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MY FIRST MY CHEM SHOW!!
This was the best day of my life!!! We arrived to a 5:00 showing at First Avenue at 2:00. We waited in line for 3 hours, (realizing I should of sat down) but it was worth it. The line went around both sides of the building. It was so long! Luckily, we were close to the front. In line, we met an awesome fellow fan named Elexis who became like a best friend within a minute haha. Seriously, when something exciting happened and she went to get a drink, we were like "Where's Elexis?! She's missing it!" While waiting in line, we saw a huge RV over in the parking lot of the Hard Rock Cafe. (less than 50 or so feet away from where we were in line. It backed out and was going down the street. My friend Kaylee was saying it was them, but me and my other friend Annie were doubtful. Suddenly, it stopped and backed up into a garage type area at the venue. A group of screamed and ran over to the RV in hopes of seeing one of the guys. A chunk of the group left because we had been waiting there for awhile and they didn't think they were going to see anything, but just then, after a group of crew-men came off, the one and only Gerard Way comes walking out of the RV with his red hair, sunglasses, and tan jacket. We scream and yell and he just smiles and waves and walked quickly past us. (obviously wanting to get out of there before he got mobbed.) While we had been sitting there staring at the RV windows, I swear I saw the familiar hair of Frank haha :)
We return to our places in line. There's a door on the wall we were waiting along, and every time it opened, we heard Gerard's voice loud and clear doing a soundcheck. We heard him singing some of Na Na Na and Bulletproof Heart. (I think.) While waiting outside, the opening bands kept coming by and we realized after we saw them perform, that we should have stopped to talk to them and take pictures. Eventually 5:00 rolled around and we started moving in. At the door, guys got a pat down while girls had their bags checked. We gave the lady inside our tickets and in return received 2 cupcake stamps on the backs of our hands. It made us think of Ray and his cupcake incident haha. We walk up the 3 nearby steps and into a dark foggy danceroom with 3 wide steps on either side of the sound boards. They led down to the huge dancefloor. Balconies were above us which was the bar area and down ramps lined the sides of the room and they were immediately filled up. The merchandise stand was over to our right, but it was too crowded at the time and me and Annie didn't want to lose our spots on the top step by the sound boards. (It was the best spot for us shorties to see haha). My other friend Kaylee ran right down onto the dancefloor, wanting to be as close to the band as possible. Me and Annie weren't moving. We had a great view and could see the whole band perfectly. Plus we didn't want to get squished.
After 6:30 rolled around (people STILL filling in), the first opening band came on, The Architects. They played about 5 or 6 songs and did a great job of warming up the crowd. Then another 20 minutes or so passed after them while equipment was being moved around and finally Neon Trees, the 2nd opening band came on. They were fantastic!! I knew nothing about them except a few lines from their song "Animal." The singer had a mohawk and was so funny. He did a great job entertaining the crowd with his jumping around, clapping, and swinging hips. He even sat up on one of the tallest amps. Neon Trees finished and the First Avenue crew came out to switch the equipment on stage for MCR. They were playing random music on the speakers and Me and Annie sang along to "Killer Queen" by Queen. Well while they were changing equipment, security guards were lifting people out of the crowd. Apparently people were falling down and getting hurt due to some roughing around from the fans on the dancefloor. Also, people were getting really hot and fainting which was causing issues. The guards were pouring bottle of water over the fans and passing them around. Eventually we could see water bottles being thrown around everwhere. All this took a good 20 minutes to a half hour.
One crew member then came out and started taking pictures, and we all screamed and raised our rock 'n' roll hands every time the camera was pointed at us. The crowd started chanting "M-C-R." Then, finally, after what seemed like forever, My Chemical Romance finally took the stage, opening up with Na Na Na. Lights were shining all different colors. The big flag in the back with the black widow on it, fluorescent lights in the shape of "X's" lined the back. Gerard was in his "Planetary (Go!)" music video outfit/hair. It was unbelievable. None of it really felt real. I couldn't believe the band I loved so much and always wished to see was actually standing in front of me. My hero, my idol had been within 5 feet of me and I was watching him perform just like I'd always dreamed. After "Na Na Na," they played "Give 'Em Hell Kid," which was awesome to hear a song off Three Cheers, but after that they played "Planetary (Go!)" which I had been waiting for after seeing their music video for it. I jumped the whole time and it was awesome. Then they played "Hang 'Em High" followed by "Vampire Money." After that they played "Mama" which was one of my favorites. You could tell everyone was having fun during that song.
In between the songs, Gerard would say a few words. He mentioned that he was happy people were picking each other up if someone fell. He also asked "How many of you is this your first My Chem show?" Nearly everyone raised their hands, me included. Then he asked "Wow that's a lot, so how many of you have been to more than one show?" A few individuals raised their hands and he said "It's great that the older fans are welcoming the new fans so well." After "Mama," they played "The Only Hope For Me Is You," which was amazing because Gerard had just us singing the "Remember Me" part and I loved the sound of it. Then they played "House of Wolves." Then "Summertime" which everyone loved, followed by the fan favorite "I'm Not Okay (I Promise)," which was as awesome as it always is when they perform it. Then "Destroya" and after that was "Welcome To The Black Parade" which I videotaped all of. We all waved our arms back and forth and punched our fists into the air. After that was "Teenagers," classic song, followed by "Sing." What they played next was almost everyone's favorite since it was a song off 'Bullets', it was "Vampires Will Never Hurt You." Finally they ended with Helena which was beautiful.
The band played a strong 16 songs then said goodnight and walked offstage. The crowd started chanting "One more song." The piano player then came out and started playing notes which eventually turned into the tune for "Cancer." Gerard walked out and performed the song the traditional way with the one yellow light behind him, illuminating only his silhouette. It was beautiful and we all sang along to every word. I'm sure there were a lot of teary-eyed fans during that song.
He finished and bowed. The lights then went black. They then came back on a dark blue and the other guys were back onstage. Gerard shouted. "We've got one more song for you, and we're gonna leave you with this. Remember the sentence: Never Stop Running. Whatever you do Never. Stop. Running." They performed "Bulletproof Heart." After that, the show was officially over. We were sad, but we ran over to the merchandise stand. I purchased a handbag and light up bracelet, while Kaylee purchased $100 worth of merchandise. We then headed home, thinking about the best day of our lives and wishing we could do it all again.
One of the best things during the concert was when Gerard said "We'll probably be seeing you again this summer." Which now is true. Well it'll be the 2nd day of my senior year at school but I don't care!!
If you read all this thank you so much! :)
