Classic MCR Live Review: My Chemical Romance's 2005 Canadian Headlining Tour | December 1, 2005 | Toronto, ON Canada

(Note: The flier is not for this exact tour date, but it was on the Canadian tour. I will try to upload my personal pictures from the show when I can.)

My Chemical Romance's 2005 Canadian headlining tour with Circa Survive and Thrice. December 1, 2005: Toronto/Mississauga.

Note: This was written in 2005 and has had only minor editing.

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Thursday, December 1st

My friend and I woke up at 7:30 A.M. to ready ourselves for the great Canadian line-wait. We ate what we could stomach with our nerves at the tiny restaurant that was attached to our hotel and went to wait in line.

We met some awesome people and whatnot, as usual. We met girls who had gone to the same concert we had in Michigan, and we got fascinated by the Canadians.

While waiting in line I learned:
*Candians call Smarties "rockets" because they have these awesome chocolate Smarties (they're like big M&Ms)
*They say "Washroom" instead of restroom and think that restroom is about the most ridiculous term ever.
*They say "backpack" or "knapsack" instead of book-bag.
* "knob" is an insult
* "pro" is a compliment
*Canadian currency has cutesy names like "loonies" and "toonies"
*I generalize Canadians
*People in Canada are really hardcore

It was around noon or so, and we'd been waiting in line for around 2 hours when, all of the sudden, some fools at the back of the line decided to stand up and rush forward. It was INSANE!

People scrambled to pick up their blankets and food, which they had previously been happily seated on the ground with, before the sudden crowding and ridiculous line-cutting. It was like being in the crowd before getting into the venue. Everyone was pushed together and pissed off at everyone else, but it got better eventually. After a couple hours, people got comfortable in their standing spots. People got freaked out by Emily's and my "American-ness" again and we with their Canadian-isms. All was well.

So we stood and we stood and we froze our asses off for 6 hours until, finally, the doors opened, and it was complete and total mayhem/chaos/insanity once more.

Everyone ran to the doors, and there were people getting stuck in the doorframe and popping through eventually because of the pressure of the crowd behind them, then came coat check; then, we went into the room where the concert was...

This place was... Oh my god...

Picture this:
A vast gray-floored room that could fit 6 or more gyms inside of it. No joke. The place was huge. There were no seats, and it was dark as we rushed across the expansive floor toward the foggy-looking island of a stage.

As we speed walked to the stage, which seemed a mile away, we saw that there was no room on the left side where my friend and I usually stand; so, we went to the right side and almost had second row until two kids moved elsewhere, and we snagged their spots against the barricade.

From there it was set: we were front row on Ray side. It was very new for me; as, every time I've had floor, I've been on Frank's side of the stage; so, I was super excited to see what it was like from the other side.

Circa Survive played first. I only know one of their songs, but Anthony Green is insane and very wiggly and he has this crazy mic that I decided owns my soul just for its pure unique awesomeness.

Thrice were pretty good. I liked all the songs they played even though I didn't know them. They played "Image of the Invisible," and had the audience repeat after them to sing along as they had on Warped Tour. They didn't play "Stare At The Sun," though, which broke my heart because I love that song more than cookies.

By the time Thrice finished playing, everyone that had been beside me in front row was gone excepting Emily and Dan, who had stood beside us in line. More than 20 kids had gotten pulled out of the crowd (up and over my head), and what seemed like thousands of crowd surfers had began making their slow attempts at breaking my neck, but all was well. I was still front row, and I was about to see MCR... IN CANADA!

Before My Chemical Romance came on, it was so odd. There was a huge curtain up, and The Smiths were playing in the background; then, MCR started playing "Interlude," and the curtain was STILL UP; so, I was freaking out! That never happened when I saw them in the states, and I was wondering if something had gone wrong. Gerard's mic kept going out and cracking; then, they started doing "Thank You for the Venom," and I REALLY freaked out because the curtain was still up, but -- BOOM -- it came crashing down, and it was shocking to see them that suddenly standing there at the front of the stage and glaring down at the (huge, 8,000 person, would-be-illegal-in-the-States-for-sure) crowd. Judging by how all of their eyes were wide, I think we shocked them right back.

Oh excitement... God, it was an amazing show.

So much shit got thrown onstage, and Gerard kept going around and picking it up and brandishing it at the audience. Gerard's always-appreciated "1,2,3,4: back the fuck up" saved my ribs. I owned completely by talking along with Gerard, (which is really sad, honestly) and knowing "Shut Up and Play," and surviving that crazy crowd as long as I did. I was excited to be in front of Ray; because, I never had been before, and he was awesome! He looked down at the crowd a lot, and I got some sweet pictures of him. Sadly, MCR didn't do "Headfirst For Halos,
"Vampires...," or "This Is The Best Day Ever." I'd really been looking forward to hearing them do "Vampires..." all day too. Oh well. I actually think their set was a lot shorter than it had been on the U.S. tour dates.

It was still awesome despite that and the fact that I lost my awesome crossed-gun earrings somewhere on the bottom of a Canadian crowdsurfer's shoe.

I can officially say I have seen My Chemical Romance internationally! Epic!

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Previous entries:

2005 Taste of Chaos | Green Day & MCR | Warped Tour, Columbus | Warped Tour, Charlotte | 2005 Headlining tour, Columbus | Headlining tour, Atlanta


The reason behind this blog series.