| Tour by My Chemical Romance | |
| Promotional poster | |
| Location | North America |
|---|---|
| Associated album | The Black Parade |
| Start date | July 11, 2025 |
| End date | September 20, 2025 |
| Legs | 1 |
| No. of shows | 12 |
| Attendance | 448,100 [1] |
| Box office | $88,500,000+ [1] |
| My Chemical Romance concert chronology | |
Long Live The Black Parade [a] was a concert tour by the American rock band My Chemical Romance in celebration of their third studio album, The Black Parade (2006). It began on July 11, 2025, in Seattle, and concluded on September 20, in Atlanta. For the tour, the band played The Black Parade in its entirety, as well as multiple other songs on a separate B-stage set. The tour grossed over $88,500,000, with a total attendance of 448,100.
A theatrical styled production, the tour followed an overarching narrative centered around the fictional dictatorship of Draag. It saw the return of the band's Black-Parade alter-ego from the Black Parade World Tour in 2007, performing to appease Draag's leader, known as the Grand Immortal Dictator. Each show of the tour progressed the story, which was told through interactions between the band and multiple other characters, such as the Clerk (Charlie Saxton) and Marianne (Lucy Joy Altus). Multiple songs from The Black Parade were given modifications for the tour, ranging from new sections and introductions, to extended outros.
The tour was first announced in November 2024, after the band's performance of The Black Parade in its entirety at When We Were Young, which marked the album's first full live performance since 2007. The tour was initially announced with ten shows in North America, with an extra Los Angeles date and a performance at Shaky Knees Music Festival announced later. In September 2025, the band announced The Black Parade 2026, a separate tour that also acts as a continuation of Long Live; dates in Mexico City and London, which were previously announced as part of Long Live, were rebranded to The Black Parade 2026.
My Chemical Romance released their third studio album, The Black Parade , in 2006. [3] It was supported by The Black Parade World Tour, which began on February 22, 2007, [4] where the band would play the album in its entirety [5] as the "Black Parade", an alter-ego band that the album was named after. [6] They played as the Black Parade alter-ego until October 7, 2007, when the alter-ego was killed off. [7] On October 19 and 20, 2024, My Chemical Romance headlined the When We Were Young festival, where they performed The Black Parade in its entirety for the first time since 2007. [3]
My Chemical Romance announced Long Live The Black Parade on November 12, 2024. Initially, ten shows across North America were announced, spanning across 2025, [3] [8] with most of the shows taking place at Major League Baseball stadiums. [8] Most dates on the tour have a unique opening act (e.g. Evanescence, 100 gecs). [9] [10] Due to high demand, the band had to schedule a second date in Los Angeles after tickets went on sale. [11]
In May 2025, the band announced a show in Mexico City on February 13, 2026, officially advertised as "The Black Parade – Alive!". [12] A second show in Mexico City taking place on February 14 was announced a few days later. [13] In June, the band announced a series of dates throughout South America. [14] [15] Dates throughout Southeast Asia were announced in July. [16] In August, the band announced two shows at Wembley Stadium in London for July 10 and July 11, 2026. [17] On September 22, 2025, the band announced The Black Parade 2026, which acts as a continuation of Long Live, though was advertised separately. All of the aforementioned additional dates were relabeled as part of the 2026 tour, alongside the announcement of extra dates in the United States and Europe. [18] [19] [20]
To promote the tour, My Chemical Romance released a series of teasers and trailers with cryptic meanings, sparking fan debate and speculation. [21] [22] On the day before the initial announcement of the tour in November, the band posted a teaser image on their Instagram page, depicting the skyline of a white city with pieces of confetti floating around, with the letters KCR arranged in a new logo. [23] The post had the caption "If you could be anything, what would you be?". [3] Several fans speculated that the announcement was for The Paper Kingdom , the band's planned fifth studio album that was scrapped before their initial break up in 2013. [24]
When the tour was announced, the band released a trailer [25] [26] [27] which features a dictator walking out onto a balcony to a cheering crowd in a white-colored dystopian city. [10] [27] [28] The description of the trailer references the time that had passed since the last appearance of the Black Parade alter-ego, and made numerous references to a fictional dictatorship known as Draag. [10] [26] The announcement trailer for the Mexico City show made similar references, while also retconning the death of the Black Parade. [12] Other teasers related to the tour that were released included ones simply titled "Opera" and "Good Boy". [22]
For Long Live The Black Parade shows, the band performs two different sets, with the first set featuring the band dressed up as the Black Parade alter-ego, performing The Black Parade in its entirety. Their outfits are updated versions of their original Black Parade uniforms. [29] The Black Parade set features a theatrical styled production, with the band fully placing themselves into the role of the Black Parade. [30] The second set takes place on a B-stage, and features songs from the rest of My Chemical Romance's discography. [31]
In addition to the band's main line-up, the tour features several additional musicians, including drummer Jarrod Alexander, keyboardist Jamie Muhoberac, [30] violinist Kayleigh Goldsworthy (who joins the band on "Cancer" and "Mama", specifically), [32] and percussionist Tucker Rule. [33] Other characters established for the tour include the Grand Immortal Dictator, the leader of the fictional country of Draag and played by Wayne Jay; [34] the Gentleman, a ventriloquist dummy that the band seemingly met while in prison; Marianne, a guest opera singer played by Lucy Joy Altus; and The Clerk, played by Charlie Saxton. [35] On certain dates, Marianne is replaced by another opera singer, Sylvia, who is played by Charlotte Kelso. [34]
The production for Long Live The Black Parade is centered around Draag. The country is a dictatorship, ruled by the Grand Immortal Dictator. [36] Throughout the tour, several ministries of the country have either been referenced or made appearances, including the "Ministry of Menial Tasks", the "Ministry of Complimentary Reconditioning", and the "Ministry of Operatic Relations". The second of which has only been referenced in print set lists that were given out to fans. [36] Draag's national anthem is "Over Fields", which the band later uploaded onto social media. [37] In the description of the trailer which announced the tour, it states that the Black Parade alter-ego had its work privilege reinstated to celebrate the culture and accomplishments of the regime. The Black Parade's ceremonial title is "His Grand Immortal Dictator's National Band", [10] [26] and the performance of the alter-ego is solely to appease the dictator. The production is intended to be a parody of political authoritarianism. [30]
The band's vocalist Gerard Way commissioned typographer Nate Piekos to design a language for the tour, to serve as the language for Draag and to be used on merchandise. The language is known as Keposhka. [39] [38] It contains more letters than the standard English alphabet, while certain letter combinations will lead to the creation of unique symbols. The language features more of these symbols than standard letters. [36] The language is utilized in multiple aspects of the tour, including being used for the washing instructions on tour merchandise. A total of fourteen different Keposhkan fonts were made by Piekos. [39] Fan attempts to decipher the language resulted in the creation of online tools for translating English to Keposhka, as well as a version of Wordle featuring exclusively Keposhkan words. [39]
For the main Black Parade set, My Chemical Romance made adjustments to multiple songs. [29] [32] "Mama" received updated lyrics and an extension known as the "Dagger" section. Several songs received extended introductions and outros, including "Sleep". [32] A reprise version of "The End." was also added, which features an extended outro. [29]
During the B-stage set of the band's performance in San Francisco on July 19, they premiered a cover of the Smashing Pumpkins song "Bullet with Butterfly Wings". [40] At the Chicago performance on August 29, Billy Corgan of Smashing Pumpkins joined them for another performance of "Bullet with Butterfly Wings" to close the show. [41] They premiered a cover of Bon Jovi's "Livin' on a Prayer" on August 9 in East Rutherford, New Jersey. [42] In their first night at Los Angeles on July 26, they played a song from The Paper Kingdom, titled "War Beneath the Rain". The song was dedicated to the family of their past producer Doug McKean, who were attending the show. [43]
Before the show started, a recording of "Tonight You Belong to Me" (1956) by American vocal duo Patience and Prudence played over the PA system. [44] Following, the show opened up with Marianne, the opera singer, performing the National Anthem of Draag, "Over Fields", and requesting the audience to partake in the performance. [37] [44] [45] The band then came out on stage in their Black Parade outfits and began performing The Black Parade in full, starting with "The End.", "Dead!", "This Is How I Disappear", and "The Sharpest Lives". [45]
In-between song performances there were short interactions between characters that progressed the tour's overarching story. Examples included Gerard Way's character receiving orders from other characters and being punished when refusing to comply, and introducing the Grand Immortal Dictator, who was played by an actor that watched the performance. [45] [35] These interactions also included localized ones specific to the city the show was taking place in, such as the band being given Dodger Dogs during their performances in Los Angeles, [30] [46] and them inviting the mayor of Belleville, New Jersey on stage in East Rutherford. [47] Each show on the tour featured minor differences from the preceding one. [36]
The album's centerpiece, "Welcome to the Black Parade", was contextualized in the show as a nationalist speech, delivered by Gerard Way from a podium and accompanied by footage of Draag propaganda. [48] After the song, they invited the audience to participate in a mock election. [49] [30] [35] Prior to the show, attendees were handed voting cards for the election (which say "yea" and "nay"), [35] [b] which were then used to vote on whether or not to execute four people. [30] [49] [35] The execution then took place before the band continued performing the album, moving on to "I Don't Love You". The band continued to receive messages from the Clerk, while also expressing rebellion towards Draag, with Gerard Way at one point removing his Black Parade jacket after tearing up a message. [45] [35]
The latter part of the set simulated nuclear warfare against Draag. [48] During the extended portion of "Mama", he stole a dagger from one of the Dictator's servants, and described it as "a tool for our treasonous needs". The opera singer Marianne was also brought out to perform part of the song from the stadium's smaller B-stage. [35] "Sleep" was accompanied by a simulation of Draag launching several nuclear missiles. [48] For "Teenagers", the show screen was flashed with multiple advertisements related to in-universe products from Draag. "Disenchanted" was preceded by a video which addresses the audience regarding unity. [45] The album's closing song, "Famous Last Words", utilized pyrotechnics as the stage erupts into flames. [45] [35]
At the end of the Black Parade set, the band performed a reprise version of "The End." [45] [35] Mid-way through the performance, the Clerk came on stage, now dressed up as a Pierrot, and stabbed Gerard Way's character in the throat. [51] [45] [35] The rest of the band was then forcefully removed from the stage by Draag soldiers, [45] [35] except for Muhoberac, who was escorted off of the stage while holding a plane ticket. [45] Afterwards, the Pierrot danced in victory to the album's hidden track "Blood". He later revealed a bomb vest underneath his costume, which detonated and closed the first set. [45] [35] For the intermission between the two sets, cellist Clarice Jensen played "From A to B". [43] For the second set, the band removed their Black Parade costumes and went onto the B-stage to play an assortment of songs from the rest of their discography. [45] [31]
Tickets for the initial ten North American dates went on sale on November 15, 2024. [52] [10] Within a few hours, all tickets to each show had sold out, with 365,000 tickets sold in total. [11] The prices of tickets sold for the concerts were noted by fans online as being exceptionally high, with some seats having starting prices of over US$700. [11] [53] It was widely speculated that the band had opted into Ticketmaster's dynamic pricing feature, which scales the prices of tickets based on their demand. [11] [53] [54] Prices were further accelerated by bot accounts, which were used to automatically purchase tickets and resell them at artificially inflated prices. [55] Some fans criticized the band directly for their handling of ticket sales and alleged use of dynamic pricing, while others debated whether the band willingly opted into the practice, if they were forced into it by Ticketmaster, or if the practice was in use at all. [53] [55] Tickets for the Mexico City dates went on sale on May 24, 2025, [12] while London's went on sale on August 15. [17]
The tour grossed over $88,500,000, with a total attendance of 448,100. [1] The first four dates of Long Live The Black Parade earned over $29,900,000, with a total attendance of 158,000. It was the eleventh highest grossing tour of July 2025; their two shows in Los Angeles, in particular, became the twelfth highest grossing concert dates of July 2025. [56] In August 2025, the tour grossed over $42,200,000 with an attendance of 207,000. It was the sixth highest grossing tour of that month. [57] The two final non-festival dates of the initial North American leg in September grossed $16,400,000 with an attendance of 83,100. [58]
The following set list was performed at Globe Life Field in Arlington, Texas on August 2, 2025. It is not representative of all shows during the tour. [59] [60]
The Black Parade
Intermission
B-Stage
| Date | City | Country | Venue | Opening act(s) | Attendance [c] | Revenue [c] |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| July 11 | Seattle | United States | T-Mobile Park | Violent Femmes | — | — |
| July 19 | San Francisco | Oracle Park | 100 gecs | — | — | |
| July 26 | Los Angeles | Dodger Stadium | Wallows | 87,400 | $15,000,000 | |
| July 27 | ||||||
| August 2 | Arlington | Globe Life Field | Garbage | — | — | |
| August 9 | East Rutherford | MetLife Stadium | Death Cab for Cutie Thursday | 45,500 | $9,300,000 | |
| August 15 | Philadelphia | Citizens Bank Park | Alice Cooper | — | — | |
| August 22 | Toronto | Canada | Rogers Centre | Pixies | — | — |
| August 29 | Chicago | United States | Soldier Field | Devo | 46,400 | $10,700,000 |
| September 7 | Boston | Fenway Park | Idles | — | — | |
| September 13 | Tampa | Raymond James Stadium | Evanescence | — | — | |
| September 20 [d] | Atlanta | Piedmont Park | N/a | N/a | N/a |