My Chemical Romance
By Gabriel Leong
December 11, 2007
Max Pavilion
Singapore
Balloons don't really belong in a rock concert, but one must find ways to amuse ourselves while waiting for one to begin. The mostly teenage crowd at Max Pavilion were popping a few balloons that had appeared out of nowhere while waiting for My Chemical Romance to come on stage. After an hour past the appointed time, fans were finally treated to a robust performance by the New Jersey based rock band.
An incendiary Gerard Way charged up the atmosphere almost immediately with a Rock God-like pose by lifting the microphone stand up into the air with his two arms. If anyone was curious as to how any rock musician manages to stay fit on tour, look no further. Gerard jumped, punched, danced and sang his heart out to his adoring fans.
With his signature black long locks, Gerard was the consummate performer, and lapped up the adulation from his teenage fan base. Mostly dressed in black, one fan even took the trouble to replicate the coats donned in the video for "Welcome to The Black Parade." I didn't catch any kohl on his eyes, but A plus for the effort anyway.
Gerard acknowledged the support of his fans, and returned the compliments by saying, "look at you motherf**kers, you're beautiful," only to be greeted by much more raucous screams from an appreciative crowd.
At one time, he pushed the sexual agenda MCR has become noted for by asking to "see the boys." Commanding them to take their tops off and wave it in the air like the f**king animals they were, some of the crowd were happy to oblige. Gerard could have pushed the envelope by sharing an intimate kiss with Frank lero again as they once did in a concert earlier in July this year, but that might probably earn a very strict shake of disapproval from the censors who are still coming to terms with Gerard's potty mouth.
At one point, Gerard had yelled out, "We are f**king you so hard, you won't be able to walk tomorrow!" What did the crowd do? They screamed and begged for more.
While MCR delivered the goods with a great performance, and Gerard sang with an elegiac lament that has found great fame with the youths of today, it was the crowd that truly made the concert an eye opener. They sang to their favorites like "Helena," "Teenagers," "Welcome To The Black Parade", and "I Don't Love You."
At the free standing area, the moshing and vigorous jumping by the fans were causing a few bruises. Gerard was concerned enough to warn the crowd to have fun, but to pick each other up if anyone fell. No wonder the fans love him.
To further fuel the adulation, he sang, with a mournful longing intonation, the dirge "Cancer." As he sang "the hardest part of this is leaving you," he ended the concert.
The fans yelled for an obligatory encore, and MCR came back to please the crowd with "Desert Song." The lighters and cellphones were whipped out to provide the brilliant glow of a true rock concert. The night was an unforgettable romance with the lads of MCR, fugacious though it might be.
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