TBT! My Chemical Romance Live Debut "Summertime" This Day in 2011

In early 2011, My Chemical Romance was all over the place promoting their latest album. Danger Days: The True Lives of the Fabulous Killjoys had released in November 2010 and was a wild and surprising departure for the band. While some people may have expected the group to pound out The Black Parade Part 2, instead they were treated to an album that mixed elements of dirty, stripped down punk with influences from pop and EDM to create a wildly colorful Apocalyptic concept album.

It was on January 21, 2011 that the band played a one-off gig at the Hollywood Towers. On a break from their World Contamination Tour the boys performed a short acoustic set for a small group of fans on the roof of the historic building. Most of the songs were familiar, including MCR’s hit singles “Helena” and “I’m Not Okay (I Promise).” But the second song of the set was a low-key live debut of a Danger Days track, “Summertime.”

MCR debuts "Summertime" on January 21, 2011

It’s not as if MCR hadn’t written and performed songs about love before. Black Parade saw the release of “I Don’t Love You” as a single and before that “Ghost of You” from Three Cheers for Sweet Revenge. But unlike those two songs, haunting tracks that end in heartbreak, “Summertime” is different. It’s a genuine love song that looks to the future with hope.

Maybe it’s because of where the song seems to come from. While I don’t believe Gerard Way has ever directly addressed it, the lyrics and just the title itself hint that “Summertime” is about Gerard falling in love with his wife Lyn-Z, of Mindless Self Indulgence, during the Projekt Revolution Tour in 2007. The best clue is in the last line in the chorus, “You can run away with me anytime you want.”

During Projekt Revolution, the duo began showing up on stage with their respective bands with matching Sharpie-scrawled phrases on their bodies. “Kiss” on Lyn-Z’s arm matched with “Tell” on Gerard’s hand. “I <3 U” paired with “More Today.” And when Lyn-Z had “Run Away With Me” showing on her skin, Gerard answered with “Anytime You Want” on his neck.

Fast forward to the band’s reunion gig in December 2019 and footage shows Gerard performing the song while very obviously looking up to the balcony where his wife was watching the show, 12 years after they initially made that vow.

Check out the other six songs MCR performed acoustically at that gig in 2011!

My Chemical Romance

Karma Police - Please Share: