September 2025 I had the opportunity to see my favorite band from my teenage years live in concert.
My Chemical Romance, specifically their Black Parade album has been one of my favorites since I was in High School. Gerard Way may not like being classed as an emo band but whatever they want to call themselves the music gave me the courage to ‘carry on’ many times. I was.. Definitely an emo in High School. By the time I’d discovered the album they’d already declared The Black Parade to be dead (which is fair, their other music didn’t fit the same mold) but I promised myself if MCR ever toured The Black Parade again that I would be there and I would not settle for tickets in the back.
19 years went by between the album’s release and the concert. When the “Long Live The Black Parade” tour was announced I almost didn’t believe it. Almost two decades of promising myself something I didn’t think would happen was coming true, and I knew I had to keep my promise. If you can’t keep a promise to your younger self, who can you keep a promise to, right?
I am not usually someone who goes to concerts- like at all. I’ve taken in a local show to support friends in the past and gone to see Symphony Nova Scotia (if that even counts) but I’d never been to a good and proper rock concert before this one so this was a whole new learning experience for me.
Knowing I wanted tickets that would be hard to get, I was in the queue right as the tickets went live and got the exact seats I wanted at a lovely “dynamic” price… But again, this was a promise I wanted to keep so I didn’t sweat the price too much. I was going to be there and it was becoming real.
Mac and Cheese from Ramsay’s Kitchen Boston
Throughout the next few months I dealt with the stresses of the Canadian/ US relationship deteriorating and thought about selling the tickets a few times, but held on and when the time came to fly to Boston we had no issues at all. Customs wasn’t concerned about two Canadians spending the weekend for a concert.
The weekend brought a large variety of weather. On Saturday we explored Boston in thick humidity through the day, then watched a thunderstorm from our hotel that evening.
Sunday (concert day) the rain continued throughout the day and we got completely soaked waiting in line for merch but I just kept reminding myself this was all part of the experience.
The weather cleared up just in time for the concert and the rain had cleared away the humidity so it was honestly the best weather I could have asked for.
We arrived early to get a scope of the space, realizing our seats were a solid 15 minute walk from any washroom, we opted to skip any food or drink- spent too much money to listen to the concert from the bathroom! I was disappointed to omit the concert wine but it was fine.
The night was mostly clear, around 15 degrees Celsius and full of energy. I caught my partner up as much as I could on the lore of the tour, everyone’s outfits helped with that.
Steve: *Sees a clown walk by* Is the clown part of it?
Me: Oh yes! A clown comes out at the end and kills Gerard way, resetting the timeline and we escape Draag and return to Boston.
Steve: Aight…
I didn’t know everything going on but I embraced it as it came!
The band played amazingly, I didn’t use my phone much during the actual performance because I wanted to be present for the whole thing. I am happy I did that- but do wish I had a few more photos to look back on (thank goodness everyone else did, so Instagram has been amazing for reliving the experience).
Full moon during My Chemical Romance Concert
The full moon made an appearance during the second half of the show and it was absolutely magnificent. It even caught the attention of the band and it became a core member of the performance for me. I feel lighter when the moon is in view even when abroad.
My only critique of the experience (and this was more a critique of myself than the band) was that seeing them in person broke the bubble in my mind that these were some magical beings put on earth to literally take care of the broken, the beaten and the damned- They’re just really good story tellers and musicians. Like, yes of course they’re not magic Nicole it’s a ROCK BAND. Again, that’s something for my own mind to deal with, not anyone else.
The trip was expensive, I opted for comfort, safety and convenience a lot but grateful I could make those choices. Boston was a great city and would travel there again. I’m so happy with the trip and the bucket list item I thought would never be ticked off.
My final thoughts are that life is short, so do your best to make your happiness a reality.
“Do or die, you’ll never make me,
because the world will never take my heart”
Welcome to the Black Parade by My Chemical Romance
