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When you look around Wembley Arena tonight, you witness something incredible. There are parents and young children milling around, smiling pleasantly, and attempting to find their seats, whilst hoards of teenagers dressed mostly in black crush themselves further towards the stage - two sets of people that would normally never come into contact in this genre. People of all ages are here to witness this show tonight and that fact alone truly demonstrates how far this band really has come.

Whilst having an amazingly passionate and loyal fan base, My Chemical Romance have also secured their place in the hearts of many different, yet unexpected, generations all over the United Kingdom this year, following the immense success of their third album ‘The Black Parade’. Tonight these fans, old and new, are all here to see if the band can really live up to the expectations that everyone is focusing on. And do not get me wrong, these expectations are high. You can tell this from the fact that not a single ticket is left unsold, or a single seat left unfilled.

After an enjoyable and solid set from Thursday - friends of the band from their older years - and a half hour wait, the lights go down and the spectacle begins. From the darkness emerges a hospital gurney, placed centre stage and, whilst the echoes of a heart monitor are heard, Gerard Way lifts his Patient-esque body out of the bed and begins his haunting vocals. The opening words of ‘The End’, the first song from ‘The Black Parade’, are enough to make the hairs on the back of your neck stand on end as the crowd roars, singing along like there’s already no tomorrow. Several lines in, Way rips from his body the hospital gown that he adorns, and a curtain falls to reveal the rest of his band, all wearing their Black Parade uniforms.

The entrance they make can only be described as massive. The screams get louder and the guitar chords carry on gloriously into the second track ‘Dead!’. Two songs in, there’s already a hysterical passion carrying the crowd through the fast-paced track, in which they all dance and sing, instructed by Way and it is in the amazing unison of the Britpop style sing-along ending that the crowd themselves demonstrate the simple adoration they hold for these five men.

Before the crowd has time to catch its breath, the band launch into another track; ‘This Is How I Disappear’, charismatic, yet aggressive and perfectly orchestrated. After this it is then that we come to the realisation of what tonight is going to be about: after playing these three tracks as the opening for their tour in November last year, it could go either way. However, tonight the band is here to do one thing. To take these thousands of people on a journey through The Black Parade, and the striking chords of ‘The Sharpest Lives’ lets us know that tonight we will witness it in full.

There’s only one thing you can expect from an anthem as huge as ‘Welcome To The Black Parade’ and that is a showstopper. My Chemical Romance, or The Black Parade, as Gerard has introduced the band as, do not plan on letting us down. There’s confetti and explosions, lights and action, drama to the last drop. It’s utterly spectacular to witness, let alone be apart of. And as the crowd continues chanting through the lyrics, there’s just something insanely magical in the air tonight.

‘I Don’t Love You’ is the simple picture of beauty; confetti still slowly raining down on the crowd like a love scene in an old movie. The fans sway and croon along with Gerard as he struts along the stage, showing us that this is truly what he was born to do. ‘Houses of Wolves’ is insanity; the jazz vibe of the song makes it insatiably delicious to dance to, even in the crush of a crowd. But, as quickly as we really are transported to that seedy jazz bar in Hell that MCR promised, we are brought right back to Earth with Gerard’s introduction of the next song.

It’s with a solemn face that he dedicates it to anyone who has been affected by the disease and the performance of ‘Cancer’ itself is one of the more touching moments on stage. With the band bathed in a sea of golden light and mist, it takes the emphasis off them and places it more on the importance of the lyrics. In any other situation it would be odd to have thousands of teenagers singing about dying from a disease that effects 1 in 3 people, but tonight it becomes so much more than that. There are tears in the eyes of fans and it’s a few minutes that are so intense yet still beautiful and it becomes more of a demonstration of how this band have helped people to get over such tragedies.

The set then changes pace again and we get to explore the depths of the World War One trenches with the polka-inspired piece of genius that is ‘Mama’. It’s extraordinary to witness such a mass of bodies jumping to one beat whilst chanting that simple, yet ultimately pessimistic line of "Mama, we all go to Hell". Before reaching the end of the song and another mass sing-along comes to an end, we bear witness to huge flames engulfing the stage, whilst the band sing and jump around like deranged men.

‘Sleep’ is another one of the anthemic tracks from the album that is performed with the utmost powerful passion, right after Way’s speech of thanks to the UK for being the first place to truly accept them.

Tonight seems to be nothing but track after track of pure rock perfection and ‘Teenagers’ - "This song is about the UK’s biggest killing machine, and that’s YOU!" - is nothing less. This T-Rex-esque piece of social commentary really does show the band’s true talent and puts them one step ahead of the rest of rock’s crowd.

‘Disenchanted’ brings the atmosphere back down and gives the audience a few minutes to appreciate just how good this band are. With pyrotechnic sparks raining down on the band, it’s another image of that beauty that you can’t get across in basement or bar shows - this is arena rock at its best.

In comparison to the next song, tonight has been reserved up until now - the finale of this set lies completely in the hands of ‘Famous Last Words’ and it truly is everything that anyone ever wanted it to be. A completely violent and aggressive show of emotions with that underlying simplicity that just states why every fan is here tonight then follows. In this moment, there is no doubt in anyone’s minds of the power of The Black Parade. ‘Famous Last Words’ is everything that the band ever stood for and everything they ever will stand for. It is absolutely breathtaking to witness five men so connected to the thousands of people who are singing along with them, using up the last breaths that their lungs will hold. It’s something that people will never forget and will be telling their grandchildren that they were part of. It’s so special and awe-inspiring. The amazing thing is, you can tell from the looks of undying passion and adoration on the faces of fans that every word they sing is true. To them, this song is gospel. And that in itself makes it one of the most breathtaking moments to witness.

And with that the lights go down and people finally catch their breaths. "My Chemical Romance are up next, if you’re into that shit." An unfortunate bout of food poisoning prevents guitarist Frank Iero - who did spend most of the previous set lying on the floor or sat on a seat - from coming back onstage for the second instalment of tonight’s final UK show. However, it does not detract from the performance, despite the removal of two songs (‘It’s Not A Fashion Statement, It’s A Deathwish’ and ‘The Ghost of You’) from the Three Cheers-era set. It just demonstrates how dedicated Iero is to his band; even whilst in pain, he still plays until he really has to stop.

With an insane explosion of ‘I’m Not Okay (I Promise)’, a frenzy is worked up within the audience and we can truly see that the old My Chemical Romance are nowhere near gone. The same punk roots that they grew from are still firmly cemented and they can still play the old tracks better than ever before. Matt Cortez - the band’s guitar tech who is filling in for Iero - fits in smoothly on most tracks and enables the band to still play to the best of their ability.

‘Cemetery Drive’ is another crowd favourite, with hands raised high in the air with memories of the good old days of 2004 in their minds. ‘Give ‘Em Hell, Kid’ is still the punch in the stomach that it always was and Gerard is still that charismatic character who can control the crowd with the flick of his wrist.

The Three Cheers set gives an amazing rush of renewed energy to the crowd and after witnessing such glory in The Black Parade, it feels good to be back to that aggressive, revenge-laced album that made us fall in love with those five New Jersey boys. There’s not much that hasn’t been said already about ‘Thank You For The Venom’ or ‘You Know What They Do To Guys Like Us In Prison’, except that they’ve never sounded so good. The band themselves really are at their best and it’s great to see that, most of all, everyone is having fun, something that sometimes gets lost in the message of music these days.

It is then that they end the show on a complete high. ‘Helena’ is that last song and in these last few minutes, everyone gives it everything they’ve got. There’s such a passion tied to this song and the utter volume of the singing echoes throughout Wembley. This is the ending that My Chemical Romance deserve - utter pride and adoration for these men, from all different generations. Fans and foes alike could never deny them such a glorious ending to such a glorious show.

Tonight, these men set out to show us what it was like to watch The Black Parade, but really, they showed us what’s it’s like to watch the best band in the world.