#mcr brisbane 1

[bentwolioo]

Ok so why did Gerard wear the same costume for 6 shows???

Like a lot of people, I noticed the Aotearoa (NZ) & Australia tour drum head messages seemed to be about 9/11. The costume also tells a very specific story that lines up with this--and there was more to Melbourne Night 2 than Gerard deciding it was casual Friday. I'm gonna go through my personal interpretation and explain why I think MCR did this at the end of their tour. 

TLDR: This Is Not The End.

I will include image credits in the reblog since there are a lot!

AUCKLAND, March 11 2023

Based on the skirt suit and drumhead ‘FIX FAX FUCK YOU’, Gerard is dressed as an office worker. For simplicity I will refer to the costume as the Secretary, I see it as both a character and a metaphor. Auckland establishes the monotony and repetition of daily life prior to 9/11, ‘FIX FAX FUCK YOU’ showing an attitude of boredom unaware of the events to come. 

BRISBANE 1, March 13 2023

The main difference between Auckland and Brisbane 1 is the briefcase. This indicates the point in time--Auckland is the days before 9/11 and Brisbane 1 is the morning before the attacks begin. The secretary travels to work, thinking ‘Everything under Control’.

BRISBANE 2, March 14 2023

The drumhead message ‘Here Comes the AIRPLANE’ marks this as minutes or even seconds before the towers are hit. Brisbane 2 is the first time Gerard wears the coat, representing everyone taking cover. 

MELBOURNE 1, March 16 2023

I unfortunately could not find a good photo of Gerard wearing the coat from this show but you can see it on the floor behind him!

The Melbourne shows are as the towers collapse. Pretty straightforward from the Melbourne 1 drumhead ‘TERROR’. This show also had the only appearance of the umbrella, which I interpret as representing the rubble and destruction raining down. The umbrella is closed, showing the secretary is unprotected and ultimately killed when the towers fall. 

MELBOURNE 2, March 17 2023

It seemed odd at first that Melb 2 was the only show that Gerard didn’t wear a costume for, but I actually believe he still did. This is the key to my interpretation: Gerard is dressed as himself witnessing the towers collapse, on his way to work at Cartoon Network. This the only show on the Oceania leg where they played Skylines and Turnstiles*, the song Gerard wrote immediately after 9/11. The drumhead ‘BARK BARK BARK’ makes you picture, a chained dog, representing the powerless horror of only being able to watch as the destruction unfolds--the deeply personal experience that drove Gerard to form MCR. 

SYDNEY 1, March 19 2023

Blood!!!! At Sydney 1, we see the continuing aftermath of the 9/11 attacks. The secretary has died but keeps moving, picking up her briefcase and carrying on. This could be showing how a lot of people’s faith in the US government and in the world died, but life had to find a way to move on. 

SYDNEY 2, March 20 2023

At Sydney 2, the addition of Gerard’s white contacts shows the Secretary decaying--but she has not stopped. Frank changed the drumhead message from ‘UNKILLABLE’ to ‘UNKILLABLES’, expanding the meaning from the context of his accident in Sydney to include the band, the fans, and on a wider level everything MCR represents. 

I think all of this is a metaphor for the band’s career in multiple ways. Firstly, the Secretary being undead of course reflects MCR’s return, and her zombified appearance aligns with the imagery of their new era (decay, swarm, the destroyed buildings of the stage set). Secondly, it is very interesting to me that they did this sequence of costumes and drumheads at the end of their headlining tour, rather that at the start. The story they told seems to imply a rebirth--MCR was ‘born’ out of the trauma, pain and confusion of 9/11, so the fact that they represented the start of the band on stage signifies a second beginning. 

(Thank you for reading to the end and if I got anything wrong please let me know!)

*EDIT 1 (23/03/23): They actually also played Skylines at Brisbane 2. I do think the position of Skylines in the Melb 2 set is still significant. They played it as the first encore song which mirrors it being the first MCR song and written shortly after 9/11.

EDIT 2 (30/03/23): So actually 8 shows of Secretary Gerard when you include Japan! Tokyo and Osaka analysis here

[on-this-day-mcr]

On this day, March 13

In 2023: My Chemical Romance performed their 63rd show of the 2022-2023 Swarm tour in Meeanjin (Brisbane), Australia. At this show, an unreleased song (titled "Eagles" on the paper setlist) was performed for the 7th time ever, with new lyrics. Gerard Way wore a dark grey skirt suit and white shirt, and "Everything Under Control" was written on the drums. (🖤)

Watch the show here!

@trashandglitter

[sixstringpansy]

world's worst secretary

from @/tistragicaffair on tw (x)

[h3xactinellida]

my chemical romance saved my life forever and ever and ever and ever and ever and

[srcepiksla]

our lady of workplace sorrows, the patron saint of broken printers

[finelytaylored]

So I made this for completely selfish reasons, but I figured I might as well post it in case anyone else is interested in having it.

all audio was pulled from here, where you can watch the Brisbane Night 1 set.

All of the audio for the tracks, along with my awful attempt at some album art, can be found here.

Tracklist:

The Foundations of Decay

Bury Me in Black

I'm Not Okay (I Promise)

Boy Division

The Ghost of You

Planetary (GO!)

Our Lady of Sorrows

Teenagers

Vampire Money

Na Na Na (Na Na Na Na Na Na Na Na Na)

DESTROYA

House of Wolves

Helena

The World Is Ugly

Mama

Welcome to the Black Parade

The Kids From Yesterday Encore:

Vampires Will Never Hurt You

Noise Jam / Everybody Hates the Eagles

Famous Last Words

if there are any issues accessing anything, please let me know. I make no promises in terms of quality here, but I hope you all enjoy anyway.

[thepoison-thecure]

Famous Last Words bridge ft. Gerard blowing a kiss to the crowd on 'awake and unafraid' (Meeanjin, Australia 13/3/23)

[oh-gee-no-way]

does anyone have the video or audio of everybody hates the eagles from brisbane? i keep seeing people talking about the lyrics i wanna hear it so bad.

[veridivenefica]

Not dead. Just had nothing worthy to post til now x

[saturnisfallingdown]

"CAUSE I'M HER KINDA' BOY... AND ALSO HER GIRL" INCIDENT THOUSANDS DEAD

[demolition-gays]

HEY

SHTTY PHOTOS I TOOK AT MCR BRISSY NIGHT 1

i would post the videos i took too but u can hear my screaming in them and it sounds fucking terrible so oh well

FYI i spent months memorising every lyric to every song so i could scream out every single line

so now my voice is fucking dead :DDD

worth it tho

[sixstringpansy]

The World Is Ugly, via boyydivision on instagram

[h3xactinellida]

TERRIBLE BLURRY SMILEY BOY!!!!!!!!

[mcralien]

strawberrytranssexual is doing god’s work for the ray girlies

[finelytaylored]

Mail dayyyyy! @saintmichale ❤️

[thepoison-thecure]

Ray Toro The Kids From Yesterday outro (Meeanjin, Australia 13/3/23)