My Chemical Romance rocked Emo's on St. Patty's day at SXSW
Taking a break from recording their new album, chart-topping rock band My Chemical Romance took the stage to wild shrieks from the capacity crowd at Emo's, one of the more famous clubs in Austin, Texas.
In order to benefit The Shirts for a Cure Project the New Jersey quintet headlined the 6 hour concert that also included legendary punk band Lifetime for the free show that only asked for donations to support breast cancer research.
Hundreds of MCR fans had waited for hours for the doors to open at noon to get a good spot to see the group, and they weren't disappointed. Not only were all the hits performed with passion and sweat and enthusiasum but after the 45-minute set was over, climaxing with "Helena", the crowd chanted "one more song" and after 15 minutes the band returned to the stage surprising many who had left and all who were still in attendence.
"We're going to regret this," singer Gerard Way smiled adjusting the mic before introducing the encore number, explaining that what they were about to play was a new song called "Father" which the band hadn't quite nailed down yet.
Needless to say, no one at the SXSW event complained with the unexpected bonus whose intro sounded faintly like Pink Floyd, but soon errupted into the MCR trademarked rock frenzy.
Way sported a curious ensemble of a leather jacket, on top of two or three other shirts and black leather pants. Curious because Austin was one of the warmest towns in all of the USA on 3/17 with temperatures outside the club nearing 80 degrees and inside the club, particularily onstage creeping much higher. It was also humid from the light drizzle of the afternoon. The singer also had the word Wolves written across his sweaty neck.
Circa Survive, Drive By, Head Automatica, The Loved Ones, The Receiving End of Sirens, Hit The Lights, and The Fall of Troy were also on the bill that took place on two seperate stages that did not require a SXSW wristband.
Emo's is an iconic small rock club in Austin, a town known for its fine selection of live music. Founded by a man named Emo, the club has been around for decades. After Johnny Cash played their they hoisted the stool that he performed on to the ceiling in honor of that fine performance.
Because of their multi-platinum success, the likelihood of MCR playing a club like Emo's was relatively small. But combined with the invitation by the charity and the 20th aniversary of the 1,300 band music festival, one of the more popular "emo" bands around was able to perform at Emo's sparking ironic jokes all along the noisy streets of Austin.
