A parade of a different sort arrives tonight at Blaisdell Arena, where the punk/pop/ goth band My Chemical Romance ends its current months-long, worldwide tour in support of its platinum-selling CD titled — you got it — "The Black Parade." The New Jersey-based band's last Honolulu concert was in February 2005.

"Parade," released in October 2006, is a concept album about a terminally ill young man reflecting on his unremarkable life. Thus such song titles as "Dead!" "Cancer" and "Famous Last Words." There's even a cameo by a very unexpected, very iconic source — Liza Minnelli.

MCR guitarist Frank Iero chatted just before the February launch of the tour, which included stops across the United States and in Europe, Canada, Asia and Australia.

Q. What made you decide to make a concept album?

A. It really started with our first album ("I Brought You My Bullets, You Brought Me Your Love"). We were writing concept songs, pieces like "Demolition Lovers," which was about a couple who die in an epic gun battle in the middle of the desert. We took that little story and ran with it for the second album ("Three Cheers for Sweet Revenge"), continuing their story. But being a young band and having life unfold around us, our experiences crept into the record, making a loose concept record.

Going into "The Black Parade," we knew we wanted to tell a story again — I think we're just innate storytellers and we've been fans of concept records as we were growing up, people like Tom Waits and Pink Floyd, the Beatles. We consciously made an effort to make a tighter album this time. I think it helped us grow as songwriters. We were better able to take our own experiences and mold them into the story line.

Q. Was that part of the reason you chose to work with producer Rob Cavallo, who produced Green Day's "American Idiot"?

A. Green Day told us to talk to him. We talked about him while we were on tour with them. They had great experiences with (Cavallo), and they knew what we were trying to do with this record. Right after that happened, we saw him quoted in an interview saying he wanted to work with us. So we got together, played him a few songs, went out for dinner, and his love of music and the music and ideas we had, it just clicked.

He's a genius, knowing how people react to music, how it makes them feel and the ways to construct sound — it's amazing. He's involved in every aspect, but he wasn't totally in control. All of our opinions were important to him — if there was something we were looking for in the recording, he would chase it to the ends of the earth until we were all satisfied.

Q. Sonically, it is very much rooted in '70s rock, yet it is unmistakably a 21st-century pop-punk record.

A. We grew up when there were genres like punk, hard-core, emo, screamo. We never quite fit into those categories — we tried to be just a great rock 'n' roll band. We draw upon a variety of influences that shouldn't work together, but they do. It's a varied sound that comes out, but our one goal was to take this melting pot of influences and make them our own.

Q. How did you get Liza Minnelli to appear on the album?

A. How awesome is that? We wrote this song, called "Mama," and the main character is Mother War. The song is about loss, about loss of human life, wishing your loved ones were with you, hoping they were all right, but knowing they aren't.

Going into the studio, we weren't sure what we would do, so we left the part blank for a little while. Then Gerard (Way) tried to sing it higher, then speed the tape up to make a female voice. We needed a woman to play the part, someone who'd lived a turbulent life, who had loved and lost, experimented and seen it all. She needed to be theatrical.

We needed someone like Liza. Finally Rob (Cavallo) said, "Do you want someone like Liza, or do you want Liza? I'll make a few calls."

And to everyone's surprise she'd heard of us and enjoyed our music. I don't know if this is true, but I heard that she bought "Three Cheers" and was dancing around her living room to "Helena." She liked the idea of doing this theatrical rock part. And her line is followed by the filthiest line Gerard sings on the record, but she was still into it. It worked out perfect — no one can do Mother War like Liza Minnelli.

Q. It's cool to see a new generation embracing the spectacle of the big rock show.

A. Absolutely. You get to a point where you have the opportunity to bring a lot of elements to your show, and you think, "Why not?" I don't think it's as over-the-top as a giant animatronic Eddie (metal band Iron Maiden's corpse mascot), but there is a lot of visual elements you can use to help tell the story. ... It's time for "The Black Parade" to come to life.

Make a difference. Donate to The Advertiser Christmas Fund.