written by Jordyn Lyric
The Black Parade will be rolling down Broad street again this autumn: My Chemical Romance have announced a North American tour, as was long-awaited and speculated by fans, and they’ll be returning to Philly in September.
The news comes after the announcement of several dates across the globe, including Download Fest in both Australia and Japan, a three-night run at Stadium MK (what was originally a one-night performance saw additional dates tacked on after each sold out in just minutes) in the UK, and one-offs and fest performances in Ireland, Italy, Germany, New Zealand, and Russia.
The news came via short film, directed by Kris Mercado and starring Marcos Garcia, who plays a My Chem Fan willing to lift the veil between worlds just to get a shot at another performance. Garcia wields an ouija board, sliding a copy of the band’s debut album You Gave Me Your Bullets, I Gave You My Love into the record player and assembling copies of their CD releases around a pentagram constructed on what appears to be his bedroom floor. As the summoning begins, the young man’s house begins to shake, rattling the “NJ DEPARTMENT OF CORRECTIONS” mug, a homage to the band’s New Jersey roots, to the floor, and the ouija board spells out an ominous command: “RUN.”
Three masked figures begin to pound on the bedroom door, forcing themselves in as the character runs through a ghostly door, appeared from nowhere and lit by the band’s recently teased symbols, and transports into a vampire nightclub that signifies the band’s first release, which featured fan-favorite track “Vampires Will Never Hurt You.” The figures follow suit, chasing the character through another scene, where we see two hallmark symbols of the beloved Three Cheers for Sweet Revenge era: the blood-spattered Demolition Lovers and the ballerina from the “Helena” music video.
The young man escapes the scene yet again, through another door, this time into a hospital, a nod to The Black Parade era, where a gasping patient lays beneath a blanket on a gurney. When the character lifts the blanket, the patient is gone and a flatline rings out as the masked figures enter.
The next ghostly door leads to the desert, which brings us to the band’s final LP, Danger Days, a Camaro whipping around in the sand and narrowly missing the protagonist. As he flees the figures for the last time a mushroom cloud erupts behind them, and we see their bodies next to that of the famous skeleton in Black Parade gear.
Finally, our protagonist finds himself in the middle of a circle of figures in hoods and cloaks, and as he stumbles down a path lit with candles, he finds his ouija board. In an iconic answer to the pleas of adoring fans, the planchette glides over the word “YES,” the lights come on, and the character sees that he is in the Forum in Los Angeles, and all of a sudden, the tour dates appear. The film was, in fact, inspired by one fan’s comedic attempt to “summon MCR back” with a pentagram topped by each of the band’s CDs — it must have worked!
My Chemical Romance will be visiting Philadelphia’s Wells Fargo Center on September 18th. Tickets go on sale Friday, 1/31, at 12 PM. Stick with us for recurring coverage up to the day; we’ve been patiently awaiting their return and we’re ready to keep you up to date with all that’s happening now that My Chem is back in the land of the living.
