Thirty Seconds To Mars, White Lies @ Hisense Arena, Melbourne (28/03/2014)
Back in 2007 I was 17 years of age and attending one of my first gigs, Thirty Seconds To Mars at Festival Hall. Where as some teenagers loved My Chemical Romance or Panic! At The Disco, I loved Thirty Seconds To Mars. I was what you’d call a diehard fan, I sang along to every word and I moshed my little heart out during their gig. And all on a school night; what a rebellious young teenager I was!
I’m now 23-years old, and while I still consider A Beautiful Lie to be an impeccable album, it’s been quite a long time since I last listened to Thirty Seconds To Mars, almost five years to be exact. When the opportunity to review Thirty Seconds To Mars’ 2014 world tour presented itself, I took it. Couple this in with the fact that the UK’s esteemed White Lies held the support slot, and hey, it looks like we were in for a treat.
For White Lies fans, it had been five long years since the UK trio last graced our shores, and their return is a welcome sight to behold. Touring on the back of their 2013 masterpiece, Big TV, the trio comprised of Harry McVeigh, Charles Cave and Jack Lawrence-Brown turned more than a few heads with their beautiful melancholic rock, and certainly converted those unfamiliar with their music into fans before the sets end.
Vocalist Harry McVeigh delivers the poetic lyrics of White Lies with his smooth baritone voice; it boomed in the arena, and lingered as an echo. While White Lies' set was short one, it was certainly sweet, and a performance we were all privileged to see.
With Thirty Seconds To Mars moments away from the stage, I wondered to myself whether this would be a similar performance to their Festival Hall gig. Seven years is a long time between drinks, and since then the band had released a further two albums, both of which utilised more electronic and synthesised sounds, steering away from their alternative rock roots.
From the get go, Jared Leto had the crowd in the palm of his hand. Arriving on stage with what looked like a baseball bat (the point to which I am still not entirely sure), all eyes were on Leto as he paraded about stage, pointing to various members of the audience, successfully raising the energy levels in the room up to eleven.
To his left was his brother, Shannon Leto on drums, and to his right, Tomo Miličević on guitar, who both held their own on stage. Special mention must be given to Shannon Leto, who is simply a phenomenal drummer. It was refreshing to see his drum kit placed close audience to the right of the stage, where the full force of his instrumentation could be seen up close.
Throughout the night Leto invited plenty of fans on stage to share in the experience and even take a selfie (I just want to take the opportunity here to coin the term 'Thirty Selfies To Mars'...) but this is where things started to fall flat. It must be said that Jared Leto knows how to work a crowd. He is undoubtedly a very charismatic and enthusiastic front man, probably one of the best I’ve ever seen. The problem is, that while Leto is charismatic front man, he also likes to talk… a lot.
I just want to make it clear that I believe there is nothing wrong with taking the time to appreciate your fans while on stage. It’s always a welcome moment of a show, should it occur. As a fan of Thirty Seconds To Mars’ music, I was let down by the fact that, between songs, Leto spent an awful lot of time talking. It unfortunately became quite distracting.
The set itself also did nothing to cater for the long time Thirty Seconds To Mars fans in the audience. They barely acknowledged any material from their exceptional debut and sophomore albums. With the self-titled record ignored completely, and only a chorus of Attack sung on request, the closest we would get to material from A Beautiful Lie was an uninspired acoustic performance of The Kill which felt out of place amongst the spectacle of the lights, balloons, and confetti which proceeded it. Having past seen The Kill performed "plugged in", I knew how much potential it had to be performed as a rock anthem in the arena and, by choosing to perform it acoustic, I felt it was a wasted opportunity to really make themselves known to the world, or at least Melbourne, as an arena band.
While I do have my own personal criticisms, which mainly stem towards song choices, looking around during the performance, it was evident by positive way in which the young fans reacted that they were having the time of their lives, just like I had at their age back in 2007. My guess is that many in the audience were attending one of their first gigs, just like I had in '07. They were enjoying it as much as I did back then, and if the band can get that kind of response out of a crowd, then that is a very good thing to take note of.
While Thirty Seconds To Mars' new material might not be my cup of tea, there is no denying that they are extremely successful in delivering to their target audience a highly energetic and involving performance which they'll be talking about for years to come.
Luke Sutton
I’m now 23-years old, and while I still consider A Beautiful Lie to be an impeccable album, it’s been quite a long time since I last listened to Thirty Seconds To Mars, almost five years to be exact. When the opportunity to review Thirty Seconds To Mars’ 2014 world tour presented itself, I took it. Couple this in with the fact that the UK’s esteemed White Lies held the support slot, and hey, it looks like we were in for a treat.
For White Lies fans, it had been five long years since the UK trio last graced our shores, and their return is a welcome sight to behold. Touring on the back of their 2013 masterpiece, Big TV, the trio comprised of Harry McVeigh, Charles Cave and Jack Lawrence-Brown turned more than a few heads with their beautiful melancholic rock, and certainly converted those unfamiliar with their music into fans before the sets end.
Vocalist Harry McVeigh delivers the poetic lyrics of White Lies with his smooth baritone voice; it boomed in the arena, and lingered as an echo. While White Lies' set was short one, it was certainly sweet, and a performance we were all privileged to see.
With Thirty Seconds To Mars moments away from the stage, I wondered to myself whether this would be a similar performance to their Festival Hall gig. Seven years is a long time between drinks, and since then the band had released a further two albums, both of which utilised more electronic and synthesised sounds, steering away from their alternative rock roots.
From the get go, Jared Leto had the crowd in the palm of his hand. Arriving on stage with what looked like a baseball bat (the point to which I am still not entirely sure), all eyes were on Leto as he paraded about stage, pointing to various members of the audience, successfully raising the energy levels in the room up to eleven.
To his left was his brother, Shannon Leto on drums, and to his right, Tomo Miličević on guitar, who both held their own on stage. Special mention must be given to Shannon Leto, who is simply a phenomenal drummer. It was refreshing to see his drum kit placed close audience to the right of the stage, where the full force of his instrumentation could be seen up close.
Throughout the night Leto invited plenty of fans on stage to share in the experience and even take a selfie (I just want to take the opportunity here to coin the term 'Thirty Selfies To Mars'...) but this is where things started to fall flat. It must be said that Jared Leto knows how to work a crowd. He is undoubtedly a very charismatic and enthusiastic front man, probably one of the best I’ve ever seen. The problem is, that while Leto is charismatic front man, he also likes to talk… a lot.
I just want to make it clear that I believe there is nothing wrong with taking the time to appreciate your fans while on stage. It’s always a welcome moment of a show, should it occur. As a fan of Thirty Seconds To Mars’ music, I was let down by the fact that, between songs, Leto spent an awful lot of time talking. It unfortunately became quite distracting.
The set itself also did nothing to cater for the long time Thirty Seconds To Mars fans in the audience. They barely acknowledged any material from their exceptional debut and sophomore albums. With the self-titled record ignored completely, and only a chorus of Attack sung on request, the closest we would get to material from A Beautiful Lie was an uninspired acoustic performance of The Kill which felt out of place amongst the spectacle of the lights, balloons, and confetti which proceeded it. Having past seen The Kill performed "plugged in", I knew how much potential it had to be performed as a rock anthem in the arena and, by choosing to perform it acoustic, I felt it was a wasted opportunity to really make themselves known to the world, or at least Melbourne, as an arena band.
While I do have my own personal criticisms, which mainly stem towards song choices, looking around during the performance, it was evident by positive way in which the young fans reacted that they were having the time of their lives, just like I had at their age back in 2007. My guess is that many in the audience were attending one of their first gigs, just like I had in '07. They were enjoying it as much as I did back then, and if the band can get that kind of response out of a crowd, then that is a very good thing to take note of.
While Thirty Seconds To Mars' new material might not be my cup of tea, there is no denying that they are extremely successful in delivering to their target audience a highly energetic and involving performance which they'll be talking about for years to come.
Luke Sutton