GERARD WAY | LIVE REVIEW
Y Plas, Cardiff University Students’ Union, Sun 9 Nov
Before the gig doors opened there was a large group of 16-year-olds huddled close together trying to keep warm and dry. Most of them had braved the weather and had been waiting in line since 6am. Talking to one of them, who cradled a framed sketch of Gerard Way that she had worked on for hours, you couldn’t escape feeling the sincere love she had towards Way and his music.
Despite whatever you may think about My Chemical Romance, you can’t mistake their impact on the youth culture of the 00’s. Coming off the scrapped MCR album Paper Kingdom, Gerard Way’s new record Hesitant Alien is a burst of shoegazing and Britpop-inspired songs. Moving away from the multitracked vocals of MCR, Way has bared it all vocally. Emotionally, Hesitant Alien feels more like the Smashing Pumpkins’ Oceania or Lennon’s Double Fantasy than any other MCR record.
The set itself felt stripped back and raw, even though Way was supported by a standard four-piece band. The fuzz pedals and sound accompaniments created a clashing vibration of sweet sound. The songs that really sank into the crowed and gave the mass the OK to dance were No Show, Brother and Zero Zero. Way’s presence on stage felt more reserved, a little more honest compared to performances where he would take on characters like ‘The Patient’.
The band broke up the set by beginning to play a kind of slow jam as Way thanked the audience for teaching him how to talk about transgender people correctly. I don’t know what happened to my usual syncretism that would knock the preachy musician for stopping the gig to say something quote-unquote important. But I really felt a genuineness from Way and the crowd, which really took me back. It’s not often you have an artist who inspires a positive community around their art and I can’t wait to see where he take his music in the next couple of years.
words and photo JAYDON MARTIN
