It's the youth movement that has Middle England on the run. UK newspaper the Daily Mail labels it sinister and accuses it of romanticising death.But as its adherents prepare to march on the Mail's Kensington HQ in protest, is there really anything to be frightened of? "A world that sends you reeling from decimated dreams/ Your misery and hate will kill us all/ So paint it black and take it back/ Let's shout it loud and clear/ defiant to the end we hear the call/ To carry on." (From: Welcome to the Black Parade by My Chemical Romance.)Welcome to the Black Parade - a place, depending on which side of the age/outrage divide you are standing on, is either a shadowy Shangri La for young suicide victims to pass the rest of eternity with fellow outcast kids who dig the same music, or, more prosaically, merely the infectious title track of one of the more engaging rock albums of the past few years.Concern in Middle England has been mounting in recent days over the threat to the nation's youth posed by emo, a not-so-new fangled musical fashion that has spawned a loyal and growing tribe of followers, one instantly recognisable to even the most casual of observers for its shared attachment to skinny jeans, long black fringes and apparently permanently downcast expressions.
According to the Daily Mail, emo is a "sinister teenage craze that romanticises death", with bands such as My Chemical Romance (MCR), the New Jersey, Grammy-nominated five-piece whose Black Parade album was one of the most compelling releases of 2006, providing the musical soundtrack to what it sees as the worryingly depressing lifestyles of the nation's current crop of youngsters.A Kent coroner's comments over the suicide of 13-year-old Hannah Bond, in which he expressed concern over the dead girl's passion for emo music, spawned a glut of lurid headlines earlier this month. But it was the Daily Mail that decided to delve deeper into the craze - prompting one of the unlikeliest protests London has seen for some time.Next Saturday, fans of MCR will descend on the Mail's Kensington headquarters in west London to vent their rage at what they claim is "badly researched journalism in danger of promoting irresponsible stereotyping". It is a remarkably polite and measured response for a group supposedly in thrall to a mind-bending cult.According to one of the organisers, Anni Smith, 16, from Hampshire, festering anger that has been simmering below the surface for some time has finally spilt over. Some 300 people have already logged on to the protest site, www.whatthefrank.co.uk, expressing their desire to take part.
