Los Angeles, California - October 21, 2026
As hordes of fans in black clothing and fishnets marched into the Hollywood Bowl on a damp Wednesday night, My Chemical Romance got ready to welcome their newest inductees into the Black Parade.
Photo by Jesse DeFlorio
Rock band My Chemical Romance (MCR) continued their “The Black Parade 2026” tour with three stops at the Hollywood Bowl, which will be followed by two non-Black Parade dates on Oct. 30 and 31. The band— composed of lead singer Gerard Way, guitarists Ray Toro and Frank Iero, bassist Mikey Way, touring drummer Jarrod Alexander, and touring keyboardist Jamie Muhoberac— will make history at the Bowl with their five-night run, making them the first band to do so at the venue. On Oct. 23, the band celebrated 20 years of their most influential and successful album, The Black Parade, and released a 20th Anniversary Deluxe Edition.
In summer 2025, the band embarked on the “Long Live The Black Parade” tour, which followed the narrative of a fictional authoritarian country, “Draag,” as the band reprised their roles in the Black Parade (previously seen in their 2007 Black Parade World Tour) to perform for Draag’s leader, the Grand Immortal Dictator. The 2025 tour and performances served as a part of the main storyline, and the 2026 Latin America shows kicked off a prequel to the original story. As a part of the story, the band even created a fictional language called Keposhka, which vaguely represents Cyrillic script.
These three Hollywood Bowl shows focused on a story outside the main and prequel shows, instead following the fictional conquest of the United States by Draag. These shows took place as part of the Grand Immortal Dictator’s birthday celebration, which is a pivotal plot point in the show’s story.
Fans were immediately thrown into the world of Draag as the stage was clad with a Keposha USA flag, which also hung from the same flagpoles as the real USA flag and California state flag. The excitement among fans was palpable. Fans complimented each other’s outfits— special shout-outs to the Black Parade and Danger Days Hatsune Miku’s— and traded handmade goods like stickers and pins until the show’s start.
After an introduction to the new Draag lore, Marianne, a fictional character and opera singer, walked out on stage to perform the United States national anthem as the band rotated from behind a fictional cityscape on stage. Fireworks shot out from behind the Bowl, and MCR went into the album’s first song, “The End.”.
The band then continued with the album’s tracklist with “Dead!”. They sounded as though no time had passed since the album’s original release in 2006, and the crowd was as pumped as they would have been 20 years ago too. Despite being in his Black Parade persona, Gerard screamed out and invited the crowd to sing with him during the song’s second chorus. Continuing with the show’s grandiose feel, dancers dressed in old-fashioned military garb joined the band on stage for the song’s ending.
Between songs, Gerard gave a PowerPoint presentation on the recent “improvements” that Draag has made since its successful invasion of the United States. The audience loved this satirical presentation and cheered as Gerard presented these changes, such as turning the Washington Monument into The Blade of Freedom or changing the faces of the US presidents on Mount Rushmore into the Grand Immortal Dictator. He ended the presentation with a Draag-inspired version of “This Land Is Your Land” by Woodie Guthrie, which went straight into “This Is How I Disappear,” and “The Sharpest Lives,” subsequently.
Photo by Bryce Hall
After another lore moment in which Gerard donned a (fake) handgun, the infamous “G-note” from “Welcome to the Black Parade” rang out through the crowd, sending everyone in the venue into a frenzy for one of the band’s most popular songs and what is widely regarded as an emo anthem. Gerard invited the audience to pump their fists in the air to the song’s beat, and the nearly 18,000 people in the venue happily followed along. The crowd reached an all-time high during the song’s chorus as they screamed so loud that they overpowered the band. Hollywood will hear the echoes of “carry on” for days to come.
The band continued with a beautiful rendition of “I Don’t Love You,” which included a breathtaking piano intro. Fans raised their flashlights as the venue turned into a deep shade of red, which was part of this night’s fan project.
After “House of Wolves,” Marianne returned to the stage alongside the Grand Immortal Dictator to sing “Happy Birthday.” As the Dictator had his eyes on his cake, Gerard shot the Dictator from behind with the aforementioned handgun. As Draag workers scattered around the stage in a frenzy trying to clean up the mess, the band immediately transitioned into “Cancer.” Despite the emotional song, what was happening on stage was almost comedic as Gerard pranced about the stage and actors struggled to wheel away the Grand Immortal Dictator’s dead body and clean up smushed cake from the floor. Kayleigh Goldsworthy’s violin playing was a standout during this song and added a new layer of heartbreak to the song.
“Mama” was a highlight of the set. As the song began with a violin and cello intro from Kaleigh and Clarice Jensen, respectively, the stage lights turned into a deep red, and pyrotechnics lit up the stage, warming up the crowd on this chilly SoCal evening. The song also featured a pivotal lore moment as a large prop nuclear missile was unveiled from under a Draag flag. During this extended version of “Mama,” Gerard also sang “A Dagger,” which he described as “a tool for my treasonous needs” in the lyrics, before finishing the song as a duet with Marianne. “Mama” also highlighted Frank’s and Ray’s guitar prowess. The two weren’t shy with their playing during the show, but this song showed how they were also digging into the theatrics of big numbers like this one.
“Sleep” included more lore, such as strapping a Draag employee to the nuclear missile. The song’s extended intro set a hauntingly beautiful backdrop for a somewhat morbid revolutionary act that the Black Parade committed. During the chorus, the stage lights rapidly flashed red and blue, making it seem like the stage was pulsating as the missile prepared for takeoff. Moments like these are when the MCR crew needs a big round of applause for their creativity and ability to pull off such intense stage effects.
As the opening notes of “Teenagers” rang out, fans joyfully screamed the lyrics back at the band. The dancers returned to the stage, but this time dressed as the Dallas Cowboys Cheerleaders.
Photo by Jesse DeFlorio
The performance continued to the penultimate song of The Black Parade, “Disenchanted.” During this song, lasers mimicking snipers illuminated the band members, following them on stage throughout the performance as the government of Draag was ready to retaliate against the Black Parade for killing the Grand Immortal Dictator. Despite this immersive moment in the Black Parade storyline, Gerard still made sure to interact with the crowd for a call-and-response during the bridge. As the song closed out, actors dressed in black military and Kevlar gear holding (fake) guns surrounded Gerard, ready to shoot, as the dancers dressed as the Dallas Cowboys Cheerleaders came back out, and a staged shootout between the two groups erupted.
As the stage burned, the band began playing “Famous Last Words,” another fan favorite. As fans screamed the song’s anthemic lyrics, fire shot from the stage and fireworks erupted from behind the Bowl. Fireworks also shot out on wires above the crowd, creating ear-piercing squeals that added a terrifying ambiance to the song and the set’s haunting end. The band’s acting reached its peak as they played into their emotions. Ray fell to the floor as he played, and brothers Mikey and Gerard held onto each other. The band succumbed to the wounds they endured from the shootout, marking an end to the Black Parade and the A-Stage portion of the show.
Shortly after finishing the spectacle that is the Black Parade, MCR returned to stage, out of character this time, to play some non-Black Parade tunes. Classics such as “I’m Not Okay (I Promise)” and “Na Na Na (Na Na Na Na Na Na Na Na Na)” returned to the lineup, while they also played others from their first two albums like “Honey, This Mirror Isn’t Big Enough for the Two of Us” and “It’s Not a Fashion Statement, It’s a Deathwish.”
Before performing “To The End,” another favorite from the band’s second studio album, Three Cheers for Sweet Revenge, Gerard thanked the cast, crew, the Hollywood Bowl, and the audience. He mentioned that the band and cast only did one full run-through of the show before this opening night at the Hollywood Bowl, but are “really happy with how it turned out.”
In the middle of this B-stage, MCR performed a cover of “Jack the Ripper” by Morrissey, a song that they have only played three times this year. Before this year, it had not been played since 2003, according to Setlist.fm. The band released this cover on their 2002 EP, Like Phantoms, Forever, and again on a limited edition vinyl in 2004. The audience erupted for this deep cut, and phone flashlights illuminated the stage.
Before the final song, Gerard started a call-and-response with the crowd, seamlessly blending into “Helena,” which caught the audience off guard. This iconic song left the crowd feeling satisfied, emotional, and impatiently awaiting what the remaining Hollywood Bowl dates had to bring.
This spectacle showed us that My Chemical Romance aren’t just musicians; they are true performers, and they have something to say about the current state of the geopolitical world. This reinvented version of the Black Parade tour, along with the original album itself, proves that. The Black Parade is one of the most influential and well-known concept albums, and the fact that MCR can continuously reinvent it and give it new life, even 20 years later, is a testament to the album’s beautiful and timeless storytelling, as well as MCR’s longevity as a band.
MCR’s “The Black Parade 2026” tour will continue with Southeast Asia dates in November. They will close out this historic run at the Hollywood Bowl with two additional sold-out performances on Oct. 30 and 31. You can listen to the 20th Anniversary Deluxe Edition of The Black Parade here.
