The Carling Academy in Bristol has always been
one of my favourite live music venues purely because
its small size means that no matter where you
stand you’re pretty much guaranteed a good
view of the stage and you’re never very
far away. On this occasion I decided to stand
on the lower floor on one of the steps so that
I could see above the crowd’s heads to where
the band was performing (being fairly short, I
was thankful for the extra height). As soon as
the support band, Lost Alone, left the stage,
the crowd was instantly buzzing for 30 Seconds
to Mars’ arrival. The feeling was heightened
when a huge white sheet was dropped to mask what
was taking place on stage in preparation for the
band’s entrance. Then, after what seemed
an eternity, ‘Oh Fortuna’ boomed out
of the speakers accompanied by spot lights flashing
upon the sheet, illuminating each band member’s
entrance onto the stage.
I personally had not witnessed such an electrifying
atmosphere in such a tiny venue before, it felt
like I was in an overpowering arena environment.
As the curtain dropped, the sound from the audience
rocketed and the band launched into ‘Battle
of One’. Considering Jared Leto’s
(vocals/rhythm guitar) alleged recent ill health
developed from dates they’d already done
in the UK, his weakness wasn’t showing.
The band played with an immense passion and energy
that filtered into the response of the crowd.
They then played ‘From Yesterday’,
their current re-released single, which obviously
generated a positive vibe from the crowd which
continued throughout their set. In between songs,
Jared Leto interacted with the crowd and had a
true charisma about him, justifying his front
man status. The only annoying thing was the 14
year old girls who felt it necessary to scream
“I love you Jared” at random points,
but then that was to be expected from a man who
is also known for his acting, as well as (I may
as well say it), his rather attractive appearance.
The band was joined by new bassist Tim Kelleher
who gelled well into their stage presence, although
he did keep himself to himself. One of the most
memorable songs of the night was when they played
‘The Kill’. Being their first single
which has gained mainstream recognition in the
UK, it was bound to be popular, but it truly seemed
like the song the band had the greatest time performing.
Crowd interaction was paramount during the night
and Jared Leto frequently held out the microphone
for the words to be sung back to him. For the
encore, Jared came back onstage without the rest
of the band and took song requests from the crowd
which I thought was a really nice touch. The solo
renditions started off with ‘Capricorn (A
Brand New Name)’, followed by ‘The
Story’ and then ‘A Modern Myth’
which didn’t fail to raise the hairs on
the back of my neck each time he screamed “goodbye”
louder and louder into the microphone.
The rest of the band then came back onto the stage
and Jared declared that for the next song he wanted
to turn the place into “a big fucking rave”,
before the band launched into ‘Hunter’,
which definitely stands out as starkly different
from the other songs on their current album ‘A
Beautiful Lie’ with electronic undertones
and breathy vocals. To close, they played ‘The
Fantasy’ which felt like a perfect ending
to an amazing performance. After encouraging the
crowd to chant “Do you live, do you die,
do you bleed” repetitively, the band forced
every last ounce of what they had to give into
the song and blew everyone away.
I’m not going to lie, as big a fan as I
am of 30 Seconds to Mars, there was a small part
of me expecting them not to deliver when I saw
them live for the first time. I’m not sure
whether it was the preconceptions, or rather,
assumptions, I had of Jared Leto being some egotistical
man who overpowered the presence of the rest of
the band or if I just wasn’t sure they’d
live up to the hype. But I loved every second
of it. Each and every member of the band just
had something about them that kept you entranced,
and unsurprisingly, Jared Leto was everything
the lead singer of a rock band should be. If nothing
else, they pleased every single fan in that venue
with their mixture of songs from both of their
albums and the fact that they gave every song
their all. I think I speak for everyone in the
venue that night when I say I was left wanting
more.
Review By Fiona
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