iām 33, and this era is the most open and free and connected to others Iāve felt about this band than ever before. I went to one of the shows in Newark recently, and it felt so different than when I saw them in 2007. The average maturity of the crowd now is just so much better.
i would kill to have seen their tours when the black parade and danger days was just released, but i also love that gerard is clean and is doing music because he wants to
Old fan - started listening to them when I was 7, and Iām now 24. Although I love the old days, as they contributed to a lot of happiness in my childhood, this new (very unhinged) era is the best, seeing all of them looking genuinely happy and a sober Gerardā¦. I wouldnāt trade this for the world
Someone else like me! Iām 25 and only really discovered them a few years ago. I was elated when they announced the reunion a few months after I really got into them.
Iāve had a hard time making friends here but Iāll keep trying. Most people seem to be either in their 30s or teenagers, and here I am in the middle ground. I just want to find people my age to chill with and talk about music. But itās upsetting to realize that I lived right through their popularity in middle/high school and never even heard a song until 2019. I
knew nothing about clothes or music or any of that when I was a kid but I was more or less āalternativeā when it came to the people I hung out with and the stuff I liked (movies, gaming, writing poetry and stories). God, remember when liking video games was something āfringeā? Got bullied constantly and was more or less an outcast because I had no idea how to properly feel or express emotions (found out I had a personality disorder later in life). I feel like I would have been an emo kid if I found that stuff back then, but now I have the resources as an adult to explore that.
You are not alone!!!! Weāre here even if we arenāt as visible.
Iām not much older than you (literally 25 lol) and while I listened to MCR starting around revenge era, I wasnāt fully āinā the fandom or allowed to go to the concerts yet. So I do feel like I missed out a bit and dear GOD I wish I couldāve seen them live or gone to a meet and greet. I didnāt even know any of the guys had solo careers or side projects until they were done (besides Frank of courseš). I wish so much I had gone to the hesitant alien tour. But whatās past is past, canāt do much about it now ya know? Iām just so glad theyāre back and Iāve seen them twice nowšš„°
i can really resonate with this post, started listening to them like 6 months after their breakup, I was 14. I was moving away to a new country and MCRās discography was with me through that whole change. I listened to them through the rest of high school, always lamenting that I would never see them live. Well, got to see them for the reunion tour here in sunrise Florida a few weeks back. Dream come true. So yeah, it sucks that I didnāt get to see early MCR, but Iām so grateful that they came back in full form to give fans like me a once in a lifetime opportunity to see them live, when I thought I never would.
I think all we can do now is be so excited for whatās to come. Not many bands like MCR come back with all original members like that.
absolutely. iām 19 now and i started getting into mcr around 2015-2016 and when i found out they had broken up i was absolutely devastated because i thought iād never get new music and iād never get to see them. thankfully, we got foundations of decay and i got to see them! i just wish i could experience the golden years tho because iād love to have some of the cool merch thatās so hard to find now and iād love to have been to a concert during that time.
Only ever day lol. Not necessarily young but I wish I liked them before their break up, but seriously, Iām glad I got to now because theyāre all in much better places and seem to actually be having fun.
absolutely. iām only 17, and while i am SUPER grateful to have been able to see them live, it definitely bums me out a little when i read about older fans talking about ācompleting the collectionā of different songs theyāve been able to see live and such, especially when some are able to see them live during this tour multiple times. iām a child lol, as much as iād LOVE to be able to do that, i donāt have the money or mobility at this age to be able to.
i am glad that iām getting to experience the golden age of them though, and being able to be present and engaged with the community while theyāre on tour and releasing music (more to come soon i hope!) is definitely something.
just trying to be happy with what i have i suppose :)
Iām 22, but Iāve been listening to them since I was about 5 years old (thanks mom). While I occasionally get salty remembering my mom saw them at warped and didnāt take me (I mean, I guess itās not the best place to take a small child lmao), I also try to remember that the band is in a better state now than they were then.
It totally makes sense to be a bit sad about missing out, but donāt sit on it too much and enjoy the now!
Yes, it also feels like iām not a REAL FAN cause im just a teen and didnt live through the golden age of emo. I never find anyone my age who likes them.
25yo here who cried to let their parents take them to tbp tour when they were 10 lol. never got to see them before they broke up, but that's what makes their comeback even more special because i've waited almost my whole life for it. even though we missed their golden years, i feel like this year+the possible future are going to be even better because the guys are actually happy and now we're old enough to actually EXPERIENCE it. as much as little 10yo me loved them, she didn't understand anything lol
itās so refreshing to see them happy and know that all of the nasties associated with early mcr arenāt problems anymore! watching old footage vs now itās like joy radiates between the 4 of them and i think that makes it really okay that i missed out on the early stuff. i get to see them doing it and loving it !!
but donāt we all wish we were at pro rev lol
Yup, 16 and been into mcr since 2018 or so, so I missed ALOT, and it really kills sometimes. I'm glad I missed out on some of the older fandom though LOL
My uncle went to school with Gerard and Mikey so he naturally always supported mcr and as a kid I didnāt appreciate them the way I do now , I would have love to see them during their early stages but seeing them after all these years of them figuring themselves out and coming back years later bringing this amazing energy and to top it off it was my first concert I been to and I could not have asked for anymore . Would love to see them in 2023 if they decide to do another tour which I doubt , but to answer the question clearly nope itās a beautiful thing to see them still love and enjoy the music they made when they were just looking for a outlet of all the bottled up emotions they were trying to sort out . Thank you mcršš¼
I agree with every other elder emo here saying that this IS the golden age my friends. They seem happier than they ever were before and there are no words for just how HERE FOR IT I am!
I got into mcr just after 3cheers, but right around the black parade entered the local hardcore punk scene which basically beat the mcr out of me. By the time they were touring for tbp I was basically repressing my love for the band. I feel like the punk scene stole 10 fucking years of my life in the worst way possible. /I/ feel bummed out that I didn't get to live through the era even though they were my favorite band during those "golden years".
As a fairly old fan (47) these feel like the Golden years. They are having fun on stage and the online community is amazing. Itās easier to find fans and connect now. While it was definitely cool to seen them then, this time around in St Paul was magical and amazing! So happy they are back and having fun.
I was born the year mcr was formed and a hardcore fan but I had a teacher who followed them on tour for a few years in the 2000ās and lived vicariously through his stories in high school :)
Iām 34 and I just went to my first MCR show. You havenāt missed that much.
It was cool getting to hear new music in real time, but also the 2005 VMA snub made me way angrier than I should have been.
They may drop a new album, especially sounding as good as they did.
Iām so happy to see younger fans. Even if Iām as old or close to as old as your parents. You are the reason why MCR tours and fills arenas 18 years later. Thank you for being in this fandom.
22 here and found MCR like 1 year ago and now they are my favorite band.
Went to Paris from Portugal to see them on this 2022 tour and ended up feeling that i was born in the wrong era (my favorite genres are Rock, Indie and Alt).
Their music helped me a lot in my life troubles and experiences and thats why their music is great, cause it moves us and at the same time its really good music, good Lyrics and good instrumental, and thats exactly what music should be all about.
It sucks not have experienced MCR as a teen, but it is what it is, we gotta live with that.
Iām 26 and I just saw them for the third time this week (also saw them in 2008 and 2010) so Iāll give my input:
The only thing that makes me truly miss āthe old daysā is the fact they are literally just getting older meaning they are closer to the end of their career, so my chance to see them do more stuff is naturally coming to an end.
That being said, the set I just went to really brought me back to my early teen years in so many more ways than I couldāve imagined. The energy and pure love for the band coming out of the crowd is still the same. Gerard is still up on stage doing their silly antics. The band is still fucking crushing the same songs.
Honestly, the main difference I see is that the venue is bigger now, which there are pros and cons to (less intimate but a bigger crowd to share the moment with). But Iām so happy to see this band finally getting into the limelight and have their massive impact/fan base recognized like 14 year old me was always dying to see happen.
Another change Iāve seen happen for the better is these crowds feel way more like a safe space for marginalized people, especially for people to express gender non-conformity. Because honestly, this scene was NOT a very safe space in that regard back in the day.
So all of that to say, I definitely get where youāre coming from, but those days arenāt always what they were cracked up to be, and the band has matured into something absolutely beautiful at this day and age!
*edited to fix a typo
I turn 27 this year, but have been a fan since around 2006! I'm forever bummed I was too poor to go see them live during TBP era or even danger days!
I luckily was able to see Gerard and one of Frank's solo shows tho and forever grateful Ive gotten to see them on the reunion tour.
Im glad i got to see them happy and prospering and full of love for eachother tho in the year 2022!
Honestly, I'm okay with only being around for this era. I became a fan in 2016 and have loved them ever since. I would LOVE to see them in the past (preferably around prorev), but things weren't perfect back then. Other people have mentioned this, but there was a lot of repression and things weren't as open regarding gender and sexuality as they are now. Also, now that I know how difficult this era was for some band members, I'm okay with being a fan now, when they're all doing better. Mikey and Gee had addiction issues, Gee had his ED, we know Frank and Ray had issues here or there as well. Things seem to be better and more stable now.
yes very much so. i was about five-ish when they first rose to fame. i remember watching them on TRL and MTV (grew up with older cousins) as a kid and generally rocking with their stuff, but obviously not being a huge fan bc i was a small kid lol. I really got into them when a friend re-introduced them to me when i was a HS freshman. ever since then, iāve been hooked. iām happy to say that i at least saw them once during the reunion.
Iām 15. The only albums they realised in my lifetime was Danger Days and Conventional Weapons (and MCRX if you count that). Iām just happy that I can listen to it.
I used to feel this way constantly with all the bands I loved as a teenager. My advice is to 1) enjoy them now. There will still be people years down the line who will wish they couldāve been you. 2) listen to other bands who might be in the position mcr were and go to their shows and experience their golden moments.
Okā¦ fan from 2003ā¦ I was almost 30 ( yikes..).
I listened to MCR and all my goth/emo 80s bands while pregnantā¦
Kiddo is 16 now and took them to MCR in Seattle.
Gerard sober is much better. I think we are going to have a good new run now.
Iām one of those people but Iām barely going to see them for the first time with my 9 year old this month! bummed that I didnāt get to see them in all my teenage life despite how important they were and still are till this day. just happy to know that my first time will be with my mini me!
Iām also 24, started listening to them 3 weeks before the break up, and started with Iām not okay and was instantly hooked š š„² lots of things I feel we missed out on but everything is so great now I feel so lucky to have seen them even once. wouldāve been nice to get into them maybe just a tiny bit earlier and have the excitement of CW coming out at least
I loved the golden years. I was a huge fan. But you gotta remember, it was a niche thing back then. Now, emo is ācoolā. Now, people from my generation pretty proudly boast our emo backgrounds. Back then, we were kind of considered losers, tbh.
So yea, the hay day was fun if you went to shows and you had a good enough scene in your town but itās not like the chill was overrun with MCR fans. We were the outcasts.
I remember back in 2004 when I discovered MCR - The only way I could listen to Helena was by going to their website and restarting the shitty little QuickTime player that played the music video over and over again. Good times.
As somebody who was a teen in the Revenge era and saw them live a couple of times in 2005, it really was a great time to be into them! So happy I got a chance to see them at some smaller venues. That said, everybody else chiming in their 30s saying it was really hard to be into this scene in that era due to hate, misogyny, and homophobia...they are absolutely right. I had a gender non-conforming boyfriend at the time, and we went to shows a lot. The scene was not always sympathetic or kind. I was talked down to and slut shamed a lot too. Men wearing skinny jeans back then could seriously get them beaten up. My boyfriend and I had some seriously scary encounters in those days. Anyway, I'm really loving this new era of Gerard wearing dresses and all the general positivity associated with their revival. Enjoy it - it's def their new Golden Era!
I'm very happy that I got to see The Black Parade tour in 2007. Hands down one of the greatest live experiences ever. But I don't miss things like queerphobia and constant sexual harassment within the scene (going to Warped Tour back in the day as an unchaperoned 13-15 year old was a nightmare as far as predatory behavior from older guys in touring bands goes). I would say it's not perfect now, but it seems way less toxic now and I wouldn't go back. This current iteration of MCR is for sure my favorite, although I do miss the pit tickets being $35 haha
Honestly while the mid to late 2000s and early 2010s was their peak popularity I would say they are still in somewhere of a golden age because their all sober in good health and gerard still has his voice. They all seem so much happier and it really shows in these newer performances that are so lively and and have so much energy.
So I had an older cousin growing up that liked to listen to death metal and it kinda scared me (like it now but 7 yo me no) so he actually found MCR to be a meeting point of music that we could listen too when I was watching him play video games and what not. This was 07 so like during the black parade tour. When I was 11 during the world contamination tour I begged my mother to let me go but she thought it wasn't a good idea. And later that same year they were on the Honda civic tour with blink-182
My mom liked blink-182 and the show was a month before my birthday. After so many hints and straight up begging she warmed up to the idea of me going to a concert. So I thought I had this in the bag right? Wrong. She took me to a Carrie Underwood concert (nothing against her but country is so far away from what I wanted to listen to) and I thought I could try again when conventional weapons was coming out thinking maybe just maybe they'll tour again and then they broke up. I was devastated
Definitely. I was a young child when they broke up, so I had never even heard of them until this year. I love them now, but I will forever be bitter about how I wasnāt even alive for some of their golden years.
Ahhh man! You missed when we could all ship Gerard with Bert McCracken of the The Used when having close āboyā friends was exciting and ambiguous. Then the abrupt fall out and tiny spat and then nothing but rumors and silence. I wonder what ever happened there. Did they ever speak on the topic afterwards?
Here's the thing. This music was popular, all of the associated culture was popular, mainly due to a horrible epidemic of adolescent mental health issues, stemming in part from the national trauma of 9/11, and in part because of the ensuing wars, recession, political turmoil, and the first real start of the complete political partisanship we see in the US today.
Science wasn't entirely caught up enough to deal with a nearly immediate doubling of youth depression, but it Was caught up enough to start slinging the labels and medications we see in more moderate use today.
Educational systems were similarly unprepared for a wave of students, only a few years to a teacher's experience after columbine, dressing and behaving in darkly violent and distressing ways. Additionally, pop culture's only real awareness of self harm was from princess Diana in a single interview a decade before.
We're seeing a new rise in popularity of emo culture now because we're in similar conditions, where the young of America have been traumatized by sociopolitical situations they can't even begin to impact meaningfully and are, more consciously than we ever did, seeking cathartic media.
But, this is also all the reason they split up. There's an incredibly fine line between aiding fans through catharsis and effectively enabling their symptoms of depression, and the people who love them the most are usually the people who have the hardest time walking that line.
This is also also why I honestly don't love all the pressure for new music, another album, etc. Gerard is already so skinny again and all of these men have lives and families and have moved so far beyond this band that drove them into the ground half a dozen times.
I think if you find yourself wishing you were in the early 2000s, just, you literally are. You're in a refined version. We had Bush, Iraq, anthrax scares, you've got trump, Russia, and covid. Let MCR help you rise above this and get through it but don't let them be so much to you that the pain of losing them will outweigh what they gave you. That's the whole point
I definitely lived the golden years. I saw them live after loving bullets about 2 weeks before the I'm not okay video dropped. Lived through all eras of the band at this point. Old af lmao š¤£
Yeah. The old days were fantastic but sober Gerard is the best by far. I wouldn't trade them back in the day for the world but seeing them grow has been rad as heck. šš¤
This past show in Denver is the first time Iāve ever seen them live in my 20 years of listening. 3/4 times I had previously tried, they had dropped because of (what was speculated to be) sobriety related issues/tensions in the band. So Iām with you that seeing them grown and sober is a gift.
This! Sober Gerard is the best.
Old fan here. While the old days were great, I LOVE this new unhinged Era of MCR. It's probably my favorite Era.
Yeah. As great of an era as it was for music, things were still really repressed. āGayā was an insult used constantly in my middle school. People were teased or bullied a lot for gender nonconformity. Emo kids were attacked, bullied online and in many instances assaulted. The music was dope but the scene was toxic
The misogyny and racism were also wildly bad! It's still not perfect but it does at least feel like there's been some improvement.
I couldn't agree more. I was given shit for being a scene kid. People teased me for liking bands like MCR and heavy metal. My parents wouldn't take me seriously and told me it was a phase. Well it definitely wasn't a phase because I'm 30 now and still dress the same for the most part and listen to the same music. It's just become more accepted now.
I grew up in a really small town in the south, and I got physically bullied, called names, teased, my stuff was taken, etc etc because I was a scene/emo kid. Would get told to kill myself because I liked MCR and similar bands. I understand being nostalgic for an era past, but it was not a walk in the park. I hated high school/ teenagers/ and myself for a really long time, and a lot of it stemmed from being bullied for liking music or dressing in black clothes- for being me.
āI DONāT GIVE A SHIIT ANYMORE.ā - Gerard Way š
New Gerard is such a vibe
SAME. Plus seeing the boys literally SO HAPPY to be on stage again??
Same!!
so interestingly, iām 26 and i listened to them before i was a teenager, so iām in this odd space where iām a younger fan but i was listening to them for a whiiiiile before the breakup. almost everyone i know listened to them, i got to see their popular yearsā¦ and i *much* prefer where they are now. after years of them being like The Only Band That Mattered To Me, my father promised to take me to their next tourā¦ a couple months before they broke up. i had never been to a concert before at all, they were going to be my first. and it was a huge deal because my parents really hated them for a long time (no legitimate reason, just moral panic). i was devastated. and when i got tickets for this tour, i had a lot of feelings about it, and i couldnāt quite get my head straight on those. i saw them in sunrise and i left that show feeling like these *are* the golden years. none of them were okay back then, you know? it was a messy, extremely dark time, but they seem to be okay now and i am so excited about that. i think weāre about to enter an MCRenaissance and thatās for all fans, even people that discovered them later. the experience i had at that concert, it sounds dumb but it really felt like a lot of closure on a lot of very old hurts & traumas that i endured when i was that teenager crying to MCR on the bus, is being had by other people every night they perform ā and itās being had by people who are getting to experience MCR for the first time too, itās being had by new fans who need them the way i used to and still do. i think that transcends any discussion of āwhen MCR was popularā or āMCRās true golden eraā. and if you arenāt able to see them on this tour, iām pretty confident there will be more. there will be new opportunities just as special now that theyāre Back In Action. and youāve got us to celebrate that with! iām truly floored about the larger part of this community being as amazing as it is. itās normal to feel a bit jealous and thatās totally okay! but also know that thereās gonna be young people jealous 20 years from now that you have all these stories about being a young 20 something when MCR had their comeback ;)
I had a very similar experience to you (Iām 27 and saw them in sunrise too!!) Been a fan since I was about 12, theyāve been my favorite band this whole time and were wildly important to me through all my teen years. My mom didnāt like their music so I couldnāt go to shows, so I promised myself the first tour they did after I turned 18 I would goā¦.and they broke up when I was 17 and a half. So I felt really emotional leading up to the sunrise show and like you, it felt like it represented years of my life culminating up to that one night and was extremely cathartic finally being able to go. I definitely cried like a baby haha. But I agree, as much as I sometimes wish I couldāve seen some of their early performances (and more so wish I couldāve gone to a smaller show back when theyād still hang out after and meet fans)- they seem at their healthiest and happiest now. And after everything their music has given to me, thatās the absolute best I can wish for them. The fact that they seem to truly be enjoying themselves in this era really means the world to me.
man thatās so awesome to hear. every night i know they have a show, i think to myself, someone in that audience is having that experience, someone in the sunrise audience was having it right along with me. and they were!!! it was you!!! and plenty of others iām sure. that makes me so damn giddy haha.
For real though! Like I read your comment and was like wowā¦we are The Same haha. I wish I had had the time to make friends while I was there tbh but we had a long drive back to Ocala that night. But it felt so good to feel so connected with everyone in that crowd.
i get that too haha, iām in orlando!! it was so worth the long drive. it was every teenage dream i ever had to scream those songs with thousands of people āŗļø
Orlando is so close! Maybe if they tour again we should get a little central Florida squad together haha
hell yeah!!! i think thatād be awesome!!!
MCRenaissance is absolutely right! I also (29) left the show feeling so validated. It was not easy being a My Chem fan back then, and didnāt get much easier after the breakup. But seeing how many others still held on, AND how many MORE joined our ranks when *nothing* was happeningā¦ it just feels really damn good.
This is slightly off topic but when you said āmy father promised to take meā¦ā I started to read your post to the tune of WTTBP lmao but I relate to your story too! Iām 23 and have been a fan since I was 11, so I experienced the DD era in full but never got to see them live. I was devastated when they broke up and honestly thought Iād never see them perform. Flash forward to now, and I saw them live looking insanely happy and with Gerard in a cheerleader outfit. These ARE the golden years.
28, got into them during Three Cheers in 2004 so definitely a preteen fan as well I fully agree with everything youāve said itās itās great to know someone else had the same experience at a show (Newark)
Yes closure is exactly the word I would use for seeing them live now! It was really healing for my inner middle schooler to finally be surrounded by other fans and screaming the songs Iāve loved for so many years. And especially as a queer kid listening to MCR then and scraping up all traces of unspoken queerness, itās so comforting to see the band (especially Gerard obviously) being so much more explicit and open in the queerness. It sorta justified the way I clung to this band when I was a baby gay at 14.
We are living in a new golden age of MCR i could never complain about it
What I came here to say, WE ARE IN THE GOLDEN AGE
EXACTLY IM SO HAPPY TO LIVE IN THIS ERA
For real
Yes, but a golden age desperately needs new music. That said, their energy now is everything! Foundations and Gerardās speeches in the first dates in England have taken me on such awesome mental journeys, also the costumes are giving me life
Nostalgia means we tend to talk about the good stuff but tbh a lot of the old days of "the scene" really sucked, especially if you weren't a cishet white dude. Plus MCR and the fandom seem to be a better place now than a lot of the earlier stuff, so I wouldn't be too sad lol
I need to remind myself of this whenever I get lost in nostalgia for my teen years. I was depressed, bullied, and occasionally suicidal. It clearly wasn't THAT great.
To me part of being an adult is taking as much good as you can from bad experiences and move on, but I'm not going to pretend that the bad wasn't there. Especially as a teen girl/in the closet lesbian, some of it was really fucking terrible and traumatizing.
I guess at least we younger fans don't write those weird Frerard fanfics lol
Lmao I'm old enough that I was one of those weirdos writing the fic back in 2008 or whatever. I can promise you back then we did a good enough job of hiding it that if anyone found it, they were looking for it š
Hahaha. Every time I think about those fanfics I remember that clip of Ray saying "It's cool that kids are so creative... just stop... making us have sex with each other" lmao
Gerard said something similar when he was asked about Waycest in this one interview (Mikey was there, too) and I still die inside at the memory of it. That must have been so fucking creepy and awkward and uncomfortable.
Man those daysā¦ Frerard was cringe and all, but I will read thousands of pages of it by candlelight with a cabernet before I ever willingly gaze upon fucking Waycest shit ever again.
I find this so funny because on one hand you have this, but on the other hand you have Gerard who literally said "I dont fucking care, if you want to put me in a human centipede with Escape The Fate go right ahead" š¤£. But considering that's coming from the guy who literally self inserted his family cat into Doom Patrol and then made a human girl have sex with the humanoid cat version of his own family cat....it's not surprising.
Where is that from lmao
Dude same. If you went to the effort of joining friends locked communities with names like 'insertbandbamehereSlash' then it was a reasonable assumption you were there for the fic. Equally today, if you type a band name into AO3 or Wattpad, you have only yourself to blame for the results.
Lol yup, it took a lot effort to find those spaces. Like, most writers didn't want the people they're writing about to know about it because we knew it was all made up! That is honestly one of the things I don't love about modern fandoms in general, a lot of the fourth wall is gone.
I hate to break it to you, but there are plenty of younger fans out there writing fic every bit as weird as anything found on livejournal.
Oh no, trust me they did, Iām 20 and used to see them pop up all the time when I followed fan accounts back in the mid-2010s.š¤¢
The scene sucked if you WERE cishet white dude, what are you talking about? Listening to MCR back in the day, along with TBS, FOB and all that was looked down on like you're a little bitch. Yes, bad word, 2022 can't say it - deal with, it's the reality of the 00s scene. All the makeup and shit.. your comment can't be serious. Being a cishet white dude into this stuff was fucking lame. The scene was extremely LGBT bias. At least in my area. You were assumed LGBT if you brought these bands up. Idk where you are but your comment is the polar opposite of my experience.
Theyāre performing, playing and singing has never been as good as it is now and I say that as someone who got to see them 8 times before the breakup. Theyāve never smiled this much on stage. Foundations of Decay is in my top 10 favorite My Chem songs. I know what youāre feeling and itās normal. Theyāre not doing interviews, no oneās talking about them on TV and Iām sure the radio plays are rare but who even listens to the radio anymore š«£ it was nice when theyād come out after the shows and those of us crazy enough to wait by the buses afterwards, sometimes for a few hours, got to meet them and that was very exciting. Not sure weāll see a world like that ever againā¦ but it seems like itās better for them this way so if thatās the case then itās better for us. My Chem already changed musicā¦ I kinda think they can do it again if they wanted to
The thing is we dont really need them to change music again. They donāt need to be super crazy new again, they did that and lived through it and it was amazing, but im seriously looking forward to this new era where they arent constantly the talk of the town and they release music that their fans love, because thats exactly what foundations of decay was. It was a beautiful song, but it only spurred attention from anyone other than MCR fans because it was made by a big band. Also I fucking love all the new imagery and teases they are giving us, even if its not much.
These are the golden years of MCR, at least live
in terms of the band having fun and actually enjoying themselves this seems pretty indisputable. they were a fuckin army, a gang back then, they were on a mission. but it seems like now they can actually enjoy the music for what it is.
I don't know how much of Gerard's substance and alcohol problems were publicly known back in the day but I'm glad to be a fan in an era where they can all be dorky dads over being young and angry
It was a well known part of his personality during their initial rise during Three Cheers, a lot of the magazine articles were like: "Gerard Way the crazy drunk vampire man from MCR: spattered in blood!" It didn't help that Gerard was an absolutely monster showman when drunk out of his mind, which added to the crazy energy of the Three Cheers shows. He seemed wild but somewhat functional. But then Life on the Murder Scene came out and it has all these crushing scenes of Gerard just stumbling around throwing up looking absolutely miserable and all the segments about how completely crushed by life he was. That shattered any notions of his drinking being silly party-animal shenanigans or something that amped up the live shows, and instead showed it to be what it was, a bad coping mechanism for a very lost, sad person. I'm still amazed and deeply respect him for allowing them to put all that footage into the documentary because it's absolutely stunning and sobering in its portrait of addiction. A big part of The Black Parade I remember was the idea that Gerard had conquered his addictions and demons during the recording of it and had come out stronger and more powerful. You can see how fucking lithe and bullish he was physically during that era, if you thought he was a good showman drunk then just look at him now. And the narrative of overcoming addiction is partially true, but we all know he's gone through various struggles over the years and there's no single moment of triumph, it's a process to be worked at and Gerard is a great example of that. But absolutely unquestionably it's much more fun to see them live now and know that they're actually enjoying themselves.
This. I only watched LOTMS recently for the first time because when it first came out I started watching but had to turn it off at the beginning when they showed all the footage of Gerard stumbling around, it was just too upsetting for me to watch at the time.
Tbh that's part of why I liked Danger Days so much when it came out - they seemed so wrecked after TBP that it was nice to see them lean into a funner concept. I definitely think they have a healthier relationship with their art now they've taken a break, though, which as a fan has been good to see.
Nah TBP days are definitely peak mcr in terms of popularity, impact, live shows and most everything Having said that I'm happy they're back, playing shows, also the new song was amazing other than the mix. I hope they eventually visit South America.
But how can you say that if you werenāt there? I was there, have been since 2003. Now is the best MCR has ever been. They are happy, healthy, their music sounds tighter than ever, they know exactly who and what they are, as people and as a band. They have never been more popular than they are now, they have never played better live, and they are having a bigger impact in music now than ever before. TBP was peak in concept alone, but that doesnāt mean it was the best era of the band. And I think they were trying to get to South America in the new year, I know they are already going to Mexico sometime.
Right? They sound cleaner and tighter than ever. Comparing Gerard's vocals from TBPID! and the current live shows is like night and day. Especially toward the end of TBP era and through Danger Days, they were miserable and it showed. Now by being a "nostalgia act" they don't have to worry about delivering big productions and gimmicks. They're just four guys jamming out and playing what they want to play. It's refreshing.
The Black Parade definitely had the largest reach of any of their records, and the shows were certainly larger, more theatrical productions. Itās what that album called for. But thereās something different about right now. It feels like the world is actually ready for them now.
Iām on the āyeah, you did miss outā side to be honest. Theyāve been my favourite band since I was 14 and Iām now 32 and I had the privilege of seeing them 9 times between 2004 and 2011, and being a part of the fandom at that time when it was so active was so much fun. That being said I saw them 2x during the Danger Days tour and they seemed miserable, I was so upset that after the shows I just got in my car and cried because it felt like I was watching my favourite band dying before my eyes. So around that time I wasnāt having a blast. Oh, and they sound far far better live now than they did earlier in their career. Like waaaaaay better imho.
Also 32 and got super into them at 14. Nothing quite hit like those days to me, but nostalgia is a powerful drug. Those days will always be special to me, getting to witness the birth of this whole thing that was like nothing else around at the time.
Don't do it to yourself. Many of us that lived through the "golden years" only saw part of it. I got to see them live on The Black Parade tour, it was incredible for sure. But did I see them during Warped Tour 2004? No, did I see them during the Bullets New Jersey years? absolutely No. Did I run an MCR fan site or have Mikey Way as a friend on MySpace? No ;( The number of people who got to ride the MCR rocket from start to finish fully and entirely has always been infinitesimal. But I do remember people endlessly calling the band homophobic slurs, throwing bottles of piss at them at music festivals and seeing them cast as a boogeyman for everything "wrong" with rock music at the time. I'm thankful for the experiences I had during those years, they were profoundly formative. But they weren't a golden paradise of MCR peace and unity where everyone loved them and their fans and it was all a big happy hug time. There were amazing experiences but also a lot of conflict: angry haters, journalistic attacks, obsessive fans being weird about them, dismissive critics and clueless gatekeepers. Overall people back then didn't have the same boundaries and respectful aura around the band as they do now and that's a major difference and point of genuine growth. The community and music culture in general are vastly more positive and loving to MCR and their fans than they ever were. It's almost entirely love now and that's something to be truly thankful for.
This is such an important perspective! I am almost 30 and though I was a fan during Bullets/Three Cheers I was still fairly young, too young to really be going to shows and shy enough to not really share my love for them with many people. The closest thing I had to this subreddit was a really small internet forum where I pretended to be older than I was in order to fit in better. There were MCR super fans, but there were MCR super haters. I got bullied in school for it, and I understand that this is the experience for many MCR fans in the mid 00's. This is all to say that it's easy to feel like you missed out on an important era for MCR, but know that it's way more comfortable now to enjoy their music than it did back then somehow. When I went to see them on this current tour I was so blown away by how awesome all the fans were - how gentle everyone treated each other and how eager we all were to be there. Then I remember the state of warped tour in like, let's say '07 where people were extremely rude, messy, and SUPER stuck up about which bands you were into. I definitely agree with everyone saying this is the golden age of MCR - they are all seemingly healthy, happy and just as passionate as ever. They really do not need to be touring right now, but they are! And I like to think it's because they really enjoy it and wanted to have some fun. Edit: also want to add a slightly separate thought. The era you feel you missed out on - the wild crowds, moshing, the atmosphere of a smaller venue, etc... that is all stuff that can very well be experienced today. Just with other bands! Find your local venue and see what punk bands are playing. You might see someone blow up and become the next MCR - then you get to be the elder emo that brags about seeing bands before they get signed by a major label.
Ive seen both...different vibes, both good. Phones not being held up every second of the show is something I miss. The pits were different. The crowds were much more lively BUT the sound is much better now. Personally I like black stripe across the eyes era better. Happy to have seen both though
While I agree with most this is a golden era, Itās so nice to see them up there enjoying themselves, TBP era was pretty epic back in its day. Their live shows, the themes, the interviews. It was a great time to be an MCR fan when you were in the MCR bubble. But there was a lot of emo hate which wasnāt great. Seeing them do BP all the way through and then come out and do revenge/bullets stuff was an epic kind of show though. Still, donāt be too jealous, this era is amazing. They are all happy, comfortable and able to be themselves. The shows are amazing, and you can finally be an MCR fan without being ridiculed š (well, mostly, there will always be people who hate on others for their taste in music)
As an Elder Emo I feel the most for the people who got into them right before the breakup. I just can't imagine getting into this amazing band, and then them turning around the next instant like "you know what? actually, we're done." It certainly *was* a time, being in high school when Three Cheers and TBP went down. I kinda took that for granted until they started to swing back around again for the latest generation of teens who almost never had the opportunity to see them live if it weren't for the Return. That era of rock music was especially blessed. Everyone was just so motivated by one another to create great music back then. The creative energy at the time was so potent!
The decade of the 00s really feels like a magical time for me. I was only a child, but now I'm into so many things from that era: music, anime, aesthetics... It feels like everything was more colorful, the world was a bit more "innocent" and "pure" in a way, dare I say even more "optimistic". Also guitar riffs and solos were still a mainstream thing haha. It kinda blows to have missed out on all that since my teen years were in the 10s. I'm a musician myself, and one of the things I wish to achieve with my music is to capture that essence, that "creative energy", as you phrased it, of that time.
I was a teenager in the 2000s (born 1990) and while I would go back and live it again, believe me the 2000s were in no way optimistic or pure. At least in North America everyone was living in the shadow of 9/11 and watching the resulting war unfold on tv. People were incredibly homophobic, sexist and racist and OPENLY so. Take into account the fact Britney Spears had a mental health crisis and was mocked for it by the public, and R. Kelly was raping minors and that was also something that was joked aboutā¦ society was rather sick and cruel honestly. People who were āemoā or different in any way were bullied and no one really cared to stop them, there wasnāt any narrative about bullying being wrong or people trying to stop it. And then there was the 2008 crash which decimated peoples lives. The only thing I can say is that climate change hadnāt become such an issue yet and people were oblivious to it, so there was overall less dread about the world burning up.
yeah, i was born in 1989 and i remember the 2000s being ROUGH. 9/11 was the year after i started middle school. i remember watching news coverage of people falling out of the towers. i remember the constant islamophobia that followed the attacks. bushās public address about the iraq war was 2 days after my brother turned 18. 2008 was the year after i graduate high school and was a bummer of an intro to adulthood. it was just a lot ofā¦ āwelp, this is an unprecedented thing thatās going to fuck your life up for a while (forever?).ā i luckily was never bullied, but still made it out with depression and anxiety and an overall sense of dread about everything. at least my hair looked cool.
Echoing other thoughts here... but it honestly blew to be a teenager in the 2000s if you were in to anything considered not mainstream. People thought 9/11 gave them carte blanche to be horrifically racist, homophobia was pretty accepted, liking nerd shit like video games, anime, emo music was putting a target on your back for bullying... shit sucked. Not that it was all bad but I'm pretty sure I still have lingering trauma from middle school/high school. The music was dope but there are still emo bands producing good music, and hey, anime is way more accessible. This is no longer the days of having to pass around dvds with like two episodes on them
šÆ Iām in my 30s and I am STILL working through the trauma and repression of that era. If anything, My Chems return is perfectly timed because now I actually have the freedom to dress the way I want and listen to the bands I like without being mocked or ridiculed. That repression becomes so internal, I am constantly having to remind myself itās ok to be myself. Thatās a big part of why this my chem tour has been so cathartic, we get the music AND the freedom to express our love for it however we want
We were right in that Obama era, so the optimism was real. Everyone just felt very free to create what they wanted without really receiving backlash like you get today cuz the internet wasn't quite as pervasive and immediately available to people as it is now. Things were just allowed to be as dark or light as creators wanted it to be because no one was telling them aspects of it was wrong. And if people didn't like it (which *tons* of people didn't like MCR at the time and had plenty to say about it!), the band didn't give a shit and just kept doing what they liked until it wasn't fun anymore. Now, everything feels like it needs to be curated and handled with kid gloves to be marketed to the masses to make the most money. Which we know MCR isn't about at all, and why seeing Gerard just go up and wear whatever he likes without feeling the need to be polished or conventionally attractive or purposefully theatrical on stage has been thrilling to say the least.
Been a fan since Three Cheers came out in 2004, saw them on that tour as well as a couple Projekt Revolution tours. I listened to their CDs so much I am honestly not sure how they didn't disintegrate lol. I was crushed when they broke up, but at the time was a new (young) mom and had other things to worry about that distracted me. It is amazing that they are back together all these years later, and here I am taking my daughter to her first MCR concert on the 17th. She appreciates their music just as much as I did back in the day. I guess what I am trying to say, is that there are "seasons" with a lot of bands, and your generation of MCR fans are here for a reason. Don't mourn for the season that you didn't get to experience, but soak up this season that we're in. It's just awesome all-around.
I hate to say it, but I disagree with many posters - you did miss out! Sorry. While they may be entering their golden years / are able to be themselves - there's always something about the early years of a band. Warped was wild, sketchy, and so much fun. The production of the Black Parade was so good. MCR started out so theatrical. I get stripping back, but I hope their next round of tours pumps up the production level. Gerard, Frank, and Ray are fabulous showmen. James was fabulous on keys during Danger Days - and I definitely miss Bob. I saw them at Warped in '05 2x, Black Parade Tour in '06, Danger Days Tour in '11 or '12 and when they went out on the Honda Civic Tour in '11 or '12 - just before they broke up. I met them in '05 and didn't know who they were (my boyfriend at the time was working warped) and later at a record store in Michigan in '11. It was fun during the Danger Days tour too - they were playing small venues. I saw them at an 1,800 person venue - no seats (RIP Orbit Room) - THAT was fun. My fomo was the Reading headliner. I still watch that while I run on the treadmill. So good. When Brian May comes out - MMM. Good ole' days. PLUS - I'm a live event producer that specializes in productions for 10,000+ (not concerts, but some festivals - lots of exes / friends in the industry - my ex worked for Manson and Warped during the heyday). Shows just aren't the same since the pandemic. That part has nothing to do with MCR - that's just that our industry is struggling to get it together since the world changed. So I'm bummed for you guys to experience music this way. That part sucks. I'm excited for everyone to experience the next phase. But don't kid yourself, y'all missed out. Sorry - being a millennial pays for once lol.
Reddit has this extreme aversion of anything that may come even slightly near "I was born in the wrong generation" area, so I was kinda expecting a lot of people would go "Oh no you didn't miss out!/THIS is their golden era" which both feel like cope outs. Band/music subreddits in general tend to operate this way. I just wish 00's music and aesthetics come back.
I get what you're saying. I think I miss the vibe more than the actual performances. I remember Joe Trohman from FOB jumping off the stage and almost snapping himself in half landing on the barricade. I remember all the guys hanging out on stage during each other's sets etc. Like if I could take this version of MyChem and send them on Warped tour...that sounds like perfection on Earth.
The Orbit Room in Grand Rapids? I saw them at that venue. Iām sad to hear itās closed. I have such fond memories of that show.
They all seem to be their happiest now, Iād call that the golden era ā¤ļø
The old days were spent toeing the line of being a huge fan and catching shit for the whole "emo fad" era while it was new and trendy to shit on. I feel like this is their heyday and this is a wonderful time to see what they have to bring.
As an old fan, who grew up with MCR, Iāve got to say, the current era, is possibly the best itās been to be an MCR fan. The word ācringeā is all but outlawed, and we are finally able to genuinely let loose in a way that we havenāt been before. Not to mention the fact that, for the first time in what feels like forever, the band itself is actually happy to be on tour, and you can actually see that. Seriously, the difference is night and day. Everyone in the MCR community is just better now, and Iām so happy that we made it here.
this IS the golden era baby! happiest they've ever been and sounding better than ever
Iāve been listening to MCR since I was about 10 (25 now) and, while I miss the old days mostly because I struggle with some personal issues and itās a comforting time to think back to, youāre honestly not missing out on anything by not listening to them sooner. This is the best the band has ever been. Theyāre all happy parents who are loved, sober, and not trying to keep themselves from falling apart at the seams like they used to. I have never seen any of them, especially Gerard, look or sound this happy while MCR is together. Weāre also getting to witness Gerard be comfortable enough to express himself in all of these different outfits that he wasnāt able to in the past, and to just be free ā as cheesy as that sounds! Just because you missed some of their beginning doesnāt mean it was anything fun. And tbh, the fandom for them has always been wild so maybe itās better that you missed that part too lol. We dealt with a lot back then, especially when the band kept getting labeled a suicide cult and constantly shit on by the media. So, welcome home! ā¤ļø
Ngl it feels pretty golden right now
Old man checking in , this era ain't bad, don't give it to fomo so fast. Is there any emo rock for the kids nowadays?
The only thing that may have been better was seeing them at smaller venues. The fandom really continued to grow after they broke up, and I think the band continued to get better in that time too. They sounded better on this tour than the last show I saw over 10 years ago.
This is a crazy question, weāre IN the golden years right now!!
Sometimes, but tbh Iām just grateful theyāre still around and it doesnāt feel like theyāre dragging the corpse of MCR around on tour. They genuinely still seem like theyāre having fun and they still seem inspired. To make a comparison Iād say I was more upset as a panic at the disco fan when I went to see them pre-covid. It felt so artificial, the only things that really made the experience worth it were getting to see the pretty odd sign and the fever piano but the performance itself felt so off I wouldnāt have even been able to recognize the few pre-break up songs they played if I didnāt know the lyrics. MCR still has that same feel, maybe a little matured but watching them live everything sounded perfect, they all seemed so into it, and tbh it was probably the best performance Iāve ever seen. Maybe I regret not getting to see the early days a bit but they still have the same feel so itās not like Iām really hurting for a pre-breakup MCR.
22 yr old who started listening two days before the breakup over here lmao
I'm not far from your situation, I'm 28, but didn't get into them until fall of 2012 or so, not long before the breakup. It was a massive bummer getting SO into their stuff and thinking, "well if they release something new, it'll suck because that's probably all they'll do on tour," THEN they break up and I get NOTHING. I went to the Denver show on 9/30 and it was the MOST incredible experience hearing stuff from all of their albums. I distinctly remember listening to Bullets at some point in 2013 and realizing I'd never hear them play Headfirst for Halos live... last week I was proven wrong. So it's weird. I remember people in middle school loving them, but I just never really got the appeal. I sure do now!
If it makes you feel any better, I saw them in 2005 I thinkā¦ maybe 2004ā¦ I donāt even know lol, but Iād take it back to get to see them now.
I just found MCR a few weeks ago lol
Not just the younger ones that might feel this way. Some of us older lot might not have been able to go to live performances back then and now we're adults we can. Speaking from personal experience.
I mean, Iām also 24 and became a fan of MCR right around the time of the breakup, so I definitely relate; I would have loved the chance to see them live back then, the anticipation of new album releases, etc! That being said, weāre in a new era of MCR, and hopefully we can have some of those awesome experiences in the future.
I feel you. I'm 32 and have been a fan since I was 16. But I've never seen them in concert. Your experience reminds me of my discovery of The Tragically Hip. I'd known about them for a long time but never really cared. I fell in love with the band and 2 weeks later they played their goodbye concert. Then Gord left us. But at least MCR is back on tour and rocking it. You still have a chance.
I will say when I was a teenager it wasnāt really accepted to be a fan of MCR anyway. Iām only 28 but I learned real fast not to say who my actual favorite band is when asked. Itās much better as an adult lol
Yes I do all the time but happy that Gerard is Happier and Healthierš«¶š»š«¶š»š«¶š»š«¶š»š¤š¤š¤š¤
Iād give anything to go to the Black Parade is Dead show in Mexico City BUT when I saw them at Firefly it was like no time had passed
Omg same I keep seeing the concert over and over again itās just too good
I had a semi similar experience (Iām 28yo) but a little worse? I was at the exact right age to enjoy mcr in all its glory, I remember loving teenagers when I was young but stupid little me gave in to peer pressure of kids making fun of emos so I never listened to them for fear of being made fun of- I think we were all bullied but this was a time when āemoā was the worst you could be- and I STILL got made fun of for wearing skinny jeans! And then years later my bf told me like no, theyāre great listen to three cheers and I was HOOKED, cut to a year later when they broke up I was so sad lol
Yeah, kinda. I would give anything to be alive in 2002 to see MCR play a basement show. :,)
As an older MCR fan, trust me when I say be glad youāre experiencing them now. The old days were fun especially with the full production and theatrics, but it was very clear how tired they were. Gerardās voice was not great. This is the best theyāve sounded in a long time.
No. They are not that old. As a friend of Kiss, Eagles, and The Killers (who are also not that old, but rarely tour as a quartet anymore), thatās when I am sad to not have seen them in their hay day.
The only thing Iām jealous of is the smaller venues. Iād love to see them in a club instead of an arena.
If it makes you feel any better, I think even the most elder of the emos here has at least one *thing* they feel they missed out on. For me, I knew *of* the band during the Revenge era, but wasnāt hooked until The Black Parade. I get a bit of that FOMO feeling whenever folks reminisce about shows or memories from that time. Warped Tour too - I wasnāt able to go until they stopped playing it. Hell, I get FOMO over Danger Days sometimes because the last show they played in my town before the breakup was during that tour, and I couldnāt go. I heard DD songs live for the first time ever this Sunday despite adoring that album with all my heart from the moment it was released. I think unless youāre one of the remarkable few to have hopped on in the early days of Bullets and held on with a vice grip and never missed a beat, there is always something you āmissed.ā But hereās what you will get that I donāt get (again): that first-time concert experience. I loved the show this last weekend, it was phenomenal and everything Iāve been praying for since they broke up. But no performance will ever again be like when I was 14, seeing my heroes in the flesh for the first time ever, screaming along with them, burning more calories as a *spectator* than any workout Iād ever done in my life. Your experience wonāt be any less just because it happened 15 years after mine! Iām ecstatic about them being back and touring again not just for myself, but for those of you who came ālateā and thought you may never get to have these experiences. No one will ever again get that ācomebackā euphoria for Queen, Nirvana, Rushā¦ and someday, though it kills me to imagine, the reign MCR will be truly finished, when we lose one or more of the boys, and many people will still be just discovering them. Youāre still part of such a special time! Donāt let any of us old geezers make you feel like you donāt belong, or like this era is any less magical than another.
Iām 21, and my experience with the band. technically started with my sister, who is 7 years older than me. She was born in ā93, I was born in ā00. So, when I was 6-7, she was 13-14 and going through her emo/scene phase (it wasnāt a phase lol) So, fast forward to me at like 12 years old. Sheās playing Teenagers in the car, and something just clicks in me. I just fuckin love the song. And so began my emo/scene not-phase, with My Chem as my main soundtrack to anything and everything. And then they broke up like. 3-4 months later.
As a fan who was teenager when they exploded, I can confirm one thing: MCR then and MCR today is still in their golden years. One advantage younger fans have now that we didn't is that 1. You don't have to put up with the crap OG fans did when it wasn't acceptable to like MCR or really emo in general and 2. You get to meet like minded ppl because of social media which is at a scale now that it definitely wasn't back then. And bonus: at least you are living in a timeline when the band is active once again. 40 years from now some kid would kill to be in both our places. Enjoy the ride young lad
MCR is still very popular among younger people, their music speaks to the struggle of growing up, first break ups, parents divorcing, pain from not fitting in to your school. I think theyāll have full venues selling for as long as they tour, whether thatās one more year or ten more. (I hope to God itās at least 5)
Yess I feel this so hard, Iām 16 so I didnāt get to experience listening to their music while they were together. I used to think that I would never be able to see them live. Like imagine listening to revenge right after it came out!!! But I really like this era too because it seems like theyāre having a lot of fun touring rn and Iām just glad that theyāre even releasing new music again (foundations)
Definitelyā¦ I started to listen to MCR about 2 months ago and was super bummed to find out half the songs came out before i was even born! I really like Foundations of Decay though. Not sure if they plan on making another album, but it would be fucking sick
Yes actually. I'm 17 and I get kinda jelly whenever I see videos online of their black parade concerts and knowing that I was maybe like 2 years old while the band was playing the whole album- š
Iām 24 and have been a fan since I was 9. You honestly didnāt miss much. The scene totally changes depending on where you live, and even though I was a fan during some of their most popular years, I was one of 2 MCR fans at my school. They have a lot more exposure today I think. My little sister and her friends are all huge MCR fans, and thatās more people than I ever met growing up who liked them. I was also too young for my parents to let me go to shows by myself, so I never got the chance to see them Live until this year. You got in at a perfect time lol, donāt worry about FOMO, youāre at least here while the band is still active and performing! Some people donāt get that chance with older bands, so weāre all still lucky.
Saw them in 2005 and 2008. Iām more excited now! Theyāre playing the tracks they love, not only the biggest hits that their label dictates. Theyāre happier and free! Also, the scene was fun but really rough then. A lot of suicide and hate. And a lot of cancelled shows across the genre, from people injuring their voice, overdosing, being too drunk/high to play, etcā¦ so lots of disappointments.
oh yea bro 100%. i was rly sad bc i knew the concert wasnāt going to be the same as the videos iāve watched from years ago. iām 22, i was 1 when they started making music. i rly wish i couldāve been part of their golden years but i am so so thankful that i got to see them this year.
Iām part of the crowd that got into MCR back in 2004 but I was a kid. My parents never go to concerts and they refuse to pay for tickets. So I decided to buy my own the next time MCR came around on Tour. I finally got old enough and got a job to eventually buy tickets, then MCR broke up. Now I donāt want to see them because Stadium shows are the worst and the fans are cringy.
Why would you deprive yourself of fun and/or joy because fans are cringe lol, what a ridiculous thing to do to yourself because you find someone else to be uncool.
I donāt think they are āuncool.ā Iām using cringe in its intended definition. It doesnāt sound like a fun time to me. I will be distracted the whole time by uncontrollable screaming and people getting over emotional. Itās just awkward and uncomfortable. We have seen a crazy amount of obsession in this fandom and I donāt vibe with that. I am saying this specifically about the Floor/GA/Pit. If Iām going to a stadium show Iām not wasting my time on any seat thatās not on the floor.
I was just at a show on the floor (not pit, floor seat) and people cheered between songs but there was no one screaming or crying around me, it was significantly more chill than any of the shows I saw before their breakup and they sounded far better live than previously. Honestly a lot of people didnāt seem to know the lyrics to things outside of some of their hits. You wouldnāt be able to hear anyone crying over the music anyways. I mean each to their own, Iād still say donāt deprive yourself of the potential of seeing something cool because other people can be potentially irritating.
If it makes you feel better, these performances are SO much better emotional energy wise. For those of us who were there before, there is a palpable difference in how it feels to see them today. Before, it felt like a show being put on. Performative whether or not they wanted to be there. Which it's obviously still a performance but this feels like they are sharing something special with us as opposed to just churning out noise because of a contract they signed.
I wish I couldāve gone to see a concert so bad.
Young fan here. Yes. Didnt find them til 2017 just to realize theyre my favorite band AND theyre broken up. Cant imagine what itd have been like to go see the black parade tour as a teen. Id probly be in a much better place in life lol
yep...i got into them a year before they got back together
Iām 28 but circumstances meant I never got to see any of the live shows at their peak, and I felt ROBBED until this tour. Now I only feel mildly perturbed
yep, for sure. i started listening to MCR almost exactly a year after they broke up, when i found out they werenāt a band anymore i was so upset! forever thankful iāve had the chance to see them now, in their new golden age!
All I wish is that I could see them perform the black parade live like in TBP is dead!
Im 25, and im in that weird middle area where ive been listening to them since 2004, but i was a literal child so i didnt get to really experience the āMCRmyā type of fans or see them live. It did bum me out a lot after they broke up because i thought id completely missed any chance to see them liveā¦ but now that theyre back i dont mind as much. I think its really dependent on where you live though, pretty much all of my friends have been fans of theirs so i didnt miss out as much on bonding with other people through their music
I remember being super bummed in 2005 that I missed the beginning of MCR. I wasn't there for the basement shows, seeing covered in blood Gerard, touring Bullets and all that stuff...but ya know...I really do think this Return Era is the best era so far! Hopefully there will be many new eras to come!!!
I'm 24 and the first time I heard them I was 11 when my friend had teenagers on her iPod and I literally haven't been the same since. definitely a little sad that I wasn't a cool punk chick in 2004 BUT I got to see them live last month and it was worth the wait. I'm just haply they're back together, happy and seemingly mentally sound. I love them, I feel so attached to this band it almost felt like I had known them my entire life when I saw them in Sunset. Anyways, yea I totally feel you. But I have the internet and life on the murder scene to relive their "glory days" over and over. They made it though.. and they wound up together again. All of them are successful and just couldn't be more proud.
I'm almost 28 and so I was a little kid when Bullets and Cheers came out. I knew of them as a younger kid but didn't get into them until I was 12 when The Black Parade came out. They were my first concert and I've been deeply connected to their music ever since. That being said I feel like I'm having way more fun experiencing them now as an adult. I saw them in T.O a month ago and it was such a great time! Honestly just super happy they came back in any capacity and that they are doing well. Also as much as being emo seemed popular and fun back in 2007 it was miserable and I was bullied a lot for it.
Tbh i wish i was old enough to be into them when they were less popular just bc i would have loved to meet them or something but now since theres so many fans thats really rare
Iām 23 and like you, I didnāt start listening til just before the break up! However my position is weird because I was a scene kid, albeit a really young one. I never got to see the bands I listened to live, but I was playing Cobra Starship, Gym Class Heroes, The Academy Isā¦, etc. all on my iPod in 2008. MCR never crossed my radar somehow. I feel blessed to have lived any part of that era at all, but I wish I had been a little bit older haha
I was born in 02. Had I been born in 82 instead Iād have seen them 2003, 2004, 2005, 2007, 2011
I, too, am a younger fan. Iām definitely a bit bummed, but Iām glad that I got this tour. I went to the second Newark show, and it was easy one of theāif not *the*ābest setlist(s) theyāve done all tour. Suffice to say, Iām sated.
Iām 30 but I spent my prime emo years in a third world country who did not know of emo so even though I am old enough to have lived it I didnāt because of geography. So I feel you.
Iām very bummed iāll never get to see them, but theyāre doing better now. gerardās been clean for a long time, I wouldnāt trade that for a concert
Their songs are very relatable even though dark at times but they pulled me through college, breakups, different emo phases I went through in my early 20s. I think it's amazing how their songs and music are still being appreciated today by younger generations. I saw them once before and that memory was so blurred cos I was so drunk off my face. I'm going to see them again this year and I'm grateful I'll get a chance to do that again. Never thought this would ever happen after they broke up.
bro same!! i started listening like a couple months before they broke up i was devastated lmao
I graduated high school the year Black Parade came out, and I missed like their whole career because, *somehow,* I didn't get into them until this past spring. (Kind of a weird series of accidents because they're *exactly* my shit.) I feel a little sad because the early 2000s hold so much nostalgia for me and it would've been fun, but honestly? My favorite phase of rock musicians is when they're all cool dads who're comfortable in their art who don't give a shit what other people think. See : David Bowie's later career. I'm having a BLAST with this reunion tour, and don't feel too bad about missing their original active years. Plus there is a TON of recorded footage and interviews and live shows you can go back and watch so... I'm good!
This is exactly what happened to me hahaha. Iām 23 and discovered them a month or so before they broke up. I am a bit bummed I missed the earlier days but I went to their show in Florida and it was so amazing I felt like I was a teenager listening to them again. Most of my friends donāt like/just arenāt into that type of music but I have no issues going to shows and listening to them by myself! My friends do listen to pop punk stuff so they will come to a show with me and be a good sport if I ask enough lol
Omg yes, I'm only 15 and I started listening around 11 years old and I really, really wish I was born way earlier just to be able to see them perform in those days. I'm seriously obsessed w/ them and id give anything for that.
Me, I'm 15. Watched MCR this year in Warrington, fully gutted I didn't getta see them before they broke up.
Sometimes I wonder what it might have been like, but Iām glad to have seen them now. When theyāre happier and doing things on their own terms. It feels genuine
As others have said, definitely it SEEMS more fun than it was. Maybe i am jaded because i was just a little too young to be going to concerts but when they skipped my town on the black parade tour...well the trauma has me traveling the US to see my faves now. It's interesting to hear that you don't meet people now that like MCR because I felt the same was true back then. MCR was well known but at least in my middle school and high school not liked. I remember for years having to hide my love of mcr because it was "cringe" or "for girls" to like them. Teen boys wouldn't give you the time of day. Then online was a minefield too. A lot of gatekeeping and then random brigading from other communities. the amount i've seen pete wentz's nude selfies is way to high for a person who never wanted to see them in the first place. You'd see so much without looking for it, it was just normalized. I appreciate as an online community how we've changed. I agree a little on the live shows though if only in terms of them having to play arenas now versus when they played in clubs. Clubs have just a different vibe and their show are a lot more family friendly (in COMPARISON). Not to say the don't still blow it out of the water with every show. I have had the privilege of seeing them live twice this tour and i was in tears several times out of joy. but the energy of a club...also what the fuck is up with camping out for damn near all the shows? like i get wanting to be barricade but i do not remember that being a thing...is it an arena show thing?
I feel the same way. I started liking them a year or so after they broke up. At that time I was literally so depressed that I would never be able to experience warped tour or any of their tours and it was a dark time for me because I was so in love with the music. Fast forward to now i feel so lucky Iāve been able to see them at all because I never thought they would ever get back together. I still wish I had seen them back in the day but this tour has healed some of my broken heart!
I understand how youāre feeling. I am a millennial so I remember them when they were fresh. It was a very different time. I am nostalgic for some of it, just because Iām getting around the age where I am getting nostalgic about everything in my teen / young adulthood haha. It was a good time seeing them on TV regularly and them being talked about as this outrageous band. So diffident from now. I could not attend any of their shows back in the day sadly because I was either unawareā¦ unavailableā¦ or poor! l didnāt go to any concerts in high school / collegeā¦ except local bands / friends. I regret it a lot, honestly. I just didnāt have a lot of money and it didnāt seem like a priority at the time, I was happy listening to my iPod š I have changed a lot!! I adore experiencing concerts now. I also have a real income. So, Iāve seen them twice this tour and will one more time in a couple of weeks. Itās been a lot of money and I canāt believe Iām actually flying across the country for this third show but itās been wonderful and addictive and Iām just making up for the lost years. It will never be the same and trust me I wish Iād been able to get a taste of them live in every era but this one is nevertheless AMAZING and they sound so good, and they are still YOUNG lol I know it seems weird to really young fans who are in middle school or high school, but they are young. Please this is coming from someone who went to see Blondie a few weeks ago, Debbie Harry aged 80. Now when I say I wished I could have seen her in 1979 when I wasnāt even born thatās different š¤£ I went to see The Stones and Paul McCartney who are boomers. THEY are old. My Chem isnāt decrepit yet - letās enjoy this, itās not that far off from 15 years ago. One day theyāll be 60 and ppl will be like damn I wish Iād seen them during this amazing tour they did in 2022 š Also the band seems to be incredibly popular now and well respected. That wasnāt the case all those years ago. Not that it affects their music but itās a better experience for everyone this way.
Iām 23 & Iāve been listening to MCR since I was young, my parents are young & they were my moms favorite band. She used to see them at concerts or festivals all the time. I didnāt actually quite figure out who they were until I was around my teens and actually started paying attention to song names, artist names & all that. While I think that era wouldāve been cool to be present in; Iām just grateful I got to see them at all honestly. Especially since I got to spend those moments with my mom & sister singing our hearts out. Idk Iām very hopeful for more MCR in the future!!
A bit yeah but im here now and that's all that matters
Around the time Three Cheers came out when I was a teen, it wasnāt exactly the warmest time in the larger culture to be a moody alt kid, unless you had a like minded community. And we didnāt have the same access or exposure to so much musicāI remember trying to find Bullets tracks one at a time on Kazaa and failing. So there were downsides. But I hear you, and know that all the elders I know warmly embrace new gen folks as family. Relatedly, I remember as a teen having friends who felt like early 90s grunge was their era, and they wished they had been around then. Just know that there are a million unsevered threads running from that time to now. Not just the musicians still playing, but the creativity and community too. There can always be new, massive, unforgettable experiences. Is this me coaching myself through the fact that Daft Punk will never put out new music again? Maybe
Iām 33, and this era is the most open and free and connected to others Iāve felt about this band than ever before. I went to one of the shows in Newark recently, and it felt so different than when I saw them in 2007. The average maturity of the crowd now is just so much better.
i would kill to have seen their tours when the black parade and danger days was just released, but i also love that gerard is clean and is doing music because he wants to
Old fan - started listening to them when I was 7, and Iām now 24. Although I love the old days, as they contributed to a lot of happiness in my childhood, this new (very unhinged) era is the best, seeing all of them looking genuinely happy and a sober Gerardā¦. I wouldnāt trade this for the world
Someone else like me! Iām 25 and only really discovered them a few years ago. I was elated when they announced the reunion a few months after I really got into them. Iāve had a hard time making friends here but Iāll keep trying. Most people seem to be either in their 30s or teenagers, and here I am in the middle ground. I just want to find people my age to chill with and talk about music. But itās upsetting to realize that I lived right through their popularity in middle/high school and never even heard a song until 2019. I knew nothing about clothes or music or any of that when I was a kid but I was more or less āalternativeā when it came to the people I hung out with and the stuff I liked (movies, gaming, writing poetry and stories). God, remember when liking video games was something āfringeā? Got bullied constantly and was more or less an outcast because I had no idea how to properly feel or express emotions (found out I had a personality disorder later in life). I feel like I would have been an emo kid if I found that stuff back then, but now I have the resources as an adult to explore that. You are not alone!!!! Weāre here even if we arenāt as visible.
i wasnāt even alive when tbp came out, so yes š
Iām not much older than you (literally 25 lol) and while I listened to MCR starting around revenge era, I wasnāt fully āinā the fandom or allowed to go to the concerts yet. So I do feel like I missed out a bit and dear GOD I wish I couldāve seen them live or gone to a meet and greet. I didnāt even know any of the guys had solo careers or side projects until they were done (besides Frank of courseš). I wish so much I had gone to the hesitant alien tour. But whatās past is past, canāt do much about it now ya know? Iām just so glad theyāre back and Iāve seen them twice nowšš„°
i can really resonate with this post, started listening to them like 6 months after their breakup, I was 14. I was moving away to a new country and MCRās discography was with me through that whole change. I listened to them through the rest of high school, always lamenting that I would never see them live. Well, got to see them for the reunion tour here in sunrise Florida a few weeks back. Dream come true. So yeah, it sucks that I didnāt get to see early MCR, but Iām so grateful that they came back in full form to give fans like me a once in a lifetime opportunity to see them live, when I thought I never would. I think all we can do now is be so excited for whatās to come. Not many bands like MCR come back with all original members like that.
absolutely. iām 19 now and i started getting into mcr around 2015-2016 and when i found out they had broken up i was absolutely devastated because i thought iād never get new music and iād never get to see them. thankfully, we got foundations of decay and i got to see them! i just wish i could experience the golden years tho because iād love to have some of the cool merch thatās so hard to find now and iād love to have been to a concert during that time.
Only ever day lol. Not necessarily young but I wish I liked them before their break up, but seriously, Iām glad I got to now because theyāre all in much better places and seem to actually be having fun.
Oh of course.
absolutely. iām only 17, and while i am SUPER grateful to have been able to see them live, it definitely bums me out a little when i read about older fans talking about ācompleting the collectionā of different songs theyāve been able to see live and such, especially when some are able to see them live during this tour multiple times. iām a child lol, as much as iād LOVE to be able to do that, i donāt have the money or mobility at this age to be able to. i am glad that iām getting to experience the golden age of them though, and being able to be present and engaged with the community while theyāre on tour and releasing music (more to come soon i hope!) is definitely something. just trying to be happy with what i have i suppose :)
Iām 22, but Iāve been listening to them since I was about 5 years old (thanks mom). While I occasionally get salty remembering my mom saw them at warped and didnāt take me (I mean, I guess itās not the best place to take a small child lmao), I also try to remember that the band is in a better state now than they were then. It totally makes sense to be a bit sad about missing out, but donāt sit on it too much and enjoy the now!
Yes, it also feels like iām not a REAL FAN cause im just a teen and didnt live through the golden age of emo. I never find anyone my age who likes them.
I'm nearly 20 now and started listening to them a whole year after the breakup, so yes, it makes me super sad sometimes
25yo here who cried to let their parents take them to tbp tour when they were 10 lol. never got to see them before they broke up, but that's what makes their comeback even more special because i've waited almost my whole life for it. even though we missed their golden years, i feel like this year+the possible future are going to be even better because the guys are actually happy and now we're old enough to actually EXPERIENCE it. as much as little 10yo me loved them, she didn't understand anything lol
itās so refreshing to see them happy and know that all of the nasties associated with early mcr arenāt problems anymore! watching old footage vs now itās like joy radiates between the 4 of them and i think that makes it really okay that i missed out on the early stuff. i get to see them doing it and loving it !! but donāt we all wish we were at pro rev lol
Yes iām 18 and man I just wish I knew about them sooner, but iām happy iāve found them, they honestly saved my life by helping me find who I am
Yup, 16 and been into mcr since 2018 or so, so I missed ALOT, and it really kills sometimes. I'm glad I missed out on some of the older fandom though LOL
My uncle went to school with Gerard and Mikey so he naturally always supported mcr and as a kid I didnāt appreciate them the way I do now , I would have love to see them during their early stages but seeing them after all these years of them figuring themselves out and coming back years later bringing this amazing energy and to top it off it was my first concert I been to and I could not have asked for anymore . Would love to see them in 2023 if they decide to do another tour which I doubt , but to answer the question clearly nope itās a beautiful thing to see them still love and enjoy the music they made when they were just looking for a outlet of all the bottled up emotions they were trying to sort out . Thank you mcršš¼
um no not really cause itās like all online lol
I agree with every other elder emo here saying that this IS the golden age my friends. They seem happier than they ever were before and there are no words for just how HERE FOR IT I am!
I got into mcr just after 3cheers, but right around the black parade entered the local hardcore punk scene which basically beat the mcr out of me. By the time they were touring for tbp I was basically repressing my love for the band. I feel like the punk scene stole 10 fucking years of my life in the worst way possible. /I/ feel bummed out that I didn't get to live through the era even though they were my favorite band during those "golden years".
As a fairly old fan (47) these feel like the Golden years. They are having fun on stage and the online community is amazing. Itās easier to find fans and connect now. While it was definitely cool to seen them then, this time around in St Paul was magical and amazing! So happy they are back and having fun.
I was born the year mcr was formed and a hardcore fan but I had a teacher who followed them on tour for a few years in the 2000ās and lived vicariously through his stories in high school :)
Iām 34 and I just went to my first MCR show. You havenāt missed that much. It was cool getting to hear new music in real time, but also the 2005 VMA snub made me way angrier than I should have been. They may drop a new album, especially sounding as good as they did. Iām so happy to see younger fans. Even if Iām as old or close to as old as your parents. You are the reason why MCR tours and fills arenas 18 years later. Thank you for being in this fandom.
yes.
22 here and found MCR like 1 year ago and now they are my favorite band. Went to Paris from Portugal to see them on this 2022 tour and ended up feeling that i was born in the wrong era (my favorite genres are Rock, Indie and Alt). Their music helped me a lot in my life troubles and experiences and thats why their music is great, cause it moves us and at the same time its really good music, good Lyrics and good instrumental, and thats exactly what music should be all about. It sucks not have experienced MCR as a teen, but it is what it is, we gotta live with that.
I felt the same, having discovered them long after the breakup, got to college, and discovered a girl two doors down is a gigantic fan.
Iām 26 and I just saw them for the third time this week (also saw them in 2008 and 2010) so Iāll give my input: The only thing that makes me truly miss āthe old daysā is the fact they are literally just getting older meaning they are closer to the end of their career, so my chance to see them do more stuff is naturally coming to an end. That being said, the set I just went to really brought me back to my early teen years in so many more ways than I couldāve imagined. The energy and pure love for the band coming out of the crowd is still the same. Gerard is still up on stage doing their silly antics. The band is still fucking crushing the same songs. Honestly, the main difference I see is that the venue is bigger now, which there are pros and cons to (less intimate but a bigger crowd to share the moment with). But Iām so happy to see this band finally getting into the limelight and have their massive impact/fan base recognized like 14 year old me was always dying to see happen. Another change Iāve seen happen for the better is these crowds feel way more like a safe space for marginalized people, especially for people to express gender non-conformity. Because honestly, this scene was NOT a very safe space in that regard back in the day. So all of that to say, I definitely get where youāre coming from, but those days arenāt always what they were cracked up to be, and the band has matured into something absolutely beautiful at this day and age! *edited to fix a typo
I mean if youāre 24 at least you probably remember them on the radio
I turn 27 this year, but have been a fan since around 2006! I'm forever bummed I was too poor to go see them live during TBP era or even danger days! I luckily was able to see Gerard and one of Frank's solo shows tho and forever grateful Ive gotten to see them on the reunion tour. Im glad i got to see them happy and prospering and full of love for eachother tho in the year 2022!
Honestly, I'm okay with only being around for this era. I became a fan in 2016 and have loved them ever since. I would LOVE to see them in the past (preferably around prorev), but things weren't perfect back then. Other people have mentioned this, but there was a lot of repression and things weren't as open regarding gender and sexuality as they are now. Also, now that I know how difficult this era was for some band members, I'm okay with being a fan now, when they're all doing better. Mikey and Gee had addiction issues, Gee had his ED, we know Frank and Ray had issues here or there as well. Things seem to be better and more stable now.
They're at their best right now imo
yes very much so. i was about five-ish when they first rose to fame. i remember watching them on TRL and MTV (grew up with older cousins) as a kid and generally rocking with their stuff, but obviously not being a huge fan bc i was a small kid lol. I really got into them when a friend re-introduced them to me when i was a HS freshman. ever since then, iāve been hooked. iām happy to say that i at least saw them once during the reunion.
Iāve seen MCR four times. Three of which were before the hiatus, and one was in Toronto this passed Labor Day weekend. This one was by far the best.
Iām 15. The only albums they realised in my lifetime was Danger Days and Conventional Weapons (and MCRX if you count that). Iām just happy that I can listen to it.
I used to feel this way constantly with all the bands I loved as a teenager. My advice is to 1) enjoy them now. There will still be people years down the line who will wish they couldāve been you. 2) listen to other bands who might be in the position mcr were and go to their shows and experience their golden moments.
Okā¦ fan from 2003ā¦ I was almost 30 ( yikes..). I listened to MCR and all my goth/emo 80s bands while pregnantā¦ Kiddo is 16 now and took them to MCR in Seattle. Gerard sober is much better. I think we are going to have a good new run now.
Iām one of those people but Iām barely going to see them for the first time with my 9 year old this month! bummed that I didnāt get to see them in all my teenage life despite how important they were and still are till this day. just happy to know that my first time will be with my mini me!
Iām also 24, started listening to them 3 weeks before the break up, and started with Iām not okay and was instantly hooked š š„² lots of things I feel we missed out on but everything is so great now I feel so lucky to have seen them even once. wouldāve been nice to get into them maybe just a tiny bit earlier and have the excitement of CW coming out at least
I loved the golden years. I was a huge fan. But you gotta remember, it was a niche thing back then. Now, emo is ācoolā. Now, people from my generation pretty proudly boast our emo backgrounds. Back then, we were kind of considered losers, tbh. So yea, the hay day was fun if you went to shows and you had a good enough scene in your town but itās not like the chill was overrun with MCR fans. We were the outcasts.
I remember back in 2004 when I discovered MCR - The only way I could listen to Helena was by going to their website and restarting the shitty little QuickTime player that played the music video over and over again. Good times.
As somebody who was a teen in the Revenge era and saw them live a couple of times in 2005, it really was a great time to be into them! So happy I got a chance to see them at some smaller venues. That said, everybody else chiming in their 30s saying it was really hard to be into this scene in that era due to hate, misogyny, and homophobia...they are absolutely right. I had a gender non-conforming boyfriend at the time, and we went to shows a lot. The scene was not always sympathetic or kind. I was talked down to and slut shamed a lot too. Men wearing skinny jeans back then could seriously get them beaten up. My boyfriend and I had some seriously scary encounters in those days. Anyway, I'm really loving this new era of Gerard wearing dresses and all the general positivity associated with their revival. Enjoy it - it's def their new Golden Era!
I'm very happy that I got to see The Black Parade tour in 2007. Hands down one of the greatest live experiences ever. But I don't miss things like queerphobia and constant sexual harassment within the scene (going to Warped Tour back in the day as an unchaperoned 13-15 year old was a nightmare as far as predatory behavior from older guys in touring bands goes). I would say it's not perfect now, but it seems way less toxic now and I wouldn't go back. This current iteration of MCR is for sure my favorite, although I do miss the pit tickets being $35 haha
Honestly while the mid to late 2000s and early 2010s was their peak popularity I would say they are still in somewhere of a golden age because their all sober in good health and gerard still has his voice. They all seem so much happier and it really shows in these newer performances that are so lively and and have so much energy.
Only bummed that I didnāt get to see a Black Parade show but Iām proud to have seen them now
I honestly feel like theyāre performing near the top of their game on this tour. I donāt think you should feel too left out.
So I had an older cousin growing up that liked to listen to death metal and it kinda scared me (like it now but 7 yo me no) so he actually found MCR to be a meeting point of music that we could listen too when I was watching him play video games and what not. This was 07 so like during the black parade tour. When I was 11 during the world contamination tour I begged my mother to let me go but she thought it wasn't a good idea. And later that same year they were on the Honda civic tour with blink-182 My mom liked blink-182 and the show was a month before my birthday. After so many hints and straight up begging she warmed up to the idea of me going to a concert. So I thought I had this in the bag right? Wrong. She took me to a Carrie Underwood concert (nothing against her but country is so far away from what I wanted to listen to) and I thought I could try again when conventional weapons was coming out thinking maybe just maybe they'll tour again and then they broke up. I was devastated
i wish i could've gone to venganza
Definitely. I was a young child when they broke up, so I had never even heard of them until this year. I love them now, but I will forever be bitter about how I wasnāt even alive for some of their golden years.
Ahhh man! You missed when we could all ship Gerard with Bert McCracken of the The Used when having close āboyā friends was exciting and ambiguous. Then the abrupt fall out and tiny spat and then nothing but rumors and silence. I wonder what ever happened there. Did they ever speak on the topic afterwards?
Here's the thing. This music was popular, all of the associated culture was popular, mainly due to a horrible epidemic of adolescent mental health issues, stemming in part from the national trauma of 9/11, and in part because of the ensuing wars, recession, political turmoil, and the first real start of the complete political partisanship we see in the US today. Science wasn't entirely caught up enough to deal with a nearly immediate doubling of youth depression, but it Was caught up enough to start slinging the labels and medications we see in more moderate use today. Educational systems were similarly unprepared for a wave of students, only a few years to a teacher's experience after columbine, dressing and behaving in darkly violent and distressing ways. Additionally, pop culture's only real awareness of self harm was from princess Diana in a single interview a decade before. We're seeing a new rise in popularity of emo culture now because we're in similar conditions, where the young of America have been traumatized by sociopolitical situations they can't even begin to impact meaningfully and are, more consciously than we ever did, seeking cathartic media. But, this is also all the reason they split up. There's an incredibly fine line between aiding fans through catharsis and effectively enabling their symptoms of depression, and the people who love them the most are usually the people who have the hardest time walking that line. This is also also why I honestly don't love all the pressure for new music, another album, etc. Gerard is already so skinny again and all of these men have lives and families and have moved so far beyond this band that drove them into the ground half a dozen times. I think if you find yourself wishing you were in the early 2000s, just, you literally are. You're in a refined version. We had Bush, Iraq, anthrax scares, you've got trump, Russia, and covid. Let MCR help you rise above this and get through it but don't let them be so much to you that the pain of losing them will outweigh what they gave you. That's the whole point
I definitely lived the golden years. I saw them live after loving bullets about 2 weeks before the I'm not okay video dropped. Lived through all eras of the band at this point. Old af lmao š¤£