Live Review: My Chemical Romance & Circa Survive

Saturday December 1^st @ Rod Laver Arena (Melbourne)

My Chemical Romance (USA) w/ Circa Survive (USA) and The Getaway Plan

By Cameron Chambers

Seriously, on a Saturday night in Melbourne why the fuck would you close off the two main car parks near Rod Laver and Vodafone arenas!? Because of this I had to park fifteen minutes away and missed local lads The Getaway Plan do their thing in front of a few thousand people. From all reports the guys played a strong set and I saw more than a few kids walking around in TGP tees later on in the evening.  

With a minimum of fuss Anthony Green and the remainder of his Circa Survive cohorts walked onto the stage and politely asked us if we were ready to dance. I don't think they really cared what the crowd though because they spent the next 40 minutes moving and shaking like they were all possessed.  

I'd heard rumours that Anthony's unique vocals were pretty spot on in the live setting but I was stunned to hear that he could pull off his soaring melodies note for note without the assistance of an auto tuner. Take that Eighteen Visions! Playing a large collection of songs off their most recent masterpiece “On Letting Go” and closing with Act Appalled off their debut “Juturna”, Circa Survive played one of the most impressive sets I've seen in 2007: including the in between song chit chat about Anthony's need to take a massive shit, his words, not mine. 

I knew My Chemical Romance would pull out all the stops for their arena tour, but from a musical standpoint I wasn't really expecting much... especially after their dismissal performance opening for Greenday 18 months ago. Well, credit where credit is due, MCR killed it. I won't go as far as saying I'm a fan of the band's music (although they do have some catchy songs) but they were spot on for the entire performance and successfully held the crowd's attention for close to 90 minutes.  

The pyro that was being used by the stage crew was amazing. Imagine the flame towers on Southbank being set off across a stage and you'll have some idea of what was going on. The band's backdrop looked great and the lighting technicians certainly earnt their wage as well! When you throw in Tucker Rule from Thursday on the kit and James Dewees (The Get Up Kids, Coalesce, Reggie And The Full Effect) on keys you've got one hell of a show going on! 

My only complaint for the evening was the defeaning volume of the screams that were being unleashed by the teenage boys and girls in attendance. I'm all for singing along with a band but come on, there's no need to randomly shriek at 15 second intervals!  

Arena shows aren't normally my thing but the band's on tonight's bill made it work!