The Summer Of Like

After finishing their tour with Green Day, My Chemical Romance went on the Vans Warped Tour in the summer of 2005. It was during this time that the friendship between My Chem and Fall Out Boy (and in particular Mikey Way and Pete Wentz) thrived. They had first met on the 2004 Vans Warped Tour, but it was during Warped ’05 that Mikey and Pete’s bromance started to garner attention. This period is known as the “Summer Of Like”, after the working title of the Fall Out Boy song Bang The Doldrums.

You need this band in your life.

See the t-shirt? Sweet Little Dudes.

Even before Warped ‘05, Pete made a lot of references to My Chem on the Fall Out Boy website’s Q&A section. In one answer he writes, “i think we're gonna have to set up a seperate q and a just for our my chem questions and requests. good thing they are good friends of ours...” Later, Pete mentioned in one answer that he and Mikey were in a gang called The Sweet Little Dudes (which was a phrase Mikey had made up sometime around Bullets, before the pair had ever met). In another answer, Pete stated that the pair were also in a gang called The Fraternal Order Of The Handsome Boy, in which Mikey is known as The Duke Of Handsome.

White denim

On April 16, 2005, Mikey was seen at a Fall Out Boy show in Orlando, Florida. He was wearing a white denim jacket. Pete was later seen wearing a similar/the same jacket during Warped ’05. MCR and FOB also both played Bamboozle (a New Jersey music festival) before Warped. Mikey was seen watching FOB play, and around this time Pete posted a blog post talking about the things that made him “hot and bothered”. On his list were “having a crush on a person I speak to near daily” and “White denim jackets”.

During Warped, Mikey and Pete spent a lot of time together. On June 28, he posted “Amazing new mexico sunset. I'm hanging on a bridge with my friend mikey way from my chem. Its all orange and pink above us. We went to another waterpark again. I love high fives again. Totally back in love. Saw the most amazing movie... I think its called spirited away. Watch it.” He also talked a lot about being in love in other posts from this time. Mikey posted a quick FAQ on his Myspace, where he said “Me and pete wentz aren't dating. We are both heterosexual males....sort of...maybe...umm...next!” Way to deny the rumours, Mikey.

Mikey and Patrick

Mikey was often seen hanging around side stage, watching FOB play their set. Pete would sometimes dedicate songs to him while he was watching. While on Warped, Mikey filled in for Pete on bass a few times so Pete could take his mic and go into the crowd. On March 5, 2006, Mikey played bass for a secret Fall Out Boy show (which was played under the name Saved Latin). There have been several other times when MCR and FOB have filled in for each other. On July 14 2005, Ray filled in for Joe Trohman for the Calgary stop of Warped when Joe flew home after his friend OD-ed. Ray learnt their set in about a night. On July 21 and August 15, Ray and Mikey joined Fall Out Boy onstage for a few songs. Patrick Stump also played drums for Thank You For The Venom once on Warped ’05, and Joe played guitar with MCR once. Also, Patrick lived with Bob when MCR was recording The Black Parade and FOB was recording Infinity On High.

On July 19, Pete made a post on his Fueled By Ramen blog that said, “wrote you a goodbye note (you just wrote me off) on your arm when you passed out. bestfriends, exfriends- better off as lovers not the other way around. racing through the city in the back of yellow checkered cars. the takeoffs are the worst but the skin from your shoulder to your ear makes it all worth it. and im sorry the way my moods flicker on and off like old light on your porch, but i know you wouldn't have it any other way. sneaking in your window instead of out. the way you hold a cigarette cause you don't know what to do with your hands when we are sitting this close. the way the waists of pants feel better at the ankles. the way you always were my best excuse for calling in sick on everyone else. i miss you.” Several lines from this post were later used in Fall Out Boy’s song Bang The Doldrums, leading many fans to speculate whether the song was about Mikey.

As well as (maybe) sharing a white denim jacket, Mikey likes to wear clothes by Clandestine, Pete’s clothing company. There is a picture of Pete wearing Mikey’s famous white-rimmed glasses, and another picture where Pete is wearing a button with Mikey’s face on it. Speaking of buttons, Mikey started wearing a unicorn pin by Pretty Vacant during Warped, leading fans to associate him with unicorns forever after.

Sadly, despite being best friends all summer, Mikey and Pete seem to have mostly fallen out of contact with each other. Mikey was at Pete’s 30th birthday party, but other than that there hasn’t been much more news about the pair after March 2006.