| 30 Seconds to Mars Boston written by Heidi |
The lights went down. The crowd screamed their anticipation. Half-light illuminated the venue from above the drumset, and
from off stage left, four flags emerged, waving the new album symbol slowly with the prelude that had begun to play while
everyone screamed. The frenzy grew: in front of me, in the pit, Avalon was absolutely going wild.
Tomo Milicevic (guitar), Shannon Leto (drums), Matt Wachter (keyboard, bass) and Jared Leto (vocals, guitar) took the stage
to uproaring approval, and they hadn't played a note yet.
Bursting into "Beautiful," it became immediately apparent the scale of mastery this band held over its crowd-- or rather, the love
the fans have for the band. Jared was utterly unafraid to get right up against the fans, allowing those in the front to touch and
support him above the barrier, their hands reaching up over his legs, to keep him steady, just to have contact or both at once.
It was not a one-time thing, either: Jared repeatedly moved into, above the crowd like that, trusting himself to the fans, and that
says quite a bit about the fans of the band. There is a certain reciprocation of trust that moves between the band and the
audience at one of these shows: the audience puts their emotional investment in the hands of 30 Seconds to Mars, and 30
Seconds to Mars puts all their energy and love into the show they give to the audience.
Shannon Leto was elevated perhaps three, three and a half feet off of the stage, so that there was an open view of his mad,
closely controlled thrashing of the double bass drum kit. Visually the setup was very effective: the drum kit and Shannon were
almost framed by the circular insignia of the new album behind him, and the four flags framed Milicevic on stage right and
Wachter on stage left. Every moment in the show seemed to be a perfect press photograph, as if we were privy to the
seamless filming of a music video as much as a rock concert.
Throughout the show Jared encouraged close audience involvment, coaxing, commanding the audience to sing along, to raise
their hands, to jump, and twice threw long-stemmed red roses out into the pit. There was a break after "Fantasy" in which
Jared came onstage alone, just him and his bright white guitar, and played Brand New Name. He then took requests and played
three or four songs total in a miniature solo set in which he had an intimate dialogue going with the entirity of the venue. The
band returned, breaking into "From Yesterday" and after such a pared down interlude had the energy of the place absolutely
skyrocketing. More roses were dispensed during "The Kill," in which the audience threatened to drown out Jared himself.
Finally, after having emotionally exhausted the audience and left them reeling, they closed with "Attack," a defiant "fuck you"
that seemed to be directed at the skeptical, empirical world outside.
I had never before been to a 30 Seconds to Mars show. After spending an hour and some change under the mad, passionate
spell that is their performance, I wondered for probably an hour afterwards exactly what it was that made it so good. My
conclusion? It's simply that the band puts on an extremely charismatic, talented stage show, a performance that leaves you
reeling for hours afterwards if you let it.
from off stage left, four flags emerged, waving the new album symbol slowly with the prelude that had begun to play while
everyone screamed. The frenzy grew: in front of me, in the pit, Avalon was absolutely going wild.
Tomo Milicevic (guitar), Shannon Leto (drums), Matt Wachter (keyboard, bass) and Jared Leto (vocals, guitar) took the stage
to uproaring approval, and they hadn't played a note yet.
Bursting into "Beautiful," it became immediately apparent the scale of mastery this band held over its crowd-- or rather, the love
the fans have for the band. Jared was utterly unafraid to get right up against the fans, allowing those in the front to touch and
support him above the barrier, their hands reaching up over his legs, to keep him steady, just to have contact or both at once.
It was not a one-time thing, either: Jared repeatedly moved into, above the crowd like that, trusting himself to the fans, and that
says quite a bit about the fans of the band. There is a certain reciprocation of trust that moves between the band and the
audience at one of these shows: the audience puts their emotional investment in the hands of 30 Seconds to Mars, and 30
Seconds to Mars puts all their energy and love into the show they give to the audience.
Shannon Leto was elevated perhaps three, three and a half feet off of the stage, so that there was an open view of his mad,
closely controlled thrashing of the double bass drum kit. Visually the setup was very effective: the drum kit and Shannon were
almost framed by the circular insignia of the new album behind him, and the four flags framed Milicevic on stage right and
Wachter on stage left. Every moment in the show seemed to be a perfect press photograph, as if we were privy to the
seamless filming of a music video as much as a rock concert.
Throughout the show Jared encouraged close audience involvment, coaxing, commanding the audience to sing along, to raise
their hands, to jump, and twice threw long-stemmed red roses out into the pit. There was a break after "Fantasy" in which
Jared came onstage alone, just him and his bright white guitar, and played Brand New Name. He then took requests and played
three or four songs total in a miniature solo set in which he had an intimate dialogue going with the entirity of the venue. The
band returned, breaking into "From Yesterday" and after such a pared down interlude had the energy of the place absolutely
skyrocketing. More roses were dispensed during "The Kill," in which the audience threatened to drown out Jared himself.
Finally, after having emotionally exhausted the audience and left them reeling, they closed with "Attack," a defiant "fuck you"
that seemed to be directed at the skeptical, empirical world outside.
I had never before been to a 30 Seconds to Mars show. After spending an hour and some change under the mad, passionate
spell that is their performance, I wondered for probably an hour afterwards exactly what it was that made it so good. My
conclusion? It's simply that the band puts on an extremely charismatic, talented stage show, a performance that leaves you
reeling for hours afterwards if you let it.
x5
 |  |  |  |  |  |  |
 |  |  |  |  |  |  |
