The first review and photos of My Chemical Romance's first show of 2022 at the Eden Sessions, UK.
Walking through Charlestown, a picturesque postcard port at the centre of Cornwall, southwestern UK, on a peaceful overcast Monday, you would be hard pressed to believe that the world’s eyes were watching such a place with such anticipation.
It’s just as hard to believe that the most important band of a generation are in town, and making their long-awaited return to British shores in just a few short hours.
But… well, they are, and that’s pretty incredible isn’t it? A more than 6,000-strong crowd has made its way across land, sea and air to witness the band’s first UK appearance in over a decade, and their first globally in two and a half years, and the feeling is of intense anticipation.
The setting – the Eden Project – surrounded by the most stunning collection of greenery and towering rock faces, it’s as unconventional as it gets for a rock show, but MCR have never stuck to convention, have they?
To walk around these perfectly sculpted paths and see drummer boy jackets and homemade Danger Days uniforms is a spectacle to say the least, and hearing so many songs that have changed so many lives performed within a landscape carved from the ground up is really quite something.
And what a collection of songs it is.
Opening with brand new track ‘The Foundations Of Decay’, a dark and desolate epic that sounds all the more of both in its live debut, a vibe is set for the whole occasion. This is a fucking punk rock show, pure and simple, but, on a truly massive scale.
‘Helena’ is as breathless as it is heartbreaking, and ‘This Is How I Disappear’ feels more savage and haunting than ever before. Every single song, from the gloriously fun ‘Na Na Na…’ to an utterly debauched ‘Our Lady Of Sorrows’ is delivered with the vigour and viciousness of a band coming out of the gates like it’s their first time all over again.
Plenty of tears stain cheeks during ‘Famous Last Words’, ‘Vampire Money’ feels monumental, and ‘Mama’ is drenched in all of the drama and decadence we’d somehow forgotten to expect.
They look like they’re having the time of their lives, feeding off each other’s energy and visibly grinning from ear to ear. Where some bands will come back and go through the motions with glorified karaoke, it’s thrilling (and entirely expected) to see Gerard, Frank, Mikey and Ray doing everything with so much substance and power as the big moments keep on coming.
The feeling is echoed from the barrier all the way to the grassy hills at the back of this unique venue. Some are rolling back the years with friends just like the Good Old Days, others are making memories for the first time with friends they have made because of this band, even while they were away.
And it’s within the sheer adoration of these four men, and the extraordinary songs that they have made together, where the two meet in the middle. A shared appreciation of something truly spectacular.
By the time that they called it a day almost a decade ago, My Chemical Romance were drained of all the theatre that had made them superstars, wanting to do anything but this. But right now, in 2022, they seem to have once again found the thing that they love the most about this band once more.
This is the My Chemical Romance that cut their teeth in New Jersey basements, now playing on the biggest stages of all and owning them. Devastating and captivating in equally glorious measure, they feel absolutely unstoppable tonight.
If their comeback show at The Shrine back in 2019 felt like a dream, this now feels very, very real.
My Chemical Romance are fucking back.
SETLIST
THE FOUNDATIONS OF DECAY
HELENA
GIVE ‘EM HELL, KID
MAKE ROOM!!!!
SUMMERTIME
THIS IS HOW I DISAPPEAR
YOU KNOW WHAT THEY DO TO GUYS LIKE US IN PRISON
NA NA NA
FAMOUS LAST WORDS
SURRENDER THE NIGHT
TEENAGERS
I DON’T LOVE YOU (not played)
DESTROYA
OUR LADY OF SORROWS
VAMPIRE MONEY
THANK YOU FOR THE VENOM
MAMA
WELCOME TO THE BLACK PARADE
SLEEP
—
BOY DIVISION
I’M NOT OKAY (I PROMISE)
THE KIDS FROM YESTERDAY
