October 31st shall forever be remembered as the single most important day of 2019. With a single tweet sent out, the gates of heaven opened and the opening chords to “Welcome to the Black Parade” rang across the earth. As everyone knows, or at least should know by now, the planets have aligned so that My Chemical Romance could reunite, something the younger version of myself never believed could happen. I can recall the warm fall afternoons I spent sitting at my sister’s soccer practice listening to Danger Days through my bright pink headphones. Honestly, I thought I was the edgiest kid alive, and I owe it all to MCR. The recent news brought about countless memories such as this one and the possibility of seeing MCR play live for the first time, but it also brought up some questions as to what the future holds.
In order to inform the uneducated and remind the forgotten, here is everything you need to know before you cut your bangs and pull out the black lipstick:
Top MCR Albums:
- Danger Days: True Lives of the Fabulous Killjoys
- I Brought You My Bullets, You Brought Me Your Love
- Three Cheers for Sweet Revenge
- The Black Parade
Bonus Song: Every Snowflake Is Different (Created for their cameo on Yo Gabba Gabba)
What exactly happened in 2016? July of 2016 was the collective rebirth and death of millions of MCR worshippers across the world. The band posted a teaser trailer online, and mass chaos ensued as fans speculated on what exactly the video hinted at. A reunion? A new album? Alas, it was only an anniversary re-release of the Black Parade. This marked the day most fans began to accept the fall of a band that made them feel a little less alone.
A few conspiracy theories:
Between MCR’s breakup and reincarnation, there were countless fan theories surrounding if and when the band would get back together. Here are a few of my favorites.
- The Smashing Pumpkins theory, which to me is complete nonsense and more of a coincidence: Both bands broke up after 12 years. Smashing Pumpkins came back after 7 years. Coincidentally, MCR has also returned after 7 years.
- My Chemical Romance was terrified of the “teenage years” of the band, hence their song “Teenagers” and would return once the band was of adult age.
- The one that makes the most sense: My Chemical Romance’s album Danger Days is set in California in 2019, and this marks where/when their reunion concert will be.
The future of MCR:
Currently, the band only has five shows scheduled in California, Australia, New Zealand and Japan, but I expect they will embark on a North American tour within the next year or two. As for new music, that’s a more difficult topic.
Over the past seven years, multiple members of MCR have released other music projects which differ quite a bit from the band’s trademarked sound. They have all grown up and started families of their own and their music has grown with them. Honestly, the best advice is to pretend they are an entirely new band because to expect the same angsty “I hate the world” attitude is a lot to ask. So before you run off to buy new merch at Hot Topic, maybe wait to see what’s in store.