My Chemical Romance, Bucket List Status, Palladium, Hollywood, May 28, 2011

Anyone that knows me, is well aware of my devotion to My Chemical Romance. I first got into them because of the song HELENA as I was going through one of the greatest losses of my life, 6 years ago. Only a few people close to me know the full story, but let me say this…as cliche as it sounds, MCR pulled me out of a state of grief and despair over this great loss. I had never heard of the band before that fateful day I was at home mindlessly flipping through TV channels, working my way through the stages of grief. I have faced much tragedy in my life in recent years…and MCR has been there.

And for that reason, I tolerate the EMO jokes and I take all the digs at MCR in stride. Make fun of them (and me for liking them) all you want. I know why I like them. I like them for very personal reasons, not because anyone else does. I like them for the right reasons. Its silly! Call me EMO all you want! Its just funny now.

So, despite being a true fangirl for six years, I had never seen them in concert. I know, right? Me! Who goes to concerts almost every weekend! Yet, MCR had evaded me…until I heard they were going to be at the Palladium last month! It fit the requirements! GA, smaller venue, non stadium, Saturday night! Perfect! I bought my ticket as soon as they went on sale and had been anticipating this concert for months! This was one of the first things on my (not a) bucket list! It was finally happening! I was going to see MCR live in concert! I had seen Gerard Way speak at Comic Con last year, but this was the band, playing my songs! So excited…

Then the fear set in. I asked Scott Jackson about it, and concluded that if I risked the floor I would get trampled. He said the first time he went to the Palladium, he was surprised by how big it was. I thought about possibly just not going because I’m the only true MCR fan I know. Heck, I’m probably the only true MCR fan YOU know. I go to concerts alone all the time but I had the feeling that something was going to be different about this concert…a rock concert…general admission…I was worried…I had no one to go with, and the end of the school year was fast approaching. This was supposed to be my “you survived the school year” gift…and it had been calendared for months. On the last day of school I decided I was going to suck it up and go alone and stand in the back and experience it. And just when I was okay with it, and had stopped thinking about it, D randomly and casually tells me “so I might see you on Saturday” and I’m thinking…we don’t have plans for Saturday…except for my MCR concert I wont stop talking about. Yeah, D scored a ticket to MCR and was going. Daniel. The guy that listens to me talk about MCR all the time, yet doesn’t know their songs or much about them and doesn’t care for them at all… Yeah. That Daniel. Yeah…AWKWARD…I mean SURPRISE!

The conversation a mere 12 hours before the show…and yes, I went to see Glee Live that afternoon, and MCR that night. Sup.

I had no interest in the opening bands, so I got there way after Daniel…which meant he had secured a nice safe spot on the balcony! Perfect view too! Circa Survive was towards the end of their set. I had never heard any of their songs, and we pretty much just wished they would finish up already. The sound was bad. Also, check out the floor! Crowded, packed, and this isn’t even a picture of the whole floor. It was intense to see the moshing and waves of people. I was glad D had saved a spot on the balcony. Awesome. After Circa Survive, we posed for a picture, because it was still surreal that D had made it out to a My Chemical Romance concert. I would have never imagined. I’m on the left.

Soon, MCR took the stage opening up with their opening tracks off of Danger Days, which I wasn’t a fan of at first, but now I do enjoy it very much! From the start, the energy in the place was surreal. I was surrounded by people that loved MCR as much as I did! Well most of them. I’m sure some of them were dragged there by their significant others.

I loved this concert. I was finally seeing my favorite band live, and they played a bunch of their old songs from their first two CDs! THAT was a great surprise! Gerard Way sounded great, the rest of the boys sounded great. I miss Bob, but whoever was drumming that night was on point!

I go to a lot of concerts, you know this, but this one meant the world to me. I needed to experience MCR live and had been wanting to for years. On this night, it finally happened. And I didn’t experience it alone. Very serendipitous for sure.

Eventually, I did make it to the floor, but kept a safe distance at the back. I got to hear my old favorites! They played almost 20 songs, but for me the highlights were: Thank You For the Venom, Hang ‘Em High, House of Wolves, The Ghost of You (so melt), Vampires Will Never Hurt You (classic) and of course, the song that started it all for me, Helena.

One of the last songs they played that night (which I’m not going to name) is one of my ultimate MCR songs that I don’t think many people have heard because it was never on the radio as a single…but it has always meant the world to me ever since the day I first heard it, back many years ago. I just loved the sound and the beat and how fast paced it is. Thinking back to a recent disagreement that D and I had, the last four lines take on a whole new meaning, and it was ironic this was one of the songs they chose to play that night, because yes, I was there with my best friend.

And so, as I hit publish on this post, that took me so long to write, I’m off to cross this experience off my (not a) Bucket List.

#happy