Gerard Way – Camden, Koko – 10/11/2014 | Live Review

Source: Kayla Elliott

Camden’s Koko was the venue for Gerard Way’s London debut. The venue is as intimate as it is grand, and was the perfect setting for the next stage of Gerard’s career.

Upcoming Blackpool rockers Darlia kick off proceedings with their unfussy production and catchy riffs. Their set is short and tight with the first set of songs earning the crowds favour before they launched into their solid, but less catchy songs. ‘Dear Diarys’ massive chorus shakes the masses up, with a few attempting to join in on the sing-a-long despite not knowing the words. The dirty and riff heavy ‘Queen Of Hearts‘ closed the set in spectacular fashion. In it’s most pedestrian form the song is infectious, so the band had fun and the audience couldn’t help but join in.

Source: Kayla Elliott

The pop side of Gerard’s performance was preambled by Chantal Claret. Initially a bewildering addition to the show, her brand of lighthearted throwback soul made her the perfect addition. Testament to just how great her performance was her huge sound featured on songs like opener ‘Bite Your Tongue’ was performed with practically no band. Just a drummer, two back up singers and backing track. This sounds like it could be the recipe for disaster but the small team delivered a brilliant performance that managed to hold the audiences attention. Chantal wasn’t so much selling sex ala Miley Cyrus, as much as a confident woman discussing adult themes in an off the cuff manner with catchy hooks. And just as the momentum was running out on ‘Hold Up‘, ‘Light It Up‘, and in particular the country vibes on ‘Davy Crockett‘ ended the set on a high note.

Source: Kayla Elliott

Head banging to ‘The Bureau‘ with red hair and in fitted blue suit, Gerard Way is clearly at home on stage. He charges through the albums most popular songs with back to back renditions of ‘Action Cat‘ and ‘Zero Zero‘. They immediately veer more rock than pop due to the band The Eeries being perfectly in tune with the tightly constructed songs. Naturally the former My Chemical Romance frontman owns the crowd to almost messianic levels. At the climax of most songs he’ll merely lift his left hand in the air for the room to erupt into fandom and screaming. He is clearly having fun with his new songs and performs them with all the earnestness and intensity that you’d expect. It’s clear each song has the upmost meaning to him and it translates into the crowd perfectly. The album has been out for a matter of months but everyone knows the words to ‘Brother‘. It truly becomes apparent how much the songs connect when they don’t. All album fare goes down a storm, but a Jesus And Mary Chain cover leaves a  few bewildered faces, but then the set powers through to a triumphant end with ‘Maya The Psychic‘ practically bringing the house down. The performance succeeds for reasons that have always been true, Gerard Way is a fantastically charismatic performer, and always guarantees a high energy and heartfelt show.

Review by: Aaron Page
Photos by: Kayla Elliott