Double Hitter at Dodgers Stadium: ‘Long Live’ The Black Parade, LA part one
Or “Now everyone be real happy for Mikey Way.”
The last weekend of July 2025 brought fans not just one, but two, big nights for Draag’s favorite quattro! The Black Parade conquered Dodgers stadium and left their mark with a star-studded show that had been preceded by Mikey, lifelong Dodgers superfan, throwing out the first pitch for the June 18th, 2025, game- accompanied by Frank Iero. Surely a special occasion such as this would bring us some surprises! Fans would not be left wanting after dual nights of ‘elexecutions’, good times, and…hot dogs?
Los Angeles July 26th, 2025- Dodgers Stadium
Such a special night requires a spotless execution- and as Extermination Posters fill the stage side screens during preshow, a new slide can be seen- An eye with ‘Nothing To See Here’ in English. The same eye symbol on stage equipment, the same eye on The Clown. The Ambassador inspects the set up in front of MOAT Staffers. He appears to pick something up in front of the drums, perhaps speaking into it, before placing it back and continuing his inspection. His eyes sweep, not at the crowd, but at the equipment between himself and them before landing back on more equipment expertly placed behind him. Without stopping, he steps forward and motions for a staffer to join him on stage before having him remove his ear piece while bending down to meet him. Clipboard blocking the audience’s view, he whispers into the staffers ear as others scurry behind them to finish last minute preparations. The staffer singled out by The Ambassador quickly makes necessary adjustments to the micstand that Ray would occupy the majority of the night. The ambassador has him lean in again for another moment, and the staffer shakes his hands in protest once they part! He gestures to the mic, as if pleading The Ambassador to see reason- it’s just as he asked! The Ambassador looks through him as ‘Tonight You Belong to me.” Begins again, signaling the show has begun, and they both exit the stage; the staffer sharing a shrug with another nearby. He takes his place on stageleft, near by as we are asked ‘Please Take Your Seats’ and are reminded, in Keposhka of course, to ‘Behave’. As the song draws to close, he is seen being pulled again to the side before removing his ear monitors and walking off.
Tonight, Tucker Rule enters alone at first with his marching drum. He stands by himself in front of the crowd, eyes lazered focused out towards sound check. The dictator’s throne sits empty tonight, the waxy effigy questionably absent. Tucker seems to take a breath and pauses for only a moment before he begins the drumming-an extended marching beat- face serious. Suddenly, cheers erupt from the crowd and we are shown on camera the reason for tonight's pomp and circumstance- The Grand Immortal Dictator, alive and in the flesh! He is in the spotlight as he travels through the crowd and his tall frame fills the screen soon after. He cuts an imposing figure, taking his place in the best seat in the house. Of course he’d sit at the mixing booth, the acoustics are the best. (And perhaps an easy access to power supply…) Tucker only turns from The Grand Immortal Dictator once he has taken his seat, continuing his drumming and joining The Soldiers and The Ambassador in The Laying of The Wheat. Everyone is in perfect form tonight.
Marianne takes her place on Stage-B, spotlighted as all rise for the Draag National Anthem. Her voice is clear and proud tonight as she performs for The Grand Immortal Dictator. ‘Like a baby’s fist are broken, then grow strong enough to choose” The Black Parade enters after the shocking reminder of Draag’s child labor, and its national pride, is sung. The boys hurry to their spots, and noticeably Gerard does not stagger out onto stage tonight! He seems ready to perform his task tonight, but as he turns to the crowd, he stops and stares, suddenly alert. Looking out into the crowd, his eyes rest on the Grand Immortal Dictator.
“Come one, Come All…” The Black Parade begins with trepidation, Mikey paces nervously as he awaits his cue-drawing closer as the verse builds up and the four present a united front while Gerard stiffly works through the lyrics. He’s paler tonight, scratches still healing but fainter. Didn’t want to create any new marks for the big night? The music explodes and so does the crowd, but Gerard retreats, bouncing nervously and psyching himself up as Frank, Mikey, and Ray play on. He returns to the goosestep as he comes to front-and-center, but his footsteps are lighter. He raises his arm’s in the signature ‘rev up’ motion, before gaining his confidence back before they head into the second verse. He attempts to slink along the stage per his usual choreography, but there is still something there- fear, perhaps? But as they begin the lead into ‘Dead!’, he turns to The Black Parade themselves and seems to tell them ‘come on!’ With his body language. And, as their leader commands, The Black Parade’s energy picks up. Gerard puts more force behind his lyrics, and a particular call-and-response moment gives new meaning to closing lyrics “If you can hear me then just walk…” “Save me!”
“Dead!” kicks off and Gerard straightens his jacket, pulling it taught, before patting Mikey on the shoulder in a reassuring manner. He launches into the lyrics and tries to ease more into his performance, his sarcasm still seeps through on lyrics but he is keeping himself more in-line at the beginning of the 3rd night. But the audience is quick to rile him up with how they react to his saucier deliveries. By the time he delivers “Wouldn’t it be great if we were dead?” His anxiety has been properly masked and he settles into the show. “Let me hear you Los Angeles, Transylvania!” He calls before the 2nd verse, delivering it with a hand on his hip. “Wouldn't it be grand to take a pistol by the hand?”, ‘Pistol’ pops off like a bullet as Gerard’s eyes go crazed and he asks the crowd directly- seems he isn’t playing the night as safely as originally thought! He stomps to stage-left as he sings the bridge lines “And now you’ve got, maybe just two weeks to live…” flexing his free arm like a Gorilla, hunched over and menacing the side audience. As Ray solos, he loosens his jacket early. Now able to breathe and move freely, his bouncing and power returns as they finish out “Dead!" .Noted, MOAT staff surround all exits of the stage, anticipating anything The Black Parade may need.
“Welcome home! Hello! Los Angeles, Wisconsin, how are you doing tonight?” Gerard asks, the accent tonight is decidedly French (and it’s decidedly almost impossible to separate from The Breakfast Monkey.) “We are, as you say in the states, The Black Parade,” He introduces them all per usual and continues to assure all it is good to see them and thank the audience for being there with them. MOAT staffers scurry to help set up equipment as he works the crowd. “Brought to you by a very fine establishment called the MOAT. It’s a special program of the Ministry of Complimentary Reconditioning.” Gerard bows. “We are here for you tonight at the request of Grand Immortal Dictator,” The camera cuts to The Dictator as he waves, zooming out to show his guards are present again and one again has the red phone. “And he’s never looked better! What a handsome man! My dear sir, you are beautiful.” He pays enthusiastic fealty to The Dictator “Transylvania! Are we? Ready. To. Continue?” Gerard and Ray transition into ‘This is How I Disappear’
The Black Parade carefully controls the crowd, who join in with Gerard perfectly on ‘Go!” The wild response gives them further boost, Gerard again shakes off any nerves as they build into the opening verse, pacing the stage before hitting his mark. Jarrod pounds away on drums behind the four, Tucker Rule seems absent and only one uniformed member of the DNAB is seen.”Who walks among the famous living dead?” Gerard asks as he lumbers and creeps towards the front row, hand raised in a monstrous manner with each finger joint flexed taut, “Drowns all the boys and girls inside your bed?” He calls for his audience to complete the line, asking us to tell him where all the good girls go, as he points to the sky. “To heaven!” They call back of course, mimicking his point. Excited by the crowd's enthusiasm and their shared wave length, he calls “Hands up Los Angeles!” with his free one outstretched to the sky. They of course do exactly as he asks. Much like the flames last week, he conducts the pit in front of him with expertise as he sings, “Can you hear me cry out to you…” He drops his hands and stalks to stageleft, his arms up in a ‘scoobydoo creeper’ fashion as the crowd continues swaying and he sings, carrying him into the breakdown. The song ends and the lights come down as the Camera focuses on Gerard who takes a bow and whispers “Merci.”
Again, before ‘The Sharpest Lives’, The Ambassador appears with a clip board to pass Gerard a note. His face is serious and his eyes give Gerard a ‘No shenanigans tonight’ directive. He lingers for only a moment to ensure that the message is delivered and not, immediately, tossed to the side. Gerard, sitting down his canteen, watches The Ambassador before turning his attention to the slip. He opens it, only to quickly slam it shut…then open it again, slower this time as he walks up to the mic. Holding the paper at arms length, he looks at it with a tilted glance, tongue resting quizzically in the corner of his mouth before flipping it around and taking it firmer in his grasp. His eyes, heavy lidded and shadowed, stared down at the page and His mouth opened just a bit pants. He flicks his eyes back up at the audience before shutting them tight and panting again, “Everything’s gonna be okay.” Gerard says as his head lulls to the side as the camera zooms in slowly, and “The Sharpest Lives” beginning notes pump out.
Gerard’s performance begins to crack here, his snark coming out in lyrical inflection choices. What I’ve neglected to tell you until now, is the Jumbotron. As The Black Parade has performed, another member of Draag’s Military/The Dictators Cabinet has been present. A man with glasses in a suit similar to The Ambassador’s sits in a partial silhouette. When he appeared earlier in the night, a blue light had been behind him. As the night progresses, the room he is in seems to dim, but he continues to notate as he watches the band perform. Are we to ‘pay attention’ to this mysterious man behind the curtain? Will he be present from here out? What is he looking for in Gerard’s performance? Perhaps he is registering how the crowd reacts. Time will tell, I hope. Gerard seems to have been given some kind of directive with the last note, and his performance is really meant to rile the crowd up. As he yells “Come on!” between verse and over solos, the stadium rumbles with energy. The Nottaker continues his notation.
The Podium makes its LA debut on cue, choral arrangement humming as we build up to Gerard’s address. Again, he inspects it- this time his face dower. He gives an exaggerated pout as he fusses with the flexible chrome of the attached mic stand, before grabbing his mic to place. He assures that the mic is securely placed before raising his gaze up towards the adoring crowd, eyes wild and lips pursed in a strained, tight, smile. He shoots daggers out and to the left, perhaps towards to notetaker, before flicking them back towards the camera on the ‘G’ note, His restrained contempt is replaced immediately by the worker propaganda videos celebrating hardworking Dragoshka, and those in the pit can see that the tight lipped smile immediately drops. “When I was…” he begins again, his eyes tight and his forehead deeply lined, like he’s straining to get the words out. There is no please at the beginning tonight, his eyes gaze up in deep regret as he finishes the opening line and takes the mic in hand as the marching drum joins. The black and white camera emphasizes the still healing scrapes and bruises on Gerard’s face, he steps away from the podium and he sings, his eyes empty and not focused on the stadium occupants. But before the second refrain he takes his place center stage again, raising a single fist in time with the beat, and with a renewed fire in his eyes he calls for the audience to join him. The camera cuts to Ray’s smile as his guitar wails through the refrain. Night one of the LA stint gives us a more reserved performance, but Gerard still performs this for the Dragushkas in the stadium. The cameras cut between beautiful shots of Ray, Frank, Mike, and Gerard in the black and white filter as they lead the audience in singing with the bridge. While Gerard does hit a triumphant pose to cap off the performance, he does not hold it.The Notetaker stays at attention for the Anthem
“Thank you so much.” Gerard calls out to the people as The Ambassador joins them on stage, carrying a stadium tray of hot dogs? “It’s so wonderful to hear your voices.” He continues as The Ambassador hands out hotdogs to each member of The Black Parade behind him, “Please allow me to read the terms and conditions of tonight's concert.” Ray is shown on camera as he is handed a hot dog, visibly confused, as Gerard cleared his throat to continue. “Terms and Conditions:” He says, in a clearer more americanized accent before returning to the French. “Be advised that the forthcoming preceding may include sudden loud sounds, abrupt changes in lighting, and visual elements that some individuals may find unsettling. This includes but is not limited to: Depictions of harrowing circumstances, expression of finality, and matters of a corporeal and judicial nature.” He flips to the second page. Ray, who had already bitten into his Dodger dog, spits it out, tossing it into the crowd after. “Individuals of a sensitive disposition, or anyone with known medical conditions that may be exacerbated by sensory stimulation or emotionally intense content are strongly encouraged to exercise discretion. Attendance and continued presence shall be construed and acknowledged as acceptance of this notice and all posterior discomfort, emotional or otherwise.” The Ambassador is shown on camera, sighing and looking intensely annoyed. “No liability is assumed for distress incurred by proximity, audibility, or line of sight.” Gerard turns to page three as he clears his throat and spits, “One more part.” He takes a breath, “All persons are reminded to remain within designated viewing areas to refrain from physical interference, and to comply with the instructions of authorized personnel at all times.” He finishes, laying the paper down before also being handed a hot dog.
“Oh? Hawt Dawg!” Gerard holds the foil wrapped sausage in his leather bound free hand putting peculiar emphasis on the words, and I must note that he almost breaks character for a moment- having to turn away for a moment to suppress a laugh. “I feel like____had/have one. Are you guys having them? Delicious. No?” He asks The Black Parade, who had previously been inspecting the suspicious ‘treat’. One must wonder what is so questionable about these Dodger Dogs, perhaps questionable meat sources ala Soylent Green? Mind control? Frank and Mikey link arms in a ‘toast’ as they take a bite of the Hot Dogs, Mikey placing his own amps behind him while Frank stuffs the remainder of his into his jacket. Center stage, Gerard continues to address the crowd, “Well what does The Grand Immortal Dictator think of this delicious hot dog?” The Dictator is shown on camera, examining the hot dog closely before bringing it to his mouth, opening wide, and taking a bite from the center of the sausage. He chews and raises it high as Gerard asks “It’s good, yes?”. The camera cuts back to Gerard, “I will try it myself.” he trails off a bit as he unwraps it from the foil, closes his eyes, and takes a large bite- using his tongue to push the actual sausage out so that he only chews and swallows the bun through gritted teeth. “It's good, yes?”
As he swallows the chewed bits of bun, his accents drops, “This is the part of the show, of the performance of The Black Parade, where it’s either an ‘execution’ or and ‘election’. But I’ve started to call it an ‘Elexecution’!” He pause to swallow more and sit the hot dog down that he had been gesturing at the crowd with. Brushing his hair from his face Gerard squints out at the Stage-B and he continues, the accent picking back up, “Over on the red circle, which I can’t see right now, you’ll see some individuals there who have committed heinous crimes” He climbs down from the podium. “HEinous crimes.” He emphasizes as he comes up stage, the four hooded individuals coming into the spotlight on Stage-B. The Dragoshka in the audience boo in response, feeding right into Draag’s plan. “What crimes you ask? I’m glad you asked!” Gerard plays into the boos and hisses he receives, the audience playing right into the performance. “They dared question the longevity of The Grand Immortal Dictator.” He emphasises ‘longevity’ as the crowd continues to boo and cheer, the cameras cutting to the four hooded people, “We can’t have that! We can’t have that at all!”
“And so, upon your entrance, you have received a sign.” He holds the Keposhkan voter cards high, flipping to each side as he speaks. “One side is red. It says ‘Yea’. One side is black, with red letters. It says ‘Nay’. What you will do now is vote on the fate of these individuals. If we shall carry out this execution, and you agree, let me see the ‘Yea’s!” He pauses to look out into the crowd as the Dragoshka's show their support. The crowd is smattered with a few boo’s and ‘No’s, but the cheers overwhelm them. Gerard’s eyes go wide in surprise at the crowd’s eager response, “Damn.” he remarks. “Alright, alright, hold them up. Keep a hand up, please.” The camera cuts to fans eagerly waving their voter cards, red side happily displayed.
“If you oppose this execution, let me see the ‘nay’.” the camera shows red still, and cuts to Gerard who nods and grins with all of his teeth bared. “Scary.” He takes his place at the podium again, picking up the Dodger Dog. “Looks uh…” He begins again, smiling anxiously as he adjusts the mic. “Looks like a split to me guys!” He chuckles out, “I don’t know what you think, Grand Immortal Dictator what do you think?” The camera shows us a close up of The Dictators as he eats his Dodger Dog, raising a half high into the air above his head as he chews and nods with an occasional half smile.
“Uh alright then, roll?” Gerard looks around him to ensure he got the right cue, turning back to the execution scene. Frank, who previously during past execution had kept his ears covered, takes a knee with his brow furrowed and a hand wiping at his chin nervously as he stares out at Stage-B.
“Ready?” Gerard asks. Frank covers his eyes, only to part them and peak between his fingers with an impish smile as he watches.
“Aim!” Gerard takes a bite of the Hot Dog
“Fire.” He says, a mouthful of food. Frank jumps and, with a surprised expression, almost falls on his ass.
The firing squad shoots, the four hooded people fall, and confetti is shot. ‘Ta da!’ melody plays, ushering in the Fantasyland interlude. “Merci. Merci.” Gerard thanks the crowd as he tries to remove the taste of his lunch from his mouth, climbing back off the podium and taking to his canteen, as the bodies are piled up and wheeled away. ‘I Don’t Love you” begins and Ray is shown as always, smiling less than usual as the camera is washed in the familiar red filter. The performance of the rock ballad is clear and even, restrained from other nights. The Black Parade all appear to play with a heavy sadness after tonight’s preceding events. There is a sense of resignation in the way Gerard sings “I don’t love you, like I did, yesterday.” The second verse is pointed and directed out towards the center of the crowd, his eyes intense as he sings “So sick and tired of all the needless beating.” The Notetaker continues to watch from the Jumbotron. After the crowd’s overwhelming support of the execution, Ray’s solo haunts as it rings out through the stadium. Knowing that the Draag officials are here, every move is being watched, and that the audience has bought into the propaganda just leaves a bad taste in one's mouth that can’t help but sit uncomfortably in your stomach as you try to relax and enjoy the show. But the palette is cleansed when the howls appear.
Always a crowd pleaser in and out of story line, ‘House of Wolves’ begins after a brief lull while Frank and Ray both switch out instruments with MOAT techs. As soon as the notes kick off, the disorienting lights flash in time and the crowd is back into the show- but The Black Parade themselves still perform with a heavy presence. Gerard’s usual stalking and bopping about the stage during ‘wolves’ is replaced by someone who, while singing powerfully, seems away from himself. Disassociated. He climbs up again and gazes around the crowd, "You play ring around the Ambulance like you never gave a care.” His eyes dart up and out to the center of the crowd again before sweeping across the crowd again as he raises his hands, “So get the choir boys around you. It’s a compliment, I swear.” He closes his eyes, “I said ashes to ashes, we all fall down. I wanna hear you sing the praise.” The camera switches to Ray again as he plays, before cutting back to Gerard, shirley-temple-style highlighting his dimples as he had in previous weeks, but without a smile, “ I said ashes to ashes, we all fall down. I got innocence for days.” The performance picks up in the bridge, Gerard’s features twisting as he spits to the center crowd again “You better run like the devil cause they’re never gonna leave you alone…”
After ‘Wolves’ The Ambassador makes his scheduled appearance, ready to deliver a folder to Gerard. Frank kicks at the podium as it is hauled away, the only of the trio remaining on stage with Gerard, Mikey and Ray standing off to the sides. Gerard, who had been taking a moment to re-hydrate, does as he is told but without enthusiasm, taking the folder from The Ambassador…before letting it pointedly drop as he stares directly into The Ambassador’s eyes. Again, he is slapped and falls to his knees. Ray covers his mouth in concern, Frank turns around and shuffles as he looks up at the sky. The Ambassador exits, as does Frank, Mikey approaches his brother before leaving him again. As ‘Cancer’ begins on the keyboard, Gerard takes longer to get back up. As he does, he picks the script up with him. Shaking the sweat and hair from his eyes, he takes his place and raises the paper in front of him, arm stiff. A head shot of The Grand Immortal Dictator?
“To those of you here in the entertainment industry tonight,” Gerard begins.”For your consideration, the Grand Immortal Dictator.” Seems The Dictator is looking to launch a hollywood career! “He Is 6 '5”, currently based in Los Angeles. Special skills include: Allied leadership, motivating large groups of people, and horseback riding.” Gerard appears alone on stage as he reads the resume for the crowd, his eyes fearful. “He is SAG eligible, and repped by DAA. Sizes(?) available upon request.” He completes his task and tosses the resume to the floor right as he goes into the opening line, ‘Turn away.’
The rendition of ‘Cancer’ is heartfelt, no laugh tracks play after the forced plugging of The Dictator’s budding career. Gerard, eyes mostly downcast, sings with every ounce of heartache thrown behind the gut wrenching lyrics, spending the majority of the song solo in the spotlight. He places a hand to his chest and sends his heart out to the stadium. The Notetaker continues to watch. When The Black Parade join him again, they stand united with him at the front of the stage, and Gerard’s demeanor changes. His eyes turn defiant as he sings another ‘Now Turn away.’ He has accepted something it feels. They close out the song, and Gerard has kept his jacket on throughout the show to this point, only removing it once they finish ‘Cancer’.
With his jacket removed and the weight of it shed, he is now free and unburdened for the onslaught of ‘Mama’ as the stage lights fall and the violin comes alive.
“Everybody in the whole place, whole place..” Again, we’re brought back to Mexico and the flaming orange lights come up on stage, bathing everything in a hellfire glow. The scrim peels back, Mission Control. “Everybody in the whole place, whole place!” Gerard spins about, his hair now slicked back and away from his face, voice growling. ‘Clap!’ the audience returns. His movements precise, Gerard punctuates his words with gestures and firm inflections through the early portion. “Well, Mother, what the war did to my legs and to my tongue.” Gerard brandishes the ventriloquist puppet from previous performances at the pit as the audience completes lyrics for him, pumping his fist with puppet in hand. “She said you aint no son of mine,” He sings to the puppet, turning him over and looking directly into the puppet’s dead eyes as he does, “For what you done there.” He turns his attention back to the crowd, growling the rest of the verse. Puppet abandoned, Gerard jumps about as flames shoot from the floor on rhythm. The man on fire appears behind them again, still desperate for help, still ignored, as Gerard cries out repeatedly “Mama!”
“Hello! How are you?” Gerard starts ‘The Dagger Song’ during ‘Mama’s bridge. “Feeling better? Feeling quite well? I’ve got a secret..” He continues, snatching the dagger from The Ambassador beside him. Marianne takes her place on Stage-B. Gerard’s lines are delivered with thinly veiled joy seen previously, his eyes menacing the crowd. “A dagger, A dagger. Please fetch me a dagger,” He points it towards the center of the crowd, looking away with eyes closed. He walks across the stage, singing the extended lyrics with the dagger high in the air, eyes trailing across the stadium. “A dagger is just what this plan of ours needs.” He sings in a nasal, mocking, tone with a grin. He teases his band mates as the lyrics fall from his mouth, pure glee as he sings “Despite his corpse in the sea.” And he mimes tabbing at The Ambassador’s gut while hissing the words. The music slows as Gerard waltzes about the stage, dagger raised high, bowing before returning the dagger to its sheath held by The Ambassador.
“Marianne! Everybody say ‘Hello Marianne!’” He calls to Stage-B and then the audience. “Marianne, wave to all the beautiful people of Los Angeles, Transylvania!” The camera zooms in on her as she politely smiles and waves. “People of LA, you’re gonna help us count her in.” He says in his normal voice. “It is very easy to follow, you know? It’s very easy.” He says in the French accent that he quickly drops again. “Are you ready?” Gerard leads the crowd in the count, and all remain silent as they listen to Marianne sing out “And if you would call me your sweetheart, I’d maybe then sing you a song.” The crowd joins in again with Gerard as the lyrics “But the shit that I’ve done with fuck of a gun, you would cry out your eyes all along” quickly flash on screen, each word contrasted on an artist background sprawling from medeival art to black and white photographs, before showing the red and black missile control screens again. The song draws to a close, Gerard takes an exaggeratedly serious face as he plays ‘conductor’.
The Ambassador appears again to pick up Gerard’s jacket, placing it on his chair so that he will don it again post ‘Sleep’. Gerard begins the Sleep Skit on one knee, kneeling in front of the chair. His head nods and he appears to be ‘speaking’, but with his back to the audience. He rises and grabs his comb and book, taking a seat and grooming himself as he often does. Tonight’s book is different, the cover is a black and white mushroom cloud with yellow text over it. Tonight, he does not sob or laugh hysterically as if broken, he earnestly studies his book- brow knit tight and forehead creased as he leans in towards the pages. He smiles, nodding proudly, flipping a few pages before briefly holding it upturned and open to the audience, showing them the content for half a second. He returns back to his quiet study as his head bobs along to the building music. The missile launch goes through its checks behind him. He has to pull himself away from his book before the song begins, taking time to pull a drink from his canteen. The calm is shattered after he approaches the mic and the stage lights explode on his command.
While he does not hold back on his voice, Gerard goes through the motions as the missile scene plays out behind him. He will do his job, he won’t fight it, but he doesn’t have to like it. He does the same covering his eyes from previous weeks when singing the chorus to ‘Sleep’, he works the crowd just as he’s expected. When he raises his arms in a silent order to follow, he whispers ‘To heaven’ (thinking of Danger Days again and reminded of the line ‘Like tiny daggers up to heaven’). Often he turns his back on the crowd while singing and pacing. Behind him, new missile defense system warnings have been added to the video behind The Black Parade and the camera zooms in on them. Gerard’s aloof performance of the song breaks as he screams ‘Wake up’ in a disturbingly guttural manner as he hunches over, holding himself as the rocket launches through the sky. The screams melt into sobs of ‘Wake up’ that give way to melodic singing as Ray Toror is featured, giving his all into the climax of the song just as Gerard does. The screen behind them begins to fade to television snow as he lulls the audience into the soothing, extended outro to the song -‘At the end of the day when you lay your head down, just close your eyes. That way you’ll sleep, forever.’ (Possible variation here, difficult to hear and it changed from previous outro debut)
The Ambassador makes his final appearance of the night with the soldiers as the guitars whine out. Gerard approaches them, kicking his feet far apart and arms folded, lips tightly tucked in consideration…before shaking his head and immediately turning from them. He turns back to them, shaking his hands signaling ‘No way.” The Ambassador aggressively shakes the jacket at him, holding it open for him without question, flicking it at him. Gerard tucks his hands tightly into his chest after flinging them up in defense and protest, he pleads to not have to wear the jacket. The crowd screams for him to put the jacket on, and he even turns out to them with a pout. The camera zooms in on The Ambassador, holding the jacket and staring Gerard down, before he turns his gaze to the crowd and then back to Gerard, whose head is held low. Reluctantly, he shrugs into the jacket barely giving The Ambassador help as he stays limp limbed, tossing his head side to side and pouting all the while. As Gerard struggles to adjust to the jacket, The Ambassador and soldiers make to walk off as Ray steps in their path. He stares The Ambassador down before a soldier intimidates him into stepping aside. Frank Iero, from the opposite end of the stage, launches the Dodger Dog he tucked into his jacket earlier at the Draag authorities. Mikey keeps watch as his brother adjusts to the jacket. Gerard is shown straightening his hair, before Quizzo ads take over the screen. He holds himself again tight, eyes closed, and he whispers ‘Shh.” He twitches as if ‘swatting’ a thought away in his mind. “Shh.” He whispers again. Eyes still closed tight, he moves closer to the mic and whispers, “Peaceful.” The guitar for ‘Teenagers’ begins and he opens his eyes in a daze, twitches his nose and shakes a thought out..before he begins to bounce to the music and strut on stage, running his fingers through his hair.
The propaganda and state sponsored entertainment rolls. Quizzo, violence, talk shows, dancing, violence, dancing, Quizzo, ads, the weather, violence. Everything you could need! The entire stadium is shown the finest entertainment Draag has to offer. On stage, Gerard sings the song with less spunk and attitude as previous weeks. He still works the crowd and again, plays his part, but there is a reservation. He's afraid to let loose. The band play their part and perform to keep everyone distracted, Gerard struts on stage for the people and The Grand Immortal Dictator. There isn’t anything he can do about it tonight, he’s resigned. The stage goes black, and we wait for our nightly sign off from our Draag news anchor. The Notetaker is absent, and the guitar distortion drones on as the crowd is left in the dark.
“Our time has come…” The sign off begins and a keyboard opening for ‘Disenchanted’ begins. When Gerard comes up on stage in the spotlight, he begins the lyrics with his eyes closed and brows knit tightly. He opens them, looking up and away, out into the crowd as he sings “I hate the ending myself, but it started with an alright scene.” punctuation the sentiment with a shrug and thoughtful look. The camera follows Gerard as he again paces nervously, The Grand Immortal Dictator looming behind him and dwarfing him on stage. He keeps his eyes on the crowd, and they turn intense as he pointedly sings ‘Bring out the old guillotine, we’ll show them what we all mean.” At this point, the camera cuts to the screen of The Dictator. This night's rendition truly feels like a plea of understanding and resignation to his fate. Gerard stands alone in the spotlight as the closing “At Alls’ are sung, his hand coming to his forehead to wipe away sweat and brush the already slicked back hair away. His face twists as if he is trying to fight back tears, before both hands come up to his face and quickly falling again before he takes a bow, the Draag flag unfurling. The flags turn black and white as distortion mixed with laughter takes over the melody and the stage light turns orange.
Gerard is again pacing the stage again as ‘Famous Last Word’ starts. The flames erupt on stage, and Gerard’s energy is still one pleading with his audience, his brows furrowed. The entire song is delivered with worried, anxious eyes, even if he has accepted his fate it doesn’t seem he’s pleased. His voice rarely falters, despite his fear, a fear that does not melt away until he hears the crowd singing ‘Cause I see you lying next to me..’ along with him. The missile strike alert goes off behind him, sirens ignite the stage with the flames, "Splash in T-minus” in Keposhka. The cameras cut between shots of the flames that engulf the stage, and shots of the members behind the flames, looking as if they are also being consumed by them. Gerard is on his knees by the end of the song, but quickly rises up to hydrate and compose himself before his final task.
‘’The End’ Reprise begins as every week, The Clown joins them on stage. Gerard seems to have tears in his eyes before turning to The Clown as they mimic each other yet again- but Gerard motions out to the crowd before sarcastically giving them a ‘I encourage your smiles and expect you won’t cry!’, eyes crazed. He chews on his words as he sings them with raised brows and cockiness that had disappeared after Mama, shaking his head in faux excitement to lyrics that The Clown mimics with a crazed glee on the other end of the stage. As the moment draws closer, The Clown does as well. He dances from one side to the other around Gerard, taunting him on when it will come, even running up the stage by Frank. But he returns, knife in hand, and plunges it into Gerard’s chest. The glittered blood sprays, Gerard falls, and he crawls to the button as he keeps singing. Confetti falls from the ceiling, The Black Parade plays on as their leader crawls to his chalk mark, the Clown picks up The Red Phone and whispers into it. Gerard makes it to the button and hits it, the bomb goes off behind them and he watches as he dies- as he must do every night. Soldiers make for Mikey immediately, who fights them off and runs before he is caught. Frank, Ray, and Jarrod are bagged and hauled away. JAmie again is escorted off kindly.
The Clown walks up to Gerard’s corpse, slack jawed and limp limbed- staring at him before ‘Blood’ starts and he quickly returns to his routine. He kicks Gerard’s limp body to the side, dancing around him as he mouths ‘Well they encourage your complete cooperation, send you roses when they think you need to smile.’, he tosses wheat to the crowd. He steps over Gerard’s corpse again as he prances about the stage, but his strip tease returns. He menaces the crowd with his bomb, they cheer and eat it up. Again, he explodes. The crowd is shown the Dictator, rising from his throne (The Red Phone clearly next to him), and applauding the evening's show. The stage goes black, Stage-B is lit up for our cellist, and the decaying deer return to the screens. The biggest surprise of the night was on stage-b; Where, as My Chemical Romance, the boys premiered a previously unreleased track from ‘an album that never came out.’ That’s right, LA night one audiences were treated to a ‘Paper Kingdoms’ track! Former friend and producer Doug McKean, who had worked on ‘The Paper Kingdom’ and ‘The Foundations of Decay’ with the band, had passed away in 2022 and his family was in attendance for the show- so to honor him the band performed ‘War Beneath The Rain” for the first time. The crowd in attendance and at home could not help but go wild. Night one brought Los Angeles more twists and turns than thought possible. Not one to waste the opportunities afforded them, My Chemical Romance put on another unforgettable performance that could not be matched, not even for those in attendance of night two.





















