My Chemical Romance paid tribute to late Power Trip frontman Riley Gale on Saturday (May 21) at their show at Milton Keynes Stadium, one of three sold-out dates at the venue on the UK leg of their reunion tour.
During the performance, frontman Gerard Way referenced the hat he was wearing, and how in production rehearsals for the tour, a friend said the hat reminded him of Gale.
“I was so inspired by that fucking dude,” Way explained. “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, ‘Fuck no’, which I would have been totally respectful of, but I have a feeling they might have said, Yes.”
Way added: “They were a great fucking band… rest in peace Riley motherfucker!”
Gale passed away in August 2020 at the age of 34.
Since his death, Gale’s family encouraged fans to donate to Dallas Hope Charities, a local organisation he was passionate about, leading to the opening of a new transitional home for LGBTQ youth, which was named in his honour.
In 2021, The Riley Gale Foundation was launched in tribute, who strive to support LGBTQ+ organisations, animal rescues and mental health initiatives. The charity will be administered by Gale’s family, with all net proceeds raised by the foundation donated to those in need.
Across the weekend, Way also paid tribute to MCR fans who originally had tickets for their reunion tour, but sadly passed away in the time period between the dates being first scheduled and the shows actually taking place.
“So this is kind of crazy, this is our third show, we’ve played two shows and I think it was the first night where were fucking around having a good time and I was talking about how its been two and a half years and how does it feel and things like that” Way said.
“And 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. 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.”
MCR’s frontman then presented a flag consisting of the names of those that had died to the audience.
Check out Way’s tribute to Riley Gale below:
Gerard takes a moment to pay respect to Riley Gale of Power Trip. Rest in Peace. #MCRMK #MCRUK pic.twitter.com/DiV3Rq0HuwMay 21, 2022
