![My Chemical Romance on stage performing during the Foundations Tour in a destroyed city backdrop lit up in green tones](https://cdn.sanity.io/images/d1a1yw91/production/d5de473459049104d6caba7f0443ff106de77ede-6048x4024.jpg?rect=0,311,6048,3402&w=3840&h=2160&q=95&fit=max&auto=format&width=3840)
![My Chemical Romance on stage performing during the Foundations Tour in a destroyed city backdrop lit up in green tones](https://cdn.sanity.io/images/d1a1yw91/production/d5de473459049104d6caba7f0443ff106de77ede-6048x4024.jpg?rect=0,311,6048,3402&w=3840&h=2160&q=95&fit=max&auto=format&width=3840)
Live
My Chemical Romance
Foundations Tour
year
2022 - 2023
capabilities
Asset Coordination
Design & Engineering
Fabrication
LED Integration
Integration
Scenic
Show Development & Production
After a stunning one-off reunion show in LA in 2019, My Chemical Romance's planned follow-up tour was stymied by the pandemic. As the world shut down, however, the band refused to give up, continuing to plan an epic, post-apocalyptic stage set that would resonate with the band’s fans. MCR singer Gerard Way, tour manager Jon Dunleavy, designer AJ Pen, and production manager Andrew Werlick called on TAIT to build this unique scenic setup.
![behind the scenes of My Chemical Romance Foundations Tour featuring stage scenery build including debris, torn building, and a broken abandoned car](https://cdn.sanity.io/images/d1a1yw91/production/8967aef4a3956561ed580afe931c82c63d6f0207-4032x3024.jpg?w=3840&h=2880&q=95&fit=max&auto=format&width=3840)
![behind the scenes of My Chemical Romance Foundations Tour featuring stage scenery build, male painting a building crumbling down](https://cdn.sanity.io/images/d1a1yw91/production/aa937e003bf25ef2a01ea8cb01667d9e0fa7d345-2850x3800.jpg?rect=68,0,2714,3800&w=3840&h=5376&q=95&fit=max&auto=format&width=3840)
![behind the scenes of My Chemical Romance Foundations Tour featuring stage scenery build of a small yellow school bus at an angle falling apart and surround by debris](https://cdn.sanity.io/images/d1a1yw91/production/e038b0d596a315d02c11c5d471f2e7e8b0eb5f7f-3091x2319.jpg?rect=0,291,3091,1739&w=3840&h=2160&q=95&fit=max&auto=format&width=3840)
We worked hand-in-hand with MCR’s team to bring this post-apocalyptic vision to life, constructing scenic rubble and twisted copper pipes and sculpting a destroyed scenic school bus. We completed the look with custom amplifier carts nestled within a chilling dystopian landscape, and upstage, towering scenic flats depicted destroyed buildings, with custom lighting ladders and integrated FR10 lighting bars providing the flexibility needed for the stunning lighting design. The scenic elements were designed to be compact and easy to transport to ensure the set was as tourable as possible, which also allowed the staging to adapt to the wide variety of venues on the tour.
![view from the crowd of My Chemical Romance performing at the Foundations Tour, in a post-apocalyptic rubble backdrop](https://cdn.sanity.io/images/d1a1yw91/production/b8373da0cc666d9310e30fda90f2a0d2cfbf2cd2-8256x5504.jpg?w=3840&h=2560&q=95&fit=max&auto=format&width=3840)
The reunion tour was a huge success, captivating MCR’s legions of devoted fans and winning new ones among audience members worldwide. The tour's unique low-fi aesthetic, free of hulking video screens and multimedia content, struck a chord with fans who craved an authentic staging experience. Designer AJ Pen praised the collaboration: “It was as close to zero compromise as possible. Nobody said ‘no’ to me, and that was a really fun experience.”
Credits
My Chemical Romance
Gerard Way
Designer
AJ Pen
Tour Director
Jon Dunleavy
Tour Manager
Emma Edgar
Production Manager
Andrew ‘Juice’ Werlick