The night of September 12th is a night that MCR fans will forever remember as the end of an era for The Black Parade 2026 Tour. Despite MCR going on to Kentucky, California, and even Asia later this year, their performance in San Antonio, TX marked the beginning of a farewell, and a new era for this much beloved band.

Over 70,000 people arrived at the Alamodome in droves to witness one of the band's few performances in the US this year, the anticipation palpable from the baying and howling of the crowd waiting for them to take the stage. With a pre-show wave of the entire ar.ena and a cacophonous uproar of voices singing along to the show's introduction of Vera Lynn's "We'll Meet Again", it's impossible to feel like the band doesn't have more in store for the future.

With each performance, The Black Parade has given audiences a new story in their stage show as Draag's musical propaganda vessel. Tonight's show, however, marked the first time My Chemical Romance would take a direct role in Draag's leadership. With the death of the Grand Immortal Dictator by Gerard's public execution sword, and a rigged election against the opponent of a severed, dripping head pulled from a Walmart bag, the audience all too enthusiastically voted Gerard as the new Grand Immortal Dictator. For the past two years, The Black Parade has been serving as unwitting participants in Draag's larger mission of fear and domination, but this change of story might mean much more for the band than a one time performance.

The concert was sensational, the crowd enamored with Gerard's new position as Grand Immortal Dictator, and the power of his new status corrupting him with every black-blooded toast and commanded order. The band was even knighted by King Diamond himself, who took the stage in a grand ceremony with the same sword of execution from the beginning of the show, legitimizing Gerard's place as Grand Immortal Dictator by a true "king." There was even the typical assassination of Gerard during "Famous Last Words," but this time, by the mysterious bandaged figure of what can only be assumed to be the previous Grand Immortal Dictator himself, newly risen from the grave. The typical Pierrot assassin from previous shows serving now as Gerard's faithful clerk, and dressed in his Pierrot attire once more during "Blood" to be forcefully tied down and victim to a murder-suicide by two new Pierrots, all with their own bomb vests.

All of these new additions to The Black Parade's stage show seemed to hint to something much larger than entertainment spectacle, as the second half of the concert ended in an extremely unforeseen announcement from Gerard himself: that "you guys have kept us alive so long, you deserve another record." He announced that they were working to make this new album happen, even though right now he doesn't know what that'll look like just yet.

Regardless of what the future may hold for My Chemical Romance, Gerard's new status as the Grand Immortal Dictator remains burned into the memories of all of their fans, and with the promise of MCR5 in our futures, we'd be fools to forget "how wrong we were to think that immortality meant never dying."

• Melanie Quintero, 09/12/2026