It's 2020 and My Chemical Romance are back. Their North American tour sold out in under six hours and the band even added a fourth Los Angeles date to their fall tour because of the overwhelming demand. But let's take it back to 2002, when My Chem were just a couple months old, playing small local shows for anyone who would show up.

Before they were rock's hottest concert ticket, My Chemical Romance were another local band slugging it out like the rest of them. They were well-received by new audiences from the start and cut their teeth playing local shows like this February 2002 gig at an American Legion hall in Creskill, New Jersey, which was about a 45-minute to an hour drive from their home town of Newark (footage below).

The clip is of "Honey, This Mirror Isn't Big Enough For the Two of Us" and "Vampires Will Never Hurt You" and shows the early development of the band onstage. Already a showman, Gerard Way's beloved outstretched hand gestures and finger wagging were commonplace even this early on. They still had some growing to do live though, but the rest of the band wouldn't remain statues up front for much longer.

At the time, Frank Iero had only recently joined My Chem and yesterday (Jan. 31) he posted an image of a sold out 2020 tour flyer on Instagram, thanking the fans while noting, "My heart is incredibly full." See that further down the page.

My Chemical Romance Live in New Jersey — February, 2002

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