Gig review: My Chemical Romance

Published on Wednesday 16 February 2011 19:03

MY CHEMICAL ROMANCE SECC, GLASGOW ****

DESPITE shunning the "emo" tag, the massive, New Jersey-formed My Chemical Romance are a walking example of The Hudsucker Proxy's "you know, for kids!" maxim. Singer Gerard Way may have hidden his boyish, alternative pin-up features under a mask of white make-up and pink eyeshadow – an image of the kind of fragile, dehumanised pop automaton his band rail against – yet this was an arena spectacular with a basic, youthful appeal.

The sextet dispensed with any over-elaborate gimmickry, surrounding themselves instead with a fierce wall of noise and banks of simple but effective lighting. A pair of video screens displaying non sequitur slogans ("building a better you"; "the aftermath is secondary") were the only concession to those at the back of the open-plan hall. Behind the volume, the band displayed impressive versatility, playing thrash metal on Give 'Em Hell Kid and DESTROYA, tribal techno on Planetary (GO!), arena rock through The Only Hope for Me is You and Welcome to the Black Parade, and old-fashioned rock 'n' roll on Vampire Money.

Singing Happy Birthday to Glaswegian comic-book writer Grant Morrison, a friend of Way's, was also a nice touch. Although the youngest and wildest were perhaps most receptive to Cancer, a piano ballad sung by Way in a spotlit silhouette. This was a show even sceptical older witnesses discovered had real heart.