Gerard Way: Opening festivals was 'cool'

Gerard Way has revealed the Reading and Leeds festivals have a special place in his heart – and says he enjoyed being the first on stage.

The former My Chemical Romance frontman headlined the festival three years ago with his old band and made his first solo appearance last weekend.

And the singer says the experience was special because there’s nothing quite like it in the US.

Way tells BBC’s Newsbeat: “I have such an amazing history with the festival. I think it’s because it was my first real festival experience. It was an ocean of people and there was rain, mud and tents – we don’t have that in America.”

He opened the Radio 1/NME stage at both festivals and reveals he thought it was a “cool” thing to do.

Way says: “It’s fun in the mornings – it feels like everybody is cutting class. The festival hasn’t really started, so it feels like cheating – it’s cool.”

Way previously said he had no plans to go solo after splitting with My Chemical Romance and admits playing live without his old band took some getting used to.

He admits: “At first that was a little strange. But when I was in My Chemical Romance, everybody got up there and got into their own world and I’m doing that now. So a little bit of that feels similar but you look over and there’s different people.”

While Way doesn’t rule out the possibility of My Chemical Romance ever getting back together, he says it’s a long shot.

He says: “To say that will never happen is pretty silly, but at the same time, I don’t see My Chemical Romance ever happening again.”

Way’s debut solo album Hesitant Alien is out on September 29 via Warner Bros Records.

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