Show review – The Architects – Neon Trees – My Chemical Romance

Show Review – The Architects, Neon Trees and My Chemical Romance

The Ford Center – Vancouver BC Canada, April 2 2011

by Jade Sperry

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MCR take the stage at the Ford Center. Photo by Jade Sperry.

Last night’s show was probably amazing to most of the teenagers that were there.  I witnessed hysteria, crying and screaming from some of the most rabid and loyal fans to a band that I’ve ever seen, and I remember that from the Projekt Rev tour from 2007 – although it’s toned down a lot more since then.

The Architects were up first to warm up the crowd which they did well.  They had some good energy, good stage presence and they seemed to really dig the crowd.  In fact all 3 bands were really into the crowd, saying  “Vancouver, you are a good looking crowd” .  Their songs were performed very well and they left the stage after a 30 minute set.

Neon Trees took the stage and just went head first into their set like ducks to water.  This is a really good band.  The drummer, Elaine Bradley, really impressed the hell out of me with how well she kept the timing of the songs live.  I could only stand and stare in awe quite frankly.  Tyler Glen really has a great stage presence and was born to be a frontman.  He reminded this writer of Jared Leto from 30 Seconds To Mars in his showmanship, drama and style onstage.  If you get a chance to see this band live, I highly recommend that you do.  You will not be disappointed.

Gerard Way marching across the stage. Photo by Jade Sperry.

And finally, at 940pm PST, MCR took the stage and began the night with “NaNaNaNa” to which every single teenager went absolutely insane.  One thing I should say is that there were also some older folks in the audience (50+) that were there either with friends or their kids.  That was really cool to see.  And the audience for the most part was well behaved even in the midst of their hysteria that MCR were really on the stage in front of them.  Gerard Way gave this show a lot of emotion, sweat and energy to the kids in the crowd, thanked all of us for having the patience to wait for the new record and generally seemed to really CARE about the audience which not a lot of mainstream big acts do.  Frank Iero and Ray Toro really got into the show with the way they played their guitars, and Mikey Way was all cool and hip with his bass playing.  They did a lot of tunes for this show, new and old, and all of them were performed at a high level of energy and done very well.  I also liked the stage setup for this tour because it’s stripped down and looks bare.  The lighting was well done and chaotic which added an  apocalyptic feel to the whole show.  And the V shaped lights behind the drummer were awesome.  Just a note:  there are a lot of strobe lights for this show so if that bothers you, be warned.  There were a few teens next to me that had to leave because of that factor.

As I left the show and drove by the theater 20 minutes after the show ended, the 2 tour buses in front of the venue were swarmed with fans getting autographs and that kind of thing.

Thanks to the bands that played last night and thank you also for the music you play.

Filtered shot of My Chemical Romance with blood red lights in background. Photo by Jade Sperry.