Gigs keep reminding us of the unyielding passage of time lately. Two weeks after Alexisonfire and Billy Talent united in Wembley Arena to celebrate 20 years of their respective breakthrough albums, contemporaries My Chemical Romance are filling the stadium next door three times over as they mark the platinum anniversary of their era-defining The Black Parade. And they’re not taking any half-measures, either. The emo superstars have brought two stages, elaborate sets and an armoury’s worth of pyro – not to mention a new rock opera narrative to refresh their millennial anthems.
Even the support act was picked to fit their highly thought-out design. Frontman Gerard Way fell in love with SKUNK ANANSIE after seeing their cameo in 1995 sci-fi thriller Strange Days. The homegrown alt-rockers make Wembley Stadium feel far smaller than it actually is, as guitarist Martin “Ace” Kent’s crunching riffs fill the 90,000-person space. The heart of it all, however, is frontwoman Skin. Not just the owner of a pristine set of pipes, she’s also a magnetic presence, especially when she hops the barrier to howl amidst the masses. A reliably excellent showing from a consistently underrated band.
