Editor’s note: All photos used in this article are copyright Bryce Hall and courtesy of the artist except where noted
In the interest of full disclosure, I came to My Chemical Romance kind of (read: very) late. I’m a proud comics nerd and became a fan of singer Gerard Way’s creation The Umbrella Academy. That then led me down the MCR rabbit hole. So I never had a chance to see the band perform live, that is until this past Tuesday at National Park in DC. And it happened to coincide with the 20th anniversary of the release of the band’s third full-length album, The Black Parade.
Arguably My Chemical Romance’s most influential record, The Black Parade has grown from an album with a vague concept to one whose lore seems to expand through each tour – and even tour stop – since its start. The sucker for a good story that I am, I was excited to see what the band had in store for their DC stop.
I don’t go to many stadium concerts. There are often way too many people with just as many motives to be there (from fans who are actively engaged in the performance to those just wanting to get out of the house to socialize), but there was something immediate about heading into Nationals Park Tuesday night. It was on the face painted faces of so many fans wrapping around each level of the stadium waiting for pre-show merch. If such a thing could be true, there was this feeling that we were all there for the same reason – to celebrate the return of My Chemical Romance.
I must not have noticed beforehand, but I was very pleasantly surprised to see indie rock power house Modest Mouse taking the stage as the opening act.
Nats Park is the largest venue I’ve ever seen Modest Mouse play, but they rocked that stage like it was no one’s business. And it was probably the best form I’ve seen them in recent memory. I still can’t believe it’s been 30 years since I first saw them play at the decades defunct Fletchers in Baltimore.
The sounds of the Vera Lynn classic “We’ll Meet Again” rolling over the stadium marked the start as the lights dimmed and singer Lucy Joy Altus started on what would become “Over Fields (The National Anthem of Draag),” a sort of introduction to the show as the enormous screens that flanked the main stage showed propaganda-style videos of fields of wheat, working farmers, and periodically what seemed to be regime-sanctioned advertisements.
Check out the My Chemical Romance released video for “Over Fields” below:
I never thought I’d write the following line in a concert review, but following the videos goose stepping soldiers delivered a bale of wheat to the Grand Immortal Dictator, seated at the back of the stage before My Chemical Romance started the very theatrical opening of the show with the seemingly ironically titled, “The End.”
The start of the song felt like the opening chapter of a book as it set the tone for the dramatic set that followed. When the thrumming guitars from Ray Toro and Frank Iero kicked into that lead it put chills down my spine. As the band, dressed in black and white marching band costumes, played on The Clerk (played by Charlie Saxton) strode from one side of the stage to the next with the Grand Immortal Dictator looking on.
Speaking to the crowd in character, Gerard Way told the crowd, “Tonight’s programming is brought to you by the Ministry of Complementary Reconditioning… courtesy of the band we are all here to celebrate tonight!” It was like a rock and roll opera as My Chemical Romance pulled out all the stops on full-throated version of songs like “This Is How I Disappear” and “Sharpest Lives” before their now signature song “Welcome to the Black Parade.”
Going from sweet vocal lines to a guttural scream, Way kept the audience on their feet acting as both singer and as the de facto ringmaster. But he didn’t have to do much to work up this crowd, as everyone was singing along to virtually every line.
Watch the official video for “Welcome to the Black Parade” by My Chemical Romance below:
In one of the most anticipated events of the night, a few fans from the audience were blindfolded and stood at the B-stage and the rest of the crowd had to vote for “utter oblivion” or “parking validation.” Going into the stadium we were all given signs that said “Yeah” on one side or “Nay” on the other. With the lives of these hapless souls in the balance, we all voted… to given them all parking validation. Apparently this is the first time this tour the crowd had voted this way.
There’s this evolving story element that changes during each show with Gerard and The Clerk. At one point the two end up playing chess and Way exchanges jackets with The Clerk. This seems like an important moment in the storyline as later The Clerk, who usually returns in a clown costume (à la Pierrot) to stab the hapless Gerard rather shows up and stabs Ray and Mikey Way (bass) before a visually shaken The Secretary (played by Gemma Scoble) escorts him off the stage.
This all created a feeling of surprise even in fans who have been traveling to multiple stops along the tour. They know the basic structure of the story, but sometimes the details change. But one thing that didn’t was the ultimate destruction of The Clerk in one of the loudest bangs I can recall. It made more than a few (including myself) jump in shock.
And if that wasn’t enough, the whole second part of the Black Parade set seemed like an out of control ball of energy. There were walls of flame that shot behind the stage, on the sides of the stage, and even through the stage itself as a veritable lake of fire seemed to surround the band as they played “Famous Last Words.” And even though the production of Black Parade completed, that was far from the end.
After an instrumental interlude by Clarice Jensen on cello, My Chemical Romance – having shed their Black Parade personas – took to the smaller B-Stage to perform an entirely new set. And this was no three or four song encore either.
Starting with “Hang ‘Em High” from the band’s sophomore record, Three Cheers for Sweet Revenge, the band played an eclectic set that saw them dusting off “Surrender the Night” from Conventional Weapons. The biggest reaction of the second set was definitely “I’m Not Okay (I Promise)” with the crowd singing every word. And that was followed by the very punk version of the Bob Dylan classic “Desolation Row,” albeit admittedly shorter than the original.
The night ended with a beautiful “Desert Song” with everyone’s cell phone lights (and I’m sure more than a few old fashioned lighters) creating a sea of white lights across the stadium.
The setlist included:
The Black Parade:
The End.
Dead!
This Is How I Disappear
The Sharpest Lives
Welcome to the Black Parade
I Don’t Love You
House of Wolves
Cancer
Mama
Sleep
Teenagers
Disenchanted
Famous Last Words
The End. (Reprise; with “Welcome to the Black Parade” reprise)
Blood
B-Stage:
From A to B (Clarice Jensen)
Hang ‘Em High
Surrender the Night (Tour debut)
Na Na Na (Na Na Na Na Na Na Na Na Na)
The Ghost of You
DESTROYA
I’m Not Okay (I Promise)
Desolation Row (Bob Dylan cover) (Tour debut)
Party Poison
Helena
Desert Song
Check out more photos of My Chemical Romance performing at National Park in Washington, DC on August 18, 2026. All photos are copyright Bryce Hall and courtesy of the band:
Nice work. Stage lighting is difficult to deal with and these are really nice and sharp.