My Chemical Romance returned to the stage with the Long Live: The Black Parade and finally returned to Brazil after 18 years. The band performed last Thursday night, the 5th, at Allianz Parque, with a special opening act by The Hives . This Friday, the 6th, the band will perform an extra show at the same venue – there are still some tickets available.
The Hives, necessary and always welcome
The Swedish band The Hives built a career marked by the urgency of garage rock and a stage presence that always flirted with provocation. They gained international recognition in the early 2000s with Veni Vidi Vicious (2000), propelled by their infectious energy on stage – and there was no more fitting band to open for My Chemical Romance's shows in Latin America.
The show maintained the same concept that has underpinned the band's trajectory – and was presented during their last visit to Brazil in 2024 – full of intensity, direct communication, and absolute control of the audience. And, even if they weren't their core fanbase, the audience praised the performance that warmed them up for the main show.
The performance was a continuous onslaught, with short songs played without long pauses, creating a feeling of pure, straightforward rock 'n' roll. The setlist of just 11 songs balanced classics from their discography with more recent tracks, keeping the tempo consistently high.
From the very first chords, the audience responds with jumps, shouts, and constant participation, following the provocations of vocalist Pelle Almqvist and transforming the show into an exchange of energy.
Moreover, Pelle is one of the central elements of the show, acting as master of ceremonies, guiding the audience with precise and rehearsed commands in Portuguese. Right from the first song, "Enough Is Enough," Pelle ordered the audience: "Jump, jump, people from São Paulo," reinforcing the performative nature of the show, which consciously and effectively mixes humor, arrogance, and charisma.
The Hives opted for simplicity, where the traditional black and white suits (this time with lights), direct lighting, and a stage without excesses helped to maintain focus on the performance and interaction. At various moments, the vocalist went into the audience, feeling the energy and warmth that welcomed him with open arms, reaching its peak during the track "Tick Tick Boom". The Hives brought a youthful energy, but with the experience and confidence of veterans.
The pressure of playing in a packed stadium, with an audience that is mostly not their own, seems like a huge challenge, but it was accepted and delivered masterfully. By closing the show with "The Hives Forever Forever The Hives," the band made it clear that there is a need for more bands like them in the scene. The Hives proved that they don't need much to put on a headliner-worthy show and have already secured a place on the list of the best of 2026.
My Chemical Romance exceeded expectations
My Chemical Romance's recent reunion has transformed each performance into an event brimming with emotional memories, confirming the cultural impact the band has built since the early 2000s. The group gained prominence with Three Cheers for Sweet Revenge (2004), reached its creative and commercial peak with The Black Parade (2006), and solidified its versatility in Danger Days: The True Lives of the Fabulous Killjoys (2010). And this tour demonstrates that, focusing on the conceptual work The Black Parade .
The audience literally went back to the 2000s, all dressed in the band's iconic look – black clothes and red ties. In addition to the obligatory emo aesthetic, they eagerly awaited the chance to sing along to the anthems of a band that defined a generation.
Long Live: The Black Parade tour expands the universe created by the album, which originally addressed themes such as identity, life, and death through the story of "The Patient." In the new show, My Chemical Romance revisits the alter ego from the 2007 era and inserts it into a more elaborate narrative, set in the fictional country of Draag , governed by an authoritarian regime led by the Great Immortal Dictator – read more details about the concept in our special feature .
Throughout the show, the band performed the album in its entirety, with the tracks receiving exclusive arrangements for the tour, such as the track "Mama," sung with the participation of opera singer Charlotte Kelso , who played the role of Nurse, and "Ternangers," which gained a set design reminiscent of retro—and macabre—children's programs.
My Chemical Romance invested heavily in the visual aspect, making the show grandiose, with projections, lighting, pyrotechnics, and set design that reinforce the dark and operatic atmosphere of the album, reaching the level of grandiose shows that invest in visuals to transform the concert into a narrative experience, going beyond the musical performance. To conclude, a comical, yet macabre scene, where vocalist Gerard Way shows his artistic side acting as a grim reaper from gore films, creating a spectacle that we can call "Absolute Cinema".
Gerard Way leads the presentation with a theatrical performance balanced by pointed speeches, while the band delivers an intense show, so grand that it might silence the emo haters.
The band gifted fans of different generations, who reciprocated by singing every verse in chorus, transforming moments like "Welcome to the Black Parade" – which became the emo hit – " I Don't Love You " and "Famous Last Words" into points of collective catharsis – the latter track closing the first act by literally setting Allianz Parque on fire.
The highlight was in the second act of the show, where the band performed their biggest hits, making room for the tour's debut of the track "The World Is Ugly" and the fan-favorite b-side "Cemetery Drive," dedicated to Brazilian comic book artist Gabriel Bá , with whom Gerard Way worked on The Umbrella Academy . The predictable, yet intense, finale was "Helena," the immortal hit.
My Chemical Romance made the long wait worthwhile, returning as grand as they were in their heyday in the 2000s, proving that their work remains relevant and respected even decades after its creation.
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