My Chemical Romance [The Meadows Dodge Auditorium, Hartford, Conn.] 24 Feb 2007

nobody@vox.com(regina) — Sun, 25 Feb 2007 15:27:41 -0500

There's a few constants in the world -- one is that morons with CT licenses don't know how to drive. The other constant is that I always get lost in Hartford, without fail. We ended up in the deeeeep end of Hartford, because I'm awesome like that, but luckily found a 5-0 at a gas station who then proceeded to give us a police escort. No, I am not joking. Amazing. Love the po'!

Finally got parked (for free!), scooted inside, found Darling Girl and got our passes. Had a beer, and finally found our seats. The Meadows is a strange indoor venue (during the summer, it's an ampitheatre), and it feels like a high school auditorium, but bigger. There are also crazy primary colors all over the walls, which clashed appropriately with My Chem's black-and-white set. Again, missed the opener. So sad. Right.

The Black Parade came out, and they were immediately better than the first night of the tour in Manchvegas. However, our very small section of people would not stand up. It was bizarre. I relaxed for a while, but when they were wrapping up with "Famous Last Words," I grabbed the kids sitting next to us and was like, "Let's jam!" I also turned around and made everyone stand up. Dear Girl commented, "You're not even drunk!" I was just feeling the need to jam, whatever! Thankfully everyone stayed up for the MCR set, and Gerard also managed to really bring the punk with some of the early tracks. Cute Kid next to us actually said, "It's like he's drunk again!" Terrible! But, well, I understand what she was trying to say. I really hope that he can keep his edge on stage and keep his body sober. They were much tighter even with the older stuff, and Gerard really opened up and started in on the screaming and such. I'll be interested to see how the show matures when they come back in May with Muse.

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We stuck around with Darling Girl to meet the band, and I seriously think I was the oldest person there. Well, next to Darling Girl and Gerard. Hah! The band took time with each and every fan, and shook hands and did hugs and signed things. I called Gerard out for his homage to the John Waters' classic Female Trouble in Manchester (He did the bit about the cha-cha shoes at the end of "Mama."), and he was completely shocked and grateful that someone got it. Because I'm lame, I felt fairly proud of this -- he signed my flat with "Thanks for noticing." Aw, bless. He stood up and made to hug me, which was kind of...cute, but then he was like, "High five!" There was a moment I thought maybe I should tell him that I was his age (almost 30, for sure), but I just decided to high five him back. I don't think I've high-fived someone since I was, like, 14. The things I do for boys in bands.

Then they were doing a group photo, and honestly, there is no way in hell I was going to be on a radio website with a bunch of tweenies, for serious. So we bounced, and hiked all the way back to Boston. Hartford, I love your free parking and your surprisingly helpful cops, but, seriously, there is no city but Boston.

Also, I really enjoy concert moms. There was one behind us that was rocking harder than her kids. Hopefully, I can be half as cool as she was when I grow up!

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My Chemical Romance [Civic Arena, Manchester, NH] 22 Feb 2007

nobody@vox.com(regina) — Fri, 23 Feb 2007 12:25:07 -0500

My first My Chemical Romance experience coincided with their first night of their American tour, which was a bit nice. After tooling up the coast to Manchester with Dearest Girl and dealing with mustard disasters of the Burger King proportions and headaches fixed with powders from a local gas station, we got snowed on and then felt-up by the venue staff. Emptied pockets, opened smoke packs, fingers up underneath the hems of my jeans -- the whole nine yards.

Luckily, missed the openers, and managed to get seated all together. Our original seats were not next to each other (but they were free, so I am not going to complain), and there were 16 year olds with asses firmly planted in them. Went two sections closer, and enjoyed four seats to the three of us.

Rumors abounded regarding pyrotechnics and stage craft, and we weren't disappointed. The band opened as "The Black Parade," fully costumed in their soldier garb with face paint. Gerard was thankfully raven-haired again, and came out on a hospital bed. They kicked into the new album, and played it from start to finish. Drum set was set on a revolving platform, and the set-ups were switched off during the show.

Boy from Reggie and the Full Effect who made Darling Girl cry on her birthday two years back was playing keys for the Black Parade, and it took Gerard introducing him for us to believe that it really was him. Lesson learned: Never doubt a lady regarding a boy's moves on stage.

The singalong factor to most of the tracks was insane, and the crowd was packed with crying/screaming/fainting girls. Forgot my ear plugs, as I was in a rush, and ended up stuffing my ears with tissues the girls behind us were so piercing.

The singalong bits were quite nice, though, especially when they got to the "I see you lying next to me, with words I thought I'd never speak, awake and unafraid, asleep or DEEEEAAAAD!" Lights came down after the latest single, and they did a quick change and came out as "My Chemical Romance," with a "REVENGE" backdrop. Opened up a mini-set with "I'm Not Okay," and ended it out with "Helena." During the latter, a wee blonde was pulled from the front, and had to get carried off. At other points, Gerard instigated a pit, and there was just a lot of bizarre behavior from the crowd.

While I'm sure Those Boys never thought that they'd be a "teen idol" band, I do find it strange how uncomfortable they sometimes are with that attention. If you don't want to be huge, don't sign to a major. And if you sign to a major, use your power to say, "Only 18-plus shows, no arenas." It's the money machine, do not get me wrong, but there are ways to be comfortable and get paid. This was an all-ages show, and maybe I'm cranky and old, but I found it off-putting how often Gerard swore to the crowd, calling us all "motherfuckers." I have a really big pet peeve with someone calling me a curse word -- I really don't care about using curse words as expletives, but when you sit there and call me a motherfucker, I kind of want to kick you in the balls, y'know?

We'll see how the Hartford show turns out. Surely the Black Parade set will be the same, but Dearest Girl is holding out for her favorite jam, an old-school ditty called "Vampyre". This time I'll bring ear plugs, though.

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scene and herd: a boston beat

My Chemical Romance [The Meadows Dodge Auditorium, Hartford, Conn.] 24 Feb 2007

My Chemical Romance [Civic Arena, Manchester, NH] 22 Feb 2007