After a two year wait due to Covid, My Chemical Romance finally made their way to Ball Arena for their rescheduled date. Entering the arena you could easily feel the buzz, clad in all black and enough eyeliner to cause shortages fans lined up for merchandise (by the way, of all shows we have covered at Ball Arena, we have never seen the merch lines so long).
Openers included long-time emo punk legends Taking Back Sunday. A perfect primer for the evening as Adam Lazzara and company ripped through their short set setting the mood. Playing a handful of favorites, the band at times thanked the headliners for their chance to open up the show in Denver, one of their favorite cities.
As the lights dimmed and the band appeared it was evident who the fans were here to see. Gerard Way and company opened up the show with “The Foundations of Decay”, they came out fast, they came out strong, and pretty much set the tone for the rest of the night. They played classics “I’m not okay (I Promise)”, “Welcome to the Black Parade”, and arena sing-along “Helena”. They managed to spread out their setlist from all four of their albums, giving fans a variety of songs that made them one of the most influential bands of the 2000’s. It’s hard to label a performance perfect, but if anything comes close to it, it was this night.
Photos and Words: Robert Castro
