Photo Credit: Bryce Hall
By 11 a.m. on September 6, more than a thousand My Chemical Romance fans were already gathered outside Chase Field, waiting for a show nearly two decades in the making. The Phoenix stop of “The Black Parade 2026” tour marked the band’s first performance in the city since 2008, and it was obvious from the sea of black inside the stadium that fans had been waiting a long time for their return. Black eyeliner, military-inspired outfits, The Black Parade costumes, and nods to nearly every era of the band’s career filled the stadium as fans prepared for a night built around one of the most influential albums of the emo generation.
One of the unique things about “The Black Parade 2026” tour is that the opening act changes every night, giving each city its own version of the show. For Phoenix, that meant hometown heroes Jimmy Eat World, who were greeted like old friends when they walked onto the Chase Field stage. But for many of the fans filling the stadium, the real event had been years in the making.
For me, My Chemical Romance has always been tied more closely to Three Cheers for Sweet Revenge than The Black Parade. While The Black Parade was the album that seemed to turn countless listeners into lifelong MCR fans, Three Cheers was the record that got me. I have vivid memories of being a senior in high school, driving around town with “Helena,” “Hang ’Em High” and “Cemetery Drive” blasting from the speakers, secretly hoping my crush would hear what I was listening to and be impressed by my impeccable musical taste. Those songs became part of the soundtrack to that period of my life. When My Chemical Romance announced their reunion, I was thrilled at the possibility of finally seeing a band I had loved for so many years. When “Long Live The Black Parade” came through without an Arizona date, that excitement turned into disappointment. So when “The Black Parade 2026” was announced with a Phoenix stop, it felt like a second chance. Nearly two decades after their last appearance in the city, My Chemical Romance was finally coming to the Valley.
And while The Black Parade may have been the record that brought many of the fans inside Chase Field to the band, I was about to discover that the album was only one part of a much bigger experience.
Jimmy Eat World opened the night with a hometown celebration of their own, immediately launching into a full performance of Bleed American, which is celebrating its 25th anniversary this year.“Hello everyone, we’re Jimmy Eat World from Mesa,” frontman Jim Adkins said, as if anyone in the packed stadium needed the introduction. The band immediately launched into the album from beginning to end, giving Phoenix a hometown experience that fans had been hoping for. When Jimmy Eat World announced their “Bleed American 25th Anniversary Tour,” the absence of a hometown date was a major disappointment for local fans. Getting to hear the album in its entirety at Chase Field more than made up for it.
The stage visuals incorporated the trophies featured in the Bleed American album artwork, adding a fitting visual connection to the anniversary celebration. When the band reached “The Middle,” Adkins acknowledged the size of the hometown crowd, telling fans it was “maybe one of the biggest shows we’ve ever done here in town,” before dedicating the track to the crowd. During “Your House” and “Hear You Me,” thousands of fans held their phone flashlights in the air, illuminating the stadium. Before the final song of Bleed American, Adkins reflected on the album’s 25-year journey and what it has meant to fans, noting that Arizona has given the band everything and expressing his gratitude for everyone who came out. After closing the album with the slower “My Sundown,” the band picked the energy right back up with “Big Casino,” “Work,” and “Pain,” finishing an hour-long set that felt especially fitting for a hometown crowd.
Follow JIMMY EAT WORLD | WEBSITE | INSTAGRAM | FACEBOOK | TIKTOK | YOUTUBE | SPOTIFY | APPLE MUSIC
By the time Jimmy Eat World left the stage, the anticipation for My Chemical Romance was overwhelming. The crowd seemed almost as much a part of the spectacle as the performers themselves. While fans waited, screens displayed a set of rules tied to the fictional world of Draag, the authoritarian nation at the center of the tour’s storyline. The rules have changed throughout the tour, adding another layer for fans following the evolving narrative from city to city.
For anyone unfamiliar with the increasingly complicated lore surrounding “The Black Parade 2026,” there are actually two versions of the show currently making their way around the tour. These shows have been dubbed “LLTBP” and “MOAT,” referring to Long Live The Black Parade and the M.O.A.T., the prison-like institution at the center of the story. The distinction matters because the shows explore different parts of the larger Draag narrative, and neither version has remained completely static.
The Long Live The Black Parade shows introduced audiences to Draag and its authoritarian regime, with The Black Parade serving as prisoners forced to perform for the Grand Immortal Dictator. The MOAT shows shifted the story into a different part of that world, exploring the institution and the events surrounding the band’s imprisonment. As the tour has continued, however, the line between the two versions has started to blur, with pieces of the LLTBP storyline now appearing during MOAT performances.
That is part of what makes following this tour so fascinating, and also slightly maddening if you are trying to understand it after deliberately avoiding spoilers. I had made the decision to go into the Phoenix show completely blind. I knew The Black Parade would be performed in full, but that was about it. I had no idea there were different versions of the production, no idea that the storyline had been changing from night to night, and certainly no idea that fans were tracking individual characters, imagery, and tiny narrative details like they were solving an elaborate conspiracy theory.
Phoenix was a MOAT show, but it was becoming increasingly clear that the boundaries between MOAT and LLTBP were beginning to disappear. Elements that had previously appeared in LLTBP performances were starting to make their way into the MOAT production, adding new questions to a story that already seems designed to keep fans guessing.
At the same time, you absolutely do not need to understand any of this to enjoy the show. The production is impressive enough on its own. But once you start paying attention to the story, it becomes almost impossible not to look for connections.
The show opens with The Black Parade appearing in tattered uniforms inside what appears to be an institutional facility filled with clerks, nurses, and people in suits. The Draag national anthem plays, immediately establishing the strange, dystopian world the audience has entered. From there, the band launches into The Black Parade, with the theatrical elements woven throughout the performance rather than presented as a separate story between songs.
Throughout the set, masked figures wander through the aisles, occasionally redirecting audience members who are not facing the stage, while the dictator is also seen moving through the crowd in plain clothes. Their presence makes the audience feel as though we are being watched just as closely as the performers, adding an unsettling element to an already elaborate production.
The theatrical moments continue to build as the album progresses. Fireballs erupt from the stage, Gerard appears with a dagger, and a performer runs across the stage engulfed in flames. A woman appears holding a dummy while singing operatically before Gerard takes the figure and delivers a strange monologue about fire, losing track of who he and his friends were, and the world continuing to burn around them.
One of the more unusual moments comes later in the show, when an enormous floating eyeball takes a photograph of the band. The members hold diplomas in their hands as graduation music plays, with Gerard declaring, “Success!” The moment is particularly interesting within the context of the tour because the production has been changing from show to show, with recurring elements taking on new meanings and new scenes appearing along the way.
In addition to this graduation scene, the Phoenix show offered several moments that appeared to continue that evolution. The eyeball later revealed a severed head instead of the gentleman who has appeared during previous performances, immediately prompting fan speculation about who or what it represented, with some wondering whether the head resembled the old-age prosthetics Gerard wore during the band’s When We Were Young Festival performance.
Before “House of Wolves,” Gerard dropped to his knees and appeared to eat a heart. During the “Sleep” interlude, Quizzo appeared, and Gerard and the Clerk placed their hands on its globe before collapsing and writhing on the floor as though they had been electrocuted. The eyeball, which has reportedly displayed the Clerk’s memories during other performances, instead showed footage from The Black Parade Is Dead! in Phoenix.
The production continued to introduce strange and unsettling moments as the album unfolded. During “Blood,” a body was brought onto the stage on a gurney beneath a sheet, only for the figure underneath to be revealed wearing a mask and Gerard’s Black Parade costume. The two engaged in a fight that ended with Gerard appearing to kill the masked double.
The first half of the set was, of course, The Black Parade performed in full. Gerard kept chatter to a minimum, but the few commands he gave the crowd were all it took to send Chase Field into a frenzy. “Scream” and “hands up” were met with thousands of voices and raised arms. When the opening notes of “Welcome to the Black Parade” rang out, the stadium erupted, with fans screaming along to a track that has remained deeply personal to so many of them for two decades.
By the end of the first act, the stage was engulfed in so much fire and pyro that the heat was impossible to ignore. The floor was drenched in sweat, but nobody seemed interested in leaving. Despite the flames, elaborate staging, and constant movement happening around them, the band never lost sight of the music. They sounded every bit as powerful live as they do on record.
After the theatrical first half, the band transitioned to the B-stage in the middle of the stadium. A cello performance of “Metastable” accompanied the transition, and suddenly the enormous production disappeared. The costumes, elaborate staging, and pyro were gone. What remained was My Chemical Romance and a collection of songs from throughout their catalog.
The B-stage set changes from night to night, making each stop a different experience. Phoenix opened with “I’m Not Okay (I Promise),” before moving into “Boy Division,” which Gerard dedicated to “The Butcher,” a tribute to longtime friend of the band Andy Williams, who passed away just one day prior.
The band continued digging through its catalog with “The Only Hope for Me Is You,” performed for the first time on this tour, along with other lesser played tracks and MCR staples, before closing with “The Light Behind Your Eyes.” The latter was an especially emotional choice. The band had never performed the song live before this night, and Gerard brought out a cellist and violinist to accompany it. He explained that he had always wished the song had been put on another album and shared that he had written it for his daughter. Every seat in Chase Field remained filled through those final notes.
Eighteen years after My Chemical Romance last played Phoenix, the band finally came back. For longtime fans like me, finally seeing My Chemical Romance live for either the first time or after so many years was worth absolutely the wait. The Black Parade may have been the album that brought many people in Chase Field to the band, but the B-stage was a reminder that there is so much more to their catalog and history.
With the five-night run at The Hollywood Bowl set to round out the U.S. leg of “The Black Parade 2026” tour before My Chemical Romance heads to Asia, fans are already speculating about what the final shows will bring. With the MOAT and LLTBP storylines increasingly crossing over and new elements appearing throughout the tour, there is no telling how much the production could change before the band closes out this chapter in Los Angeles. If Phoenix was any indication, the final dates could be some of the most unpredictable shows of the entire tour.
Whether you have been following every detail of the Draag storyline or, like me, walked into the show knowing almost nothing about the lore, this is a show worth experiencing. The production is massive, the music is incredible, the band sounds phenomenal live, and the energy from the crowd is something you have to experience for yourself. Add in a different B-stage set each night and a story that continues to evolve, and there is a genuine reason to see the show more than once. Tickets to remaining tour dates can be purchased here.
Follow MY CHEMICAL ROMANCE | WEBSITE | INSTAGRAM | YOUTUBE | SPOTIFY | APPLE MUSIC
Photo Credit: Bryce Hall
Leave a Reply