My Chemical Romance’s final U.S. Long Live The Black Parade show wasn’t nostalgia—it was a powerful reminder that their story is far from over.

On September 13, My Chemical Romance closed out the U.S. leg of their Long Live The Black Parade tour at Raymond James Stadium in Tampa, Florida. The date landed exactly one day and twenty-four years after the band originally formed in the immediate aftermath of the September 11 attacks in 2001—an event that frontman Gerard Way personally witnessed. This, paired with the fact that this was a nearly twenty-year anniversary tour for the band’s 2006 magnum opus rock opera The Black Parade, might lead you to expect a night steeped in nostalgia. The reality could not be further from the truth. Instead, on the final date of their first-ever stadium tour, My Chemical Romance recontextualized their most iconic work into a scathing, pointed indictment of the ways in which everything from fascism to nostalgia keeps audiences complacent amidst modern crises.

The more things change, the more they stay the same, and Long Live The Black Parade sees the band eloquently, meaningfully, and powerfully grappling with their own legacy within that spectrum. As a band whose very existence is tied to the events of 9/11, the ways in which that singular event has taken hold of public consciousness—and its roots have infected all that has followed—clearly weigh heavily on the group. Each member has been outspoken in their personal lives about their opposition to politically driven hatred in the years since, and Long Live The Black Parade reads as a culmination of everything: their discography, their beliefs, their work. But rather than an ending, this final show quite literally saw the band burning everything down to the ground in favor of starting anew and charting a new course into the future.

My Chemical Romance has long been a go-to era-defining musical group for many. At a time when rock music was steadily declining in popularity and splintering into increasingly niche genres, MCR managed to cut through the noise and become crossover sensations, especially with their third record, The Black Parade. However, that isn’t to say everything was great in the good old days; in fact, Long Live The Black Parade makes a vicious point of proving just that. The band’s Black Parade tour at the time saw them donning the now-iconic garb of The Black Parade characters and playing to sold-out arenas across the country in 2006 and 2007, delivering an in-full rendition of the album played predominantly straight. Gerard Way would later refer to it as a “misery tour,” where the band felt trapped within the constraints of their own success and the expectations placed upon them by both themselves and the music industry at large.

In the years following The Black Parade, the band struggled to put another album together, recording an entire LP and coming ludicrously close to releasing it in 2009, only to scrap it altogether. Instead, after a year of intensive work, they released Danger Days: The True Lives of the Fabulous Killjoys in 2010—a drastic redefinition of their visual and sonic aesthetic that met a divided response. Gone were the black uniforms and marching-band bombast; in their place came a neon color palette and layers of vintage synthesizers. The record was phenomenal but ultimately met with a more lukewarm reception from critics and audiences alike, something that contributed to the band’s disillusionment a few years later.

So when the band reunited in 2019, mere months before the pandemic delayed their best-laid plans, questions inevitably arose about what My Chemical Romance would even be heading into the 2020s. In the intervening years, each member had released music separately—through solo projects or other bands—but would MCR now be an outlet for present-tense creativity or simply a nostalgic, if well-earned, look back at their accomplishments? The answer came quickly when the band released their first song in several years, “The Foundations of Decay,” just before embarking on their reunion tour in 2022. The track was volatile, darkly tinged, and insanely compelling, with each core member—Gerard Way, Ray Toro, Frank Iero, and Mikey Way—bringing their own idiosyncrasies and gifts to the forefront in striking ways, resulting in one of the band’s greatest sonic accomplishments.

Thus, when it was announced that the band’s next endeavor would be Long Live The Black Parade, it seemed extremely unlikely that this would be a run-of-the-mill anniversary tour. Having now witnessed it myself, I can confirm that is one thousand percent true. The show featured the band opening by playing the entirety of The Black Parade from front to back, but within a brand-new context. It’s difficult to articulate with brevity, but suffice it to say there is an entire world of storytelling you are immersed in when attending the show—one that begins long before the band takes the stage. From flyers to side-screen projections to the choice of pre-show music, everything strives to immerse you in DRAAG, the fictional land in which the show unfolds, and it swallows you whole.

By the time the band strikes the very first note of album opener “The End,” the song feels entirely transformed. By reframing the context in which The Black Parade exists, My Chemical Romance extracts the legendary album from the amber of nostalgia and makes it feel breathlessly relevant and new. Nowhere is this more evident than in the second half of the set, where tracks like “Mama” and “Sleep” are reimagined with fresh visuals and sonic twists to jaw-dropping effect.

On top of all the ingenuity and razor-sharp artistry on display, the band itself has never sounded better. I’ve seen My Chemical Romance live many times and always left impressed, but their performance in Tampa showed them at their tightest, most cohesive, and strongest. Far from being constrained by the demands of such a massive production, the entire group seemed energized by it. The result was a seamless blend of spectacle and substance, delivering dazzling pyrotechnics and showcasing each member’s talents while still offering plenty to ponder within the show’s overarching narrative.

I’ll admit I worried the band might dial back some of the bolder political themes from earlier dates in light of recent events. Instead, MCR leaned into them, and the show was stronger for it. This was My Chemical Romance at their most My Chemical Romance—every second bursting with personality, infectious energy, and an unflinching celebration of individuality. I’m deeply grateful for that.

After the Black Parade portion, the band moved to a B-stage in the center of the stadium for a second set. Here, the theatricality of the first half fell away, leaving just the band connecting directly with thousands of fans. It was the perfect setup for a group that has always been equal parts musical theater and punk rock: a first act like David Lynch on Broadway, followed by a second that would feel as natural in a New Jersey bar as it did in a packed stadium.

RGM GRADE

(A)

This final U.S. performance of Long Live The Black Parade was one of the most stunning live shows I’ve ever witnessed—bar none. Rather than a nostalgic walk down memory lane, the concert saw My Chemical Romance righteously reclaiming their legacy and carving a path toward a better future for both themselves and their audience. It’s telling that while many artists understandably remain rooted in the past, MCR stayed relevant even during the years they were dormant. Their music—crafted from the outset as a raw, emotionally authentic response to large-scale, politically driven tragedy—continues to resonate with younger listeners for good reason.

Long Live The Black Parade wasn’t a backward-looking celebration of that endurance but a forward-facing, hopeful march toward brighter days. Liberated from the suffocating confines of expectations, labels, and music-industry constraints, the band delivered what felt like a brand-new magnum opus right before our eyes.

For My Chemical Romance, the message was unmistakable: their greatest days aren’t in the rearview—they’re still ahead.

Will Jones