Live Review: My Chemical Romance - Anfield, Liverpool, 30/06/2026
Emo/punk titans My Chemical Romance graduate from the realms of alternative rock into a fully fledged stadium band with a seminal sell-out show at Liverpool’s Anfield Stadium.
Having seen My Chemical Romance several times over the years, watching them go from tiny clubs in front of a 100 people, to stadiums in front of 1000s of screaming fans has been nothing short of a pleasure. And nothing short of deserved.
Tonight, as the band stroll on stage at Anfield their appreciation, perhaps even disbelief, is evident on their faces. It soon gives way to elation though, as 50,000 people greet the band with a deafening roar. Proving before even a single note is played, just how much this band mean to them. Indeed, not just the band themselves, but the album we’re all here to celebrate.
When My Chemical Romance released The Black Parade back in 2006, they probably weren’t aware of the black-eyed tsunami they were about to unleash on the world. 20 years later, and the importance and influence of that record is only too evident. Tonight though, rather than just play the record in full, like every other band celebrating an album’s anniversary, we’re treated to a whole new dystopian narrative that’s at times as brilliant as it is equally baffling.
This is mainly due to the vocals, which at times are barely discernible above the mix. It hardly matters though, when songs are as well-known as the likes of Welcome to the Black Parade and Teenagers, you can always rely on the crowd to sing them anyway. And when the show is hinged as much on spectacle as it is songcraft, there’s enough going on on-stage (and off) to distract from the muddy vocals.
And indeed, tonight IS a spectacle. Gestapo-esque figures prowl the stage, soldiers are shot, a supreme leader arrogantly surveys his sycophantic subjects from a throne throughout. An outing for Cancer sees frontman Gerard Way breaking down to a ventriloquist’s dummy, whilst he’s later stabbed in the back by a clown during Famous Last Words. The clown then blows himself up with a suicide vest. Because why bloody not?
It’s campy and theatrical. Breathtaking and batshit. And by the time the record reaches its conclusion with the fittingly titled The End, we’re unsure if what we’ve witnessed is a social comment on the current state of the band’s home country or them just jumping feet first into the world of stadium rock in unfettered fashion.
With the dictatorship in tatters and just about everything on fire. It’s clear that we’ve reached the end of The Black Parade, but the night isn’t over yet. As expected, the band make full use of the second smaller stage positioned in the centre of the crowd. Dispensing with the theatrics now, what we’re left with is My Chemical Romance at their purest.
Tracks such as Na Na Na explode with an energy and vitality that bristles with a youthful exuberance that belies the band’s quarter of a century together. Elsewhere, it’s the material from breakthrough album Three Cheers for Sweet Revenge that really showcases not just how far the band have come, but just what they mean to people.
An obligatory, but surprisingly early outing for I’m Not Okay (I Promise) is probably the loudest the crowd have sounded all night, whilst Cemetery Drive is a surprising inclusion that still feels as fresh today as it did all those years ago. Thank You For the Venom provides the perfect example of the band’s punk roots. A blistering example of them at their most thrashy. It’s brash, bold and a reminder of just how good this band were, and indeed are.
A final duo of Helena and The Kids From Yesterday perhaps should have been switched, with the former feeling much more of a set closer than its counterpart. That said, it’s barely a complaint. And by the time the final notes of the latter ring out, the band vanish from the stage and as an emotional rendition of You’ll Never Walk Alone plays the crowd to the exits, it’s clear that we’ve just bore witness to the next stage of My Chemical Romance. Punk and emo might well have been where they came from, but the band are now well in the realms of stadium rock titans, and it couldn’t have happened to a more deserving act.
Words by Dave Beech
