My Chemical Romance took a moment during one of their recent reunion shows to pay tribute to late Power Trip frontman Riley Gale.
MCR singer Gerard Way addressed the crowd at a sold-out Milton Keynes Stadium in England on Saturday (May 21st) to offer some reflections on Gale, who passed away in 2020. Apparently, the band wanted to take Power Trip on tour prior to his sudden and tragic death.
It all came about because of a hat Way decided to wear that night, as Gale always sported a ball cap onstage and off.
“I’d brought all this crazy shit to wear on tour, and during production rehearsals, I was wearing this, and this f**king hat,” Gerard said. “And my friend Beemer here took some pictures, and he goes, ‘Power Trip!’”
He continued: “I was so inspired by that f**king dude. They were gonna be one of the bands that were gonna open for us…or I was gonna ask at least. They could have said, ‘F**k no’, which I would have been totally respectful of, but I have a feeling they might have said, ‘Yes.’ Because my friend Sarah was friends with Riley. They were a great f**king band… rest in peace, Riley motherf**ker!”
During the shows at Milton Keynes Stadium, Way also honored MCR fans who had tickets to the band’s reunion tour but passed away in the time between its announcement and now. The group presented a flag bearing the names of those who had died.
“It occurred to me later after the second show, that there was a bunch of people that were probably gonna be at these shows that aren’t here with us anymore,” Way said. “And I think it was yesterday, a friend of mine told me that there were some people on the internet that had gotten a list as best they could of names of people that were gonna come to the shows.”
My Chemical Romance will continue their massive reunion tour tomorrow (May 25th) with a date in Dublin. The trek hits North America in August, with that leg running through October 29th in Las Vegas. Get tickets via Ticketmaster.
Below you can watch Gerard Way pay tribute to Riley Gale onstage.
Gerard takes a moment to pay respect to Riley Gale of Power Trip. Rest in Peace. #MCRMK #MCRUK pic.twitter.com/DiV3Rq0Huw
— altpress (@AltPress) May 21, 2022