On March 22, 2013, news broke that would devastate emo kids across the world — myself included. It was the day that My Chemical Romance announced they were breaking up. MCR had been a pop punk symbol for years, with their flair for theatrics and songs that spoke to every downtrodden, angsty teen. While the band breaking up didn’t suddenly erase their music and impact from the world, it still seemed strange to exist in a world without them.
The members seemed to move on. Lead singer Gerard Way began a successful comics career, with his Umbrella Academy series eventually becoming a Netflix original TV show. Guitarists Frank Iero and Ray Toro both released solo projects. Despite all that, the fans never forgot. We let ourselves indulge in the dream that MCR would someday return. It was just a silly fantasy, though.
Then, on October 31 of this year, our dreams suddenly became a reality. The profile pictures on MCR’s social media profiles were changed and posts were made about an upcoming reunion concert. I didn’t let myself become too optimistic, thinking it was just some kind of sick joke until an article was posted that confirmed it: MCR was back, baby.
All the former emo kids ran to grab their striped undershirts and draw on heavy black eyeliner. You could hear the celebratory blasting of “I’m Not Okay” from every laptop and phone. Every other post on social media was about their return. It was like all of the terrible things in the world ceased for one moment to allow us to join hands and celebrate the return of these pop-punk legends.
The reunion is going to be a concert in Los Angeles on December 20. Tickets sold out almost immediately, and the band came out and said they never expected such a wonderful reaction to them getting back together. As of November 6, they’ve announced upcoming shows in Australia, New Zealand and Japan.
With every new show they announce, the question that hangs in the air seems to get louder and louder — will the band start touring again? Will the people who never got to see a My Chemical Romance concert in their heyday finally have a chance to experience the one thing they never thought they would? Only time will tell, but I’m choosing to be optimistic. I’ll catch you all at the Orlando show, whenever that ends up being.