My Chemical Romance at Fenway Park, 9/7/25

With their “Long Live The Black Parade” tour, My Chemical Romance delivered an elaborate and entertaining exploration of authoritarianism.

Gerard Way, frontman for My Chemical Romance, performs at Fenway Park. Josh Reynolds/The Boston Globe

My Chemical Romance, with IDLES, at Fenway Park, Boston, Sept. 7, 2025.

How does one live under authoritarian rule? What is the role of the artist in a fascist regime?

These are the questions on the minds of My Chemical Romance, the mid-2000s rock/emo/pop punk legends currently touring the country in celebration of their 2006 album “The Black Parade.”

In the middle of a packed Fenway park, under a full moon shrouded in clouds, the band delivered a highly theatrical and immersive experience Sunday night. Their performance posed thorny questions about freedom and complicity, all wrapped up in a raucously nostalgic celebration of their most acclaimed work.

For much of their show, My Chemical Romance performed as “The Black Parade,” a fictional band who has been freed from prison and ordered to perform at the behest of a mysterious and all-powerful dictator. The concert was styled as a celebration of a “glorious time of stability and abundance” brought about by the dictator’s rise.

Imagery evoking Nazi Germany and Soviet Russia was ubiquitous. Uniformed men goose-stepped through the crowd as propagandistic footage and arbitrary rules blazed on massive screens. An actor playing the dictator presided over it all, watching the performance from a throne.

His face was rarely seen, but his presence literally loomed over the show. A screen high above Fenway showed a continuous shot of his hands, applauding and clenching and twisting in reaction to whatever was happening on stage. The effect was ominous, causing the audience to constantly wonder whether the Dear Leader was satisfied or displeased. Behind the screen showing the dictator’s hands, the top of the Prudential Center could also be seen. On Sunday night, it was lit up red, white, and blue.

Through it all, lead vocalist Gerard Way and his bandmates never broke character. Decked out in white makeup and their classic “Black Parade” band costumes, MCR played their third album in its entirety. Way, in particular, appeared to be having a blast as he cycled through heightened accents, clashed with the dictator’s minions, and drenched himself in sweat belting out hits like “I Don’t Love You” and “Teenagers.”

My Chemical Romance in concert at Fenway Park. *– Josh Reynolds/The Boston Globe*

A particularly striking moment occurred early in the set, after the Boston crowd went ballistic singing “Welcome to the Black Parade” alongside Way. Four people were then paraded onto the stage, hands bound and hoods over their heads. They had displeased the dictator, and punishment was necessary. Way asked the audience to decide their fate, using “yea” and “nay” signs that had been handed out at the gates.

But the election had been “rigged” through signs with inverted colors, causing Way to feign confusion on stage. In the end, the prisoners were executed by firing squad. As they fell, the crowd cheered and streamers rained down in a moment both thrilling and sickening.

Eventually, the band appeared to take part in a missile launch targeting the dictator’s enemies. “Famous Last Words” was a highlight, performed among copious pyrotechnics evoking a nuclear apocalypse. Amid confetti meant to look like ashes, Way’s character was bloodily stabbed by one of the dictator’s henchmen. That attaché, dressed as Pierrot, literally puppeted Way’s corpse before revealing and detonating a bomb vest under his outfit. The set concluded with the dictator standing and applauding, pleased at their willingness to debase themselves for his pleasure.

None of this was subtle, but it was exhilarating. On a chilly night in Fenway, the crowd ate it up. They were thrilled to be there: seemingly every other audience member had smeared white makeup or fake blood on their face and donned costumes similar to those worn by the band.

After an intermission soundtracked by cellist Clarice Jensen, the band shed their costumes and personas. They reemerged to rip through another set of songs not found on “The Black Parade.” Way was loose and chatty, free from the constraints of the highly choreographed first set and out on a smaller stage that protruded into the audience. “Na Na Na (Na Na Na Na Na Na Na Na Na)” stood out for its ability to get the crowd dancing, and “Vampires Will Never Hurt You” concluded the show with an ode to MCR’s longtime fans.