My Chemical Romance Tour Overview
My Chemical Romance (commonly abbreviated to MCR or My Chem) is an American rock band from Newark, New Jersey. The band's current lineup consists of lead vocalist Gerard Way, lead guitarist Ray Toro, rhythm guitarist Frank Iero, and bassist Mikey Way, who is Gerard’s younger brother. They are considered one of the most influential rock groups of the 2000s and a major act in the pop-punk and emo genres, despite the band rejecting the latter label.
Founded on September 12, 2001, by Gerard, Mikey, Toro, and drummer Matt Pelissier (and later joined by Iero), the band signed with Eyeball Records and released their debut album, I Brought You My Bullets, You Brought Me Your Love, in 2002. They signed with Reprise Records the next year and released their major-label debut, Three Cheers for Sweet Revenge, in 2004. Shortly after the album's release, Pelissier was replaced by Bob Bryar. The album was a commercial success, attaining platinum status over a year later.
About My Chemical Romance
The band was formed by frontman Gerard Way and drummer Matt Pelissier in Newark, New Jersey, soon after the September 11 attacks. Witnessing the World Trade Center towers fall influenced Way's life to the extent that he decided to start a band. Shortly thereafter, Ray Toro was recruited as the band's guitarist because at the time Way could not sing and play the guitar simultaneously. Way has said "music was this thing I secretly wanted to do" and later wrote the song "Skylines and Turnstiles" to express his feelings about September 11.
The name of the band was suggested by bass guitarist Mikey Way, younger brother of Gerard, who was working in a Barnes & Noble when he was struck by the title of a book by Irvine Welsh named Ecstasy: Three Tales of Chemical Romance. The first recording sessions were undertaken in Pelissier's attic, where the songs "Our Lady of Sorrows" and "Cubicles" were recorded. The band refers to those sessions as "The Attic Demos". After hearing the demo and dropping out of college, Mikey Way decided to join the band. While with Eyeball Records, the band met Frank Iero, the lead vocalist and guitarist for Pencey Prep. Following Pencey Prep's split in 2002, Iero became a member of My Chemical Romance, just days prior to the recording of the band's debut album. They recorded their debut album, I Brought You My Bullets, You Brought Me Your Love, just three months after the formation of the band and released it in 2002 through Eyeball Records. The album was produced by Thursday frontman Geoff Rickly after the band became friends with him while playing shows in New Jersey. Iero played guitar on two of the tracks, one of which was "Early Sunsets Over Monroeville". During this time, the band was booked at the infamous venue Big Daddy's, where it began to receive more attention.My Chemical Romance offered free downloads through PureVolume and the social networking website MySpace, where they gained an initial fan base.
My Chemical Romance Facts
- My Chemical Romance's music has been categorized primarily as alternative rock, emo, pop-punk, post-hardcore, punk rock, and hard rock. The band has also had its music categorized as emo pop, hardcore punk, gothic rock, pop rock, arena rock, glam rock, heavy metal, metalcore, rock, pop, screamo, and garage punk.
- Gerard Way has publicly rejected the term "emo", describing the genre as "fucking garbage".[154] However, Way has reportedly also described the band's style as "What-else-ya-got-emo".
- My Chemical Romance played in many major tours of 2005. The band toured with Green Day in 2005 on the "Green Day Presents American Idiot Tour". They were also part of the Warped Tour in the same year. "For a lot of kids, it's the one thing they look forward to all year," said Gerard Way of the Warped Tour.
- My Chemical Romance co-headlined the main stage with The Used on the Taste of Chaos tour, before starting their first headlining tour, simply named the "My Chemical Romance Tour". The tour launched September 15 in Ohio, stopping at 30 locations in the United States, to promote their album, Three Cheers for Sweet Revenge. Supporting acts included Alkaline Trio and Reggie and the Full Effect.
