I'll admit, I half-expected the Danger Days CD to come with some sort of character sheet or stats chart.

They're probably using Apocalypse World rules.

Trudy reports that she is stage Toro and four people back for the MCR show.

She is SO damn lucky.

OMG jealous.

I gotta say, I really, REALLY love the new MCR. I enjoyed Black Parade, but it was mostly at a distance of "yeah, that's interesting." I had Danger Days in my car's CD player the entire time I was in Maine (where I bought it - go Bull Moose Music!), and 3/4 of the trip back (I needed a break from the same songs too many times over - don't judge me!).

More thoughts later, but my first thought on picking it up was "Damn! That's one Jilli unfriendly cover there."

Oh, and "Save Yourself..." and "Vampire Money" are my favorites. And maybe, of all things, "Sing" which is amazing because I'm usually allergic to Power Ballads.

One of us, one of us ...

More thoughts later, but my first thought on picking it up was "Damn! That's one Jilli unfriendly cover there."

I've got to admit, I don't look at the cover very much. I wonder how the rest of the band convinced Frankie (who is as much of an arachnophobe as me) to go along with it.

So far, "Save Yourself ...", "Party Poison", and "DESTROYA" are my favorites. With a side of amusement at "S/C/A/R/E/C/R/O/W", because the lyrics really do say "run run Bunny run" at one point. Clovis takes credit for that.

One of us, one of us ...

Well, this one pushes the right buttons for me. Black Parade merely gave them the eye. I think it's because this is so damn hooky that it's monstrous ear candy, but with an edge and a chip (how appropriate for a monster). Makes me curious what Hec would think about it, because it definitely careens into some serious Bazooka Rock territory, and not just with the Sweet shout-outs.

Well that didn't suck.

By the end I was two back Stage Toro. And while I've been right up front before I've never been this close at a My Chem show because it was a low stage and Gee did declare "Fuck this barricade!" (it really was a shit barricade)

They were really happy to be there. They started off with NA NA NA, then Desolation Row. They were all just on fire. The three people between me an Ray were short so I had pretty much primo hand view for each solo -- not that there was much to see that sucker has some blurry hands.

There was a triumphal return to the thing. We'd likely all been there at MSG when Gerard got all maudlin and "If we never play again..." and when he brought it up it was strangely personal for all 210 people in the room. He kept doing his bounce-on-the-audience "stage dives" and then grinning like a little kid. They all kept sorta hugging each other. It was redic. At one point, for no discernable reason, mid song, Ray trucked across the stage and snuggled each one of them. IDEK... IDEK...

The new songs all went off like wildfire. This is, I believe, the correct set list:

Look Alive Sunshine / NA NA NA NA (NA NA NA NA NA NA NA NA)
I'm Not Okay
Desolation Row
Planetary (GO!)
Sing
Helena
House of Wolves
Teenagers
Kids From Yesterday

And, yes, there was copious lean-and-cry on that last one amongst my little gang. And, yes, we looked up to see Gerard watching us with his crooked little smile...

We "ONE MORE SONGed" them back and when they lit into Welcome to the Black Parade what I thought was an engaged crowd lost. their. fucking. minds.

The whole thing is a little bit of a blur, really. Very emotional. There should be a lot of video up tomorrow, I'm the one with the blue hair.

Wow, Trudy. That sounds amazing. So glad they've found the joy again.

I can't even pick favorite songs from Danger Days yet, but I will say that I found myself singing the chorus from Bulletproof Heart repeatedly yesterday.