My Chemical Romance - Portland, OR - 4/8,9
I'm combining my reviews into one post because it's all kind of a blur.
So, Day 1:
I took a half day off work and headed there around 12:30 and wasn't too far back in line. Made friends with a girl half my age, got rained on, etc. Nothing too eventful.
Drive-by was okay, not enough stage presence to support their well-played and well-written but not-too-original music. They kinda seemed like they didn't want to be there, especially the singer.
Billy Talent put on a good show, not a fan of the music all that much. The crowd started getting kinda wild at this point so I focused on trying not to die most of the set.
Then...MCR!! I have no idea what order they played stuff in but basically, they played all of Black Parade, save a couple of songs, Headfirst for Halos, the BP b-sides, Desert Song, I'm Not Okay, Hang Em High, Prison, Helena (for the last song), and I Never Told You What I Do for a Living. I think that's all of them...
Anyway, so they were AWESOME. Such a good show!! I was right up against the barrier, so unfortunately I have some brutal bruises/goose eggs on my arms, but it was completely worth it.
Onto the second night...HAPPY BIRTHDAY, GERARD!
So I arrived around 1pm, still close in line. I had to go pee at one point, so I asked the girls by me to hold my spot and went to Whole Foods. When I was walking back, I saw that the bus had showed up and people were standing by it. I waited for awhile and Ray came out! He signed stuff for a couple of people (not me, sadly) and left. We waited for awhile longer and then FRANK CAME OUT!!
I am a diehard Frank fan. I firmly believe that the man has superpowers. I know it's ridiculous. Anyway, the man is amazing. He popped out of the bus and everyone was like "OMG" and he said, "Hey guys! *dazzlingly adorable smile* I'm gonna run across the street, then I will be right back to sign everything, okay?"
He ran off for like 10 min, then came back and indulged everyone and it was great. He was so friendly! I gave him this letter I wrote for Gerard and he made a crack about it ("What is this? Bills? *giggle*) because I couldn't find any paper, so I wrote it on pages from a magazine and stuck it in an old envelope. Unfortunately, although I'm quite gregarious and charismatic 99% of the time, when I'm around someone I admire I turn into a blubbering idiot so I didn't say anything witty back. For the record, I would have said, "Yeah, I can't quite afford my cable this month, I was hoping he could help out," or something like that.
Anyway, so my life was pretty much made at that point. We waited around for Gee for awhile, but he never came by. My friend and I squeezed back in line with a friend of a friend. If you were in line and had some guy with hastily done makeup harassing you with Paramore stickers, that was me!
So Drive By was a little better this night, as well as Billy Talent. MCR WAS FUCKING INSANE. THEY SERIOUSLY JUST...GAAAAH. WORDS CANNOT EVEN BEGIN TO EXPRESS HOW GREAT THE SHOW WAS.
They played mostly the same songs as the night before, but with an addition of Cemetery Drive, Give 'em Hell Kid, and some more stuff I can't remember. They all were wearing shirts that said "Fuck Billy Mitchell" and Gerard started talking about the movie "King of Kong," and then they had Weemee or however you spell his name come out and do a drum solo. The guys were GEEKING OUT. Bob was taking pictures and Frank was smiling like a little kid. It was awesome!
Also, between a bunch of the songs, Gerard kept telling everyone to sing him happy birthday. And at one point, he started talking about Willow and he gave Mikey the mic. He said something along the lines of, "When Willow first came out, I fucking loved it, but we bought it at Wal Mart the other night and I realized something: that movie fucking sucks." Then Gerard says, "They don't even pull out a fucking sword until 45 minutes into the movie." It was great!
Oh and James covered "Sweet Caroline" at one point.
No Frerard either night, although during Teenagers on the second night, Gee acted like he was jerking off the guy that came out to play harmonica and then jerked off the microphone over his mouth a little bit later. Both nights Gerard kept going on about Red Bull smoothies that he was drinking on stage. "Seriously you guys, get yourselves a fuckin' blender and some fuckin' fruit."
I think that's all I have to say. No photos or anything as cameras weren't allowed in the venue.
So, Day 1:
I took a half day off work and headed there around 12:30 and wasn't too far back in line. Made friends with a girl half my age, got rained on, etc. Nothing too eventful.
Drive-by was okay, not enough stage presence to support their well-played and well-written but not-too-original music. They kinda seemed like they didn't want to be there, especially the singer.
Billy Talent put on a good show, not a fan of the music all that much. The crowd started getting kinda wild at this point so I focused on trying not to die most of the set.
Then...MCR!! I have no idea what order they played stuff in but basically, they played all of Black Parade, save a couple of songs, Headfirst for Halos, the BP b-sides, Desert Song, I'm Not Okay, Hang Em High, Prison, Helena (for the last song), and I Never Told You What I Do for a Living. I think that's all of them...
Anyway, so they were AWESOME. Such a good show!! I was right up against the barrier, so unfortunately I have some brutal bruises/goose eggs on my arms, but it was completely worth it.
Onto the second night...HAPPY BIRTHDAY, GERARD!
So I arrived around 1pm, still close in line. I had to go pee at one point, so I asked the girls by me to hold my spot and went to Whole Foods. When I was walking back, I saw that the bus had showed up and people were standing by it. I waited for awhile and Ray came out! He signed stuff for a couple of people (not me, sadly) and left. We waited for awhile longer and then FRANK CAME OUT!!
I am a diehard Frank fan. I firmly believe that the man has superpowers. I know it's ridiculous. Anyway, the man is amazing. He popped out of the bus and everyone was like "OMG" and he said, "Hey guys! *dazzlingly adorable smile* I'm gonna run across the street, then I will be right back to sign everything, okay?"
He ran off for like 10 min, then came back and indulged everyone and it was great. He was so friendly! I gave him this letter I wrote for Gerard and he made a crack about it ("What is this? Bills? *giggle*) because I couldn't find any paper, so I wrote it on pages from a magazine and stuck it in an old envelope. Unfortunately, although I'm quite gregarious and charismatic 99% of the time, when I'm around someone I admire I turn into a blubbering idiot so I didn't say anything witty back. For the record, I would have said, "Yeah, I can't quite afford my cable this month, I was hoping he could help out," or something like that.
Anyway, so my life was pretty much made at that point. We waited around for Gee for awhile, but he never came by. My friend and I squeezed back in line with a friend of a friend. If you were in line and had some guy with hastily done makeup harassing you with Paramore stickers, that was me!
So Drive By was a little better this night, as well as Billy Talent. MCR WAS FUCKING INSANE. THEY SERIOUSLY JUST...GAAAAH. WORDS CANNOT EVEN BEGIN TO EXPRESS HOW GREAT THE SHOW WAS.
They played mostly the same songs as the night before, but with an addition of Cemetery Drive, Give 'em Hell Kid, and some more stuff I can't remember. They all were wearing shirts that said "Fuck Billy Mitchell" and Gerard started talking about the movie "King of Kong," and then they had Weemee or however you spell his name come out and do a drum solo. The guys were GEEKING OUT. Bob was taking pictures and Frank was smiling like a little kid. It was awesome!
Also, between a bunch of the songs, Gerard kept telling everyone to sing him happy birthday. And at one point, he started talking about Willow and he gave Mikey the mic. He said something along the lines of, "When Willow first came out, I fucking loved it, but we bought it at Wal Mart the other night and I realized something: that movie fucking sucks." Then Gerard says, "They don't even pull out a fucking sword until 45 minutes into the movie." It was great!
Oh and James covered "Sweet Caroline" at one point.
No Frerard either night, although during Teenagers on the second night, Gee acted like he was jerking off the guy that came out to play harmonica and then jerked off the microphone over his mouth a little bit later. Both nights Gerard kept going on about Red Bull smoothies that he was drinking on stage. "Seriously you guys, get yourselves a fuckin' blender and some fuckin' fruit."
I think that's all I have to say. No photos or anything as cameras weren't allowed in the venue.