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Summer, 20, Somewhere in Canada (not polar bear territory)

"I don't tend to talk much in fandom spaces but the people are very kind. I quietly reblogged pictures of the guys and had a Lola themed blog. Although in the My Chemical Romance fandom I only have about 2 mutuals being an MCR fan as helped me make friends in other areas. I love comic books, especially Gerard's. I liked Gerard's comics before I even considered myself a fan of the band, so talking about The Umbrella Academy, TTLOTFK, and Gerard's run of Doom Patrol. I was able to make comic friends through the My Chemical Romance fandom, and meet some pretty important comic people along the way! I was in a workshop run by comic book badass Shelly Bond. And lo, even with comic book nerds from across the world, we had My Chem fans crediting their love of the medium to Gerard! England, America, all over! And that was just online, on my first day at my new university, the amount of people I saw wearing tour merch was insane. We were like this little club all shyly waving to each other in a weird sort of camaraderie."

Fast Facts: How long have you been a fan?: 5-8 years Did you get to see MCR live before this tour?: No, this tour was my first time seeing MCR How many shows on this tour did you attend in total?: 1 Favorite album: Three Cheers for Sweet Revenge Show experience out of 10: 10 Did you cry at your show?: Yes

Which date of the tour did you attend? 09/05/22, Scotiabank Arena, Toronto, Night 2

When did you get your tickets for your show? Was it a struggle, or were they easy to grab? Me going to see My Chem was a bit of an impulse buy. My friend group at the time were all heavy concertgoers and I had only ever been to one. I wasn't entirely sold on the idea of going to a cramped, hot arena paying large sums of money to have my ears ring for the next two weeks. (I also got Covid from one Mr. Styles' show so I was hesitant on going on that alone). But I thought of my older brother, the one who introduced me to the band, who saw them on their World Contamination tour. He described it as being pure magic, the height of his otherwise tumultuous teenagehood. After asking him for the umpteenth time what it was like to see them live I went on Ticketmaster and bought the first tickets I could get. Nosebleed seats for sure, and set me back a fair chunk of change but being an unemployed student at the time you get what you get.

Did you attend with anyone else? Solo. Well, for the subway ride to the venue and back so I could avoid any track-pushing or shanking I want with my dear friend J and his coworker V. We worked at Hot Topic- go figure. We were doing our makeup on the ride there, listening to the songs, getting excited when we saw other concert goers, and getting REALLY excited when we made it to the arena, seeing all the beautiful costumes people were wearing. There were families with kids in corpse paint, elderly folks wearing battle jackets, and in front of us were two people dressed as sexy nuns handing out crackers with a chirpy "Body of Christ?". Being the most lukewarm Catholic you can imagine I got a real kick out of this, and a snack! But for the actual show, I was alone, next to a couple who were on a date that seemed to be going piss poor. The lady sat next to me had her ears covered the whole time and the two folks in front of me were recording and were very miffed at my singing. I wasn't going to let these squares squander my fun so I broke a fire safety rule and took to the aisle to headbang and scream my little heart out.

What did you wear? A red bralette that I found behind my washing machine, my bootiest of booty shorts, and a big lolloping knock-off skeleton onesie that got VERY hot very quickly. I was able to tie the onesie around my waist once the novelty of my little homage wore off, and was actually quite comfortable! I definitely preferred wearing PJ's and my ratty old converse than wearing an outfit I couldn't move around in. It was, and still is, drenched in the smell of the venue, which sentimentality aside is not very good. At least I have a keepsake?

Where were your seats? When I first bought the tickets they were the nosiest-of-nosebleed seats, and I was fine with that! But as I passed through the gates security told me to go to Fan Check. This shocked me originally since for once I had no tricks (booze) up my sleeve for this concert. Instead of giving me a talking-to, they actually moved my tickets to be VERY close to the stage, free of charge! They said they wanted the nice seats to fill up so I can an excellent view of the band, and of one Mr. Ray Toro, who was giving our side special attention that night. I feel like a fainting, swooning old noblewoman just thinking about it.

What was your favorite song(s) from the setlist they played at your show? Cemetery Drive. I wish I had something more romantic to say about it but I worry it's too soul-bearing. I cried. The girl next to me cried. It was catharisis.

What song were you most hoping to hear? Did you get to hear it? I was hoping for Demolition Lovers (which was a long shot) but alas, it wasn't meant to be. Considering my mental state at the time before going maybe it was for the best, I think that song should be saved for snowy evenings on transit when you feel a hot ball of lead in your stomach that's somewhere between heartache and anger. I don't think the bad-date couple needed to see me like that.

What was your favorite moment from the show? Gerard calling us all hippies making the entire arena smell like weed. Now, I did not partake in the weedsmoking nor will I be a snitch on the people who were. All I can say is, isn't it impressive how someone on my side was able to sneak in a full-sized bong? Where do you even hide that thing? Also, I was waving my phone flashlight in tandem with someone across the stadium, we were making circles, waving, and doing little dances during the intermission. I go on instagram- and what do I see but an old friend of mine posting us doing it! It was him! After all these years reuniting at the My Chemical Romance tour! My heart is warm thinking about it. I've missed him- we were high school troublemakers together. Listening to My Chem while stealing shopping carts and being pushed around town to being all-grown up and seeing them live. F, if you're reading this, thank you.

What was the most unexpected moment from the show? The use of not one, but TWO bullets songs. I could practically hear J and V from across the stadium shriek with pure, Dionysian glee. Not to say that I wasn't as well.

Did you snag any merch? What pieces? I got the BoyZone tee! Unfortunately, so did half the student body at my university in which the first day was the day after the concert. I tried to lightheartedly tell someone. "One of us is going to have to change!" they did not laugh. I'm only still a little embarrassed by it.

Many fans describe seeing MCR live as feeling like coming home. Did you experience anything like that at your show? It felt strange. I haven't felt that feeling since I was a young kid. The first time I heard an MCR song was on my hand-me-down laptop given to me by the older brother I mentioned earlier. Being a little kid I only really cared about playing Animal Jam but I would to it to the tune of the only song he left for me on it. Teenagers. Explicit version. I would listen to it CONSTANTLY. I didn't know how to download music so that was all I had. That was until my very Christian father heard the naughty naughty swear words and deleted the song and replaced it with the clean version. It's a decade later, and now I can listen to songs with bad words whenever I want, DAD. My Chemical Romance will always remind me of my brother, showing me cool clothing stores and cool T.V. shows and letting me learn to skateboard in our driveway on his board. Seeing MCR, that strange feeling, was like staying up late on a school night, eating Doritos and being passed down the sacred knowledge that is cool older brother music. It was coming home to the special moments he and I had, that he made an effort despite being an angsty, always angry teen. He always had time for his sister and making sure she grew up to like good rock music. My Chemical Romance is a big brother and seeing them live is sneaking out to a show, knowing that your parents are going to kill you when you get home.

If you could change one thing about your show experience, what would it be? I came to the show with a little pouch of crystals and my rosary. I was giving out crystals to friends-of-friends but there was a girl sat next to me who was the only one dancing with me. I wanted to give her my rosary but she left before I could. I think of her now and then.

Has your perspective or opinion about the band changed since seeing them on this tour? If so, in what way? Yes. I don't mean this in a parasocial way but it was strange seeing them as PEOPLE. IN PERSON. Not that I hold celebrities to a higher regard than other people that is, in my humble opinion, cringe as hell. But the way they were smiling at people, dancing, having a good time- it definitely has a different feel than watching through a screen. Ray's hair looks even better in person, if you can believe it.

What advice would you give to people seeing My Chemical Romance in the future? Dance! Headbang! Sing! If you're too scared to dance, I was too. But I can tell you first hand that if you dance, people will dance with you! Shimmy an shriek to your hearts content. Who cares what anyone thinks? You know who's a bigger loser than being the only one dancing? Being so lame you think it's funny to laugh at people who are. And if MCR ever comes back and if you're in Toronto and you're too scared to dance, look for me, I'll dance with you!

Thanks, Summer! They can be found on Tumblr at @dandified-doe.

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