An Analysis of the Black Parade - ALIVE! Promo Video + Analysis of the Long Live The Black Parade Promotional Material So Far
OK Y'ALL THE SCHOOL YEAR IS DONE AND MCR ARE AT IT AGAIN SO LET'S STRAP IN AND DO SOME THEORIZING
So, if you haven't seen it, MCR announced a show in Mexico City called Black Parade - ALIVE!, an obvious homage to their iconic The Black Parade Is Dead show in the city in 2007 that ended the Black Parade era and marked the last time they played the full album live. The video instantly caught my attention, as it seems to only further solidify that MCR's 2025 tour cycle is hinting at something much greater, perhaps a new story to tell interwoven with the established lore and legend of The Black Parade.
I also realized that I've yet to actually sit down and analyze the rest of the promo material surrounding the 2025 tour (in my defense, the first post was made on the same day my dad had brain surgery). I've been theorizing about MCR5 and all of the tour imagery since 2022 (I have a whole theory doc which I will share here and reference throughout this post), and a lot of this stuff seems to be confirming ideas I had even during the SWARM tour, including this new video.
So without any further ado, let's get into it. We'll go in chronological order, starting with the very first post made.
This post shows us a foggy cityscape with what looks like confetti in the air, with giant red letters that resemble MCR, but don't look quite like English. They seem to resemble Russian, but it has since been confirmed that this language was created by the band itself, although the Russian influence is definitely there.
As for the city, it also seems to resemble Europe or at least somewhere in Eastern Europe, perhaps more specifically in the 20th century. Notice the spires.
We can't ascertain much from just this image, so let's move on to the first video that announced the tour.
Immediately, that Russian/Eastern European vibe returns, with an ornate room and soldiers guarding a door. I tried looking for buildings that this could be and struggled, but then again, I don't think this is supposed to be an actual country. It's meant to just LOOK like a 20th-century Eastern European country run by a dictator.
Speaking of, we see that dictator walking down a hall with two other men.
I assume these men are advisors to the dictator, but am unsure if they are meant to be alluding to anyone in particular. I WILL say that the dude with the mustache sort of makes me think of the guy of the cover of Three Cheers For Sweet Revenge (he's wearing a red flower on his suit, and red flowers were a big part of the Revenge imagery). The flowers can even be seen a few shots later.
To me, the flowers look like red carnations, which symbolize romance, love, and passion. They also stand out amidst the mostly black, white, and brown surroundings. Perhaps this is intentional.
We see this woman with sunglasses and a coat sitting with a dog. Her outfit resembles an outfit Gerard wore on tour in 2023.
In my mind, this woman has a lot of power, perhaps related to war. Her dog seems tough and intimidating, like a guard dog. She also stands out pretty starkly from the others. But she is just sitting there, not involved in what the other men are doing. Perhaps she is pulling strings behind the scenes.
Finally, the dictator steps onto the balcony to address a cheering crowd within the same cityspace we saw in the first post. I know I mentioned buildings before, but this makes me think of the Palazzo Venezia in Italy, where Mussolini famously delivered his speeches from a similar balcony. I imagine this is an intentional homage to emphasize the dictatorship energy.
We see the name of the tour, "Long Live" The Black Parade. Why are the words "Long Live" in quotation marks? I have two answers. One: this could be a potential future song title. Two: It is a lie.
What do I mean? Remember that The Black Parade is a fictional band that supposedly filled in for MCR during the Black Parade tour, until they played their last show in 2007 and apparently died (hence The Black Parade Is Dead). So how could they be alive? Keep this thought in the back of your head; it will be important later.
Let's analyze the video caption.
"It has been seventeen years since The Black Parade was sent to the MOAT. In that time, a great Dictator has risen to power, bringing about "THE CONCRETE AGE"; a glorious time of stability and abundance in the history of DRAAG. His Grand Immortal Dictator wishes to celebrate our rich and storied culture, fine foods, and musical entertainments by welcoming you to these great demonstrations of power and resolve. And lending voice and song for the first time in six thousand two hundred and forty six days, their work privilege ceremoniously reinstated, will be His Grand Immortal Dictator's National Band...The Black Parade,"
There are several things of note here. First of all, the reference to seventeen years connects us back to The Black Parade Is Dead, as there is a seventeen-year gap between The Black Parade Is Dead and this tour being announced. Let's also pay attention to the specific number of days we are given: 6,246. Taking the day this video was posted, November 12th, 2024, and subtracting that number of days gives us October 7, 2007, AKA the day of The Black Parade Is Dead.
Second, what is the MOAT? It seems like an acronym for something, but the only thing I could find that was even tangentially related was "Missile on Aircraft Test". So I think this might be a fictional creation, and given the context, it sounds like a prison, perhaps a concentration camp, given the European dictator vibes. The Black Parade was supposedly sent there, probably because the music they were performing contradicted the growing dictatorship's goals. We then hear about a supposed "concrete age", which explains the barren buildings we see. All color and joy seems sucked out of the city. We get another acronym: DRAAG. I think this is a reference to a lyric in The End: "Here's my resignation, I'll serve it in drag". Perhaps DRAAG is a nation similar to the USSR, and is what The Black Parade was referring to.
The real question here is if The Black Parade were supposedly exiled for not aligning with the dictatorship's goals, then why are they being brought back? Perhaps as propaganda?
The next post shows us a clearer view of the dog we saw before, with the caption saying "Good Boy". It is once again in quotes, making me think that this could be another song title. This also reminds me of one of the drumheads from the reunion tour, which said "Sit. Stay. Beg." That, combined with the way its eyes are shining directly into the camera, makes me think this dog represents a couple of different things.
First, it represents war and violence against the people. Think police dogs being unleashed on protestors. This dog enacts the dictatorship's goals using sheer force, much like an army or large weapons could. This explains the almost evil eyes. However, it could also represent the common people themselves. "Good Boy" and "Sit. Stay. Beg." imply treating people like they are animals and forcing them to comply. This dog is just doing what it's told so it won't get hurt or punished, like any person in that situation would. We've yet to see this dog do anything really bad.
Then we have this post, "Long Live". Four men in different outfits. They could represent several things. Are they stand-ins for the four members of MCR? Are they simply the four currently in power within the dictatorship? Or are they representative of the four horsemen of the apocalypse? In the video that follows this post, "Opera", we see more of the men. One looks nervous, one coughs, one laughs, and one is silent. I could see the one who coughs representing Pestilence (sickness) and the silent one representing death (figures that embody death are typically silent). The woman with the sunglasses is also sitting behind them, further hinting that she's somehow involved (literally "behind this").
We then see an opera singer in an opulent dress walk in front of the men to perform. A piece that sounds a bit like an orchestral arrangement of Welcome To The Black Parade plays on a record player. But when she opens her mouth to sing, all that comes out is horrible screeching and industrial noise. I think I also hear screaming in there.
I think this could represent the dictatorship looking towards entertainment to distract them from the horrors they're enabling, only to have it spat back in their face. It could also represent how they view music: chaotic and uncontrollable. We also heard opera pieces during the reunion tour, particularly Casta Diva, a piece that tends to allude to impending doom and ruin. This could be a way of playing on that notion.
Next is "Feast", where we see a lavish meal being enjoyed by those in power. One crucial detail is that we see the dog being fed by one of the soldiers. If the dog is truly representative of war, this could represent how all of the dictatorship's assets are being invested in war and violence. In general, the feast seems to be highlighting the disparity between those in power and those not in power.
Finally, we have the thing I want to talk about that shook this whole thing up: The Black Parade - ALIVE!
We see what looks like an old news program broadcast from DRAAG, showing a statue of the dictator, a shot of the city, and a field, presumably to mislead the populace into thinking there is no famine or shortage of food, something real dictatorships commonly do. We see what looks like the logo of the news station before a news anchor starts speaking.
A couple of things. First, this footage looks like it comes from quite a few decades ago, when supposedly this is supposed to all be happening in modern times, given the dates (they're even referenced again in the report). Perhaps technology in DRAAG is severely outdated? Second, the news anchor calls the viewers "dragoshkas", confirming that the country is called DRAAG and thus its citizens are known as dragoshkas. Third, the footage is subtitled in Spanish, meaning this is being broadcast internationally and is not exclusive to DRAAG.
The news anchor references the Palace of Sport, a generic term used to refer to indoor sports venues built during the Soviet Union, like the Kyiv Palace of Sports in Ukraine. However, this term is also used in other countries, and in Spanish-speaking countries, the term is translated as Palacio de los Deportes. This is seen in the Spanish subtitles.
He tells us that The Black Parade "never returned" from their concert in Mexico City, as they perished in a fire during what was supposed to be their final performance.
This fire imagery is reminiscent of fire imagery shown during the reunion tour, specifically the "burning man" image on their merch truck, which looked very similar to this image. One of the drumheads also read "muy fuego" (a lot of fire), connecting to the concert being in Mexico. And during a noise jam, Gerard said, "I’m gonna set myself on fire, never mind, I want you to set me on fire".
As you might be realizing, this whole news report directly contradicts what we were told happened to The Black Parade. Weren't they sent to a prison by DRAAG? But obviously, they wouldn't want the public to know that, particularly those who saw them live in Mexico, as they'd be furious. So they made up this tragic story to take the heat off them (no pun intended). Not to mention, they can look like heroes by "discovering" that they're not dead at all.
This is also why I said that “Long Live” could be a lie. Maybe they really DID die and a fake band is being sent to perform. This makes me think that perhaps we’ll be seeing something reminiscent of this on this tour.
We then hear once again that it was the dictator's idea to bring back the band, along with the Cabinet of Operatic Retaliations. Could this be what those old men were a part of? Could "Opera" be a play on "Operatic"?
Finally, we see what looks like the national seal of DRAAG. The text is hard to make out, but we can see a deer holding an arrow while also being pierced by arrows. Deer represent grace, elegance, greatness, and innocence. In other words, everything DRAAG is not, but everything they want people to think they are. This deer clearly also represents prey, with it being hunted, but with the arrow in its mouth, it could also subtly represent how the hunted can become hunters (the people rising up), or conversely, how the hunters can become hunted (the dictatorship being overthrown).
OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOK, that was a lot, but I know I still missed stuff. If you have any ideas or theories or details, or if you want to ask me questions, feel free to send me an ask! I'd love to talk more about this!