Friday, May 13, 2011

My Chemical Romance, Neon Trees and The Architects / MacEwan Hall / Calgary, Canada / April 6, 2011

April sixth was the day that Crash Queens, Motor babies, and Killjoys alike gathered. Even though the show was in Calgary there were people from Vancouver, Winnipeg, and everywhere else just to see their favourite band perform.
The fans, also known as the MCRmy, bonded and cards were handed out for lead singer, Gerard Way’s birthday just three days later. 
The last time My Chemical Romance graced Calgary with their presence, it was nearly four years ago with their Black Parade World Tour.  They played the Saddledome and it was a theatrics filled show with all the pyro you could imagine.
This time around they opted for the small and intimate venue, MacEwan Hall for their World Contamination Tour.  The hall was the perfect place to have the show because the new album, Danger Days: The True Lives of the Fabulous Killjoys had an apocalyptic theme to it. The venue had an industrial feel to it that fit the theme perfectly.
The first band to perform was The Architects. Formerly known as The Gadjits, this band opened the show with a bang. The Architects brought a heavier sound the table than one would have expected for the first warm-up act. They had excellent stage presence and seemed to really enjoy being there.  They had a surprising punk sound and the crowd seemed to thoroughly enjoy it.
The next band was Neon Trees known for their hit song, Animal.  Even though this was an MCR show, the fans were really into Neon Tree’s act.  Lead vocalist, Tyler was strutting around on stage and the guitarist’s were showing people what they could do, feeding off the crowd’s energy.  The band had a female drummer, Elaine, and she was mesmerizing to watch. Sitting quietly in the background, she let her sticks show us just how talented she was. The anchor of any good band is its drummer, and she did her job extremely well.
After a daring thirty minute set change, Look Alive, Sunshine started to play over the speakers as the band took the stage. They started off with Na Na Na. The show was an amazing and during it the crowd was sent into a fit of dancing, fist pumping, crying, and singing it for the world.  During Planetary (GO!), a song that has been known to send fans into a frenzy, the MCRmy was jumping and dancing as if they couldn’t get enough. The crowd’s energy was infectious and it even got non-fans screaming and singing along.
It seemed that for every song off their new album, My Chemical Romance treated the crowd to an old favourite. They played Famous Last Words, one of their biggest hits, and the crowd roared “I am not afraid to keep on living” as if their lives really did depend on it.
Lead singer, Gerard Way asking to see which audience members were experiencing their first MCR show and thanking the older fans for being nice to the new ones, stomping his booted foot on the elitism experienced at many other shows; rhythm guitarist, Frank Iero, known for his excessive movement on stage was more laid back; lead guitarist, Ray Toro, who is an amazing guitarist often being compared to Slash.  The star of the show though had to be bassist Mikey Way. Mikey, known for his shyness and tending to stay at the back of the stage was up front and center. During the final song The Kids from Yesterday, Mikey got a solo staying on stage with tour drummer, Mike Pedicone. He made eye contact with the crowd and showed everyone the rockstar he truly is.
My Chemical Romance’s North American tour will continue until late May before the band will depart for a short run of European festival shows.
- mm

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