A Dedication To Emo Kings My Chemical Romance
March 2023 is a special month. At first, it may not seem like it. But soon you’ll hear the rumblings. You’ll see the black eyeliner disappear off the shelves of Priceline. You’ll notice a few more people popping out with skinny-leg jeans on, side fringes swept perfectly across their foreheads, and chipped nails, painted black.
Somewhere, the G-note will play, and people will drop what they’re holding and congregate, marching in a straight line towards their destiny.
March is the month our Emo Kings My Chemical Romance grace Australian shores again to perform their greatest hits, three years after their initial visit to Australia got cancelled due to COVID.
If you were around and in the emo scene in the ’00s (guilty), My Chemical Romance was one of the biggest bands to come out of the emo era. While their second album Three Cheers For Sweet Revenge gave us bangers like ‘Helena’ and ‘I’m Not Okay’, it was their third studio album The Black Parade that really took the band to new heights and cemented their status at the Emo Kings of a generation.
If you know, you know.
So in celebration of My Chemical Romance gracing Aussie shores again in the holy emo year of 2023, here’s why they were (and ARE) so iconic:
1. They were a band for the underdogs
Let’s just say, hypothetically, the year was 2005ish and you were a huge loser in high school with not many friends. Hypothetically!
When you’d go home, and whack on Channel [V] and they had Emo Hour, more often than not My Chemical Romance’s theme song for all bullied losers ‘I’m Not Okay’ would be played and everything would feel OK again for 3 minutes and 24 seconds.
I mean they said it right here, themselves, in the iconic film clip. They were a band for all the people who had ever been made to feel Not Okay.
They were a friend for all the sad emos who had to come home, and wipe stained yoghurt off their schoolbag which got taken from them at lunch, trashed in the courtyard, and left to be found just before the next class.
Hypothetically, of course.
2. All their albums hit in various different ways
While they weren’t super internationally famous for their first album I Brought You My Bullets, You Brought Me Your Love (banger album though, listen to it), the evolution of My Chemical Romance over time was nothing short of a privilege to watch.
From disgruntled New Jersey boys with the world against them, to theatrical performers and accomplished rock musicians, each album serves its very own moment in time and were conceptual works of art encapsulating a theme.
Also ‘Famous Last Words’ might be one of the best songs to exist of all time. Fight me.
3. Gerard Way is an icon
Looking back, the ’00s was a different time. Bands, and leading men of bands, could be really fucking creepy. In fact, many still are. Then you had Gerard Way giving speeches in the ’00s, telling young girls and women that they’re powerful and beautiful just as they are, and in no way, shape or form should feel pressured by sleazy band guys to lift up their shirts or join them backstage. King behaviour!
He’s also always been super open about mental health, talking about his own struggles and encouraging fans to never resort to violence, self-harm, or suicide.
Plus, if you’ve been keeping an eye on the more recent tours, you’ll know Gerard has been rocking all sorts of iconic outfits on stage and really just leaning into whatever the fuck he wants, whether it’s dresses, skirts, a full-blown ghost outfit, a vampire outfit… you name it, he’ll do it. An icon!
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4. They always pushed the limit to do something different
Uhh excuse me, have you heard the masterpiece that is ‘Mama’ ft. Liza Minelli? ‘You Know What They Do To Guys Like Us In Prison’ ft. Bert McCracken? The pivot to a heartfelt ballad like ‘Cancer’ or ‘I Don’t Love You’ and then coming right back out with a stadium-stomping anthem like ‘Na Na Na’. They can do it all!
5. They do not have a bad song
OK, look this is highly subjective but if you’re reading this you’re probably a MCR fan anyway and agree with me. We all cried when ‘Foundations of Decay’ was released last year, don’t lie.
Anyway, if you need to get hyped for the upcoming Emo Month of March, I recommend this viewing.
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See you on the My Chem dancefloor, fellow emos.