My Chemical Romance deliver a long-awaited rock sermon in Nashville

What if you didn't get a chance to see your favorite band until nearly 10 years after the group disbanded?

How often would songs from worn-out albums rattle living room walls or shake car windows as you daydreamed of shouting along to each over-the-top chorus in a room with like-minded listeners?

For a generation of My Chemical Romance fans, that dream became a high-flying rock 'n' roll reality Tuesday night in Nashville.

The New Jersey-born outfit returned to Music City this week for a one-night show at Bridgestone Arena, the third North American stop in a wildly anticipated globetrotting reunion tour. The tour — which kicked off last weekend in Oklahoma City after being twice delayed by COVID-19 — marks the first proper run of U.S. shows for the band since pulling the plug on a decade-plus of output in 2013.

Plenty of elder emo-rock fans dusted off skinny jeans and stretched out vintage Warped Tour t-shirts for the reunion, of course. But venue rows easily filled with as many teenagers— often dressed in black-and-red tops or "Black Parade" costumes linked to band iconology — as nostalgia-craved adults hungry to belt each word of cornerstone hit "I'm Not OK."

Young, old or in-between, fans received an arena-rock sermon that only My Chemical Romance could deliver — a no-frills dive into the chaotic, theatrical, uncanny and, yes, emotional catalog that shapeshifts from basement punk roots ("Our Lady Of Sorrows") to post-9/11 goth-rock angst ("I'm Not OK"), ambitious concept art ("Welcome To The Black Parade") and high-wired power-pop ("Na Na Na").

"I do believe some of you have been waiting a very long time for this show," bandleader Gerard Way, dressed in a cheerleading uniform, said early in the set. "We have, too. Thank you so much for waiting around."

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And in 2022, My Chemical Romance — long-adored by listeners but often dismissed by critics and award show voters — headlining one of the year's premier arena tours could be tied to a perfect storm of major label emo-rock revival, renewed interest in mid-2000s pop-punk (thanks to artists such as Olivia Rodrigo) and a built-up demand to hear the band play again.

But a simpler answer may be the better one: These songs hold up.

"Boy Division" hits like a welcomed gut-punch. "Teenagers" remains an all-time riffy-rock singalong. "Helena" stands as tear-jerking "so long (and good night)" to a lost loved one. "Famous Last Words"? "Mama"? "Welcome To The Black Parade"? Each earn a place among time-tested concept-rock canon.

And, as Gerard Way introduced it Tuesday night, "I'm Not OK" may be "the grrrreatest summer jam" of its era (depending on what you think of "Mr. Brightside," of course).

The six-piece band delivered each aforementioned song without the pomp typically reserved in an arena show. Pyrotechnics, floor-to-ceiling screens or flashy costumes didn't mask the masses from joining in when a chorus kicked in.

And while a reconnection between My Chemical Romance and its audience headlined the night, it wasn't the only reunion inside Bridgestone Arena. Five songs into the 90-minute set, Way noted Tuesday night was a homecoming show for his younger brother and bassist Mikey Way, an adopted Nashville musician.

On stage, guitarists Frank Iero and Ray Toro sported matching "Mikey (expletive) Way" t-shirts in a likely nod to the player's hometown gig.

Part of a three-song encore, the band closed its Nashville return with "The Kids From Yesterday," a slow-burning power ballad where Way croons that "this could be the last of all the rides we take, so hold on tight and don't look back."

Now, here's to hoping the kids from yesterday — and today — don't wait another decade for the next show.

My Chemical Romance Nashville setlist 

• The Foundations of Decay

• Boy Division

• Our Lady of Sorrows

• Give ‘em Hell, Kid

• House of Wolves

• Summertime

• Teenagers

• Thank You For The Venom

• I’m Not Okay

• Destroya

• Na Na Na

• The World Is Ugly

• This Is The Best Day Ever

• Welcome To The Black Parade

• Mama

• Sleep

• Famous Last Words

• Helena

Encore:

• Vampire Money

• Hang ‘Em High

• The Kids From Yesterday

This article originally appeared on Nashville Tennessean: My Chemical Romance make long-awaited Nashville return: Review