Photos + Review — My Chemical Romance Bring the Heat in Arlington

My Chemical Romance brought their Long Live the Black Parade tour to Arlington, Texas’ Globe Life Field on Saturday, turning up the heat on an already-sweltering night with their theatrical emo extravaganza.

You can see Loudwire’s exclusive photos from the show and the full setlist below.

The New Jersey rockers opened the show by plowing through The Black Parade, augmenting the beloved 2006 album with new arrangements and bits of macabre theater (including the mock election and execution that set social media ablaze last month). The classic rock-influenced concept album has aged like fine wine over the past two decades — songs like “Dead!” and “Welcome to the Black Parade” still crackle with urgency, while “Mama” and “Famous Last Words” dazzled with ample pyrotechnics and summoned stadium-sized singalongs.

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My Chemical Romance Play Two Tour Debuts During Dressed-Down Arlington Set

As satisfying as it was to see MCR perform their biggest album in full while donning full Black Parade attire, the show’s second half offered the biggest surprises and thrills. Dressed down and standing on the B-stage amid the audience, the band tore through hits and deep cuts with casual charisma and infectious enthusiasm. Unburdened by the high concept and historical significance of The Black Parade, the band — particularly frontman Gerard Way — seemed younger and moved with a newfound spring in their step.

The Arlington show featured tour debuts of Conventional Weapons‘ “The World Is Ugly” and The Black Parade B-side “Kill All Your Friends,” and ended with the unreleased “War Beneath the Rain,” a monstrous power ballad with enough grandiose hooks to earn its set-closing status.

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A cover of the Smashing Pumpkins‘ “Bullet With Butterfly Wings” worked the audience into a frenzy, while early, riff-driven album cuts “Our Lady of Sorrows” and “Thank You for the Venom” made a case for some of the most uncompromising rock music played in a stadium setting in 2025. But MCR effortlessly switched energy on a dime, with the danceable, synth-heavy “Planetary (GO!)” convincing even the staunchest arm-crosser to swivel their hips.

Considering how their legacy has grown with each passing year, it’s impressive that this is My Chemical Romance’s first stadium tour. The 40,000-strong Arlington crowd was proof of the band’s ability to bridge the gap between Gen X, millennial and Gen Z fans, and it cemented their status as one of, if not the most culturally significant rock act of the past 20 years.

But those superlatives didn’t matter on Saturday. The crowd was just happy to have them back. Long live the Black Parade.

My Chemical Romance Setlist – Aug. 2, 2025 in Arlington, TX

1. “The End.”
2. “Dead!”
3. “This Is How I Disappear”
4. “The Sharpest Lives”
5. “Welcome to the Black Parade”
6. “I Don’t Love You”
7. “House of Wolves”
8. “Cancer”
9. “Mama”
10. “Sleep”
11. “Teenagers”
12. “Disenchanted”
13. “Famous Last Words”
14. “The End.” (Reprise)
“Blood” (prerecorded)
B-Stage
15. “From A to B” (instrumental)
16. “Na Na Na (Na Na Na Na Na Na Na Na Na)”
17. “Our Lady of Sorrows”
18. “Planetary (GO!)”
19. “I’m Not Okay (I Promise)”
20. “Bullet With Butterfly Wings” (The Smashing Pumpkins cover)
21. “The World Is Ugly” (Tour debut)
22. “Thank You for the Venom”
23. “Kill All Your Friends” (Tour debut)
24. “Helena”
25. “War Beneath the Rain”