I got the chance to go to Edmonton for a conference and I figured I should see if there were any good shows in town. Lo and behold, I find out that 30 Seconds to Mars is going to be in town! This was epic news for me…I have been a big fan since their first album almost a decade ago and have yet to see them live. I had no idea what to expect, but I knew I couldn’t pass the opportunity up. I purchased my ticket and after the first day of the workshop, I hopped on a bus to the West Edmonton Mall with the rest of the group and then said goodbye as I headed to meander around the mall until showtime.
The Edmonton Event Center is an interesting spot to have a concert…I would say it reminds me most of the Capital Music Hall (the old one on Rideau) which isn’t a bad thing. It was an all-ages show with the under-19 year olds herded off to one small side of the stage and the rest of us to the remaining bar area.
I must say, going to a concert on my own is not something I do often, but I don’t mind it all that much. The only thing that bugs me is the time I have to kill simply standing there! It was definitely an hour or so waiting for an opening band to take the stage.
I have no idea what the name of the opening band was but I must admit they got everyone primed up. They were over the top punk/pop/whatever…the drummer was killer and the guy was quite the showman in his leather pants and mohawk.
Time passes and the place is packed…I’m dead center stage and the crowd around me is fierce. I ask myself if I want to bother moving to a less restrictive spot but I figure I’ll see how the crowd turns out.
The band hits the stage and no more than a verse into the first song, Jared Leto (with his pleather jacket and crazy shades) stops the show demanding that audience go crazy. He rants on for a few minutes about how quiet we are and this is not what to expect from a 30 Seconds to Mars show. He then asks everyone to rush the stage and they start up again. I was caught up in the crowd and I haven’t been that way for many years…and I was loving it! This was a rock show! The crowd ebbed and flowed, crowdsurfers everywhere, beer being spilled…ahhh….definitely not a show to bring the parents to!
Vince pointed out that the drummer of the band was amazing and so for the most part I was checking his playing out. His drumset was insane. I swear it had 75 pieces! Someone told me that you can tune your drums to a certain key…hence the need for more drums if you really wanted to go all out.
Jared Leto was quite the showman. I really enjoyed how he played with the lighting of the backdrop and spun around with his coat-tails spinning as well. He played his guitar a few times and was primarly focussed on making it the best possible show it could have been…which pretty well involved ranting to us at all times to get moving.
The first half of the set was killer energy…then they stop everything and Jared comes back out with his acoustic, plays a few tunes (just verses, maybe a chorus) which allows the crowd to get a breather for a good 25 minutes. Then they ended the set off with The Kill and Kings & Queens where the band invites as many fans onto the stage as they possibly can! I can’t deny that the band wants to make their fans have a great time.
Some thoughts:
– While I can say I didn’t mind the fact that I got through into a crowd of frenzy, I have to admit that his ranting got a little old after awhile. It’s one thing to try and get the crowd into the spirit of things, but he started berated certain fans for not moving around enough. This pulls into the question the whole ‘do what you want to do at a concert’…in the end, I think they went a little overboard on ranting…I know if Mike were there, he would been vehmently opposed to what was going on. I’ve read on the Forums that is a very typical thing that happens at the concert and his fans are divided on this front…they are either with him or against him. I can say that it definitely made me feel like I was at Barrymore’s again though. Fun!
– The concert was short. 1.5 hours and that’s it. That’s not an unusual time for a concert, but 25 minutes of that was Jared Leto with acoustic in hand, chatting with the crowd, asking for requests, playing half a song and then asking if he should play another. I wouldn’t have minded it if he played full songs but I felt like I was just watching some open mic night weirdness. Granted, 15 years ago, if you asked me how I enjoyed this part, I’m sure I would have said something like “It was so amazing that a singer would ask for requests at his own show and even though he only played a verse, it was epic!”
– Jared Leto sings high, very high on his albums so I was wondering how that would translate into a live show. I would say it’s kind of a win-lose scenario on that front. Essentially, he didn’t sing his choruses all that much, but depended on the crowds to sing it for them. Hearing a crowd sing the chorus is pretty cool, but for every song? Meh.
All in all, I was happy to see 30 Seconds to Mars but I can’t help but say that I was left a little unsatisfied. If that’s what a typical show is like, I’m not sure if I would go again, especially for the fact that we hear so little music. But hey, maybe they want to be like the Beatles. 🙂
Setlist nabbed from the Forums:
Escape
NOTH
Attack
Search & Destroy
ABL
CTTE
This Is War
100 Suns
L490
(acoustic set some partial)
From Yesterday
Hurricane
Alibi
The Kill
Kings & Queens