30 Seconds To Mars – Wembley Arena

March 3rd, 2010 by RBR

30 Seconds to Mars
Support: Street Drum Corps, LostAlone
Wembley Arena
23. 02. 10

Jared (vocals, guitar) and Shannon Leto (drums), Tomo Milicevic (guitar) and their touring musicians Tim Kelleher (bass) and Braxton Olita (keyboard, guitar, effects) are on their very first Arena tour called ‘Into The Wild’ and incredible enough, sold out Wembley arena. Years of touring have paid off.

The outside speakers announce that the doors time is delayed due to a late sound check. Could this be due to Jared spending the afternoon at another fashion show, according himself the luxury of a trip above London by helicopter?

The arena is slowly filling up and is only at half capacity when the lights go off and Jeff Wayne’s War of the Worlds intro echoes in the huge hall. Derby rockers LostAlone walk on stage, going straight to the point blasting their energetic riffs and rich lyrics. Front man Steven Battelle bounces on stage without missing a note but not always singing right in the microphone leaving a few blanks. The set list is short but a good mix of old songs from their 2007 debut album “Say No To The World” and fresh new songs with strong harmonies that include drummer Mark Gibson and new bassist Alan Williamson. First tour after a couple of local shows and a German festival but his presence on stage certainly cannot be denied.
Like the set list, Steven is mixing new and old. A special designed jacket reminding us of Luke Skywalker at the very end of Return of the Jedi, along with the drop-on-knees-for-riffic-madness and the very famous flip-catch-guitar-solo-with-shoe that is sort of LostAlone’s signature.
The trio are nervous after being asked to open the tour only a week before the first date and there are lacks of interaction with the crowd, but none the less they deliver a quality set that please 30STM fans who already saw them opening the Winter 2008 UK Tour and a respectable number of new potential fans.

Long time friends and collaborators of 30STM, Californians Street Drum Corps are almost as expected as the headliners, though not many know what they are gonna sound like. Pure drumming around visual stimuli? Yes… and no, Street Drum Corps are now a proper band, a very original one. The set begins on one side of the stage were the official line up, composed of brothers Bobby and Adam Alt and Frank Zummo, hitting plastic bins. They are joined by a guitarist and a bassist while Bobby Alt takes the place of a front man trading the drumsticks for a microphone. The set is a succession of catchy, entertaining songs, each with a different style, the drumming remaining the common point and strong originality of the band. Adam’s drumming can sometimes not be heard enough although very present in their first two albums ‘Street Drum Corps’ and ‘We Are Machines’. Bobby’s moves are more innocent than what we saw at the Nottingham show but just as diverting, especially for the feminine crowd. New song called ‘Marry Me’ manages to stick in your head for days even though it isn’t released yet. It’s their very first European tour but they have no problem winning over most of the arena. We cannot wait to see them come back.

[To learn more about Street Drum Corps, click here to read the interview we had with them that day]

After a reasonable time, it’s 30 Seconds To Mars‘ turn to heat the venue with ‘This Is War” intro ‘Escape‘ playing from behind a huge black curtain. Shadows and shapes are only seen before it drops, revealing Jared fist in the air, imitated by a whole crowd singing the words “This is War”, members of SDC holding huge flags on stage.
This is followed by the energetic Night of the Hunter (”La Nuit du Chasseur” in french as the woman voice at the beginning says) where everyone jumps up and down in rhythm. One thing is noticeable straight away though, Jared’s voice is completely off.
The singer is clearly sick and struggles to reach the high notes, keeping verses a few octaves lower. Attack and A Beautiful Lie (where images of the video are displayed on two huge screens at the top-back of the stage) are delivered with the same difficulty. On Search & Destroy, vocal cords are miraculously coming alive though you can still feel the huge effort Jared is putting on to keep his voice in control. Long criticised but normal and essential for 30STM, it’s time for a little chit chat with the crowd, though this time it might have been wiser to save the voice for the singing as the talk literally last the length of a song but both artist and crowd (most of it) enjoy the exchange a lot.
Next Leto announces Hurricane, apologising in advance for the disaster as it’s never been played live before. Despite the vocal challenge it is, he nails the song. After From Yesterday, it’s time for the new single This is War. Before the song, Jared makes the seating area compete with each other in a screaming contest to illustrate the lyrics of the song “To the right, to the left, we will fight, to the death“, then makes the whole crowd chant “THIS IS WAR” while the words appear on the screens followed by images of wars and politics. The song features SDC members showing up on stage with single drums which then flows into the quiet 100 Suns.
Blacked out for a few instants, Shannon Leto (who was already more noticeable, his drum kit placed on the side of the stage) arrives to play a singing bowl then continues to play L490 on the acoustic guitar, song he fully composed himself.
The stage is then left empty for the Monks mesmerizing voices who are represented by bright orange lights.
A huge spotlight and one second later, Jared is suddenly revealed at the top back of the left stands. Old school song Capricorn is played on fan request, followed by A Modern Myth.
The Kill is started acoustically with Jared then bravely launching himself into the crowd still singing, trying with difficulties to join his band mates who are rocking out on the second stage (specially installed in the middle of the standing area for this arena tour). The singer finally reaches the stage for a brilliant Buddha For Mary, Shannon’s amazing performance on the drums being displayed on both screens.
Back on the main stage, Jared’s voice gives up one more time on Closer to the Edge with the singer subtly leaving the crowd fill the notes he can’t reach while huge white balloons are launched into the pit for Vox Populi.
For Kings and Queens, last song of the night, Jared requests people to come up on stage to sing and various lucky fans are pulled from the front of the crowd.
To conclude, you can say 30 Seconds To Mars have finally learnt to put on a show and play longer after years of touring. They’re definitely up to the challenge that headlining an arena tour is. Is it over the top? Maybe for the average audience, but not for 30STM fans.