The experience of My Chemical Romance and Petco Park unfolds at walking pace: whether a place feels welcoming, whether a program is affordable, whose work is visible and whether the benefit lasts after opening day. Attendance is one measure; access, neighborhood participation and long-term stewardship are others.
My Chemical Romance brought a full-stadium concert to Petco Park on Sunday night with Japanese metal band Babymetal opening the downtown San Diego show.
The Padres scheduled the performance for 7 p.m. and opened gates at 5:30 p.m., using separate entrances for pit, floor and seating-bowl ticket holders. The venue advised attendees to arrive early for the large crowd and directed riders toward trolley and Coaster service serving the ballpark.
Coverage of My Chemical Romance and Petco Park should look beyond opening-day energy. The lasting measures are whether artists and residents can take part, whether resources reach more than established institutions and whether the work builds an audience over time.
The concert followed a run of late-August music at Petco Park that included Tucker Wetmore in Gallagher Square on August 20, Nas and The Roots on August 27 and San Diego's Thee Sacred Souls on August 28. The My Chemical Romance date was staged as a full-venue show rather than a Gallagher Square performance.
Places acquire cultural meaning through repetition: people return, stories collect and a program becomes part of a neighborhood's sense of itself. For My Chemical Romance and Petco Park, that slower measure may say more than the first burst of visibility.
Follow-up on My Chemical Romance and Petco Park should ask who participated, who was missing and what remains after the program ends. Budgets, repeat attendance and community partnerships can provide a clearer measure of staying power.