The list of artists who have been able to pull off North American stadium tours this year, in this economy, is very small: Kendrick Lamar w/ SZA, Post Malone w/ Jelly Roll, Beyoncé, Coldplay, George Strait w/ Chris Stapleton, and Billy Joel.
But the least likely of those who can easily sell out baseball and football palaces just might have to be My Chemical Romance who aren't co-headlining with another household named act.
They've never had a #1 single nor won a Grammy. And they only have two music videos on YouTube with over 200 million views.
Yet when this celebration of the Black Parade marches into town, the fans apply their guyliner and eagerly join in on the emo fun.
The love is not just being heaped onto Frank Iero (guitar), Ray Toro (guitar), Gerard Way (vocals), and Mikey Way (bass) by millennials who have reached the stage that they can toss some of their disposable income into harking back to the time they first fell for MCR during this nostalgic tour.
The praise is also coming from an older rocker, namely Billy Corgan, who doesn't deal out compliments willy-nilly.
While rocking out Saturday (7/19) at San Francisco's Oracle Park, home of the Giants, the band covered The Smashing Pumpkins' "Bullet With Butterfly Wings," reminding all in attendance many of whom were dressed in black, that the world is a vampire.
The chief Pumpkin saw/heard the cover and gave it a hearty thumbs up.
"For any MCR fans who may have come here from the cover of "Bullet With Butterfly Wings," he wrote on the band's IG, "yes Billy is equally proud of his sons."
And then the singer/guitarist, who on the song sings that he still believes he cannot be saved, ended the compliment with a smiley face.
"We're going to play it a few times on this tour," Gerard said to the SF crowd before breaking into the single celebrating it's 30th(!) anniversary.
"It's really special to me and Mikey," the singer said looking at his brother. "It's really meaningful."
In MCR's 20 years of touring, they have only covered 16 other artists until then, and never the Pumpkins before.
Back in '96, Mikey Way saw The Pumpkins on their Melon Collie and the Infinite Sadness Tour and it led to him doing what has been filling up stadiums.
“I started to think about almost everything a little differently after that night," Mikey told Rock Sound. "I was like, ‘Man, I don’t think there’s maybe anything else I’d rather do in life than maybe do what they’re doing,'” he explained.
“I remember that and the energy in the room. I was so awestruck, that they were playing Madison Square Garden a day after or two days after, and I was like, ‘I gotta go again.'”
The younger of the two brothers from New Jersey continued, “I think my brother had that same kind of revelation I did that night when we saw the Madison Square Garden show,” he said.
“I remember nudging him and being like, ‘This is what I want to do. This is what we’re gonna do — and we’re gonna play in this room.’ And I remember him completely agreeing with me at the moment and being like, ‘You’re absolutely right.'”
Not only was the Pumpkins cover a live debut for MCR, but they doled out some tour debuts as well.
The Oracle show also had the band performing a number of tour debuts: “Thank You for the Venom,” “Summertime,” “It’s Not a Fashion Statement, It’s a Fucking Deathwish,” “SING,” “Boy Division,” and “The Kids From Yesterday.”
Although the first half of the show was the entirety of The Black Parade, the second half was almost entirely different than their previous show in Seattle.
San Francisco and Seattle both got the emo anthems "I'm Not Okay (I Promise)," "Helena" and "Na Na Na (Na Na Na Na Na Na Na Na Na)" in the second half of their shows, each city got a mixture of other deep cuts solely for themselves.
This might come as a delight to fans who may see both shows this weekend at Dodger Stadium because the band may switch up their sets between Saturday and Sunday in LA.
MCR will be bopping stadiums around North America through September celebrating their third LP, The Black Parade, which turned 20 last year.
Long Live The Black Parade Stadium Tour remaining dates
July 26 Los Angeles Dodger Stadium
July 27 Los Angeles Dodger Stadium
August 2 Arlington Globe Life Field
August 9 East Rutherford MetLife Stadium
August 15 Philadelphia Citizens Bank Park
August 22 Toronto Rogers Centre
August 29 Chicago Soldier Field
September 7 Boston Fenway Park
September 13 Tampa Raymond James Stadium
September 20 Atlanta Piedmont Park (Shaky Knees Festival)
